Our second world- Book two: War is coming

Chapter 2

~Haren~

He woke up to the sound of someone in the kitchen. The lights in the living room had been turned off and Grace was asleep on the floor with a comforter pulled tightly around herself. August was resting with his head in Harens lap and a blanket had been thrown over both their shoulders.

"Hey mom, are you in the kitchen?" Haren called quietly.

"Yeah? What do you need?" She asked, walking out to him with a wine glass of orange juice in her hand. The cups were a gift from a friend but she never drank so they all used them for other drinks instead, much to the confusion of visitors.

"Did Yamera leave already?"

"Yeah, a few minutes ago. He told me to say goodbye for him," Tsu said, wandering back to the kitchen," I think the girls had a good birthday yesterday."

"Damn, I forgot it was their birthday yesterday, but yeah. I think they did." Haren muttered.

"They start school in a week. oh how time flies. I remember your first day of school. You were so cute." She cooed

"I was 14."

"Still, I better be seeing you more often. I know you're already 19, but I want you to visit anyway."

"Will do, mom," He lowered his voice a bit as August stirred under him.

A few hours later, they said goodbye to the girls and headed back to the other world. Haren and August arriving in their room and Grace in hers.

"Mmmh, it feels good to be back," August said, flopping down on the bed as Chris entered the room with a tray of black tea.

"Welcome back, masters. How was the visit?" He asked, setting the tray on the desk," Well, I hope?"

"Yes, everything was fine. Thanks, Chris." Haren nodded, pulling off his sweatshirt," Can you have a horse readied for me in about 20 minutes? I'd like to go for a ride before dinner."

"Of course, sir." Chris bowed out of the room.

Pulling a pair of riding pants from his closet, he paired them with a low backed shirt and retied his ponytail with a pink ribbon that matched well with the white of his shirt. 

He waved to the maids cleaning the halls. There were only three today as he headed out to the front garden and stables. His horse was waiting and saddled. 

"Hey, girl. Ready for a ride?" He whispered to the cream colored horse as he mounted her.

The horse tossed her head as Haren nudged her towards the well worn forest path that lead to a small spring behind the house. It was secluded behind a wall of ivy covered stone and a waterfall flowed down into the warm pool about three lengths wide and 14 the other way. There was enough water to swim in, and it was deep enough for diving.

He jumped down from the horse and walked her over to the edge of the water so she could drink. While she was doing that, Haren made his way over to the biggest of the three waterfalls. Carefully, he edged behind it to a shallow cave. Lush, green vines hung from the ceiling and multi-colored flowers dotted the moss covered floor. Reds, greens, pinks, blues. Every color of the rainbow was there.

Walking over to a small patch of dirt where tiny yellow shoots were beginning to sprout, he knelt down and poured some water over them with his waterskin.

"I've replanted them three times already, but they still don't seem to want to grow right," He mumbled to himself as he re-mounted his horse. Urging her into a run back to the house.

When he returned, he walked her to the stables and let her drink while he took the saddle off. Then left her to wander back to her stall while he latched the stable door and headed inside to the dining room.

After dinner, he returned to his bedroom to find August already in bed. As quietly as he could, he changed into sweatpants and a tanktop before climbing under the covers. Shortly after crawling into bed, Haren woke abruptly to the sound of August coughing as he returned to the bed with a small groan.

"Are you ok?" Haren asked quietly.

"Mostly," August replied," Sorry I woke you up."

"No worries."

Now that he was awake, Haren noticed how tired and worn out August looked. Chris had mentioned to him that he wasn't feeling well, but he hadn't imagined this. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice August had fallen asleep again, snuggled against his side. Wrapping his arms around the blonde, he drifted off to sleep himself.

~The next morning~

He woke around the same time as August and mumbled a tired good morning.

"Morning," was Augusts reply as he rolled out of bed.

Haren did the same and retrieved a brush from the bathroom. Sitting down on the desk, he began brushing out the tangles in his hair. While he was doing this, he watched August pull clothes from the closet.

"Hey look, it's snowing!" August remarked, pulling the chair from the desk to sit down now that he was dressed in black pants and one of Harens green sweatshirts.

"Is it?" Haren turned to look and glimpsed specks of white through the partially closed black curtains. It had already started piling up on the ground," Glad I'm not going anywhere today. It looks cold," He muttered, rubbing his stiff shoulder. Whenever it got to be too cold, his old injury would tend to get a little sore or stiff.

"Hey, when you're done, will you brush mine?" August asked, pulling Haren from his thoughts.

"Sure, but only if you'll braid mine for me." He replied.

"Of course."

After finishing getting ready, Harens hair in a braided bun that looked like a rose and Augusts in a shirt ponytail, they headed down to the dining room, hand in hand for breakfast.