Ezlo's Apprentice

~Part 6: The Storm Begins~

  “Vaati,” Ezlo called him one day while he reviewing hat designs his master had given him to look over.

  “Yes, Master-” he froze when he saw Ezlo’s face.

  “It’s Penn.”

  Vaati said nothing more. He left the papers on the table where they were and immediately followed his master out the door. They walked down the path, where the wind began blowing a little. Vaati tried to calm himself, knowing well he could have a hand in causing it.

  He hadn’t heard from his friend in a week or so, but it did not concern him. They were both deep in their studies and always at work these days. But, he had heard a rumor while walking in the market that Penn was sick… but he wasn’t sure if it was true- until now.

  Ezlo stopped at the door when they reached Penn’s house. The stepped inside the shop room, sheltered from the rain that was beginning to pour. Penn’s father came out of the other room.

  “He wants to see you, Vaati,” he told him softly.

  Vaati said nothing, only stepped through the door to the living quarters.

  There, lying in the bed, he saw his friend.

  Penn’s skin was a ghostly white. His eyes now had a milky-white look to them. He looked thin… too thin to be healthy.

  “Vaati,” Penn said, his voice hoarse.

  “Penn,” Vaati came to his side. “What… what’s wrong?”

  “I’m sick,” Penn explained. “We don’t know how, or why. It’s really strange.”

  “Ezlo’s really good at medicine,” Vaati suggested. “He could probably-”

  “He’s tried.” There was a long silence. “Red potion didn’t even help. It would bring my health up for a while, but it’d drop back down within an hour. We thought it would eventually pass, but… it’s not.”

  “Penn… you’re not saying… no. I guarantee you, in no less than a week, you’re going to be up and walking around with me. We’re going to be going out to the cliff, working on a new fort I drew the plans for the other night, and I’ll teach you how to play the viola-” Vaati’s voice cracked.

  “You really think you could teach me to play the viola?” Penn laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. As soon as you pick that thing up, vultures star to circle you!”

  “Oh ya?” Vaati smirked. “Well, when you go to the market, people try to pour salt on you because they mistake your ugliness for a slug!” 

  “You’re one to talk, Batty!”

  Vaati and Penn laughed at each other. Penn stopped, staring at the celling. He began coughing violently.

  “Penn?” Vaati asked. “Penn, are you okay?”

  “Ya,” he said, breathing in a shaky breath. “My chest hurts, is all.” He wiped his mouth. Vaati could see the blood on his sleeve.  

  There was a long silence between them. Outside, they could hear rain began to fall. Thunder cracked in the distance.

  Vaati smiled, holding the tears in his eyes. He was determined not to let his friend see him cry. But, when he saw the tears in Penn’s eyes… it was hard to stop it from happening.

~*~

  Penn had died that afternoon, just before a thunderstorm rolled in. Vaati was one of the last people he spoke to. After that, he was unable to speak. And after that, he could only groan and cough occasionally. Then… his breathing stopped altogether.

  A week later, Vaati sat on the cliff, staring out at the grey horizon.

  There was thunder in the distance.

  Suddenly, all the tears he held were released. He began sobbing, crying so hard that he just wanted to scream. Never had he felt so broken, or alone… just… empty. There was no one to watch storm with him. No one he could tell his dreams to. A whole part of him was just gone.

  “I wonder what made him sick,” a little voice came from not too far away.

  “I don’t know, but I’d get sick, too if I hung around him as much as he did.”

  The words shot through his heart like… an ice cold knife.

  “Guys, would you stop it?” Adulessa defended him, making Vaati perk up a little. “I know he’s really weird. And I don’t blame any of you for being scared of him, but honestly!? Can’t you talk about him like he’s a living being for once?”

  “Why? You don’t think he can actually hear us-”

  It seemed that every one of them stopped in their tracks at once when they saw him sitting there. For almost a minute, everything was still.

  Vaati slowly stood. The wind around them began to pick up, and quickly. Without saying a word, they turned and began running away. Suddenly, he remembered what Ezlo taught him, and forced himself to calm down.

  He sighed, wiping away the remainder of his tears, then began walking down the path, towards Ezlo’s house.

  “Vaati,” a voice called to him from down the path, almost scaring him. “I heard the wind begin blowing, stronger than what’ natural for it. What were you doing?”  

  “I’m so sorry, Master, I just… I was angry,” his voice nearly cracked. “They were talking about me…”

  “I’ll have a talk with those brats’ parents,” Ezlo mumbled to himself. “But, as for you, Vaati, no matter what, promise me you’ll always maintain your control in situations such as that. I believe that if things got any worse than they did…”

  They met eyes for a moment, making a little worry flash across Ezlo’s face.

  “Never mind. Let’s go home.”

  As he followed his master, Vaati began wondering… what was he thinking would have happened?

  “He doesn’t trust you, either.”