When the warmth of summer began to dissipate and give way to fall's chill, Berwald's mastery of the English language improved. While he had not yet achieved perfect fluency, he was able to carry on detailed conversations. As a result, Yekaterina decided to teach Berwald more than just linguistic skills. She would come by their apartment with armloads of textbooks on a great variety of subjects. Berwald devoured them. His favorites were the ones on history and modern technology. Slowly, he was catching up and learning about the current world and its complex inner workings. Tino was happy to see that Berwald enjoyed books so much, and would often take him to book stores. There, Berwald could spend a portion of his earnings from selling his furniture and carvings.
When Tino would come home from work and Berwald was not over at his father's house carving, he would find his boyfriend sitting at the kitchen table reading. Sometimes, it was the massive grey pages of The Courier-Journal that Berwald turned with nimble fingers. On other occasions, he would be absorbed in a book about a specific topic, such as the Protestant Reformation or Space Travel. Novels seemed to intrigue Berwald as well, even if they were quite different from the spoken epic poetry of his time.
On the fourth of October, Berwald and Tino found themselves sitting under one of the many white tents that were nestled along the roads between ancient trees and Victorian homes. The couple had decided to divide their tent in half in order to display their wares separately. Tino's side was hung with a variety of photographs depicting natural scenes. On the ground were several white, cardboard boxes filled with prints. Berwald's side was filled with tables and stands. On them were carved wooden pendants, sculptures, and even miniature replicas of Viking ships. Three tents over, Tino's mother sat among her many colorful paintings, humming and greeting customers.
Over the course of the three day festival, Berwald and Tino found that their wares sold quite well. A great number of customers, friends and strangers alike, came by and made purchases.
On the third day of the festival, a Sunday, things started to slow down. As a result, Berwald and Tino had more time to take breaks and even wander away from their tent. Lunch time was the quietest, as most of the remaining art fair goers were lined up in front of the many food stands. Tino's mother walked over to Tino and Berwald's tent with a turkey sandwich in hand and gestured towards a figure of a man in the distance.
"Tino, does your apartment complex allow dogs?" she asked.
"Well, yeah." Tino replied.
"That man over there is trying to adopt out a few puppies. You and Berwald should take a look if you have time."
Tino smiled and nodded. Since the death of their old family dog Glitter Warrior three years ago, neither Tino nor his parents had bothered to get a new pet. Tino certainly wasn't opposed to the idea of a new canine friend. He took Berwald by the hand and walked towards the man in the distance.
As Tino got closer, he noticed that there was a small wire pin at the man's feet. Rolling, hopping and stumbling about within its confines were a group of tiny white Maltese puppies. The man standing above them laughed loudly and waved. There was a McDonald's hamburger in his hand. A piece of lettuce fell out from between the buns, down a section of his blond hair and onto his glasses.
"Hey you guys. Interested in a puppy? Name's Alfred, by the way." his voice was as bright as his smile. The man took off his glasses and wiped away the piece of lettuce that had fallen seconds earlier.
"Yes," said Berwald as he knelt down next to the wire fence. He reached his arm over and began to stroke of the puppies with enthusiasm.
"We would." said Tino.
"That's good," the Alfred replied, "I can't afford to keep 'em."
"Really?" Tino asked.
"Yeah, really. I found these guys and their mother chillin' in the house I'm renting as soon as I moved in. The mother had to be put down because she had some weird leg infection. Apparently, the guy that lived there before me just left 'em when he moved. Who does that?"
"I don't see how anybody could leave these little guys behind. Look at how cute they are!" said Tino.
"Yeah," Alfred replied, "I don't get it, either."
Suddenly, Berwald stood up. He held one of the wriggling puppies against his broad chest. "This little girl seems th' friendl'st." he said.
Tino laughed at what had to be simultaneously the most comical and adorable thing that he had ever seen in his entire life. "Hand her to me." he said before Berwald plopped the white fluff ball into his arms.
The puppy flicked her little pink tongue out and reached up to lick Tino's face. She then let loose a tiny yip and rubbed her nose against Tino's blue hoody. Laughing, Tino said "I think she just might be the one."
Alfred reached over Tino's shoulder and stroked the puppy's head with two fingers. "Good choice! That one's pretty chill. Your buddy over there's right, she's a girl."
"I think we'll take her, but she needs a name." said Tino, "Berwald, do you have any ideas?"
"Nah,'s yer decision." the big man replied.
"Well then," said Tino, tapping his foot. "How about Cheese Castle?"
Berwald groaned.
"You're right, that was a bad one. Sardine Picnic?"
"No." replied Berwald.
"Dude, those are some weird names." said Alfred, shaking his head.
Tino sighed, Japanese names sounded cool to him, why not look back on his high school Japanese classes for inspiration? The first words that he could recall were "hana"; which meant flower, and "tamago"; which meant egg. "This is a good one for sure! How about, um, Hanatamago?"
"Odd, but c'te." at last, Tino had selected a name that Berwald was okay with.
Hanatamago, it seemed, was quite a natural edition to Berwald and Tino's little household. Like any puppy, she had a near infinite amount of springy energy and spent most of the evening playing keep away with any object that she could find lying around. It was almost like playing with a child: a furry, four legged child who insisted on sniffing everything. Berwald was just as excited as Tino about the new family member. He would pick her up off the floor and hold her with gentleness that was surprising to see in a man his size. Tino couldn't help but wonder how Berwald would look holding a baby. Maybe one day in the future they would be able to adopt.
When Hanatamago's energy was spent and she fell asleep balled up in her brand new bed, Tino began to feel his body grow heavy with exhaustion. He turned and looked at the black clock above the sofa. It was 9:30.
"I know it's still pretty early, but today really wore me out. I'm going to bed." Tino said. He then looked over at Berwald, whose mouth was wide open with a yawn.
"M' too." he said with a heavy voice.
It wasn't long before the couple found themselves nestled under the blue comforter of Tino's bed, holding onto each other and sleeping deeply.
Soon after the summer months crept over the village, the rain seemed to stop altogether. The lake began to dry up, leaving parts of it full of nothing but scales of dry dirt. The rivers and streams were reduced from a great roar to a trickle. Deer became a rare site and those that stayed around soon dropped dead due to hunger or thirst. The worst part of the drought was the drying of the soil. Try as them may, Tino and his villagers could barely coax their crops to grow. There was only so much food left over from the winter stockpiles, and people's bodies became little more than bones. Not everyone survived. The youngest of Tino's sisters, Airi, succumbed to starvation just before the beginning of fall. In spite of the hardships, Tino did his best to provide for his family, and took more hunting trips than ever before. By the time snow and rain began to fall during the winter, the damage was already done. Nothing would grow in frozen soil.
When the spring of the next year came, Tino wasn't sure how he had survived the winter. His once husky body had slimmed down to the point of gauntness. He hoped that Berwald would recognize him when he returned.
At the beginning of the summer, when all of the ice and snow had melted into water and refilled the lakes and streams, Berwald came walking into the village holding the hand of a copper haired boy who looked to be about fourteen winters old. Tino was overjoyed to see him, and ran directly into Berwald's arms.
"Darling, you've returned!" Tino said, craning his neck upwards to steal a kiss.
"Mmm. Ya feel smaller." Berwald said, stroking Tino's back.
"The rains didn't come last summer." Tino replied, "But fear not, our crops are growing once more."
Berwald smiled, "M' glad." he then gestured to the boy at his side. "This 's Sven."
Sven scowled, "I can introduce myself, brother."
Tino laughed, "He's quite the strong willed one, I see."
Berwald nodded.
"Man-wife, stop speaking of me as though I'm not here!" Sven said, jabbing Tino in the chest with a finger.
"Tino threw up his arms in mock surrender, "Oh, I'm sorry to have ignored you. Welcome to my village, Sven."
The young boy gave Tino a wide, cheeky grin.
"Tino, you don't know h'w long 've waited for this day." Berwald whispered as he grasped Tino's forearms and leaned in for yet another kiss.
But their lips never met.
The defining roar of running feet and battle cries filled the air. Tino opened his eyes and saw a great mob of Berwald's men dashing towards the village, brandishing weapons.
Tino woke with a jolt. The cotton of the bed covers was soaked in sweat, making Tino's skin feel clammy. He then noticed the feeling of Berwald's arm around him. The barbarian was still asleep.
"Wake up," Tino grunted, "and let go of me."
Berwald's eyes snapped open. The big man sat up and tried to lean in for a kiss, only to receive a stinging slap to the side of his face.
"Don't fucking touch me." Tino growled.
"What's th's all about?" asked Berwald, rubbing the reddening side of his face.
"You know what I'm talking about. How could you forget having your men raid my village?" Tino was almost shouting.
"You don' under..." but Berwald was cut off.
"Yes, I do." Tino said, "Get dressed, pack your things and leave. I want you gone by the time I come home from work. If I see you again, I'll call the cops on your ass."
"Tino, let m' explain." Berwald gripped Tino's hand, only to have him pull away.
"I'm not as stupid as you think I am. Get the fuck out." Tino pointed a stern finger at the door. "Pack, now."
"Tino..." Berwald tried to take his beloved's hand again and was once more unsuccessful.
"Go visit Lukas or something. Maybe he can seal you back into an amulet where you belong." Tino was now yelling from in front of the bathroom door. He looked down at the wooden ring on his finger and pulled it off. He then threw it at Berwald's head and slammed the bathroom door shut.