The Heroes' Nexus Chapter 26- Familial Comforts
Mirage walked with his arms wrapped around one of Skipper’s.
Skipper talked idly with Armes as they walked, holding Mirage’s hand in his and letting the boy cling to him. It was a bit more difficult to walk like this, but he wouldn’t dare push the kid away. He clearly started to see Skipper as some sort of anchor (haha) so he wanted to provide that stability.
The first to notice the large monster camp was Mirage. He tugged on Skipper’s sleeve and pointed out the large platforms built close to the road. Skipper looked over, frowning as he saw a blue-colored Bokoblin sniffing at the air. He rested his hand on the hilt of his cutlass, but Armes spoke up before he could draw it.
“If we keep a good distance away they won’t come after us. Not many travelers pass through here, and tonight is the blood moon so most travelers will be at the stables,” Armes explained, looking over at Skipper.
“The blood moon?” the sailor asked, tilting his head as he looked over at the other.
“Oh, right. You guys aren’t from here,” Armes said, chuckling sheepishly. “Well, once a lunar cycle, when the moon is full, all of the monsters that were killed in the precious month come back to life. So you’d be risking injury for a monster that will be back again tomorrow.”
Skipper frowned, but nodded. “Okay, we’ll keep our distance. But walk on the other side of Mirage, so at least if they do come after us I’ll be between you guys.”
Armes nodded and did as asked, moving to walk on the far side of the road from the monster camp. Skipper kept his eye on them as they kept walking, letting Mirage guide him. The younger boy made sure Skipper stayed in the middle of the path, so he could keep his eye on the monsters as they walked by. They stayed quiet, just in case they caught the attention of the beasts. His hand gripped the hilt of his cutlass, but once they passed the camp without incident, he allowed himself to relax.
Not long after they passed the monster camp, they entered a tropical rainforest. The temperature rose a few degrees, but the humidity increased significantly. Birds chirped and sang in the distance, the underbrush rustling on either side of the path as small critters moved through it.
Mirage looked about curiously as they walked, taking in the strange environment. He knew forests, of course, but this wasn’t like any he had experienced. The trees were tall, with broad leaves and thick trunks that looked almost scaled. The underbrush was dense, full of ferns and vines of various sizes. He could see animals moving through, but most were too short for him to see. Not that Mirage was very tall himself, but in his defense he hasn’t had his growth spurt yet so he’s probably going to be super tall any time now and besides-
Skipper suddenly jumped, pushing Mirage further across the road and moving to shield him from whatever had startled him.
“What is it? Is there a monster?” Mirage asked, looking around him to see what in the world could have startled him like that.
Beside the road were three massive owl statues. They towered over the roadside, ornately carved from huge blocks of stone. In front of each statue was a simple pedestal- clearly designed to be offering plates. Centered on two pedestals was a bunch of bananas, laid across giant leaves.
“Why is there just a bundle of bananas on the ground??” Skipper gasped, looking anxiously toward the pedestals.
“Um, I’m not sure? There are a lot of offering stones around the country travelers pray at, so maybe that’s why?” Armes said with a slight shrug, clearly clueless himself.
“Skipper, are you afraid of bananas?” Mirage asked, looking up at him with a glint in his heterochromatic eyes.
Skipper recognized that look. It was the look of a younger sibling discovering something tease-worthy. He had seen it in his little sister’s eyes way too many times.
“I’m not afraid of bananas,” the sailor asserted, straightening but still shooting an anxious glance towards the bananas as they walked by them. “Bananas are just a bad omen. They’re harbingers of bad luck. That’s common knowledge to a sailor like me,” he huffed.
Mirage giggled, patting his shoulder. “Uh huh, sure. If that’s what you want to call your phobia that’s your business,” he said playfully.
“It’s not a phobia! Just you wait, something bad is going to happen later. Make sure you stay close to me, alright?” Skipper said, poking Mirage in the side.
The younger boy yelped and jumped, but still held onto Skipper’s arm. He leaned his head against the taller man’s shoulder and nodded. “I will,” he said, making sure to sound sincere.
Skipper smiled, ruffling the younger boy’s hair before turning his attention to Armes. “Are we getting close to the stable?” he asked.
Armes nodded, pointing out across the bridge they had just stepped on. “Yeah, it’s right on the other side of this bridge. The merchant should already be there, I’m guessing.”
“That’s some speedy service,” Skipper said with a smile.
He let himself be distracted by the sound of the waterfalls beside them, turning his head and gasping at the sight. Towering over them was several colossal waterfalls, spilling unfathomable amounts of water into the lake basin below them. The cliffs holding them were almost sheer, with beautiful red stone. The wind carried mists from the waterfalls over the bridge, providing a relieving cool after the humidity and heat trapped by the forest. Admittedly, it did make the bridge a bit slick, but as long as they didn’t run across it it would probably be fine.
The sounds of the stable reached them as they crossed the bridge. Skipper could hear the distant chatter of people and calm, soothing music. There was other noises he didn’t recognize that sounded like some unfamiliar animal. People milled about the stable- a massive canvas tent with the towering figure of a horse head. Skipper looked up at the structure, tilting his head.
“What is that?” he asked curiously, looking toward Armes.
“Oh! That’s a sculpture of the Horse God, Malanya. She protects the stables and keeps monsters away,” he explained, smiling over at the sailor.
This explanation only seemed to confuse him more. “What is a horse..?”
Armes paused, tilting his head as he looked at Skipper. “You don’t know what a horse is?”
“Even I know what a horse is,” Mirage chimed in.
“Well, we don’t have horses where I’m from you little twerp,” Skipper said with playful frustration, wrapping his arm around Mirage’s neck and pulling him close, ruffling his hair.
Armes laughed at their antics. “Well, the merchant is probably inside. There are horses over there if you’d like to see them,” he said, pointing toward the side of the tent.
“Let’s go,” Mirage said brightly, grabbing Skipper’s wrist and dragging him over toward the horses.
Skipper let himself be dragged over, smiling at the boy’s enthusiasm. Only a few things had gotten him this energetic, so he was more than happy to let himself be dragged around. He didn’t put up any resistance, though he couldn’t help but notice a few eyes turn their way. That didn’t bode well. He thought about the bananas they had passed earlier, and immediately felt himself become more alert and tense. It could just be paranoia, but with Mirage in his care he was better off being safe than sorry. For now, though, he turned his attention to the horses as Mirage came to a stop.
There were three horses, each with their own stall. They were tall, powerful-looking animals, with sleek coats. Two of them had a dappled pattern- one brown and white, the other a bluish-grey and white, with a white mane and tail each. The third was mostly brown, with white-and-brown spotted haunches, with a black mane and tail. In front of them was a trough full of hay they were eating from. Every so often one would look up, ears flicking about as they smelled the air before huffing and going back to their food.
“Tada! Horses! You can ride them or use them to drag carriages or wagons,” Mirage explained happily.
“People ride those things?!” Skipper gasped, immediately feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Mirage giggled, grinning up at Skipper. “Are you scaarrrrred?” he asked in a teasing singsong-y voice.
“I’m not scared, you brat,” Skipper huffed, ruffling his hair but smiling as he listened to the boy laugh.
“Did you hear? Word is two foreigners… “
Skipper tensed, his ears perking up at the sound of voices coming from the other side of the tent wall. He couldn’t quite hear everything that was being said, but if they were talking about two foreigners to this land, they could very well mean him and Mirage.
“… said to send a… if we see…”
Three voices. It wasn’t much to piece together, but if they were talking about two foreigners, a night at the stables, and sending something if they’re seen… They could only be talking about Skipper and Mirage, right? If it was so noteworthy there was gossip about it, then it was unlikely there was an entire other pair of foreigners also spending the night at a stable. But if someone was sent for just because they were seen…
Skipper thought about the eyes that had been on them earlier. He had a decision to make. He looked over at Mirage, who was distracted by a dog nearby. That boy’s safety was his number one priority. He couldn’t be sure if Armes had brought them here on purpose or not, but the fact was he had brought them here, and he was inside the same tent as the voices. Skipper went over to Mirage’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Do you trust me?” Skipper asked, his voice low as he looked over at Mirage. He didn’t want to take the time to explain what he heard and why he thought they should leave- he would later, but if they were in danger each second mattered.
Mirage looked over and frowned, but saw the seriousness in Skipper’s eyes. He shifted anxiously, but nodded and pressed close.
“Thank you,” Skipper said with a relieved smile. “Just walk next to me for now. Try not to draw attention,” he whispered to the boy, guiding him around one of the stone pillars blocking the band’s view from where the pair were.
There was no way out of here without walking in front of people, so they had to hope nobody would take enough notice of them to alert anybody. There was no way all of these people knew everyone in their kingdom, so maybe as long as they didn’t draw attention to themselves they would be fine.
Once they were out of sight, Skipper pulled Mirage off the path. There wasn’t much room between the path and the cliffside next to them, so there was only a narrow strip of underbrush and trees to mask their movements. He wanted to get off the trail at least, so they wouldn’t be as easy to spot from the stable. Skipper held onto Mirage’s hand as he led them along the cliff, waiting for any opening to move away from the path more. They managed to reach a short, steep hill and hurried up it. Mirage slipped on a loose rock, nearly dragging Skipper down with him, but the sailor had a firm grip on the boy’s hand and hoisted him up.
The top of the hill flattened out, but they were almost immediately blocked off by another cliff. Skipper swore under his breath but hurried along the narrow ledge until Mirage came to a stop and pulled on his hand, pointing to a hole in the cliffside.
“There’s a cave. Maybe we can hide in there for now?” Mirage suggested.
Skipper nodded, pulling the boy inside. The tunnel was long with a low ceiling, but thankfully the sailor was short enough to not need to crouch. The tunnel came to an abrupt dead end, but there was a small gap that led to another cavern. If they were in there, they’d be out of sight from the tunnel entrance. He hadn’t even seen this hole until Mirage pointed it out.
Skipper led the way in, letting out a sigh and running his fingers through his hair. “There were some people in the stable talking about some foreigners being seen recently. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but they said something about night at a stable, and sending for someone or something if they were seen. It really sounds like this country doesn’t get a lot of foreigners if it’s noteworthy that two showed up. And if it’s that rare, they were probably talking about us,” he explained, sitting down at the back of the cavern after unbuckling his cutlass.
“So you wanted to keep me safe, just in case?” Mirage asked, following Skipper’s lead in unbuckling his borrowed (stolen?) sword and sitting down beside him.
Skipper smiled, setting his hand on the boy’s head. “Yes, I did. Thank you for trusting me.”
Mirage leaned into Skipper’s side. “Thank you for saving me again,” he said, relaxing against the sailor’s side.
Not only had Skipper pulled him from the sea- twice- but he also carried him to someone that could help even as he was feverish and in shock, he sang a lullaby when he was scared, taught him how to make his own bag to carry his treasures in… Skipper wasn’t just his savior. He was Mirage’s guardian and protector. Skipper was his anchor. Any time he felt like he was going to get lost and drift away, the sailor was able to bring him back. When Mirage was scared, Skipper made him feel safe.
Even more importantly, though, Skipper was real. When everything felt like an illusion- like nothing more than a mirage- it was Skipper’s presence that reminded him he wasn’t just dreaming.
Mirage fell asleep beside Skipper fairly early in the night.
The sailor himself couldn’t fall asleep, feeling restless as the night wore on. He attributed it to the stress of trying to keep Mirage safe in an entirely unfamiliar country. He didn’t want to stray too far from the ocean, but he also couldn’t bet on Tetra finding him here. They also couldn’t go back to Lurelin, just in case he was right.
Skipper sighed, setting his hand on Mirage’s head as the boy slept against him. Skipper let out a yawn and leaned his head back against the stone they were sitting against. He prayed to Hylia to keep them safe before drifting off to sleep.
