“Hurry! There is another here!” a shout echoed in the makeshift camp that the caravan had set up.
Carter sat silently as he listened to the shouts outside, as if it was a different world and had absolutely nothing to do with him. It was probably just another attack by the hungry beast smelling the cooked food of the soldiers.
“DO NOT LET THEM NEAR THE SUPPLIES!”
Arc could be seen with his back facing a fire, huddled as close to it as he could with his book in hand, his smile so wide as he read, ignoring the fights around him.
Carter looked at the dark sky; he stared at it with his usual dead eyes before they began to scrunch. He despised the night sky of Genisis. It was barren and cold, nothing like Feyrish, with the warm lights that danced out of reach far in the sky, giving the night a beautiful blue glow. No, Genisis had none of that, just cold, empty darkness; it made everything seem false and lifeless. Only when Morin rose would light grace the land and the lie that was night be cast away, giving way to life and some semblance of truth.
It had been nearly three and a half weeks since they departed Pilosophis to a small village near the capital. Arc had little to say or ask about why, but he managed to gather the gist of the situation. The reason was twofold: to give some needed supplies that the subsidiary race could not make on their own, either from lack of needed people or lack of money; the other reason was simply to ensure the safety of the race. Since this race served the Alchemic Race, their protection was required. So, the Alchemic Race and the soldiers stationed there needed to be changed periodically to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Carter grumbled and twisted his body as the light from Morin shone through the window of the carriage, hitting his face.
“Good to see you awake,” Arc yawned as he got into the carriage, dark bags under his eyes showing the signs of another restless night, “We are leaving soon, so clean up and get comfortable. We will be arriving either late today or early tomorrow morning.”
Carter gave an annoyed grunt as he glared at Arc. There was nothing more he hated than to have his sleep disrupted. He grumpily got out of the carriage and made his way to the small river nearby; on the way, he saw many corpses of beasts lying around. What they were didn’t interest him, but he was sure the loud man would have done something with them. If it was like the last few times this had happened, he knew the loud man would shove that book in his face and ramble about whatever that thing was, so Carter knew he needed to sleep as soon as he made it to the carriage or escape.
“No…sleepy,” Carter mumbled as the thought of exhausting movement left his mind as quickly as it had appeared.
After cleaning himself, Carter begrudgingly returned to his carriage, seeming as if he was a dead man making his way to his execution. The last thing he wanted was to hear that loud man scream excitedly about all the things he had seen and done the night prior. But, when he arrived, the loud man had already fallen asleep with a large smile on his face. Carter could see a crude drawing of the beast from earlier on the open page, along with scribbled notes.
Carter smiled, his dead eyes staring at the man, “Quiet,” he whispered as he got in a comfortable position and quickly began to sleep again.
A light breeze blew from the open window of the carriage; it ruffled Carter’s already messy hair off his face, waking him from his slumber. His eyes half open, glanced around his surroundings. A man sat comfortably across from him, reading a rather large book. The man’s eyes seemed focused as he jotted down something in the large book.
The man moved his icy-blue hair out from the front of his face in a frustrated manner, “Glad to see that you decided to join the world of the living again.” The man said, his eyes never leaving his book.
Carter paid no mind to the man and turned his head to look outside at the rapidly moving world.
Seeing this from the corner of his eye, Arc let out a small snort before returning to his book.
Time passed slowly for the quiet pair, but eventually, the moving scenery came to a stop, and Carter could hear the sounds of people shuffling and screaming around outside the carriage.
“Hello,” a small and dainty voice murmured from behind the door, “Um… Guardian Arc… we are here.”
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The sound of the voice caused Carter’s eyes to widen, swiftly shifting his gaze to the dumbfounded face of Arc.
“W-What are you doing here?” Arc questioned through the door.
“Um… Can we please talk about it later?” The voice said in a whisper
Arc glanced at Carter, who was staring at the door like a child at sweets, “Yes, I understand.”
“Um… Also, I will need both of you to fill your roles as the leaders of this supply caravan and talk to the head of the village.”
Arc remained silent for a significant period, and his thoughts were unclear as his face was solemn while he gazed at the closed door.
When Arc spoke again, there was something like a strange emotion in his voice, “We will be with you in just a moment. So, can you keep the village head entertained?”
The voice took a few seconds to respond, “I will do what is needed.”
After hearing the reply, Arc turned to face Carter, who stared at him with his usual emotionless face. Arc might not be able to read the emotions, but he knew exactly what the child was thinking, ‘Why didn’t you let them in?’. With a small sigh, Arc tried to collect his thoughts.
“Do you know why we are here?” Arc asked, but the only response was a stare void of life or care, “Right…”
Arc stared with as much emotion as Carter, unsure what to do or say to the child. Would he even listen? Would he understand? Does it really matter? These and so many other questions floated around in his head. It was more exhausting than anything he had ever done. So, an awkward silence was cast between the two Feyrisians, both unable to break it but for different reasons.
Suddenly, the timid voice from earlier sounded from the other side of the door, “Guardian Arc, the village head, said that he would like to finish this before it gets too dark.”
As Arc glanced out the window, he noticed Morin sprinting across the sky, signaling that nightfall was quickly approaching within a few hours. With a sigh, he looked back at Carter, who was staring at him. Arc could tell what the stare meant, ‘You better let her in this time.’ With that thought, he couldn’t help but chuckle at this strange child that was their prince.
“Indeed, let me handle this as Carter’s representative then,” Arc said, opening the carriage door, “Of course, that does not mean you are out of the woods yet, child.”
Carter’s body jolted when he saw Arc smile at him. He had no idea what the man had said as he was solely focused on the person outside. He did not like when the loud man smiled; it never ended well for him. Carter squinted his eyes as he followed Arc out of the carriage.
Zindra watched as Carter stepped out of the carriage, “Hello Carter. How have you b…” but before she could finish, Carter latched onto her, “Well, alright then.”
“He has been fine, mostly sleeping as usual,” Arc said in a huff, glancing around, “Where is that Village Head?”
“He is at the front of the caravan. I told him to wait there just in case. Should I get him, or will we walk to him?” Zindra asked
Arc sneered as he gazed at the tiny lady's smile before him. He ordered, "Bring the old man here. We'll wait."
"Of course, Guardian Arc," Zindra replied with a slight bow. "Just give me a moment to retrieve him."
As Zindra walked away, Carter followed closely behind, “Stay here, child,” Arc screamed with an angry glint in his eyes.
“AHHHHH!” Carter screamed, grabbing hold of Zindra’s hand.
“I do not care. You need to stay here!” Arc spoke with an icy tone, “You can leave with her after she returns. Now come here, child.”
Carter stared at Arc before trudging to the loud man.
“You’ll be fine. Just wait here for a moment she will be right back.”
After a while, a small figure wearing a purple hooded robe and an elderly man carrying a big wooden walking stick approached the Feyrishian pair.
“It’s hot! I hate it here!” Zindra said as she walked beside the old man.
“I am sorry, Grandmaster Zindra, but as you know, we need the Summer Race here because of our constitutions. If we were to have any other season here, we could not survive.” The old man said with a calm tone, smiling at the pair he was approaching.
Zindra deflated as she listened, “Yes, I know, Pata, I just do not like warm temperatures.”
“Quite ironic for you to not like them, though,” the old man said
“Anyway, This is Arc. He will be the contact between our groups, and the one beside him is the one in charge, but you just need to deliver any news to either I or Arc.”
“Strange… but if this is what the grandmaster and the Alchemic Race need, then so be it.” The old man smiled, speaking in a calm, steady tone, “Hello, gentlemen, my name is Pata, and I am the Villiage Head of the Ambrosia Villiage and the first of my race… I will be in your care for some time.”
Arc gave the calm old man a stare with raised eyebrows, unsure of what to say to this odd reaction, “Yes… We look forward to working together with you, Village Head Pata.