Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Eyes tracing the map, they found a road that looked like the one the two drove on. The man squinted his eyes, focusing upon the grey trace surrounded by a sea of yellow.

They were nearing the end of their long and exhausting journey.

He looked up, folded the map and stored it into one of the slightly rusted gloveboxes. The passenger’s seat provided at least some comfort, as it still had some springs left to dull the instabilities of the road. A hole there, a crack here, a bigger pile of sand from time to time.

The passenger had grazed himself enough of the monotone view provided by the landscape surrounding them for the past hour or two – both of them lost track of time since even the AC didn’t work.

He looked up from his lap, swiftly opened his shader with an embedded mirror. Even surprising himself that the weary component didn’t give in and fall off.

Ignoring the dust that stuck to the reflective glass, he observed his face.

No matter how much he tried to adjust his messy brownish hair, it still looked like a newly established bird’s nest - only the sticks were missing. However, being somewhat successful gave away the man’s forehead was basically a pool of sweat. A drop started flowing down his temple, over unspectacular, sunken cheeks and dropping from the man’s jawline onto the leather seat.

His greenly tinted eyes traced the drop on its adventure. As it ended, the man’s peripheral vision caught a glimpse from the driver.

“You looking for something?”

“Yeah. Where all that money you gave to your barber went. You should get a refund.” Smirking to his own joke, the driver groped the steering wheel.

“Shut it.” Even the passenger found the insult funny, after all, brotherly love can be shown in multiple ways.

“How much further? You’ve been looking at that map for who knows how long.”

“At least the map shows stuff that isn’t all sand. Can’t say the same about the windows-” waving across the dashboard, he growled. “-not much further now, apparently there should be a tunnel. Just drive straight and don’t let that chin of yours obstruct the vision, we haven’t crashed so far.”

“You’re just jealous yours isn’t as manly as this beauty.” Taking one arm off the wheel, he traced his own bulging jawline, lastly scratching his chin and adjusting the black shades on his nose.

“That’s not even true, we basically look the same.”

Quickly sharing views between the road and his brother, his eyes could be seen squinting behind the glasses.

“…Kinda true, but you’re the less cool version of myself. Nobody is as cool as Chad Gamer.”

Chuckling to such remark, Chad’s brother shook his head. “What a name.”

“I know. By now, I bet you’re wishing you’d be named something even remotely fly as I am.”

Grinning, he replied. “Nah, I like the name Sep way more. Less stereotypes tied to it; you know?”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’m better.”

“Woah, you might be older, but better? I’d tend to disagree.”

“Of course you would, that’s all you do. If you and your ‘moral codex’ wouldn’t stand in my way, we would’ve already owned that dream private island with coconuts we always wanted.”

“Moral codex? You were literally planning on laundering money, you should be glad I stopped you before…”

“’Before something bad could’ve happened’, yeah yeah. You’ve already tried to convince me like this a few times.”

“Damn, I guess instead of a brain, you grew that brick-like chin of yours.”

Chad shot up, hands leaving the steering wheel, they started making gestures in the air. “Enough about the chin for Yoba’s sake! I swear I’ll stop this junker right here and make you haul your ass to the farm by foot. How dare you eve…”

“Hands on the wheel, metal head!”

Chad’s eyes untied themselves from Sep, snapping to the windshield, he immediately recognised the danger. A sand pile about the half size of their car was blown onto the road from the surrounding dunes.

Stepping on the brakes barely made a difference – all the inconsistencies of this unused road must’ve caused a brake-fluid leak. Preparing to take the hit, both tensed their muscles with Chad grabbing the steering wheel and Sep supporting himself on the dashboard.

Wham!

Thanks to the one part that was still well-preserved – their seatbelts – the duo got out with just minor bruising. However, the same could not be said about their rust bucket.

As the two recovered, they saw a crack running through the windshield – and it kept getting bigger. Before they could react, they just shared a look and knew what’d come next. The windshield had a lot of sand piled up onto it, so much so that light didn’t enter the car from there anymore. The crack made one last sound.

The component gave away, allowing hot, nosy sand inside and burrowing the two humans’ upper bodies in it.

One after the other spat out the sand. Shifting their head to the other’s side, their eyes met.

At first there was astonishment, then surprise and eventually, joy. The duo erupted into laughter as the sand got to places where it shouldn’t be. All that was seen inside the car, were two cackling heads. After a solid minute, the ruckus died down and was only followed by heavy exhales as the jesting was quite demanding in such heat.

“O-okay. So-o what, do we n-now?” Still with slight guffaws in between, the younger brother spoke out. Looking down the road. “Besides getting these stupid piles, of course.”

“Now, now we better get to it.”

Shifting around, Chad began to pant. Finally getting his left hand more loose, he guided it under the heaps of sand to the car’s door knob. It wasn’t an easy effort, as the weight sat mostly on his arms and legs. With clenched teeth, he gripped the knob and pushed the door.

In fact, he pushed it a bit too much. The door completely fell off the car’s construct, creaking as the hinges gave away. Sand started pouring out of the driver’s lap immediately, allowing Chad at least some breathing room.

Sep couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, maybe it was the desperateness of their situation pilling up more, maybe it was the heat finally made him go crazy. Whatever the case, he chuckled no less, still submerged in his pile.

Untying his seatbelt, Chad got out of the car, kicking the metal construct of a door from the road and throwing it to one of the sand dunes right of their car.

“Jeez, you’re packing some muscle over there.”

“Noticed just know? Two more reasons I’m better, I’m ripped and don’t take years be aware of something.”

“Hey, I don’t deal well with heat. Makes my head go all wobbly.”

“A reason more we should get out of here, then.”

Walking around their broken vehicle, Chad leaned into Sep’s window with his hands clutching the roof above it.

“Damn, looks like you’re there for good.” A smirk drew on the older brother’s face.

“No way, ‘Mister All-aware’ how could you tell?” Sep squinted his eyes, daggering back into Chad’s shades. “Then, help me out, will ya?”

“No. I don’t think I will.”

Groaning, Sep rolled his eyes. “You trying to prove something to yourself… again?”

“Perhaps.” Chad’s wrist swung up from the roof and quickly came back down as he left the window, looking down and up the road. “Looks like nobody else is willing to help. Rough.”

His smirk became even bigger, sticking his face back through the passenger’s window.

Sep huffed, the sand was really getting more and more annoying. “Alriiiight… you’re the better brother.” Looking up from the sand below his neck, his eyes turned to Chad. “Wish you weren’t so egoistic, though.”

The little brother’s squint made Chad mirthfully chuckle as he leaned back from the window and swung open the door – surprisingly, this one didn’t break under the man’s grip. More sand flew out of the car, only thing keeping Sep in his place now was the seatbelt.

As the dust settled, he opened his eyes – until now they were closed as he didn’t want any impurities getting in – and shoved the leftovers from his lap down onto the road. Finally, he started unbuckling his seatbelt, at least he tried to. Glancing over, he soon realised the device holding his seatbelt buckled was filled to the brim with the residue of their crash.

Sighing, he turned to face his brother once more.

He was barely giving any attention to what was happening. With one hand resting on the roof, he stood close to the door’s hinges and allowed his back to slightly lean upon the open construct. Observing the road, his head slightly moved from time to time.

“The hell are you looking at?”

“Where are we supposed to go.”

“Uh-huh. That’s why you’re looking back the way we came?”

Frowning, he looked down to the passenger’s seat. “I knew that, of course. I was… evaluating the situation.” Turning his back around, now he looked down the road. Setting his arms on the car door.

Sep clenched his lips together, giving an acknowledging nod. “Anyway, I’m kinda stuck… again.”

Snickering, Chad turned back to face Sep. “Yikes, you’re always asking for my help, lil’ bro.”

Swallowing the remark as he still needed his brother’s help, Sep just shook his head with an ironic grin. “Seatbelt’s busted, mind teari-”

“Tearing it off? You bet I’m down for that.”

Supporting on of his legs on the lower part of the car, Chad took hold of the seatbelt with both hands and with one swift move, tore it off. He tore it off so quickly, the buckle got flung somewhere out the door and over a sand dune behind his back.

Finally free, Sep got out his seat and shook his brother’s hand in gratitude.

The two now stood next to their wreck, looking onto the empty seats. Feeling some sense of uneasiness which eventually grew larger as the time went on.

To get some of it of his chest, Sep spoke out. “We should really get at least to the valley before sundown…” Shooting Chad a look, he saw him looking down and scratching his chin. He didn’t think of it much, so he just shifted his view onto the road before them.

The heat that hovered above the asphalt mirrored a picture… something.

A hill? A-a tunnel? As he shielded his face with one hand, Sep’s squinting eyes confirmed the suspicions. His eyes lit up. He quickly bumped Chad’s shoulder to get his attention.

Awakening from the trance, he hmm’ed and began to look where his brother was pointing.

“Can you see that? We’re not far off at all, a few minutes of walking should do it!”

“What am I supposed to see? An oasis? I’ve been itching to meet the local female population.” His tone bared a slight sense of sarcasm.

“No, you brick for brains. Look more closely!”

“I still don’t see anything, give me a sec.” Waddling over to the trunk, he jumped on the car. Climbing on its roof, he started observing.

From Sep’s view, the sight was quite hilarious. A 6’5 bulky man with shades, standing on the roof of a wrecked car in the middle of the desert, squinting his eyes to what hopefully wasn’t a mirage.

Crossing his arms, Sep spoke out. “Why did you climb that car anyway?”

“So I can see better, duh.” Chad made a face.

“Ah. There a hill on the road blocking your view?”

“No, but your ugly face was.”

Just then and there, the wind started picking up. Before Sep could reply to his brother’s remark, sand started being picked up by the current. It started brushing off of Chad’s body. Surprised, he began shielding his face with the help of his forearms. The wind didn’t give in, which only sealed Chad’s destiny.

Surprised, he hoped to get back the way he came. Unlucky for him, the roof was now covered in a thin layer of sand. One of his legs slipped, he began shifting his weight around in hopes of preventing the inevitable fall, but exactly at that moment, a final breeze sent the buff man falling on his back.

The wind died down, allowing Chad’s grunt to be heard.

Sep came rushing over to the trunk, worried his brother had gotten injured. He arrived to an absurd scene. The roof was destroyed, bulging inside the car. The dent Chad’s body left was quite noteworthy. He was still mostly laying down when Sep got there. Before he could climb up and help him, he slowly picked up his upper body and began sitting. Scratching the back of his head, he grunted again.

He saw his brother was okay, and so he crossed his arms and grinned. “Talk about karma.”

“Ugh… this just keeps getting better and better.” Holding his side a little above his pelvis, Chad slowly got off the roof. Sep offered him a hand as he neared the end but he slapped it away.

The younger brother snickered once the roof was clean, watching it be so thoroughly dented. “There goes the last nail into the coffin that was our car.” He walked to the side, assessing the bulging inside the vehicle.

“Hmph, never liked it much anyway.” Chad went for the car key, grabbed it out of the ignition and now was hard at work getting the trunk open.

It came loose with a click, and proceeded to screech as it was being open. Inside amongst all the rust were two bags. One bigger duffle bag and a second, smaller but still voluminous backpack. Chad’s hand went for the smaller one, dexterously swinging it over his shoulders.

“Grab your stuff, and let’s go. I’ve had enough of the desert to last me a lifetime.”

Sep’s gaze untied itself from the hood, he was still inspecting the car from the outside until now. Coming to the back compartment, he took the duffle in his right hand just as about Chad was to drop the trunk lid.

It came down relatively swiftly, smashing the trunk shut with a wham. Sep shot an annoyed look Chad’s way, but all he got in return was his back.

Baffled by the tempo his brother put on, he quickly jumped to him and tapped his shoulder. “What about the car? We can’t just leave it out here on the road. Somebody could hit it, or-”

“-if anybody has a problem with that, they can write an email. Maybe I’ll read it if I find it amongst all the spam.” Unmoved, the older brother continued walking down the scorching asphalt road. His hands gripping the straps of his backpack, he almost looked like some type of comical hiker.

“Jeez, okay. Wait up at least!”

The duo walked in the unbearable heat for a solid while. Steady wind brought sand on and off the road periodically, it has also been the only thing somewhat colling them down. Besides the water they had in their respective packs of course. The hot sun wasn’t a welcome addition to their trip. Sep wasn’t dealing with the rays as well as the other brother, he was starting to get sunburnt and to put it frankly, fed up with the walk through here. But the image of their destination was getting more clearer with each step.

As they got closer, a sudden surprise reinvigorated the duo. The desert slowly began changing, first there was dirt instead of sand, then some bushes took the place of tumbleweeds and finally even some trees could be seen instead of cactuses. They were beginning to walk inside a forest. The air was much cooler and easy to breath, it even had a pleasant smell. After all, spring had just began and nature was beginning to wake up again. The smell of fresh grass mixed with trees rustling in the background played together a sweet symphony that was guaranteed to lift the mood of at least one weary traveller.

Finally, their walk was nearing its end. Before them laid a hill, surrounded by more hills that eventually turned to a mountain range in the east. This particular hill, however, had a special feature – a tunnel. To both’s surprise, it was well preserved. Lit above the middle lane on the road and had pavements for any fortunate pedestrians on the sides on each road’s side.

A conifer branch of a pine obstructed some kind of sign a few ten feet before the tunnel. Stepping away from his brother’s side, Sep held it with one hand and slowly shimmied it to the side. A text began showing itself where the branch used to be, he read out loud.

“’Pelican Town 0.8 miles’. Looks like we’re actually make it.” Glancing back, he saw his brother standing a few feet behind him, looking at the same sign from the distance with his arms crossed.

“Finally, I was beginning to get hungry. Let’s hope that hellhole has a bar or something.” Adjusting the belt around his trousers, Chad set out for the tunnel.

Muttering under his breath, Sep followed. “He didn’t need to come here if he thinks it’ll be a hellhole.”

It hadn’t been long before the duo’s footsteps stopped echoing inside the tunnel. Seconds after they entered the piece of infrastructure, Chad screamed various stuff inside it, playing with the echo. He also wanted to scream profanities inside it, but every time he did, a kick from Sep landed on his shin. At first it was good fun, but then he got fed up with it and stopped.

Now, light began seeping in through the tunnel’s exit. As they stepped out into it, a breeze of hotter wind swept over them – it was significantly colder inside the tunnel.

“Wait up. You seeing what I’m seeing?”

Sep bumped into Chad’s back as he wasn’t expecting him to stop. Silently grudging, he came to stand to his side. As he unsquinted his from his brother’s face, he understood his awe.

A bus. It was parked next to some sort of machine, both were unattended.

As the two crept further out from the tunnel, they noticed their surroundings. They were standing on a road which seemingly ended a few meters behind the bus. Next to the tunnel was a minecart, rusted away almost the same as their car, the tracks weren’t looking the best either. Seeing this made Chad regret his visit more.

On the other side of the bus, where the not-functioning machine resided was some kind of a clearing. A dirt path surrounded by few bushes and trees. The space was surrounded by cliffs, some went down, others faced up. Seeing as the only way forward was along the dirt path, the duo set out that way, with Sep taking the initiative.

A few minute hike through the woods led them to a wooden fence and a crossroad, they could either head left or right. It was a narrow path, if they’d continue walking straight, they’d hit another upwards facing cliff.

“Nothing is marked, of course it isn’t, why would it be?” Chad frustratingly shook his hands above his head, letting out an angry growl.

It was at that time, Sep heard something coming from the left. It was… humming? He could swear he had just heard humming.

“-not like we’re trying to get home before we die of starvation fro-”

“Shush.”

“Huh?”

“I said. Shush.” Raising a finger, Sep focused with his ear.

And there it was again, humming. From the tone he guessed it was a woman, what was she doing out here he had no idea, though.

“You hear that? Someone’s there.”

“What? No. You’re been in the sun for far too long.”

“Fine, stay here if you want, I’m going to check it out.”

“Ain’t no way I’m staying behind.”

Sep watched his footsteps, not wanting to make too much sound as to worry the stranger. He followed the humming as it got louder and louder.

Eventually, he found the source. A redhead woman with long hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a green T-shirt along grey pants kneeled on all fours on the ground. A basket full of various herbs and other foraged goods laid by her side.

At first, Sep was hesitant to speak out, both taken away by the beauty of her hair and by the fact he didn’t know what to say. However, he quickly realised I’d be heaps better if he was the one introducing them instead of Chad.

He took a breath and calmly spoke out just when Chad began closing in on him. “Good afterno-”

The woman immediately jumped up, shocked who had just talked at her. She began panting as she stood on her legs. Finally realising there was no threat imminent, she began calming down and spoke out.

“You- you really shouldn’t s-sneak up on people like t-that.” Taking a breath, she paused.

Sep felt a wave of insecurity rush over him, he was embarrassed that he spooked her. “O-oh, I’m genuinely sorry about that.” He scratched the back of his neck, finding it sweaty. “I didn’t mean to scare you, miss?”

Hesitant at first, she gave him a look. Judging Sep didn’t look like no fishy person, she offered him her hand, before any of them could realise it was still dirty from the ground, Sep took it in his and shook it.

“Leah, name’s Leah. I live down in the Cindersap forest.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Leah. My name’s Sep but I like yours better.”

“Mhmm, I like my name as well.”

Agh, that didn’t turn out as well as I’ve hoped. Sep cursed himself.

At that moment, Leah realised her hand was filthy from the soil and let go of the handshake.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to get you all dirty.”

Observing his hand, Sep noticed the soil. He waved it off. “Don’t worry about it, not like I-”

Finally, Chad caught up to Sep. Immediately after seeing he wasn’t alone, a thought popped into his head. His shoulders hit Sep’s as he passed him.

“Aaah, what do we have here? You must be driving that damned bus back there, right?! Then why didn’t you pick us up when we were walking like dumbasses down the desert just moments ago!”

Surprised, Leah’s eyes widened, then turned into a squint as she frowned. “What? Me? Do I look like a bus driver to you? That thing hasn’t been working even before I got here! Don’t you point your rude finger at me!”

Sep was pissed, his brother proved to be more of a nuisance rather than anything else once more. He slapped his shoulder. “Stop! What the hell are you thinking? Does she look like a bus driver to you?”

“She could be one!”

“Yeah, and that basket full of herbs is her snack, right?”

“I mean, there’s definitely some tasty looking stuff in there, mind if I take a bite?” Chad started reaching out into the basket, his eyes set on a spring onion.

“Excuse me?!” Leah jumped before her basket, defending it like her own new-born baby.

“What? I’m just really hungry is all.”

“Do you even have at least a drop of social awareness?” Sep tugged him by the sleeve of his shirt and away from Leah. “We’re going to talk more about this later, but now-”

“I kinda don’t see what’s there to tal-”

“Shut it. Stay here and don’t peep a word anymore, you metal head.”

Returning back to Leah, he saw she was still frowning and anxiously watched as he approached.

“I’m really sorry about that. He’s- he’s my brother, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

Suddenly, Leah’s mind clicked. “Wait, so you’re brothers?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you here to get back that old farm into working order?” Her posture became more relaxed, the frown disappeared, and she even put on a slight smile.

“Wait, how do you know all this?”

“Pelican town is a small town – if you could even call it that. Stuff gets around quickly.” Genuinely smiling now, she continued. “Mayor Lewis said something about two grandsons coming to take over their family’s farm. I’m glad it won’t end up deserted.”

Sep smiled back into her pale face. “Well, we’re here to stay, so don’t worry about it becoming anything but deserted. Anyway, we should probably get going to the mayor, then. Do you know where we could find him?”

Leah thought for a second before she shot up. “Yeah, actually. You mentioned the old bus stop? You must’ve passed the broken ticket machine. It has some touristic maps stored inside it’s compartment under the screen.”

Slightly turning his head to the side, but not breaking eye contact, Sep spoke out loudly enough so Chad would hear him – he wasn’t far enough to not hear the conversation but his brother wanted to make sure he’d get the message. “Heard that, Chad? Make yourself useful and go find one.”

“Fine, Casanova. But only because I’m itching to get some grub.” With those words, he stormed off back the way they came.

Both of them look on until they saw Chad disappear between the two fenceposts and into the forest.

“Once again, I’m really sorry for his behaviour. He sometimes doesn’t get he shouldn’t act without thinking.”

“Oh, nothing bad really happened, don’t worry about it.” She put on a warm smile. “At least one of you is well-mannered. Sep, was it?”

Boggled by her smile, Sep took a while to respond. “Y-yeah, that’s my name.” He gave a short chuckle.

“Well, nice to properly meet you, Sep.” This time there was no handshake, just smiles. “What’s your brother’s name again, just want to make sure.”

“Chad, his name is Chad. Doesn’t help with debunking the stereotype, that’s for sure.” Both laughed at the silly joke, with Leah starting and Sep following suit.

The sweat on Sep’s forehead was becoming a little too much, so he swept it away one of his palms. However, doing that revealed he’d gotten a nasty sunburn. Leah immediately jumped over to his side, softly taking his hand into hers. This maneuver caught him completely off guard, even forcing the man to blush a bit. It wasn’t long before he spoke out again, though.

“Uhm, anything wrong?”

“Of course there is! Look at your hand, it’s all burnt up… not a little as well.” Giving it a last look and a touch of her palm, she darted back to her basket and pulled out a yellow herb. “Here, take this. Once you’re set up back home, cook it in the water for a while, let it sit for an hour and when it’s comfortable enough, rest your hands in the concoction. It should numb the pain and heal up the hand faster.” Giving Sep the herb, she took a step back.

He gave the flower a thorough look before setting his gaze back upon Leah. “Uhm, wow. I don’t really know what to say, it’s really kind of you to help a stranger out like this.”

“We’re not strangers. We’re neighbours, remember? We should help each other out every opportunity we get.”

“That’s really sweet of you, thanks a ton!”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Smiling one at another, the two heard rustling coming back from the path. It didn’t take them long to decipher it was Chad coming back from his map-acquiring adventure. From the spring in his step and by the fact he was whistling to himself, Sep judged his journey brought back fruit.

Surely enough, he turned the corner with a paper map in his hands. Coming closer to the duo, he jested. “You lovebirds done already? I’m ready to move on with my life.”

Letting out a sigh, Sep shook his head. “Yeah, I’m ready. Have you found where we’re heading yet?”

“What do you think I was doing all the time back there? Rizzing up the locals? Nah, that’s evidently your job.”

“What does that even mean?” Leah spoke out, unknowing of the city slang.

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter. He’s babbling like before.” A smirk drew itself under Chad’s shades as Sep gave him a gnarly look.

Chad noticed Leah trading her look between the two brothers, he just shrugged and continued walking left.

Not again. Sep cursed his brother internally.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Leah. Hopefully we’ll talk again sometime, but now I need to catch up to him, else he’s going to get into trouble.”

“Okay. Good luck with the mayor, Sep! Hopefully you’ll both settle in just fine!” The distance between them grew larger, forcing them to speak loudly.

“The settling in will be easy with kind neighbours like you! Thanks for everything, Leah!”

He stopped looking back, standing by Chad’s side, he noticed his brother giving him ‘the look’ even if his eyes were hidden behind those black shades.

“What?”

“I had you figured for guy who likes redheads.” Smirking, he adjusted the shades.

“Oh shut up!”

Chad gave him a shoulder bump, which made Sep chuckle back and reciprocate it.

Their walk into town wasn’t as eventful as their previous ones, although it was way beautiful than any other before. Chirping of birds mixed with the chilling spring breeze, smells of fresh fruits and the needle from the spruce trees that paved the path down into town were just a fraction of the beauties this valley had to offer.

Before long, the duo found themselves standing at the end of their dirt path. It turned into a more sturdy one, tiled with various flat stones, it led around the corner. Close to the corner was an old, metallic lamp – it’s time would surely come, as the fading sun was nearing the horizon rather quickly.

“Finally, some signs of civilization.” Chad spoke out, rearranging his backpack.

“Didn’t we see a road and a bus just now?”

“You get what I mean.”

“Sure, yeah. Do you know how to get to the mayor?”

Chad slapped the folded map in his hands and spoke out before opening it. “Of course I do. We just have to go up from here.”

Giving it his own look, Sep eyed his brother down. “Uhm, you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Maybe because you’re holding it upside down?”

“Oh… right. See, I was just testing your attention.”

Grinning, Sep replied. “I’m sure it’s just that empty stomach of yours.” Passing him, he set off for the corner lamp.

“Yeah, that too.”

Turning it, a town square showed itself to the two. If they’d continue walking straight, they’d bump into a bench, next to it was a tree and another lamp. Right beside it was a blue house, a rather high one. To the right from the brothers was a wooden fence, an occasional bush sprouted near it here and there. From the point where they stood, not many more interesting features could be seen. So, they decided to head for the bench.

As they gotten closer to it, a similarly paved offshoot led up to some stairs engraved into one of the all present cliffs on the left. A pair of houses gave away their location, thanks to their roofs poking over the few trees in the area. Passing the bench, the duo began heading into the middle of the town square. It became evident the blue house was a medical clinic – a red cross decorated its upper floor. Next to it was another house, wooden. Light wood made up its walls, a bulletin board hung next to the door, Sep judged this must’ve been a busy spot in the town to have such a decoration, and right above it was a sign. It read “Pierre’s”. It gave off a pretty strong impression of a general goods store, but the two weren’t here to find out if it were the case.

Now standing in what the duo thought was the middle of town – judging by the red round shape paving the else stony floor – they noticed a few people staring them down. Two older women stood to the right from their point of view, just where the square stopped being made up of stone. Their conversation had stopped long ago, observing the two, the females shared looks occasionally.

Sep noticed this and bumped both his and his brother’s shoulder together, getting his attention. “Yoba, why are they both staring?”

“I don’t know, but they better stop before I’ll have to show them my right uppercut.” Showing Sep a smirking face, he almost decided on cracking the joints of his fists together.

“Shouldn’t we talk to them or something?”

“Nah, I’m way too hungry to have a boring conversation.”

Close to the opposite corner was a path, presumably leading up into an older looking house. Below that path sat some pots filled with tulips of various colours, next to them a young woman with two children running around her – by the looks, she was lecturing the youngsters, one paid more attention to her than the other.

If the duo were to continue down the square, they’d eventually come to where the path takes a right turn. By the sound of it, a river ran through the town just a few steps behind that turn. Pulling out the map, Chad identified the house they were looking for, and with reaffirmation from Sep, the two didn’t shilly-shally any longer.

After a short walk along the path leading up to what now the two knew was the Saloon, and a persuasion from Sep towards Chad that they’d come back to the place later and get him some food, the two now stood before the mayor’s house. Grey and also wooden by the looks, same could be said around the fence that ran along the property at a few places. A pair of dark doors invited the duo inside. There was no doorbell, Sep stretched out his hand and gotten ready to knock. Before he could, however, Chad spoke out.

“Living next to a graveyard. That’s when you know you made it in life.” Standing back, he observed the surroundings. “And of course there are signs here, not like they’d be more useful in the forest.”

Turning away from the door, Sep faced his brother. Snickering as he saw him trying to read one of the mentioned signs off a wooden post.

“You think the mayor is a ghost?” elaborating on his point about the graveyard.

“I mean, people probably wouldn’t even notice.” Looking away from the post, his gaze met his brother’s. “Nah, scratch that. He’d definitely be the talk of town. I bet nothing goes on around here.”

Sep would most definitely start laughing at the comment, weren’t it for the fact the doors he wanted to knock on started to creak.

Out came the mayor, an old man wearing a green shirt. Straps from his brown overalls hung over his shoulders, a yellow tie swung from his neck. His hair was grey – giving an insight into just how old he really was – and on it rested his trusty, leather cap he almost never took off.

His sudden appearance made Sep subconsciously take a few steps back. Stumbling, he barely didn’t fall from the stairs that led up to the door. The mayor’s surprise from this unexpected visit was also evident, as he himself froze in the doorway, one hand still gripping the door.

“G-good afternoon, mayor Lewis.” Stopping his sudden movements backwards, Sep straightened up. “You are mayor Lewis, Right? I’m Sep and this is my brother Chad, you surely must’ve known our grandpa-”

“Yes, that’s me. I’m the mayor of Pelican town, glad to make you acquittance. Your old man talked about you from time to time.” He let go of the door, his eyelids falling down a bit.

“Oh, well I’m glad to hear it, Mr. Lewis. But the both of us are really tired, and grandpa’s will said to get the keys to the old farmhouse from you, that’s why we’re here.”

Eyeing the two down, the mayor was hesitant for a moment. But the description provided by the brother’s grandpa stuck out, two brothers. One shorter and more talkative, the other more buff and both had brown hair.

“Of course. I can see you’re both in a hurry, so let me get you the keys and we’ll sort out the legal business in the upcoming days.”

The mayor’s willingness put a smile on Sep’s face. “You’d be doing us a big favour, thanks.”

Lewis disappeared behind his door. Which prompted Chad to come closer, standing beside Sep, he looked into one of the windows embedded inside the door.

“What did the exhumed fossil say?”

Sep didn’t give his comment much though, he didn’t bother to gaze if he was looking. “You should be more polite, he’s letting us skip all the boring protocol stuff – even if for just a few days.”

“The digs better be worth all this effort.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, it’ll probably require a lot of work to make into a place we’d like to call home.”

“I’ll just leave all the work up to you.”

The younger brother’s gaze immediately snapped to Chad’s face, upon seeing this he slowly shifted his head to face Sep. “That’s not going to happen. You’re going to be working the fields just as much as I am, and don’t even thi-”

At that point, Lewis came back with the key in his hands. He spoke as he was leaving the doorway “Okay, now there’s some oth-” He overhead the arguments between the two before Sep could stop in time.

Now they just stared at each other, after a moment, the old man came back to word. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, we were just discussing something.” The fake smile Sep put on made Chad snicker, getting an annoyed look in return.

“Alright then, as I was saying. There are some other things we need to take care off. Your grandpa also owned some tools, he wanted me to pass those down to you as well.” This time leaving the doorway for real, the mayor locked the door behind him. Passing between the two, he waved as for them to follow him. “I don’t have them on me, however. The local carpenter – Robin. Has them in storage, waiting for their new owners.”

Walking down the path they came, the three found themselves in front of The Stardrop Saloon. “Since you don’t know where to find her, I’ll go get her myself.” As the mayor smiled back, his moustache lifted itself up. “You two can get something to eat in the meantime. The journey surely must’ve exhausted you both.”

“Now that’s a man by my heart! Come on, let’s go, Sep.” Already conquering the first set of stairs, Chad anticipatingly headed for the saloon door.

“Thanks, mayor. We really appreciate the gesture, are you sure you’ll be alright with getting there? I can go with you, if you want.”

Giving Sep’s concern a quick chuckle, Lewis continued. “No, I’m going to be just fine, son. You go and get something to eat.”

“If you say so, take care Mr. Lewis.”

Opening the door into The Stardrop Saloon, Sep was immediately taken away by the coziness. A funky tune played from the jukebox in the left corner of the room. To both of his sides were round wooden tables, another table resided close to the jukebox and appealed to Sep the most. A few chairs stood near each one of the round pieces of furniture. The whole room bared a rectangular shape, just a few steps before the entrance was a wooden bar. It had an amazing rustical vibe to it and a few bar stools paved its front side. Just where the bar turned left and into the wall was another welcome feature, a fireplace. Providing the saloon with necessary heat even in the coldest of night – however, now there was not fire burning inside of it.

Taking in the view, Sep was in a trance. He liked the wall décor, the music, the bar, in fact, he liked it so much he began itching for a beer.

Shaking himself back to reality, he noticed some townsfolk were in the saloon as well. One was sipping a beer next to the fireplace, a man Sep guessed to be in his twenties. Another man, this time a bit older, sat on one of the bar stools. Brown hair and wearing glasses, his jacket was similar to that of Sep’s. His back was turned so the younger brother looked elsewhere. This time, he found out the table closest to him had been occupied by two more men, one looked older than the one who wore an apron. Seeing as they were looking at him and were so close, Sep gave them a greeting nod. Both returned the favour and took a swig of their drinks, as Sep slowly set out for the table near the jukebox. Chad already took up one seat, pleading him to take the other with his eyes.

Sitting down onto the chair closer to the bar, he took off his duffle. As he did so, he noticed there was one more habitue inside the saloon. A woman, significantly old, or maybe she just looked bad for her age. Either way, Sep didn’t care about it much, he just wanted to get a beer to wind down and maybe something alongside it to munch on.

“I’m going to order, you want anything?”

Looking up from the table’s lantern, Sep quickly responded. “Hmm? Yeah, just a beer for now.”

“Alrighty then.” Sending both his hands down onto the table, Chad got up with their help and headed for the bar. He parked himself on the other side of the corner where the woman sat. By the looks of things, she was already pretty buzzed.

Snapping his fingers together had gotten the bartenders attention - a charmingly looking older fella with a moustache. He had just served another drink to the guy by the fireplace, now he was on his way to serve Chad.

“Good afternoon, sir. What it’s going to be?”

“Hey. Two beers. Do you serve pizza?”

“Of course we do, I make it here myself. Everybody in town knows my great pizza sauce.”

“Cool, make me a pepperoni then.”

Grabbing a pint, he began pouring the beer. “As you wish, beer coming right up. The pizza will be ready in about 20 minutes, is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure, not like I can speed it up or something.” Taking some gold out of his pocket, Chad spun one of the coins on the bar. “Here, this should cover it.”

“Thank you, kind sir.” Hearing the saloonkeeper call his brother kind made Sep snicker. Giving it a second thought, though, he was grateful that he paid for the stuff.

“Here you go.” Handing the pints over, the barkeep went into the back to cook. Before he set off though, he tasked his helping hand to serve the bar. She just nodded and began cleaning one of the dirty glasses.

As Chad picked up his 2 poured pints, they made a clink. This clink however, almost seemed magical as it gave life back to the woman that was zooning out over a glass of her own beer.

Snapping her face to Chad, she laughed. “Only two beers, kid? I bet you couldn’t even down one of those!”

Looking down upon her, Chad’s shades slid down a bit and he took a look with his vision unobstructed. With both eyebrows raised high, he sat the drinks down.

“You talking to me, hag?”

“You see any other youngsters around?” She gave a pause, letting the statement boil. “Thought so.”

Chad gave Sep a look, his brother spelled it out as ‘is she for real right now?’. He just shrugged back and kept observing from the distance.

“You really want to do this? Right here, right now?” His voice was annoyed, Chad straightened his shoulders.

“What? You’d try to prove me wrong? Go on, be my guest! If anything, it’ll make for a good show.” Chuckling to her own joke, she looked up from her half empty glass.

Chad sat down – Sep cursed him for being so stubborn and buried his head into his hands that laid on the table – slowly, he grabbed the first glass.

“How many beers did you have so far? By the way you look, you’ve got quite the head start.”

“Psssh, no more than 6.” She waved his statement off. “No way you’re getting past 3, though.”

Chad took of his glasses, winked back at the drunkard and began swigging. First pint went down within a few gulps. As he smeared away the foam from his upper lip, he snapped his fingers again. The substitute bartender already started pouring another beer.

Calmly, he spoke out. “One.” Making a finger gun, he pointed to himself and quickly back to the beer originally meant for Sep. “See this? Completely unphased, old lady. You got nothing on Chad Gamer.”

His brother shook his head, weren’t if for the fact he’d have to smooth out the consequences of such first impressions after Chad again, he would probably laugh instead.

The second beer went down with same ease as the first. All the bubbles made Chad burp, though. If anybody wasn’t watching the commotion until now, they certainly were after this.

Sep looked away, pretending he didn’t know the man.

A third beer was already served before his brother, though. And a fourth one was order shortly after it.

Chad’s confidence made the woman visibly anxious, worried her big mouth would make a fool of her.

Chad gave her a smirk and set out for the third piece. It gave him some trouble, but not enough to force him to not drink the pint in one go. Setting the empty glass on the bar, he began feeling the effects of alcohol. His balance became worse, and he became more unhinged – If there was a point of no return, this was the time he crossed it.

More of the bitter drink poured down onto Chad’s tastebuds, numbing them in the process. Mid way through the glass, he stopped for a breather, but then finished the drink like it was nothing. “Aaaah, this is way better than water. Bartender! You know what to do.” He was grinning from ear to ear, still unphased and believing in himself. The woman knew she was in real danger now.

Not long after, his fifth and almost last beer began foaming in front of the man. Stretching out his arms, he groped the pint. Cheering, he looked at Sep. “To your health, brother!”

Great, now everybody has gotten the picture. He tried hiding behind one of the coasters he picked up from his table, but it was too small. No matter, before any of the looks made him uncomfortable to a greater extent, Chad had already finished his drink and slammed the glass unto the table. The *clunk* made the barkeep jump slightly, bouncing up her blue hair. Topping off Chad’s fifth piece with some foam, she handed the pint over.

“The penultimate! Bottoms up, Ogre.” The comparison made the woman’s eyes bulge out, which only made Chad cackle in return. Letting his laugh settle a bit before going in, he began gulping. It was becoming evident he was nearing his limit, he paused between each gulp to breathe. Closing his eyes, he pushed through and finished the drink.

Needless to say, some of the awkward looks turned into genuinely intrigued ones as the demonstrated drinking skills were something to behold.

“Here you go, mister. Your sixth one.”

“You heard that? Sixth. S-I-X-T-H B-E-E-R, consecu- consecutevale.” Stumbling over his words, he cursed himself. “Argh, what’s my price old lady? Not a kiss, I hope.”

The woman was too anxious to register his joke, staring into her own almost empty pint and his full one, her eyelids fell. “Eh, okay, kid. Got to admit, you’ve got quite the slobber for beer. You’ve proven yourself, no need to have ano-”

“Ha! Look at her! She’s scared young Chad is going to prove he’s a better drinker than her.” Standing up from his stool, he took the beer in his hand. As he tilted his head and began chugging, he started stumbling around and loosing his balance. Sep was ready to jump to his side, if need be, but luckily enough, he finished the last pint without falling.

Putting the glass back onto the bar with such strength that it fell over, he gave the woman a proudful look. As her head fell down to her lap, he let out a satisfied sigh.

Before he could start waddling back over to the table his brother sat at, the saloon doors opened wide. Inside the doorway stood the woman that was taking care of the children earlier this day. Chad looked on as she passed him, swaying in his place. Her footsteps were loud, she was angry.

Coming over to the woman, she spoke out. “Mom, what are you doing here again?!” Her voice died down, not wanting to draw more attention was the younger brother’s guess. Still, loud enough to be heard by most guests, though. “You’ve promised you wouldn’t come here this week anymore, you promised and lied again.”

The mother took a deep breath. “Penny… I’m a grown woman, I don’t have to listen to you. If anything, it should be the other w-”

“No, mom. You don’t get it! The alcohol is killing you, and I- I don’t want you to die.” Barely not tearing up, she took her mother’s hand, forcing her to look her in the eyes. “Would you… just please go home.”

Sighing, she got up from her seat. “Okay, okay. Let’s walk home, sweetheart.”

As the two women passed by the intoxicated Chad, he giggled.

“This right here is your mother?” He hiccupped “Looks like you must’ve gotten the beauty from your father, then.”

With wide eyes, the younger woman stood in her place. Unfortunately for Chad, she had still some rage pent up. Without a second though, she sent the man a nasty slap over the cheek. It was so strong, it got him stumbling back. Reaching out for the bar, he scootched away the stool he sat on earlier. It was a miracle he hadn’t fell right then and there.

More than a few people laughed at the sight – Sep included.

Picking himself up, he stretched his jaw, brushing over his jawline and cheeks with one hand.

“That’s going to leave one hell of a mark.” His brother commented.

“She’s feisty, that one.” Swaying over to the table, he sat down.

Just then and there, the saloonkeeper came out the back, pizza box in his hand. It took him a moment to find the duo, he made his way over to them without delay after he did. After setting down the pizza for them, he headed behind the counter. He was surprised to see how much the brothers’ bill has inflated in the span of him making one pizza.

The two quickly munched down the food. Sep ate more of it as Chad was pretty much full of beer, his appetite leaving him. It wasn’t long before the younger brother realised how exhausting getting Chad to the farm in this state is going to be. With a full belly, he didn’t think about it much anymore. Reenergised, the two left only a few crumbs inside the now empty box.

Leaving their chairs behind, each respectively put on his pack. Chad got up first and tried walking to the door, but it was obvious he wasn’t getting far in this state without help. He let out a grunt when Sep got under his shoulder, using himself as a support for the older brother. After a few more steps though, he saw how easier walking had become and eventually became thankful for the gesture.

As they passed the middle of the bar, Sep stopped his brother. Pulling out some leftover gold from his own wallet, he paid the bill and left a tip for Chad’s buffoonery. Giving the saloonkeeper a nod, they headed for the door. Before opening it into the milky darkness outside, he spoke out.

“I’m sorry for the ruckus we had caused, people. Have a good rest of the night.”

“He’s lying! He’s just sad he himself didn’t get to drink anything!” Chad immediately followed, his jesting got a couple of laughs from some of the people.

Just as Sep reached out for the door handle, the wooden construct opened. Surprised and the only once capable of noticing, Sep stopped dead in his track – Chad had no other option than to do the same as he was still hunched over his brother’s shoulder.

As the hinges fully swung away the barrier, an unpleasant picture drew itself before the two.

It was Leah. She’d been on her weekly routine visit to the salon. To see Sep like this was humiliating – or at least that’s what he thought.

All he could was put on a smile before she saw him.

And see him she did. In fact, the pure sight of the two doing what looked like a clumsy attempt at hugging each other made her wholeheartedly laugh. At first Sep was more confused than Chad, but he couldn’t help but give a muffled snicker. “Ha Ha, I’m glad you find this funny.”

Chuckling without easing up the tempo much, she tried to speak out. “S-sorry, b-but you-u should r-really see how the two-o of you look.” Delicately smearing away the tears from her eyes with one finger, she continued to have bursts of laugher.

“I’m just helping him out, big guy had a tad bit too much to drink.”

Without having a clue to anything that’s going on around him, Chad grinned ear to ear and waved at Leah. This forced her to chuckle for a few seconds longer.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Her joyful tone shifted into a honeyed one. “Do you need any help with him?”

“Thanks, I appreciate the willingness, but it’s okay. Besides, I don’t want to intrude into your plans for the rest of the night.”

She took a few steps back. Holding the door, she made way for the duo to leave the saloon. “Alright, if you say so.”

Scooting through the doorframe and down the stairs, they stopped. “We really have some odd luck to meet in situations like these, huh?”

Giggling, she took to the steps. “Hmm, I guess we do.” Waving to the two, she was ready to close the door and go inside. “Stay safe, watch out on your way home.”

“Thanks, I’ll try when this baby won’t block my view.”

Smiling, she closed the door. The duo was about to set out, but then they heard a voice.

“Leah? Is that you?”

Hesitant at first, Sep spoke out. “Uuuhm, no. She just went inside. This is Sep, should I go get her?”

Another voice, this time familiar. It belonged to the mayor. “Ah, perfect, you’re still here. No, there’s no need for that.”

The mayor emerged from the right side of the saloon, followed by a woman. Some tools rested in their hands. As they came into the glow of one of the lamps that shined upon the paved trails, Chad noticed the woman also had red hair, he gave Sep a grinning look which he ignored.

“As it turns out, most of the tools were left at the old farmhouse, due to a… miscommunication.” Eyeing down Robin, he continued. “However, that shouldn’t be a problem, as it hasn’t been visited by anybody for a long time. Everything should be there, well, except these.” Robin showed the duo an old axe, and a slightly rusted hoe. “These were the tools that got actually stored away, properly.”

The mayor was so focused on his speech, that until now he hadn’t realised how the two looked. “Are you boys okay?”

Both of them nodded in unison with Chad grinning ear to ear and Sep vocally reassuring the mayor that was indeed the case. Without much desire for chatter, the duo took the tools, Sep grabbed the axe in his free hand – as he was in a more responsible state – and Chad gripped the hoe. Thanking the mayor and the local carpenter, they set out for the corner from which they came here.

Nothing but moonlight lit up their way now, Chad was way out of it to care for anything and Sep’s eyes were surprisingly dexterous in the dark. The only problem he had with the walk was the considerably heavy shoulder over his own shoulder. Plus, the fact that Chad had already dropped the hoe multiple times and they had to stop and pick it up was slowly getting on his nerves.

From the sound and what little he could see on Chad’s side, he judged his brother was just dragging the tool on the ground. This had already happened multiple times, entangling itself in weeds, or tree roots – it always ended the same, a time costly stop, followed by Sep’s scolding and Chad not taking it to heart.

Annoyed that would happen again, Sep ended the absence of words. “Hold the damn hoe properly, for Yoba’s sake!”

The scream made a half-asleep Chad twitch – for a moment there, he held the tool correctly. However, it wasn’t long before he let it fall back to the ground again, tugging it against the dirt. As he got more aware because of the sudden increase in volume, thanks to Sep’s scolding, he laughed at the sentence.

Sep rolled his eyes. As he let them fall back down, a long anticipated sight presented itself. The farmhouse drew itself less than 100 feet away. Their walk up to this place was longer than it should’ve but it beared fruit. Their future home was in sight, all they had to do was get to it.

A task that was easily said than done. Weeds, long grass, tress, big rocks, stumps, dead logs, boulders. All of this obstructed their way into their haven, it felt as if Yoba was testing the two, seeing if they wouldn’t crack in the final stretch of their journey.

A larger rock stood between them and the stairs leading up to the farmstead – a final challenge. Just as Sep was about to tug his brother to the side and pass the rock by it’s side, Chad dug his heels into the ground and began furiously eyeing the resource down. Sep gave him obtuse looks, unknowing of what he was about to do.

Straight out of nowhere, Chad swung his leg into the rock and kicked it full force. Thanks to the fact his boots were reinforced with steel at the tip, he cracked the stone in half and gave a prideful look to his younger brother. The sheer randomness of it made him laugh out loud, dropping Chad’s arm from his shoulder, he began walking up the stair leading into their home, still chuckling.

Before Chad conquered the stairs in his current state, Sep had already unlocked the door and flicked the light switch inside. As Chad entered the house, he saw his brother dusting off the bed. He immediately bolted for it and jumped inside. His acrobatic showcase let out a ton of dust from the mattress, forcing Sep to cough and shooing him away from the dust cloud.

Cleaning his eyes, the younger brother saw Chad was already knocked out and slept sound in the old bed. At first, he was cross about him taking the spot, but at his current state of mind, he couldn’t be bothered. Closing the door inside, he locked it to both locks and switched off the light. From the little light one window let in, he navigated to a wooden chair next to a table. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it’d do. He sat on it and laid his head upon the table. Before getting another thought, he drifted off to sleep.

The two had just settled into their new home in Stardew Valley, a new life awaited them.