Communication was difficult even at the best of times. The
ragged man who had saved X was deluded and lost in his own world. The woman in
red armor and the person in blue armor hardly ever talked at all. This problem
was compounded by the fact that X couldn’t say a word. More than anything he
needed to know where they were going. Judging by the sun they were traveling to
the west deeper into the desert where no civilization was.
There were strange things in the desert that flickered
beyond the corner of your eye. Creatures that ebbed and snarled, grasping at
something that X could not see. Much of the time it looked as if they followed
the ragged man. Something about him drew these shadows and apparitions.
Initially it seemed as if X was the only one who noticed these visions until
the ragged man brushed one off as it tried to bite him. These were strange
people accustomed to strange things and X found himself curious beyond curious
about them.
To the three of them these creatures were likely common
sights, which meant something important but X wasn’t quite sure what yet. In
his current state he was as impotent as ever. Luckily the person clad in Blue
noticed his fidgeting and walk beside him for company. “Salutations jester, I
hope that you are not too warm?” X hadn’t noticed it before but he was
pleasantly refreshed even though they were in the desert. It wasn’t just that
he was used to poor conditions, it was that the person in blue was sucking the
heat away from them and their surroundings. An aura of chill was pervasive
around him. “You probably want to know where we are going and why. I am
Chevalier and we are traveling to the cursed desert city of Owens. Our new friend in the tattered wear
has unfinished business there and did not appreciate that we abducted him.”
Chevalier the blue explained.
Abducted.
The ragged boy did not seem like someone who had been
abducted. He held himself professionally if not a bit creepily, rather than in
a sulking or defeated manner. Before Chevalier could leave, X needed to know
one more thing. With a slow motion of his hands he pointed to the shadowy
creatures that he could barely see wisps of in the corner of his eyes. This was
a remarkable feat, in all honesty. Chevalier merely shrugged, “We are somewhere
close to somewhere else. They are harmless but the tattered one looks delicious
so they try to eat him anyway.” That was a horrifying thought and not what X
wanted to hear. At least they were harmless, that was good.
Before returning to the side of the woman in red, Chevalier
unraveled a smoked, salted fish. It was cooked perfectly with just a bit of
browning. Slowly and carefully Chevalier pinched it and broke it into small
pieces then threw the bone away. Keeping all of the meat on the cloth it was
being kept in, he placed it in X’s hands. There was a happy smile coming from
Chevalier though X could not see it, he knew it was there. Hidden behind the
cold, blue helmet of Chevalier was a very warm hearted person.
Gosh, it was really delicious. Oh you have no idea how X
savored it. Yes, he couldn’t actually taste the fish or the salt, but that was
really beside the point. It was tender and soft on his mouth and a rush of
memories hit him of what food really was like. Within every morsel was the
flavor of kindness. A good person can make a meal that much more scrumptious.
For the first time in a long time X was welcome in this world and though no one
could see it behind his mask, he was smiling too. As good as it was, X couldn’t
actually eat very much. Much like when he was a child, his stomach had shrunk
so much that anything more than a few morsels made him uncomfortably bloated.
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