What's Going On Here? (I)

Date: 15th day of the 11th month of the Year 5894 of the Unified Calendar
Location: Fae Continent, Northern Hemisphere, Terra, Tav Universe

Gato opened his eyes as slow as a snail crawling on the ground, finding himself under the covers of his bed. Let’s see… I ate my lunch, did a few more chores, ate my dinner, then went straight to bed. I must’ve been that tired… At that point, he discovered something that threw him for a loop… a box in his field of vision. Huh?

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What in the world does it even say? Wait… does this have to do with what happened yesterday? I still cannot believe that happened…

With a sigh, Gato got out of bed and did some minor stretches. He was certain that he had to do some extra chores to make up for having fallen asleep a lot earlier than normal. Because of that, he had had a good night’s sleep and had awakened earlier than usual. As he looked out the window, from where the moon and stars were in the sky, he estimated it was half past four in the morning.

While dressing as fast as possible, Gato tried to be silent, because he saw Delaz was shifting in his bed, seeming restless. He walked out to the broom closet to make sure that he could do his work without waking his family up. After all, what sort of hard-working son was he if he didn’t respect his family when they were trying to get some sleep?

Hmm… this is rather odd. I do not know why, but I am not tired in any way…

He sighed as he headed to the broom closet, opening the door and pulling out the broom before he began his job. He went to clean the floor in the kitchen area, taking absolute care to make the floor as clean as possible. As he did so…

Well, this is a soothing task to take care of, if nothing else. I wonder what else I can do to make the rest of the house clean for the family?

As soon as he finished sweeping the kitchen, he went back to the broom closet and pulled out a dust rag before noticing something. The dust rag was especially dirty.

And we do not have any other dust rags in the house, do we? He sighed and shook his head. I will just take this rag down to the creek and wash it. Then I will be back to finish dusting the kitchen as soon as I can.

As he walked out of the house, dust rag in his right hand to take cleaning, he took a left turn to go to the creek. The nearest creek was only a few minutes away. He needed to get there as soon as possible, before his family got up from their sleep.

As he walked on his way to the creek, he began contemplating what had happened the previous day. The fight with those bandits was something he would normally never do, but he had to do it. However, he was not sure if it was life or death that he had to do this for.

Then again, he was not sure if he actually killed those bandits. While he wanted to make sure that they do not steal his stuff, he also wanted to make sure that he did not murder anyone by accident, or on purpose. He knew the tenants of the Divine Spirits of Nature. The first of these tenants was, put plainly, "you shall not murder anyone."

In any case, he thought, I need to know where I have to go to get everything sorted out. My connection to the Divine Spirits needs to be clear. I also need to make sure that they know if I murdered anyone by accident or on purpose.

With those thoughts in mind, he headed over to the creek. The first thing that he needed to do was to clean off the dust rag that he had in hand. The sooner he did that, the sooner he would be able to go and clean the kitchen with the dust rag.

What am I going to do? I mean, I need to clean the house a lot better, and what better way to do it, then by using the clean dust rag? Granted, it is not clean at all right now.

At that point, he made it to the creek. He looked into the surface of the water, which reflected the moon up above, taking a quick look at his face and at what could possibly be above his head. His face was still the same, but he also saw that some words above his head. Like before, he could not read what it said.

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This is a bummer, he thought. How am I supposed to read what that thing says?

He dipped the rag into the water. As he cleaned out the dust from the ragged, he looked around himself, to see what else he had to deal with. As far as he could tell, there was nothing he needed to deal with. No wild animals, no sudden surprise visits from monsters, and no bandits, either.

Then again, the full moon told him which way things were going to be. There was nary a cloud in the sky at that point. He was especially grateful to that, above all the other good things that had happened so far.

So, he thought, what does it take to get some excitement around here? Do I even want excitement? He shrugged. Maybe I do, maybe I do not.

As far as he could tell, there was nothing to do at that point in time. It was like he needed to go on a journey, only the journey left without him. It just did not make sense.

A few moments later, he finished having the rag soak in the creek. He pulled the rag out of the water, wrung the rag around, stood to his full height, and shook the rag around. No matter what others might say, he knew he needed to do this right. There was just nothing that had to be done about it otherwise.

Now, he thought. How exactly am I supposed to handle this mess? I mean, this is even a mess to begin with? I really do not know. It may make sense to be a mess, but is it really one?

He walked back to his family's farm, looking all over the place for a threat that might be had. So far, that there was nothing to worry about. It remained highly likely that nobody was going to cause me trouble on the farm. Either way, he had to worry about nothing in particular. That was all there was to it.

Of course, this could just be me being a little unobservant, but there is nothing I can do right now. What am I supposed to do? Go against the status quo right now? Unlikely and impossible.

Even then, his connection to the world around them was not weak. He needed to make sure that things are going all right. There was nothing else that he could do. With all that said, he needed to get back to the house. It was getting ridiculously close to 4:45 AM, and he wanted to make sure that his parents did not wake up ahead of when he got back.

About the only thing that he knew he had to do, other than what he had already done then, was to walk back home and get the dust rag used within the kitchen. When he got back to his parents house, however, he realized that there was something wrong in the property. Case in point, he forgot to close the door behind him.

Oh, crud, he thought. Do I have to go back in the house and check for anyone that could have snuck in? It sure looks like that to me.

With all that said, he made a beeline for the house. That way, he made sure that he could save his family from being killed by a wild animal. It certainly made more since then it otherwise would.

When he got back into the house, he looked around for any sign of things that it is not belong the house. Fortunately, he was able to pull off the search without waking anyone up. Unfortunately, however, he was not able to see who could possibly be in the house that was not his family. It was getting rather ridiculous.

Well, he thought, I suppose I had better check the whole house the whole way through. It just would not sit right with me, otherwise.

Looking through the house, he discovered that there was a distinctive shortage of food, and not as in the kind of food that he brought in the market. The entire property was running low on meat. Not only that, but it appeared that the food was being eaten faster than they could maintain it. However, there were no animal footprints in the house.

Well, he thought, this is rather… I think the right word is "embarrassing". Then again, what do I know?

At the end of the trip through the house, he discovered that there was something wrong in the house. He normally was not allowed to go into his father's office, but he felt that was where he had to go. Of course, that was what made him wonder what was going on.

Since when did this house even have an office, anyway? I do not recall that ever being a thing.

He barely understood that he was not supposed to do anything about this, but a deeper part of him wanted to know what was being held in the so-called office. Was there even such a thing? It was hard to say.

Even so, he had memories of the time when he tried to enter that room before, and it was not even a pleasant experience.

O=====||===============================>

“C’mon, big bro, you gotta start counting with your eyes closed while standing next to and facing the wall of the house right here.”

Gato, at the young age of four, laughed at that. “Okay, Rex, how high am I supposed to go up to?”

Rex, a young boy who looked to be the same in appearance as Gato, put a hand to his chin and stood there, tapping his foot to the ground. “Try going up to 15, if you can.”

Gato nodded. “Sure, Rex, I think I can count up to 15. Do you want me to practice counting that high up?”

Rex shook his head. “Don’t worry, big bro. I’m sure you can pull it off, just like I can pull off being hidden beyond all belief for as long as possible.”

Gato put a finger to his right cheek. “What’s the off-limit part of Hide and Seek, again?”

Rex tilted his head momentarily before he seemed to think of the right answer. “Oh, right, we can’t hide in the barn or the silo. Those are the only two off-limit parts of it on the property.”

“Okay, Rex, let’s get to the game of Hide and Seek!” Gato turned to place his arms between his face and the wall of the house. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen! Okay, ready or not, here I come!”

As he turned back around to face where his brother stood originally, he looked around the area to see if he could spot Rex anywhere. At least, that was his plan for this. When he turned to his right, he saw his parents were leaving for town, taking Jeremiah with them for whatever reason. He never really got why he had to be home when his parents were unwilling to take him and Rex with them for their excursion from home to town.

Gato’s father chose that moment to speak up. “Okay, Jeremiah, we need to make sure that the Lord Mayor of Alfheimwood resolves this inheritance issue for us. I hope you’re ready for that level of responsibility.”

Jeremiah nodded. “Yes, father, I am.”

Gato’s mother gave off a humming sound. “That’s good, son. Please, be careful with how you end up getting everything ready for the day when you take over for us.”

Jeremiah looked at the mother in such a way that Gato couldn’t describe it. “What do you mean, mother?”

The mother gave a slight grin, based on what Gato could see. “What I mean is, we are not getting any younger, Jeremiah. We are going to need a lot of work handled the right way for you to take over for us. Do you want to practice while we’re on our way to town?”

Jeremiah paused momentarily before he eventually nodded. “Yes, please.”

Gato paid them no mind, especially since he was still looking for Rex at this point. Honestly, he knew Rex was a troublemaker, but not to what extent of trouble. With that, he walked over to the interior of the house, since that was the easiest place for someone to try hiding. He made it to the front door of the house and opened it up easily.

Just as he was about to enter the house, however, his father called out to him. “Hey, Gato, what’s the matter?”

“I’m looking for Rex as a part of Hide and Seek, father.”

“Who’s Rex?” his mother asked.

Gato gave off a hearty laugh for a few seconds, until his mind caught up with the words his mother said. “Wait, hold up. You don’t remember who Rex is? My baby twin?”

Gato’s parents and Jeremiah looked at each other, before Jeremiah turned to face him. “Sorry, Gato, I don’t think anyone remembers him. Are you sure you don’t have an imaginary friend with that name?”

Gato gaped, before he felt a liquid flow down from his eyes. “Why is my face leaking?”

Gato’s father sighed. “Your face isn’t leaking, Gato. You’re crying.”

Gato gasped. “No… NOOO!!” With that, he rushed into the house, ignoring the outcries of his parents and Jeremiah.

As he ran through the house, he opened various doors that he could reach, crying out his brother’s name in the process. He first tried the supply closet in the house, giving that up when he saw his baby brother wasn’t in the room. Next, he tried the kitchen, only to realize that there would be no way his brother had to be hiding there. He then tried the boys bedroom in the house, mainly to see if the bunk bed was still where it was supposed to be, only to gape when he saw there was no bunk bed for he and Rex.

He immediately skipped the girls bedroom, rushing straight to the foyer of the family’s property. As he rushed over, however, he caught sight of an open doorway. He turned his attention over to the doorway that was not there before, before he heard footsteps approaching from outside. “Where does that door lead to?”

“Gato, nobody told you to open that door, young man.”

“It was already open when I got here, though, father!”

“Are you sure about that, son?”

“Absolutely sure about that!”

Gato’s father sighed. “Son, this door leads to my office while here in the farm. It will soon go to Jeremiah, who is about to inherit the farm from me, and this is not the place for you to worry about where it leads to. I hope you understand me.”

“I wonder if Rex is inside this place, though,” Gato said.

“Oh, for the love of… you’re the youngest of eight children, Gato, so please get that straight!”

“But, father—”

“No, Gato, I mean it. You are not an older sibling, you are the last child born in this family, so drop it.” With that, Gato’s father reached out and closed the door to the office, denying Gato the right to see what he could have seen in the room.

O=====||===============================>

Great, Gato thought. I need to get it together, now! How am I supposed to get this problem resolved if I don’t enter my dad’s office? I need to enter the office for the right reasons.

He walked over to doorway to the office. The door was opened by a crack, leading Gato to believe that someone was inside the place. He did not know who, nor did he care about who was possibly in the room. Instead, he figured that he would just open the door and see what was going on in the room.

Opening the door, he walked into the room. What he saw was a big mess.

Now I have to wonder who in their right mind forgot to clean this place up. Did dad forget to clean up? Did mom forget to? I have no idea. Then again, I do not recall anyone ever saying anything about this room.

There were parchments strewn all over the room, books left wide open on the tables and around the room, and obviously out of their bookshelves. The more he looked, the more he really wanted to clean this place up a lot. What was he supposed to do?

"Hey, kid, who are you?" A man's voice asked from Gato's left.

That is my line. What am I supposed to say that?

Gato turned to look at the man. This man looks quite a bit like his father, only he had emerald green eyes, compared to the latter's ocean blue eyes. Other than that, the man looked an awful lot like his father.

At least 6 feet tall? Check.

Dark brown hair? Check.

Lean and muscular? Check.

An outfit from another time and place? Check — wait, what?

The man had on what Gato had to assume was a white undershirt, a gray button down longsleeved shirt, black slacks, a black coat over his shirts, and black shoes that had a nice shine to them. All in all, the man looked especially dapper.

"I ask again," the man said. "Who are you?"

"I think you should introduce yourself first," Gato said. "After all, you are in my father's office."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, maybe this is not his office," Gato said. "However, it is attached to my house."

The man gave off an aggrieved sigh. "I suppose you are right," he said. "Very well, I will introduce myself." He walked over to Gato, making sure not to step on any of the parchment. "My name is Aaron Danielson. Now, who are you?"

"Gato, son of Alexander," Gato said.

"Wait, do you not mean Gato Alexanderson?" Aaron asked.

"Is that not the same thing?" Gato asked.

"No, it really is not," Aaron said. "The way you said it makes it sound like you are from a medieval society. The way I said it is the more acceptable way of saying it."

"How is the way you say it more acceptable? I mean, I am a peasant."

"Wait, you are?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Oh, brother. That means you are from a medieval society. How in the world does this make sense?"

Gato put his face into his palms. "Trust me, sir, I did not see this coming as well."

"Well, okay," Aaron said. "I suppose I should start telling you something very important."

Gato removed his face from his palms. "What would that be?"

"Simple," Aaron said. "There is going to be a bunch of robberies in the area. You might want to alert someone very important to you in the area to stop this."

"What, you mean the town guard, or something?"

"Exactly."

Gato shrugged. "Okay," he said. "I will keep that in mind."

"Thank you," Aaron said. "Now, if you do not mind, I need to get to work and clean this place up. If you could leave the way you came in…"

“Okay, Gato said, walking over to leave. "Will I ever see you again?"

"You might, but you might not."

"Wait, what?"

"Exactly what I said. This is more of a once in a blue moon scenario."

"What does once in a blue moon mean?"

"It means it is so rare, it is not even funny. However, you might be able to see someone that I know working here," Aaron said.

Gato nodded. "Do you know who else works here?"

"Yes, I do, but I am not going to share that with you just yet."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Consider this a warning. The whole crew that works here functions off of unpredictability. If you knew who they were ahead of time, then that would ruin the fun of things here."

Gato gave off a disgruntled sigh. "Oh, very well, I understand."

"Make sure you do. It would be very bad if you did not."

"Okay, very well, Aaron, I think I understand."

"Also, please call me Mr. Danielson instead. I never gave you permission to call me by my given name," Aaron said.

"All right, Mr. Danielson," Gato said. He reached out to open the door one more time and then walk on out. Before he could touch the doorknob, however, he saw a photo next to the door frame. "Mr. Danielson, who are the people in this portrait that is so small?"

"Hold on, what are you talking about?" Aaron asked, walking over to see what Gato was talking about. "Oh, those would be my brother-in-law and his wife, my sister."

"What are they like?"

"They are pretty nice people," Aaron said. "However, we need to get you out of here right now."

"Why is that the case?"

"Because you are not supposed to be here just yet."

Gato blinked in surprise. "Wait," he said. "You are saying I am not supposed to be here for what reason?"

"Because the boss lady really hates it when people come into her workspace without permission. So far, you are one of those people that do not have permission. With that said, you might want to leave now."

Gato gave off a very thorough nod. "Okay," he said. "I guess I had better go back to my home."

"Make sure you do," Aaron said. "Otherwise, you might not be able to go back home at all."

Gato felt his mouth go agape. "You might have a point." With that, he opened the door and walked right back through it, closing it as gently as possible so that his family would still be sleeping.

Oh, man, what am I going to do now? I mean, it is not like I have any choice in the matter right now… I do not, do I?

With a sigh, Gato walked back to the kitchen and started to dusting the counter-tops. After a few minutes, he put the rag away in the closet, before heading back outside. It was when he had taken five steps away from the front door when he saw another box appear in his field of vision.

Oh, fer crying out loud… why am I seeing these boxes to begin with?! I am wondering whose idea of a prank it is this time…

Before Gato could do anything, what with the boxes that were already in his field of vision, the snapping of a twig drew his attention to the granary.

Just one second… what is going on over there?

As he waited with bated breath, he heard a pair of low voices coming from the granary.

“Are you sure about this, Frederick?” a tinny man’s voice asked.

“Positive, Fernando,” another man’s deep voice said, although he sounded uncertain. “We have had no issues with robbing this farm yet, and everyone should be asleep, so no harm for us.”

“I hope so… I just do not want anyone from the town guard to get their hands on us.”

“Oh, will you give it a rest? The town guard will not find out about this operation for a long time.”

“That does not fill me with confidence…”

“Fer crying out loud, Nando… do not forget that we need to be stealthy and quiet for this operation to work.”

Gato listened, surprised that these robbers sounded as if they had been to the farm before.

Great… why did we not notice until now? I hope that this pair of bandits leaves our food alone… or we might have a fight on our hands. I am not sure what the outcome would be if we have a fight…

He said to himself under his breath, “Well, I had better stop these idiots.”

At that point, the second box disappeared from his vision, but the original box remained.

Huh?! What is going on?!

He spun around, looking for anyone in the vicinity. So far as he could tell, there was nobody to find.

Am I being targeted by an illusionist?!

He pinched himself on both sides of his face, on the cheeks. He picked himself so hard, he thought he was supposed to bleed from the effect, expecting this to break the illusion he felt he was under. But the first box was still there.

Darn it… Well, no point thinking about this further. I have got some robbers to confront.

At that, he let go of his cheeks and headed over to the granary, staying even more silent than his foes. He needed to get the drop on these bandits, he figured, before they stole his family’s food supplies. After all, while the grain was easy to carry as a whole, it still said a lot about these robbers if they could lift all the produce items that Gato's family had now. On top of that, Gato was the one to pay for the food, and thus he had to go and retrieve the food if it ever got stolen.

I will admit, this is very embarrassing of me. How am I supposed to handle this at this rate? I do not know…

He walked stealthily over to the granary… until he suddenly remembered something.

I do not have a single weapon worthy of the title on me to defend myself with! I am such an idiot!

He then looked around for any sign of where the thieves would be at that point, before he hurried over to the shed where the wagon was. He had to be extra careful to find something, of course, since this was supposed to be an operation to sneak on the bandits.

What am I supposed to use as a weapon against the bandits? I mean, really, I have a few choices from the bandit attack on me earlier, but how will that work out?

As soon as he found himself at the shed, he felt around for the bar of wood that kept the door locked. It was still safely in place.

Drat… what am I supposed to do now?

He then took a look at the barn, which was near the shed by a few yards. It was while he was about to look away when he realized he got lucky yet again.

Jackpot! I found myself a good enough weapon to use against the bandits.

He walked on his way to get the weapon, making sure to keep his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He did not want to be caught with his pants down, or so the saying seemed to go.

What will happen next, though?