Forgotten Wonders

Chapter 6: Curiosity Killed The Wolf?

I looked at Jayden, all bandaged up and thought , for the 5th time that night, What could of happened if I hadn't heard him, if I was out of earshot, or, or, a gentle voice broke my thoughts, "Food's ready if you're hungry," I recinoised the voice as Darius's, reluctantly, I left Jayden's side, he'd want me to eat instead of worry. "You're quiet, I expected you to bombard me with questions," I looked at Darius, expecting amusement to be in his gaze, but there was only worry,

"I'm just," I trailed off, deciding whether or not I should vent to a stranger, "I'm just worried," I admitted.

"Believe it or not, I understand." I glanced at him confused, "I had a little sister, and, one day, she," he trailed off as he glanced at the floor.

"What was her name?" I asked, Darius looked at me, a smile forming on his face.

"Her name was Summer," he said quickly, "one day she got very sick," he continued, "I got super worried about her, but only one thing would cure her, I went into the next town over the purchase it, but," he swallowed quickly, "I got distracted by some Berrichidnas on the way home, and got back too late," I cocked my head to the side.

"What's a Berrichidna?" he glanced at me in surprise,

"I guess they're rarer out here then where I was raised," Darius chuckled "and, Jayden's gonna be fine," putting his arm around me "I promise," he added quietly, he let go of me, as we were nearing the dining area, however, what he said puzzled me, what exactly did he mean by 'I promise' he surely had no control over this, or, did he? I decided to ask him about it after we ate. I sat next to Sasha at the table, Simon set a plate in front of me, I picked up the fork and poked the chunk of meat gently, Sasha had a salad.

"That's fish, it's quite good," I suddenly realised why Sasha wasn't eating it, "Sasha grows all the plants, fruits, and vegetables you see here," Sasha giggled and took a bite of salad,

"So, how's Jayden?" she asked,

"Well, I think," glancing curiously at Darius, thinking again about what he said, "Sasha, do you think we can trust him?" I whispered, Sasha nodded,

"Yes, I think we can," she must of seen my uncertain face, because she added, "he did help your brother," I impaled the fish with the fork, Sasha shook her head "Cut it first,"
And handed me a knife,

"Thanks," I awkwardly cut the fish into smaller pieces with nervous giggles,

"Have you ever used a knife before," remarked Darius, I glared at him, however he had amusement in his eyes, and was smirking, then, I unexpectedly started laughing, he looked confused, but was soon laughing as well.

"What is happening?" Sasha said slowly, confusion in her voice.

"Don't ask," Darius chuckled.

After eating, I went back to Jayden, after a while, Darius came over.

"Darius, what did you mean by 'I promise' before we ate?" I asked, Darius looked at me,

"Not here, follow me," I got up and followed him, he stopped at a bookshelf and grabbed a book, it was reddish brown, and had gold letters on it, he moved too fast for me to read it. He led me out to the garden, and watched as I stared, "Sasha showed me a spot we could chat out here, that's private enough," I nodded as he led me under a apple tree, the apples were red, and looked just about ripe, Darius set the book down, and let me read the golden lettering,

"'All You Need to Know About Animals'?" I read aloud, "What's this for?" I asked, confused, Darius grabbed the book and flipped to a page.

"Read this," he pointed at the pages.

"Berrichidna's" I read, "are very chinchilla-like in appearance, but have several differences that make them their own species, Berrichidnas may be any color." I continued, sitting on the ground leaning my back against the tree, with my knees up to my chest, and book resting on my legs, "The females are larger than males and are the dominant ones, they may be up to the size of a small dog, and may have deerlike antlers and have long fluffy tails, the males, however,have short tails, and are much smaller, and shyer than the females, they are smaller and may have horns similar to those of a goat. Berrichidnas are often called 'Sugar babies' or 'Sugar darlings' due to the fact that all berrichidnas are born with white fur." I paused to look at the illustration of a berrichidna, "During mating season, which is late spring, the males aren't the ones attracting mates like in most species, it's the females, if the female has antlers, they turn bright colors, if they don't have antlers, they're coats become lighter and brighter." I paused again, picturing the bright colored berrichidna, " A female berrichidna is called a 'doe' while the male is called a 'buck', a group of berrichidnas may be called a herd, flock, colony, or a fluffle." I paused while reading, "Awww" I couldn't help it, the word 'fluffle' was too cute for me, I cleared my throat and continued reading, "They are named for their diets, which consists of mostly berries, but can also include, nuts, grasses, leaves and sometimes even fungi. Berrichidnas are also named for their calls, which most often sound like 'chidna chidna' but they also make sounds like growls, whistles, snorts, and many others." as I finished reading, Darius smiled at me,

"They are very cute," I giggled but then remembered that he said he would explain,

"Well, explain," I said,

"What would you like me to explain?"

"Everything,"

"Alright, I'll start with what I meant by 'I promise'," I sat eagerly as I closed the book and set it next to me, "us Spirit Guides have the ability to, well, I guess, manipulate luck, if that's the right way to describe it, but, we really aren't supposed to," I stared at him, he was willing to break a rule, for Jayden?, then I realised something,

"What's a Spirit Guide?" Darius grimaced, he was clearly hoping I wouldn't ask,

"You know when someone dies?"

"Yeah" I replied, tilting my head to the side,

"They go to this gate, and based on what they've done in their life, they get sent to Esteria, or Capursa," he sighed, "Esteria, is where the sinners, or the people who did a lot of bad things go, Capursa, is where the saints, or the people who only did a small sin or no sins, go," I looked at him, about to ask something, when he quickly added "Becoming a Spirit Guide is offered to both Sinners and Saints, Sinners often do it to be forgiven, Saints do it because they like helping out," I nodded,

"So, you are my Spirit Guide?"

"Yes, I've been watching you from a distance for a bit, my ghost form, as I like to call it,"

"Watching me?" I said, suddenly feeling shy, "Was it your luck that got the watermelon?" Darius frowned,

"Sort of, it was my luck that helped Jayden not get caught," I got confused,

"Get caught? What do you mean by getting caught?" I stood up slowly, grabbing a tree branch so I didn't fall, "Did Jay steal the watermelon?" I uttered, so quietly I was surprised when Darius replied,

"I'm afraid so," he looked at me, however, there was an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't quite read, "Anyway, do you want me to explain anything else?"

"No," I said, smiling, I picked up the book and flipped it back to the berrichidna page. Darius got up and left, he smiled over his shoulder,

"If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask," hearing this made me shy for some reason,

"Alright," I got up and gave him a quick hug, he seemed surprised,

"Amber,"

"Yeah?"

"I promise Jayden's going to be alright," as he said this, he tilted my head up, Darius wasn't much taller than me, but he was still taller, he gave me a smile and let one of his ears flop to the side, for some reason, this made my heart race. He turned and walked towards Sasha's house, I lost sight of him quickly, I put a hand on my heart, it was racing, I couldn't figure out why.