Wandering Eternal: Brothers of War

Nova the Unbelievable

He opens his eyes and realizes he has been moved back to the top of the mountain where he met Hela. He looks back up to the sky and the moon looks vividly clear and almost close enough to touch. The surrounding sky is blanketed with an unmeasurable amount of stars that seem just out of reach. Grand brilliance of colors scattered throughout a wavy line stretching from one horizon to the other. He is astonished by the beauty of what he missed while trying to save Hela’s life. Suddenly all the sounds around him come to a halt, the breeze stalls out into a stand still, and the world seems to come to a complete stop. They both stop breathing for a moment to enjoy the grand silence that seems to be screaming out from every direction. Then just as Zee is about to let his breath out, a monumental unexplainable sound erupts from both the mountain and the sky simultaneously resounding with glorious, ear breaking resonance. After the sound fades into the distance echoing forever, it seems the world has started to move again as everything continues to be. He notices a light from the west in the far distance then he looks down following the path leading to it and sees the cabin they were at. He blinks again feeling a rush of wind and opens his eyes to see he is outside the cabin again.

“That sure was weird huh? Did you learn how to use the bifrost while you were gone?” She stays tucked inside the jacket and her voice is slightly muffled.

“No, I thought that was you?” He pulls the jacket up peeking inside.

“I had to sacrifice a few of my powers, the ones like moving anything besides myself to and from the fairy forest. I can change my size to be more human like, it’s part of the process when they remove powers. I still have control of my Nimbus vine, and I can fly up to one hundred meters high from a surface of land. I can create a bubble to travel under water to about fifty meters. There are a few other things but they are minor, the big flashy stuff they had to take away for humans tend to overreact to magic,” she nervously plays with the fur looking at him and the area around while trying to stay warm.

“I am not complaining to your company, I have actually grown an attachment to you. You feel like part of our odd but unique little family we seem to be building here. I was told by an old friend that I had an amazing team of very skilled people that traveled with me as the best of friends. Sometimes I have flashbacks of them, sitting around a camp or in a building talking and laughing, having a great time. But then I have a feeling of guilt and regret that pulls me back to the present, conscious mind,” he reaches below her and pulls the pocket open. She looks down and feels embarrassed that she did not notice it before then she sinks down into the pocket.

“Thank you, your words mean more than you could imagine. But if are you asking why I decided to leave the fairy world to join you in the human world, then my answer is you. It’s partly Ezma as well, but mostly just you,” she wiggles around in the pocket happily.

“What exactly do you mean me?” He stops walking for a moment looking down at her.

“There is something about you that drives me to be the best me possible. It is hard to put in words, but you can think of it like being around you I hear beautiful music that has an upbeat melody and tune, but the words of the song are melancholy or even somber at times. It gives me a feeling of mellow balance between joyful dancing that is full of life, and wistful sorrow of an empty life. That is the only way I could think to word it, I hope I didn’t offend you,” she plays with her vine making it into a bow tie and resting it on Zee’s shirt below his neck. He continues walking after something catches his attention.

“No not at all, for some reason I have been having this effect on everyone I come in contact with except for those who choose to have darkness in their hearts,” he walks along the base of a jagged rock wall looking around the deep crevices and tapping on some of the dead trees that are hollow in spots.

“That’s an amazing ability, is that all you wanted to ask me?” She questions while curiously peeping out of the jacket to see what he id doing. A couple of moments pass after her question and she starts to get impatient, “what are you doing? I asked if you had any more questions, because I have a few for you when you’re mind returns to your head,” she crosses her arms in a pouty fashion. Zee flinches after knocking on a fairly large eucalyptus tree that still has life but the wood around the trunk is dead and rotting, “what?! What happened?!” She springs back into alertness looking around for anything.

“I believe I saw someone who is very far from their home,” he continues to walk towards a spruce tree very slowly and cautiously tries to not make any noise.

“What do you mean? I don’t see anything anywhere,” she reaches out even further while commanding her vine to return then she snaps it like a whip transforming it into a Nimbus cloud. She wraps her body with it while flying out of jacket hoping to get a better look.

“These things live in warmer environments but there are some people who take them from the wild to sell as pets and breed them. They do not deserve to be plucked from their homes just to be used as breeding tools or sold for an outstanding amount of money,” he never stops as he creeps along at a snails pace toward the spruce tree.

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about, ugh,” she groans then scoffs while flying behind Zee investigating the area, then she grows into her human sized form. The Nimbus also grows covering her up, but it looks more like a long sleeve over-the-shoulder dress. It is so tight around her body that it looks like a second layer of skin fitting every contour and curve of her body. Zee looks in his pocket as soon as he reaches the tree realizing that she has left his pocket at some point when he started looking for the animal. He looks around to see if she has flown to somewhere else, then he turns around and notices her hovering a few inches off the ground. He flinches when he notices her being surprised that she is just a few inches shorter than him, “what was that? Did I scare you because I’m not small anymore?” She giggles while her shorter hair near the front of her head covers her neck and ears bundling up in buns on each ear. The rest of her long hair splits in half covering up her legs and feet, but leaving enough slack to keep from jerking her hair while walking.

“I did not expect a human behind me and I thought that someone had followed me. Then there is the dress you are wearing, it is very tight, are you sure you can breathe? It pretty much looks like it was painted on you,” he turns back around when he notices the Nimbus cloud coated every nook and cranny of her body, and the top part acted like a b*a holding her breasts up, “you look astonishing honestly, where were you hiding the dress?”

“Oh this? This is my Nimbus, the vine you see with me all the time. All I have to do is think about what I want it to be, while under a certain set of moral rules,” she floats quietly behind Zee as he approaches the tree carefully. She watches him in a state of curiosity and wonders exactly what he is trying to accomplish. He begins to climb up the tree using the lower limbs as a ladder, but all of a sudden he hears something rustling just above him. He looks up spotting a small white animal jumping from the tree soaring through the air gracefully back to the eucalyptus tree.

“That! Did you see it? That is what I am trying to catch,” he climbs back down then starts walking over to the eucalyptus tree cautiously.

“What is it? I just barely caught a glimpse of it,” she follows behind him while laying down in midair.

“I am almost positive it is what some people call a sugar glider, but they are also called aymows or kajbens. I only got a small glance when it jumped from the rock wall over to that dead rotting tree over there. Then again when it jumped to the eucalyptus, the spruce, and back to the eucalyptus but I can only see the bottom,” he reaches the eucalyptus and walks around it to the hole rotted out in the trunk. He notices it hiding in the hole backing away from him crabbing in fear. Its fur is as white as snow except for its head having black stripes. The stripes are from both of its aquamarine eyes reaching back to the ears making the entire ear be black then they streamline down the sides of the back, and another in the middle of its forehead reaching to the tip of the tail and at the base of the tail the three stripes merge. He focuses his emotions and aura to give it a sense of safety to show it that he means no harm. He feels all over his body checking all of his pockets thinking that he had collected some blackberries when he was gathering food to cook for Hela. He pulls the jacket back looking around his belt and notices another pouch hanging by his belt. He takes it off opening it up and it is filled to the top with blackberries, “are you hungry little guy? You can have have some of my berries,” he smiles putting a blackberry in the hole, “I was right, it is a sugar glider. He is still so very young so someone must have had him as a pet and abandoned to fend for itself,” the sugar glider stops crabbing after a moment then slowly moves to the berry switching his attention back and forth between Zee and the berry.

“It is so adorable!” she squeals quietly, “so what is it exactly? It kind of looks like a rat, chipmunk, and a flying squirrel had a baby and this was what became of it,” she patiently watches the glider crawling towards the berry. He grabs the berry carefully smelling it then starts to nibble on it and Zee takes two berries and puts them in his mouth. He moves the berries around his mouth trying to make it warmer, and ties the pouch back on to his belt. The glider finishes and does not move but to look up at Zee who takes one the berries out of his mouth placing it a little closer hoping to get him out of the tree while also building trust. He does not want to be forceful with the glider because he knows that it is still pretty much a baby that someone bought straight off the teat. They more than likely brought it here but left him here when they moved on, and with that assumption Zee is scared for him because of the harsh climate and many predators lurking around at night.

“So how do you know about these things?” She holds her hands behind her back to keep her urge to pick him up and pet him. Zee takes the other berry out placing it on the edge and the glider crawls up to it and starts munching away making a small chirping noise while he is chewing.

“I could not say how or why, but I know they are marsupials, meaning they have a pouch on their body to carry babies. They have a long fuzzy tail that is slightly prehensile, meaning if their tails were stronger they could wrap it around a branch and hang there. But it being a weak tail they mostly just use it for balance and to help steer while they are gliding. They are solely nocturnal and rarely ever get out during the day, and they never touch the ground because of predators,” he watches as the glider finishes eating the berry then sits there on the edge looking at Zee. He smiles and takes out another berry holding it in his hand then puts his hand next to the hole trying to get the glider to walk out onto his hand. The glider studies the situation and seems to like Zee already. He cautiously takes a step forward and then backwards testing Zee. Ten minutes later the glider finally gets on Zee’s hand and stays there eating the berry. Nova has a fit that he is doing all of this just because the animal is in the wrong place. Zee charismatically smiles and holds him up to his face to get a better look, “he is a male and probably only six or eight months old. He is very skinny, so he must have been out here for several days,” he pets the glider with a couple of fingers feeling the thick but soft fur. Nova has a jealous look on her face while Zee is petting him and he starts chirping as Zee runs his fingers over his back that sounds like he is saying the word “pit” and Zee looks over at Nova, “you want to pet him correct?”

“Well of course I do, it’s absolutely adorable. Do you plan to keep him or try to put him in the wild somewhere it’s warm?” She starts getting excited and Zee takes her fingers and rubs them down his back making him chirp again.

“I would love to help him get back into the wild, but it would take a long time to get there. So I guess I am going to keep him because I do not think that he would survive too much longer out here,” he keeps helping Nova pet him and he finishes the berry. They both stop petting him and he starts climbing Zee’s arm then around the collar of the jacket and over to the shoulder, “are you looking for a warm place to sit?”

The glider chirps again, “pit pit pit,” then Zee picks him up off his shoulder and slides him down into the pocket that Nova was in.

“I believe I will name you Pit, I believe it suits you perfectly,” He smiles and grabs another berry putting it in the pocket with him. Nova shrinks back down to her smaller size as Zee turns back to the cabin and waits.

“Why did you stop? We are going back to the cabin right?” She flies over and joins Pit inside the pocket.

“I was waiting on you to get back in the jacket so I would do all of walking for us,” he walks back to cabin with them both talking about random crazy stuff and arrive at it an hour later. He walks inside quietly taking his hat off hanging it on the same nail as the backpack and grabs a stiff bristled brush getting the snow off of his boots. He walks over to Vesper reaching into the saddle bags carefully so to not wake her and pulls out his old shirt that is torn up and wraps it around his hand making a little cozy nest for Pit. He takes a few of the blackberries out of the pouch putting them in the shirt then pops one into his mouth and hands one to Nova. He reaches into the pocket rubbing his hand against Nova and she giggles playfully.

“Stop it! That tickles!” She squeals with her hands over her mouth.

“Sorry I was trying to pick up Pit and put him into this shirt like a makeshift nest until I have time to make him a better one,” he feels Pit grab his fingers and he pulls him out putting him into the shirt. He crawls around then settles in laying comfortably then Zee pets him softly, “I really hope you enjoy your time with us, I would never want you to feel unwelcome or even unloved by anyone. As long as you are with me I will always love you,” he smiles petting him on the head and ears.

“Are you sure you’re a human? Because I don’t think I have ever truly seen anyone with as much love and care as you,” Nova flies out of the pocket and into the shirt with Pit snuggling up to him. He looks happy to have warmth, love, and food. Zee chuckles lightly then places the shirt in between the pillows on the bed then he takes the jacket off. He lays down pulling the covers up to his neck then he stretches the jacket out over them and it barely reaches his feet. He turns over facing Ezma and notices she is shivering a little so he carefully pulls her into his chest then fixes the jacket so it is under the covers with them. After he notices everyone is asleep and comfortable he finally closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

Zee is the first to wake up opening his eyes slowly and he looks around to see what occurred while he slept. Ezma is still in the same position, Vesper is still laying down, Nova has moved to Ezma’s neck, and Pit is laying on his head clinging to his hair. He laughs a little then he wiggles out of the bed quietly and stands up waking Pit up. They both yawn and stretch simultaneously and scratch their heads, “oh right, you have been awake all night huh? Well, you may use my head to sleep for as long as you like, but you can also use the fur jacket’s pocket or the shirt I made into a nest for you. I was going to let you stay inside the saddle bag with the other clothes and it closes up so it would be dark and you would not have to deal with any of us waking you up.” Pit chirps at him then leaps from his head gliding over to the shirt then he chirps again, “haha, I am glad you can understand me. I will give you some more berries but you will have to help me find more when we leave,” he laughs and smiles walking to the bed then he picks the shirt up and takes it to the saddle bag. Vesper wakes up feeling Zee messing with the bags and she huffs at him, “oh, I apologize Vesper. I was trying to make a comfortable nest for Pit, oh yeah!” He whispers to her and holds Pit out to her, “Vesper meet Pit, he is a sugar glider, Pit this is Vesper, she is an Ixion, a special breed of horse. We are all like a unique family here, nobody is better or beneath one another. We respect each other just like we are all family,” he smiles seeing that they were already becoming friends as if they were communicating without using verbal expression. Vesper stands up slowly and quietly then Zee rearranges the items in the bag to make it easy for Pit to move around and eat when he needs to. He cuts a small hole in the top of the bag then uses the needle and thread to make the piece of leather he cut out a door flap. He uses his fingers to test it to make sure Pit could use it to leave if he wanted, “here this flap will keep cold air out, but you can push it open with your head and get out if you need to do your business,” he smiles at him putting all but twelve of the blackberries in the saddle bag with Pit. He closes the bag then takes his coat off of Vesper. He puts it on checking the pocket for the pipe then he walks to the bed picking up his courier bag then over to the table taking the journal and pen out. He writes down the events of last night then he puts it back in the bag. He walks over to the door grabbing his hat then puts it on and removes the backpack then he takes everything over to Vesper and rearranges the contents of all of the bags to be better coordinated. He takes the bandolier out hanging it on the saddle horn then he unbuckles the side strap taking the two crescent blade kunais off setting then on the saddle. He looks back into the saddle bag searching for anything that could be used to hold the Snow Fang safely while keeping it from dragging the ground. He feels disappointment after not finding anything suitable, then he looks around surveying the cabin. The front of the saddle catches his attention when he notices two metal brackets that function as a sword holster. He brainstorms imagining removing the brackets and putting them on the back of the bandolier so he could carry Snow Fang around without worrying about it or being forced to hold it from now on. He walks over to the door retrieving Snow Fang then he executes his plan. He finishes and tests the idea putting the bandolier on then he grabs Snow Fang holding it over his left shoulder then locks it into the brackets. He looks around noticing that it followed the line of the bandolier causing it to be in a good position and off the ground. He cuts four perpendicular slits in the special kunais’ holsters, two in the top part, and two in the bottom on both of them. He reaches over to the other saddle bag and pulls a leather belt with a silver and black buckle shaped like a rectangular shield with rounded edges. He feeds the belt through the holsters using the newly cut slits making the handles face away from each other, then he puts the belt on over his coat adjusting them for easy access. He finally finishes reorganizing everything then he takes his bags to the door hanging them on the same nail as before. He walks over to the bed to get the fur jacket and he successfully pilfers it without waking either of them then puts it on. He takes his pocket watch out to see it is 09:19AM then puts it away. He pulls his pipe and tobacco packing the bowl while walking outside. The cold air greets him with a loving embrace as he takes the deepest breath filling his lungs with the oxygen rich mountain air. He lights his pipe then looks around for a moment trying to decide which direction he wanted to walk. He starts walking east surveying the area with a goal in mind while slowly smoking the sweet unique tobacco to enjoy the flavor. He spots a macassar tree that has some dead lower limbs and he heads to it as he finishes the pipe dumping the ashes out. He puts the pipe back in his pocket then he starts studying the tree and tries to come up with a strategy to acquire both of the dead limbs if they are worth keeping. Once he is at the base of the tree, he climbs up to the higher limb knocking on it which causes it to break off and hit the ground shattering like glass. He feels disappointed assuming that the other one would be the same so he climbs down to it then kicks it but it does not break. He kicks it harder but it still does not budge, so he starts kicking it repetitively until it finally breaks off bouncing off the ground proving to be worth the effort. He climbs down and studies the limb for quality; fifteen feet in length, nine inches in width, one hundred forty pounds in weight. He picks up the end that was connected to the tree knocking up and down the limb listening for hollow spots. He feels happy that he only found a spot in the bottom end a foot from the tip. He reaches to his lower back grabbing a crescent kunai and cuts the rotten part off then puts the kunai back feeling Snow Fang then he face palms his forehead realizing he could have just cut them down. He lifts the limb throwing it over his shoulder then begins to walk back to the cabin. He notices a cherry blossom tree that he did not notice while he was walking earlier and he decides to go over to check it out. When he arrives, he notices a large amount of thick sturdy branches that are around the size of a sword. He breaks off ten of the branches then he returns to his trek to the cabin.

Nova wakes up and looks around the cabin for Zee but he is not there, so she flies up off of Ezma heading to the table where Zee left them some blackberries. She eats a couple then takes two of them to Vesper sitting them on a small table next to them then she returns to the table grabbing three more. She delivers them to the table with the others and Vesper lowers her head using her teeth to pick them up quickly disposing of them. Nova flies over to the table Zee’s bags are on. She opens the courier bag to take a look noticing everything is specifically organized by some categorical system, “Zee is particularly obsessively compulsive about being organized. I bet if you asked him he would say,” she balls her fists up putting them on her hips while flexing her shoulders and pectorals imitating Zee in a mocking manner, “a place for everything and everything in it’s place,” she giggles quietly resting her body, “I can’t figure out why these humans flex their muscles all the time...”

Vesper walks up behind Nova while she is distracted with her parodies then interrupts her comment about muscles with a loud strong forced huff blowing her hair and Nimbus around.

“What the hell Vesper? Huh?” She looks at Vesper with a confused expression while trying to fix her hair, “what do you mean Zee doesn’t flex? I do not flex any of my muscles! They are just well defined just like the rest of my curves,” she grins with l**t and pride, “so you’re saying that Zee never flexes? His body is just like that naturally? Huh, amazing...”

“What ya doing?” Ezma says while yawning from the bed. Vesper and Nova both glance at Ezma curiously while both of them wonder if she can see Nova or not, “I thought you were over there,” she points to where Vesper was laying, “is Zee hiding yummy goodies in his bags or something?” They both notice that she is staring directly at Vesper and is not aware of Nova at all. Nova sighs in relief then flies over to the left saddle bag and opens the flap door Zee cut out for Pit slipping through the hole. Ezma gets up and starts shivering realizing it is really cold then lays back down covering up, “it is too cold for me, forget getting up I am going to stay right here,” she pouts while curling into a ball clenching the covers. She realizes that she fell asleep at the table and her bag was hanging on the bed post next to her and also that Zee had to have carried her to bed. She feels around her body noticing she still has all of her clothes on except shoes and gets a feeling of disappointment, “I guess it will never really happen, hey Vesper? Do you know where Zee is?” Vesper shakes her head negatively, “oh...” suddenly Zee puts the log down on the ground outside causing a loud thud interrupting Ezma. She illuminates instantly as he walks through the door, “hey! You’re back! Where did you go?” She sits up then falls back down when the cold hits her.