Put back together

24. Low and High

Patton had managed to steer the conversation away from 'murdering eachother' towards 'family' and it was probably one of the proudest accomplishments of his live so far.

Roman had talked about his siblings and the stuff they got up to for a while, mentioning to Virgil in passing that he was a prince, and now Logan was explaining the way Natica worked and how children were raised there.

No murder in sight.

It was dark in the forest, despite the fact that it wasn't even noon yet, since the leaves seemed to shield off every last bit of sun light.
So, again, their only light source was the clearly magical lantern.

For some reason Patton didn't really mind.

Well, he did mind that he could barely see two metres into the woods and had no idea what was in the shadows beyond but the fact that the lantern was magic?

For some reason that was fine.

The fact that he was walking right next to a mage was sort-of-maybe-in-a-way fine.

Somehow Virgil didn't seem as dangerous as he had back in the cave anymore. As when he had blown up the pot and made the air thick with energy.

Patton still stayed closer to Roman and Logan and made sure not to come into direct contact with the mage but he felt more like he had to be a little careful than like Virgil might turn him into a Gobbler if he breathed wrong.

He let his eyes wander over the little ground he could see and stopped abruptly.

"What's that?"

The other three stopped as well and turned to him with questioning looks.

Patton pointed at the thing, half hidden behind a flower's fleshy leave.

"Looks like a dragon nest," Logan pushed up his glasses and leaned closer. "It most likely fell out of a tree. Dragons don't build their nests this close to the ground, usually. It's too dangerous since predators might rob the eggs."

"Is that an egg?" Patton asked inspecting the green-brown thing bedded in the nest.

"Looks like it. But I doubt it will ever hatch if it's even still alive. The parents most likely abandoned it."

"What?" Patton turned to Logan with shock written all over his face. "Why would they just abandon it? It's their baby, isn't it?"

The thought alone made his heart ache. Who cared if it was a human child or a dragon. No child deserved to be left behind by their parents. Especially not if they had never even gotten a chance.

"Like I said, the egg most likely died due to the fall or the parents had to leave the area because of a chance in climate or a new predator. Perhaps they had no choice but to leave it," the librarian rambled. "Either way there isn't anything we could do about it."

"He's right. We should go on," Roman agreed.

They got moving again.

Patton clenched his jaw.

Logan picked up where Patton had interrupted him in his story.

Patton unclenched his jaw.

Roman made a comment on something Logan had said.

Neither of them noticed when Patton hurried to catch up with them again.

Neither of them noticed the bulge in one of Patton's jacket pockets.

Hours of walking and a short meal later they finally broke out of the darkness of the forest.
Infront of them the Island ended in a steep cliff and in the distance Patton could see the next Island.

Virgil took a path to their right, explaining that there should be a safe enough bridge that way.

"Is this a natural coast?" Logan asked curiously.

"Yeah, the broken ones look different," Virgil mumbled. "More Deadpooly."

Patton had no idea what that was supposed to mean but he didn't question it. He had a feeling that the answer would only lead to more questions.

"So are you too together?" Virgil suddenly asked gesturing between Patton and Logan.

The baker could feel his cheeks heat up.

"What?"

"Well, Princy said that the three of you aren't but he didn't say nothing 'bout you two," the mage shrugged.

"We met two days ago," Logan protested. "We hardly know each other!"

"So? Would be like Snow white. Or rather Rapunzel. Just that the tower is a mountain. And you're neither prince nor theif."

"Look, no idea what you just said, but none of us are together," Roman cut in.

Virgil pouted: "You sure?"

"Yes, we're sure!"

Patton noticed the way Virgil's eyes seemed far away ant the way he was looking more through them than at them.

"Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm not okay," Virgil grinned. "I promise."

"Ah," Logan noticed. "Magically Induced Madness. I was beginning to wonder why he seemed more clear yesterday and this morning. Apparently the intensity of it varies."

"You talk like a nerd," Virgil told him. "The Harry Potter glasses don't help."

His words sounded odd in Patton's ears, like when he had first come to Corinn and had realised that the people there spoke an entirely different accent than in his hometown.
Just that Virgil's accent reminded him more of a sing-song than the harsh way people in Corinn spoke.

"I have no idea what you mean," Logan told him but Virgil either ignored him or didn't hear him.

"And you should really kiss pretty, pretty Goldilocks. Or Princy. Or both. Both is good."

"Am I Princy?" Roman asked.

"Who else? Try to keep up, we already established that neither Goldilocks nor Glasses gay are princes."

"You talk a lot like Remy right now," Roman mused.

"Remy? Who's that? I know a Remy. Wait - no - two Remys. Ones a rat. Both are gay."

"How would you know that both are happy?" Patton asked.

"I mean gay as in homosexual."

"The Remy I mean is a mage who works for my father," Roman cut in.

"Then I know him. Always wearing sunglasses and addicted to Starbucks, right?"

"I don't know what Starbucks is."

"He's always drinking from cups with this symbol on it," a round, green symbol appeared over Virgil's hand.

"Yes, exactly."

"That's Starbucks."

The words were slightly slurred now and Patton noticed that Virgil was leaning onto his lantern more and more with every step.

"Trs te bridge."

Patton looked up at the surprisingly steady looking bridge, spanned across the abyss.

"Are you sure it's safe to cross it?" Logan asked eyeing Virgil.

It was pretty clear that he meant Virgil's state.

"'m good," the mage slurred.

Roman sighed and pulled Virgil's arm over his shoulders, half carrying the other due to the hight difference.

"Let's just hope this works," he mumbled and took the lead over the bridge.

Patton followed him with Logan right behind him.

Stealing things and denying the gay.
Not a good job, Pat.
But it's fine, for now.

As always feel free to comment, ask questions or roast me for spelling errors!

Have a nice (gay) day!