Strike wandered around anxiously on the streets of Destiny City at twilight, the sky rapidly darkening to a practically luminescent blue. Though the 10-year-old looked left and right, nothing was looking familiar. He was sure he had come that way before, but the long shadows and lack of proper light made it difficult to recognize the same path he had traversed by day.
When his mother had sent him to go pick something up from a store, he had jumped at the chance to please and impress her. He hadn't considered how long it might take him, how far away the store might have been, or how he might not have been able to find his way back on his own once it started to get dark. He hadn't thought to bring his phone because he had thought it would only have been a quick trip, but now he was sorely regretting it. What was he going to do?
Feeling lost, scared, and hopeless, Strike kept walking in the general direction he thought his home to be and did his best to hold in his tears.
The shy little boy wanted to curl up in a corner somewhere and cry, but he also thought about how his mother would be getting more disappointed by the minute that he was taking so long to bring her her order from the store. He was supposed to be able to be more independent rather than clinging to her and his father all the time.
Perhaps eventually they would come to find him...maybe...but how long would that take and what kind of mood would his parents be in after he caused them the trouble of having to come track him down?
"Hey, kid," Hanako called out a reasonable distance behind. "I think this snake wants to play fetch with you. Could you humour it for a bit?"
A snake reared up tall next to Hana with a stick in its mouth.
Strike startled when he heard a voice call out behind him and turned around. What he saw caused him to blink quizzically, unsure what he was seeing. Was that actually a snake with a stick in its mouth?
"...'Play'?" he repeated uncertainly. "Like...fetch? Like a dog...?"
"Yeah, just start waving your hand frantically like this, she'll come get you." Hana used his own forearm to wave - though it looked more rigid than a friendly wave.
"Wh-what if she comes to try to eat me, though?" he asked nervously, though he still did as he was told and tried to wave his fore arm a bit stiffly.
"You? You think you're that small?" He laughed as the snake slithered towards the kid, dropping a stick near his foot. "Oh please, she's not interested in anything larger than a hand. I think she might be insecure about her fangs. C'mon, throw the stick somewhere!"
"She might eat my hand...?" Strike asked fearfully. Still, he eventually reached down and picked up the stick, watching the snake the whole time warily before tossing the small piece of wood.
"What? That's not what I s-" He stopped as the other threw the stick.
The snake didn't even look at the stick. Instead, she kept staring at the kid.
The boy withdrew a little, looking scared.
Hankao scratched the back of his head. "Uh, maybe she's buffering. Here, try again." He threw the kid another stick, unsure where, exactly, it landed.
Strike was too focused on the snake to notice the stick until it hit him in the head. "Ow!"
He picked up the stick and tried to throw it hard away from him. "Um...go on...girl...?"
The snake looked at the stick slowly before slithering towards it, picking it up and bringing it back to the kid. She noticeably dropped it much closer to the kid's feet that time before staring back at him again.
"Oh, see?!" Hanako laughed. "I think she wants you to do it again."
Strike watched with a tentative fascination as the snake slithered toward the stick he had thrown, picked it up, and brought it back to him. It - she - really was like a dog who played fetch. He began to smile at the hilarity of it. For a short time, his concerns about his parents and being lost seemed to have become forgotten.
"Good girl!" he praised her as she dropped the stick much closer to him. The blond child picked up the stick again and waited until he was sure her attention was fully on him before tossing it again.
"Did you teach her how to do this?" Strike asked the black-haired young man. He could only assume the guy was the snake's owner.
"Oh yeah, had her since she was a teeeny tiny noodle. Started with her having a weird obsession with bringing back sticks so I thought I'd make use of it to impress the ladies." He shrugged, taking a step closer. "You know, I usually charge kids per stick throw," he teased as he walked closer.
Meanwhile, his snake continued playing fetch and dropped the stick closer to the kid's feet again.
Strike giggled a little at imagining the large snake before him as a tiny one the size of a noodle. It was even funnier imagining that noodle trying to play fetch with people. "She's cute," he said, but then stiffened and stood up straighter when the stranger told him he usually charged per stick throw.
"I'm sorry! Um...how much is it?" the kid asked. "I don't have much money with me right now...but maybe I can pay you back later...?" He suddenly looked very frightened again, as if the taller man might hit him.
"Oh gosh, no, don't tell her that, she'll get her ego boosted!" he jested. He noticed the other's mood switching like a ball in a game of ping pong. He sighed and crouched down, trying to make it so that the other no longer needed to look up at him. "Oh boo, kid. I don't really know if I can trust you'll do that when we just met. But I do know one thing that might be able to get you to pay back your debt equivalent of two sticks thrown..." He pretended to ponder. "Not sure if you're up for it, though..."
Strike still remained tense, but his body language seemed to ease up a bit when the young man crouched down and then a little more when he said he knew something that might have allowed him to pay him back.
"You do?" he asked. "Wh-what is it...?"
"Close your eyes and hold out your hand. Count to 10."
The blond kid looked perplexed, but nervously closed his eyes and held out his hand, counting to ten as he fought the urge to open his eyes out of fear and unease.
Hanako thought the kid was an idiot before waving back at his snake, Cu Sith, to come back. While the kid was on his 8th count, he would feel a tentative, scaly head pushing gently against his palm.
"..."
The boy gasped in the middle of his count and almost opened his eyes, but didn't. "Wh-what's that?!"
The young man snickered. "Nu-uh - go back to counting and no peeking~"
Strike nervously continued to count down, but stayed very, very still.
"Annnddd...that's 10 seconds. Don't move your hand, but open your eyes~"
His snake was nuzzling her flat head against the boy's palm.
"Woahhhh, well would you look at that~? You know what this means, don't you?"
Strike opened his eyes slowly and gaped at the reptile nuzzling his hand.
He started to smile, but then looked nervously at Hanako. "...This costs even more money...?"
Hanako laughed out loud at that. Man, kids were so funny sometimes. "That you're the chosen one, silly! Don't you read any fairytales or cartoons about them? This snake sniffs out someone that has an unfinished quest and its our - as in, the snake's and my job - to guide you through that quest!" he lied smoothly with an unapologetic smile. "Just how many snakes do you know that are willing to do this to a kid they just met? She has powers, I'm telling you.
So, hero - quest-doer - he-who-is-destined-for-great-things, what's your main quest right now?"
Strike still looked somewhat clueless. He didn't really get to read fairytales or watch cartoons because his parents wouldn't let him. But did being 'the chosen one' meant this cute snake had chosen him for something? Oh...an unfinished quest? Well, that was true. Then the man must have really known what he was talking about to realize that Strike really had an unfinished quest. Or his snake was really smart. Or both. If the man said she had powers, then she definitely must have. Strike gazed first at the man and then the snake in awe.
"Um...I'm...supposed to get back home, but...I don't know which way it is anymore," he explained, all his despair from before trickling back to him. But then he remembered the man and his snake. Surely they would help him accomplish his 'quest', wouldn't they...? "Do you think you...might be able to help me...?" He knew his address, at least, even if not how to physically get there.
"Well, see, that's what I'm here for, silly. I can't leave a hero without any help on their quest. That's like...defying natural laws of the world." He shrugged as he stood up, patting off dust off his pants. "Relax, it's normal for even the bravest heroes not to know everything. That's what people like me as for. A hero's quest can't be complete without someone else's help. Yes, of course we can help. Where are you heading to?"
"You're...not a hero yourself?" Strike asked. He sure seemed like it, coming to Strike's rescue in the nick of time.
When Hanako asked, the child recited his memorized address easily.
He waved his hand as if dismissing the notion. "Oh, no, no, there's a specific criteria for heroes. They got journeys to make, friends to make, and aid to request, get chosen or something. I am what you call an N.P.C. I have no journeys, no interest in friends, and no help needed to achieve my goals when I can just do it myself. I'm just kinda...here. Does that make sense, sir hero?"
Hanako listened to the address, pulling out his phone and typing it on it again. "Hm. Not that far. I know the place. C'mon then. Let's hurry up and finish this quest. And while we walk, you can tell me what sort of hero you think you are."
The kid stared at the young man in bewilderment. He was somewhat afraid to say he didn't understand, so he simply did not answer.
Soon, his hero or ally or NPC or whatever kind of savior he was had looked up his address on his phone and said he knew the place. Strike's eyes suddenly lit with hope and joy. He wouldn't be lost forever after all!!
"But...you were the one who saved me," he said in a small voice as he reached out as if to ask to take the stranger's hand. Then he realized what he was doing and quickly withdrew it. His own parents didn't like it when he held their hands, so why would this stranger? He could walk just fine on his own anyway. As long as he knew where to go. Hand-holding was for babies.
"Yeah, well...if it makes you feel better, an NPC like me will forget any of this happened once the quest is complete. That's just how NPCs work. One of the things that make a hero is the recognition and glory you get after finishing a quest or helping others. That's just sliiightly different with NPCs," he laughed, though it died down as the other reached out to hold Hanako's hand. He looked passive for a moment, as if thinking, before he bent down to grab another stick, holding one end and moving the other closer to the kid. "Here, help me hold the other end of this. It helps the snake follow us and be focused on the quest. It gets distracted often. Having a stick held like this helps from what I know."
Cu Sith stared, unblinking, between the kid and the stick.
"Um...okay..." Strike answered. Still, even if the guy forgot him, he would still remember the guy. He wished he knew his name so he could thank him properly, but if the guy hadn't given it already, then maybe he didn't want Strike to know it.
When the black-haired man gave him the end of a stick to hold, Strike smiled and took it gratefully. At the explanation regarding the snake, he giggled, watching her keep an eye on it. "She's funny."
Soon they were in front of Strike's house and he was just about ready to run to the front door when he remembered his parents would probably be really angry with him for taking so long. That and he owed the man still for throwing the stick for his pet snake.
He turned to the man. "Um...thank you for helping me get here...on my quest," he said, fiddling with the edge of his shirt. "But how much was throwing the stick for your snake?"
He laughed along and nodded as the kid mentioned the snake being funny.
"Hm?" Hanako looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. "OH! Right! The payment. Well, don't worry about it; you get a Hero discount. If anything, you're the one that should be paid now," he snickered, crouching down again. "Another rule for heroes is that they get something for being brave and completing a quest. So what would be something you want as a reward now, hero?" He set the stick aside.
"I gotta just be straight - I did not bring my wallet, and this is more like a, 'we gotta discuss and negotiate' sort of reward. But I'll try my best, okay? And next time you can hope the next NPC you come across is a lot more generous than I am."
Strike's eyes went wide. Him? Get a reward for completing the quest? Even though he failed the first time to do it on his own and had to get help? But this man said heroes were supposed to get help...so maybe that was okay.
He wanted to express how immensely grateful he was to the stranger, but didn't know how. It was a shame. But maybe if he had something else, Strike could figure out how to pay him and his cute snake back later.
He smiled shyly when he realized what to ask for. What he wanted most. "Um...am I...allowed to know your name?"
"My name? That's it? You could ask for something more. Who knows if $30 is going to magically appear under that rock near your house there in a few days. That's going to get you a lot of friends in school, you know."
The blond kid looked surprised. How did the man know he wanted friends? He really must have been very smart. And he had helped Strike so much already, but instead of asking for payment, he was giving payment. There was no way Strike could ask for his money. Unless...maybe his name was asking for too much?
"You don't want me to know your name? Did I ask for something bad?" Strike inquired, looking worried. The last thing he wanted was to make trouble for his savior. "I know you said you had no interest for friends...but...I thought if I at least got your name...I could pay you and your snake back later."
"Well- I'm not saying it's bad. Just - not what I would say if I was your age and I was given a chance for a reward." He shook his head and laughed. "Very well, then. A name, right? That's what you want as a reward?"
"Well...I wanted to know your name," Strike tried to clarify. His father had taught him before how he could pay for mistakes if he wasn't clear about his intentions in his communication.
Hanako blinked but laughed, sincerely amused. "Right, right- my name, a thing that people call me by and something for you to remember me by even when I forget this interaction, yeah?"
The blond child thought for a bit before nodding. That seemed clear enough.
"My NPC Name is Paapa MacaroOni. People once called me Mac."
Strike blinked. That...didn't sound like a real name to him somehow. But maybe there were people actually named like that and he didn't know it. He would have to find out more about that 'NPC' stuff. Maybe his parents would know.
"Oh. Okay." He beamed. "Thank you, Paapa MacaroOni. I'll do my best to pay you back some day. And your snake." He smiled at her once more before offering the stick back to the NPC man.
Oh, okay, he was satisfied with that. What a weirdo. "And thank you- tiny hero for being brave enough to finish your quest." He'd attempt to ruffle the kid's blonde hair briefly before standing up. He shook his head at the stick. "Nah - you keep it. Let it be like a reminder that you succeeded in your quest today. Alright, me and snake are going to go off to find more heroes to help with. You're good by yourself after this, Hero?"
The boy blushed when he was thanked, praised, and had his hair ruffled. When he was told to keep the stick, he held it close to his chest like it was the most precious and dearest possession he owned. And when he was asked if he was good by himself, Strike nodded enthusiastically. He wanted the NPC man and his snake to go be able to help other heroes after all. It wouldn't have been good to hold them up.
"Bye," he said softly as he waved and watched them go, staying until he could no longer see them. He wasn't really looking forward to going inside after being out for so long, knowing his mother would have probably thought he had been fooling around and wasting time by playing. But maybe if he explained about the snake and the NPC man and how he was a chosen one to be a hero, maybe she would be proud of him. Maybe.
Taking a deep breath, Strike clung to the stick for strength as he went inside with his mother's things to deliver them to her at last.
flowykid
((The End))
