“Your face always happens to be in mine when I wake up! Ever heard of personal space?” Seriously, I may as well have nightmares about those eyes.
He pushes himself off the ground, groaning to himself, “Here we go…” Takehiko heads to the fire at which Dara is kneeling before. Two white-lipped feers are roasting on a spit, cooking through while Dara turns them. Dara’s once peaceful gaze is interrupted as Takehiko plops down in front of him, crosses his legs, and positions his palms on his knees. I can almost sense the ardent vexation in the air. My legs feel like jelly as they get up and make their way to the blaze, almost as if my soul crept up and hid in my belly. The smoke emanating from the two feers makes me sneeze forcefully, bringing the two boys’ attention onto me. “When’d you guys get the meat?” I ask, rubbing my nose.
Dara keeps rotating the spit. “Takehiko woke up early to hunt. Not surprisingly, only two made it here.” Dara pins a disdainful look upon him as Takehiko perks at his name.
Takehiko rolls his head back on his neck, sighing deeply. “You try catching feers in the early morning being exhausted and with no light if you think I’m so inadequate. Not to mention with your bare hands. Those things are damn quick. You should be grateful I caught anything at all and lost sleep because of it.”
Dara counters him as expected. “You think you lost sleep? Try listening to your incessant sleep talking and see how much rest you actually get.”
Responding with only a yawn and shrug, Takehiko leans back on the ground and closes his now baggy eyes, his arms situated behind his head.
I peer at Dara. “I didn’t hear anything and I’m a light sleeper.” Every night when Ev was alive, I would wake up at the slightest creak from his room, which obviously caused some issues. That’s why most nights he ended up sleeping with me, cradling my small body like a plush bear and lulling me with some timeless hymn. I’ve sort of grown out of that, but every now and then, a fleeting whisper knocks me right up.
“You’re clearly not as light of a sleeper as me. It was obnoxious actually.” He switches to Takehiko. “You went on for easily half an hour. Don’t tell me you didn’t realize you were doing it.”
Takehiko waves him off without even batting an eye, giving us a message along the lines of, ‘No, I didn’t know. Now, please kindly shut up.’
The crackle of the fire fills the otherwise dead air. “So,” I start. “Who’s going to split theirs?”
Dara begins, “Well, we could split the two into thirds and-” Before he can finish what sounds like a good idea, Takehiko speaks up.
“I don’t need mine. I’ll eat later. You two go ahead.” Does food mean nothing to him now? He’s as pale as a piece of chalk, not to mention thin as a twig.
“Takehiko, you-” I try to retaliate but Dara interrupts me.
“If he doesn’t want to eat, then he won’t. When he faints, not my problem.” Dara hands me the juicier rodent, the skin slightly singed. I take it, offering my thanks, and begin to figure out where to start on the creature. The torso looks full of meat and contains fewer bones than the legs. Its blank eyes are kind of off-putting, but if I ignore them, it’ll be easier to eat. My mouth fits around the animal but doesn’t peel off the skin quite yet. Takehiko is just laying there, fatigued and obviously hungry. His stomach lets out a low grumble of yearning. That boy needs to eat and soon. He may be trying to throw on his cocky cloak and masquerade as some hero, but he isn’t doing anyone any favors.
Half of my feer lands on his chest, making him jump. I proceed to eat the legs of mine as if nothing happened. A quick look at Takehiko shows his eyes fixated on me, bewildered at my toss of meat. Dara slightly shakes his head and moves onto the neck of his. Secretly, I think he’s sort of relieved he won’t have to carry Takehiko on his back now. Thirty seconds pass and Takehiko is left staring at the flesh on his shirt. “Eat,” I prod him.
He heeds, taking a gentle bite out of the back. “Thanks, Miss Nanami.” The kind of restraint he has on not gobbling it down is amazing. I mean, it could just be that if he eats too fast, he’ll just puke it out. That would be almost worse, to be honest.
Once our meager meal is finished, we extinguish the fire and head on our way. Takehiko takes the lead, to Dara’s discontent, and barely speaks as he concentrates on walking in the right direction. As much as I like to stroll, my feet begin to groan after the third hour, resulting in me dragging my way along. It doesn’t help that we skip lunch. Less energy makes for a more strenuous trek. Each break is a privilege, but the first one isn’t so kindly welcomed. Right now, we’re leaning against trees and waiting as a disheveled Takehiko holds his tender and apparently dislocated toe. “Remind me to never ‘crack’ another joke around a rock.” No one’s laughing. After what seems to be the millionth joke surrounding the rock that, according to Takehiko, had planned its revenge, I slump down in front of him. With the foot now roughly cradled in my hand, I fit my fingers around the toe. “Oi oi oi, what are you-”
A quick crackling and Takehiko is yelping in pain. “You do realize it’s impolite to just start wrenching around people's toes right?! You could’ve broken it or something.”
“I fixed it. Now put some damn shoes on and maybe this won’t happen.” Dara stands up with me as Takehiko delicately inspects my handiwork. Swollen and purple must be ok for him to continue with thankfully.
At some point in those grueling hours of walking, Dara fortunately came upon a very disheveled and abandoned tent, making it possible to fashion himself a raggedy yet passing cloak to hide his oddities. This time around, there were thankfully no smartass remarks from our dear friend Takehiko.
It’s nearly dark when we spot bulbs of light in the distance. Takehiko crosses his arms. “See? Told you I’d get you there.” Countless lanterns dot our path as we get closer to the lively town. Following the now apparent path, I observe the jovial scene passing us by. Vivid parties are drinking wine and playing lively games while street music comes from every direction. Violins, trumpets, and kitars all fill the air, causing my mind to race with excitement yet anxiety. The whole street is golden with the orbs of light casting down their gleaming stream and I feel almost a sense of comfort in this newfound place. As the town bustles on, I let out a soft yawn.
Upon seeing my yawn, Dara alerts Takehiko, “Hey, we better find somewhere to rest for the night. We’re going to need all of our energy tomorrow.” Even Dara’s energy seems to be waning as his eyelid droops lower than before and his shoulders are slightly slumped.
Takehiko stops walking and sighs. “And with what money I suppose?”
Dara looks too exhausted to even care at this point. “We’ll figure it out.” As we continue to scan the area for an idea, a pair of drunken middle-aged men trip along the sidewalk while nearly dragging each other down. As they continue to laugh and become more annoying by the minute, Takehiko observes them intensely. Their unwashed hair is splayed in all directions and their sweat-slicked clothes stick to them as they trip over a nook in the ground, sloppily regaining their footing. Takehikos eyes squint and the corner of his mouth curls with interest. “I’ll be right back” He leaves us and starts strolling in the men’s direction. I shoot Dara a questioning look knowing Takehiko’s hot-headed behavior could easily turn this situation into a disaster.
We carefully follow behind him just enough so we can hear the men’s incoherent babbling. Takehiko directly blocks their path, causing the men to stop and look upon the imposter in their way, their glazed eyes following his face. In an obviously fake manner, Takehiko puts on the widest grin I’ve ever seen and poses his body like a horrendous performer.
“Good evening gentlemen! My, it seems you’ve had a wonderful night indeed!” Takehiko’s sudden shift in character shakes me awake. The men hold up imaginary bottles to him and shakily try to drink the air. “I see I was correct! Well, my good sirs, I have just the thing to make it even more magnificent. If I am able to borrow a 60 pence coin, I’ll show you a trick that even the greatest of the great cannot perform! It’ll only take a mere moment of your time” He continues the faulty smile and throws his arms open wide to enhance his act. The men glance at each other and bob their heads in a dizzying fashion, roaring with drunken laughter. Without saying anything, they seem delighted to hand him the shiny coin. As they do this, I realize what Takehiko’s doing. If we can’t find a place for free, then why not get the money to buy one? Though I normally respect the law, desperate times call for desperate measures. I feel less guilty though considering they’re drunk. Is this how father would look every night? My fists tighten as I think of all the pain I endured because of that damned alcohol. Take all their money for all I care, I think to myself.
Patting each other on the back, the two men eagerly watch as Takehiko flips the coin and catches it. The smirk of an entertainer is on his lips as he rolls the coin on the back of his knuckles. His skill of hand is quite impressive, I must say. “Now watch closely.”
The men watch with as much attention as their drunk eyes can give as Takehiko holds the coin in his fingers and, staring daggers at it, blows on it like one would to remove a pesky insect. With a flick of his wrist, it’s gone. The men sloppily clap and woot for his trick. Takehiko interrupts them. “Aha, I’m not yet finished.”
The men immediately halt their claps and wait excitedly as Takehiko displays both sides of his hands to reveal the absence of the coin, continuing by reaching into his mouth with unneeded cautiousness. Upon pulling his hand from his mouth, the gold of the coin shines through his somewhat saliva covered fingers. Disgusting, I know. Once the men catch sight of the coin, they become much more delighted than one should for a simple parlor trick, even one done as well as his. “Bravo!” they repeatedly yell out in drunken slurs. “Do it again!” Takehiko beams even more and twiddles the coin between his lanky fingers.
“Thank you! Your applause is most appreciated! Now, would you be interested in an even more awe-inspiring trick? If so, I require a 100 pence coin for this one. The higher the risk, the better the trick!”
The two drunken idiots, still not sober enough to even consider the high value, easily give up the coin to Takehiko. If Takehiko pulls this off, we may have a solid two nights of shelter in the bag.
Takehiko takes it and pretends to focus with all his might, his bright eyes piercing through the shiny metal. The men lean forward, watching intently. At this point, their alcohol ridden breath is definitely invading Takehiko’s nose. Takehiko moves his opposite hand and, looking as if he’s about to make a move, sprints towards where we are. “Run!” he harshly whispers to us, a rushed look in his eyes. Dara and I follow suit as we hear the men tripping behind us, yelling that he’s a scammer and demanding their money back. Guess that’s what they get for wasting their money earlier on their dumbass alcohol. I peek behind to find them falling on the ground, too clumsy to run straight. My stomach flips thinking this is how father ended up being shot. Now I can see why he seemed like such an easy target for those guards. “Miss Nanami, keep your feet moving!” Takehiko’s voice drags me back. We dash through the village until we have not only lost the two drunks who are surely blacked out in a heap somewhere, but have stumbled upon a large tavern with warm light emanating from within. The walls are a dark cherrywood and the windows sills are plated with gold. It strikes me as homey but also slightly extravagant in that regard. The wooden doors that greet us are gold veined themselves and the crack between them reveals lively laughter pouring out from the bar.
Dara grabs onto his tent cloak more firmly as we head inside to find a very welcoming and light atmosphere. Groups of men play a seemingly intense game of cards while others guffaw and drink the night away. A very burly man with a grizzly graying mustache stands at the front bar, cleaning a shot glass with a rag. “Come on in already,” he says impatiently. Takehiko pushes us on and we abide him, peering at the customers beside us who have started to stare. It is rather odd for elves of our age to be in such a middle-aged setting.
We push our way past the crowded chairs and tables in order to get to the mustached man at the bar. The man’s deep-set amber eyes only add to the onslaught of pupils already upon us, causing my palms to become clammy as they always seem to do. Having now finished cleaning the glass, the man leans on the sanded counter and glares at us. “Is this really your type of place, kids?”
Words nearly escape Takehiko’s mouth but Dara quickly jumps in. “Yes, actually. We’re looking for a place to spend the night and so here we are. Have a room we could use?” Dara shows no apprehension in the presence of such a broad-shouldered man. Now that I can see the man closer, I can tell he has a long scar going across his chin, sparking my curiosity as to how it got there.
“Look here, boy. I ain’t giving free housing to any ol’ kids off the streets, ok? Go find an orphanage or something where you may feel more comfortable.” A couple of men behind us chuckle at the bar man’s words and he goes back to cleaning a different shot glass.
This time, Takehiko slams his hand on the counter, leaving the coin he just stole in its place. The man looks in astonishment at the bright gold now staring up at him. Takehiko crosses his arms. “A night’s stay and some food is all we want. Just for that, you can keep it.” He nods towards the coin that’s now being examined in the man’s knobby knuckles.
“How did a couple of kids like you get this much money?” he asks, still in disbelief.
Now I speak up. “Is that something you ask all of your paying customers?”
His eye twitches at me and he grunts. Turning back to Takehiko, he says, “Sit while I send someone to prepare a room for the lot of you. I’ll bring some grub.”
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