Eldritch Statue
Four, slamming through Wild’s front door with terrified eyes, is not what any of them expect to see.
“Holy shit.” The smith spins to point at the champion, who stares back in confusion. “What in Din’s green land is wrong with this place?”
Wild bristles, because he loves his home and Hateno as a whole. “There’s nothing wrong here. What’s got you worked up?”
“If I encounter one more Din-blasted spirit in this journey, I’m resigning.” With those cryptic words, he turns around and walks out, slamming the door behind him.
The group unanimously turns to Time, who is immensely put out. “You all can talk to him too, you know.” But he goes because he is the de facto leader of the group.
Wild turns back to the vegetables he’s chopping, frowning as he rolls the interruption around. What could have happened that spooked Four? Hateno is safe; for some reason, it’s become even safer since he bought his house. Monsters never come too far up the path from the woods, despite the easily accessible goods and livestock.
“Cub?” Twilight joins him in the kitchen. “Anything we should worry about here?”
He shakes his head. “I honestly don’t know what that was about. Hateno is safe.”
“Safe…for everyone?”
What kind of question is that? Wild cocks his head, staring at Twilight until the rancher shifts uncomfortably. He turns back to the carrots he’s chopping. “Far as I know. No one else complains.” Is this another sensitivity thing?
There are raised voices outside and he can’t help but glance toward the window. Four and Time must be hashing it out. Well, until there’s something he can solve, he’ll focus on dinner.
Four glares and mutters through the meal, poking at his bowl without really eating. He’s seated as far from Wild as he can get, but that’s normal by now. After dinner, Wild sidles closer to Time as they pick up dishes. “Hey—”
The hero drops a bowl with a clang, whipping to stare at Wild. Did he startle him?
“Ah…I was just going to ask if you found out what was up with Four?”
“Right.” He picks up Time’s dropped bowl when the other simply stares at it. “I had a hard time following what happened, actually, but it seems like he came across an odd statue he didn’t like.”
Statue? The…goddess statue? But there’s no reason Four should react negatively to—
Oh. Hateno has another statue; one with horns. One who likes to make deals by taking first and asking questions later.
When Wild looks up, Time is still on the other side of the table, fingers tapping rhythmic beats, like he’s counting the seconds. “I’ll take care of it,” Wild offers because he didn’t think to warn them to stay away.
Time stares, still tapping.
With a shrug, Wild gathers up the rest of the dishes. It’s time to have a chat with his old friend.
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