"Cheh!"
Boxes, kicked and stomped. Pushed and crushed. Debbel's patience was running out. He could have sworn that he had seen something. A pair of hands that disappeared after it offered him a glass of drink? Impossible.
There had to be someone here. There had to be. Whether or not that someone was just messing with him he needed to know.
"Where the hell are you?" As he opened another box, all of a sudden, he felt something behind him. Something touching him—
"Deb, kickin' on boxes ain't gonna do ya anything." —It was Markus, patting his back, "We can all hear you stompin' around for your boozie. Come on, it's almost time to get back."
"Shut up, Markus." Debbel hissed at him, "I need a drink right now—"
"If it's that bad, I'll buy you a boozie 'fore it gets dark." He seemed to be already used to Debbel, "—But just this once."
"..." Debbel clenched his teeth as he hesitated.
"Look, Deb. You're tired, I understand. But you have to realize that your not the only one." Markus sternly told him, "Just go home, Deb."
He stared around the darkness, as though he was considering whether or not he should listen to Markus. Was all of it really just his imagination? Was he really that tired today?
"Alright, fine." Debbel turned to Markus, and nodded, "But you better buy me that ale!"
Markus had only laughed, as he shouldered his friend back to the other side of the room. After humbly exchanging some apologies to Felix, the two left the room. Bringing along the fainted Fred, as he drooled all over the floor.
Meanwhile, Felix and Brave sighed in relief as they left. Yet Luna's distresses were getting more and more annoying.
"Where's Sunflower?! Where's my Sunflower?!" She cried, pushing Brave back and forth.
"Sunflower's probably hiding somewhere. You don't have to worry." Holding her hands as she pushed him back and forth, he assured her.
"..." Felix leaned his back on the wall as he rested himself. It was a miracle that his crotch was only slightly burned, yet bruised nonetheless. However, he didn't care any of that right now, as he stared at the couple as they played with each other.
His eyes seemed to droop as he shook his head, mumbling something.
"Forget it, Felix—" Felix paused. Just then, something like a head popped out right from the corner of his eye, "Oh, it's just the bee."
"Sunflower! Where've you been, I missed you!"
Luna stopped huddling with Brave and ran towards the bee. Stepping on Felix's foot, he cried in pain but was left unheard as she hugged the creatures on her arms.
"Buzz! Buzzzuzuzz!" The bee buzzed as it joyously hugged her back.
There was something about the scene that would charm even the coldest of people. Even though she was a bit selfish to anyone except for herself and Brave, Felix thought that she had something that other women didn't. Whether it was a disability or a heart of gold, only a few would know.
"You know Luna," Felix hid his blush as he looked at her, "You're probably the only one who can hug it, and say it's cute."
"Buzzuzzzz!" The bee seemed to growl under the jungle of Luna's hair.
"Yeah, Sunflower—" Even horrible, she was acting like she knew what it meant, "—You tell him!"
"Grrrrr~" She growled at him like a puppy.
All the while the two were barking, Brave took his necklace out to reveal a small pocket watch. The hour hand on 10, while the minute hand showed 30, it was already 10:30. That meant it was almost time to go, "Hmm..."
"Felix! Luna! It's time to go!"
"What?" Luna gasped, "We're leaving him?"
"We can't just bring him along, stupid." Felix cracked another of his dumb sarcasm.
"Shut up, Felix! Grrrrr off!~" Luna turned to Brave, "We can't leave him here. He's just a boy!"
"Don't worry, I'll bring Sunflower some food and water from the canteen. If the other guards found Sunflower, do you know what would happen to him?" Brave asked Luna.
"...He'll go back to his family?"
"Hmm..." Brave didn't expect her to answer this way, "Yeah, something like that."
"Well, he must have a reason for running away from his family, right?" Luna hugged the bee tighter, "Don't you, Sunflower?"
"Well, if you ever run into trouble, you can just count on your Big Sister Luna!"
"Alright," Brave turned to Felix, "Accompany me to the canteen, will you?"
Following Debbel and the others, Brave and Felix left Luna alone to Sunflower. Normally, this wouldn't mean anything, but to 'Sunflower', this could only mean one thing...
"Some alone time with Luna?!"
I wondered about the things that could happen. Even though I don't have any romantic feelings for her (Man, I'm just here for the hugs), just imagining what she would do— Not like she was going to do anything— had me a bit worried.
"Wowowow, man. I'm not prepared for this!"
"..."
"..."
It was silent. I didn't say anything, and neither did she. Although the air was getting increasingly awkward for me, it didn't seem like she felt the same way as she kept on hugging me. It was like she enjoyed me being under her arms.
Which was a funny thing since I thought the feeling wasn't mutual.
—Suddenly remembering that drunk's disheveled face, I realized that there was still one more thing left to do for me.
"Sorry, Luna." I tried to say as I slipped through her armpit— Which surprisingly didn't smell.
"Buzzuz Zuz!"
"Eeeh? Where are you going?"
My footsteps were quick as I moved towards the dark end of the room, past the broken boxes, and unto the older, dustier parts of the room. There, I saw a familiar handle of a kitchen knife, stuck into a box.
Before, I was too worried. But now, I can safely look at the knife without feeling too worried.
'Why was it there? What was it doing in here? Who jammed the knife in there? How was it so sharp? How old was the knife?' Questions arose one by one, as I blew the dust away from the handle.
"Argh! So dusty!" Contrary to my expectations, the dust was thick, and it made me uncomfortable as I fanned the dust away from my face. Who knew how long the dust has been collecting there?
"Now..." I gulped in anticipation. Although I was only trying to clutch the knife out, something told me it wasn't as simple as it seemed, as I pulled it out—
Hing!~
As soon as I pulled it out, one of the stone bricks on the wall pushed open...
It was empty. Whatever was inside had long been taken away. I sighed. I'm not sure, I was really expecting something to be there. A mysterious legendary sword or what not...
"Wait, what am I talking about?" Rubbing my chin, I decided not to worry about it. I kept the knife somewhere safe before I came walking back to Luna. You might never know when you might need it.
"Eww! You're so dusty!" She said as she spat the dust on her lips. Uh oh, I guess I should have cleaned myself.