A Darkening World And A Sleepy Protagonist Chapter 16 (Unedited)

“You are still healing, their is no need to do this for me” Havin reaches out to take the bucket out of Neals hands only to end up unsuccessful as Neal took a step back while turning to avoid his grasp.

“I’m fine now, and I want to do something in return to you for allowing me and Azarias to stay with you these past couple nights. ” Neal states, not willing to budge on the matter. If he wanted to be able to continue using the bed here a couple more nights, then he wanted to prove to be of some help so Havin wouldn’t send them off to soon.

That and he wanted to show some kindness to the person who took him in when injured. He was not someone to slap or bite the hands that fed him after all.

Havin gave a sigh, scratching the back of his head before a small smile tugged on his lips. His eyes looked straight into Neals as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Fine, but don’t push yourself too hard.” It did seem like Neal was better, wounds healing nicely..rather so nicely his skin has already been cleared up of any bruise or scratch. It was so strange, Havin couldn’t figure it out. It’s not like he had used any normal means of treatment, let alone and fancy ones with magical plants or such. ” If your going out then wear this.”

Havin then headed over to a large trunk pressed against the wall, opening up the top before rummaging through it for a minute or so. He seemed to have a bit of trouble finding something.

“Aha! Here it is!” He holds up a dark blue hooded cloak. The slightly worn looking clothing fairly simple. The only artwork on it being a large symbol of a rabbit, with oversized ears, white silhouette inside of a circle on the back.

He walks back over to Neal and stretches his arm out to present the piece of clothing to him, a grin on his face while doing so.

“Wear this and you won’t need to worry of anymore trouble in the village”

Neal takes the cloak, dark purple eyes scanning it over as he wondered why this would make going to get a pail of water any easier. He didn’t feel like wasting to much energy on pushing about it so he just set the bucket down so he could get the cloak on over his current clothing. Which was a fresh set of clothes from the clothing they had brought with them.

The cloak is a bit to large for Neal, a few inches of the bottom laying on the ground. Neal wasn’t to bothered by it, after all the cloak was not uncomfortable and fairly warm and coated with white fur on the inside. He had not expected it to be so luxurious feeling from when he had been looking at it before. Then again he hadn’t noticed the fur lining the collar or hood either, at least not intill he began sliding it on, so he really hadn’t inspected it that closely.

Upon seeing Neals surprise when he discovered the soft layer of fur Havin gave a small laugh.

“Its one of the uniforms I have for those who assist me in my work, its the winter addition. I haven’t had anyone work under me for a long time so its just been sitting in that trunk collecting dust. ” Havin went over to a closet, pulling out a similar looking cloak with the same symbol on it.

“See, this here is mine.” He presents this as if to prove his point on this kind of ‘uniform’. 

Although Neal didn’t quite understand the purpose of this, he gave a nod as if he did. It was comfortable and going much further into it seemed like a pointless tiring activity.

Azarias pressed his nose into the cloak on Neal, sniffing deeply before wrinkling his nose while a frown tugged at his lips. Quickly he grabbed ahold of a bunch of the fabric, pulling at it while looking up at Neal wondering why he accepted this piece of clothing from that stranger.

Looking down at the frowning child pulling at his clothes Neal automatically bent over and lifted him up into his arms. Making it so he carried Azarias on one size while the bucket was in the other.

It wasn’t a very comfortable way to do things, but since he already had Azarias in his arms, their was no point in putting him back down now. 

Azarias would be upset at being misunderstood, but being in Neals arms was such a comfort he forgot what he was upset about in the first place and wrapped his arms around Neals neck.

“Alright, if that is all we will be going then.” Neal gave a small yawn with these words then made his way towards the front door. 

Problem was the door was still shut and he had no free hands, so he was left staring at it with a blank face. 

“…..” 

Their was about a solid minute of this before Azarias began to look at him wondering why they were still standing there. Before he could open his mouth to ask Havin swooped in, opening up the door while letting out a small laugh. 

“I see you don’t have any free hands, so I will help you out with this.” It was amusing to see Neal stuck there, not going for the wise action of setting the child or bucket down so he could free up a hand. All of which would have taken much less time then with him starring at the door with a conflicted look in his eyes. 

“Thank you” Neal gave a small nod of thanks before heading out without even another glance, heading in the direction he recalled being told was where the well was. It was a bit out of the village by the large crop fields, which didn’t look very good at all as they began to near them. 

Azarias looked around, eyes scanning the fields which lacked any kind of crop, looking dry and dead. Their was a older man out in one of the fields who seemed at a loss, gently poking at a dried up leaf.

Something strange tugged at Azarias chest, eyes glazed over as the colors began to swirl before stopping at a mint green.

“This well…why is it not closer” Neal heaved a sigh as he reached the well, starring at the object with tired eyes. He then gently placed Azarias down, giving a small pat to his head so he wouldn’t get upset at being put down before reaching over to begin getting some water. 

Azarias is very calm, looking up at Neal when he felt his head being pat. He tilted his head slightly, looking up with glazed over eyes as if deep in thought. 

Then he looked back over to where the old man was in the distance, pupils shifting in size as he focused in. Now usually a normal person could barely make the outline of that man, but Azarias was not normal so he could make out every single detail even from here. 

Without a word he began walking over to where the old man was, taking his time. This luxurious pace in no way made it easy for Neal to notice him moving away, in fact he was so focused on the task at hand he didn’t notice Azarias leave at all. 

–

“The land here,”

“Ahh! Fucking Biscuits” The old man jumps up, shouting in surprise as he quickly turns to face a straight faced child staring at him. The child stood up straight with his hands grasping each other behind his back. Somehow that was not as odd as the scales and such the kid had on his skin, it was very unusual. 

“We see We have startled you, We apologize. We will be sure to properly introduce Ourselves first next time, please forgive Us for Our rudeness. We were a bit impatient to begin discussing your issue here.” The child then gave a polite bow how his head in apology, shutting his eyes, and locks of hair falling in front of his face and off his shoulders as he did so. 

“We are Azarias, pleased to make your acquaintance.” When he rose his head again he continued that blank, glazed over stare. Yet despite it seeming so distant it was also very comfortable to look into. It made one focus, try to read those eyes somehow. 

“Er..no problem here” The old man let these words out in almost a soft whisper, confusion filling his features as he tried to figure out where this child came from and why the child behaved in such a mature way. It made him feel like he was talking to a wise senior, which was an absolutely absurd thing considering this kid looked young enough to be his great grand child. Also why did the child refer to himself in a plural way? Did he have his himself and others mixed up?

Azarias continued to stare at him silently, as if waiting for something. Growing uncomfortable under the stare the old man couldn’t help but speak. 

“What do you want? Why’d yeah come over here to speak to me about?” Unable to take the silence and staring into those unreadable mint green eyes he quickly spoke, voice rough and rushed as if eager to get this conversation over with.

Azarias looked at the man curiously. The mans impatience to hear his guidance having him decide not to introduce himself back to him. It left Azarias conflicted, whether to praise this eagerness to learn or scold this impatience and lack of manners.

Deciding not to pick at this he gave a small nod, walking over stretch down to pick up some soil into his hands. 

“The land is dry and lifeless, the earths energy is gone here. No matter how much you water and care for these plants, if its on this land they will not grow. ” He explained while rubbing his fingers to his palm and watching the dirt fall back to the ground. 

“What are you talking about?” Lack of water, or perhaps a type of parasite made more sense then what this kid was telling him.

“I have been working in these fields all my life, I’m sure I know the best way to take care of the land here.” This kid looked as if he had never worked in a field in his life, small hands soft and dainty looking even with the dirt now on them. 

This old man couldn’t believe such a kid was trying to give him advice on his land. It was insulting really. 

Azarias is unaffected by the mans glare, looking across the field before kneeling down onto the ground. He uprooted a shrived up carrot which was the size of a penny, the leaves sticking out were all brown and had various cracks in them. 

He cupped the carrot in his hands, hiding it within them as he shut his eyes and focused for a moment. The old man watched, not understanding what the kid was doing. 

Then Azarias opened his eyes, colours swirling within them before returning to the mint green. Opening his hands inside was a small, round, shiny object. No bigger then a seed, it resembled that of a pretty looking pebble. 

He made a hole, his actions gentle, and put the seed sized object inside before burying it. His actions were very precise, eyes focused and not looking as glazed over as before. A gentle smile graced his features.

Once he was finished he placed a hand over the spot, shutting his eyes once more before opening them, this time a sapphire blue flashed in them for a brief moment. He lifted his hands and stared at the spot a moment in thought, the dampness now there confused the old man. When had the child pulled out any water?

Before he could bother asking the boy stood up and gave a look around at the large field, eyes glazed over in thought once again. “For the rest…perhaps a bigger seed”

“Kid, I don’t know what your trying to do here bu-” The old mans tongue seemed to stop working entirely, his eyes widening as he felt as if a woosh of wind rushed through within him leaving him breathless. 

The spot the small seed like object was planted was a vibrant green sprout. 

“How…”

He looks over to Azarias to ask how he managed to make a  plant grow so quickly, but was taken aback by another wave of shock at the large perfectly round gem in his hands. It  looked to be worth a fortune, shining brilliantly under the sun.

A bigger surprise was when the kid just planted such a glorious thing in the ground! Patting the soil on top of it with that same gentle smile from before. 

“What…”

Placing a hand over his chest the old man took a step back, feeling a bit light headed he took a seat on the ground while continuing to stare at this odd kid. 

“There, now the land here should be okay. Think of this as thanks for that kind healer child helping us out” Azarias gave a small yawn, rubbing at his eyes. The mint green swirled in his eyes before settling where it once was before with the other colors returning. 

Rather then look over at the old man who seemed about to faint, his eyes immediately looked over to where Neal was lifting up the bucket now filled with water. 

–

“Okay Azarias, now lets head back to…Azarias?” Neal looked around, wondering where the small boy beside him had disappeared to. Taking a few steps forward he called out again “Azarias!”

“Neal? We are right here” Azarias eyes looked to Neal curiously, Neal who always looked so tired had such an alert and panicked look on his face.

All because he didn’t see Azarias right beside him like he was used to. 

Neal turned around quickly to see Azarias poking his head out from behind the well. It seemed like he had gone around to the other side while he was hauling up the water. 

“Oh, there you are. ” His wide eyes immediately softened, while his heart took a bit more time to calm down from the small moment of panic. “Come on, were gonna get going now” With that he began walking, Azarias quick to follow behind.

Since Neals hands were full with the bucket, Azarias settled with gripping onto his clothing as they made their way back to the inner part of the village. 

Neal couldn’t help notice a figure jumping around in the distance, doing dances and twirls in an empty field before falling to the ground. 

Some strange people sure lived here.

He went back to looking forward, turning his head just in time to miss the flash of light from the spot the old man laid down by.