Ferðin út ljósin (Journey beyond the lights)

Chapter 8

((Heh. I said I'd update soon.))

Emil did his best to look over the rail, and across the water. The weight of Mr Puffin on his head made it hard to do though. Not that Emil was going to complain though. It was a puffin - his puffin - that sat on his head. No one could take it away. Plus, he was sure that Mr Puffin would bite anyone that tried.

"Just wait until you get to meet my brothers. I'm sure you'll like them. Matthias can be loud at time, and likes to joke around, but he's really funny. He's the one you have to worry about the most, but he's still not that bad." Emil told Mr Puffin as he climbed onto the rail. He was finally able to look over it at the sparkling sea bellow.

"I believe that way is home." Emil told Mr Puffin as he pointed across the water. "Do you think you could try and find my brothers? They're all blonde with blue eyes, although Tino's seem a bit more purplish. Berwald's the tallest one with glasses. Matthias has the spiky hair. And Lukas has a cross in his hair. I'm sure they'll all be together. If you could tell them I'm alright, that would be wonderful."

Emil sighed slightly, leaning back slightly as he clung onto the rail. He didn't notice Darren coming over to him right away. He hadn't even realized he had been listening to what he was telling Mr Puffin. He had been so focused on telling the bird about home so he could go and find it for him.

"Homesick, are ye?" Darren asked. Emil looked over at him, almost falling from where he was. But he managed to keep his grip on the rail just before he was about to fall. Emil watched as Darren leaned against the rail beside him, not minding all that much as he did so.

"I guess you could say that." Emil said. It was the best words to describe what he was feeling. Plus if home was where the heart is then homesick was exactly what he was feeling. He was missing his brothers.

"If that's so the puffin isn't going to help you. It doesn't even know where it would be going." Darren said. In that moment Mr Puffin turned his head so he was facing Darren. He squawked and spread his wings as if accepting the challenge.

With that Mr Puffin jumped off Emil's head and started to fly in the direction Emil had pointed in earlier. Emil watched Mr Puffin as he flew, wishing he could do the same. If he could fly he would already be gone, finding his way back to his brothers. Just like Emil was sure his puffin was doing then.

"Well then. Guess it was a stupid bird." Darren said, watching as the puffin flew away. He just saw that the puffin was leaving. Unlike Emil, he didn't think about the possibility of Mr Puffin doing what he had asked.

"No," Emil protested, shaking his head slightly. "He's going home."

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A few hours later, Lukas, Matthias, Tino, and Berwald were all still following a blind path. They could only hope that Lukas had been right, that Arthur was heading home. But so far they had no actual proof of that. Or at least they didn't. Not until a certain puffin landed on the deck and squawked.

Tino jumped, startled by the bird. He turned to look at it, his stomach in his throat. He hadn't been expecting anything to startle him like that. Plus they were too far from land for birds, weren't they? That's what Tino had thought at least.

Mr Puffin squawked again and Tino let go of the wheel. Stumbling back he almost fell down the steps that lead to the other deck. He would have too if it weren't for Berwald. He steadied Tino, before going closer to the bird. Then holding out his arm, he invited the bird to perch on it.

The bird did so and squawked again. It flapped its wings but didn't fly away. Berwald rose an eyebrow at it before looking around for Lukas. Maybe he could help.

"What is that noise?" Lukas asked coming up from bellow deck. Matthias close behind him. Upon seeing the Norwegian, Mr Puffin jumped up. He flew over to him before perching on the others head with a squawk.

Lukas rose an eyebrow, confused as to why a bird was this far from shore. He glanced over at Matthias as the Dane doubled over with laughter. For some reason the puffin on Lukas' head was hilarious. No one was laughing besides the spiky haired male, so what made it so funny?

The puffin squawked again and Lukas' attention was drawn from the Dane to the puffin on his head. Lukas held out his arm, offering the puffin to land on that instead of standing on his head. Surprisingly the puffin complied. But as soon as it did, it looked at Lukas before beginning to make a fuss.

Tino backed up a bit, as he watched the bird. He was sure the puffin was going to attack Lukas. But no, instead the bird just continued on as if it was trying to tell them something. That couldn't be it, could it?

Lukas was going to find out.

He muttered a few words under his breath, he watched the puffin with curious eyes. But instead of letting out another squawk or any other sound, it jumped up and flew in a circle around the four Nordics, watching them all. That's before landing on Berwald's head.

"They're all blonde with blue eyes, although Tino's seem a bit more purplish. Berwald's the tallest one with glasses. Matthias has the spiky hair. And Lukas has a cross in his hair. I'm sure they'll all be together. If you could tell them I'm alright, that would be wonderful." The words left Mr Puffin's beak, relaying the message Emil had gave him.

They all stared at the puffin in shock. Well, more like Tino and Matthias did. Lukas had known that the puffin was going to speak, after all he had been the one to give it the ability to. Berwald on the other hand couldn't even look at the puffin, not that anything happened though besides his eyes widening the slightest bit.

"Emil..." Tino mumbled slightly. Looking at the puffin, he wasn't so afraid of it as he was before. This puffin had had contact with Emil. No one else would send a puffin to give them a message. Or even think about doing so for that matter.

"Can you tell him we're on our way? That we'll get him soon." Tino said wanting to fill Emil with the hope he was feeling right then. That they were all feeling. Along with the relief of knowing the Icelander was okay.

The puffin bobbed its head and started to fly the way it had come. But not before Lukas put a tracking spell on the puffin. He was going to bring them right to Emil, whether he knew it or not.