AN: Thanks so much Irish_Moon_Dreamer and Micromeichi for commenting on the very first chapter! Appreciate it very much. Hope you’ll enjoy reading this chapter as well!
-
Chapter 2:
Vast blue sky that seemed endless. Wind blowing through his hair. Fresh, crisp air of high altitude. The Windy Plains was indeed very beautiful. But…
Varuna must have lost his mind.
How else would it explain his current predicament? He was on an airship, a reasonable large one at that, with four complete strangers. And he meant, completely strangers. He had never seen them before in his life. What in the world made him agree to accompany four explorers on a quest to the Lush Woodlands? He had never even been to the Old Forest Mine!
Ok, so the Count suggested some field experience. But really, this was ridiculous! Was he feeling that restless?
“So, anyway,” the brown-haired landsknecht said as he lazily rested against the railing of the airship. He scratched his cheek roughly as he glanced at Varuna with some curiosity. “What’s your name?”
It was only then that Varuna realised that he didn’t even catch their names. When he agreed to join them, stating that he was only interested in natural occurring products there, they practically (and joyfully, may he add) manhandled him onto their airship. He really had lost his mind. How was he going to explain this to Nitish and Isiah when he returned home…? He had better return home.
No, he had to. He wasn’t going to leave Nitish behind.
“Varuna,” he replied.
“I’m Bryce,” the tall man next to him finally introduced himself. He then pointed at the short blond that was at the bow of the airship, leaning precariously over the side of the gondola to get a better view. He was wearing a uniform similar to that of Bryce’s, but had short black leggings. If one didn’t have the best vision, it wouldn’t be hard to mistake him for a girl.
He had better not say that out loud.
“That’s Blayden. The squirt is my little brother,” Bryce explained before taking a deep breath and yelling at the top of his lungs. “Blayden!”
“What?!” the blond yelled back.
“Stop trying to kill yourself and say ‘hi’ to Varuna!”
Hearing that, the blond-haired Landsknecht leaned safely back into the ship, perked up and waved rather cheerfully at him. His hair reached his shoulders and was tied back with several beads and ribbons and he had surprising large, bright blue eyes. “Hi!” he shouted in greeting before turning to gaze over the edge once more.
Bryce muttered something under his breath, something along the lines of ‘idiot’ and ‘be careful’ before sighing and then pointing at the redhead steering the airship. “The weirdo at the steering wheel is Falkner.”
Hearing his name, the red-haired sniper with a slight five o’clock shadow turned and gave Varuna a rather large, crooked grin, as well as a short, two finger salute. “Yo.” He then turned back to steering the airship, seemingly humming to himself.
Varuna didn’t even have time to make any acknowledgment back before Bryce averted his attention elsewhere. He pointed at the other sniper, a young male with black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was hanging from the rigging of the airship, seemingly gotten bored during their flight.
“And the monkey swinging by the ropes is Fletcher,” Bryce introduced. “He’s Falkner’s little brother.”
Varuna nodded his head. Their names were easier enough to remember. Both snipers’ names started with ‘F’ while the two landsknecht brothers’ started with ‘B’. Still…there was a chance that he would get their names wrong nonetheless. He had better pay attention.
“Brothers, huh?” Varuna commented dryly as he turned to look at Bryce. “A little family outing?”
“You could say that,” Bryce replied as he began to roll his shoulders, stretching his arms over his head, seemingly limberly up in anticipation for the labyrinth. “This quest we’re on is apparently easy, so we decided to let the munchkins have some time in the labyrinth.”
“Stop calling me a munchkin!” Fletcher suddenly demanded.
Turning toward the source of the voice, a terse retort on his lips, Bryce unexpectedly paused when he realised how far up the rigging Fletcher had climbed during his and Varuna’s short conversation. Even Varuna was surprised, and concerned, by how quickly and effortlessly he seemed to move about. He appeared recklessly fearless.
“What are you doing up there, dumbass?!” Bryce yelled rather loudly and angrily, bristling wildly. “Get down from there!”
Fletcher cheekily poked his tongue out at him, staying defiantly high amongst the ropes and rigging. His older brother, Falkner, didn’t seem to be remotely worried, though. He glanced over his shoulder, looking up at his little brother and shot him a wide grin.
“Oh, he’s fine!” Falkner said in regards to Bryce before turning to give Fletcher a thumbs up. “Great view from up there. Right?”
“You bet!” Fletcher yelled back, grinning broadly and rather childishly swinging back and forth.
“Fine, he’s your little brother,” Bryce muttered tersely, his eyebrow twitching. “You deal with him.”
Varuna remained silent during the whole thing, a little surprised by how carefree the four were. Well, three of the four were. Bryce seemed to be a little hot-headed. Although, he barely knew him, there was something about Bryce that screamed honesty. It was like ‘what you see was what you got’ type of feeling.
He couldn’t help but think back to his own ‘family’. Nitish was haunted while Isiah was serious and aloof. Varuna wasn’t entirely sure what to do or say around people so…cheerful. He had never been a people’s person…from what he could remember, anyway.
“Anyway, we’re known as the Phaedrons,” Bryce continued. “Means spiritual leader or something.”
A small feeling of unease washed over Varuna as he watched Bryce mutter something else under his breath, fold his arms over his chest and lean against the railing of the gondola. “…Why am I here?” Varuna asked.
“It’s wise to take five people into the labyrinth,” Bryce explained plainly before he shrugged carelessly. “Besides, you looked bored.”
Varuna deadpanned at the answer. He was kinda expecting something a little more…detailed. “I looked bored?”
“Yeah, restless,” Bryce stated casually as he started to flex his muscles, going back to limbering up.
In all honesty, Varuan didn’t know what to make of his answer. He had been feeling some boredom as of late, but he didn’t expect a man, a complete stranger, to actually pick up on his restlessness and call him out on it. Was it a lucky guess or was Bryce actually more observant than he appeared?
“Hey!” Bryce suddenly yelled over to Falkner, pulling Varuna from his thoughts. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost!” Falkner shouted in reply as he turned the wheel to the left. “We’re coming into view now!”
Intrigued, Varuna ventured to the bow of the airship in order to see the labyrinth as they approached. He had never ventured from the city limits before. Especially not this far. Yet, he wasn’t all that afraid. There was a bubble of excitement and anticipation growing in his chest.
Coming to stand next to Blayden, the young blond finally planting his feet firmly onto the gondola’s floor, Varuna focused his attention forward. He hadn’t realised how beautiful the lands around Tharsis truly were. Lush green vegetation, high mountain peaks, towering stone pillars. He could see small spreads of natural farmlands of native plants and animals.
He wished Nitish was here to see it. He would definitely like the view and the feel of the wind in his hair.
“There it is!” Blayden stated loudly from next to Varuna, pointing at large grove of ancient trees that was situated next to the flowing river. “That’s the Lush Woodlands!”
“Prepare yourselves for landing!” Falkner commanded with a slight sense of glee as he unexpectedly turned the airship toward the towering grove of trees, moving to land the airship near the shore of the river.
When the two sets of brothers began to prepare for departing the airship, Varuna realised that there was no turning back. And a part of him didn’t really want to, anyway.
With everything he needed already hidden within his cloak, Varuna followed the small guild to the rope ladder that was thrown over the side of the gondola. Bryce, along with the others, only used the rope ladder half way before eagerly jumping the rest of the way to the ground.
Not truly understanding why he was so nimble, Varuna followed suit. He landed on the grass that was quite soft underfoot. Two small streams of water lined a single pathway that led into the Lush Woodlands. While the other members of his ‘party’ busied themselves with the airship, Varuna looked around at his surroundings. And, to be quite honest, he was surprised by how beautiful everything was.
The air felt tropical and vivid. The air an odd mixture of refreshing and humidity. It just felt pristine and pure, untouched by man. Small flowers and shrubs with vibrant green leaves lined the pathways, leading Varuna to wonder immediately if any of these plants had herbal values. He hadn’t seen these plants before.
“This your first time, Varuna?”
Turning to look to his left, Varuna found Blayden looking up at him. He was shorter than he had originally thought, but he was carrying a rather large sword that rested against his side. For some reason, those blue eyes of his reminded him of his brother, Nitish. While Nitish’s eyes were now cloudy with a hidden pain, he felt, by looking into Blayden’s eyes, that Nitish’s eyes were once as wide and innocent.
“It is,” Varuna said in regards to his question.
Blayden nodded his head in understanding as he smiled up at him. “It’s pretty, huh?”
Varuna could only nod as he turned his attention to his surroundings once more. Indeed, it was beautiful. It also felt somewhat peaceful and serene.
“It can also be pretty terrifying,” Bryce suddenly stated, sounding a little disgruntled.
Varuna blinked before he turned to face Bryce, finding the older landsknecht glancing around with a sense of suspicion. It made him feel a little uneasy. “…Did something happen?”
“We got chased by this huge bear!” Blayden informed him before Bryce even had the chance to open his mouth. Varuna immediately turned his attention to the short blond, a little confused as to why Blayden seemed to be so…excited as he explained what happened with a wide grin and eccentric arm movements. “It was following us around, breaking down trees and branches. It was hilarious!”
“Hilarious, my ass!” Bryce snarled, his right eye giving a slight twitch.
“Thinking back on it is hilarious,” Blayden countered, keeping that cheekily yet carefree smile on his lips. “Running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Heavily armed explorers and guards running around, shrieking in terror? Come on, it’s funny!”
“I wasn’t shrieking in terror,” Bryce retorted as he folded his arms over his chest in a disgruntled manner.
“You were the loudest of us all!”
“Was not!”
Varuna had to turn away as he coughed into his hand in an attempt to cover up a chuckle. Although it would have been unbelievably terrifying at the time, imagining a group of rugged guards and explorers screaming while running around did sound funny. Varuna just had to hope that it didn’t happen again, with him around.
“I’m so glad I wasn’t there,” Falkner said as he folded his arms behind his head in a casual manner.
“Where were you?” Varuna found himself asking.
Falkner grinned and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, toward the airship. “Manning the Duscha, of course.”
Varuna nodded his head. So, that was the name of their airship. Duscha, huh? …Wait-a-minute. “Who’s manning it now?”
“Hey, don’t worry; it’s moored good and tight,” Falkner said in an overly confident manner, even going as far as slapping Varuna on the shoulder in a good-natured way. “It’ll be there waiting for us when we’re done.”
With his carefree attitude, Varuna wasn’t sure if he could believe him. Then again, what choice did he have?
“Let’s get going.”
Well, it was time for him to experience the wonders of the labyrinth first hand. He just hoped that everything would go well.
-
AN: Short chapter is short, sorry. Next chapter will be longer, promise!