Complete - Aspirant Heroes Breakdown

Hidden: Theme

Quietly the Faerin walked on Maithe Woodlands, toward the Honeyhome Village. Ah… He hasn’t felt so gloomy since a long time ago. It has been a time since he was walking with @Aristides, after they got to meet up in that temple… How long have they been walking? He didn’t remember, his mind was in a completely different world at that moment.

‘Why..?’ He thought. Why his friends died? Wasn’t he supposed to PROTECT THEM?! In all senses… In all ways. Hanno wanted to be a hero, right? A hero… Like all the RPGs he played, he wanted to be a hero that could be strong enough to protect everyone he could, it wasn’t a matter of glory, it was a matter of caring. But on a burst of emotion and a feeling for revenge, he went for the kill instead of protecting his friend, and look at what happened.

Suddenly a small UI popped up in front of him:

CONGRATULATIONS!
You received loot:
1x Titanus’s Essence (Craft Material)!
1x Western Sharp Gaze (Drink)!
200 MP!
XX Gold!
2x Diss...
...
...
​

'Loot? Reward..? For me? An useless hero? Of course, so fitting! Let's give a reward to the useless hero! He deserve it! At least he tried-' His eyes opened fiercely at the UI. "Are you fucking with me?"


Free Mode Activated.

Heroic Might.


"ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?!" Hanno thundered against the menu with a frightening roar, as he tried to slam it with all his strength in a punch that simply went through it and hitted a tree. The might punch cracked a bit of the tree's trunk, a huge pain shocked in his arm, but he couldn't care less. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHH!" He yelled as he threw punches after punches on the tree. "WHAT IF IT WAS IN REAL LIFE?! WHAT IF I DO SOMETHING WRONG AND NEXT TIME WE DON'T COME BACK?! WHAT IF IT WAS SOMEONE THAT COULDN'T COME BACK, LIKE AN NPC?!"

What if who fell was Lia?

His teeth clenched and he landed a final punch on the tree, that made it collapse... His eyes closed a bit again... A heavy breath... Then a sob.

'Why is it so hard?' He fell on his knees, hiding his face behind his hands. 'Why I am feeling so frustrated about it? Why is it affecting me so much? Wasn't this supposed to be a game..? No... This may be a game on paper- "-but actually... THIS PLACE IS ALMOST AS REAL AS OUR WORLD! Everything here is so realistic, that dying here is ACTUALLY DANGEROUS. You will suffer, you will feel pain, you will feel sad, you will feel anger. YOU WILL FEEL EVERYTHING! JUST LOOK AT RIVERS GODDAMN IT, HE WAS TERRIFIED, TRAUMATIZED. AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT FOR BEING SO WEAK!"

That's why he felt so frustrated. That place was as much worth of being protected as the real world, because this was a game that everyone was truly affected about it. And even being as much worth of being protected. "I couldn't protect anyone... How can I be a hero like that? No... HOW CAN I BE A WORTHY FRIEND LIKE THAT?!" He slammed his hurt fist on the ground.

'Wait... Snap out of it.' "HOW?!" 'You are probably making Aristides feel bad too, stop.' "HOW?!" 'Stop Brian. When something goes wrong, you need to raise your-' "HOW?!"

 

Aristides had received a crudely drawn map from the man at the temple, believing it better for himself and for Futaba to return to Honeyhome without any company. As they'd walked--perhaps it had been two hours, but he hadn't checked the clock in some time--there had been mostly silence. Only the sounds of leafs rustling and soft breathing of the Faerin in front of him reached Aristides' sensitive ears. That and his own heartbeat ringing in his head most unhelpfully. What he wouldn't give for a conversation to drown it out, but Futaba didn't seem interested in talking right now...and Rivers...

Rivers wasn't here. He'd run away, rather than taken the trek home together.

Why?

It made Aristides feel sick to his stomach to think about the fight, but it was the only reason he could put to Rivers departure and the unnatural distant gaze Futaba wore as they walked. They'd all died. Aristides wasn't sure how the other two had, yet, but he remembered being impaled through the chest by a tentacle as thick as a tree quite clearly. Now, here they were, trying to get past that terrible memory and move forward. Or at the very least go back to where they'd been. Why was it so hard?

The ding of his UI appearing in front of him made Aristides pause, looking up from his map.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You've Received:
1 x Dissonant Battle Claws
1 x Gaze Egg
200 MP
Titanius is Defeated!

Aristides released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. So Titanius was gone. Good. Even though they hadn't seen the fight to its finish, knowing the other players had managed to finish the job did return some color to his face. Not very much, but some was better than none. It was short lived, though, as his ears perked up at the sound of Futaba's voice cutting through the silence. What had he said? Was that a swear? What--

Oh God he punched a tree in half.

Ears flat against his head and eyes wide, he took a hasty step backwards as the tree landed with a nearly deafening sound. Loud as it was, it wasn't nearly enough to drown out the tirade that was coming from Futaba. Aristides hesitated to approach him, even as he dropped to his knees and shouting into his hands. Futaba was his friend. He should comfort him. They were friends. Yet no matter how many times his brain repeated those words to the rest of his body, he couldn't bring himself to step forward and wrap him up in a hug again. He wanted to. He really, really did. But all that anger, all that confusion and fear and trauma...it frightened Aristides almost as much as death itself. He didn't know how to help Futaba. What could he say? A hug would be nice, but it wasn't going to fix this. Instead Aristides held back, map held loosely in one hand, the other wrapped around himself to grip his own elbow.

What can I even say in a moment like this? I don't have a clue how to help him.

I'm the unworthy friend.

Finally he managed to speak, though his voice was rougher, more gravelly from the tension in his body. He felt like he was forcing his voice out from his throat.

"...we're still a ways off. Let's camp here, regain some energy."

You're a grade-a therapist, do you know that?

Shut up.

 

Hanno then fell into a deep silence, as he had his inner conflict.

'I will tell you how. Raise your head.' But it was too hard... 'You need to do it. Aristides need you, Rivers need you too. Do you think they are happy about what happened? He flinched a bit, squeezing his hands against his face, trying to wipe a few tears of anger that were scrolling down on his cheek.

'Besides... Remember what Lia said to you, Brian.'

Yes... Holding things to yourself was an horrible idea. But Rivers had ran away... And Aristides was feeling bad...

'Then talk to them too, idiot. Friends help each other. Aristides will help you, and you will help him.'

His hands were set apart from his face, he wasn't supposed to hide his face from his friends. He wasn't supposed to fell shameful about it. He wasn't supposed to just give in to the sadness and drown in a puddle of regrets. He needed to improve, and the first step to it, was getting himself together again.

Even if he needed the help of his friends.

Hanno slowly stood up, raising his head a bit. There were still a few tears scrolling down, but that was just the start... Because now he realized he didn't need to do all that by himself. He turned his head to @Aristides, that Caenis was as broken as he was, wasn't him?

The Faerin walked toward him, throwing himself and wraping his arms around him in a hug. "I'm sorry..."

"Like I said when we met, I want to be a hero, like those ones from epic RPGs. I've always admired them, being someone that put everyone's well being above their own, being so selfless. All this admiration made me what I am today: An useless hero, that couldn't help his friends when they most needed. So I'm sorry for not being able to save you and Rivers. I'm sorry for not being a good hero. I'm sorry for not being strong enough to help you two." He looked down...

"So please... Forgive me for this mistake... Forgive me for my next mistake too... And all the other mistakes that I'm sure I will do." Then, the Faering looked up to his friend. "Because I promise that after all these mistakes, I will be strong enough to protect you and everyone that is important to me."

He said it to Aristides, but he meant to say this to everyone... To Rivers, to Lin Bo, to Endo... to Lia...

To everyone that he considered a friend.

...

To everyone that he cared about.​

 

Futaba walked towards him, tears streaking down her cheeks, and all Aristides managed to do in response was kneel down to his level like it was instinct. He wasn't even sure if they were approaching for comfort or to yell in his face. The latter didn't feel like something Futaba would do, but then again Futaba didn't seem the type to break a tree in half out of rage. Death gave all sorts of mixed-up and messed-up feelings. Luckily all Futaba wanted was to hug. Aristides slowly raised his own arms to wrap around the sobbing Faerin. Yeah. Good. This was a lot easier than talking. He could hold his friend and tell him it was okay without words. Or, at least, with fewer words.

"...you know I don't blame you, not at all. I will forgive you though. Just...forgive me, too, for being bad at...comforting...?"

He smiled weakly at Futaba when their eyes met, unsure if he was coming across as gentle or sarcastic or what. He hated this feeling; like he wasn't going to be able to show how he truly felt, because he didn't know how to, because he wasn't sure what it was. Still, he knew he didn't blame Futaba at all. Or Rivers for that matter. When they had returned to Honeyhome, the both of them would need to find their friend and tell him how they felt.

Or show him. Somehow.

"...at least...we can use that tree you chopped to make a fire."

 

'Now... Calm down. He hugged you back, don't you see? Being all angry won't solve anything, you are just hurting yourself and your friends by doing that.' He thought, tightening the hug a bit. 'Deep breath now, you need to relax.' The Faerin took a deep breath.

Even with tears on his eyes, and an anguish in his heart, the silly apologize made his mouth tremble a bit in a very weak smile. 'Heck, I forgive you. But you are indeed bad at comforting.' His eyes closed tightly as he tried to hold back the laugh, it wasn't a moment to laugh, he was supposed to be sad and concentrating on calming down.

"Pff... Hahahahahahaha... HAHAH!" He couldn't hold it anymore as he began laughing with tear on his eyes. "T-That's unfair! This isn't time for that..." The Faerin slowly walked back, letting the hug go to wipe his tears. And after finally doing it, he looked at Aristides with a weak smile, that was very far from the usual smile he have on his face, but it was a honest smile.

"You are bad at comforting... Yet, you are very good at comforting." Hanno said, scratching his head. He wasn't with all his spirits back, but that sure raised a bit of it. 'Lia is right. I don't need to go through this alone.'

 

Aristides felt a slight heat rise to his cheeks out of embarrassment as Futaba started laughing, and it didn't fade even as they drew back, revealing a slight smile. Oh, good, he'd just made them laugh, they weren't laughing at him. Still his ears went flatter and his own weak grin turned sheepish. Even if it had been at his expense, laughter was far better than crying. They both needed that; to not think about everything terrible all at once.

"...ah...sorry? I guess. Or not?"

With a bit of soreness in his legs from walking--huh, he hadn't noticed that until he'd stopped, maybe they'd been walking longer than he'd realized--Aristides went over to the downed tree and began pulling large, thick strips of bark from it, as well as branches and even some messily cut chunks of the wood itself. Having superhuman strength had its perks. With an armful of various kinds of kindling he set them down in the little clearing they'd been in, and began looking for stones. While he was setting that up, he felt his stomach rumble.

Oh. Oops.

"Erm. If...you don't mind, Futaba, would you look around for some edible plants or catch some game? I am still not sure what around here is safe to eat. But I can make the fire."

Aristides finally opened his palm menu. Sure enough, the little meter showing his hunger was only a fifth of the way full. His sleep meter, too, was concernedly low. He frowned slightly.

"...I probably should have been keeping an eye on that."

 

'Good, you are back on your tracks, Brian.' He thought letting out a sigh with a smile. 'A friend does all the difference, doesn't it?' Hanno stared at Aristides, that looked kind of embarrassed. 'Thank you, Aristides.' The Faerin thought to himself, deciding to not say it outloud to not make things harder for the Caenis.

After that situation, his friend walked to the tree to gather a few of the wood from the trunk. Making Hanno notice that he just made a tree collapse with his fists. 'What...' He looked at his fists, they were wounded. 'Of course, it's not like this is Minecraft and punching trees was something normal.' He sighed.

Healing.

His wounds closed with the warm light that slowly surrounded his hands.

His head raised. All that sadness made he completely forget that food exist! "You couldn't have asked to someone better at this!" A bright smile appeared on his mouth, it was a temporary burst of happiness. "I will be back soon!" The Faerin darted off to a random direction in the forest, leaving Aristides to take care of their stuff.

...

...

...
​

It has been a few minutes since he has been walking around looking for a fruit, preferably something similar to that purple fruit he found on his first day. It would be great to feel a nostalgic taste to cheer up a bit.

But something came on his mind. 'Rivers...' Hanno stopped for a second, how was Rivers right now... Neither Hanno or Aristides was with him. Maybe he should contact him?

The Faerin opened his UI and went to the friend list, and stared at the Rivers chat box for a few minutes. Maybe his friend needed some time alone? If he said something, it could make things worse. He sighed and closed the UI, if his friend felt like talking again, he knew that he would message him.

"But you know Aristides... I think Rivers-" Hanno turned to his back, realizing his Caenis friend wasn't there. 'Ah right. I forgot I came here alone...' He thought... And that thought made his chest feel tight and his heartbeats become intense.

"What..." He asked to himself outloud on instinct, like he was trying to give company to himself, but of course that didn't work and his heart began pounding erratically.

"Ku ku ku ku..."

The Faerin's eyes widened in horror and he looked back after hearing a sound echoing inside his head, he was completely alone in that forest. "W-Why I am feeling like th-this?" His teeth clenched in fear as he hugged himself and trembled for a bit. That feeling... That feeling that something changed inside him... It was THAT?!

He walked backwards, resting his head on a tree's trunk. As he held his chest with a heavy breathing. "M-Maybe I am cursed?!" Hanno opened his UI and checked his status tab... Buffs, debuffs, temperature, hunger level... Wait, there was a new option: Death Affliction.

"D-Death affliction..?" His eyes looked down.

"In company, you heart beats with camaraderie. In solitude, it beats louder and faster to the rhythm of dissonance, reminding you of your loneliness. When you are alone (or feeling alone), your heartbeats will torment you."

"What the fuck?!" Hanno's eyes widened, so that is what changed inside him?! IT WAS THAT?! HIS DEATH ACTUALLY HAD A CONSEQUENCE?

Was this thing called Death Affliction was so harsh like that? He just stayed alone for a few minutes... Maybe it was a burst of emotions because it was the first time he was feeling that? Yes... Yes... That was just a burst of emotion, if he calmed down... Everything would be fine again.

Hanno took a deep breath, and looked at his side. Seeing a giant red eye staring at him on the tree's trunk. "Gah..." 'How am I supposed to calm down- "GAAAH..." 'THIS IS FUCKING TERRIFYING!'

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

The Faerin yelled in fear as he ran away, stumbling between the bushes and tree's roots. He looked at his back, not seeing anything. Good, he was alone- BUT SOMEHOW BEING ALONE DIDN'T HELP AT ALL!

He ran more, he needed to get to Aristides as fast as he could to be able to get rid of this burst of emotion. That thing catched him with his guard down and now it was impossible to calm down... "Aristides?! Where are you?!"

 

"Be safe, Futaba."

Aristides watched the tiny Faerin go off into the woods on his lonesome, leaving him to make a good fire to cook whatever they found and to warm them as the day got cooler. He remembered a few things from growing up about making fire-pits; he dug out the earth to make something bowl-like, then put the wood inside, and rimmed the hole with stones. It was a shame he didn't have any fire magic to start it out, but he did have matches somewhere on his person. Had he dropped them in death? Ah. No. He found them in his inventory with his weird new items from fighting Titanius. An egg and a weapon. Huh.

While he sat there, alone, fiddling with his inventory, his ears began to twitch.

What was that noise?

He stopped fiddling and looked up. Were those footsteps? Aristides frowned, tensing his muscles like he were ready to strike an unseen figure approaching. But no matter which direction he pointed his ears, the sound kept at the same steady volume and pace...and were growing louder? He winced and raised his hands to cover his ears and try to drown them out.

The sound didn't stop.

Oh, God, was that his heartbeat?

Aristides winced and curled into himself, hands still on his ears. Oh God, it sounded like rain pounding on a tin roof. When there wasn't loud, head-wrenching beating there was this echoing silence that smothered all other noise; no leafs rustling, no wind blowing, nothing could permeate the noise or the silence alike. It smothered him. It weighed on him until he was on his elbows and his knees in the dirt, his chin tucked into his chest and his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He couldn't move. The sound, the silence, the nothingness was a trap around his whole body keeping him from even breathing.

Joyce, I'm scared. Joyce, where are you? Joyce, it hurts...

Futaba, help me...

Suddenly the feeling began to lessen. Not enough for him to move, but enough that he began to slowly breathe easier again. His eyes were still closed, his breathing now mixing with the beat of his heart in his ears. It at least filled the silence.

But unseen to him, opening upon his chest, was an eye of Titanius, red and real and staring.

 

The running steps of the Faerin continued. This was a nightmare, that was the only explanation. What kind of wicked thing was happening at that moment?! He needed to find Aristides as fast as possible... He ran faster... Faster... FASTER... AS FAST AS HE COULD.

But running so fast made that run become dangerous as he tripped on a tree's root and fell on the ground harshly. Hanno rolled on the grass and when finally stopped, he did his best to stand up. He looked up, just to see several eyes on the tree's trunks, looking at him intently. His teeth clenched and he finished standing up.

"Damn it! GO AWAY!" He yelled at the eyes, that got all together into a single one giving him a frightening gaze. The Faerin flinched, but stood on his feet and made a fighting stance. He wasn't going to give up. "If I can't get rid of you, I will MAKE YOU GO AWAY!"

Free Mode Activated.

Heroic Might.

Hanno charged toward the eye and jumped at it as he charged a powerful blow, but the eye instantly closed as the Faerin punched the tree's trunk instead. He clinged on the tree and looked back, seeing the eye opening in another tree.

"Don't run you abomination! YOU SHOULD BE GONE! YOU ARE DEAD!" He roared and jumped off the tree, running toward the eye, trying to drop kick it.

But again the eye closed, dodging the kick that hitted another tree's trunk. The eye then appeared on the ground, right bellow Hanno.

"I GOT YOU!" He dropped himself from the tree and tried to slam his elbow on the eye, that simply closed and disappeared again as the Faerin's elbow hitted the ground, making him feel a huge pain.

"GWAAAH! CRAP!" Hanno held his elbow, curling because of the wound...

Healing...

An angry stare at the dissonant gaze, what was that supposed to mean? That thing should be gone, but it was haunting him instead? Hanno spat on the grass. "Be gone. You are dead."

"Dead? Like your friends were? Ku ku ku..."

The Faerin stood up and stared at the creature fiercely and charged at it again, tackling toward the gaze as hard as he could, only to slam his face on the tree and drop on the ground. 'Stop being fooled Brian, this isn't that abomination. This is just your mind playing tricks on you!'

"DAMN IT!" He slammed the ground with his fist and raised his head to look at the tree. But the Gaze was gone... A relief sigh...

"I'm here."

His eyes widened when he felt like his chest was opening, making him lift his shirt only to see an red eye on his chest looking up at the Faerin's terrified eyes. "D-Disgusting... DISGUSTING! GET OFF ME! DAMN IT, I NEED TO FIND ARISTIDES!"

And finally in panic, Hanno stood up again, and helding his chest tightly, he began running as fast as he could toward the place they were going to camp. Wishing he could find his Caenis friend and that the aberration would be gone already.

...

...

...

It took a considerable time to him find the way back without using the map, at that point the eyes stopped bothering him as much as they were before, and his panic slowly faded away. The burst of emotions were gone, and now he was only feeling the usual Death Affliction's effects, but that didn't stopped him from being scared.

"ARISTIDES! PLEASE! TELL ME YOU ARE HERE!" He yelled when he got close to the camping area.

 

Futaba?

Aristides whimpered softly from where he was curled by the unlit fire, his hands lowering from his head to clutch at his chest, above and below where the eye was still wide-open on his body. He raised his head and only managed to crack one eye open. His vision was blurry. Had be been crying? Yes, tears were streaming down his face and falling to the dirt below in heavy droplets. His heartbeat was still furious in his ears, muffling the voice he heard. Or thought he heard. Was somebody there? Was Futaba really there? He felt so heavy, like he was moving with weights on every limb. The eye continued to stare upwards at his face, boring into him.

"...Fu...taba...it hurts...I can't m...make it stop pounding..."

Was he even there? Please, please be there...

 

Many things were going through Hanno's head at that moment, that experience wasn't good at all. But he needed to handle it a little more. "Aristides!" He called again, knowing that his friend should be close...

Then, Hanno spotted Aristides, making all his worries about himself fade away. "ARISTIDEEEES!" The Faerin yelled in shock, seeing his Caenis friend curling on the ground with tears. He ran toward him, kneeling close to him as he grabbed his shoulder and shaked him.

"Aristides?! Are you alright? Answer me! What happened?!" The faerin asked in panic. 'What happened to him? Could it be that something similar happened?'

He began rubbing his friend's back. "I'm here! Can you listen to me? Snap out of it!" Hanno kept trying to call his friend's attention. Of course it was something similar, Aristides had died too, which meant he probably also had a death affliction. 'Damn it, this thing scared me so much that I forgot Aristides could be in danger too. I shouldn't have stopped to battle against my own delusions'

He shook his head, it wasn't time to regret things again. 'No, stop. Focus on Aristides.'

 

Something shook his body, making him wince in pain. He still felt so sore and the noise wasn't helping in the slightest. And yet, at the touch, the pounding against his skull slowly began to fade away. His breathing returned, and though tears were still falling from his eyes, he could see clearly again. Aristides raised his head to look at Futaba and another small, clearly dog-like whine left his throat. Futaba was here. He was okay. He wasn't alone. The sound was going away. The eye on his chest closed slowly until it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Then, utterly exhausted, he collapsed onto his side, his head landing on Futaba's lap.

It was the presence of another person that made the pain fade. Thank God. Thank fucking God.

"...when you were gone...there was this...sound...it hurt so much, like it was drilling holes into my head."

Aristides whimpered again and pressed a hand against his chest, over his heart. His eyes closed again, this time not from pain, just from how worn-out and weak his body was.

"I couldn't think over it. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe. What...what the hell was it? Did...were you okay? Are you hurt...?"

 

Hanno was starting to get even more worried because Aristides wasn't responding, until the Caenis finally gave a sign of consciousness. Though it was a collapse on the Faerin's lap, making he hold his friend. "Aristides?!"

"I'm sorry..." Hanno placed the hand on the Caenis head, caressing it while subconsciously wishing Aristides didn't take it in the wrong way and thought he was treating him like a dog.

The Faerin hid his right elbow and fist, while keeping caressing with the left hand. 'It isn't time to worry about me...' "I'm not hurt, don't worry about me. Worry about yourself, how are you feeling? Are you feeling hurt?" His lips trembled a bit, he was still shaken about what happened, but luckily his worry made him snap out of that situation. At least now he was prepared in case something like that happened again.

"I'm sorry I took so long... But I'm here for you now. Don't worry!" He said, looking at his friend. 'Damn it, I wonder if Rivers is going through the same thing? I'm very worried now, but still...' He didn't know if it was a good idea to message Rivers. So many hard decisions.

 

Aristides' sensitive nose could scent blood somewhere in the air, but without his head clear enough to think didn't look for the source. Instead he closed his eyes and let Futaba stroke his hair. It felt nice. When was the last time somebody had held his head in their lap and stroked his hair? Not since when they were younger, definitely. Since Joyce was still around. Ugh, thinking about that wasn't helping. He drew in a shaky breath and tried to ease into deep breathing to calm himself down. Calm down so he could think clearer, and help his friend.

"I was hurt, but...I have been worse. Impaled-through-the-chest worse."

He smiled weakly. Was it too soon to be making absolutely terrible jokes about being impaled?

Probably.

"In all seriousness, yes, I feel better. A lot better. Whatever that was...I think it went away when you came back. Which sounds strange. But it's the only way I can explain it. Thank you, Futaba."

 

Hanno looked at his friend recovering, letting out a relief sigh. He wanted to ask the opnion of his Caenis friend on what they should do about Rivers, but apparently... It wasn't a good moment to ask that. 'I guess sometimes we need to take a moment to recover, before trying to act...' The Faerin looked up to the sky, that could barely be seen because of the dense treetops of the forest.

Hanno... No, Brian was always a very emotional person. Even if in his daily life he was mostly chill, whenever a problem popped up his countenance changed a lot. Anyone that saw him by the outside would think he's the type of person that acted rationally, but that was only true in situations that involved only him... If someone else was part of the problem, for some reason...

The Faerin sighed again, he needed to change his ways. Acting emotionally for someone wasn't necessarily bad, but it could be depending on the situation. He acted emotionally to try to save his friend against Titanus, and the result was the horrible. If he stopped to think just for a little bit, he could've thought on a much better tactic than just throwing himself at blows irrationally and smashing with all his strength against the monster.

He chuckled again. 'Damn it Aristides, I'm trying to have some serious thinking here!' The Faerin tilted his head with his usual chill smile. "Your sense of humor is a bit weird. But it isn't bad."

"That's great! You are welcome." He stopped caressing his friend's head. 'I hope he doesn't think I'm treating him like a dog-' The Faerin frowned. 'Why I am thinking this?'

He shaked those thoughts off and remembered the fruits. "Aaah! That's bad!" Hanno grabbed his bag and opened it, seeing that the fruits were still there, even if a few of them were smashed. "Ah... I'm sorry Aristides, I kind of freaked out and... This happened."