Chapter Text
Mike
The night was cold, the breeze outside was sharp and the snow was making it hard to see through. I’m at a canteen, the lights very dim and warm, contrasting the weather outside.
Honestly, who the hell would come at this hour of the night with this snow storm to meet a stranger they don’t even know!
A short resume of how I ended up here.
I walked through the street, the winter is always boring unless you have enough money to buy an ice-skate to go skating around in the frozen lake, which ice you are in could break without you even noticing it! Back to the point, the wind was so strong it ripped out posters that were clipped to a post. “Members needed for a dangerous quest. Steve, the fighter will receive you.” And I thought, why not? It’s not like I have something important to do in this season of the year, except just sitting near the fire with a coat trying not to freeze to death, hearing my older sister complaining about her misogynistic bosses and my younger sister complaining about her classmate who pisses everyone off.
I was expecting not one person to come, until the door creaked open and two guys appeared from the dark of the night. They were both completely covered with snow so they had to pull off their scarfs and coats.
To the right there was a tall, black guy, with a bow and arrows, cool hair and a green sweater, probably my age. And to the left, a guy with long brown curly hair, his face had bruises like if he had been attacked, he was holding his broken lute, maybe someone broke it on the assault. His brown vest was damaged, it had holes and cuts in it. The height difference was abysmal, it was like two heads above his size. They sat at my empty table and we stayed in silence until the tall guy talked.
“Are you here for the quest?”
He asked me, curious. I nodded and he stretched out his hand.
”Well, then I must present ourselves. Hey, my name is Lucas, aka Lucas the ranger. And this.”
He wrapped his arm around his companion’s shoulders.
“This is Dustin the Bard. He had a… Rough time early before.”
Dustin looked at me dead in the eye, he seemed broken, not wanting to hurt but not wanting any comfort either.
“Don't worry. Once you get to know him and he gets to know you, you'll be best buddies.”
We just stared at each other, I didn't know if I should snap at him or just keep quiet, it did look like he had a very rough time. Lucas seemed to notice the tension and tried to ease it.
“So, what's your name? Do you also have a name you're known for or just your name?”
He leaned against the wooden table.
“My name is Micheal, but you can call me Mike.Are you cold?. I can offer you a drink.”
I asked.
“I heard alcohol is very helpful for bringing warmth.”
Lucas nodded for both of them and I called the waitress to order a round of beers and a few bottles of rum.
Minutes were passing and no one else arrived, it looks like it would be just the three of us for the quest, but it wouldn't be that bad, I mean, Dustin, who was a while ago looking at me like he was about to threaten my whole lineage now is laughing at my jokes that are not even that good. The canteen slowly starts to get empty, the dates finish, the deep talks end, the just hanging out ends up drained, and suddenly, it's empty. Just the three of us sitting at a table for four people, we were expecting the one that requested us to that place but it didn't seem to arrive, instead a kiddo came in.
His nose was red, all his clothes and hair covered in snow, he had a purple coat with stars and curly stripes, he took off his hood and I finally had a proper image of his face.
His face was flushed, his hair was messy, he had a few moles, one of them next to his lips. He appeared to be my age but also seemed to be younger. I took notice of his green eyes darting around until they landed on the only table with people sitting on it. He had a long wood scepter, which had a blue crystal hanging in the middle.
He left it in the freestanding coat rack and took off his coat and left it in his arm as he approached the table.
“Hey.. Are you waiting for the fighter, Steve?”
He asked, it was weird calling Harrington like that considering that he had never won a fight before.
“Yeah. Sit.”
I moved aside so he could join us at the table.
“It’s embarrassing being so late, how long have you been waiting here?”
He asked, fidgeting with the purple fabric. His hands were bruised and he had burns and stains from painting on them, his left arm had a bandage wrapped around it.
What happened to this guy?
“Around half an hour, maybe more, you are not the one who asked us to be here so, don’t feel sorry. By the way, what 's your name? I am Lucas Sinclair, he’s Dustin, and the one right next to you is Mike.”
He presented each one of us, not very needed but okay.
“I’m William, you can call me Will.”
He looked around the table and then saw me.
“Hey.”
He smiled, I got a small glimpse from a golden sparkle in his eyes, I think I seemed off because his smile fell awkwardly and he backed away. Maybe it was because I didn’t even smile back or nodded politely. Bad start.
“Hold on, aren’t you the apothecary of the village? My sister bought some herbs a while ago from you.”
Lucas started asking, as usual, he seemed to be the most social one from us all.
“Oh, yeah. I am.”
He smiled and leaned in his hand.
“She is the sassy one, right? I corrected her on the pronunciation of parsley and she called me a nerd.”
“Yes! She is like that! She said you were so disrespectful but now looking at you, you seem so kind. She can sometimes change the story so drastically.”
Lucas laughed, they both did. Dustin and I appeared to be the only ones lost.
“I’m confused, what is being an apothecary?”
Dustin finally spoke, he looked better than when I met him.
“He is a doctor, but he mostly works with herbs, poultices, salves, tea, etcetera. I heard you are the best sampler when it comes to poison.”
Lucas started yapping again, he looked too invested in Will’s profession.
The door suddenly burst open and the cold wind entered through it, making any sense of warmth disappear. Finally, after what felt like forever, Steve appeared. He - like everyone else who entered through that door - was covered in snow but he had a bottle of alcohol to warm himself up.
“Night Heather.”
He waved first at the lady working at the bar, without even looking around for the members he requested.
“Is anybody here for the poster I left?”
He asked and she pointed at the only table with people in it. Ours.
“Thanks.”
He winked. God, he looked pathetic trying to flirt.
“Hey there kid- Whoa! Henderson, what happened to you?”
He stared shocked at Dustin.
“Did Andy finally snap? I told you to stop.”
He ruffled his hair and Dustin just backed away, it looked like they were pretty close, but not anymore.
“So, what is the quest?”
Will asked, leaving his hands on his sides, leaning in the back of the chair.
“Slow down, first I want to know you all. I already know Henderson and Lucas, who are you two?”
He pointed between me and the wise.
Okay, rude.
“I’m Will and he is..”
He waited for me to respond.
Wow, he already forgot my name.
“I’m Mike. Mike Wheeler. Now that you know us, answer. We at least deserve what type of job we are going to do after you made us wait for almost an hour.”
Steve rolled his eyes and turned to Lucas.
“Is he always like that?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know, man, it’s the first time I know him.”
He acted oblivious.
“Could you tell us more about which path we are taking and what we are delivering? To be more aware of how to treat the merchandise?”
Will asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.
“See? That 's someone I’ll talk to. Now, about the quest. Here 's the map.”
He handed us the wrinkled, almost destroyed piece of paper. I frowned but said nothing, waiting for him to just go ahead with his demand.
“You can choose two paths, each one takes weeks, but the one that takes less time is, as you can guess, more dangerous.”
He looked into his bag and took out pencil colors, two different ones, and he started to trace a road across the map.
“First, the Oathroad. As you might know, in this road you’re probably gonna meet the Candle breakers and the Ash wolves, yes, shitty names, and it’s going to be the most dangerous path, but it will be the shortest one of them all, it’ll take a few weeks less than the safer road.”
He finished making the first path to the neighbouring kingdom, now he started with the second.
“The white thread is the safest one that you can choose, yes, you’ll have to pass through some spooky villages and you’ll maybe encounter some gangs that may want to rob you or kill you, but don’t worry, it’s safer than the Oathroad.”
He marked the villages that were by this road and the places of the dangerous groups.
“So? What path are you taking?”
He slid the sheet of paper to the middle of the table so we could think.
“I highly recommend the second one, nice places to stay, beautiful views, and some bars with nice ladies.”
He explained, maybe too much. Dustin nudged Lucas and he laughed while returning the nudge.
I looked around the table and we all seemed to agree on the same thing. I connected eyes with Will and he nodded,
“We’ll take the second choice.” Will confirmed.
“Great! Then I’ll meet you tomorrow at seven o’ clock. Early, so you can get to a safe place for the night.”
He started getting up from his chair.
“I’m sorry, tomorrow? It’s one in the morning, we need rest.”
Dustin complained, it was true, we were all tired.
“And, to remind you. You were late by hours to the assembly you asked for, so you at least better give us more time to rest.”
“Alright! Jeez, that temper.”
He frowned.
“We’ll meet at ten o’ clock in the morning at the bridge. Bring your luggage, you are gonna be on this trip for a long time.”
He was finally leaving the table when Will stopped him.
“Wait! Hold on, we haven’t talked about the payment yet.”
He almost hooked Steve by the arm to stop him from leaving.
“I mean, we are about to go on a dangerous journey without even knowing what we get in exchange and what we are protecting.”
He quickly sat back down, embarrassed.
“Well, if the equipment doesn’t get any damage or goes missing, you’ll receive one thousand fifty hundred Lekons. (It is equivalent to one million five hundred thousand dollars.)”
He said nonchalantly, like half of three thousand Lekons were nothing. I could see even if I wasn’t looking directly at them, the guys eyes lit up, most of all, Will’s.
“And of course, all of that glory and honour shit. Are you in?” Steve asked us.
We all nodded, enthusiastic.
“Well, see you tomorrow.” He walked away and opened the door of the canteen, leaving with all of our hearts beating with expectation.
Everyone slowly started to leave the canteen, Lucas and Dustin joking about how they were spending their money on. Lucas said better arrows and bow, Dustin said fixing his lute and opening a store where he could sell magic objects, and Will, he said he would first buy his mom and brother a better place to live and getting to a school to study more, and if there’s anything left over, he would buy herbs, flowers and fungus to study on. He was very curious about nature and its repercussions.
I personally didn’t know what to even spend it on, but I knew it was a very big prize.
The question was, what was the product we were transporting that was so important to take care of?
We started to walk through the empty streets of the village, the lights dim and the breeze cold, but somehow, the environment was strangely warm. Lucas started jumping around because of the jump of energy he suddenly had, Dustin just could laugh and stare at his friend jumping like a rabbit. As I thought, he tripped and fell because of the slippery ice sticking to the floor. I heard Dustin bursting out laughing and also Will, laughing a little beside me. It was very contagious and we both tried to muffle the laughter from escaping, we were not that close with him but we couldn’t help it.
“Hey guys, how far is your house from here? Mine is in Ohi street, pretty far and I don’t want to be walking alone in the alleys at midnight.”
Lucas asked, concerned. My house was just in that same street but I wouldn’t give my address to someone I just met.
“My house is close to there so, I think I could go with you.”
Lucas was now walking backwards without looking at what was behind him. He will fall again.
“Cool! And you, Wise. Is your home very far away or are we close? Cause we could all go together instead of separating.”
He asked the hazel eyes guy and he glanced at him, then at me and then back at him.
“Oh- Yeah, it’s pretty close, I live on whisper street, I know, weird name, but it is where I live.”
He smiled, gripping his cane to be able to walk over the ice without falling.
“What? You live in Whisper street? Is it true that ghosts haunt the people living there? Have you ever seen one?”
Now he was next to him, Dustin was the only one ahead of us, walking by himself, alone. He placed his arm around his shoulders and started yapping, again.
Ugh, does he never shut up?
“Yeah, I have seen ghosts. My mom always tells me to stop looking for them but I don’t care. They love talking to people and gossiping about their community and who they hated. One time there was a girl who said she poisoned her cousin because he slept with her lover but it turned out to be love poison and the first person he looked at was his neighbour through the window. Then there was this huge domino effect and the whole family was destroyed after.”
“Really? And how do you see them? Do you have some magical eyes or what? You have to teach me how to do it because I want to talk with my friend.” He smiled even more.
“I will teach you, but in a few days. Now, let's focus on you not slipping over the ice again.”
Will held Lucas and prevented him from falling.
Why am I suddenly feeling so left out?
Will and I walked together. His house was the farthest from us all and our trail to our houses were always the same. Somedays I remember I saw him through my window while writing at midnight. He looked tired but satisfied, his back was slightly arched, his feet moved slowly and he tripped even if there wasn't a rock to trip over.
One time I got to pass by his house just when he was arriving, he had the same posture and look, but as soon as he opened the door, his brother received him with a hug, not like the ones that are really fast and meaningless, it was deep and heartfelt. Then his brother led him inside where what seemed like their mother placed the plates of soup on the table. The house wasn’t expensive, didn’t have a proper building, but it did feel like home. I wondered if he would be received the same way it did that one time years ago.
The cold was even worse than when we were at the bar. I could see his hand trembling while holding the scepter, the Whisper street was almost an hour away and I saw the signs of the dangerous level of cold reaching him. Face pale, eyes and hands with purple veins showing because of the pale skin, blue lips.
Why am I looking at his lips?
Anyway, I was worried about him not making it to his house, his mother placing the three plates of soup, his brother waiting for him at the door, ready to receive him, none of them knowing he wouldn’t come back.
I was in the doorway of my house, waiting for my mom to open the door, I could hear my sisters laughing from inside. Will was very behind me, the light of the candles on the doorway barely making him visible.
After a while my mom finally opened the door and saw me.
“Mike! You're finally home, how did your meeting go?”
She hugged me and just then realized who was behind me.
“Oh! You didn’t tell me you would bring a friend of yours to our house, would you like to come inside? It's freezing outside.”
She walked out and pulled him inside next to me.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
She took his coat and hung it.
“I’m William. Thank you so much for taking me for the night.”
He smiled and looked around.
“Hey.”
He waved at my little sister, Holly, who was drawing and she waved back with a smile.
“Is it okay if you sleep in the basement? We don’t have any rooms available but we could place you a bed there.”
She asked him, he nodded and shook the snow out of his clothes at the entry of the house before entering completely.
I wondered if this is what he felt when he arrived at his home, if there was less or more warmth than he expected, if he felt that we were doing too much for him. Maybe I was just overthinking too much.
“I could go placing the mattress so you don’t have to, how can I help?”
Suddenly, he and my mom apparently started to get along. Even though they just met, my mom seemed to like him a lot, like Molly’s treat with Harry Potter.
I sat down and ate dinner quickly so I could just go to sleep, I was tired and needed rest, I also needed some food so the effects of the alcohol could slowly go away.
My dad reprimanded me and gave me a sermon about the people who start going to bars and become alcoholics, another reason why I left the table quickly.
I went to my bedroom and changed to some warmer clothes than the ones with layers of snow and cold. I laid in my bed and started to replay all the choices I made that day, that happens when you are alone, drunk and awake at midnight, so I have no choice but to overthink everything I did for the last hours.
God, what am I pulling myself into?