Hey everybody, I managed to update without a huge amount of wait time. Hooray.
First though, gfdkljkdsjgkljfkljg! Does anyone else watch Legend of Korra? ! That finale man! All of my feels! It's been almost two days and they still have me tear-bending!
Aha, anyway~ How about we get on with the chapter, shall we?
Chapter 29- Of Thanks and Runaways
The two boys didn't have to wait very long before Almas returned, handing each a bit of bread and some water. They both said thank you as they took them, before starting to eat in a slightly awkward silence. It was clear, at least to Straton, seeing as Almas hadn't been there at the time, that Keane was still a bit uncertain about all of this. He didn't blame him, he wasn't quite sure what to do either, after all. So far though, these people had been nice, and it would be best if they tried to see how far this could get them.
"Um, how much farther east are you all going?" the younger boy asked after a moment, breaking the silence. Keane looked up from his food to pay attention, apparently having been knocked out of his own thoughts by the question. Almas leaned against the large cart before answering him.
"Our farthest stop east is Bosky, it's about as far as you can go without walking straight on into the mountains," she said. Despite themselves, both Keane and Straton couldn't help but perk up a bit at that. Sure, those mountains would be a huge problem once they got there, but the fact that they might actually be able to get there in the first place was more than they'd thought they'd end up doing. The young woman very quickly took notice of their change in mood, however.
"Just why do you two want to go east, anyway?" she asked, looking the two over curiously. The boys sat in silence for a moment as they tried to come up with a viable excuse, neither having through of anything else since they had last been asked a similar question by these people. The redhead quickly averted his eyes, scratching the back of his head as he started to stumble through an answer.
"I, um, well we just… we need to… uh, it's complicated?" he managed, practically cringing as he finished. Almas just raised an eyebrow at the two, obviously not satisfied with what barely constituted as an answer. After a second though, she started chuckling slightly, shaking her head in amusement.
"Well, you two've certainly got a few secrets, don't you?" she said, a slightly joking tone to her voice. Keane and Straton glanced at each other for a second, neither boy still quite sure how to handle all of this. It almost felt wrong to meet actual nice people after everything they had gone though.
Well, nice people who apparently still didn't think very highly of +anima, but what else should they have expected, with their luck?
"It's not really the easiest thing in the world," Straton mumbled under his breath softly, surprising the other two. Keane didn't say anything, instead turning his attention back to the remainder of his water before taking another sip. Almas just sighed after a moment, looking the two children over once again.
"So, I'd take it you two would like it if we gave you a ride?" she asked, and wordlessly they both nodded. "Alright then, I'll see what we can do," Almas finished, before pushing herself away from the large cart to go to where Straton and Keane assumed Rasul was.
Once the blond boy was sure that they were alone once again, he sighed softly, not even turning to look at Keane as he spoke.
"What's wrong?" he asked the older boy, surprising him slightly. Keane turned to look at him, a frown on his face. There wasn't anything wrong with him, he just wasn't about to go about trusting just anyone after everything that'd happened. Of course, these people were offering to take them almost the entirety of the rest of the way, so right now there was no way he could turn that down.
"Nothing, I'm fine. We got really lucky here," he answered truthfully, and after a moment Straton nodded in agreement. As long as they didn't find out they were one, princes, or two, that Keane was a +anima, they might actually be able to do this.
"Definitely," he said, not about to argue with that at all.
About ten minutes later Almas came back, finding the two still seated on the back of the cart that'd found them in. The brothers were talking quietly to each other, but quickly stopped once they caught sight of her, focusing their attention on the young woman instead.
"Hey, you're in luck, Rasul said that you two can tag along if you help out a bit. It should be about a two days trip. How does that sound?" she asked, smiling slightly at the relieved look on the two boys' faces.
"That would be great, thank you," Straton said, Keane nodding in agreement. The blonde quickly pushed himself off the back of the cart, his brother lowering himself at a slower pace, still favoring his injured leg despite trying to hide it. Before either of them could ask what they could do to help however, Almas started speaking once again.
"Oh no, not now. We're all set up to start leaving again anyway, and you two've gotta rest. Still can't believe a couple of kids like you were limping around with cuts like that," she said, surprising them both. After a few seconds Keane recovered and shrugged slightly. After everything that had happened to them, they were just lucky that they'd just gotten a chance to even try to limp their way to the mountains. Of course, there was no way he was going to start trying to explain that to her.
"Is there somewhere we should go when the carts do leave?" the redhead asked. Almas quickly nodded and started over to the first cart in the line, the two instantly following her.
"You two can stay in the back of this cart once we get moving. It'll be a little cramped, but the front'll be open for us to see back there if you need anything, and it'll definitely be better than how you were hiding before," she explained, opening the back of the cart so that they could see inside. What she said seemed true, there was quite a bit of stuff packed there, but it seemed more so to be just what they needed for travel than actual merchandise. It was still more than they'd had tucked under the tarp before, and Keane didn't imagine they'd be moving around very much once they started going.
"Thank you again for helping us out as much as you have. It's been… pretty hard going on our own," the redhead mumbled. Even if he almost wished that it wasn't, whatever it was theses people's view on +anima is was quickly diminishing in importance in his mind. They'd been nothing but nice to them so far, and if they hadn't gotten a break like this, he really had no idea how much farther they would have been able to go.
Almas simply smiled at the two before shaking her head.
"Don't mention it. Like I said, you two just rest up for now. We shouldn't have to stop again until tomorrow morning," she said, and they both nodded.
It wasn't much later before they saw Rasul come back into sight, along with three other men that the brothers assumed probably worked for him and helped drive the other two carts. Apparently he must have told the men about them, since no one asked anything, although they did take a few glances at the two. After that however, they were told to get into the back of the supplies cart, and with a small jolt the horses started carrying them forward.
Looking out the back as they went, it was definitely a lot better than huddled up in fear like they'd been before, and miles better than having to walk again. Keane was surprised to find Straton actually asleep after not very long at all.
Like the young woman had said, they ended up stopping the next morning. Almas made sure to change the bandages on both boys after they ate, although this time they were allowed to help out with the carts. Rasul quickly took the redhead to help with restacking and organizing some of the produce that had been knocked over as they rode. Keane didn't object at all, figuring that this was about as close to paying them for everything as they could afford to.
Once finished Keane sat exhausted on the back of one of the carts, legs dangling into the air as he caught his breath. It wasn't really any worse than some of the classes he'd had to take back at the palace, if not for the heat. Before he could say anything Rasul placed a cup on water into his hands, which he quickly took a few gulps of.
"Thank you," he said almost automatically afterwards. The dark haired man just nodded, and looking around himself Keane quickly noticed something off.
"Where's Straton?" he asked, turning his attention back to Rasul when he didn't see the blond anywhere. The older man simply shrugged though, taking a drink of his own water before answering him.
"Saw Almas taking the kid off somewhere. Probably checking up on the horses," he said, and Keane quickly nodded. He tried to tell himself that there was absolutely no reason to be worried about the younger boy, since there wasn't. His paranoia from everything that had happened to them was a bit too strong though, and he found himself trying to strain slightly to see where the horses were.
"Is it okay if I go see them?" he asked after a moment. The man quickly noticed his slight unease, and nodded without a thought.
"Knock yourself out, I don't have anything left for you to do. We should start moving again in another hour or so," he said, and Keane quickly nodded, pushing himself off the back of the cart afterwards. It didn't hurt nearly as much to put pressure on his leg as it did yesterday, although there was still a dull pain whenever he took a step, but he could ignore it.
"Thanks," the redhead said before starting over to the horses without another word. Once they were in his sights he quickly spotted Straton there, although Almas was no where in sight. The blond was smiling, petting one of the horses as they ate out of a large tray. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Keane walking up to him and turned to face the older boy.
"Hey Kaveh," he said, remembering to use the fake name that Keane had introduced himself as incase anyone was nearby.
"Hey, everything okay?" he asked, and the blond quickly nodded, turning to pet the large brown horse by him once again. They'd never really had animals inside the palace, so neither of them really had much experience with them outside of that incident with the wild dog. It didn't surprise Keane at all though that Straton would like them.
"Yeah, Almas just left, but she said that she didn't need me to do anything else. How was working with Rasul?" the blond answered. Keane stayed a tentative distance away from the horses as he answered. They seemed nice, it looked like they liked Straton, he just didn't want to spook them or anything. Could animals tell if someone was a +anima?
"It was fine. Tiring, but that's the least we could do with how much they're helping us," he said, Straton quickly nodding in agreement.
About an hour later they were back inside of the supply cart as they continued their way east. They ended up stopping for a second time before nightfall, allowing everybody to eat once again and rest for the night. Almas told the two that they would probably reach Bosky the morning after tomorrow.
Keane and Straton slept inside of the cart they had ridden in, which despite having a hard wooden floor was a bit better than the equally hard and often bumpy and rock covered ground they'd had to use since escaping. They even allowed the two to use a couple of thin blankets to block out some of the cold night air. They hadn't really needed anything like that when they were sleeping during the day, but as it was right now they did help quite a bit.
The next day was very similar to the one before, both boys helping out as much as they could during the stops. Keane couldn't help but gasp slightly when the mountains finally came into view over the horizon. They were absolutely huge. The redhead could feel the sense of relief that filled the two despite this though. Sure, they still had to figure out a way to cross those monsters, but they actually made it in sight of them. The longer they had went, the less and less he'd believed that was ever going to happen.
"Whoa…" Straton mumbled under his breath next to him, and Keane just nodded. This was definitely nothing like anything they'd ever seen in pictures back at Stella, that was for sure. Pictures didn't convey just how big they were.
Once again the carts stopped for the night, Almas smiling at the much improved mood of the two boy's as she handed them dinner.
"It should only take about a half an hour or so to get to Bosky in the morning," she told them.
"Thanks again, for everything," Keane said, Straton nodding his agreement. Almas just waved their thanks away though, quickly telling the two boys that it was nothing, they'd been plenty of help. The redhead couldn't help but at least be thankful that they hadn't bothered them, at the very least.
"Make sure you boys get plenty of rest tonight," Almas said before leaving, and the two nodded. Once night came around though and everyone else was asleep, Keane found himself still awake. The relief that seeing the mountains had bought earlier was clean out of his head, instead replaced with the very realistic fear of how in the world they were going to survive the crossing.
Sitting up slightly, a thought crossed his mind, causing the boy to instantly frown. They couldn't… not when they'd all been so nice to them. But…
"Hey, Straton? Wake up," he whispered quickly, shaking the younger boy by him softly. Straton slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, squinting into the darkness until he caught sight of Keane, confusion clear on his face.
"What? Is something wrong?" he asked back, keeping his voice just as low despite still being a bit groggy from sleep. Keane shook his head, looking over in the direction the adults would be sleeping in, outside. He couldn't see them, so he turned back to his brother instead to explain what had been running through his head.
"No, but I just… how are we gonna cross the mountains?" he asked, watching as the blond thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out once we get there," he said, and slowly Keane nodded. He hoped that was the case, but with how everything else had been… at the very least, he knew they'd end up dying if they went in as unprepared as they had started out in the desert.
"Y-yeah, but I was just thinking… I'd feel really bad, since they've been so nice to us, but… maybe we should…" he trailed off, glancing at the storage of food and water and blankets that were around them. The blond boy quickly made the connection, eyes widening slightly when he realized what Keane was trying to suggest.
"We can't steal from them. They're the ones who brought us here," he hissed quietly. Keane quickly shook his head though, he didn't want to either, but they couldn't have a repeat of last time. He had no idea what in would be like in those mountains, but he knew that it wasn't going to be easy in the least. They had to at least try to prepare themselves as much as they could.
"We don't have to steal completely. I mean, we can leave the rest of that money Basim gave us, remember? It'll be useless in Asteria anyway," he suggested, watching as Straton froze for a minute in thought, clearly torn.
"I don't know… I guess it would be good if we could keep ourselves from having to actually stop at Bosky and buy everything we need… it would probably look really suspicious," the blond mumbled, almost more to himself then to Keane, but the redhead nodded anyway. That had been something he'd thought of too. If they could avoid the town, then they would be able to avoid anyone who might try to stop them from heading into the mountains.
"I'd still feel bad though," Straton said quietly after a moment, and Keane couldn't help but nod once again.
"Me too, but we would still kind of be paying for it… I'm sure they'd understand," the redhead said. After a few seconds Straton sighed, pulling the bag Basim had given him over and taking the small sack of money still inside out.
"I guess you're right," he said, and without another word Keane allowed for his ears to transform, listening in to make sure that all of the adults really were asleep. With a sigh of relief he slowly stood up, looking around the cart with his now improved eyesight to try and figure out just what in the world they would need to cross a freaking mountain.
Between the two of them, they decided to fill up their bag with as much food as they could, two small blankets and a role of bandages incase anything else happened to them. They also filled up the two canteens that Straton had brought before taking one last look around the cart.
"I still feel bad about this," Keane whispered before they left the cart, still keeping his ears trained to listen to any possible sounds from anyone else. Straton sighed and nodded, placing the bag of money in a easily visible spot before turning to look back at the older boy.
"Me too," he said quietly. Without another word, they crawled out of the back of the cart, both hesitating for a second before starting away from the carts towards the imposing silhouettes of the mountains. It wasn't until the carts were out of sight did either of them attempt to speak again.
"I can't believe we actually got here," Keane mumbled, leaving his ears out just incase. Straton nodded, not taking his eyes away from the black forms in front of them.
"I told you we would," he said, and Keane couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
"Yeah, I guess you did," the redhead answered. It really was crazy, at least to him, no matter how confident Straton might have been. It was true though. Maybe they really would be able to make it across though, despite the doubt he'd had before. They had managed to make it this far, after all. Somehow.
Yay, finished. I am so excited to get to the mountain arc, you have no idea. I kept getting distracted during writing this chapter by planning for it. I hope this chapter though, which was kind of another relaxed chapter like the last few wasn't too boring or anything. Like I said, things should definitely start to pick up now that they are finally in the mountains.
As always, thanks for reading and please review.