Leaving for Manjo

Ah'Hen came back shortly after, with a small package wrapped with several short cloth pieces. A thin leather strap tied the ends together as the round base protruded out awkwardly in different directions, almost as if poked by something inside.

Raising an eyebrow, Ruzen took the package and kept it on the table, slightly glancing at the child ghost, wondering if he should clear his doubts first or apply medicine to ease his pain.

He went for the more reasonable option, "Tell me what you gathered, did you even understand anything?"

"I did! I will lead, I will lead!" the chirping Ah'Hen seemed excited to claim. The cold air around him suddenly flaring out almost freezing Ruzen.

He shivered, inching a bit away, sniffing the strong scent of herb that wafted to his nose when he untied the package and took a look inside, immediately noticing the flat soft sponge like material and a stack of wooden sticks, with several other small dosages of powdered and crushed leaves contained within smaller tubes. Apparently five roles of bandages were provided, which was a lot, considering how big each roll was. The bulk of it shocked Ruzen, who hadn't expected to be handed so much, was this for the entire Ghost Hub?

Or maybe he was just being given what was stored for others and he just needed to take what he needed and return the rest… well, he started to wonder if ghosts even needed these things.

"Is this entire package for me or do I only need to take what I want," Ruzen was conflicted on another incoming issue, he really did not know which herb was used for what purpose. Al'Bae had never gotten a chance to heal and so his knowledge base was limited to cleaning and wrapping his body in bandages. Maybe it was the cursed body, but it healed faster than average humans. Still, that did not mean it didn't hurt.

"Take everything, my property!" Ah'Hen exclaimed proudly and showed off his white pearly teeth, his eyes crinkling as he smiled big.

"Oh, thank you," Ruzen wanted to ask if ghosts even got injured, but kept his mouth shut, unless he made this child ghost cry again, for now he was trying to make civil conversations with what he considered a 5-year-old boy.

~~

It was almost mid night when Ruzen snuck out of the Trade Hub with Ah'Hen in toe, the streets were empty and the lamps were out, it was perfect for escape.

Only, his thin rags couldn't hide him from the cold that came naturally in such sandy arid regions, where the sun's heat couldn't last the night.

"Do you need to take anything with you?" Ruzen carefully asked the ghost child who was burning a small ghost fire in his palm, it was blue and eerie, a cold frosty aura surrounded it. It could be said it was similar to a will'o'wisp.

Ah'Hen shook his head, looking ahead and leading the path towards the less cluttered part of the settlement. In the dead of the night Ruzen couldn't see much since only a small ghost fire supported their vision, but the solid mud walls, the awnings and the somewhat sandy road, it was indication enough that they were still far from the outskirts.

Ruzen had tried asking Ah'Hen where exactly this Manjo place was, and if they were going there, but the ghost was too much of an air head to give him a good response.

It wasn't as if he was afraid of contacting the Hub Owner directly, but even after shouting out his concern to empty air, he had not received any response, and no door would open for him even after sincere attempts. So either they didn't want to help him, or they didn't want to meet him.

Tired of frying his brains over it, Ruzen finally gave up and settled with the child ghost leading him wherever they were going, as it was he had less knowledge of the geography but even with Al'Bae's knowledge, this desert area was uncharted and brought in uncertainty.

The wounds on his body still hurt, but after a short rest they had almost healed. He even learned from Ah'Hen which herb would help him and which wouldn't.

Something strange about the ghost bugged him though, from what he learned and noticed, this child ghost was at times very serious and cold, like an old man full of intelligence, but also, there were times when he suddenly repeated words and acted all childish and immature. Ruzen had expected it to be some sort of a cheap attempt from Ah'Hen to hide his true personality, but he could be very wrong. Since even his emotions were unstable.

He at times would be happy, or suddenly started to cry, or would get annoyingly clingy. The constant change confused Ruzen.

~~

"Was it a good choice to force that cursed one to pick Ah'Hen?" A soft voice asked as the Hub owner sat at the edge of the only window in the building, the cold air denser and almost suffocating, "You would never have exposed that child to a stranger for no reason."

Zi Blood Hound turned to look at his sister, Zu Rosa, a pretty ghost woman in red silk, her lips supple and soft, with a tint of blue. She was just like him, appearance wise.

From her aura he could sense she wasn't happy with his arrangements, but he was also not to be blamed.

"Ah'Hen wanted to go with him, I only gave the situation a push. Do not question my every move."

"Why?"

Zi Blood Hound did not need to answer back, his authority stood above hers, however he was someone who respected his sister, even after death she was still his precious treasure. "Ah'Hen is a special case, he couldn't have stayed here forever."

"He cried on contact, a ghost never cries Brother, you know it is ominous." Zu Rosa kept her eyes on him as she reminded him the basic rule, "A Ghost Shall Weep and A curse Shall Befall The Contractor. You certainly don't hate that Boy, then why did you not stop Ah'Hen from leaving? Cursed children are considered dangerous for a reason."

Zi blood Hound nodded, his pupil-less eyes staring into empty space as his frown deepened, he was thinking something, but his sister was unaware of what that could be.

"What is it?" Zu Rosa couldn't help but ask impatiently when her brother kept thinking for a while, she could see he was worried about something and not telling her what it was.

A while passed and time stood still, the cold in the air intensifying as the night deepened further.

"Ah'Hen was getting unstable every day, he needed a contract to settle his soul. I sent them towards Manjo, where they are headed is safe for cursed ones, since it is a domain neither for Gods nor for Ghosts."

"You make it sound like it would be a simple journey."

Zi Blood Hound smiled coldly, "How they reach there is their own problem, I only dealt with what I could. The rest is in their hands. Are you questioning my motive dear sister?"

Zu Rosa did not respond immediately, she was trying to find a way to stay respectful, but in the end her retort was snarky, "The moment you contracted that useless human, you have been too arrogant, you have harmed our business and our clan, you do not deserve respect!"

A tense silence followed, neither of the siblings happy with each other, until a soft presence interrupted their argument.

It was a young man with short blond hair, wearing a piece of shirt and pants that covered him from head to toe, his eyes a gentle brown.

"And here he is again, hmph!" Zu Rosa flew into rage as her ghost aura turned sharply to strike the male, only to be trampled under her brother's presence. It was a warning, that she knew she couldn't cross, so in an attempt to calm down she left the room with a flicker.

After that, only Zi Blood Hound and the young man remained, both observing each other calmly. "Does she know?" he asked, all the gentleness gone from his eyes.

It was a simple question that weighted more than the sky for Zi Blood Hound, he could only shake his head negatively.

~~

Ruzen stuffed the remaining flat bread into his mouth, even at night he couldn't help but feel the hunger. Although the stale bits made him choke, he thankfully had bought some water in a small flask he had carefully stolen- ah, no not stolen, borrowed.

By now they had already left the market place and the settlement, reaching a stop-point, some sort of ruins that acted as the landmark.

With what little he could see – since there was no moon in the sky – the ruins were a cluster of broken walls and arches. Remnants of the old and heritage for the new.

"Ah'Hen, check the area, see if you find anything or anyone," Ruzen asked with a soft voice, not really liking the concept of sending out a child in the dark, but the said child was a ghost, which somewhat settled his guilt.

Unlike himself, Ah'Hen wasn't tired at all, as he bounced around touching things and giggling at them, his wild curious gaze falling everywhere at once.

"Ah'Hen," Ruzen called again, a bit louder to catch the other's attention, and thankfully Ah'Hen listened this time.

"Check and make sure we are the only ones here and that it is safe, you understand me?"

The child's face was illuminated by his ghost flames, so Ruzen could see the slow realization that settled in his gaze, those pupil-less eyes flared with determination as he puffed his small chest and patted it with his fist, "I will protect! I will protect!"

Sighing with relief, Ruzen watched the little one stumbling through the ruins, his short legs unbelievably faster and efficient in carrying him over the rougher grounds.

Looking up, Ruzen stared at the galaxies and the stars, wondering if somewhere there his family was thinking about him, they had already lost their first child in an accident, and now he too… it made his heart beat faster the more he thought about it. The entire universe was so huge, what was he, what was Ah'Hen, weren't they all so powerless compared to the world out there? How distinguished it was, this whole balanced system of energies.

Sometimes it scared him, thinking about something so brilliant, sometimes he wondered about the power that held the core of every energy in place, and there must be something which had brought him here to another world, he must have a purpose, everyone had their purpose, even a small insect.

Groaning in frustration with where his mind was leading him, he shook his head and waited for Ah'Hen to come back… safely, with probably some good news so that he could finally have some peace of mind. He was barely keeping his eyes open.

And his pride was still around to nag, reason why he hadn't begged that Hub owner to let him rest at his place, which also didn't provide him any safety.

Despite all that he was still not yet as angry and disappointed as he should be, he got a companion and got food, even if the child was unreliable, Ruzen grudgingly placed a lot of faith in their future relationship. Maybe they would have a good friendship?? Or brotherhood?

A sharp pain stung his neck as he yelped and hit away whatever it was that creeped on him. A bit startled he noticed… well he couldn't, there was no light! Those useless stars and galaxies gave away such low luminance, it made him irritated.

But a slithering thing was sure around somewhere, as he could hear something moving. Was it a desert snake?

He tried feeling for pain, for any hurt, discomfort, but he felt… strangely normal.

"Problem, problem!" A cry rang out from somewhere close, and Ruzen shot a curious gaze, only to find Ah'Hen coming up to him with his ghost fire in sight. Maybe he should have lit a torch or something before they started the journey, but that had seemed dangerous so he had just depended on the ghost child's powers.

Under the now illuminated area, Ruzen glanced around to see his attacker, but found nothing… how odd.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly, turning to Ah'Hen who looked very scared.

"Poison crab! Poison Crab!"