Don't Forget (Old Version)

Chapter #43

(Mitch's POV)

     A thick silence envelopes the group after Sky looks away from me. He really can't stop acting so..... Royal? Even when he's completely insane, he can somewhat control his reactions. Sky might seem childish and immature, but I think I much rather prefer him then this 'Adam'. I wonder what Sky's brother would be like if he had more training then Sky? Heh, I guess like all the other Kings, if Jason's right.

     Is there a way to snap him out of it? Something funny and stupid might work. Hmm...... I got it. "Hey Jerome, do you remember when the old king wanted 'Prince Adam' to test his hand-to-hand combat on me?", I ask with a growing smirk. "Oh my Notch! That did happened, didn't it!? We were all so little back then", Jerome laughs. I look back at Sky and see that he's still looking straight ahead. Before I can think of anything else, Ian cuts in. "You guys should of seen Sky when he saw a yellow parrot for the first time. He loves the color yellow, and even has golden flowers growing back at the guild. There's even go-", he drones our before being screamed at. "BUDDER! ITS BUDDER! La La La, I can't hear you!", Sky yells, sitting backwards on his horse and glaring at Ian. "What's wrong with saying gold?", Ty asks in confusion. He's immediately tackled off of his horse. The rest of us laugh while Sky tries his best to come up with a reason. This is our prince, not whoever he was suppose to be.

(Another Time skip)

     I don't remember the gate ever looking so menacing before. The once shimmering go-, budder, detailing on the gate is faded and dull.  The stone walls are dirty and cracking from no one taking care of it. I have to clench my hand into fist, as to not grab my bow and shoot at the slimy creature eying us down. "Good afternoon, Sir. We're just passing through to see some relatives", Ty smiles, being the best actor out of all of us. The squid guard looks at Jerome and Quinten. Jerome manages a real looking smile, Quinten having his arms wrapped around Jason in a comforting hug. Jason certainly can play the roll of sleepy kid. He slumps against Quinten and only looks up at the squid once before closing his eyes again. Sky has a bit of dirt rubbed on his face, wearing a somehow cheerful expression. I can only try to mimicking him while internally screaming.

    "Admission fee doubled for horses, triple the other pets", the squid eventually snarls, gesturing to the two hybrids. Oh, how I wish I could kill this ****er. Heh, mom would've scolded me for even think that word. "Of corse", Ty complies, handing over a good chunk of money. The squid obviously expected us to put up a fight about the pay, because it gets a confused expression. "Um, enter?", it reluctantly says before singling another squid to open the gate. It's a miracle that they even have the intelligence to do that. They don't even speak right.

    Our party moves through the gate with smiles and a few 'Thank you's' that make me mentally cringe. Sky leads us to a stable, with a very skittish looking boy tending to the horses. He takes our horses and puts them in their own stalls after Ty hands him some money. Sky's been quietly staring at the young boy, almost as if in a trace. I can tell it's making the poor kid uncomfortable. "Wait! Choco? Is that really you?", Sky says, a smile growing on his face. "H-How do you know me? You-You're not h-here to take me away, are y-you?", he whimpers, his voice cracking. Sky gets a confused look on his face before kneeling down and hugging 'Choco'.

     "No, it's ok! It's all ok. I used to be friends with your older brothers Matt, Brandon, and Tyler. You were so little the last time I saw you!", Sky coos. This is when I finally notice that he hasn't had a freak out since the budder incident. Sky keeps saying that he can't help his insanity, but are we helping him by giving him a reason to care? I sure hope so. "You w-were? How do I know I can trust you? T-The last person I trusted took a-away Brandon......", Choco sniffs, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Poor kid. "Tell Tyler that he has to stop being a potato, and come say hi to an old friend", Sky gently says, rubbing Chooc on the back. He slowly nods and moves away from Sky, leafing the stables and disappearing around the corner.

     When Sky stands up, his head his bowed and his hands are clenched into fists. "Sky, are you ok?", Jason asks tugging on Sky's arm. "I'm ok. Brandon was a good friend of mine, and I don't like the idea of people coming for my friends", he sighs, ruffling Jason's hair. Running footsteps distract me from the conversation, and I turn my head back to the doorway of the stables. A figure stumbles into the doorway, but sunlight glints off of something on them, and blinds me before I can see them. Another person crashes into the first and pushes them out of the sunlight.

The first thing I notice is his arm. Smooth metal starts at his shoulder, covering all of his arm down to his wrist, his hand still visible. The bottom half of one leg is also ceased in metal. His hair is messy with one strap of his tank-top sliding cover his metal arm. Choco is hanging off of his back. The other person also has messy brown hair, but he wears a checkered sweater with the same pattern and colors as my hoodie. He has glasses that sit crooked on his face. "A-Adam? Is that really you?", the metal person stutters, looking at Sky from head to toe. Sky doesn't answer, instead stepping forward and pulling the two guys into a hug.