Xander was speechless. The thought of meeting another like himself has never crossed his mind once.
Aurora sighed and waved in front of his face. "Hello? Anybody home? This is usually the part where you tell me your name."
He snapped out of it. "Xander. My name is Xander Lucis."
"In that case," she extended her hand to him. "Can you walk? Or even stand?"
"I'll try..." Xander held onto her hand as she pulled him up. With trembling legs, he took a single step forward but his legs gave out.
Aurora kneeled next to him and gently placed his arm around her. Lending her shoulder, she slowly helped him onto his feet. "Better?"
"Sorry," Xander stared at the ground.
"For what?"
"For being me," he answered dejectedly. "Weak. Helpless."
Aurora let out a sigh. "And what's wrong about that?" She asked as she carefully huided him down the stage's wooden steps.
"Everything?" He mumbled.
"Wrong answer," she said as they slowly made their way to a gap between the back of a building and the village wall. "Everyone has to start somewhere." Aurora looked at him. "If you're weak, you'll become strong. If you're helpless, there's nothing wrong with relying on others for help."
"And if there's no one to rely on?"
"Then," continued as they made their way through the alley, "I'll be with you to the very end."
A small smile formed on Xander's face. Even if it was a small amount, the comfort of Aurora's words lightened the weight on his soul ever so slightly.
The growls of both their stomachs broke the growing silence between them. Aurora became flushed with embarrassment as Xander tried to stifle his laughter.
"The building with red bricks is a bakery with lots of yummy food," he pointed out. "We can go there."
"But you're still hurt," she said worriedly.
"I'll be fine," Xander assured. "It's not the first time this happened anyway."
Aurora hesitated to take his word. "If you say so."
The pair came to a stop at an arched wooden door with metal studs all over it. Aurora helped Xander sit on the ground as he leaned back against the brick wall. She lightly kicked the door as it made a thump. She grabbed the door's latch and pulled as much as she could, but it wouldn't budge.
While Aurora struggled to open it, Xander pulled up a pin at the door's base and it suddenly flung open with Aurora falling back.
She pouted. "A warning would've been nice."
"Give me a break," Xander said. "I got hit in the head earlier." He crawled into the building as Aurora followed shortly after.
She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could.
The scent of freshly baked pastries filled the air. The windows were covered by white curtains and the flames of the candles grew dim. With the fires of the stone oven recently put out, Xander sat next to it and took in the last of its radiating warmth.
Aurora grabbed a small, hanging cloth and a loaf of bread from the counter. She tossed the bread to Xander and he immediately took a bite out of it. She spotted a bucket of water and dragged it to him. She dipped the cloth in the water and wrung it out before she wiped the dried blood from Xander's face, but he squirmed as he ate.
"Stay still," she said.
"If hwuts."
"What?" Aurora dipped the cloth again.
Xander chewed and swallowed. "I said, it hurts."
"You'll heal." She dragged the bucket away and picked up a jelly-filled pastry. She sat down in front of him.
"So?"
"So what?" She took a small bite out of her snack.
"Where did you come from anyway?" Xander tore off a piece of the bread.
"What if I said I magically showed up just to save you?" She teased with a smirk.
Xander squinted his eyes. "Yeah, right." He wasn't convinced.
She sighed. "Killjoy." She finished her snack. "I'm from Raneung, but I don't have a home." Aurora pulled up her sleeves, revealing long, thin scars on both of her arms. "When I was there, they would hang kids like us by our wrists and whip our arms until they bled." She
Xander silently finished his bread.
Aurora pulled down her sleeves. "We're a weird pair, aren't we?" She looked up at him as he silently yawned.
"I guess we are," Xander said with a quiet voice. "The boy that's hated by the world..."
"And the girl that wants a home." Aurora finished his sentence.
Xander grabbed the counter and pulled himself up. "Can you tell me why they hate us when we haven't done a thing?" He looked at her.
Aurora shook her head as she stood up. "I don't know," she mouthed.
Xander averted his gaze.
"Though, I guess it could've been worse." Aurora walked up to him and held his hand. "Why do you think we're just kids when we can do so many things?"
"What?"
"I've always been on my own." Her lower lip quivered. "But, maybe," she placed his hand on her cheek and gently smiled. "Craving for a home that I never had."
His eyes met hers.
"Let's leave and find a place to call home."
A small, silver spark occurred between them as flashes of images flooded through their minds. A luminescent full moon and starry night sky, the world's tallest peak with crystals surrounding them in a circular pattern, and a storm of jet-black feathers scattered all around. A winged silhouette was in the center with the moon behind them.
The visions came to a sudden halt as both children winced back. They stared at each other in disbelief.
"What..." Xander stared at her.
"...was that?" Aurora asked out of breath.
They were both pale with their hearts racing. It was as though a surge of energy came and left in an instant. As the exhaustion came over and their vision grew hazy, they collapsed.
***
The sun slowly rose over Eir Village. The warm light of a new day seeped through the curtains of the bakery and hit Xander's closed eyes. Mumbling quietly to himself and rubbing his eyes, he looked around until his vision cleared up. He quickly stood up, but a sudden rush of pain shot itself throughout his body.
"Hey!" Xander yelled. "Wake up." He pushed a basket over from the counter and it landed on Aurora's head.
The cursed girl kept lightly snoring. She tossed and turned until she unknowingly hit her hand on a metal handle. "Ow!" she said as the shock woke her up. "What time is it?" She asked in a mumbled and slurred manner.
Xander yawned. "It's morning."
"I know that," Aurora grabbed the countertop and pulled herself up. "I asked for the time." Her hair was a mess and she rubbed her eyes.
"Do I look like I have a watch?" He asked sarcastically. "Or can tell time?"
"You said it, not me." She scoffed as she stretched her arms and legs. "Any bright ideas on how we can get out of here?"
"I thought you knew a way out." Xander slowly began to question his decision to trust her.
Aurora squinted her eyes. "I snuck into the village on a wagon," she yawned again. "Most people leave mid-day after they finish prepping things. We'd get caught if we wait."
Xander walked around the counter and toward a window, feeling a surge of pain with every step but he forced himself through it. He peeked out, feeling a warm light and cold breeze.
The sun was slowly rising and the dirt paths for streets are nearly clear. At most, some goats, chickens, and the occasional shopkeeper were out this early in the morning. Xander spotted the stables, where the horses for the guards were resting.
Xander motioned his hand toward Aurora to come.
She peeked out the window and Xander pointed toward the stables.
"See the black stallion that's staring at everything passing by?" He asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"We're going to steal it."
Aurora stared at him. "What? Is there something special about it? We could take any of the horses there."
"That one belongs to that old coot, Eifa." Xander mentioned.
It suddenly clicked in Aurora's head. "You have issues." She carefully watched the street from the window and put her hood on.
Xander averted his gaze. "N-no, I don't," he said awkwardly.
Aurora rolled her eyes and carefully opened the front door. While holding onto her hood, she sprinted toward the stables as fast as she could. The pitter-patter of her footsteps came to a halt as she stopped in front of the stall. Looking around to make sure no one followed her, she looked up at the horse that was staring down at her.
"Uhm, hi?" she tried to reach up to pet it, but the horse stood on its hind legs and squealed. Never have dealt with a horse before, Aurora stepped back and closed her eyes out of fear.
Xander rushed out of the bakery with a sack filled with cold pastries and fruits. After seeing a rearing horse, he forcefully passed it to Aurora and went into one of the empty stalls next to the stallion. He climbed onto the divider and hopped onto the saddle of the horse. Xander leaned forward and kept the reins slack. The horse's forelegs soon came back to the ground as it calmed down. Xander gently patted the stallion and said, "It's okay." Over and over.
Aurora rubbed her eyes again. She was in complete disbelief. She opened the stall and the horse slowly walked out. "How?" she asked.
"I just copied the last person who did it," Xander said as Aurora glanced back and forth between him and the stallion. "Beginner's luck?"
"I think there's more than luck at play here." She handed the sack to him as he tied it to the back of the saddle. Aurora stepped onto the stirrup of the saddle and hopped on, sitting right behind him.
Several village guards ran up to the entrance of the stable, blocking their only exit.
"Hand me an apple," Xander said to Aurora.
"How's that going to help?" She was looking back and forth between the guards and Xander.
"Just do it," he said as Aurora grabbed one from the bag and handed it to him. Xander fed the horse and shortly after, he yelled, "Heeyah!" He snapped the reins and the horse galloped past the them, knocking over a few of the guards along the way.
With the wind flowing against them, Aurora's hood was forced down. As they made their way through the village, both Xander and Aurora had eye contact with Captain Eifa, who was wide-eyed and shocked to see another Cursed Child, as they galloped at full speed past the borders of Eir Village.
Xander was laughing. "Did you see the look on his face?" He couldn't contain himself.
"Are you sure you don't have issues?" Aurora asked him one more time.
"Maybe a little," he answered. "So, where are we going?"
"Head to the mountains." She pulled a pastry out of the sack. "There's a place called Yamakotai."