“It’s almost time.”
A boy muttered softly to himself as the wind played with his light brown hair. The boy’s face was young looking but his gaze gave off a mature feeling. He was sitting on a cloud looking towards the horizon with his sharp blue eyes. The distance he was able to see was immeasurable. To him, it was like a world within a world. The landscape far, far below looked beautiful as the sun shined on it. This was only the scene in front of him. Although he was on top of a cloud he was in fact only high in comparison to the distance in front of him. Suddenly the boy heard another boy’s voice.
“Albus, Gramps is calling!”
Albus turned around when he heard the nonchalant voice. Albus when he saw the chubby boy looking straight at him he nodded responding with a quick, “ok”.
As he turned around Albus gave a quick look at the gigantic waterfall. Below it was a drop that was impossible to see from the amount of mist. Yet from the nonexistent sound of the fall was enough of a sign of how deep it truly was. Not lingering any longer, Albus slightly patted the cloud he was sitting on and headed towards the brown haired youth. Although he was fat, he wasn’t as fat as he looked. It was only because the boy was so short, despite his appearance, he wore a face full of smiles giving off a jolliness that was unique to him.
The cloud responded to his touch and started to drift back towards the stout boy. Surprisingly, the drifting cloud was fairly fast even though the distant was short it only took a few seconds to arrive back. Albus smiled mischievously towards the fat boy and spoke out.
“Brother Cannibal, you don’t happen to have any food do you?”
Not fazed by his words, the stout boy retorted:
“Now little brother, just because you put “Brother” in front of that nickname doesn’t make it less insulting.”
Brother Cannibal shrugged his thick shoulders. He had already had the nickname for many years and no matter how many times he complained it stuck. Once they decided on something it was irreversible. Albus nodded lightly and said,
“Oh, is that how it is Brother Can- I mean Brother Delwyn?”
Delwyn rolled his eyes and although it was unknown whether asking for food was a joke or not, he still pulled out a wrap from within his pocket. Though he looked reluctant to part with it, because his younger brother asked him for it, he still willingly gave it over. Albus wasn’t even shocked as he grabbed the sandwich taking a bite out of it. With his mouth full he and Delwyn walked back where their grandpa was waiting. Albus however, didn’t forget to add another few words with his mouth full.
“Let’ go, Pillo!”
The cloud that Albus was sitting on before started to condense until finally, it turned into a physical shape.
“Baa.”
The small furry sheep, that was once a cloud, hopped after the two brothers.
-----------------------------------
“Ah, you’re here. Come, sit down. Let us begin.”
A kind old voice spoke when Delwyn and Albus entered through the door. They had already let Pillo graze on nearby grass outside. As they faced the voice they bowed in respect towards the old man and spoke, “Grandpa Shepherd.”
He was an old man with wrinkles covering his entire face. His calm disposition led others to feel at ease around him. While he stood he had his hands on top of a walking stick, as he watched them both enter. His silvery eyes were the only thing that looked alive about him.
Grandpa Shepherd smiled softly and directed his gaze towards the seats. Both Albus and Delwyn sat down without hesitation. A smirk grew on their faces as they both faced towards the other member that was here before them.
“Morning Brother Raris.”
The two boys greeted with smiles towards their eldest brother. Raris was already watching them with a smirk and greeted them back.
“Morning junior brothers.”
Once the two sat down, Grandpa Shepherd lightly coughed and started to speak.
“Now, where were we?”
The Old man pondered himself while stroking his chin through his long white beard. He faintly nodded when he remembered and continued.
“It has already been year years since I started to teach you young ones. I have forced you to train despite only being children.”
Regret could be seen through his eyes. But since he had already resolved himself from the beginning he didn’t allow the pain to linger. The brothers looked at one another and it was Raris who, with a dignified manner, spoke up,
“Grandpa, all three of us do not regret the days we spent under your wing. We know that having you as our teacher is already our greatest blessing. Now, like baby chicks, we must take flight and find a new nest.”
Just as Raris finished his serious statement, a stomach rumbling was heard. Albus, Raris, and Grandpa shepherd all looked towards the obvious suspect. Blushing slightly, Delwyn looked down in embarrassment. The three boys then laughed heartily while Grandpa Shepherd mumbled under his breath while smiling.
Soon after the food came with a person who usually follows after Grandpa Shepherd from afar. Even during all this time they never knew the name of the man who acted as Grandpa’s helper. Although they tried speaking with him on many occasions he remained emotionless through their five years of training.
As Grandpa Shepherd saw their gazes he waved his hand and started to speak.
“Young ones, do not forget what you have learned here. But, also do not tell others where you are from or what you have learned. You are all still too weak and there are those who know that knowledge is power.”
“Yes, Grandpa!”
The young boys bowed in respect to their teacher and grandpa. Their words held their true feelings towards the old man.
“I have already given you all that you may need. You shall leave within the week.”
Though Grandpa Shepherd had a hint of reluctance in his voice, he didn’t show it through his facial expression. He then slightly tapped his walking stick and disappeared. Naturally, the three brothers weren’t surprised as it was a normal occurrence from time to time. Where he went they never knew.
Albus seeing that they were free for the time being spoke up.
“Hey, shall we see who is the strongest between us three before we leave?”
“Haha, that is a good idea. If I win I’ll be able to revel in the fact that I’ll be the strongest for years to come.”
As soon as Albus mentioned a fight, Raris was already following up while laughing. At this moment Delwyn was too busy thinking about second breakfast to care much about who was the strongest out of them. Knowing fully well what Delwyn was thinking Albus spoke some words that caused Delwyn’s ears to perk up in interest.
“Whoever wins, gets all he can eat and the other two have to gather and cook all the food for the winner.”
“I’m in!”
Delwyn was already sold and couldn’t wait till Albus stopped so he could voice his agreement. As they started walking Raris didn’t forget to add one more thing.
“Oh right,” Raris said while staring at Albus.
“Fine, I won’t say anything while fighting. But seriously you guys got to learn how to defend yourselves from words. After all, that could be the difference between life and death!”
Albus waved his hands in an exaggerated way to voice his displeasure. Though he acted displeased Raris and even Delwyn will not trust anything that came from his mouth. It wasn’t just once that Albus had fooled them. After all, he was a rascal years ago. They also knew that even though he said he wouldn’t he was definitely going to do so anyways.
-----------------------
“Brother Cannibal, it can’t be you plan on eating your own family before fighting are you?”
“Hmph! What do you know? I’m strongest when I’m full. And while we are talking, aren’t you always eating Pillo’s Cloudfur?”
Delwyn had convinced himself that him eating pork was similar to eating the Cloudfur from Pillo’s fur. Despite trying his hardest to reject Albus he was instead digging himself his own grave. Albus was not the type of person to leave such an opportunity open to float around either.
“Brother Cannibal, as kindred spirits, of course, it is natural for Pillo to share some of her beautiful fur with me. After all, it has such a sweet taste how could I resist? But as for you, you end up eating your kindred spirit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. How could those be the same things?”
Albus said with a mischievous smile. Though he was a little less ruthless than he could be, he still ended up with turning Delwyn’s situation against him. Raris, before Delwyn could speak up for himself, spoke.
“Now, let us move along. After all this opportunity doesn’t come very often. Same rules as always, anyone who falls on one knee or gets knocked into the water will be out.”
Raris left no room for further discussion as he already jumped on top of a small circular island. It didn’t leave much room for manoeuvring but it was big enough for a small-scale fight such as this. Albus, who failed and trying to argue further, clicked his tongue but he didn’t dare risk angering his elder brother and followed. Delwyn was a tad bit slower, but he had already forgotten about the argument and was thinking on how to win his all-he-can-eat buffet made from his brothers.
“Shall we begin?”
Raris said with a rather calm attitude. But when Albus and Delwyn looked into his eyes, they could see the glint of fire. Raris was always one who loved to fight and show off. But he wasn’t a person to show it through his voice. In fact, it was only really possible to tell what he was thinking through his eyes alone. During the five years they spent training together, they had learnt of all the little things between one another.
Raris had already waited a few seconds and he immediately summoned his spirit weapon. It was in fact, a rather beautiful sword that matched well with his good looks. The red hilt with a red ribbon fluttered in the wind along with his red hair. While swinging his sword in a rhythmic like motion, it was obvious his sword technique was incredible. However, the thing most notable was his sharp gaze that looked down upon everything.
“Such a nice spirit weapon. You wouldn’t be planning on using that against your youngest brother now would you?”
Though Albus was speaking words, he didn’t mean what he said. After all, he knew that Raris was staring straight at him with his deep yellow eyes. Though this is was a side effect of his spirit, the gaze alone was enough for Albus to feel anxious.
‘This isn’t good. Brother Raris is serious.’
As Albus thought to himself, he soon realized that he was the target of his elder brother’s competitiveness. Albus, who was slightly fearful of being in close combat with his brother, immediately drew his spirit weapon. A dark blue bow appeared out of thin air and perfectly fit inside of his palm. As he gripped it just enough to keep hold of it, he could feel the grain of the carefully crafted wood tickle his palm. As he saw Raris already charging straight for him he immediately dodged to the left. The place he was just before standing had already the air cut in half as a swoosh was heard.
“Now big Brother, you don’t have to try so hard against young me!”
Raris had wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew if he took his eyes off of Albus for even a second he would quickly disappear.
“You were always talented at being a loud chicken.”
Raris said with a light scolding tone, but he didn’t dare belittle Albus. He could talk shamelessly and run away whenever he needed to with his spirit. Though he called Albus a loud chicken, that absolutely didn’t mean that Albus himself wasn’t strong. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Albus was just too talented in running away and talking, but his strength was definitely real. Not to mention that Albus was so good at running away combined with his archery skills it was very unlikely that he would ever catch him if he let him get away.
Albus fired off arrows that he pulled from his quiver only to be quickly deflected by the pursuing Raris. Meanwhile, Delwyn was standing off to the side not doing anything. He had already summoned his spirit weapon, more like spirit shield. But, his shield was an incredible weapon in his hands. While Delwyn was looking at his brothers he laughed to himself.
‘These brothers of mine. How could they forget about my great power? I shall end this in one charge!’
His thoughts started to leak out by the end of it, but because both Albus and Raris were ignoring him, he must have felt they didn’t realize what he was planning. Just as Delwyn was about to start his charge, suddenly Albus started charging towards him first. This didn’t stop Delwyn from continuing with his charge, he was even more excited to have a head-to-head clash. If the three brothers were to ask who had the most destructive power it would undoubtedly be Delwyn. Everything that he charged into would be flattened.
“Heh heh, Brother Cannibal you look confident!”
Albus managed to sneak in a few words before he arrived in front of Delwyn, with Raris still behind him. Naturally, Raris knew what Albus was planning and the moment Albus jumped out of the way, he too dodged to the side. The charging Delwyn just passed by without any issues. Except he wasn’t happy that his brothers jumped out of the way. If he had it his way he would have ended it with that single charge. Just as he was about to voice his complaint someone else spoke instead.
“Brother Cannibal, I set a perfect path for you to charge into Brother Raris. How could you let go of such a beautiful chance?”
Delwyn was momentarily stunned by his words, though only for a moment. If the older brothers were still bothered by his words at this point they would never defeat him in a fight. Delwyn, after that moment, started to charge towards Albus again.
‘Oh hoo.’
Albus smiled when he knew that he wouldn’t be able to drag Delwyn or Raris into his own pace so easily, but at the very least they had their emotions stirred. He didn’t even need to say anything to Raris because the moment he tried to use Delwyn to take him out, it was already enough to get his blood flowing.
Knowing that the fight was about to get more intense, Albus ran towards the outer perimeter of the small island. He grabbed an arrow from his quiver and pulled back the string of his bow. The arrow slid out of his fingers as it launched towards Raris, who was currently directly behind him.
“Damn. I know that a single arrow is easy to knock out of the air for you Brother Raris, but could you at least act a bit disturbed?”
Albus said while running away, of course, his words didn’t match his expression as he continued to smile. Raris didn’t want to continue playing cat and mouse with his younger brother and immediately focused his spirit to form.
“Spirit Release!”
As Raris yelled, red wings appeared on his back. As these wings formed, his speed shot up and he quickly caught up to Albus.
‘Not good!’
This time, Albus didn’t even have time to retort as he, too, immediately summoned his spirit.
“Scatter!”
Albus panicked voice was heard but a thick fog quickly formed in the surrounding area successfully covering the entire field. Now that both Delwyn and Raris had their field of vision cut from them, they both took protective measures against this. Well, Raris did at least. He escaped by flying upwards cursing under his breath that he failed to finish Albus off before he could go into hiding. Delwyn wasn't bothered; he knew that neither of his brothers could harm his body anyways.
“Hehe, I am the Erymanthian Boar! I dare you both come and fight me head on!”
Delwyn yelled out as it was his only option left when he couldn’t see. Charging was a definite no for him because he potentially could run off the island! He wanted his buffet too badly to risk such a terrible defeat; such a thing would obviously be outrageous. Naturally, Albus always had something to say and this time was no different.
“Brother Cannibal, how can you say that? You weigh at least a couple dozen times more than me and even if I wanted to over exaggerate, I wouldn’t be able to unless I added another digit to that.”
A lingering moment of silence followed after his words. But it wasn’t long when Albus finished with his favorite laugh.
“Heh heh.”
Delwyn felt his eyebrow twitch from anger. He wasn’t overly sensitive by his weight as he knew it was a side effect from the spirit however, there was definitely a limit. It was only when Albus used his sarcastic laugh as the finisher that it bothered him. The reason was that both Raris and Delwyn knew that when Albus laughed like that, it was like he was winning something. To give Albus any form of victory was a form of defeat for them.
At this time Raris was calmly trying to find Albus from his voice. If there was one weakness Albus had, it was definitely that he liked to talk…. Too much that is. Which gave away his location for Raris.
“Ignite!”
As his words echoed in the fog covered world. Albus was already on the move. He knew that Raris was already taking advantage of his talent. He couldn’t help but lightly reprimand himself, but only lightly after all he still managed to leave Delwyn slightly speechless. Raris released a bombard for feathers lit on fire. When they pierced through the fog they disappeared, but an explosion soon followed.
Within the fog, Delwyn was still standing still not caring from the explosions as he called out in a relieved tone.
“Little Brother Albus, that will teach you to not speak while hiding!”
Delwyn laughed a little to himself as he brushed the dust off of his stout body when suddenly he heard a sound.
“Well, Brother Delwyn you might be right. Unfortunately, this little Brother will politely decline your advice.”
As he said that, it was now Raris who was preparing to dodge. The moment Raris heard his unfazed words, he already knew that Albus would be shooting at him next. Soon after several blue arrows erupted from the fog wall. Even though Raris dodged, he still looked at his previous location with some fear. A hit like that would undoubtedly put him down even if the arrows were blunted.
A few rounds continued between Raris and Albus, but because they both had their own methods of dodging a stalemate was immediately formed. This is the point of which their fights would usually be forced to stop. After all fighting against the same person for many years, their reactions to each other were heightened to the limits.
Delwyn never moved once while he was inside the fog. For him, it was riskier to move than not move. After all, with his brother’s spirit weapons or spirits, they could not harm him. As for Albus; he was, well, shameless. That alone was already a problem. Not to mention that Albus had a cloud spirit. It was a rather obscure spirit to have but at the same time for concealing it was absolutely dominant. Raris had no way of attacking Albus unless he spoke. And when Raris made his way into the air with his Garuda spirit, it was already hard enough to catch him with Albus's arrows. That alone was enough to show how fast Raris was with his wings.
“Heh heh, Brothers why don’t we call this a day and say that I won?”
Albus asked shamelessly.
“Little Brother, don’t think that I don’t have a way to deal with your cloud spirit now!”
Raris followed up by igniting the spirit essence within his body and shot of even more feathers than the earlier time. The feathers pierced into the cloud and split apart momentarily before it returned to its original form.
Tick tick tick.
The Feathers landed on the ground, and after a few seconds, nothing happened. This made Albus drop his shoulders in a relaxing way. The island wasn’t small, but hundreds of feathers were launched by Raris. Luckily Albus was able to walk away unscathed. So, what did Albus do when he walked out unscathed? Of course, the answer was to shamelessly let everyone know and what better way than to add his smug laugh!
“Heh heh. Brother Raris, even after all that effort yo-”
“Erupt.”
Raris squeezed his hand into a fist as he cut off Albus. Albus clicked his tongue in disappointment and said:
“Of course, that’s not all.”
The feathers that started to glow suddenly exploded. Because the feathers were small so were the explosions. Luckily for this reason alone, Albus was able to stay unscathed once more. Unfortunately, the fog dissipated along with the explosions. And to top it off Albus didn’t have enough time to complain that his cover disappeared as Delwyn suddenly came charging from the side.
“Clench. Your. Teeth!”
The unstoppable Delwyn slammed into Albus flinging him high into the air. It was obvious that he would be knocked into the water. Luckily the island was a fair distance away from Heaven’s Fall, thus even if he didn’t immediately recover he wouldn’t encounter an unfortunate accident. Nonetheless, after Delwyn launched Albus, he spoke a few words,
“Don’t be angry with us Albus!”
“That’s right, we only did this because we wanted you to realize that sometimes your words will get you into more trouble than just keeping quiet.”
As Delwyn gave an apologetic look, Raris followed up with an explanation. When Albus heard these words smiled. He knew that his brothers teamed up against him to teach him a lesson. However, it was futile as it was a lesson that he could never learn. He was extremely stubborn.
As Albus was still being launched and was about to drop he had enough time to say one complete sentence. Albus didn’t look for an excuse, he only needed to do one thing: That was to prove that his words could be backed up by his actions. Just as both Raris and Delwyn had thought it was over for Albus, they turned to see Albus regain his posture in the air by flipping backwards.
“He can’t be up to something…”
Delwyn couldn’t help but get nervous. After all, their plan wasn’t guaranteed to work and seeing it succeed so easily made him slightly worry. As for Raris one could see the change of expression through his eyes for a short second. Suddenly just before Albus's toes were about to touch the surface of the water they could tell his mumbled under his breath and in the next instant a cloud formed from below his feet. It wasn’t a cloud like his earlier fog either. Otherwise, Albus would not be perfectly standing on this cloud above the water.
“Albus! Using Pillo is cheating!”
Delwyn immediately felt wronged by the sudden turn of events. Seeing his brother’s reaction only made Albus smile even more.
“Why Brother Cannibal, how could you say such a terrible thing,” he then gave a mischievous smile as he pointed towards the distance. “That cloud over there is Pillo!”
Delwyn rolled his eyes and said:
“You can’t use any of the other Cloudsheep either!”
Albus used his signature laughter this time as he felt pleased by Delwyn’s reaction.
“Heh Heh, You are mistaken Brother Cannibal, this is, without a doubt, not another Cloudsheep!”
Delwyn was about to pick up rocks to knock Albus off of the cloud but as he was about to move, Raris stopped him. Raris afterwards gave Albus a deep look and sighed.
“You learnt to manipulate the cloud’s physical form?”
Albus gave a saddened expression like a child who had prank found out. In this case; it was a perfect example of it, nonetheless, Albus was still answered truthfully.
“Yes, Brother Raris is insightful.”
“How did you do it? I imagine you would have spent a lot of time observing to immitate their metamorphosis.”
Raris looked at his younger brother with a hint of curiosity. Though asking would more than likely not help him directly, learning more was never a bad thing. And truthfully Raris was rather impressed by his brother’s ability to comprehend such a difficult thing. Delwyn, on the other hand, wore a face full of confusion then followed by sulking because he was left out of the conversation. Not to mention he suddenly remembered failing to teach Albus a lesson did not work which led to a tear forming in the side of his eye.
"When I figured out how to Cloud Step, I was also surprised. But truthfully, it isn’t similar to the way Cloudsheep change their shape at all. Cloudsheep's incredibly light fur allowed them to expand to an enormous size where it was easy to float. They only had to supplement that with Essence and flying was no problem. Although I use a similar logic, it is still quite different. My clouds are still clouds, but within them, I condensed as much water as physically possible freezing it to act as a step. Naturally, with this alone, I would fail. But, luckily I learnt while watching the Cloudsheep how to control the Essence in a way to support that weight.”
With Albus's explanation, Raris gave a look of approval. He nodded and rose his hand.
“Well, with this I admit defeat. Only because you have truly impressed me this time little brother.”
Raris then flew off the small island and headed back to the house where Grandpa Shepherd once was. As he did Delwyn immediately voiced his reluctance in giving up while grumbling to himself.
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“I refuse to give up my buf- I mean victory!”
Albus followed with a fake smile and said:
“Heh Heh, I just so happen to need to do target practice and focus on improving my skills. Ah! I got it, what better target than the indestructible body of Brother Cannibal! What do you say Brother Cannibal?”
“I give up!”
Delwyn threw his hands into the air and walked away whining about food this and food that while on the way. Though he knew that Albus's arrows could not physically harm him, it didn’t mean that it felt good to get hit by them. And if Albus stood on the cloud and bombarded him with arrows who would be the one to give up first? The answer was obvious and Delwyn wasn’t stupid. Not the smartest in comparison to his two brothers but he still had common sense.
“Victory!”
Albus threw his hand into the air and shouted. There was no way he was letting up on this opportunity to brag.
Ten minutes later after Albus exhausted himself jumping from cloud to cloud proclaiming his perfect victory, he jumped on Pillo looked towards the horizon. Turning serious he spoke, “I can’t believe we will finally be able to go down there.”
Raris’s gaze turned serious as he spoke as well.
“It’s true, to think that we brothers will split up and make a name for ourselves in the Mortal Realm. Who knows we might not even see one another again.”
“Elder Brother, please don’t say something so ominous. ”
Delwyn anxiously said. Albus also agreed with Delwyn as he nodded.
“That’s right. We are young but we are already mature for our ages. We trained for longer than any other child our age. Besides after all these years, how could we not know our own strength best and when to retreat?”
“I don’t want to hear that from you, little brother.”
Raris gave a look towards Albus. As he did Albus awkwardly scratched his chin. When he was unable to rebuff he was only left with this action. Though he normally he was shameless, he wasn’t someone who would deny the truth. Thus he could only sit there and be reprimanded by his brother’s gaze.
“Hah, but you’re both right. We need to stay alive and make sure to fulfil Gramps wish.”
Both Delwyn and Albus showed their agreement by nodding. It was just then that Raris suddenly remembered something so he brought it up.
“Hey, do you guys remember when we first received our Spirit weapons from Gramps?”
Delwyn laughed while he replied.
“How could I not? Both of us were given a master that we could learn the basics from. Though our masters never spoke to us outside of that, we at the very least had someone to teach us. Yet Brother Albus was left alone to learn archery for himself.”
“Heh heh, see? Shouldn’t you guys be admiring me because I self-taught my own skills?!”
Albus added his own words as his lifted his chin shamelessly praising himself. Raris immediately snorted as he argued:
“Don’t you mean where you learnt to become shameless?”
“Ah! Brother Raris! How can you say such a thing about my master?!”
Albus face immediately showed displeasure when he heard his master talked about in a negative way.
“I have no reason to say anything about your so-called “master”. What I’m saying is that you chose to follow in her footsteps!”
Raris rolled his eyes as he knew following his brother’s pace was only going to give him a headache. But being the Eldest Brother wasn’t for nothing as he was able to turn the words against his little brother instead.
“Sure enough, you guys don’t understand! The moment I saw her, I knew she was my one true master! I’m telling you guys, her destructive power was amazing!”
Delwyn pulled out a sandwich from the basket, that was more than likely put there for him, and started eating it. He had wanted to ignore the conversation and fill his stomach but he couldn’t help but be interested and ask with a mouth full of food.
“Why don’t you tell us if it’s so amazing!”
Raris felt wronged as he glared at Delwyn. Except Delwyn was already busying himself with his sandwich. Sighing to himself he, too, was curious but at the same time he would rather not know why his little brother became such a rascal.
Albus showed his excitement to tell the story by nodding more than necessary. Truthfully, he wanted to keep it a secret, but now that they were leaving soon he felt it was better to leave off with no secrets and readily agreed to tell.
“Well, after you guys went to train with your masters. Even though I didn’t have anyone to teach me archery, Grandpa still sent me to the forest to practice against the trees. Luckily for me, there was already an archer there. That was my master!”
“Oh thank you! You learnt more than being shameless from her. That is, at least, one relief.”
Delwyn interrupted. But Albus ignored him and continued to explain:
“At first, I just watched her form. I wanted to learn from her by practising the way she did. And because Grandpa sent me to the forest every day I was able to see her all the time. After watching her for only a bit my skills improved greatly. But it was at that moment when he arrived that things changed. A man appeared one day and from what I remember there was nothing overly wrong with the man’s appearances. But as soon as he tried to talk to the woman, he was completely ignored by her. He got angry and thus tried to speak ill of her. There were some words I didn’t understand but I knew he wasn’t being fair. Despite this, the woman didn’t care and continued to shoot at her target diligently like always.”
“Yawn, get to the point already!”
Delwyn complained once again, but, like before, Albus ignored him and continued.
“Finally, it got to the point that the woman was unable to ignore the man any longer. And on the day she spoke, it was before the man came back to harass her again. She said, ‘If you want to use it so badly, why don’t you just show me it and then I can decide?’ I wasn’t sure what it meant, but nonetheless, the man was left speechless. And not only that, when he refused to show her what she wanted, she immediately got angry and beat the crap out of him. For some weird reason, the man continued to visit and became speechless by her words every day followed by being beaten up! And because I went every day I was able to learn many things from my master!”
Silence lingered for a few seconds. Raris couldn’t help but mutter a few words under his breath,
“Well maybe some of us aren’t so mature after all.”
While Delwyn looked in disbelief as he asked in a worried tone,
“Brother Albus, from this story alone I don’t entirely see how you became so shameless. It seems that your master only ever said a few words then beat that man up. But as for you, well, you never shut up. How can that be considered the same thing?”
Albus looked at Delwyn’s face full of disbelief and pondered for a second. As he did, he replied with a straight face and a nod.
“Don’t fret the little things Brother Cannibal.”
Because Albus acted so nonchalant about it Delwyn nearly spat out the sandwich he was still eating. He nearly jumped up and strangled his little brother but luckily Raris was able to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“Well regardless of that. All three of us will have to live until we see one another again.”
“Yes, Brother!”
The two younger brothers answered seriously as they knew Raris was completely serious with his words. Next, Albus remembered something and asked his brothers.
“What do you guys wish to do after we fulfill Gramps wish?”
Delwyn upon hearing this stuck out his chest and proclaimed loudly,
“I want to open up a Saint restaurant! Only those I allow to enter will eat my food!”
“Who are you trying to fool? You will eat all the food yourself so how will your customers eat?”
“Why you!”
“Heh Heh.”
As the two started to bicker among themselves Raris thought to himself:
‘A Goal….hmm’
As he thought that he turned to Albus.
“Well, what about you little brother?”
“Me? Naturally, I will improve myself so that one day everything in front of me, even the Heavens, will cry!”
The two older brothers were so speechless they immediately got up and left. Leaving behind Albus who was also speechless from the sudden reaction which was rare for him. Finally when he could almost no longer see them he spoke,
“Hey Brothers? Wait up!”
After a few seconds, he called out, while slightly embarrassed, to his older brothers.
“Wh-what about m-my buffet?!”
The next thing that happened no one knew, as Albus was soon, actually very soon, met with a black filled mind. The next thing he knew he woke up, not knowing why he fell asleep in the grass, with his brothers nowhere to be found.
“Heh Heh… Huh? Why did I suddenly feel like laughing like that...?”
-----------------------------------
“Master!?”
The man that was always seen following Grandpa Shepherd called out towards the man himself. Grandpa Shepherd gave an exhausted look towards his subordinate.
“I have already told you many times. This is how it must be!”
“But-”
“No!”
Grandpa Shepherd was not known for raising his voice. Because of that, it made it that much more terrifying when he showed his might. This old man was actually more known for his overbearing strength than anything else! The young man lightly backed away not daring to defy his master. When Grandpa Shepherd saw this he sighed with some stale air.
“I have already told you that my time right now is only because of the Protector!”
“But Master! Please allow your disciples to assist you in your tribulation!”
“Insolence! You dare take the Protector’ Life Essence in your own hands!? You, the Highest of The Heavens; a Saint?!”
Grandpa Shepherd roared despite his age. He looked like a famous General who led a thousand soldiers through a thousand years and lost none but gained many. He slammed down his walking stick; golden light filled the room stunning the young man into a kneeling position. He immediately bowed his to his master and begged for forgiveness.
“Master! This disciple does not wish to offend the Protector! I, Graham, only wish to see you live and lead us into the Heaven’s Gate!”
The moment that Grandpa Shepherd heard this his anger softened until all the pressure was gone. Graham was finally able to feel all his cold shiver all at once. As he tried to get up his knees buckled, as he fell Grandpa Shepherd held out his hand and held him up. With an apologetic look, he said,
“Young one, my time is over. I, The Shepherd who led all but followed none, am dead. You all know this!”
He told not only to Graham but to the others who were listening as well. Graham lowered his head, but despite looking defeated he still opposed him.
“But Master if you become a Saint you can live!”
Grandpa Shepherd lightly shook his head and replied softly,
“And take the Protectors Life Essence? Then who shall protect the Seal of Heaven’s Gate?”
His gaze lightly chided Graham who still was resolute. But Grandpa Shepherd knew that he didn’t know the true dangers behind Heaven’s Gate. Thus he dropped his shoulders in defeat and walked away. At this point, the old man’s back looked incredibly lonely muttering a few things under his breath,
“Soon Old Friend.”
--------------
“... What did I just hear?”
Albus crouched down and tried to keep calm. Despite his efforts, his voice still leaked out as he panicked. Him being here wasn’t that odd because Albus lived with Grandpa Shepherd. It was more strange for Albus to be witnessing Graham speak than for him to be here. As Albus tried to breathe in deep breaths, suddenly he saw Grandpa Shepherd open the door and see him sitting there.
“Oh? Lil Al what are you doing on the floor here. Come, let us get you into bed.”
Grandpa Shepherd smiled as he lightly helped Albus back up. Albus, at first panicked but after seeing his Grandpa’s kind eyes he eased up and relaxed.
“Yes Grandpa,” as he walked upstairs to his bedroom he turned around and said, “Thank you for everything Grandpa.”
Grandpa Shepherd watched Albus walk upstairs and go to bed. He gave a weak smile, after all, someone with his strength how could he not know about Albus overhearing his conversation? It was more that he wanted Albus to know but he didn’t want to directly tell him. It, too, hurt Grandpa Shepherd to leave the three brothers who were like, his grandsons. But he also couldn’t bear to have them find out when the returned. This to him was the only way, it might have been a cowardly move, but when he thought like that he murmured to himself.
“I’ve had a brave life, it’s bad for my heart to act too brave.”
------------------------
The next few days passed quickly and it was already the night before they left. During this time Albus had made sure to let his brothers know about the incident he overheard. And now all three brothers were standing facing one another. Raris finally crossed his arms and spoke up.
“We all know that after we give our goodbyes we aren’t going to want to see each others' face. So while we still love one another and aren’t rivals until we fall, let us say them now.”
Delwyn stepped forward and saluted his Elder Brother.
“Brother Raris, I thank you for looking after me all these years. Thank you, though not in blood we are brothers in life, I will return your hard work by showing you how strong I will become!”
Raris returned his speech with a nod and replied,
“I thank you as well, brother. I wish you well and thank you for sharing all your food.”
Delwyn gave a dejected look when he heard that, while Albus snickered to himself. When Delwyn heard him snicker he raised his mood and walked over to Albus.
“Little Brother Albus, I thank you for your words of wisdom all this time!”
Delwyn then surprisingly grabbed Albus by the knock and started to lightly punch him in the stomach. Though it was light for Delwyn they were still hard punches because of his weight. He wasn’t pulling his punches, as Albus was slightly having the wind knocked out of him! Raris didn’t interfere and even Albus didn’t bother to dodge our counter. Though other might call them stupid they all knew there were two reasons for doing this. The first was to get obvious revenge upon Albus's sharp words for all these years, and Albus was not surprised to see this outcome. The second was to test Albus's resolve for his goal. Albus had already explained he wanted to attempt to defeat foes through talking before he fought them. Of course, he wasn’t stupid and this only applied to simple violence. Even still his older brothers didn’t approve and only if he let them beat the crap out of him before they left would they agree. So that’s exactly what they did.
As Delwyn finished with Albus he smacked his hands together and smiled ear to ear. Albus wasn’t bloody, but he was bruised. Raris gave a look towards Albus who returned a look of defeat. But Albus still managed to sneak in a weak voice:
“Brother Raris, you wouldn’t happen to be thinking you would go all out on a weak me, would you?”
Raris ignored him and continued to stare needles into Albus that was getting fiercer by the second. Albus who caught on got up and clenched his eyes and waited. As he waited a few more seconds with nothing happening he opened one of his eyes and looked at his brother. The moment he did he was hugged by Raris tightly. Raris padded his back and spoke softly, it held a kindness unlike the usual Raris, but that just made it that much more real.
“I told Cannibal- I mean Delwyn that he could put mine in with his. You should know that we only want you to stay safe and not bring in this unnecessary risk. But at the same time, we understand following the path we choose is when we are strongest!”
Albus heard this and smiled while he joked,
“Brother Raris, I’m supposed to be the shameless one here. I know you guys wanted revenge don’t lie!”
Raris tilted his head while he pondered. When he thought of an answer he curled his lips and nodded firmly.
“A little bit.”
He laughed as he put his arm around Albus’s neck shaking him from side to side. Then Albus and Delwyn started to join in on the laughter. As they finally started to calm, Albus took his turn to pay respects to his brothers. But unlike his usual attitude he serious bowed to his brothers for a good few without saying a single word. It was obvious from this action alone how greatly he thought of his brothers. The older brothers were touched and both put a hand on his shoulder while smiling.
“Well, I must say I was touched by Little Al’s sincerity. Finally, it is my turn.”
As he said that he released his spirit spreading open his wings. From each wing, he took the outermost feather and plucked it from his wings. He gave the right to Delwyn and the left to Albus. He didn’t even give them the chance to be confused as he continued:
“These feathers represent my goal. My goal is to not only fulfill Gramps’ wish of opening the Heaven’s Gate, but also to follow create the strongest clan and challenge Heaven’s Gate!”
Raris then pointed towards the feathers and announced,
“Those feathers represent my challenge to you younger brothers! If you wish to fight along with me, bring those feathers and we will bring the strongest men and women to challenge Heaven’s Gate!”
The two younger brothers were inwardly shocked. By boldly saying this, Raris was claiming he wanted to be the strongest force in the world! That also included Saints! Such a clan would be massive and take incredible amounts of strength to back up the name. But, they could tell Raris’ eyes were serious. But the next moment he smiled again and returned to his calm demeanor. He then placed his fist in front of him. The two brothers realising the change in attitude returned his fist. As all their fists met, they closed their eyes one by one. No more words were spoken to one another. And one by one they left the circle with their necks held up high, their backs straight and fearless. The moment they left they were now rivals. Raris left, and then Delwyn, until finally Albus was left with a hint of reluctance he, too, left the circle and headed to his house.
------------------
The next day, the three brothers, Grandpa Shepherd stood on the edge right before Heaven’s Falls. Graham was off in the distance and Pillo was in cloud form near the edge. The Brothers faced the world they would be soon challenging. Then they all turned around and deeply bowed. Grandpa Shepherd nodded happily but just as he thought they would all stand up only Raris did. Although confused Grandpa Shepherd patiently waited. Raris stepped forward and bowed sincerely again. He released his wings and he took a feather from each wing. The feathers he took were both the closest feather to his back. Before the farthest feather was the representation of his challenge but now, it meant something completely different. The feathers closest to him represented that Grandpa Shepherd would always stay in his heart forever. Grandpa Shepherd had a momentarily, shine in his eyes as he nodded towards Raris. Raris then immediately and turned, jumping off Heaven’s Fall. It was unknown whether it was the mist or if there were actual tears coming from his bright yellow eyes.
Next Delwyn stood up. He took a step forward like Raris before him and bowed again. He pulled out a sandwich. It was his favorite pork sandwich that he always ate. Under normal circumstances, he would give it with a slightly look of reluctance but today, he handed it to Grandpa Shepherd once more and spoke:
“Disciple Delwyn thanks Grandmaster for everything!”
With that Delwyn too took his leave as he climbed on top of several Cloudsheep that would have the unfortunate responsibility of delivering him.
Grandpa Shepherd was stunned in a different way however, he still nodded happily. Next, he looked towards Lil Al. The boy he took from an age before he could even walk. He raised him to be a fighter from the day he took him in. Carefully teaching him the essentials so that his journey would be easier. A bond had been formed between them and they both treated one another as a proper family member. Although Grandpa Shepherd didn’t tell Albus directly about dying, he did tell him about not being his real grandfather. He also didn’t know anything about his family. After a few moments, Albus finally stood up. A tear could be seen formed in his eyes.
‘Damnit, I promised I wouldn’t cry. The others didn’t!’
He slightly cursed himself but as Grandpa Shepherd saw those defiant eyes he chuckled to himself as he thought to himself.
‘If only you knew that each one of your older brothers had the same look.’
Albus after taking a step forward and bowing pulled out an arrow. This was an arrow that was created when his spirit weapon took form. The quiver would create as many arrows as he had Spirit Essence but it took very little. The thing about this arrow was that it was wrapped around with Cloudfur. Albus had wanted to use his own cloud spirit however, he knew it would soon lose its shape. But regardless Grandpa Shepherd gave a full smile and thought to himself.
‘A cloud spirit intertwined with an arrow. The spirit weapon I gave him huh? Haha, what a good boy!’
Then without being able to hold himself back tears started to pour down his cheeks. As he didn’t want his Grandpa to see him like that he bowed again and jumped onto Pillo who was on the edge. Pillo drifted to the world below while carrying Albus who had tears streaming down his face.
Grandpa Shepherd calmed down and smiled.
“Good boys!”
“Who do you think has the best chance Master?”
Surprisingly it wasn’t Graham who asked because at this moment there were hundreds upon hundreds of people knelt down behind Grandpa Shepherd. He faced forward and gave a hearty response:
“Of course all three of them. You brought good kids in this world Genir, Ida, Solumdunr, Mindred. Two pairs of couples stepped forward and bowed in unison. One man stepped forward and represented the other.
“We are honoured that you have high expectations for Raris and Delwyn, Master.”
The couples retreated back to the spots after. They were excited that Grandpa Shepherd had high expectations for them. Naturally, they were the proudest themselves. Grandpa Shepherd finally turned serious and spoke:
“Highest of the Heavens; A Saint. As Saints, you have all failed to open Heaven’s Gate. But fret not, I failed to even reach your level!”
His subordinates didn’t dare speak as they knew these were his final words. Grandpa Shepherd accepting their goodwill continued,
It doesn’t have to the be most talented. It doesn’t have to be the strongest. It just needs to be someone who can lead everyone to protect our world. I, as your master, command you to follow the person who proves themselves worthy!”
“Yes, Master!”
They all saluted Grandpa Shepherd. With a final nod, he gave a quick few thoughts,
‘I’m ready now Old Friend.’
Surprisingly though this time a voice responded.
“Do you have any last words Old Man?”
‘If I had to complain about one thing, it might be that you made Albus learn about how you met his mother.’
Grandpa Shepherd grumbled to the voice.
“Haha! I just wanted him to have a touch of the person I loved most.”
The voice laughed as Grandpa Shepherd snorted,
‘They are nothing alike!’
The voice still thought it was funny and responded,
“Haha I disagree, I think he’s just like her!”
‘Whatever, regardless, he’s a good kid.’
Silence followed after Grandpa Shepherd’s soft words.
“.....Thanks for looking after him.”
“Ah whatever, You gave me a long life training as many people as I could. That is already more than your simple favour Old Friend.”
“Well, enough of that! Old man, come join me! I have enough liquor to get us drunk for eternity! Let us drink until the Seal erases our souls!”
Grandpa gave a deep breath and gave his final response:
“Ah, I have lived a very busy life, I would very much like to die in a relaxed way.”
While he held onto the items the three little boys left for him he carried his last few thoughts.
The moment an arrow leaves the string it will carry on forever or disappear forever. But with the bond we formed, my spirit will stay forever with the arrow, no matter where you may go.
Like that, the old man passed away with a smile on his face. He never looked away from the direction the children left as if to cheer them on after death.