Half Brothers

Chapter 6: ???

I wake up with my cloak still on and my pouch on the table beside me. I'm on my back on some kind of soft material. It takes a lot of prodding and poking at the material to figure out that it's a soft bed, not like my old one at my old home. That one wasn't even soft. I also notice that my ears are fine and my hands are normal.

A man enters the room. He has a look of seriousness that makes me feel uncomfortable. "Good. You're awake, boy," he says gruffly. "Now, make haste and leave before I change my mind and kill you instead."

I nod quickly, snatching the pouch from the table. "Th-thank you," I tell him as I exit the house.

I see him nod curtly before the door closes.

Making sure to go around the town, I make it safely beside it and walk alongside it. Though the pull wanted me to go straight through, I managed to ignore it for a while. I don't want to risk being killed by everyone who hates me.

I make it to the hills after hours of walking. Only then do I plop down and worry about Crimson. Is he alright? I mean, surely he would have come back if nothing was in his way. Why doesn't he just use the teleporting thingy?

I look into the cloak for the envelops Blackie sent me. I'm sure he sent me another piece of paper to write on, and I really need someone to talk to. Sure enough, there's an extra piece of paper inside.

"Dear Blackie,

Some time today, my family assaulted me and Crimson. They hate me! I mean, I understand that I'm a half Number and they don't like that, but still. Also, Crimson isn't here at the moment. I wonder if something happened to him.

-Astral."

I do the normal things to send it to Blackie. After that, I rest for a while, eating some berries until the pull urges me to my feet.

I start humming an unusual song as I walk. Actually, it's unusual that I hum anything; Momma never sang me any songs, yet here I am, walking and humming. It's a fairly simple tune, but I find is strange and uncomfortable that I'm humming anything at all since I haven't had music in my life.

~.Sapphire.~

After a few more tries, I pull out an ice ball that's ben stuck in Amber's throat. She gasps in relief, tears sprinigng to her eyes. Bura hugs his sister tightly while shivering.

I scowl. "Who did this to you two?"

"A-As-s-tral," Bura says with chattering teeth. "Hi-his han-hands w-were ice-icey."

"Ice instead of red...Must be a sign," I mumble.

"Where do you think he was going, Momma?" Amber asks hoarsely.

"If my hunch is right, I would say that he's going to the Number Realm to see his brother, and considering that brat told him about what we did to him, he'll probably try to destroy us!"

Amber and Bura nod.

"But first, we need to get you two some treatment." I pick them up and take them to the nearest town.

~.Crimson.~

I treat the wound that the woman caused with her arrow. It's a deep wound since the arrow embedded itself into my shoulder, so I don't want to move on until I know that it's not infected. I don't want to be slowed down by an infection and a deep wound.

After I thoroughly treat the wound, I wrap it in cloth so that no more foreign things get into it, sitting on a branch and swinging my leg over it in boredom. I wonder how little Astral is doing. Has he been following the pull home safely, or has his journey been impeded? I frown and write a quick note to the prince.

"I have sent your brother ahead on his own; there was danger I needed to take care of. I will catch up when I can.

-Number 12 Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja."

I snap my fingers, engulfing the note in flames. It will no doubt land in his fireplace!

~.Astral/Nova.~

With no one around to endanger me, this clearing is rather peaceful! I walk through the clearing with a spring in my step; this is the most happy I've been in forever! I wrap the cloak around me with a bright smile, the reassuring thump of the headdress and cloak bumping at my hip. I start singing the strange words to the song I've been humming as they come to memory. I know what they mean, but how do I know what they mean? It's all so strange.

A black and purple envelope pops into the air in front of me. I hold my hands into the chlly air to catch it, and it flutters delicately into my hands. I immediately tear it open and store the envelope into a pocket that holds the rest of them. I like keeping them with me because it just feels so reassuring!

"Dear Nova,

Well, they need to mind their own business! It makes me mad (That alliteration) that they're trying to (THAT ALLITERATION! Someone give me a high five! *raises hand for high five* :D) stop you from coming home! On the note of Crimson, I just got a note from him. He said that he'll be returning soon if he can. Just be patient.

-Blackie."

I fold the letter up with a warm, fuzzy feeling. It's nice knowing that he cares about me. Only he and Crimson have shown that. Well, maybe the nice man that let me sleep in his house even though I'm "dangerous" counts, but he didn't really seem all that happy about it. Still, if he was willing enough to let me stay, he's nice inside.

Skipping along, I come upon a group of furry animals. I detour away from the pull to get a closer look.

When I get there, they don't seem to be scared, and they don't run away. They're animals with black fur, poofy tails, and large ears. Their eyes are gray, and they seem to be eating some kind of nut.

I approach them slowly so as not to startle them. I've never been outside the town border, so these cute, furry animals are very new to me. I wonder if they bite.

"Hello," I try when I'm close enough.

The animals turn to me, stopping whatever they were doing before I rudely interrupted.

"S-sorry..." I mumble, twiddling my thumbs in my cloak.

Then, they come closer. They seem to be sniffing the air, too, like they're catching my scent. I take a sharp breath in and hold it, as if they may run away if I exhale. They scamper closer to me.

And then, one second later, they become angry.

The furry animals start chittering angrily at me, and I can see them baring their sharp teeth and scraping their little claws. Why are they mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Is it because I bothered them? I start backing away in case they attack.

Just as I expected, one jumps at me with razor sharp teeth and vexed eyes. I shriek and put my hands up to protect myself. Surprisingly enough, I don't feel any bites. I open my eyes, and the poor thing is twitching on the ground. I look at my hands, fearing that they've turned into some other color.

This time, they're yellow...

Tears leak out of my eyes. Why does this always happen? What did I even do to the poor animal!?

The others hiss angrily at me. My vision blurry from tears, I back away from them, stammering "I'm sorry" every half second. I didn't mean to! They turn their attention away from me as another one is killed by something. Probably the same thing that killed the other one. Sobbing, I turn and run back on path.

That's when I bump into someone.