The Loner and the Former King

Curiosity: A Blessing in Disguise

The sun was now rising, taking the moon's place; it was the start of a new day.

Stiff from head to toe, Henry Moore aroused from his sleep, rubbed his foggy eyes to force himself to drag himself out of the comfort and warmth of his sheets and blankets at six-thirty. Going through his daily routine one more time he stepped onto the same wooden floor, letting out a creak, the same creak that repeated years, and many more years to come.

He shuffled his legs across the floor to his closest on the other side of the room, to select out an outfit for the day.

Making up his mind he slipped on a white shirt and a pale wool jumper over top, black leather pants that reached to his ankles, short black wool socks and a belt to top it all off. The only thing he was missing was his supplies and shoes.

Today Henry Moore planned to work on his garden, picking the props that were ready to be picked. Adding to his plan he also needed to keep an eye out for the star from last night. He needed to be extra alert. Extra careful. Before he could head off he grabbed hold of two empty sacks and an axe for protection, then finally he slipped on his dark green boots and left the house, air swiftly wheezed out as the door gently closed behind him.

Closing the gate, the entrance behind him, Henry Moore made his way first to pick berries, black and pink. Some were picked by the birds and bugs making them inedible, landing themself in one of the two sacks, separating them from the ones that's edible in the other, the ones that can become a meal to enjoy, and the rotten, inedible landing in the trash, for mother nature to take care of.

Row after row there was a range of fruits and vegetables. Like cabbage, tomatoes, bell pepper, and a few others. Although there was only one person working and planting this garden, it was a decent size, but wasn't too far from Henry's house, the old wooden house he's lived in for years. It was a perfect distance to keep his eye on it, to protect the one building that's stood for years, his main shelter. His only home.

An hour had passed when Henry made it to his fourth row, the exact time he recognised another body in the distance, a short distance along a pond; opposite direction of his house. He recognised it as a man, a person, but the thought of it being the red star from before bubbled his mind. The thought brought dread to his soul, it sent a wave of discomfort, fear and alarm. He felt the need to run or to stand still but part of him wanted to check them out for himself. He was curious. The figure was still, sat against the trunk of a tree. Likely resting. He knew the more logical decision would to continue to pick his garden and be warly, alert, on his toes, but that would be torture for his old soul.

He needed to go.

He needed to know why they were here.

Were they the one that came last night?

Questions continued to bubble up in his head...

He knew curiosity would be the death of him.

Setting both bags down, one filled with, rotten, inedible food, on the damp wooden porch and the one filled with edible food onto the creaky wooden kitchen floor he walked out the door. The sound of birds, fresh air breeze, and the light waves of the water crossing into the rocks and surface filled Henry's surroundings as I moved quickly and quietly past his garden and the forest floors, away from the path and onto the grass to lessen his chances of being caught.

Hiding behind a tree he was in view with a creature he feared, yet it wasn't close enough. The creature had his eyes closed, resting against a tree. There were still a few trees between the two so Henry tried to get a little closer, a tree closer. So he swiftly and unnoticeably made his way to his next hiding spot. The figure did not move, or make a sound. That was signed he had done it without being detected.

Peeking his head around the tree, the being, the possible red star was still, likely resting. The creature had long messy black and red hair almost reaching its elbow. The lighting made his skin a light tan and he wore a damaged small cape over his shoulder.

This was in fact a red star.

Not paying enough attention to his footing, his biggest mistake, a boomer mistake, he stepped on a twig making a high pitch, soft snap, in an instant of his actions Henry ducked behind a tree.

Would a single twig be able to wake him up?

Unlikely if he was fully asleep, but this wasn't a person he was thinking about, it was a red star. A being with a higher authority, a creature capable of so much more than a group of humans combined. A creature Henry Moore doesn't understand yet, doesn't know what they're fully capable of.

Maybe he was only resting?

Then surely they would have heard the twig snap. A sound broke Henry from his dreads, bringing the reality of the situation, the fear coming to life. He could hear the sound of movement behind where he hid. He had awoken the beast. The wood dug into Henry's fingernails as his body stiffened, he was scared. He could barely move as he held his breath.

He had to follow his curiosity, he thought to himself, wishing he hadn't made this decision. Wishing he hadn't followed what his heart told him.

Wishing it had followed the logical root.

Still shaken in fear Henry Moore still built up the courage to dare take a sneak peek, once again following his gut, his heart, despite it being the one reason that got him in this situation. But Henry Moore couldn't resist.

When he did he took in the knowledge that the man was standing on their feet, and they were tall, taller than me as, way taller. Their head turned to Henry's direction, making him take cover again behind his only shelter, the tree. He should run away, he thought, but surely he was spotted. The hope that he hadn't been lingered so he stayed and held his breath until he would turn purple, until he could no longer breathe, like he had forgotten how to breathe. He felt bright red eyes glaring into his soul, like it was burning through the tree and didn't leave.

He had been spotted.

Alarm filled Augustus' body and mind as he looked upon a tree, where a sound was made, the quick sound that woke him from his nap. The thought of who could have made it pounded him into the ground, the thought that it could be a human or a star behind it drove him crazy. Or maybe it was an animal? The possibilities felt endless, after all this could even be just the wind, nature, part of his imagination. But he had to stay grounded, needed to check it out, he needed to be prepared, he needed to be alert. He had loosened his guard too quickly, letting his guard down on the brutal time of night, where he would be a perfect target.

Lucky enough, he was a light sleeper and whoever, whatever behind that tree wasn't careful enough.

Augustus sighed mentally before he started creeping his way to the tree; he took it slowly, grabbing onto air that used to be his sword. So he prepared himself to use his powers if he had to, but only if necessary, he didn't want to use up his energy.

No movement.

No movement as he approached.

No person trying to retreat back into the forest, or an attempt at taking advantage of this position and shooting him on the fly, or maybe they were walking for him to approach to attack, maybe they're scared or maybe there's no one there at all. All those were only possibilities. But Augustus bit off the dust and took a swift turn around at his opponent. He wasn't met with a weapon to the face, a power to the face, a dash as he showed his form, but a human, handing a decent threat: an axe.

Augustus stood his ground ready for them to strike, making lighting burn in his hand but they didn't, they didn't strike him down with the axe, didn't even attempt.

They looked firm by their expression but they were shivering like a leaf. They didn't want to fight, they were scared. Augustus' hands closed into a fist and released his energy, his powers, only showing fingers and the tips of his gloves. The man continued to grab onto his axe hard, but they posed no threat in Augustus's eyes, just fear.

Their glaze met for the first time.