Mountains and Buffalo.

Chapter 34: Veer That Course.

Yet again, I found myself shaking. Shivering like taking the brunt of a blizzard. But it was not chills that made me this way, nor was it the trepidatious shivers I usually braced, but from an excess of bubbling giddiness.

I couldn't recall myself ever feeling this way. Relief was merely the base of it, but what made up the stalk of it all was yellow, shimmering hope. Needless to say, though I was eager to stress it, I was elated. And I'm sure my profile didn't hide it one bit.

I waltzed through the stairs and corridors of the Pillar with great energy. If I wasn't in such dire need of sleep, I would've blitzed through each room without a second thought. But I took it slow, and in many ways, I was grateful for it. It was time I could use to relish it. To stretch something ephemeral just long enough for it to slowly diminish, rather than have it vanish with my consciousness. I waved and smiled at each crowd member I walked past. Their faces ranged from matching my smirk to furrowed brows encasing widened eyes. I didn't want to toot my horn, but I looked to be rubbing off on them, and that only compounded my fizziness.

And then, when I thought of it that way, I could not help but come back to my senses, and I vocalized but one thought:

"I'm getting too ahead of myself."

I took a moment by the wall and looked around again. Nobody had their eyes on me, so I at least didn't make an obvious fool of myself. That relieved me, and I stopped thinking of it entirely. I tried to relax and loosen my muscles, but the method for this instance was... foreign. I had no idea how to begin suppressing their jittering, and their rumbling contortions only mobilized my bubbling innards.

It was a difficult thing, to wipe the smile off my face. Any time I tried, I'd just be met with the memory of five minutes ago.

"Haaa, looks like I need to sit down."

I left the room and ascended the stairs, making slow way to the floor above. I wasn't keeping track of where I was, but I'd recognize my booth if I saw it, so if I just kept scaling I knew I'd make it back. As I slugged my feet to and fro, I held my hand to my chest.

To be perfectly honest, I had no intention of denying myself this feeling. It would go away eventually as most things do, and though it wouldn't return like its counterparts, I wanted, really wanted, to celebrate it.

But intentions hardly align with outcome. If I frolicked within this euphoria all I wanted, I'd end up with my gut twisted on the other side.

"...But I... really don't..."

I violently shook my head and slapped my cheeks. My usual strategy had a meager effect, and so I sighed, figuring that walking it off would spell it away.

And then, as I hurried my pace, Rover's farewell words rang within my mind. All of a sudden, I had a destination with a proper goal. My feet moved with a smoother rhythm, and my eyes scouted for a man in armor.

However, I realized such effort was wasted in an empty hall. Thus, instead of moseying down, seemingly lacking care, I mustered my fleeting energy and broke into a jog. The sooner I could relay the message, the better. To what end? It didn't matter in that moment. Speed was what I would need, and I–

*THUD*

"--Gh!"

My mediocre sprint skidded to a stop. I heard an unusual noise, not denotated as such for its timbre, but for its location. These hallways were always dead silent when traversed, save the footsteps and chattering of bypassers. But what I heard was muffled, loud, and sudden. I looked around to see where it could've come from and landed my eyes on an object unseen until this moment.

Rather, I missed it dozens of times. It was the door to what could only be a closet, and my hyper-alert senses told me the noise came from there.

"That's weird. Is somebody in there?"

I asked leaning forward to the door, not quite opening it as a sliver was already so, but getting close enough so that whoever was in there could hear me. It sounded like they hurt themselves, and that meant–

"Wait, why would somebody... be in a closet?"

The cloud under my feet passed my whole body. I was back on the earth now, my arms in a stance and my legs spread apart. The possibility of a stray Bringer was never one to ignore, and who knows, it could just be a general creep in there.

"My damn head... ack, don't mind me, whoever ya are. Just had a lil accident."

"That cadence, and manner of speaking."

It was one I'd be a fool not to recognize. At that moment, all caution vacated me, as all I could do was eagerly jerk that door open.

"Juke! How convenient, I was looking for you!"

I voiced my surprised greeting with a great deal of enthusiasm, but it was cut down the moment I saw the state of the man. He had his bucket helmet back on along with his drab shirt, but he had his knees to his stomach. It was somewhat dark in the room, as the light from the hall was the only thing illuminating it, but his silhouette alone told me of his state.

"A-Are you okay!?"

"Relax, relax. Ya snooped around with bad timin' 's all."

It was slow for him to get on his feet. He rubbed the back of his neck. I could tell that something was still amiss, and so I pried a little.

"What's going on? I've never seen you so gloomy before. And get out of the darkness! I can barely see you."

"The light switch is right there, kid."

"Light, switch?"

"Yeah, light switch. It apparently sends a magical signal. These folk make some crazy gizmos at these towns."

Hearing a foreign term come from Juke of all people left me a bit surprised. I looked around to find this "light switch" object. Judging from the name, it probably had a handle, and lo and behold, I found something on the wall with one. I flipped it without resistance and a lamp chained to the ceiling turned on in a flash.

"Gack! Gimme a warnin' next time."

My eyes merely blinked at the, well, magic at work. I didn't know how it was possible that magic could make a mechanism like this. My one guess was that, somehow, mana was released by the pull of this lever. If it was to be anything, then it was mana suspended. But it wasn't a conduit like many magical items are. No, I didn't pour one bit of my own mana into this thing. As far as I was aware, what this did wasn't possible.

Then, this had to be a kind of technology. One that I've never seen or heard of before.

"Kid?"

"Sorry. I must admit that surprised me too."

I made a note to inquire about this later.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying; what are you doing here?"

"Ah, well, what am I doin' here, huh..."

He went to rub his chin, a difficult task with it being covered, so he settled for the rim of his helmet. Even with his obstructed face, I could see the fabrication forming in his head.

"Ya see, kid, I was wonderin' where all the damn clocks went, so I started lookin' for em–"

"Man, I know you better than that. You're not the type to wander around aimlessly."

"Ya don't really know what yer talkin' about, but yer right. I'm jus' bluffin'. Yer, yer real good at catchin' my bluffs."

He sighed and raised his hands up, his palms wide open.

"Ya caught me. I was sulkin'. I was thinkin' long n' hard 'bout myself. Must break yer heart to see a guy like me get long in th' face from time ta time."

"No? We're not lovers, why would I think that?"

"Alright kid, yer pullin' my leg, right?"

"Maybe."

His tone caught a mote of irritation, and I realized it was time to get down to business.

"Well, whatever, tell me about this later. Right now, I have something important to tell you."

He clicked his tongue in irritation but signaled me to continue.

"It's from a name I'm sure you weren't expecting to hear: Rover."

"Ha, yain't wrong."

"I... managed to talk to her, and we resolved the whole fiasco from earlier. She told me to tell you to visit her sometime. I won't speculate about what, but it's probably something similar to what we did."

"..."

Juke grew silent. It was a quiet moment that stretched too thin, and I wondered what sparked it on.

"Juke?"

"The girl wants to see me of all people, huh? That's real funny, I thought a strong folk of her caliber would've forgotten me by–"

Without my urging or a single intervention, Juke cut his sentence short. His body paused with the interruption, then slacked shortly after.

"Forget it. Yer probably sick of hearin' that by now."

"I... I suppose?"

It was a complete upturn of my impression. He, a man prone to incessant prattle of the same damning dulling discussion, stopped by none other than his surprise better judgment. I thought for a moment that he must've overheard what Rover and I spoke of, but that clearly wasn't it. I voiced my annoyance dozens of times before.

What on earth did this closet do to him?

"Where's she, eh? I can't get myself 'round this place all that well, so ya 'll hafta tell me."

"Sure... uh-huh... oh, directions! Well, it's a makeshift infirmary on one of the lower floors. I can't recall how many down exactly, but if you ask around, they should tell you."

"Alright. I'm gonna head off then, kid. I'll tell Rover ya sent me."

Without a hitch, Juke began to make his way to Rover. However, he was too, dismissive. Too casual and unthoughtful about the whole ordeal. He didn't even inquire once on how our discussion went, or what I've been up to. It was clear that something lay heavy on his mind, and though I didn't want to stop him, every bone in my body compelled me to.

"Hey, Juke."

I called out to him and he stopped. He turned his head to me and I continued.

"What's the matter?"

He tilted his head slightly.