Chapter 14: Chapter 14. The Man and the Girl

Wrapped in a bundle of blankets, Pengu was fast asleep within the cave. Beside her, Alexander had taken out his guitar and began to play her a lullaby. A cacophony of notes filled the area as the volume of the music, if this could even be called that, increased. Alexander was constantly messing up the chords as he mistakenly pressed too many strings. He, however, was not dissuaded by the sounds and continued playing with gusto. Eyes closed and head bobbing, Alexander was lost in the world of music; surprisingly, Pengu’s body relaxed as she also seemed to be enjoying the tune.

Abruptly, the jarring noise stopped as the guitar had frozen over. A trail of water led from the now frozen instrument to Thomas’ sleeping bag. Shooting daggers from his eyes, Thomas slowly lifted himself into a seated position. “Can’t a guy get a minute of peaceful sleep around here?”

“That’s exactly what I was giving you, dude. You saved Pengu and I back there. The least I can do is play you a little music to ensure you have a high-quality sleep.” Alexander walked up over to Thomas and gave him a slap in the back.

“What music?! That was the most awful combination of sounds I’ve ever heard.” Thomas kicked the icy sculpture, breaking it into pieces.

Kneeling next to the remains of his guitar, Alexander kissed his fingers and rested them over the instrument in a silent goodbye. “Can’t really blame me for the music not being up to par. You’re a prince. Our standards are worlds apart. Plus, thanks to somebody, the guitar was soaked. Even a musical prodigy like myself can only do so much with what he’s got.”

Having grown used to Alexander’s frequent ramblings, Thomas ignored him and focused on more important things. “Ugh, if we’re all awake, can we at least eat something. My mana is mostly recovered, but I’m totally famished now.”

“Absolutely! We still have a ton of guanaco meat the people in Kalas gifted us, and I’ve been meaning to try cooking it myself.” Humming happily, Alexander unclipped the stove from his pack and activated it as he prepared to make a feast.

After Thomas’ revelations, he had fallen asleep for several hours. Although the pirates were much weaker than him, he had wasted mana in an effort to end the battle quickly. By the time his mana recovered, and he was awoken, it was dawn outside.

Thomas lifted the sleeping Pengu and moved to sit next to Alexander as he cooked a new dish. After the preparation was completed, Alexander swiftly finished cooking and served three plates around a campfire. Excite for the food, the group dove in to try Alexander’s scrambled eggs with guanaco before setting out once more towards Port Talan.

 

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One week later, Alexander and Pengu laid on two lounge chairs sunbathing on the deck of a sand boat Thomas had stolen from some of the defeated pirates. The boat was actually quite homely with several lounge chairs, a large picnic table, and some stairs leading to a well-stocked pantry. Around them lay two shattered sand boats. Thomas was down in the sand fighting the last remaining pirate from this wave of bounty hunters.

A crystallized hammer slammed down unto the ground sending a wave of lightning towards Thomas. He swiftly melted his spear back into water and froze it into an ice barrier to block the incoming strike. The lightning taken care of, Thomas boosted himself into the air with water and gathered a yellow color on his shield as he propelled downwards. *BOOM* A crater formed in the desert as Thomas dealt with the last opposition.

Throughout their travels, they had been ambushed frequently, giving Alexander a chance to truly understand what it meant to be a Grandmaster tier. Thomas’ mastery of the red color allowed him to manipulate the water element as if it was an extra limb; his orange color provided him with a full body armor, spear and shield which had destroyed all other weapons that had attempted to challenge them. Based on Dr. Hernandez’ glossary, creating a full armor and weapon was an indication of complete mastery over the orange color. Finally, there was the sheer destruction caused anytime Thomas activated his yellow color. After pestering him for several days, Alexander had finally learned the concept Tlaloc’s noble technique imparted for the use of the yellow color: so long as water covered an object, they could exert water pressure and, thus, increase the weight of an object exponentially. Thomas could still only use it in short bursts at the moment, though, lest he risk running out of mana completely.

With a gentle thud, Thomas landed on the deck of the sand boat. “C’mon, let’s get moving. It doesn’t like look there’s any more patrolling pirates around here, but better safe than sorry.” He walked over to one of the hook contraptions and aimed it south, waiting for Alexander to align the other hook before shooting.

The group had settled into a routine this last week. Anytime the pirates discovered them, Thomas would go out and deal with the aggressors, while Alexander waited in the boat. He had begun marking down the locations they had been ambushed on their map to help him chart a more ambiguous path to Port Talan. The last thing they needed was to blaze a path to the city but be completely surrounded once they reached their destination. The plan seemed to be working as each day they ran into less and less pirates, yet their constant deviations had made them unable to reach the port even after gaining so much speed with the sand boat. The original one week journey on land had been extend a couple extra days.

Alexander sprayed Pengu with a misting bottle to make sure she stayed cool before standing to go operate the hook contraption. “It’s probably a dumb question to be asking since you’re basically a monster in human skin, but you got any injuries I need to heal?”

Thomas grunted. “It would be a stain on my reputation if Elementalists of this level could hurt me. Most of the pirates are Apprentice and Senior Apprentice tier. The hammer wielding fellow from just now was the strongest pirate we’ve met so far, and he was still only Master tier. Don’t worry about me, and just get shooting already. I think we might reach the city today.”

“No need to get all cocky, dude. Let’s just be thankful we’ve been able to travel this far safely.” Alexander acquiesced as he prepared to move the sand boat.

The two worked in perfect synchrony as they aimed, shot, and reloaded the hooks. The sand boat glided speedily through the desert. About two hours later, the desert climate began to change. The dry, orange grass became more prominent, and a few sparse trees began to appear. In the skies, thousands of birds could be seen flying around. Stopping the sand boat to take it all in, Alexander fist pumped the air. “We made it to the coast, dude! I can’t believe we’re finally here.”

Suddenly, a thunderous voice resounded from the heavens. “STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW.”

Thomas quickly got into battle position with a stream of water surrounding him as his armor enveloped him. While Thomas prepared himself for the fight, Alexander shouted back, “We are already stopped!”

A ringing child’s laughter was heard as a flying ship revealed itself amongst the clouds. “We are also not really the law, big brother. We’re pirates.”

“Fine. IN THE NAME OF CRIME, REMAINED STOPPED.” A booming voice once more resonated in the grassy desert.

The mighty flying ship was now close enough to be seen in detail. Its hull was made from a black metal with a silver coloring running through its seams and two wings at each side. Two long metal planks floated beneath the ship. Through the windshield in the cockpit, the silhouette of a man and child could be seen. Before Alexander could respond, the ship abruptly crumbled and plummeted to the ground. As if used to it, the man calmly floated down with the child sitting on his shoulders as his vehicle collapsed all around him.

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Lightly landing on the deck of their sand boat, a lean, middle-aged man with short blond hair, a fade on the sides and a scruffy beard met Thomas and Alexander’s eyes before taking one step forward. He disappeared in a flash of blue lightning, but Thomas quickly reacted by creating a wall of ice to block off Alexander and Pengu. Perplexed, Thomas yelled out, “What the hell are you doing?”

The blonde man was kneeling by the lawn chair Alexander had used to sunbathe earlier with only a thin ice wall separating him from Pengu, but the man had no intention of attacking the pet. He was only laying the child down. “You be good and play with this penguin while I get us some lunch money.” Blue lightning covered his body again as he pointed at Alexander. “Sit down next to my sister and the penguin, that guy is the only one who has a bounty. I am not after anyone else.”

Alexander snapped his fingers and shot a finger gun at Thomas. “I’m gonna do as the old man says, but you got this, bro. Pengu and I will be cheering you on.” The ice wall melted back towards Thomas as Alexander took a seat between Pengu and the child.

Thomas clanged his spear and shield together three times in what appeared to be a pre-battle ritual. He felt it when the man had empowered himself with his blue color- the man was a Lord tier Elementalist. “What do you say we take this battle away from the sand boat? Wouldn’t want to hurt the kids.”

The man only responded by appearing in the desert floor sword drawn. He was wearing black joggers and a white t-shirt with a purple-bladed heavy sword held at the ready- this was a true weapon, not an orange-color crystallization. Thomas jumped down and prepared himself for his toughest battle yet in Kedra.

Beginning the combat, Thomas threw his spear at full power towards the man. He responded by erupting into blue lightning again as he ran by the projectile and lounged directly at Thomas. Expecting the frontal assault, Thomas accumulated as much yellow water as he could on his shield before slamming down on the blue lightning.

A deep gash etched itself unto the man’s left shoulder as he was crushed into the ground by the collision with the shield. The ensuing blast caused a cloud of dust to blow into the air, blocking Thomas’ vision. Fully on guard, Thomas quickly backed away to put some space between him and the man. As soon as he did so, the purple blade shot out of the crater at breakneck speed.

Raising a series of ice walls, Thomas braced for impact with his shield propped up in front of him, but the expected clash did not occur. Unexpectantly, the blade curved upwards towards the man who had appeared in a flash of blue above Thomas. Catching the blade with one hand, he instantly accelerated down. With little time to react, Thomas deflected the blow to the best of his ability but was still stabbed in the stomach. Having already steeled himself to taking a hit, he counterattacked by splashing the man with beam of concentrated yellow water.

The man tried to dodge backwards, but Thomas gripped the blade hard to prevent the man from moving. Cracks appeared underneath the man’s feet as his weight tremendously increased. Taking advantage of the man’s surprise, Thomas resummoned his spear directly above the man and concentrated as much yellow color as possible in an attempt to end the battle. Against all odds, the man managed to set his sword free and block the shooting spear, slicing Thomas’ hand open in the process.

For a few seconds the man stood in place; one hand holding his blade as he met the descending spear, the other shaking intensely palm towards the blade as if sharing the weight of the spear. His bones beginning to creak, the man summoned one last spurt of strength to deviate the spear so that it would land to his side. Not giving him any time to recover, Thomas froze his hand into a spike and stabbed at the man. Unfortunately, despite gasping for air, the man still reacted in time and slashed Thomas across the chest.

The strength of the sword slash flung Thomas several feet away. He was battered and bleeding, but luckily, the man was still under the effects of the increased weight and could not immediately finish Thomas off. Using the time to freeze his injuries, he formed his spear once more as the man walked towards him.

Undeterred by the damage he had taken, Thomas moved to engage the man in close combat. Even with the obstruction on his speed, the man was proving to be both faster and stronger than Thomas as he continued to match him blow for blow. Resorting to strategy, Thomas melted his spear back into water the instant it clashed with the sword causing the man to stab his sword deep into the ground. Continuing with his momentum, Thomas summoned ice spikes from the floor to stab into the man’s arm. When he let go of his sword to dodge the blow, Thomas momentarily activated his yellow color on his leg as he axed kicked the man. Bursting into lightning, the man jumped back, but Thomas had predicted this and tackled the man. A fury of punches descended as Thomas unleashed his anger.

Nevertheless, little damage was done before Thomas felt a piercing pain in his back. Looking down, he realized the blade had moved from where it lay a few feet away and somehow attacked him on its own. Thomas heard a thunderclap as the man right hooked him in the jaw, flinging his body far away.

Back in the sand boat, Alexander observed the child he had been left with. She was a small child of about 10 years with silver hair, pearly white skin and brown eyes, looking completely different from the swordsman. She wore a baggy hoodie, but Alexander still noted clear evidence of malnourishment. Although she appeared just fine when she was being carried by the man, after he left to go fight Thomas, a cough escaped her lips. The more time passed, the harsher and more frequent her coughing became. Out of habit, Alexander activated his scan and began to analyze her body. He soon realized what the problem was and proceeded to ask some questions.

“Hey, child. Has anyone ever mentioned you sweat more than normal? And that it’s incredibly salty?”

The little girl’s eyes widened as she looked at Alexander. “How did you know that?”

Alexander nodded his head and smiled at the kid. “I worked in the medical field for a long time, but that doesn’t matter. Could you show me your hands?”

The little girl looked a little ashamed, but after some gentle prodding by Alexander, she held her hands out. “My hands are ugly. I-I shouldn’t show them to you.” Her head hung low.

Shaking his head, Alexander encouraged her. “That’s nonsense. Your hands are exactly what I needed to see to understand your disease. I can treat you, but I need to understand the situation first. Why did you hold your cough back in front of your brother?”

The girl had a strong coughing fit before answer with a much hoarser voice. “Treatment…. My treatment is very expensive. The pirates make my brother do a lot of dangerous things. *Cough cough* So I try to hold it in as much as possible, so we don’t have to go back.”

Alexander’s eyes filled with sympathy, but a loud explosion occurred before he could continue his conversation with the little girl. Running to the side of the boat, Alexander peered out in time to see a bloody Thomas collapsed in the ground with a sword stabbed into his back. The swordsman was approaching him, injured but clearly still in a well enough condition to finish the fight. Hoping it would be enough to save Thomas, he screamed at the top of his lungs, “Hey!!!! Your sister! If you leave us alone, I can heal your sister.”

The man burst into blue lightning and crashed straight through the hull and into the deck. Laying on the ground, he asked, “Can you really do that?”

Alexander stepped around the hole in the deck and approached him. “Absolutely. As long as you stop hunting us, I’ll make sure your sister is the healthiest kid around.”

The man burst into tears. Bawling his eyes out, he muttered. “Hunt you? No, I will serve you for the rest of my life if you can heal her.”

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