The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 21

Hey, guys ;-; So, the Spanish comedian Chespirito died today, and I wanted you guys to view his work. He was in the show El CHavo del Ocho and others that I don't know, but he's really funny ^^ Please, watch the video on this chapter and laugh along with me at his jokes! He's left such an impression on the Spanish community even after he retired! May he rest in peace.

They flew for what seemed like hours. Yuma fell asleep twice on the way to the base, and Black Mist seemed to be sleeping for the entire ride. Akari was still lifeless, and Astral was beginning to fade away.

Finally, they made it with a powerful landing that shook Yuma awake. He bolted upright as Godith got down.

"Glad to see you awake," he said. "Help me get them down."

Yuma nodded, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He shook Black Mist awake, but he wasn't responding. Oh, well. He was probably just tired. He carried him on his back out of the carriage as Godith took Akari on his back and Astral, who was now barely visible, into his arms. They hurried into a tent with the rest of them.

The tent was surprisingly large, like a town. It had many other tents inside reserved for families, and two large ones of the same size most likely for the king and the leader of the tribe. They entered the one to the right, which was the tribe's leader's tent.

The tribe leader was like THEM, except not a cat or a dog. He was a bald eagle with white feathers on his head and tail, black on the rest of his body and wings. He was in his humanoid form. He was tall and slender, but not feminine like Astral and Black Mist. His wings were lean as well as his feathered chest. On his face was a yellow, sharp, curved beak. His feet were claws and planted firmly on the ground. He was facing the back of the tent with his arms crossed.

"Hello, Godith," he said. His voice was gruff but kind. "Put him on the bed quickly."

Godith nodded and placed Astral on the bed gently. The eagle walked over to them. It seemed a little hard to walk with those feet, but the eagle didn't seem to mind. He looked like he was used to it.

The two embraced like old friends, smiling. Yuma watched. Had these two known each other all their lives?

"Kuna, I want you to meet this young man," Godith said after they separated. He beckoned Yuma to walk over, which he did. "He helped my son survive until they were separated."

Kuna looked at Yuma with his sharp, beady eyes closely. "This young man? Boy, what is your name?"

"Yuma Tsukumo. We were looking for our siblings, but as he said, we got separated." Then, something hit him. "Wait, how did you know!?"

Godith chuckled. "Some of the squirrels in the forest were spies. When I came to, they told me everything."

"Oh..."

Kuna nodded. "Please, exit. I will tend to your son. In the meantime, take the other one to your tent. There will be someone to tend to him there."

The king and Kuna nodded to each other, and then Yuma and Godith left with Akari and Black Mist with them. They entered the tent in silence.

When they were safely inside, one of the cloaked beings had already attached some kind of machine. Godith thanked him/her, and he/she exited the tent. The machine was made of some kind of strange wood that seemed to hold two tanks. One was large, and the other was smaller. Two beds laid under the tanks with tubes. The one with the smaller tank held two tubes, and the other held more than ten! Who needed more than ten!?

"With this, we will be able to give Black Mist his darkness back and Akari her strength," he explained, laying the girl down on the bed under the smaller tank. "Lay Black Mist next to her, if you will."

Yuma nodded. "How does this work, exactly?" he questioned, laying Black Mist on the other bed.

Godith got to work connecting the tubes to Black Mist first. They went on his chest, abdomen, arms, legs, and head. "This part of the machine is used to insert large amounts of energy to someone, such as Black Mist. Since the energy is distributed all throughout the body, the tubes need to be positioned as such." He then finished and moved on to Akari. She only had tubes connecting to her temples. "As for the girl, she had only been stolen something that was in her mind. With this, we will be able to get her back to normal. Now, give me the vial with her strength."

As Yuma handed him the vial, more of the cloaked beings came in with the velvet cases that contained the darkness. They carefully placed them one on top of each other in the corner of the tent so as not to get in the way.

"Thank you," he said. "I will take things over from here."

The beings took down their hoods and masks and nodded. Yuma noticed that they were an assortment of birds, reptiles, monkeys, and pretty much every land animal that didn't include cats and dogs, which Yuma was glad of. After all this, he was probably not going to see Cathy the same way, or any cat for that matter.

Godith filled the small tank with the liquid/gas substance and flicked a switch. Immediately, the tubes sucked in the substance and seemed to insert them into Akari's head.

"Help me with the darkness," he demanded.

Yuma complied and went over to the cases. They opened the one on top and took out a few vials. Not enough to overflow their arms, but enough so that they could open them and pour in the goo without breaking anything.

A few hours later, they finished. Sighing, Godith flicked another switch, and Black Mist tensed up. Apparently, having the darkness replaced inside him was just as uncomfortable as having it sucked out.

"You can sleep in here tonight," the king offered. "Tomorrow, I will ask them about a tent for you."

"Thanks. Where?"

"Hang on." He got to work laying down a second makeshift bed. "Here. You can sleep here."

Yuma nodded. When it was done, they both crawled into their respective beds and went to sleep.