BREAKING NEWS! Local thief and broken boy, unlikely alchemist friends???

The Meeting

The sound of his own steps hit his ears and he looked around as he came to a stop. The village looked and sounded abandoned, and Hugo figured he might as well loot the place, see if he'd find anything valuable. He held onto his backpack strap with one hand, the cold biting his ears, and he had to once again remind himself that he was in Corona. Weren't their winters not too bad? What was with the snow storm? Eh, whatever, he was used to cold weather from back home. It did seem unusual though.

Hugo started to look through the items in each home, and concluded that the people who used to live here either didn't have many items of value with them, or they took all of them with them. Damn, and here he thought he'd actually find stuff. Oh well, onto to the next house it was. Upon his journey, a certain building caught his attention. Bet he'd find something in there. Into the building he went!

He was totally thrown off his rhythm when he entered the place and actually saw someone. The two boys looked in shock at each other. So much for abandoned. Hugo, staring at the boy in front of him, could tell a few things. One, the boy had to be a few years younger than him, or at the very least he appeared so. Two, he had been crying, evident by the tear tracks on his cheeks and the tears caught that had not fallen. Three, he seemed to be an alchemist like him, as he had goggles atop his head. Hugo's eyes wondered up, seeing the sight of almost luminescent, golden amber, the formation spiraling in an unusual way. Inside it however, was the real concern.

Inside the amber was a man holding a paper, hand up in a pose frozen in time from the encasement. Oh. Oh. That's what this was about. His eyes looked back down, seeing the boy still staring at him. The difference though was that his expression looked more frustrated than shocked now, the tears previously caught having rolled down his face. He didn't know what it was about this boy, but he didn't seem threatening. Even though Hugo knew he was most likely about to be yelled at, he didn't feel any fear. He just didn't come off that way, and Hugo doubted he could be even if he tried to be. It felt like a little black Labrador puppy was trying to be intimidating.

"Whoever you are GO AWAY! you're... YOU'RE NOT WELcoME HERE!" The boy yelled out, suddenly standing. His voice cracked on the word welcome, which only added to the broken feels radiating off of the boy. It was a sad sight to see if he was being honest. His voice did carry, however, actually being pretty loud. For this reason, Hugo had actually taken a step back, in surprise more than anything. The boy's expression just looked so.. well.. desperate, frustrated.. afraid... Just in general, a stew of negative emotions all taking place in this one boy. He wasn't sure what to do.

Hugo could see Varian's face falter, seeing how he wasn't leaving. He, to be honest, was just unsure what to do. He should get out of here, accept that this was a fail and just finish his mission. The sooner he could get back the better, that was how it was with Donella. But... Hugo couldn't help but feel instantly gutted at the idea. He would only be guilty if he left this boy behind, with all his thoughts and emotions eating him alive. Suddenly, the other dropped to the floor, sobbing. Hugo's eyes snapped back to Varian , apparently he had been looking away, and he couldn't help but stare for a second. He found himself dropping to the floor as well, reaching out, attempting to comfort the boy.

"Just LEAVE ME ALONE!" He cried out, and Hugo's arm faltered. What was he to do? He was trying to comfort someone who didn't want him around, or at least he said. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a raccoon who had scurried in, devouring an apple. He raised an eyebrow at this. Did this dude just not have any security or traps to the point that any critter could just waltz on in? He would've thought that as a fellow alchemist he would be competent enough to set something up. But then, before he knew it, the raccoon made it's way over, nuzzling the boy in front of him. He looked up for a moment, before hugging it and continuing to sob into it's fur. Ok, so the raccoon knows the boy.

Hugo saw the raccoon look towards him, and give him what he could only think was the raccoon equivalent of a death glare. He put up his hands defensively. His eyes went back to the boy currently sobbing into the raccoon, his heart practically breaking at the sight. He looked back and forth, from the amber, to the boy, back to the amber, then back to the boy, as he tried to ponder on what to do. One glance at the raccoon confirmed that physical contact was not an option. Comforting people wasn't his forte, goddamnit!

"Hey" He blurted out before he could think. He had caught the other's attention, his eyes now on him instead of being buried into the fur of a raccoon. God, what was he doing? "If... If you want, I could, ya know, possibly help you.. get him out.." Hugo offered, everything inside him screaming at him the moment he did. The look he got from the other was enchanting and all the worth it, however. The look of shock mixed with a bit of hopefulness gave him quite the a̶d̶o̶r̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ INTeReSTING look. He couldn't help but look at the other in awe.

"Really?" The other asked, a small smile appearing on his face. T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶u̶g̶g̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶H̶u̶g̶o̶'̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶r̶t̶s̶t̶r̶i̶n̶g̶s̶.̶ His response was almost immediate.

"Yeah. What do you say?" Hugo said, extending a hand for Varian to take.

A gloved hand reached up,

"Thank you"

and hugged him in one swift movement.

Hugo felt his face heat up, and he immediately was having second thoughts about this. Seeing the others blue eyes stare up at him though made them all become background noise, only occupying a small part of his mind. Donella could wait.. Right?

"Hugo"

"Huh?" The boy questioned, most likely confused by the sudden name drop.

"My name's Hugo" He clarified, looking to the side slightly.

"Oh."

A chuckle.

"Mine's Varian."

Congratulations people, I have done it! First chapter, 1086 words (not including these), with more to come in due time! For now, enjoy this first chapter! Do not be fooled by the ending, however, angst will come back when it's time is right! >:)