Chapter 28 - A Lesson Between Friends

“Wait, you’re not going to-”

“Enough! I’ve had it with these abyss accursed fish and their smug little smirks, the little bastards. I tried playing nice, now you burn, you little monsters!”

“What smirks, they’re just a bunch of fish!” Skyle wanted to say, but seeing the expression on Leon’s face made him wisely decide to keep the thought to himself. Not that it would have made much of a difference, in the end. The result would have been much the same.

Blinding streaks of scarlet energy streamed up the length of Leon’s upraised arm, converging upon his fist to form a growing ball of incandescent fire. The roiling sphere of fire elemental energy burned so hotly that even Skyle could feel the heat from where he crouched, more than five meters away.

“Wait!” Skyle cried out in alarm, half-crouching, half-turning away, awkwardly trying to find some cover, but it was already too late.

Leon was past listening to reason, as he flung his hand down towards the middle of the pool, where three or four fish swam about in a sudden frenzy, as though realizing they had invoked the wrath of a predator they could not afford to anger.

The ball of molten fire was somewhat of a familiar sight to Skyle. After all, he had been at the receiving end of a few of these fire bolts himself. Their destructive power had left a deep impression in Skyle’s mind. That he had lived to tell about it was a feat Skyle rightly felt rather proud about, while at the same time it irked him to no end; this lord fire summoner was far, far too generous with his use of these fire bolts.

The panicked fish tried to swim away from the fire bolt, but it was no use. In the blink of an eye, the fiery projectile struck the water and a great roaring explosion rang out. Some of the water instantly turned into steam, but the rest simply exploded in a great circle around the point of impact, causing a column of water as tall as Leon himself to rise above the water, causing its surface to shake greatly with big waves.

The physical impact from the blast traveled through the water and knocked Skyle off his feet. Just as the boy was trying to find his bearings, he spotted a big shadow out of the corner of his eye, and looked up just in time to see a huge wall of water crash on top of him.

Spluttering in outrage, Skyle wiped his face and stood up shakily, trying to clear a muted buzzing sound from his ears. Glaring hotly, he turned in Leon’s direction only to see the big idiot grinning smugly to himself as he eyed the center of the small pool.

Four small figures slowly rose up to the surface. It was the silvery fish, slowly bobbing above the surface of the water, belly up. They weren’t even twitching, as it had seemingly been an instant death, whether due to the force of the impact or the temperature.

“You have been weighed and been found wanting. Far too wanting, little beasts,” Leon crowed, apparently hugely pleased with himself. The spear had long been cast aside and lay forlorn and lonely upon the sandy shore.

Skyle opened his mouth, but seeing the happy expression on Leon’s face, decided against speaking and just rolled his eyes upward.

“Of all the exalted summoners upon the surface of Aeria, I had to get stuck with the six year old kid,” Skyle moaned in his mind. “It’s like what I’d imagine an evil combination of Kass and Reik to be, if I had another baby brother.”

Skyle shuddered with the mental image, then dismissed it as he woozily began to make his way out of the pool.

At least Leon had the grace to look embarrassed when he saw the condition of Skyle’s clothes, and he smiled apologetically as he helped his friend get out of the water. Still, he gave small hoot of joy as he turned around and went back to retrieve his prize.

It was a marked contrast from the expression Leon wore a scant five minutes later, as Skyle deftly began to gut the fish and remove the scales with his knife.

A blank expression of disgust mixed with bewilderment could be seen on the bigger boy’s face as he stared at Skyle’s quick, efficient motions. Having done this hundreds of times with both his father and grandpa Rock, both of whom enjoyed fishing to an extent that defied the limits of Skyle’s imagination, he didn’t even have to think about it as his hands already knew what to do.

Still, when Skyle stood up a handful of breaths later and lifted all three fish he had cleaned up, Leon gave a start and coughed uncomfortably. Skyle stopped for a moment and glanced over his shoulder, as though daring the bigger boy to say anything.

“Nevermind,” Leon muttered gruffly. “At least leave me the knife.”

Skyle grinned inwardly as he flicked the knife over, but his face was expressionless as he walked away from a rather sorry looking Lord Draxas.

“Big lump of meat, it was the least he deserved after the little scene he caused by the water,” Skyle chuckled to himself as he drew near the small fire Leon had lit up earlier.

Squatting by the fire, Skyle expertly used a few short branches to lay the fish to cook. A satisfied sigh escaped his lips as he contemplated the results of his work. The smell assaulting his nostrils was heavenly, and his mouth began to moisten as his clothes quickly started to dry.

A while later, heavy steps approached slowly from behind Skyle’s back. Leon sat down with a thud, then glancing at Skyle’s setup, the bigger boy began to imitate it as best he could. Still, the fish in Leon’s hands looked like they had been through a grinder, with many parts torn and missing, some partially cooked while others were bare to the bone. It was likely due in part to the violent explosion that had killed the fish, and partly due to the cook's own woeful lack of experience.

Still, Skyle didn’t say a word as he began to hum contentedly, and largely ignored the other boy’s tribulations while he gazed at his own beautiful little fish. The skin was beginning to turn into a delightful golden brown as fat steadily dripped down its surface.

“If only I had some salt with it,” Skyle pondered, then shook his head.

Leon had put his own fish by the fire at this time, but the whole time he couldn’t help but keep staring at the irresistible picture drawn by Skyle’s beautiful fish slowly cooking by the fire. Glancing at the results of his own work, Leon sighed deeply and resolutely told himself that meat was meat, no matter how it looked.

It was a good philosophy to have, especially since Leon’s fish kept sliding off and tumbling into the ground. Every time, Leon would scramble forward to pick it up before it got dirty, but the damage would already have been done. In no time at all, Leon’s fish were covered in dirt and grass, the delicious skin scrubbed clean off by Leon’s obsessive cleaning.

In the end, Skyle didn’t truly have the heart to force Leon to eat the gruesome looking results, and instead wordlessly offered one of his fish to Leon, not meeting his eyes.

Leon seemed a little startled by this, and for a moment his eyes showed hints of pride as his hand half rose to politely decline the offer. But then Leon turned to look at Skyle’s side profile, and with a twist of his mouth, accepted the fish without a word.

Skyle didn’t show any reaction to all of this, and immediately began to dig into his food with gusto, finally sating his voracious hunger. The fish, Skyle reflected, didn’t even need the salt. It was definitely one of the most incredible dishes he had ever enjoyed. The flavor was fresh and almost refreshing, as though it was without any impurities of any kind. The steaming meat practically melted in his mouth as he gorged himself with great bites that had him blowing out hot air in order not to burn the insides of his own mouth.

Leon apparently didn’t share this problem, perhaps as an added benefit of his high fire element affinity. Just as he had never indicated any discomfort while handling the fish that had fallen from the fire, Leon didn’t have any problems with the steaming hot mouthfuls he was tearing from his fish.

Neither boy spoke a word while they quickly ate their respective fish. Skyle leaned back, feeling rather full after eating his fish. After all, each was a giant specimen a whole foot in length. Thus, he passed the last of his fish still roasting by the fire to Leon, who had already finished the fish he had been eating and had been pointedly not looking at the last of the crispy golden fish.

Upon Skyle’s offer, Leon once again hesitated for an instant, his face complex with emotions. However, in the end he accepted the fish with a thoughtful twist to his lips while Skyle set about packing away the salvageable parts of Leon's fish, wrapping them in long leaves.

How could Skyle know that this was the first time Leon had accepted another man’s charity? True, it was given in the spirit of friendship, but to a boy who had as exalted a status as Leon, his most cherished possessions were his honor and his pride.

Friends? How could the heir of the House of Draxas afford such extravagant luxuries? The most he could expect would be temporary allies, an uneasy compromise between equals in order to reach a common goal. For the most, however, the ruling class had to resign themselves to a life surrounded by a smothering crowd of sycophants and hypocrites.

They were like a pack of needy dogs, barking and jostling each other in order to vie for the crumbs falling from Leon’s table. These dogs, they were not just any dogs either. They were the heirs of their own houses, children of great men, scions of wealthy dynasties. Only such jewels would have the qualifications to become the footrest of born kings like Leon Draxas Di Adrausier.

Yet, here he was, the future ruler of House Draxas, accepting fish from the hand of a lowly farmboy as though he were a beggar. It was truly a testament to the nobility of Leon’s soul that he would not only deign to regard Skyle as a friend, but perhaps someday as an equal.

Of course, Skyle could not begin to fathom the deep thoughts that swirled behind Leon’s eyes as he continued to eat the fish in his hands. After all, he was just a simple farmboy, one who had been raised in a loving family with strong values and a deep belief in the inherent virtues of humanity and the world in general.

To Skyle, sharing the fish without a word was both a gesture of warmth, and his own deep consideration in order not to needlessly embarrass his new friend. No words were needed because Skyle believed that Leon felt the same under all that refined bluster and would have acted accordingly, should the roles have been reversed.

To Skyle, just the fact that Leon had crossed the rift to save him, a virtual stranger, proved this fact. Little did he know that to Leon, the act had been more of a duty, a matter of honor since his pride would not let him limp away while an innocent boy suffered for his own negligence.

Still, it is small misunderstandings as these that form the underpinings of human relationships. These tentative first steps, no matter how misguided, lay open the door to the mysterious ways of the heart, in which one soul recognizes another and forms lasting bonds with it.

This simple act of sharing small three fish, it was the true beginning of just such a friendship.

This friendship would be one that would not only come to define the rest of their lives, but also change the fate of the world.

***

After cleaning up the camp and hastily hiding the marks of their passage, Skyle once more climbed on top of the other boy’s back, and they set off on a different course from the one they had followed thus far.

Instead of following the river, they moved perpendicularly from it, and finally exited the hunting cats’ territory, according to Skyle. How the smaller boy knew this, Leon did not know and did not ask, as he was still distracted by the startling insights he had received previously, not only on his own character but upon the values he’d upheld thus far in his life.

After all, although Leon had offered his hand in friendship to Skyle, to him it was still bound to be a starkly uneven relationship. After all, Leon was the heir of one most exalted Great Duchies, surrounded by legendary figures who still treated him with the utmost respect, and with his talent as an elemental summoner, he would be assured an exalted place in the annals of recorded history.

How could a simple farmboy, no matter how clever and skillful, truly compare to him? Thus, it had been a gracious offer from a future sovereign to a worthy commoner, who perhaps could even become one of his followers, should his talent truly measure up to such heights.

Leon was thus deeply conflicted as he noticed a few things with his perceptive mind.

For one, Skyle almost certainly had a critical problem with his elemental cultivation. What truly convinced Leon of this was not Skyle’s strange and stubborn refusal to use any elemental power. After all, he could be a very weak elemental warrior who only manipulated the power of the elements to supplement his archery, no more.

No, what led Leon to the tragic conclusion that Skyle was unable to channel the elements was his startling, and rather inspiring lack of reliance on elemental power. Let alone elemental mages, even warriors would learn many tricks to use their elemental gifts to the best of their advantage. In truth, as an individual’s time and energy was limited, cultivation of elemental power was a far wiser investment than menial skills.

However, Skyle had shown a vast repertoire of skills that had simply boggled Leon’s mind. In one short day, the small, unassuming boy had proven himself a skilled tracker, archer, hunter, fisher, and healer, among others.

What individual in his right mind would invest so much effort into cultivating so many skills at such a young age, and neglect the most important of all, the power of the elements? Furthermore, the depth and width of Skyle’s skills obviously proved two things: he had been meticulously trained by an incredible figure, and Skyle himself was incredibly talented.

Skyle’s archery was one such example. Leon had trained in the army long enough that he knew that only singularly dedicated men who devoted themselves to a rigorous training regimen could be called archers and be truly worthy of that name. It was one of the reasons why crossbows had become so popular, after all. A crossbow simply needed an eye to aim and a hand to pull the trigger, while a bow and arrow required years of arduous training and at least some measure of talent.

As for Skyle, Leon had witnessed the small boy stare unflinching into the face of a monstrous troll, and far from wetting his pants and crying for his mother, the small boy had driven an arrow straight into the monster’s eye. IT wasn't just about bravery or luck, either. Skyle's little show with the fish had displayed the ease with which Skyle could handle the bow and arrow. Such skills could only be earn through years of painstaking training and effort.

The sheer amount of time, energy and talent required to reach so high a level of proficiency at so tender an age simply boggled Leon’s mind.

Thus, at seeing Skyle’s strange unwillingness to wield the elements in any form that he could detect, Leon had concluded that his new friend must have some serious, if not absolutely crippling, issues with his elemental powers, and had thus far purposefully steered clear of the subject.

The second matter that had greatly shocked Leon was directly linked to the first. Elemental power aside, the level of Skyle’s skills, talent, intelligence and resourcefulness were simply incredible, bordering on the impossible. The small boy’s thoughts and actions showed a depth of thinking and a calmness of mind that complimented his amazing focus when confronted with a goal or obstacle.

Leon had long grown accustomed to being regarded as a peerless genius, not just by the general crowd, but by the foremost experts of the realm. However, next to this little friend of his, Leon constantly struggled with the feeling that he had met a fierce rival. More shocking still, at times he suspected that he was on losing side of this rivalry.

Leon Draxas Di Adrausier, losing to a mere commoner, a herder boy of his own age.

Preposterous, he would have scoffed. Yet, it was happening, and it both greatly excited Leon and left him deeply disturbed.

In truth, such a conflict of mind could be said to be the cause for the ridiculous scene against the fish earlier in the day. After all, Leon more than anybody knew perfectly well that his stubborn refusal to give up, as well as the final tantrum that had finally ended the botched attempt at catching fish had been about far more than just catching fish. He also knew that such boorish behavior was truly not like him at all.

However, what could not be denied was the fact that just one day with this quiet, humble boy from a little unknown farm in the middle of nowhere had caused Leon’s own core values to be shaken to their foundation.

In the end, after all the upheaval and inner struggles, as the dust slowly settled within Leon’s mind, one small but firm new conviction arose from the chaos posed by all the questions with no answers.

It had a name, this new belief.

Respect.

I truly respect this friend, regardless of his station, his background, or his age.

For Leon, it was the first lesson this new friend would teach him.

The first of many.