Oiling

As Jonas slowly opened his eyes, his body was as cold as one would be when sleeping outside, although he was fortunate to have the lamp Mendo brought with him as he was able to find thicker firewood at night, therefore making the fire burn until the first few rays of light broke through the treetops once again. He quickly wiped the dirt of off his prosthesis as he put it on again.

Jonas woke up before Mendo did as he didn't get much sleep to begin with, Mendo on the other hand instantly fell asleep after taking the first few puffs of the joint Jonas offered him. The reason he even had weed on him was that it helped him to experience what it was like to forget temporarily. It was only natural that he wanted to shut off for a while after everything he experienced yesterday.

The fresh morning had especially clear air he wasn't used to breathe, as Stuttgart's air was polluted with stuff like Nitrogen dioxide. Jonas once read in a magazine of the air pollution but never really looked into it too much, he just needed to know that it was bad to not like it.

Jonas stood up and looked on his wrist were a pretty watch was sitting, but to his dismay it seemed to have gotten broken somehow as it's display was stuck showing the time 2:30 am. He looked at the broken watch for quite some time with a complex expression on his face.

He thought it was time to finally wake up Mendo who comfortably slept like a baby on the hard ground of the weird dirty gravel road. Oddly enough Mendo looked like he was used to sleeping on the hard ground, but then again he walked such a big distance without even considering something like a vehicle. As Jonas was still quite confused as to where he was, he didn't know if this place even had cars, why would the guy walk all the way if there was one available that could get him to Fontechia in a matter of maybe 20 to 30 Minutes. Jonas put the thought of where he was to the back of his head as he tried to remember random knowledge as that was how he would ignore problems. He walked over to the sleeping Mendo and lightly kicked him with his right leg which was the one that had the prosthesis. All of a sudden Mendo sprung up, going for his cotton bag to get a rough looking short sword out of it. Jonas, who was so surprised that he jumped back a bit, was unable to even move from the spot as he was to stunned from the quick reaction his counterpart just demonstrated.

"ehh... it's just me, no need to worry" Jonas was clearly nervous as he saw the sharp blade Mendo held. The short sword he was holding looked wholly weird as its shape wasn't straight or slightly curved like most swords were, but instead the curve was Horizontal instead of vertical. The curve it had lay at an 140 degree angle, its sides were quite dull which lay in stark contrast to it's top, which looked like a normal sword tip, except that it's sharpness was outstandingly sharp almost like a razor. It also had a weird looking stone impeded into its middle which shined a dull yellowish grey.

Mendo quickly realized that the thing that interrupted his sleep wasn't in fact a beast but the weird looking man he met yesterday night. Mendo clearly remembered his first impression of him, that being the weird guy camping in the middle of the Fontechien trading road who rudely punched his greeting fist away. He had weird clothing on, which looked like neither leather nor cotton, not even wool clothing looked as weird as his shiny black jacket. Mendo also got surprised that the guy actually wasn't that bad, but he seemed really confused not even knowing where he was, all the while standing in the middle of the gigantic Gratpein forest which es roads were especially tricky as one could easily get himself lost on them. He even had a weird tool which created fire instantly and weird paper sticks that made one think funny. Mendo just couldn't put the guy into any role as he was just so uncommon.

"Oh shit, sorry for that... thought you were some weird beast trying to gnaw on my leg, that happens often if you camp outside" Mendo said while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Shortly thereafter he put his weird sword into the rope which he wore around his waist. The little sword dangled around his waistline as he slowly got up and put his bag onto his back, but he suddenly got asked a weird question by the appropriately weird man. In his opinion, the man was one of the few men who could ask him weird questions, as he firmly believed that only weird people were allowed to ask weird questions.

"Hey, you have some oil or something on you? i only need a bit so we can start to finally get somewhere else" The man named Jonas asked, confusing him even more. "Why would you need that to start?" Mendo inquired. 'No one needs plant oil to get his legs to move' he thought. The weird man looked at him with an amused face. "You wanna see? but if i show you tell me you wont regret it" He chuckled. The answer to his questions somehow unnerved him. Why would he regret the answer? This questions intrigued Mendo, in an obscure way he wanted to know it even more now. Mendo had some plant oil in his bag he got from the village of Cercico as he traded some goods there, but he would rather use that oil for cooking and the likes. With a slight sweat on his forehead Mendo answered, swishing over his short, grey hair as he was incredibly nervous, "Y-Yes of course i wan't to know what you'll do with my oil! I don't wan't you to, like, drink it or something, I don't know!".

'Crap! that sounded hostile' Mendo thought, hating himself for being to curious. The weird man on the other hand didn't really care about it and just said, "Don't worry, im not gonna drink fucking oil, im not a psychopath, but i'll show you why i need it." As Jonas ended his sentence, he sat on the ground, put his hands to the area below his knee, and made a weird push movement. Mendo was surprised to hear a weird clicking noise as the man with the name Jonas did some weird movements around his leg.

Suddenly, his "leg" slid off of his knee, revealing that the leg he had thought to be there was just a weird iron contraption. There were several weird iron spirals installed on it that seemed to squeak and screech quite a bit in an annoying noise which he wouldn't be able to tolerate for even a minute. The man with the weird beard looked at the contraption with a worried expression saying, "These springs are made out of iron and don't seem to appreciate the high humidity and coldness of this forest, so they're starting to make weird noises. I don't want them to rust and eventually break, i mean, how should i explain to my insurance how they broke?" the man was still looking at the iron leg, which Mendo decided to call it, with quite the worried look. Mendo intentionally ignored the weird words he couldn't understand as he was able to ask about them later, but what mattered to him most was that Jonas apparently really was in need for the oil, but he still didn't know what exactly he wanted it for.

"E-Ehh... i think i get the point of you not being able to walk, buuut... what exactly would you need the oil for? I can't give you the whole bottle just so you'll smear the whole iron leg full of it, and that's not even mentioning that i still need the oil for my little sister". Mendo now looked worried as well. He wasn't the kind of person who could willingly leave somebody who he could help alone, something which he often had to do due to circumstances.

Jonas looked at the man. He could understand that the other guy didn't wan't to give his things to some random stranger he only met a day ago. He was quiet for a few seconds before answering, this time looking at the man while showing him the parts he needed the oil for, "Ok look, this springs here are what help me move in the prosthetic for long periods of time, so if they rust or break, i won't be able to move with them for more then ten minutes, but if i put a little oil between the springs, they move smoother and it prevents them from rusting. As for the amount, i would maybe need about this much" He held his left hand up and showed with his index finger and thumb the amount of oil he needed. Mendo instantly looked more relaxed as his facial expression looked relieved, Jonas suspected that Mendo thought he would use half of his oil reserve.

"Well, i can give you that much for free, but i hope you understand that if you need to oil that weird spring thingy more then this then i want some money" A reasonable request as Mendo thought, and Jonas seemed to agree in a nod. After a few minutes of oiling both of the got ready to slowly start the little journey