Timekeepers

Nanty Narking

  At once, Ryan knew what he had to do. His blood had run cold, and his feet had moved as fast as a jackrabbit at the fore of a fire. Up the stairs, he went, and into the living space. He scurried without thinking, past his bedroom, past the kitchen and the big comfy chairs in front of his fireplace.
William tried his best to follow, tripping over his own feet in his attempts. However, his steps were interrupted as he smashed straight into Ryan, who had halted as if someone had a knife to his throat. They were stood in front of a door, tucked away behind the same kind of wine red curtain as the windows were.
    With a deep breath, William slowly questioned, "And what is it that we're doing here?"
    It seemed that Ryan had come back to reality then. "I'm sorry, William, I... I never once told you, did I?" When faced with such an ominous question, William's brows furrowed.
    "Well, you see, William..." Ryan paused only briefly to sigh. "I hope you're ready to shake a flannin."
    "Always," was all that William replied with, already knowing how important the quest would be just by the look in Ryan's eyes.
    Ryan must have sensed the looming curiosity that the other boy had because he smiled softly and said, "This was in one of my books. We need to save the time gem, or... Well, otherworldly destruction," William nodded solemnly, his ocean blue eyes locked with Ryan's delicate brown. William's boxy hands lay on the other's shoulders, gripping tight as they shared a moment of quiet.
    "Ryan," he mumbled, a grin on his face. "Now show me why there's a curtain on your door. I find it rather butter upon bacon." The statement earned a soft laugh from Ryan, which lifted the heavy feeling of impending doom from them. Ryan raised the curtain, exposing the door, and walked into the room it contained. Inside was not actually a room, as William had expected. It was a small part of the wooden floor and a towering array of creaking stairs. Ryan went up said stairs with little to no hesitation, however gripping onto the railing as if he would fall without it.
    "I can't exactly say that this is nanty narking, Ryan," William commented, which was replied with a snort from Ryan.
    "What are you, a meater?" Ryan questioned jokingly, glancing down at him with a raised brow. "Meater" was a term they used as children after William heard it from a street-rat friend of his named Charlotte. Charlotte had told him it meant "a blanged chicken."
    "And now you're an adventurer?" He laughed, looking up as if searching for the end of the stairs. He seemed to become far less tense with Ryan's words but grew restless with the realization that the term of the stairs was nowhere near. In fact, he couldn't see the last level.