by E. C. Myers
Velvet pointed to the corner of his mouth. He swept the back of his hand to the same spot on his mouth and then wiped it on his trousers.
“That was sweat,” he said.
“You guys are up,” Fox sent. “Make it quick.”
Coco and Fox were following Bertilak and Carmine away from their sand shed.
“How did you get them to leave?” Yatsuhashi sent back.
“Coco said she wanted to help secure the perimeter, set up guard against Grimm. Bertilak and Carmine are going to show us how.”
Yatsuhashi imagined how frustrating that had to be for Coco and Fox; they’d covered—and mastered—that exercise in Professor Greene’s Stealth and Security class in their second year at Beacon.
“That’s it?” Velvet sent.
“Coco also implied that guarding the Caspians here wouldn’t do them much good if the Grimm breach the town. She basically volunteered us to do the guarding. Bertilak and Carmine support the idea. But I don’t think we can keep them away long.”
“Just let us know when you’re on your way back.” Yatsuhashi gobbled down the rest of the breadfruit.
As Fox and the others disappeared from view, Yatsuhashi and Velvet hurried to the Caspians’ door, which was covered by a dirty old blanket. Yatsuhashi looked for somewhere to knock, but the doorway was made of adobe, so he said, “Knock knock.”
A moment later, the curtain pulled aside and a boy said, “Is everything okay?” Then he realized he didn’t know them and said, “Oh.”
He was tan, maybe eleven or twelve years old with short, curly black hair, dressed in jeans and a baggy T-shirt from the Thirty-eighth Vytal Festival Tournament in Vacuo.
“Hi,” Velvet said. “I’m Velvet and this is my friend Yatsuhashi.”
“Hello,” Yatsuhashi said.
“You’re those new Huntsmen,” the boy said.
“And you are … ?”
“Gus Caspian.”
“Can we come in?” Velvet asked.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Um. I’m not sure.”
“Is your grandfather here? Can we talk to him?” Velvet asked.
Gus’s expression turned serious. “Now isn’t a good time.” He started to pull the blanket back over the entrance.
“Nonsense!” An older man came to the doorway. He was hunched over, but at his full height, he would have been almost as tall as Yatsu. He was slender, but not frail—he still had some muscle on him. His thinning silver hair was pulled into a short ponytail, and he had several days’ growth of gray stubble. Yatsu thought he looked familiar, but couldn’t place him.
“We’re about to have tea and play Gus’s favorite game. Why don’t you join us?” the man said.
“Yes, please!” Velvet said.
“Grandpa,” Gus said. “It’s almost time for your nap. You know how you get if you don’t sleep.”
The man waved his hand. “I’ll be fine. Come in, come in. I’m Edward Caspian, and fellow Huntsmen are always welcome in my home.”
Fellow Huntsmen, Yatsuhashi thought.
The man ushered them in and directed them to a woven mat in the sand with a porcelain tea service set on a bronze tray. A deck of cards lay beside it. Yatsuhashi sat and folded his legs, trying to make himself smaller in the enclosed space. Velvet sat down cross-legged beside him.
“Go get cups for our guests, Gus,” Edward said.
Gus glanced at his grandfather nervously, but then he scurried off.
“You used to hunt?” Yatsuhashi asked. “Grimm?”
Edward smiled. “I used to do a lot of things. I haven’t hunted Grimm in a long time, but once a Huntsman always a Huntsman. Until you die …”
He trailed off. His face went slack and his eyes lost focus. Yatsu had seen that look before, and it made him anxious.
“Sir? Are you all right?” Yatsuhashi leaned forward and touched Edward’s arm. He wished he could give people back their memories as easily as he could take them.
“Don’t touch him!” Gus said.
Yatsuhashi flinched and withdrew his hand.
“Is he … all right?” Velvet asked.
“It happens sometimes,” Gus said. “Like part of him goes away for a little while. But he always comes back.”
Gus put the cups down in front of Yatsuhashi and Velvet. He watched Edward’s face worriedly, then poured some tea.
Velvet picked up her cup and breathed in the steam. “What kind of tea is this?”
“Cactus leaf. It’s the best we can do.”
Velvet sipped her tea. “It’s perfect,” she said. “Thank you.”
“How old is your grandfather?” Yatsuhashi asked.
Gus slurped tea from his own cup. “He’ll be seventy-one next month.”
It wasn’t common for Huntsmen to live that long, certainly not with all their body parts intact. But it seemed as if Edward’s mind wasn’t quite intact. He was in no condition to be traveling long distances, certainly not in a hostile environment like Vacuo. What could have driven them into the desert, and where were they heading?
“It’s just the two of you?” Velvet asked.
“Yes.” Gus stared into the bottom of his cup. Yatsu found it strange that the Caspians had been toting things as delicate as a teapot and these cups from town to town. It was almost more remarkable that the tea service had survived all those Grimm attacks. There were a couple of leather chests in the small room, and in the corner was a buckler, a small round shield with a sharp metal edge. The kind of weapon a Huntsman would carry.
“It’s been just us since my parents were killed by Grimm.” Gus swallowed hard.
“I am so, so sorry,” Velvet said.
Gus blinked back tears and nodded.
Yatsuhashi was surprised to see that Velvet was crying. He was even more surprised to realize that his own cheeks were wet. He felt sorry for the kid, too, but he didn’t cry often.
It’s happening again right now, Yatsuhashi realized.
Tears were also streaming down Edward’s face.
“Velvet,” Yatsuhashi cautioned.
Velvet was typing on her Scroll, likely trying to capture the firsthand experience. Anything to help the tribe get to the bottom of what was going on.
“Is this how it always is?” Velvet asked.
“The mood bomb?” Gus asked.
She paused. “I haven’t heard anyone call it that yet. But yes, I suppose that’s accurate.”
Gus sighed. “It usually goes this way. Whatever you’re feeling gets sort of … amplified. You can’t control it. If it hits critical mass …” Gus opened his fingers and made a whooshing sound. “Boom.”
“And then the Grimm,” Yatsuhashi said.
“The mood bombs started back in Sumire, right?” Velvet said. “That was the first Grimm invasion, and you escaped into Vacuo with the Huntsmen.”
Yatsuhashi looked at Velvet. They hadn’t heard about any Grimm attacks in the Vale village. He quickly realized she was bluffing that they knew more than they did.
Gus craned his neck to see what was on her screen. “Who told you that?”
Velvet’s gamble was paying off. She’d obviously hit a nerve.
“Can you think of anything suspicious or out of the ordinary that started triggering these bombs?” she asked.
Gus opened his mouth.
“Anything at all would be helpful,” Yatsu said.
Gus closed his mouth. Shook his head.
He’s hiding something, Yatsuhashi thought.
Maybe if they tried a different approach. “You met up with Bertilak and Carmine in Sumire?” Yatsu asked.
“We were lucky they were passing through,” Edward said. The old man had snapped out of whatever fugue he’d been in and was carrying on as if nothing had happened. “They defended the village from a Grimm attack, when I lost my girl and her husband.” He paused and composed himself.
“Grandpa,” Gus said.
Edward kept talking. “They heard us tal
king about wanting to leave, going somewhere to be on our own, away from people. Carmine said she knew the perfect spot: an old lighthouse on the western shore of Sanus. She said she and Bertilak could guide us there and protect us along the way.”
“But to get there, you have to cross the entire desert,” Yatsuhashi said.
Gus picked up the deck of cards. “We playing or not?”
Edward nodded. “Set it up, Gus.”
Yatsuhashi and Velvet exchanged a look.
Gus laid out the cards facedown in an eight-by-eight grid. Yatsuhashi tasted his cactus tea—it was a little weak, but still refreshing.
“Even with a couple of Huntsmen, it seems dangerous to risk a trip like that,” Yatsuhashi said.
“Especially with Grimm following you from Sumire,” Velvet said. Once again, neither Edward nor Gus corrected her.
“You think I’m an old fool,” Edward said. “But better to have protection in Vacuo than no protection in Vale. Besides, the way things have been going, Vale isn’t much better off these days.”
Edward leaned in and turned over one of the cards, which showed a picture of a Death Stalker. He turned over another: a Beowolf.
Yatsuhashi used to play a matching card memory game like this when he was a kid, only the cards had been different varieties of flowers, not different types of Grimm.
“We don’t think you’re foolish, sir. We’re just trying to understand why you’re here,” Yatsuhashi said.
“Why are you here?” Gus asked.
“I ask myself that every day,” Velvet said. She glanced at Yatsuhashi with a guilty expression on her face.
Gus turned over two cards to reveal a Nevermore and a Death Stalker.
Velvet turned over the two Death Stalker cards and claimed the pair. “Did you notice the mood bombs in Sumire, too?” she asked.
Edward looked around in confusion. His eyes began to glaze over.
“Grandpa! Your turn,” Gus lied.
Edward slowly reached down and turned over the same card he’d had before, a Beowolf. Then he stared at the board, frowning. “What was I saying? Oh yes. Vale’s having Grimm trouble these days, too. At least in Vacuo, it’s harder for them to track you because of the shifting sands.”
“Vacuo still seems a bit extreme,” Velvet said.
“Not if you want to get away from other people just as much,” Gus said softly.
“Then why are you hanging out here?” Velvet asked. “Why haven’t you moved on with Bertilak and Carmine?”
“Grandpa won’t let us,” Gus said bitterly.
“Why is that, sir?” Yatsuhashi asked.
“We can afford to hire Huntsmen for protection,” Edward said. “The settlements can’t. As long as we’re together, it’s the same thing.”
Gus threw down his cards. “But that’s stupid when we’re—” He stopped himself. He seemed shocked at the outburst. Or afraid.
“Gus?” Velvet asked. “When you’re what?”
“When we’re taking extra time to cross the desert.” He sighed. “Grandpa also can’t travel as well as he used to. The desert’s hard on him. He needs these breaks.” He gestured at Edward again, who was muttering to himself with his eyes closed.
“You should try harder to get him to listen,” Velvet snapped.
Gus looked stunned.
Yatsuhashi’s eyes shot up. “Velvet?”
“Don’t start, Yatsu.”
“Okay. Calm down.” Yatsuhashi raised his hands in a soothing gesture.
“You calm down,” she said. Then she looked at him and started laughing. “That’s funny. You’re the chillest person I know.” She began laughing hysterically.
Yatsuhashi wasn’t sure if that was any better. But it was pretty funny, and suddenly he was laughing, too.
“Wait, this isn’t normal,” he said. Tears were pouring from his eyes, but this time not from sadness. Even as he was feeling the lightness and joy of laughter, Yatsuhashi hated losing control of his emotions this way. He abruptly fell silent while Velvet carried on.
Edward was chuckling to himself, but his eyes were vacant. Who knew what he was thinking at that moment? Gus was crying again, but his teeth were gritted and he clenched his hands on his knees.
“This is bad,” Yatsuhashi said sadly.
“Are you guys all right?” Fox sent.
“It’s getting worse,” Yatsuhashi sent.
“It’s hilarious!” Velvet said.
“You’d better come outside. We need your help,” Fox said. “Hurry!”
“It doesn’t look like much, Fox, but I wish you could see it. Hardy palm trees arching over a clear blue oasis, bright green leaves reflected in the still water. There’s grass on the shore, lush green grass, dotted with pink and white flowers. Bees lazily drift over them, collecting pollen. Do you hear them buzzing? This is the center of town, where everyone gathers to talk, eat, conduct business at the market. Around us are burlap tents and lean-tos built by the traveling merchants, beyond are the huts, squat shelters made of mud brick and straw where our people dwell.”
Every settlement in Vacuo was pretty much the same, not from lack of imagination, but because of the building materials available—anything they could find, especially sand and stone—and practicality.
It didn’t make sense to commit much time and energy to building structures that could be abandoned or wiped away by a sandstorm at a moment’s notice. Vacuans lived extemporaneously, with little attachments aside from the people they cared about—and even then, many just weren’t into commitment.
With commitment came responsibility, and responsibility often made you weak or vulnerable. In Vacuo, there were two kinds of people: those who were selfish and those who were fully dedicated to their community, and, in time, Fox came to understand that the latter usually had a better chance of survival.
Copper hadn’t been much older than Fox, more a big brother than an uncle, but the Vacuan honorific also included mentors. Uncle Copper had done more than keep Fox alive in those early years; he had also trained Fox to fight when everyone else thought a wiry blind boy was just another liability.
Fox remembered Copper’s strong, calloused hands on his shoulders as he leaned over and whispered descriptions in his ear. He knew how much Fox hated loud noises.
“Fox, it’s beautiful. Though our homes are simple and inelegant, they stand as a testament to our sheer will to survive. The fact that anything can live in the desert is a miracle. And when the desert winds knock all this down, we’ll just rebuild. When the monsters run us out, we will move and start anew elsewhere. Always remember that. Every life is precious, even the mole crabs and the carrion hawks and the slowworms … all the more so out here where there is so little of it.”
Uncle Copper had been killed shortly after that conversation, not by the Grimm but by one of those loners who wanted what he had, and was subsequently killed by the tribe himself as punishment.
Then Fox had been alone, yet not alone, again, raised by the various kind souls of the Kenyte community. He moved with them until he was old enough to go to Beacon Academy; his one and a half years at Beacon were the longest he’d ever spent in one place, and the happiest. Now that it had fallen to Grimm, he was sticking with the family he had made there, and looking forward to rebuilding. To the others, Beacon may have seemed like a lost cause, but within its ruins was the foundation for something new. Believing that was a gift Vacuo had given him.
Coco, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi had struggled with the way of life in Vacuo, and provided Fox with some perspective on his culture—which had also benefited from his time away. Living from moment to moment instead of planning for the next day, week, or year seemed strange to many outsiders, but it also made Vacuans appreciate things in those moments far more—every meal, every conversation, every joke was a celebration of life, and even the sad and painful moments carried greater significance.
And this was one of those terrible moments.
So this is how it happen
s, Fox thought.
After hearing about the explosions of emotion that had been plaguing these poor people, and feeling some mild effects themselves in the last day, Fox and Coco were now in the middle of a full-blown panic. If they didn’t act quickly, this chaos would escalate and draw Creatures of Grimm from miles around.
The nearby Grimm had to be on their way already. Even if the townspeople calmed down now, the amount of time CFVY had to solve the problem here was growing significantly shorter.
“Calm down!” Bertilak shouted. “You fools are going to get us all killed!”
“Cool it, Bertilak,” Carmine said. “Put that mace away. You’re only making this worse.”
“The hell I am,” Bertilak said.
Fox searched for Coco. He knew her well enough to pick her out of a crowd, and it was even easier because she was above the crowd, on a rooftop at the edge of the square. He leaped up lightly and joined her.
He heard chaos down below. People shoving and fighting in the alleyways, fists hitting flesh, bodies hitting the ground. Out of the mess of minds clustered below, on top of one another, Fox noticed some of them heading away from the crowd. Heading out of the settlement. Not a bad idea if the Grimm were on their way, though they would be more exposed outside the village walls.
“Are those people running away armed? Do they have supplies?” Fox asked.
“No,” Coco said.
“Then they’ll die in the desert, or come crawling back later,” Fox sent. And since they had fled instead of helping defend their settlement and people, they might not be welcomed back so warmly.
“If there is a later,” Coco said.
Fox heard groups of people sobbing, arguing, shouting. Shouting everywhere. And they were so worked up, their thoughts so unguarded, he was even being flooded with snatches of their thoughts, impressions of their feelings carried telepathically to him and then amplified by whatever was causing this. As if his own feelings weren’t enough to try to control.
We’re going to die was the most common thought, from people all around him.
We’ll be together again soon, Mariah, came another stray thought.
Why aren’t they doing anything?
Where’s Slate?
