Chapter 10: Who Are You?

Teus stood still, hunched over wheezing for air. He was still catching his breath from earlier. As he tried to scrape together whatever little dignity he had left after this rabbit chase.

Suddenly he heard something strange—he heard music. Soft, gentle notes floating through the air, almost as though someone was playing the lyre.

His initial instinct was to dismiss it, he had just spent the last few minutes being drastically humiliated by a rabbit, and now his ears were playing tricks upon him? But the melody was all too clear, too clear to ignore. Pushing aside his exhaustion, he brushed the leaves of nearby bush away to peer through.

What he saw almost made him freeze in his tracks.

Sitting on a rock, with his back turned toward Teus, was a young boy with short brown hair and a pair of thick, round, glasses. He was plucking the strings of a lyre, completely lost in the peaceful; music he was making. But what really stood out to Teus, what really caught his attention was the rabbit.

The same rabbit he had been pursuing for what felt like hours at this point, was now curled up in the boy’s lap, perfectly at peace.

“For real?”

He muttered, completely bewildered. Then the real shock hit Teus a second later. Just behind the boy, leaning against a tree, was something unmistakable—the blade of Teus. The brown handle, the black marking running down the sword, and every familiar scratch and imperfection—he’d recognize this anywhere.

Teus’ heart leaped in his chest. After everything, after all of that running, falling and getting stuck in logs, here it was. His sword was right there.

But the question was… who was this guy? And how did he get his sword?

Trying not to startle anyone, he cleared his throat, stepping forward cautiously.

“Hey…uh, that there is my sword you’ve got.”

The boy did not flinch, he simply kept playing. The rabbit nuzzling deeper into his lap as if it hadn’t just led Teus on the most humiliated chase of his life. Teus furrowed his brow, but he wasn’t about to watch this slip away.

“Did you hear me?”

He asked, stepping closer to him.

“That’s my sword you got there, I really need it back.”

There was still no response. The boy in glasses continued to play his melody with peaceful content, as if Teus wasn’t even there. The rabbit twitched its ear in jubilation, but otherwise nothing had changed.

Teus, now visibly annoyed but still trying to remain calm, huffed in frustration.

“Alright then, I guess we’re doing this the hard way.”

He moved forward, determined to grab his sword and figure out what exactly was going on with this strange kid and his mysterious, musically inclined rabbit friend.

As he cautiously stepped forward, there was a distinct creak of a bowstring tightening that made his blood run cold. He froze in place as a woman’s voice ran out from behind him.

“Take another step and it’s over for you.” She said, her tone commanding and sharp.

“I don’t miss, be careful.”

Teus immediately raised his hands in surrender, trying to keep his voice steady. “Wait, hold on! This is just a misunderstanding— I just want to get my sword back.”

The woman, still behind him, did not relax the tension in her bow. 

“And why would we hand over a dangerous weapon like that to someone like you. You don’t think those are strange words for someone you just met?”

Teus sighed, trying to find the right words. “I’m not hostile, you canmore than count on that.” He paused, noticing the rabbit, the smug rabbit. Still sitting peacefully in the boy’s lap—glaring at him, no less.

“Okay, I’m not hostile to most of you,” he reluctantly added, “I was trying to hunt down your rabbit earlier.”

At that moment, The boy stopped playing his lyre, completely horrified, with shock etched onto  his face as he sprang to his feet. 

“You tried hunting Bon-Bon?!” he practically shouted.

The woman, who Teus at this point, still could not see muttered angrily. 

“You monster…”

Before shoving the arrow even closer to Teus’ head.

Meanwhile, Bon-Bon, ever the instigator, stuck his tongue out at Teus, almost as if to say; Serves you right.

Teus swallowed nervously before he began profusely apologizing. 

“I didn’t know he was your pet, alright? I thought he was just…food.”

The boy in glasses slowly calmed down, though his hands were still clenched into fists.

“Well… I suppose it’s understandable,” the boy muttered. “It’s only natural to be hungry out here.” He glanced at his teammate, who was clearly still mad at Teus and added,  “Sorry about that. Sometimes we can get a little…overprotective.”

Teus exhaled, relieved that at least someone was starting to listen to reason.

“No hard feelings. But seriously, I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. Things just got chaotic.”

The boy nodded, though the woman kept her bow drawn.

“People can’t be trusted so easily, not here. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Neither do I,” Teus added.

“Glad we’re on the same page, since we can’t be too safe around here.” he explained.

“Speaking of, where am I?”

“Don’t play dumb, you hunter.” 

The woman said whilst glaring at Teus.

“Let’s start with introductions first, hopefully we can get somewhere through that.”

He relaxed a bit more, and after a pause, he introduced them properly. 

“I’m Edward, by the way, and this is Verva.”

He gestured over his shoulder at the still-glaring archer.

“We’re a team. And Bon-Bon, well…”

He shrugged, smiling slightly.

“It seems you two are already acquainted.”

Bon-Bon wiggled its nose, clearly basking in the attention.

“And you?”

Edward asked, his tone becoming more curious.

“What’s your name and why’d you choose to come here?”

Teus lowered his arms and took a breath. “Well, I’m Teus. I was a giga hunter on a mission but things… got out of hand. I ended up stranded here. Believe me, I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Does it have anything to do with the fact that your sword is broken and your gear looks ancient.” Vera said carrying a note of contempt.

Edward tilted his head, considering Teus’ words. He bent down, gently nudging Bon-Bon.

“Go on, Bon-Bon. Let’s see if he’s telling the truth.”

The rabbit hopped off of Edward’s lap and trotted over Teus, sniffing him up and down. Teus stiffened, unsure about how to react, but the rabbit seemed content. After a moment, Bon-Bon returned to Edward’s shoulder and whispered in his ear noises unintelligible to everyone.

Edward nodded sagely. 

“Bon-Bon says that you’re telling the truth,” he said, sounding almost amused. 

“What the– Does he speak rabbit?”

Unsure of how a rabbit had just passed judgment on his honesty, Teus raises an eyebrow out of confusion. Though now was not the time to question his luck.

“So…we’re good?” he asked cautiously.

Edward smiled as Verva lowered her bow and arrow from Teus head.

“We’re more than good,” Edward confirmed.

Now that Everyone was finally relaxed, except for Verva, who continued to leer in Teus’ direction.

Edward adjusted his glasses with a faint smile, trying to ease the tension.

“Teus, right? I gotta say, you must be quite capable,” he said, nodding towards him. “Surviving without your sword for so long isn’t something just anyone can pull off.”

He was caught off guard.

“I mean, I guess but I don’t think it was that long, I’m actually kind of lucky that I found it so early.”

Edward’s head tilted out of confusion.

“You consider this early?”

“Wait, wait, wait. I’ve only been awake for a short while. Everything’s been upside down since then.” He rubbed his temples, still reeling from the madness of the past few hours.

“Only up for a short while?...” Verva muttered confused.

“Are you serious…” Edward sounded surprised. “You mean that you just woke up now, like a couple hours ago?”

“Not even that long,” Teus replied, still a little disoriented. He looked around, hoping someone would explain the situation to him.

“How long was I out for anyway?”

Edward exchanged glances with Verva who remained silent but watched Teus closely. The tension lingered as Edward frowned.

“Well, I don’t know exactly how long you were out for, really, but assuming you arrived at the same time as your sword did…”

Edward thought for a moment, his finger tapping his chin.

“...About five days.”

Teus froze, his mind was racing. 

“Five whole days!?”

The words screamed in his head but he tried to keep his expression as composed as he could. He barely managed. Teus’ body felt stiff, but it wasn’t from exhaustion—it was the weight of everything he might have missed. 

“Is something wrong?”

Edward asked cautiously. 

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice strained, forcing a weak grin as if to convince himself as much as anyone else.

“I just need to head back to Kriegue is all. Can you guys give me any directions by any chance?”

“Give directions?” Edward repeated raising an eyebrow, earnestly confused.

“He really doesn’t know where he is,” Verva muttered under her breath.

Teus scratched the back of his neck before chuckling nervously.

“Is it far? It’s okay if it is, I just need to get going as soon as I can.”

His voice carried a note of urgency, his eyes darting across the horizon.

“There’s something I need to take care of back there.”

Inside of his head, however. It Was a complete storm of thoughts.

“What are they going to do about the debt!?” The weight of it pressed heavy against his chest.

“The empire already tried to kill me, who knows what's happening with the rest of my family right now, especially if the debt isn’t cleared. They might try to kill them too, or worse.”

He clenched his fists tightly as he kept his fleeting composure.

“What the hell am I still doing here!?”