Winged Dream

Mysterious Dinner Guest

It was black. Pure black. But somewhere in the nothingness, 'he'  was finally completed. The last arm had materialized and then the final touch, the chains. Around his wrists and neck were dull metal links signifying his slavery. In the distance a red feather fell slowly, and pass that fell one of blue. Chasing after it was a blond boy. They both seemed to give off light, the opposite of what surrounded him. The chained one stood  in envy at the glow he so longed for. Even with his chains holding him down he went after the red feather and when he grasped it he knew. He understood everything.

The first snow had fallen, in Aleifr anyway, back in England it was still fall. Once again Freyer was given Waldeks hand-me-downs: a simple dark-brown coat with light gray fur lining, a pair of matching leather gloves, and fur lined boots.

Finn, Freyer, and Waldek went out to the forest to gather fire wood. By now Freyer knew the way by heart ( he often sat on a large rock and wrote in a blank journal he had stumbled on one day ). When they were making their way towards the sea of brown, there was something in Waldeks eyes. They seemed to sparkle in the white light of winter. When the wind blew up the snow every now and then it wisped around him before moving on. While Waldek glowed in the snow, Finn seemed...bummed. Winter wasn't exactly his favorite. But it did always seem warmer around him, so Freyer stayed close.

The next day Waldek sent Finn and Freyer to get some supplies from the village, while he stayed home. Freyer's visits to the Village were short and few, but due to the season the list was quite long this time. They made their way down the hill and over the next few in a short time, talking all the way.

"Hey, Finn, what do you suppose Waldeks doing?"

"Why?"

"It just seems weird. He never sends us. And he loves the cold so it can't be just so he could stay inside. Don't you wonder what it is he stayed home to do?"

"N-now that you mention it! He does seem rather cheerful lately, for him anyway. What...is he doing!?"

They finally made it to the outskirts of town and then immediately consulted the list Waldek had made. It was every day stuff, the usual list, until you got down about half way, then there were ingredients that they pretty much didn't use: sugar, vanilla, baking powder, chocolate . They decided not to question Waldek's orders, and to be fair he given them quite a bit of money to spend, of course it with the usual 'I expect change.' complete with his signature 'stern face'. The list was just short enough that they could manage to carry it all home.

On the way home it started snowing, thank fully, lightly. By the time the reached the house they were already fantasizing of the bountiful, warm desserts that were sure come later that night. When Finn opened the door they heard people taking, one of them was Walkdek. They went into the kitchen to find Waldek sitting and talking with some super pretty-boy.

'THIS IS WHY HE STAYED HOME!!'  they thought, rather confused and slightly pissed.

"Ah, Finn, Frey, your back. Just leave the bags on the counter."

"Ahhhhhhhh! So these are the boys Wald-chan talks so much about~!?"

"I told you.. not... to call me WALD-CHAN!!" Waldek had a special punishment for him, an especially hard punch in the face. "That hurt." the 'guest' said bluntly.

"WHO THE HELL IS HE!!?" Finn and Freyer yelled and pointed at the flamboyant stranger at the table.

"This is Will, from work."

"Wait! This wimpy lookin' guy is a bounty hunter!!?" Finn obviously did not believe Will could do so much as hold a sword properly.

"How rude. Of course I am. Of course, I'm not as skilled as your brother. Finn-chan. "Will smiled and tilted his head. But Finn wasn't fooled, there was something...odd in his smile, it some how frightened him a little.

"O-Of course your not at strong as Brother!"

"And I suppose the blond haired boy behind you is Frey-chan, who showed up out of nowhere?"

"Uh...ah... yes. I suppose I did."

"Well now that everyone is here, I should get started on dinner." Waldek followed through with his plan and commanded that they all leave the room until everything was ready. So with that Finn, Freyer, and Will went to the living room. After a while Finn finally broke the silence.

"So...a how long have you known brother?" He asked awkwardly

"Hmm, I suppose it's been almost a year now hasn't it"

"T-That long? He never mentioned you."

"That's Wald-chan for ya' ! Keeps to him self. It took forever to get him to responded to anything I said! So, what do you guys do around here for fun? I'm bored."

"Well I read or write."said Freyer

"I suppose I just train for fun"

"AH!!! There is one game we play to pass the time!!"

"Element Würfel!" they said in unison.

"Eh~ how do you play that?" Will asked in a very indifferent tone.

"First you take a 10-sided dice. Then you roll and depending on your your numbers you either win and get points or lose. Each win is worth 2 points. It plays up to 19 points." Finn explained.

"Ah. then how is wining determined?"

"Easy. earth beats air, air beats water, water beats fire, fire beats air, and water beats earth. 0&4 are earth, 1&5 are air, 2&6 are water, 3&7 are fire, 8 is -4 points, and 9 is +4 points. "Freyer continued

"Can't be worse than just sitting, let's play"

Freyer went over to the book shelf that had a small bag of dice on top of it and brought it over to a clear space on the floor where Finn and Will were sitting. The three began and very soon it was obvious that Finn and Freyer were doomed. Will had already gained 16 points, while Freyer had 8 and Finn had 7. They played many times but still the same result, Will always crushed them into the dust.

Finally it was time for the feast. When they walked into the kitchen, the table had a glorious spread of delicious fresh poultry and swine, winter grown vegetables all steaming, hot biscuits, and warm cups of  'tea'. Plus the desserts laid out on the counter for later.

"UWAH~ WALD-CHAN!!!IT SMELLS  FABULOUS!!!!!!!"

"Will. Sit down. And eat." Waldek gave him a look from his chair. And Will did as he was instructed.Once dinner had passed and dessert was served everyone's merriment increased and joy filled the room. Jokes were told, smiles were made, stories were enjoyed, and questions were asked.

"So, no offense, but why are you visiting,Will?" asked Freyer

"Yeah, I've been wondering too." Finn agreed. Will shot Waldek a troubled look and it was returned, and followed with simultaneous nods.

"West of here...there's an old ruin, said to be the hideout of a two person team of criminals." Waldek started.

"'The Black Snakes' as the've come to be known. They brutally torture their victims after robbing them dry. The only thing their left with is their misery and pain." Will continued to explain.

"The reward for them is 4,000 gold pieces, each. It's been asked they be left alive. One corpse is 2,000 gold, so either way it's a lot of money. Will and I are...off  to capture them."

"Brother. We are going too."

"Absolutely not!" Waldek shouted

"IT'S NOT A QUESTION!" Freyer screamed back at him, rising from his seat." Finn and I are going to help you, no matter what! GOT IT!?"

"FRE-" Will grabbed onto Waldek's shoulder. Waldek turned to face him. Will shook his head.

"Perhaps now would be a good time...for you two go to sleep." Will suggested, but it felt more like a command, and it was. Finn and Freyer left the room and walked up the stairs silently. When Will heard the door shut he began to speak. "Wald, Let them come."

"W-WHAT!" THEY COULD GET KILLED! I can't just let them-"

"So could you Wald. You're always there to protect them, did you think, even once, that they would want to protect you?!"

"I..."

"Exactly! From what I've heard both of them are decent fighters. Do you know who told me that?I t was you Wald. Trust someone Wald, for once, just put some faith into your comrades' abilities." Waldek looked into Will's dark, determined eyes, and then to his shoes. He nodded, though it was easy to tell it made him uneasy, Waldek knew Will was right and decided to trust in their power.