Brotherly Love (SSundee X Derp SSundee)

Chapter Six

A/N: So I was staring at my Stash thingy and was wondering why everything is huge when in fact I'm zoomed in. I know, crazy right? Anyways, I feel guilty for taking so long to update so here's another chapter. Enjoy!

I've finally got enough ingredients to start some of my brewing. I can't stand one moment without my potions as they're the ones which help me get through with my journey. For a start, I take out blue and purple mushrooms to start grinding into a pulp along with some water from the river. In the mean time, I had begin to boil some water in a cauldron and let stay in the shade of the room. After I was done grinding the mushrooms, I went to get some basil leaves when I heard a knocking on the door.

"Shoot. Who is it now?" I muttered under my breath. I head over and open the door to find no one standing there. I looked down and saw a basket covered with a blanket. Curious, I took the basket in and set it down on my bed but I didn't investigate what was in it straight away. Instead, I cast a few spells to see whether it were harmful or contained any trace of black magic but it was clean. "Hmm... Strange," I said to no one in particular. Since it seemed to be safe, I put it aside and continued on with my brewing.

~ 45 minutes later ~

I've finished two out of the seven potions I needed for my trip to the mountains. The reason of my travel is that I wish to discover the Enchanted Realm that many have rumoured to be able to grant one's wishes. Many before me have gone but none have returned to confirm what is being told. I, for one, am doing my very best to get there and back. I would be the hero of my village and the I would make my parents very proud.

Looking out of the window, I saw that it was going to rain very heavily as the sky grew immensely dark. Just as I had put away my things, the first few raindrops fell from the sky and landed with loud thuds and few more came. And more, and more...

It seemed impossible to make out anything with this heavy shower, even the light from the building next-door was barely visible. The only thing that seemed to be moving within the rain were the black masses of people trying to find some immediate shelter from the icy cold rain. Sighing, I went back and took a seat in the chair that was by the fireplace to keep warm. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.

~ Dream ~

"Ian! Wait for me!"
"Leave me alone Adrian! I don't want to talk to you!"

The door slammed in his face.

"Please, Ian. Don't believe those stupid bullies at school."
"They insulted me Adrian. They insulted you..."
"But-"
"And they insulted mom!"

For a moment, there was not a sound to be heard. Then, I heard some scuffling from the other side of the door and heard a soft thud.

"Ian, I know what they said was pretty hurtful but you know that you're better than them."

I didn't answer back.

"They make fun of me all the time but I disregard it since I know I can definitely do better than them. I mean, have you seen their grades in school?"

The sides of my mouth twitched but I didn't smile. This made me feel a little better. I wanted to speak but no words seemed to be able to form in my mind.

"Listen, Ian, I know this may be hard for you to accept but always know that I love you. I'm forever with you, regardless of what may happen."

I heard him sigh from the other side of the door.

"I'll go now since you don't seem to feel like talking."

And with that I heard his footsteps as the went softer and softer, slowly fading away.

'Why didn't I go? Why didn't I run out and chase him? Why was I so selfish?'

My mind was racing and without thinking, I ran out of the door only to find that the world around me was empty. Not a soul in sight, not a sound to be heard. The things around me begin to swallow themselves only to leave me in pitch darkness. I tried to move, tried to shout, but nothing seemed to work. It were as if I were stuck in a vacuum, left to forever drift in the emptiness of the dark void.

I close my eyes, trying to shut things out when a bright light shone in the distance. A sliver of hope formed in my heart as I reached for it. Slowly, the distance between the two of us grew smaller and I my heart raced in anticipation.

~ Dream End ~

I woke up, seeing that the rain had lessened and the light from the street lamp outside was glaring its light upon my room. Grumpy, I got up and straightened out my clothes and grabbed my money bag. Since I wasn't in the mood for eating, I just decided to head down to the bar and have few drinks before calling it an early night.

As soon as I entered the bar, I saw that it was crowded with people, probably because it was still raining outside since early afternoon. There was one vacant seat there at the counter so I quickly made my way through the crowd and claimed it before anyone else could.

"A brandy please m'boy," I requested as I laid my money bag on the counter.
"Sure thing sir!" he replied enthusiastically and quickly disappeared into the store room to get some brandy I assumed.

While I was waiting, I decided to study my surroundings just to make sure I had nothing to worry about. Most of the people here seemed to be families sitting around, just chatting. A few others were either quiet, drinking their drinks alone or making a lot of noise, almost making a scene in front of the other people. Just then did I realise that I was sitting beside the mysterious masked fellow that I helped yesterday.

"Hello," I greeted a little cheerfully, trying to strike up a conversation with him.
He turned to me, looking a little startled. "H-hello."
"Nice to meet you when you're not sick or anything."

He just nodded in reply. This made me a little upset but did not discourage me from trying to form an acquaintance with him.

"Anything wrong?"
"Not really."
"My name is Ian," I said as I held out a hand.
He just looked at it for a hesitant moment before grabbing it and shaking it.

"Tell me, what is your name?"
Silence.

"Hello?"

"Mike," he replied curtly.

For a moment, I was in doubt about whether that was his real name or not.

"Nice to meet you, Mike."

All he did was nod once more.

I was just about to ask him another question when John, the bartender, returned with my drink.

"Thank you, John."
"You're welcome sir!"

"John, I'll meet you later at Mike's okay?" I heard Mike say.

Strange, he had another friend named Mike?

"Oh, but why?" John asked but Mike had already walked out of the pub and I saw him running under the rain towards the bakery.

"Please, don't mind my friend. He's just a little, um... Sad I'd say."
"Might I know why?"
"Personal problems," John replied with a pitiful smile. "You know, family problems and things."

I nodded and took a sip from my Brandy.

After a few more, I headed upstairs to sleep but before that, I left a rather generous tip for John. I was already at the stairs when he had saw it and flashed him a quick smile and hastily went to my room.

I changed out of the robes that I was wearing and put on some comfortable pyjamas and settled down for sleep to occur. My mind went wondering around the masked stranger.

'Surely there must be a secret behind that mask. I must uncover it before I leave this village.'

Minutes later, I fell into a deep slumber as the rain begin to grow heavy once more.


A/N: Thank you guys for reading this new chapter. See you around!


~ Sorrows