Help Might Be Overrated

Ryoko and Welpen ended up inside of a temple. Ryoko’s eyes were shut and he was fading from the loss of blood. A man that looked like a boy and wearing some interesting jester clothes stopped reading his book and sighed. He came down the stairs of the temple where he sat and chanted these words over Ryoko’s body…“Haven’s Render.”

The wound closed, but Ryoko did not wake up. Welpen was screaming his name to wake up, but he wouldn’t. The man next to him introduced his name as Ren Itou.

Ren: “He’s fine. Give him a minute. I’m gonna freaking kill Arata. Stop sending me everyone you encounter!”

Welpen: “What did you do to him? Did you hurt him? Tell me or I’ll put this sword right through you!”

Welpen cried when saying this, but it was an empty threat. He couldn’t kill anyone. Not because he was too weak physically, but because of his mentality.

Ren flicked the sword to the side and told Welpen that he knew he was too scared to kill a human being.

Ren: “I’m gonna go read my book. I have some studying to do on a few things. This was not the right time and that ability takes up a lot of mana. Make sure you both don’t get stabbed again. I can only heal one of you if you get hurt like that again within the next 5 minutes. Toodaloo.”

A blue portal opened underneath them sending them back to the place where they were. Arata and the man were no longer there, but Welpen was still cautious. He didn’t wait but 10 seconds before Ryoko woke back up completely fine.

He was startled, but got over it quickly.

He told Welpen the best he could about a dream he had. It was of two men fighting and he had stayed close by to simply watch while he was injured. He was intrigued by the sheer power of them. A will of his own fired up inside of him, but he couldn’t explain what it was. His heart was beating several times faster than before, not because of the bleeding, but something else. He did not know what this sensation was having not been up to the surface before. He wondered if this was a thing only people here experienced.

Welpen was confused because the situation he described was similar to that, but it couldn’t have been real because they were teleported away quickly and Ryoko was passed out. He told Ryoko that it must have just been a vision or a dream, but that he was okay now.

They headed off to make sure whatever just happened didn’t appear again. Even with his armor, Welpen thought that the sword that stabbed Ryoko could’ve easily pierced him. He quickly cleared these thoughts by wanting to run to see how long he could go.

He told Ryoko to catch up if he was faster than him. He ran until he could not breathe anymore and tears formed in his eyes. He panted heavily with his arms on his knees bent over until he realized that he had left Ryoko behind.

To his luck, he could still see a small version of him in the distance. His eyes were blurry, so it was hard to see his features, but Ryoko wasn’t too far behind.

He had run 2 miles before he finally arrived next to Welpen who was now taking a break and sitting on the ground trying to catch his breath again.

Welpen: “Hey, come to think of it, how did that man know my name? Why would he come and save me? Who was he?”

Ryoko and Welpen both thought about it for a minute, but utterly moved forward not being able to figure it out, nor would it make a difference if they did. Welpen’s motivation had not changed. He didn’t want to be seen as a nuisance. He knew he could protect himself and even protect Isara. Nothing would change that fact in his mind. The journey once again would start up to find Isara who was now way further ahead. He would find her again and be strong enough this time to stay by her side.

Eventually, after the full day of walking, they reached the outskirts of the nearest town as night occurred. They didn’t have any money to pay for anything, so they had to sleep behind a wooden building on top of a cardboard box.

When they both awoke, a strange looking older man was hovering over them. Welpen jumped up in shock before asking who the man was. His appearance made him seem very wealthy with his frock coat and gold pocket watch attached to his clothes. His watch matched the gold plated items that he carried and his white long mustache and beard covered most of his face, but most importantly he was carrying a bird cage with an all white bird. He introduced himself as Acer Fantasmo.

Acer: “Why hello there young gentlemen. I see you both are in quite a pickle. No money equals more problems, am I right? I have a job for the twos of you. How about I hire you both to work for me? How does that sound? It will be fun and you will work with animals.”

Welpen: “What do you think, Ryoko? We won’t reach Isara until she is already at the Infinite Library. Should we try to get some money for food?”

Ryoko: “Processing…Trust or untrust? Not sure. Make decision.”

Welpen: “Alright mister. We will help you. What do you need? We can help out for the day, but then we are leaving this town.”

Acer: “Ah, perfect. Please, please. Follow me.”

Acer led the two to a small white house with 2 floors, although it could only fit 3 people at most with the size. It was covered in leaves and vines on the outside with its only distinguishable feature being the chimney. Inside the house were cages of cats laying down.

Acer: “Do not worry about these animals. Including the bird in this cage, there are 7 total. They are not dead, but simply asleep.”

Welpen: “What do we have to do? Feed them? Give them water?”

Acer: “No young one. You misunderstand, but you are somewhat correct I guess. You see, when these animals are awake, they are bursting at the side of the cage to try to escape to the west. It doesn’t change every time, and I am trying to figure out why. What I need from you both is to stick your hands in the cage with some food and see if they eat it. For some reason, they have not been eating the past 2 days, bird included. I need to see if they just don’t like adults. Maybe you kids will have an appeal with them. Oh, see, that one is starting to wake up. Give them this food.”

Welpen walked over to the half asleep cat still along with Ryoko and they both stuck their hand in the cage hoping that they didn’t get scratched up. The cat finally came to its full senses and didn’t eat the food, but instead kept jumping at the cage. Acer insisted that they try to poke the cat. Ryoko did this without thinking as he spoke out, “Poke.”

The cat did in fact claw at his hand as he dropped the food in the cage and pulled his hand away. The cat still didn’t eat any food and went right back to looking west.

Acer: “Okay, so sunlight is a no go, food from adults and children is a no go, putting them through violence is a no go, and putting them in combined cages is a no. I learned that one the hard way. What else could I try? You boys are young, maybe you would know.”

Welpen: “Mister Acer. If I may ask, what is the benefit of doing this? Why not release the animals and follow them?”

Acer: “They would be too quick for me. I wouldn't be able to keep up with them, but besides that, I am training to be a doctor for this village. You see, our current doctor is older than me and is going to kick the bucket soon. They have asked me if I could learn, but the man is too old to even speak anymore. He just knows what he is doing, so I am trying to learn on my own.”

Welpen: “Oh, that is very kind of you. Now I feel bad because I was going to open the cages and let the animals go.”

Acer: “H-H-Huh?! Why would you do that?! I hired you both and will pay a good amount if you help me experiment.”

Welpen: “Sorry, sorry. That was the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw these animals in cages, but I understand that I shouldn’t do that. But, how is this going to help you be a doctor?”

Acer: “They are the last animals in this town. They were all pets once, but the rest have run away, so I am giving some closure to the families by trying to figure out what is going on, but also what it will take to stop the mind from thinking like this, which may help in the future with poisons or certain desires or pain.”

Welpen: “I see. Ryoko, you’re pretty smart. What do you think? Is there anything we can do to get them back to normal? I don’t think our influence as kids does anything. The cat doesn’t know who we are, so it’s scared and afraid.”

Ryoko: “Processing…Toys, water, cage, and eyes.”

Welpen: “I’m not sure what you mean. Wait, let me break it down. Toys are obvious, but water? Oh, spray water on them? That’s something they don’t like, so they should react to it, right? Cage? Do you mean to give them a bigger or smaller cage or just release them somewhere else like a room?”

Ryoko: “Smaller.”

Acer: “I see. Genius. If I shrink the cage, then they can’t beg against the side to go to the west. It’s not the most humane, but it might calm their minds. You said eyes too. I already know what you mean though. Their eyes are hungry. They crave to go somewhere, but I don’t know why. Why not north, south, or east? I already took the bird west for a few miles in his cage, but it didn’t satisfy him. He kept flying at the cage and even started to bleed, so I had to bring him back. That’s when I saw the both of you. Their eyes widen like their brain is feigning for a drug. I’m going to try and do this. Here are some Petals boys. This should get you a nice meal at the restaurant not too far from here. There are a couple of small sit down places that you can get some nice food from. Can you both meet me back here in 2 hours? That will be exactly at 1:54.”

Welpen: “Sure thing mister, but we are looking for someone. Can I ask if she has been through here with two men. Her name is Isara. She is about my height and age with black hair.”

Acer: “Hmm…Yes, there was someone that matched that description. I know because I asked her as well yesterday if she could help, but the two men she was with ignored me and told me to not talk to them. They quickly left our town even though night approached.”

Welpen: “Shoot! Sorry for their attitudes. They were actually nicer than you think, but are really stressed out. I will make sure to talk to them…They are going to be 2 days ahead of us Ryoko. We might as well stay today and leave tomorrow morning.”

Ryoko: “O-Okay.”

Welpen and Ryoko headed off with the little money they had. They were starving, having not eaten basically since the bear a little over a day ago. They looked exhausted and their clothes were dirty. People looked at them strangely even though this town was in the middle of nowhere and many different people passed through it all the time to get to the Infinite Library.

They passed on the nicer restaurants trying to save some money for the future. Welpen was learning what it meant to be somewhat responsible having been on his own now for a while. They ordered some rolled meat from a small shop on the side. The cook was blind, yet his senses were incredibly sharp. He knew where everything was despite not being able to see. As soon as they said their orders, he knew exactly what to grab, where to put it, and what he was doing. They both thought it was amazing, but Ryoko was having a difficult time processing how he was doing this…

Welpen: “Ah, I’m stuffed. It’s almost been 2 hours. We can head back and see if the man is finished. We will stay with him for tonight and then leave in the morning. We don’t really have a better option. There hasn’t been a ton of danger so far, but I don’t know what we might encounter. Staying behind some walls is nice, but I’d like to get to the Infinite Library at least close to when she gets there.”

Ryoko did not really care. He was tasked with staying with Welpen and decided to follow him wherever he went. Isara told him that they were leaving and did not want to go with Welpen or for him to come after her, but he figured he would not stop him from going after them again, plus he did not know what to do himself in this strange world. The colors, the materials, the size, the people. It was all very new to him still and he was adjusting bit by bit, even with his speech. He sat back and observed his surroundings, much like what he was taught in Weakening City and continued on.

When they got back to Acer’s house, nothing had changed. The cats and bird were in smaller cages, but it didn’t stop them from reaching out their paws and talons trying to escape. They even started to make unbearable noises as if they were suffering. They quickly moved them back to regular cages to make the noise stop.

Acer: “I tried everything, but nothing worked. I even tried to administer more drugs, but they just won’t stop. I’m going to put them to sleep again and then I have to run over somewhere. That main doctor I told you about earlier is doing a procedure on a woman who has a virus in her stomach. I’m going to watch him do his magic and see if I can learn anything. Can I pay you boys a little more to stay here and watch over them? If they wake up, then just use this spray in each cage and they will pass out. Don’t use the needle. That might kill them. The only thing I can do so far is use this spray to put them to sleep, which is the best improvement I have found so far for medicine in the future. Alright, I’m off. Thanks again.”

Welpen: “Wait, Mr. Acer. I don’t know much about them, but why can’t you just use chaplets to heal these people? Isn’t there something that would cure that?”

Acer: “Ah you are very right, Welpen. However, we do not believe in that in this city. We use chaplets for other reasons to benefit our lives, however if our bodies are aging, then we let them go. Everybody here believes in that. Nobody wants to struggle, but if we avoid it, then how are we supposed to understand what others feel like? Lots of people don’t have chaplets that need help and are injured. We would rather live morally. Plus, if we constantly use chaplets, then we will eventually run out, so there’s no harm in learning, right?”

Welpen didn’t understand. He thought, ‘If you can heal someone with a chaplet, why not just do it?’ He didn’t know why the man said this or why everyone here didn’t want to stay healthy their whole lives, but it was something he wouldn’t understand at this age, or maybe even never.

It was raining hard outside now. Clouds covered the darkened sky. The two of them really had nothing to but sit around and play games for hours. Ryoko promised to watch over the animals while Welpen wanted to nap for a bit before they started playing, so he laid down and closed his eyes quickly to try and regain some sleep.

When he opened his eyes, it wasn’t because his body was refueled, but it was the sound of yelling and screaming. It was Acer’s voice. ‘Wh-What time is it?’ Welpen thought. It was dark outside. Welpen had fallen asleep for over 6 hours.

Welpen walked downstairs to see Acer screaming at Ryoko and the animals in the cages were gone. Ryoko stood there without much emotion, but kept pointing west as he was not given much time to talk.

Ryoko: “Man took, to west, that way.”

Acer: “I left you both with one job and you couldn’t even watch some simple animals for 6 hours?! I was trying to be nice and give you a chance and some money, but obviously that will never happen again. Leave this place. Leave my sight! How will I save all these people now?”

Welpen: “Mister Acer, whatever happened we can explain it. I can talk to Ryoko.”

Acer: “LEAVE!”

Welpen: “I-I…Yes sir. Come on Ryoko.”

They exited the town after a decent walk to the back exit ashamed of what had happened. Welpen’s mind slowly shifted to care for more than just Isara. He began to live life again and cared even for the little things that happened like this. He asked Ryoko what went wrong when he was asleep, curious about the man’s frustration.

Ryoko felt that Welpen was a close friend and his speech was especially good with him for some reason. He was able to explain things better without individual words, but more so complete sentences. He told Welpen about the man from before that came and took all the animals.

Ryoko tried to take one of the cages, but the man knocked him unconscious over the neck and when he woke up, all the animals were gone.

Welpen: “That idiot! I’m going to pay him back for that! That’s multiple times now. Who is this guy? We didn’t even do anything to him! It gets me so mad!!”

The rage built up in Welpen, but Ryoko quelled it by telling him not to worry about it. Their bond started to synchronize more through the trials that they have gone through. Welpen tried to make friends with everyone, but for Ryoko, it was more of a respect that was leaning into a friendship.

Along the straightforward path, they talked about their pasts. Ryoko did not really have a pleasant childhood and didn’t remember much from Weakening City. For Welpen, it was the opposite. He was pampered in a sense and enjoyed life. He did talk about how his parents abandoned him though, which made him upset.

Eventually, they arrived at a large wooden and brick bridge. It wasn’t hard to cross, but it was long and for the first time in a little while on this path, there was a group of 4 people crossing from the other side.

As they got closer, Welpen noticed that they were bleeding a bit. It wasn’t anything serious, but they all seemed exhausted and held onto their breaths. It was still too far to the next town. Welpen asked them if they needed help, knowing that he could not do much. The group asked if they had any water and Welpen gave them all he had, even though it wasn’t a lot before they departed on their way.

In the middle of the bridge was a huge crack in the ground that Ryoko and Welpen didn’t see from the start of the bridge. It was more like a giant hole filled with hot boiling lava. They crossed over without worry, but that was their mistake. The smoke from the lava had risen up to the ropes, which snapped them.

Welpen and Ryoko stumbled as the bridge began to collapse. It split in half and they both jumped to the opposing side, hanging on to the rope and wood as best they could. Welpen yelled at Ryoko to take his end of the rope to be more stable as he climbed to the brick on the side, which was sturdy.

Welpen: “Hang on Ryoko. I’m going to try to climb to the top. Don’t fall.”

His small and light body allowed him to do so. He stood above Ryoko who was starting to lose his grip. What made this worse, Welpen thought, was that the people he had just helped were continuing walking without a worrisome look. They looked back at them and decided to keep moving forward despite the help he had granted.

Welpen panicked, but ran to a spot where the rope was connected to the brick, so the bridge wouldn’t fall. He bit through the rope hard. His teeth were grinding and his jaw was hurting, but he managed to do so and threw the rope down to Ryoko.

Welpen: “Cwimb! Huarrrry!”

Ryoko was able to climb up with Welpen’s help, pulling him as hard as he could. The wooden pieces next to him started to fall more and Welpen pulled even harder and yanked him across to the other side.

Welpen ran as the bridge started to collapse. He leaped at the end where Ryoko reached out his hand and just reached it to pull up across to the other side on the fresh green grass.

They both kissed the ground to thank it for their survival. They had never felt better in their lives from this near death experience.

Welpen: “I would’ve died if you weren’t here. Thank you, friend.”

Ryoko: “F-Friend…Th-Thank you, friend.”

Welpen: “Ah, let’s try to move on from this. That was really scary. I hope nothing is like that on the way. Hey, I just noticed that you don’t have a sword. I don’t know where we are going to find one out here, but we can try to get you a common one for now. I believe there is a chaplet that summons common swords…Oh! Yes, I remember. It’s called a Knack Chaplet. They are usually all over the place. We will definitely find one, but for now just keep using your bow. We can buy some more arrows, maybe somewhere.”

The boys walked in the distance trying to get to the next area of their destination without looking back to an important scene that was happening. The bridge was rebuilding itself back to normal just like how it was before and from below the bridge came a figure just as tall as Welpen, no, a little taller. The figure wore a full body astronaut suit, which hid his body and face, but peered off in the distance at the boys and reached his hand out to the air towards them, yearning for something...anything.