This bright and sun-filled morning made the weather warm but sent a small chill when walking through the shadows. It was a morning like any other. The cat bowls were close to being filled. A black puffball of a cat made its normal route heading to Peggie’s garden. He was a regular there as Peggie grew to like him, naming him soot ball. He climbed the wooden fence surrounding the garden. Soot noticed Ven and Kay climbing the willow. They’re up to their crazy antics again, thought the cat. Oh well, the cat eyed the bowls as he jumped down to the garden with a skip in his step nearing the bowls close to the kitchen window.
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Ven was three feet away from the window until a shadow appeared within his path. “Shit!”, Ven whispered. He leaped from his running position which then turned into a dangerous long jump when his right foot buckled from the weight of the latter. He tumbled with great force flying into the cemented floor. Kay witnessed what was being transpired so he took a forced leap into the nearest flower bed for cover. A loud crash rained down the alleyways followed by an anguished voice.
“Augh!” Ven yelled followed by a whimper and a set of lightly glazed eyes. In an instance, the curtain swung open with powerful force. The face of an oh too familiar scowled eyes followed with Peggie’s famously done-up gray hair that rivals any geisha. She focused her sight on Ven as she opened the window allowing for a path of communication.
“Hello there Peggie, have I ever mentioned how ravishing you look in your apron.” Ven tried hard in changing his expression of pain into a slight grin. Peggie’s eyes changed to confusion when she witnessed a lone boy lying atop of a ladder. “Ven, what are you doing?” His eyes bolted from different locations of the garden hoping to find an answer to her question. “I wanted to do some revamping. The backyard is a bit messy.”
Kay covers his eyes, trying hard to alleviate the heavy atmosphere.
“Oh really, well I didn’t mind how it looked before; put the latter back where you found it”.
"Yes ma’am”. Ven picks himself back up as he surveys his body for any sustained injuries. Thankfully just some scraps on his right leg and arm. Peggie closes the curtain back up but decides to leave the window open. Ven looks over at the flowered Kay that came out of the bed and proceeds to give hand signals. Ven with a confused expression continues to stand there attempting to decipher his movements.
Many failed attempts later, Kay picks up a pebble from the flower bed and chucks it with full force toward the window. It hits the curtain and flies into the kitchen.
Ven even more confused plagued with anxiety changes his sight from the pebble over to Kay who made his way back to the bed for cover. Kay signals to keep going as Ven turns his attention back to the window as he quickly kneels down to hold the latter.
The curtains swing back open followed by a shocked expression from Peggie. She brings her attention back on Ven, “Did you throw that rock?” “No of course not! I was about to move the latter” Peggie’s spooked expression turned into curiosity as she began to survey the garden with her eyes.
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Ven glanced at Kay who continued to show him the signal to keep going. He then understood to stall her attention. Ven stands back up and steps in between the latter, clipping his foot over its rails as he trips over it, diving back onto the cement. “Agh, agh, it hurts. My leg hurts.” Peggie panicked as she rushed through the kitchen to the back door leading into the garden with her house slippers still on. She kneels down next to Ven as she checks the injury. “How badly does it hurt?”, says Peggie. ”A lot”, as he clutches his “injured” ankle.
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Kay quietly raises himself from the plants and briskly walks over to the back door on his left. He continuously eyes Peggie to make sure she doesn’t notice him. Ven exchanges glances as he continues to exaggerate even further. Kay enters the kitchen and begins to pick up the pace. He passes through the boiling pots and past the out of date kitten calendar as he makes a sharp left into a dimly lit hallway.
He turns right to ascend the stairs. Thanks to the skylight, or rather the horribly patched up roof that left a gaping hole covered by a clear curtain, Kay was able to prance up the stairs skipping steps as he hurried. He then opened the first door to the right as he rushed through jumping over the two futons covering the floors. He made it to a large wardrobe located in the corner back of the room.
The wardrobe doors opened bringing into light a huge pile of clothes stacked on top of each other. Kay pushed the pile towards one side as he reached out to grab the handle of a large claymore sword. He pulled it out and swung it over his back adjusting the strap. The sword was long and sturdy, almost a third of Kay’s size.
It had a black handle and black sheath to match. Kay then turned his attention to a pile of books so beautifully arranged on the other side of the room. He once again hopped over the futons reaching the books. He took the top few books off the pile, uncovering a hollowed out area behind the pile; around four inches, enough to fool Peggie into believing it was normal.
Kay stuck his hand in pulling out a decent sized bow that matched the claymore in color. He leaned it against the wall as he placed the books back. Kay took the bow and scavenged a nearby pile of clothes for arrows.
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“Ven your ankle looks fine now but it might swell up if you don’t ice it right away, let me get you some ice.”, explained Peggie. Ven with a worried glance clutches Peggie’s hand,
“NO…. I don’t think it’s that bad, I just need to walk it off”. Ven sits up and tries to stand as he wobbles about. Peggie rushes to support him from the side. A whistle of a success song notifies Ven of Kay’s advances through the house. He must have finished, Ven thought. Ven attempts walking about with Peggie’s assistance. “I think I’m okay.” His movements improve with each step.
“Alright, if you think you're okay.” The sound of water boiling over into fire sounds off like an end of the year fireworks show. Peggie panicked as she yeeted Ven back onto the cement and rushed to the source.
Ven stood back up, “No don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” He dusted himself off and dashed over through the wooden fence to the front yard. Ven turns and sees Kay come out from the front door making his way to him.
He smiled wide when seeing Ven, “Your acting was so lame, I’m surprised Peggie bought it.”
“Whatever, it worked, didn't it.”
”That’s true.” Kay turned around as Ven unstrapped the sword from his back and fixed it onto himself. “Well, we got everything right?”
"Think so, let’s go.”