Beyond Forgotten

Rocky Road

Toa had left Aeon to his own joyous silence, the Hibberlet going to fetch some necessities for the Ranger. Where his older brother would get food and water, aside from moss-covered rocks Toa enjoyed to snack on, fascinated Aeon. He pictured an underground farm, but Toa holding dainty tools only made him laugh. The first few hours were entertaining, using one of the skulls he found to recite some of Shakespeare's work, as well as some over-dramatic improvised lines. But as his fun with the skull fell away like the broken teeth stuck in the jaw of the deceased, he found his communicator on the floor again. "I really need to keep a better grip on that thing," Aeon joked to himself, picking it up as he moved to sit down on the ground.
"Hello," Aeon greeted, his words going into the communicator. He waited for a few minutes before hearing absolute silence, the Ranger smiling. "Playing the quiet game now?"
After a few minutes of prolonged thinking, Aeon got a response. "I thought we were playing the 'trying to get you out before being eaten by a monster' game." Aeon couldn't help a loud cackle from the Elve's response.
"That one's always fun," Aeon commented, a spring if worry starting to tighten as his shoulder began to turn a mocking gray. "How close are you all to getting down here," Aeon asked, his eyes attempting to glance elsewhere.
"A few hours," Thyumir told him, Aeon sighing. There was a question exchanged through silence, one Thyumir couldn't ask for fear of the answer.
"I'm fine," the Ranger comforted, Thyumir not responding. "Honestly," Aeon began, only pausing to take a deep breath. "The only thing that hurts down here is my nose; it stinks here." Thyumir gave a sigh followed by a singular chuckle.
"Making jokes in the face of danger," Thyumir commented. "What a strange thing to do."
"I've done stranger things," Aeon retorted with a wide smile. He shifted, some loose teeth on the ground poking into the back of his legs no matter how he sat. "Can you do me a favor?" Aeon asked, Thyumir not saying anything for a few moments.
"That depends on what this 'favor' is." The Elve replied, Aeon giving a small roll of his eyes.
"You never did tell me much about where you came from." Aeon tried to recall a tidbit of information before speaking again. "Brienbord, wasn't it?" Aeon asked, not sure if he got the town right.
"Brienbor," Thyumir corrected, Aeon making a mental note of it. "Why ask about Brienbor now, of all times?"
Aeon shrugged, knowing Thyumir couldn't see the gesture. "I have nothing better to do." The Ranger regretted his choice of words, figuring it sounded rude and insensitive. "I mean--"
"I know what you meant." The Elve cleared his throat, Aeon waiting as he did so.
"It's alright if you don't want to, it was only an idea." Aeon didn't hear anything, the Ranger not sure of what to say at this point. "I didn't mean to insult you if I did." He heard some muffled shifting and some whispered words before Thyumir spoke again.
"I had to go somewhere quiet," Thyumir stated, Aeon relieved that he didn't anger the Elve somehow. "They were beginning to argue again." Aeon let the 'again' part slide by, already assuming it was Drix and Kage arguing, or perhaps there was a stranger among them, Aeon didn't say anything about it even if this was the case. "Hm," Thyumir thought. "Where do I even start?"
"Well..." Aeon wondered, the first topic coming to mind as his stomach made a hollow gurgle. "What did Brienbor look like?" Aeon asked, his stomach once again growling.
Thyumir was silent for a few minutes, Aeon just grateful to not be alone with his thoughts at the moment. "I would tell you how the night sky looked, but you couldn't see it through the bundle of trees that hung above the city." Thyumir thought for a bit longer before sighing, coming up with what he felt was an adequate description of his home. "The trees were protection for the city, it being tiny but powerful just like some of the citizens there. I remember this one woman we all called 'Basket'." There was a hint of humor in Thyumir's voice as he spoke, Aeon finding it comforting. "We called her that because she carried everything she needed in a wooden basket; fruit, glue, safety scissors--"
"Scissors?" Aeon asked, finding the last to items to be odd to just carry around.
"She was the art teacher at the Elementary School, it explains why she always had an assortment of paints on her and in her bag." Aeon snorted at the idea of what this teacher could look like, but he listened when Thyumir began to speak again. "It was hard to hide anything in a city built entirely of glass, figuratively and literally."
"Wait, everything was made of glass?"
"Well," Thyumir began to think before correcting himself. "Wood that was enchanted to appear like glass. It was very flammable as people soon found out."
He realised he was beginning to get off topic, the Elve sighing. "The large silver leaves acted as our stars in the sky of gold branches. It was a sight to behold, no words can do it justice." Thyumri thought for a moment, his voice going softer than normal. "The children would play in the streets, but nobody worried since it was like a safe-haven. Or at least it used to."
Aeon didn't know how to reply to his last comment, the Ranger just letting their conversation fade into their shared silence. He decided to break this quiet air with a statement he believed was a fact. "Sounds beautiful," Aeon paused. "Maybe I'll get to see it one day." Neither of them spoke, Aeon not seeing Toa in the distance, alone, but feeling like this is the closest to an actual conversation he's had in awhile. "Thank you. I won't ask anymore about it, I promise."
"Aeon," Thyumir began.
    Aeon heard his own stomach roar in a desperate attempt for anything to eat, but Aeon didn't have anything to give. Aeon stood up when he finally saw the shadowed figure of Toa on the ledge, the Ranger wanting to greet his brother. "Do me a favor," Aeon said while looking at Toa, his brother having a few pieces of fruit held like baby birds between his giant claws. "Don't hurt the Hibberlet."
    "But--" Thyumir tried to argue, Aeon sighing.
    "Please." Aeon heard Thyumir go quiet, there being a vulnerability in Aeon's voice. "He needs me."
    "He?" Thyumir asked, there being a noise from Aeon's end of the communicator that sounded guttural. "Aeon?" The Ranger didn't reply, the hard thud of the communicator hitting the ground again echoing in the Elve's ear as there was another noise in pain. Before Thyumir could say anything else, the sound of the gargantuan beast roaring was the last thing before the fate of his friend faded off into static.
    Aeon grasped his shoulder, the first feeling he had in the rock-coated arm being a searing pain. He looked at his hand as Toa jumped down from the ledge, Aeon falling to his knees, cradling his arm. Toa roared in concern for his brother, Aeon putting his hand out in front of him to tell Toa to stop before looking at his injured arm. Blood trickled from openings in his skin, it filling every time crevasse between the rock, dripping onto his pants and the ground, The pain turned gruesome, Aeon assuming being hit by an oncoming rhino would be better. He gritted his teeth until an agonizing scream tore itself from his parched throat, Toa getting closer despite Aeon's prior directions.
    "Not much longer," Toa panicked, seeing his brother turn a sickly gray. The Hibberlet went near one of the giant claw marks on the wall, reaching two claws inside. Aeon tried to watch his brother through his eye that was barely open, Aeon catching the glint of something between his claws.
    Toa returned, the rusted flask between his claws. Placing it in front of Aeon, Toa made a series of worried noises, urging his brother to drink from it. Aeon, without thinking too much of it, took the flask with his moveable hand, his entire body beginning to tremor. He undid the lid, it falling to the ground before he took greedy swigs of the water. It tasted like dust and mildew, Aeon almost choking on it as his body tried to wrench it back up. Once getting a few sips of the water down, Aeon almost dropped the flask as he searched for the lid. "Drink," Toa requested, wanting him to drink all of it. Aeon shook his head, the Ranger moving to lie on the floor once he found the lid.
    "I have to," Aeon gulped down as much air as his lungs could hold, a cough being dragged from his chest. "I gotta save some for you." Toa made a grumlbe in protest. "I won't leave you like this, and this water might be able to turn you back." He explained between gulps of air as his chest heaved up and down.
    "Then rest," Toa told him, seeing that arguing was going to get Aeon nowhere but dead. Aeon didn't argue with him, only closing his eyes but he didn't get any rest; his pain pushing any glimpse of sleeping away. Toa didn't leave his brother, the Hibberlet trying to get his shaking under control. Toa watched the rocks begin to slide over onto his chest, dreading any harm that might reach Aeon just because he wanted to see his little brother again."
    The hibberlet saw the tiny communicator on the ground, his claws being far too big to try and pick it up. When the entire cave fell under the silence of Death's attempts, the muffled shouting of Aeon's name from the Elve came through from the tiny device. He placed the edge of one of his claws on the tiny button, the Elve going silent. "Come get," Toa paused, his voice breaking down the more he tried. "Get brother." Toa watched the device crumble under the weight of his claw, to being reduced to nothing but a miniscule pile of scrap.
    Thyumir was struck silent, the utter horror wrecking his mind at what could be the source of that voice. "Brother?" Thyumir said aloud, yelling and demanding answers from the other side of the conversation. He only got static, it making what little heart he did have sink. He slammed the door behind him, Thyumir coming out of the bathroom with everyone looking at him. "We need to go, now." Thyumir told them in a grave voice, everyone glancing at each other as the Elve made his way to the door. He opened the door, looking back at the group, his eyes like daggers through his mask.
    "What was that about?" kage asked, Thyumir looking at Xon before beginning to walk out the door. "The damned beast is going to kill Aeon," Thyumir snapped at them. "Now, let's go."