King Him, Not Me

“So,” the shorter looks to the tall blonde without turning his head, “do you have a plan as to how we’ll find the pup?”

Barin stops walking, Winston taking a few more steps before he does the same.

“Fuck!” the taller grunts, “I didn’t ask for the dog’s name or what she looks like! Damn it!”

Winston sighs through his nose as he watches the taller run one of his hands through his bang, his own hands on his hips. His honey-yellow eyes dart around the heavily treed area for a few seconds before he settled on a trunk, walking towards it. Barin watches, a bit shocked, as the shorter starts to climb the tree with ease.

“What are you planning,” he asks with a frustrated groan, walking towards the tree. He looks up as Winston pops his head out the leaves upside down, “Your family has herding dogs, right?”

“Yeah.” the taller knits his eyebrows together, “What are you getting at?”

Winston, “Do you still know the whistle?”

Barin caught on to what Winston was getting at, slowly smirking.

“Winnie, you genius,” he proclaims before he sticks his index finger and thumb in his mouth, pressing his lips against them. He then lets out a long whistle that’s followed by two short ones, Winston at the top of the tree. He closes his eyes and opens his ears as silence replaces the whistles, the sounds of a dog soon rising.

“Left,” he whispers before climbing down, “The dog’s ahead of us and to the left.”

“How could you hear her from here?”

“Me and my aunt don’t have herding dogs like your family so we had to find the lost animals ourselves by listening for them,” Winston explains proudly as the two start to run. The shorter’s expression changes, “From the sounds of the bark, she might be injured.”

“Which means something or someone’s waiting for us. Good. I’ve been itching for a fight!”

The shorter watches the taller as he pulls out the handle of a sword, flinching in shock when the blade emerges. It’s a crimson fading black near the tip metal.

“H-hey,” Winston shouts as Barin picks up the pace.

~

Barin slides to a stop then moves his other hand to grip the handle of his weapon as Winston catches up, the shorter noticing the large blonde dog laying against a tree. Her back right leg is barely connected to her body, blood staining the ground and a bit of bone visible. Blood-stain veins and thin lines of meat are the only things keeping the leg connected to the dog.

Her tail starts to wag as she sees Winston approach her, “Hey, pup.”

Barin slowly blinks as he moves his plain blue eyes, carefully scanning the area.

“What’s the dog’s condition,” he asks without looking behind him, Winston digging through his side bag.

“She might lose her leg, but she’ll live. I can heal her… I think.”

It’s then the ground vibrates, the two ceasing their movements. Winston slowly turns his head then his eyes widen, Barin gradually smirking. Barin, “A mime.”

Winston, “Just perfect. Can you fight it on your own?”

Barin, “Yeah. You focus on finding a way to healing the dog.”

The shorter nods then turns his attention back to the injured puppy, Barin watching as the large creature morphs to match his shadow. Mimes are shadowy creatures that take the shape of people or animals, some can even turn into objects and plants. Mimes don’t have an original form, but legends have said that the shadowy beasts can tower over trees and crush villages under their feet. Mimes also hate dogs because they can’t copy their shape. No one knows why.

Barin licks his upper lip before he and the mime run towards each other, the shadow’s sword clashing with the blonde’s.

Winston grips the dog’s injured leg, “I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt for a bit.”

He pushes the leg towards the pup’s body then presses his other hand against it, she whimpering as Winston pushes his lips together. A soft green light shines from beneath his fingers and palm, a soft breeze flowing upward from the light.

~

“Is he a healer,” the Fairy man asks, astonished.

“It’s not uncommon,” the Elven woman explains, “anyone can learn healing if they ask a bishop or an archpriest.”

The Fairy man huffs, “That may be true, Madris, but he looks like he’s struggling a bit. Healing doesn’t drain the healer’s energy, does it?”

Madris, “No, but I wouldn’t know. You Fairies are more commonly known for healing animals and plants more than humans, Jeffery.”

“Yes.” the Fairy crosses his arms, “I wonder who taught him.”

Madris, “What’s his name? I’ve heard the taller young man call him ‘Winnie’, but I believe it’s a nickname.”

“This competition is filled with interesting people,” Morgan comments, moving his hand above the round pool of water. The room they’re in is round and made of a smooth stone that looks like it’s slick with water, carving in the oak door behind Madris.

The water is in a large, white marble bird bath in the middle of the room.

“There’s a lot of interesting contestants,” he comments as his hand slides above the glowing clear liquid. He spreads his fingers apart as his palm gently touches the water as the scenes change to the different contestants, “From the weapons they bear to the pace of their movements; everyone shows off their powers well. Canvas,” Morgan turns to the Centaur male next to him, “what do you think?”

“I think this ‘Winnie’ and the other one won’t make it to the arena. Even though they look fine, I can sense a tiny bit of tension between them.”

Jeffery huffs, “You say that about everyone.”

“I’m serious,” Canvas states, “Somewhere down the road, these two are going to get in an argument.”

~

Wind rushes around the area as the two swords clash, a vein near Barin’s temple popping from his anger. He and the mime jump back then run towards each other again, the clashing of their weapons echoing in the air.

Winston lets out a breath of air as he lifts his shaking hand, the puppy’s leg is connected back with her body. The shorter then turns to see the battle, Barin struggling to get a hit.

“Damn,” Winston curses before reaching in his side bag. He pulls out a scroll then throws it open, shoving his hand into the glowing circle that appears. He rips his hand, and the bow made of light that he’s holding, out then aims at the mime.

~

“I made that scroll,” Jeffery states, disbelief written all over him. He blinks twice, “I made the scroll and hid it away. How the hell did this kid find it?!”

“A merchant could’ve found it and sold it to him.” Canvas sighs.

~

Winston’s free hand slowly moves back like he’s pulling the string of the bow, an arrow made of light slowly forming. He waits for Barin to jump back before he lets the arrow go, it piercing through the mime. As the creature disappears, the taller slowly turns to the shorter. Winston’s hands are wobbly and he looks drained.

“I have a lot of questions to ask you, but I’ll save them for later,” Barin states before hurrying to Winston’s side. The light bow disappears as he helps the shorter stand, “You alright, Winnie?”

“Yeah. This is my first time healing an animal-. You’re hurt on your leg.”

“It’s a flesh wound,” the taller states, the shorter rolling his eyes. Winston, “I’ll heal you when we get back to the village. I don’t lose energy healing humans.”

“Can you walk on your own?”

Winston nods before squatting down to reroll the scroll, “I can manage. Come on, pup.”

The blonde dog gets on her feet then trots between the two, Barin shocked that the dog’s walking without any problems.