Stranger Spirits

What Being a Hero Entails [Chapter Six Part Two]

Atticus stepped away from the man and walked towards me. Two of the man's lackey's helped him get out of the vicinity.

"Thank you so much, sir! Reggie is such a vile man! Stealing from a little girl like that is so shameful!"

Atticus didn't move his eyes from the ground. "It was no problem." He dismissed the man not meeting the kind citizen's eye contact. "Have a good day," Atticus mumbled and began to walk off towards the wagon.It took me a couple of moments of hobbling but I was eventually able and keep up with him. People nodded and thanked us as they parted out of Atticus's way. He didn't say a word as we walked to the carriage.

Once we were by the horses I turned him, with quite a bit of effort might I add, around towards me by pulling on his shoulder. "Atticus," I huffed, "What was that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Atticus feigned not knowing what he had done. The way he was so blunt and rude to a man who was only trying to thank him was ridiculous.

"You were completely ignoring the man! He was just trying to thank you!" I gestured to the crowd we had left behind.

"That's not my mission. It wasn't necessary to receive thanks from them."

"No." I stood my ground.

Atticus defensively glared at me. "What did you just say?"

"I said no." I rested both my hands on the walking stick using it for both physical and mental support. "I don't accept that behavior from you. That is not how the chosen one should act."

"That's what my father always told me." He spoke with a slight uncertainty. "It's what I've been raised to believe. I'm to be chosen by the Gods and then fulfill my duties to them. He-he never told me how I should act. He just told me that I had to complete my role." He diverted his eye contact with me to the floor and idly pushed a pebble around with the tip of his shoe.

"That is true," I stepped forward and freed a hand so that it could cup his arm. He looked me in the eye and then quickly looked back down. "But there are no guidelines on how a hero must act. Atticus, you just need to be yourself."

"Sometimes I just get scared that my father will pop out of nowhere and just tell me that everything I'm doing is wrong." Upon realizing that his personal thoughts had been spoken aloud he covered his mouth.

I couldn't help but crack a smile. It was interesting to see this charming little side of the chosen one. My hand slid down his arm to rest in his hand. My heart began to pound very hard. I hope Atticus can't hear the thunderous noise that's occurring in my ribcage. I gripped his hand tightly and began to pull him away from the cart. "I'm taking you back."

"Excuse me?!" He dug his heels into the ground preventing me from advancing.

"You need to go back." I dug my walking stick into the ground and tugged him towards me. He stumbled a step towards me. "If the proper way to be a hero is being authentic then you need to go back and clear things up."

Atticus paused for a minute allowing himself a moment to evaluate the situation. Once he was done thinking about it he nodded. With that acknowledgment, I continued to lead him back to the large crowd of people.

It took us a couple of minutes but we finally reached back to where the people were. As soon as we got there a portly balding man came towards us. "Good afternoon! I heard from some of my citizens that you saved my Luna? Is that correct?"

Atticus looked like a deer hearing it's predator coming so I spoke up. "Her name was Luna, she told me herself," I reassured him and gave his hand a quick squeeze. Upon doing so I quickly blushed and withdrew my hand. I was holding Atticus's hand in front of a crowd full of people we don't know.

"Yes, I did sir." He bowed awkwardly.

"Thank you so much!" He took Atticus's hand shaking it really hard. "If anything would have happened to my daughter I would have been a disaster!"

"It was not a problem sir, I'm just glad that I was there to stop the theft when it happened." I grinned. Good job Atticus. I know it can be tough to speak to others but sometimes one just has to.

"Well, I must do something to thank you both!" He spread his arms wide leaning back a little.

I pointed towards my chest. "Me too?"

"Your name is Dawn, correct?" The man cocked his head sideways. "You stood by my daughter guarding her as this young man in blue took care of Reggie."

"My name is actually Vaughn sir and I wouldn't say that I was protecting her rather just standing by her."

"Regardless, I owe you two my thanks!" He snapped his fingers really loud. "I know exactly what to do! I will elect you both as our esteemed guests for the Festival of Five! As you may or may not know, here in Sancho we have a-"

"Yearly celebration of the blessing that the God Nicoli, God of the arts, bestowed upon these parts! During the daytime, the sky will show five suns and the evening will show five moons. It's one of the rarest sights in the world. You want ME-" I paused a moment to catch my breath. "I mean, us, to be guests for this holy event?!" I spoke breathlessly.

This is what I've always wanted to see. I've always wanted to follow my parent's' journey and see the spot where they fell in love. I glanced at Atticus and sighed looking down to the ground.

"We'd be honored to be guests for such a monumental occasion." I shot Atticus a shocked look. My eyes were widened and my mouth was slack. He gave me a soft smile. "Vaughn has told me quite a few times about how amazing the Festival of Five is."

My face reddened madly. "What about Alfred and the carriage? We're traveling with him."

"I wouldn't mind staying for the festival myself." Alfred came walking towards us having heard our conversation with the portly man. "But we'll need a place to stay for the night. It'd be dangerous to camp about with men like Reggie lurking nearby."

"I'll cover that!" A woman waltzed from the crowd into view. "I own a massage parlor but I wouldn't mind allowing these boys a place to stay in a room of ours and you sir." She trailed her jeweled finger down Alfred's chest. "I can let you have a hero's discount for one of our own rooms. The women here in Sancho are sensational at their work."

Alfred's face reddened and he tore his gaze away from the woman by coughing softly into his hand. "Well," He began. "As your care physician, I cannot allow you to travel without me." Alfred huffed. "I accept your offer, ma'am."

"Oh please," She put out her hand so Alfred could kiss it. "Call me Nora."

He took her hand and kissed it. "I appreciate your kindness, Nora."

"Then it's settled!" Luna's father waved his hands together. "I Murpheous, mayor of Sancho, hereby declare..." He leaned towards Atticus. "What's your name again? I can't just announce you as the blue clothed man."

"My name is Atticus, sir."

Murpheous cleared his throat. "I hereby declare Atticus and his party this year's honored guests for their valor! Protecting a youth in her time of need!" The crowd around cheered and I couldn't help it. My eyes began to water a little as I grinned widely. Atticus placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

Mother, father, Jacob, I hope you all can feel this moment through me. I pray that you all can know at this moment that I am truly happy and that I actually feel that things will work out fine.

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Hey y'all! It's been a hectic week on my end but here you go! One of my favorite scenes is coming up! -Ryan