Ry's pov

Brother Zen started to shoot his arrows again, but Uncle Spot called me over so we could look at other things inside the chest. I called Brother Zen as well, but it looked like his love for the bow had made him forget about the chest.

Uncle Spot and I looked into the remaining items in the chest. There was a cylindrically shaped item mounted with a transparent crystal. It looked cool, but I was confused looking at it, so I asked Uncle Spot about it.

"Uncle Spot, What is that?"

"I think it's a guard that covers your forearm, maybe," answered Uncle Spot.

Uncle Spot picked the arm guard and looked at it for some time from different angles, and said.

"I think it is damaged or out of power cause it's not showing any kind of reaction."

Hearing this made me sad because I wanted to know what it was for, but I think he noticed that and continued by saying.

"So, let's put it inside the chest for now and show it to a technician later, okay, Ry?"

"Yes, Uncle Spot." I smiled with Uncle Spot, and then, big brother Zen suddenly fired an arrow so far away that it was barely visible.

"Uncle Spot, I think my arrow didn't break this time." he closed his eyes to track and check his soul arrow and said.

"It looks like that. Let's go and check it out then," suggested Uncle Spot.

"Alright, let's go, Ry," said Brother Zen, but I just shook my head as I had other plans.

"Why?" asked Uncle Spot

I told him that I was not coming that far away walking on sand, as it was difficult for me to walk with my tired little feet. Uncle Spot suggested that he would carry me, but I just declined his offer. As they knew they could not persuade me, they left me and went to look for the arrow.

As I saw their figure becoming smaller and smaller like a blemish in the red Desert,

My plan kicked in to check out the chest and other things in the glider bike's storage.

I opened up the chest and picked up the arm guard. It was not heavy at all and kinda had a soft texture to touch, but had a hard, metal-like feel as well. I put my arm inside it, but it was way too big for my thin forearm. But I thought that it still looked cool. I looked at the Hexagonal Box as well, but before I could pick it up, the arm guard started shrinking and covered my forearm, before I could even notice it was intact.

I tried to shake it off, but it did not help. I put my forearm between my feet to use my whole body and tried to remove it in all different ways, but it did not help. I thought maybe some water might help, so I poured some water on it. BUT IT DID NOT HELP.

I ...GOT ...SCARED...

Thinking that I was in danger and tears started to flow down my face. I started to run in the direction Uncle Spot and Zen went, but I felt the warm touch of the wind on my forehead, which calmed me down. Then I touched my forehead, closed my eyes, and felt the presence of Vay. She then embraced me and assured me that everything was alright and I didn't need to feel scared.

"It's alright, Ry. Don't be scared. I am here with you."

Hearing her voice made my fear evaporate like water does under the scorching heat of the sun.

"Vay, help me remove it from my arm," I said

But the answer I got was not something I expected from Vay.

"Sorry, Ry. But I can't do that," said Vay.

"Why can't you do that? I am scared of this thing," I asked her with tears in my eyes.

"Because it is Bracer of Itra," said Vay.

I saw the expression of happiness and pride, but a hint of sadness as well in Vay's eyes as she spoke. I was sure this was not a dream. I calmed myself and asked her,

"Why does that matter?"

Vay said

" This has part of my brother's soul in it. Itra was the God of lightning, Wielder of thunder.

This bracer has now bonded with you, so I can remove it. But no need to be scared of it, as it will give you unimaginable power."

"Did you know about this before it bonded with me?" I questioned her.

"Yes, I did. I arrived here to protect the bracer until it found someone worthy of it," answered Vay.

"So am I worthy?" I asked her this question as I did not feel worthy enough to wield it.

"I sensed that you are worthy of my blessing, but I did not know that my brother would also choose you as his wielder," Vay said with astonishment.

"So does that mean I will be able to use wind and lightning?" My eyes sparked as I asked her this question.

"You should be able to do more than that," Vay said, but this only filled me with more questions as to what more I will be able to do. Maybe seeing my confused face, she continued to explain further.

"I don't know how much power you can draw from the bracer, as it depends on the user, but the blessing I gave you wasn't an ordinary one," said Vay, but she looked a little bit embarrassed when saying it.

"What happened, Vay? Why are you embarrassed to say this?" I asked her, but in the back of my mind, I thought of the possibility that Vay was embarrassed to give her blessing to me, but I also remember that she told me that she wasn't good at conversations. So maybe that's the reason for her bashful attitude.

"People may call beings like me Gods, but we are not that different from other mortal beings like Humans. We are the personification of the elements we represent; we are spirits of the elements. We feel sorrow, happiness, pain, hatred, and love as well.

But we are not supposed to go against the basic nature that we are made of, like I can't help but blow the wind to see the trees and grass move, and blow people's hats and clothes with the wind. Well, this is a harmless example, but you can understand, right?" said Vay, but her embarrassment did not decrease at all.

So, as I noticed that she still hadn't answered my question, I asked her once again.

"So why are you embarrassed? Am I not worthy of your blessing?"

"It's not that, Ry. I didn't give you the blessing of a devotee, but something different." Vay held my hands and answered quickly.

"I told you that beings like me are not different from you, right?" said Vay.

"Yes, you said that just now," I answered her as she looked into my eyes. This made me notice her eyes had a little bit of a whitish tint to them.

"For so many years, I have flown alone in the galaxy. But last night, when we flew together, you became my friend. I had never in my immortal life met someone with whom I could be so carefree. When it was time for me to leave, I just could not bear to do that. I was completely smitten by you, Ry." Vay's expression was something I had never seen before. Her eyes were filled with something I couldn't describe at all.

Vay did not stop yet as she hugged me and whispered into my ear, "I am giving you my blessing, and I wish that you could be my friend forever".

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Vay? I believed you as my friend, well, I was scared at first, though".

"You will understand in the future when you come of age about life, so can we not talk about it until that time, Ry?" asked Vay with a stern yet bashful look on her face.

Before I could ask her more about it, she put her hand on my mouth, stopped me from speaking, and said

"Sleep for now, Ry."

As soon as her voice stopped, she vanished, and I lost consciousness.

.

.

.

Uncle Spot's pov

I and Zen had ventured far ahead in search of the arrow, leaving Ry to handle his quest back at camp.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave him alone, Uncle Spot?" asked Zen, with concern in his voice.

"Don't worry, Zen. The place in the Red Desert is the safest place for him. He might be going wild with the glider bike's storage by now, hehe," I reassured with a smile, but I could still see concern on his face.

Seeing the concerned expression on his face, I told him that I had set a safety perimeter around our campsite. Only then did he ease his face. But then he asked me something else.

"Is there no problem with him going through the storage?" Zen inquired.

"Well, there isn't anything dangerous inside the storage. And didn't you say that he is knowledgeable about things like that?" I responded, remembering our prior conversation during the journey.

"He might have learned about it, but I can't help but worry," Zen replied and looked back in the direction of the camp.

"Sometimes you need to trust others, Zen. If you live your life worrying all the time, when will you have fun at all?"

I replied to him as I noticed that he might be overprotective of his brother, but then again, they have still not overcome the tragedy.

"Okay, Uncle Spot."

He replied to me, but then the atmosphere between us became tense as I didn't know how to keep the conversation and Zen isn't the one to ask questions like Ry.

Before, there was Ry, who made the atmosphere so that there was no awkwardness, but now that it's just the two of us, you could hear the silence; that's how quiet the atmosphere was with him. But it might also be the lack of trust he has in me, as I am still a stranger in his eyes who came into their life just a couple of weeks ago.

So I thought of things that might interest him, but unlike Ry, whose face tells his whole story, Zen's face and expression might as well make him the best poker player, and if I kept thinking I would even forget that he exists he has a very non-existing aura he might become a great ninja one day— hehe.

Stop talking to yourself and think of something to talk about with Zen...

—But then I thought that maybe he might be interested in the life of his father.

And I started a conversation like it was a game of life and death, I should be careful with my cards.

"Do you wanna know how your father was when he was young?" I asked him this question because that's the best I could do, as I am not someone who has handled kids before.

But as soon as I asked him this question, Zen looked me straight in the eyes, which he hadn't done since we met.

"How was he?" Zen asked.

"Well, how can I describe him?— Well, first of all, he was the smart one between the two of us.

He could make these big, intricate plans that I couldn't even remember at all. We accomplished many things because of his planning. If we had continued on that path, we would have been either very rich or dead."

I am reminded of the days that I spent with Sam, and I miss him.

"What did you two do, Uncle Spot?" He asked me to tell him more about the days when we used to do petty crimes.

"Well, first of all, we were criminals, that's how you could describe the work we did back then.

Stealing, vandalizing, just being the pain in the ass to everyone we didn't like."

I was a little embarrassed about telling him about my dirty past, but the more I told him, the more curious he became.

"This is the first time I have heard about it. All I knew was that my father used to be a Smuggler, something to do with slaves," asked Zen, as this was the first he had heard of his dad's past.

"Who told you that Sam was a smuggler? First of all, Sam was not a Smuggler. He set people free from their unfair service of slavery, okay. He was an activist and a good one at that."

I got annoyed that my brother's son didn't know my brother's good work and had become a petty smuggler in his eyes.

"Dad himself told me that he was a smuggler."

Zen's innocent answer caught me off guard. I did not understand why Sam would describe himself like that to his son.

Sam was really smart, and I could never really understand what he was thinking. But maybe Sam did not want his son to go down his path, or maybe he did not want his son to think that doing good would only lead to suffering.

"Well, he had reasons to say that, but remember that your dad was a good man." I made sure that he remembered this because I didn't know the reason behind Sam's lie, but I did not want to tarnish Sam's name.

"I always believed that my father was a good man, 'cause mother always used to say that," Zen said with absolute belief in his eyes. Hearing him say that made me a little relieved.

"So, when did you stop the petty crimes?" Said Zen with a curious look on his face.

"So you want to know more about our dark past, huh?" I said with a gleefully comical smile on my face.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay as well." My smile had the opposite effect than what I wanted, as Zen had become dejected. Maybe he thought that I was seriously considering not telling him about my past.

"No, no, it's ok. I was just joking. I can tell you everything that you ask me. I will even tell you about things you did not ask for as well." I tried to recover from the situation. Never going to try that again.

"Okay, Uncle Spot. I didn't know that you were joking," he replied, making me relieved by the fact that he wasn't hurt by my stupid attempt at making the air fun. So I moved on to telling him about our past.

"So when we were doing our usual stealing gig, we were single-handedly caught by your mother," I remember my shameful state that day.

"MOTHER DID THAT!" said a surprised Zen.

"Yeah! Your mother was really powerful. But you see, she was outsmarted by your father." I replied.

"How did he outsmart her? Because mother was always the dominant one in the household." Zen reminisced about his days living with his family.

"Well, we were supposed to only steal the cargo she was guarding, but that's when she caught us. So she made us her prisoners for like a month as she was on the journey to deliver the cargo, but the thief, who was your father, had already stolen something." I couldn't help but laugh while talking about her past.