Over the Void

Chapter 6: Watcher on the Wind

Neither teen had an answer for what was next. They had already done what they could, but this new place was insufficient in terms of resources. Royal was already going over random trivia, rationing out the gourds Esther had collected. Meanwhile, Esther was going over her spells. There was one she really wanted to learn, but it was so difficult. Lighting Ring, a move than combined defense and offense. She had been trying to get it for weeks, but to no avail. Lightning didn't seem to come to her in general, even. But she hadn't given up.

Royal broke the nervous silence after a few minutes. "I uh, got the food divided. It'll last us about 6 days, but we'll be hungry all the time."

Esther hummed in resignation. It wasn't the first time she's gone hungry. "I'll manage." She said. "Do we eat now?"

Royal nodded. "Yeah. I cooked the first portion. It's not burnt, I already had my part. Here..." He bought over the meager seared gourds, looking more like an appetizer than a meal.

Esther relished it, eating slow. And yet, it still didn't last long.

"Well, what do we do now?" She asked, looking around. "I doubt those mushrooms are edible..."

"Especially the moving ones. At least they're target practice, if we want to train..." Royal tried to make light of the situation. It didn't really work. Esther had worry lines all over her face. "Hey, c'mon. We'll get through this. Together. That's what friends do." He patted her back. Esther tried to smile. Tried. She managed a half smirk.

"Ok. Ok, you're right. It'll be ok. We just gotta be positive and stick together..." She trailed off. Royal and Esther both knew they were lying to themselves. But silently on the wind, a piece of parchment made from papyrus leaves sailed into view. One of the mushroom creatures tried to eat it, and was broadsided by Royal's blade as Esther grabbed the sheet.

On it, in messy, spidery writing was a simple sentence.

"The brown caps will be your salvation, the pink caps will be your demise."

"That's not ominous at all..." Royal said sarcastically. But Esther was thinking harder.

"Mushroom caps. That's what the tops are called? Right?" She asked, a hint of hope crawling back into her voice.

"Yeah, but what does that..." Royal realized. "This note says the brown mushrooms are safe to eat... I think."

"I don't trust it..." Esther said for a moment. "But I don't think the mushrooms can write. It's worth a shot."

Royal bent down and picked several brown mushrooms. Handing half to Esther, he smiled uneasily. "On three?"

Esther nodded. "One, two... Three!" They swallowed the raw mushrooms. Already not the most tasty, these mushrooms tastes repulsive raw and mixed with dirt. But Esther and Royal both felt like they weren't dying, even if both retched in their mouths.

"If we don't die in like, an hour, we should be ok. Yeah?" Royal decided.

"Those taste bad... But that's ok." Esther nodded in agreement.

Unseen eyes watched them from the tree line. Bottles clicked silently as their watcher moved around, always keeping an eye on them both.

Esther decided to go into the cave to wait, and Royal stood outside to go through his motions and stay in practice with his sword. He accepted that he was bad, but he didn't want to get worse. Not in a situation such as this one. Sitting in a dead forest, fighting strange mushroom men, and trusting random paper tossed on the wind. He shook his head and focused, moving with enough grace that a passing blind person would not think he was faking a shark attack. At least the mushrooms stayed away.