Destiny of A Few

Chapter 10: The Lights of Our Future

The morning sun shone over Vale as nineteen students entered the shopping district. They all gazed at the surroundings and took in the cheery atmosphere. It was the weekend, so the entire district was flooded with people.

"Alright!" Ruby stepped forward. "We'll all meet back here at exactly..."

"Four in the afternoon?" Harmon suggested.

"We'd never be able to finish in seven hours!" Avery complained.

"We can have dinner together." Aurum added.

"So six o'clock... yes, Mond?" Ruby pointed to the squirrel boy raising his hand.

"Overnight." Mond smiled.

"Okay... Six it is!" Ruby and the rest scattered, dividing themselves into pairs of two based on the partners they met during the initiation.

Brand followed Sable through a street to god knows where. He was still trying to open up to his brown haired friend since Brand tends to be quiet to people that weird him out.

"I'm glad you went with me." Sable said with his hands behind his head.

"Huh?" Brand stopped and looked to the archer.

"You barely talk to me about things other than school or fighting."

Sable was unfortunately telling the truth. To be honest, his personality scared Brand. It was like he was a bipolar sociopath.

"Well, uh... where do you want to start?" Brand asked.

"Hobbies." Sable answered.

"Weapons for one. Exploring. Ancient temples."

"You do any reading?"

Brand raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Encyclopedias, field guides-"

"No, dude. I mean stories. Novels?" his partner interrupted.

Brand shook his head.

"Well then!" Sable stopped in front of a store. "Let's get started!"

Brand realizing they were standing in front of a building, took a look at the sign and read it out loud. "Tukson's Book Trade?"

As they entered the store, Brand noticed that the room was filled with messy shelves with the slightly dusty books near the back and the spotless books were found near the cashier. A small crowd of people were walking around and browsing the collection.

A man with sideburns stood behind the main counter wearing a brown and black shirt. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun!" he called cheerily.

"Yes..." Sable approached the man with a smile. "I'm assuming you're Tukson?"

"The one and only. What can I do for ya?"

The archer held his chin. "Hm... I was wondering if you have the latest Hunter's Jump."

"Yes we do." Tukson pulled out a small book and handed it to Sable. "That'll be 2 Lien."

"Oh, well. My friend and I wanted to browse some books first."

"Alright. Feel free. As long as you don't run off with that." Tukson eyed the book in Sable's hand in a joking manner.

"Ooooh, I wouldn't dream of it..." Sable laughed nervously and turned around to whisper to Brand. "Damn it."

"What is that anyway?" Brand asked, pointing at the book Sable was holding.