Three Spheres

Chapter 9 - Bunnies

The gentle morning wind waves the flag at the entrance of the station. Johan grooms his hair against the breeze as he approaches the meeting point. Several carriages arrive and leave, some drawn by horses, others by Fabulares. Johan looks around the bustling scene around him. He feels a little anxiety.

_ Good morning, pair! _ Amadeo approaches, excited and smiling. He greets Johan with a nod and a pat on the back.

_ Morning. _ The other answers.

_ Ehh! How dry! Ain't you excited, Johan? Or are you mad for coming with me? _ Amadeo laughs; Johan doesn't answer; contempt stamped on his face _ Heh... I'll do my best to improve the impression you have of me... But well, I'll get our ride and we're leaving. It should take about 7, 8 hours to reach Birda. If everything goes well, we'll deal with rabbits today. _ Amadeo sighs, with a depressed expression _ Ah, ah... Bunnies.

Within minutes, the journey begins. Johan brings a single piece of luggage, with clothes and equipment. Amadeo brings three, one full of books and the other with supplies. As soon as he sits down, the blonde pulls out the biggest compendium, whose cover reads: "Taxonomica Fabulare".

_ This book...? _ Johan asks.

_ It's "Bestiarius", but with the new name. The rational Fabulares find the old name a bit pejorative, so they changed it. _ He opens the book and passes a few pages until he reaches the explanation of the Wolpertingers _ It won't hurt to take a look at those little pests' article... I know this book by heart, but there's always a little thing here and there that's harder to recall.

He speaks in a neutral tone, keeping his eyes fixed on the pages. Johan thinks: "Knowing the Bestiarius... So cocky". He feels the atmosphere, little by little, becoming lighter. He says:

_ Good. But why did you bring all of this?

_ Ah, er... Deodoro told me to bring the other books. He said I have to memorize them until we get back... _ Amadeo sighs _ You're lucky you aren't told to do these boring things!

_ I do boring things too. _ Johan looks up _ Nayla tells me to do 200 sets of warm-up exercises... every day.

_ Ahaha! And Emília probably wrecks you up too, right? _ He laughs.

Johan nods "yes". They keep talking for part of the way. Amadeo smiles non-stop. In such a short time, with such trivial matters, the chasm between them seemed to narrow. "Nayla must have said something, for sure.", the blonde thinks. After a few moments, Johan yawns lazily and rests his head in his own arm. Amadeo understands the message and shuts up, pulling out another one of his huge books.

_ JooOOHAN! hheeeEEYYY....!

Amadeo's voice increases in intensity, while Johan opens his eyes. The bright light of the day invades his vision and creates a halo around the smiling companion who calls him for lunch. Johan gets up, still stunned, and responds with a grunt. They join the wagon driver and eat what Amadeo had brought from Meigdan. One of the boxes exudes a sweet scent. He smiles:

_ Emília made us a cake, can you believe? She said she's "training the culinary arts". _ He opens the box, showing the cake sprinkled with sugar _ I'm kinda afraid to eat it alone, to be honest... Want some?!

_ Is it a nut cake? There isn't much to do wrong. _ Johan says, followed by a yawn.

_ You cook, Johan? Do you know how to make sweets?

_ Yeah.

_ Reeeeally? Now, I didn't expect that! _ Amadeo exclaims _ Where did you learn?

_ My mom has a pastry shop in our city.