Chp.41: Talking under the stars

By the time the sky began to get dark, everyone had settled down. The adventurers had started cooking the food, the slaves had positioned themselves a little away from loor and were doing the same, and the adventurers and the strange fellow who had accidentally come within range of the portable gate were helping the slaves. Haku still didn't figure out who he was, but judging by how Maldor looked at him, assume it was an ally of his or something... and judging by his angry look, surely the two of them would have had a very heated argument very soon . However, at least for the moment, Maldor had other things to think about, as well as all the others: the seventeen dragons had in fact positioned themselves on a nearby hill and were in turn celebrating the success of their plan and the return of their lost brother.

Haku didn't remember ever having so much fun. Their party had been very simple: they had just eaten together, told a few jokes and played some of the games invented by Darbi (who among other things had taken the opportunity to teach them how to play cards, which had brought them a lot sneaking away from the dormitory by hiding them in the body of his avatar); nothing new, in short, since they had enjoyed themselves in that way on other occasions too. However, for the first time, Haku had let himself go. In the past he would have stood aside, occasionally giving his siblings a loving smile, because he believed that his duty was to make sure everything was going well and think about the next move. This time, however, he didn't even try to think for a moment, and on the contrary limited himself to having fun with the others. After being separated from them for so long, he wasn't about to do anything else. After all, a single night of leisure certainly couldn't hurt someone, could it?"

So he just had fun. What happened that night was saved in his memory as some of his happiest memories. He remembered Sisna's farts after he had won for the umpteenth time in a game and Rhaegal's furious face, which, however, despite the manifest anger was still serene and amused. He remembered Darbi jumping on him from behind and inviting him to play wrestling, and he for once instead of answering that he was stupid had accepted that bizarre amusement... at least until his brother had beaten him with the help of Corgorin who she had leapt into the fray and sat on his head. And he remembered the laughter that everyone had emitted when he, in revenge for the shame suffered, had thrown a ball of mud at Darbi's head, starting a real battle of mud balls, which initially seemed like a game of factions but then it turned into a free-for-all with no holds barred.

All in all, it was a nice evening. One of the most beautiful that Haku had ever lived. He had to admit that it was really nice, from time to time, to forget about all the problems they had and just think about having fun with his family.

The dragons concluded their party by going to take a bath in the river under the wonderful starry sky. In the distance, the fires that the gladiators had lit could be clearly seen, but Haku preferred to stay in the dark. After all, it had been more than a year since he had seen the stars. The only time he'd had a chance to look at them had been when he'd left king Marcus's party the day before Darbi infiltrated the arena, but this time he hadn't had time to stop and take a good look at them. Now, however, he could spend hours staring at those little globes of light that studded the night sky. It was also a moonless night, so the stars were even more evident.

"You're suddenly interested in the stars?" Rhaegal asked, swimming towards him (or rather, walking, since where they had gone to bathe the river was so shallow that they could touch the bottom with their paws).

Haku snorted. "I didn't have many opportunities to see them in the prison where I was before. And now that I see them again, I must say that they are really beautiful"

All of them lifted their muzzles and looked up at the starry sky. Their eyes got lost in that immense sea of ​​luminous and flickering dots of such variable dimensions and colors. "It's actually really nice" Kotaru commented. "What do you think are the stars?"

"I'm sure they're fireflies that flew too high and stuck up there!" Tikka answered.

"In my opinion, instead, they are fires! Well, look how they flicker!" Finiar said.

"But fire needs fuel. If stars are fires, how can they burn forever without fuel?" Malchia asked.

"Maybe they have fuel! They have so much that they burn for hundreds of thousands of years!" Teramon exclaimed. "Maybe we can't see it because the sky is black at night, but the stars have huge amounts of coal stuck to the sky! In fact, maybe that's why the sky is black at night! Because it's made of coal!"

"Come on, that's ridiculous! If the sky were made of coal, wouldn't it fall on our heads? And why, if the stars are fires and the sky is coal, wouldn't they expand and burn up all the fuel, instead of just standing in one spot?" Maleficent rightly asked.

"Maybe it's not coal. Maybe it's some flammable gas" Sisna tried to say. "Can you imagine? Maybe stars are just huge balls of gas that burn over thousands of years, but they're so far away that they seem tiny to us!"

The dragons went on speculating for a while, until Darbi said: "Okay, I'm tired of thinking! Maldor, you're the one in the family who went to school. What are stars?"

Maldor blushed slightly at being called upon. "Well... according to the model currently considered valid by the newcomers, the stars are crystals that revolve around the world and reflect the sunlight. They were placed there by the gods to accompany the moon in its circle and illuminate the night. Sometimes however the moon disturbs their circle and they fall from the sky"

"Wait, can the stars fall?" Darbi, Corgorin and Malchia exclaimed in unison, and all the others also gaped in amazement.

"Well, yes. It's rare, but it happens. When they do, they're called shooting stars. They whiz across the sky in seconds and you have to be very lucky to spot one" Maldor explained. "However, if the falling star is particularly large, then it may happen that it doesn't fall immediately, but it remains in the sky for some time. During this period it is possible to recognize it by a long luminous tail. The newcomers call them comets. Some of them are so bright that they can outshine the moon"

The other dragons let out a sigh of amazement. The world was truly full of amazing things. Who knows if sooner or later they too would have ever glimpsed a comet...

They remained immersed in the river for a long time, then Haku decided that it was time to address the issue. "Guys... I... I think we need to talk"

Everyone turned to him. They looked surprised, but from their looks Haku immediately understood that they expected that conversation would come up sooner or later. "First of all, I want to thank you" he began. "All of you, without exception. I never would have escaped if it weren't for you. And I want you to know that I think you were extraordinary. You pulled off an incredible plan. You have shown me how much I underestimated you. You are so much more amazing than I foolishly thought"

"Well, at least you know now" Sisna laughed throwing some water in his face. "Remember this the next time one of us proposes you something"

Haku sighed. "That's exactly what I wanted to tell you about. I… I owe you an apology" he said. "I have behaved very badly towards you, and there is no excuse for my actions this time. I have foolishly placed myself on a pedestal and thought it my duty to control you, when in reality we are family and we should all consider ourselves equal. I ignored your concerns, your suggestions, your ideas. I didn't give you the value you deserved. And I also… did something else" he said, looking at Rhaegal, without going into specifics. "I realize that I was an idiot, but I also know that this won't make it up to me. I don't know what will be enough, I… I'm not good at this stuff. All that I can do is promise you that I will never again try to impose your decisions. That from now on I will listen to everything you have to say to me and that I will accept your decisions, whatever they are. So... let's trust each other again, do you agree?"

Nobody said anything for a while. Haku didn't know what to do, so he kept quiet and waited. Tikka was right: it really sucked to apologise. The situation remained like this for nearly two minutes, to the point where tension could be felt palpably in the air. And it didn't look like anyone was going to talk anytime soon. But then suddenly Darbi asked: "Excuse me, am I the only one who feels terribly embarrassed?"

Incredibly, that was just what was needed to break the ice. Even though it wasn't exactly a joke, everyone burst out laughing, including Darbi himself and even Haku. It was strange, those words weren't funny, yet everyone was laughing. And suddenly, the tension in the air seemed to vanish as quickly as it had come. "Well, I guess we can actually try to give you another chance" Sisna said when she could stop laughing. "But know that I'll hold it against you for my life that my idea of ​​talking to newcomers worked!"

"Not always" Finiar whispered in her ear.

"You shut up!" Sisna growled as she flushed with embarrassment. "The one of the adventurers was a single case! In most other cases my method worked!"

Haku felt his heart warm at those words. "Really? Are you... seriously ok with this?"

"We've spent too much time apart to still be angry with you" Kotaru replied, with everyone else's assent. "And then, after this experience, I'm sure you'll be more willing to listen to the advice of others"

"And to not have secrets at least with your own family" Tikka added.

Haku sorry. "I... don't know what to say. Thanks guys"

"Don't worry. And by the way, don't think it's over yet" Sisna said. "It's not us the ones you need to apologize to"

Haku didn't understand at first, but then he saw that his sister's eyes were fixed on Rhaegal. His brother didn't seem very happy about this, and in fact immediately tried to divert the subject: "There's no need to apologize further. I also agree with..."

"Instead there's a need" Sisna stopped him, before getting out of the water. "Come on, sisters, let's go away. Let the boys discuss"

Her sisters nodded immediately and swam for shore, then exited the river and shook off the water. In the end they were all out except Rhaegal, Darbi and Haku. "Darbi, you too. Come with us" Kotaru said.

"But I'm a boy" Darbi protested. "I have the right to participate in this chat! You said so, let the boys talk!"

"Darbi, it was just a figure of speech. We have to leave these two alone. They need to talk. In private" Kotaru explained.

Darbi tried again to protest. "But they might need an intermediary. After all, they have..."

"Oh, come with us now!" Corgorin exclaimed impatiently grabbing him by the horns and dragging him out of the river.

The dragons quickly go away, leaving Rhaegal and Haku alone. The two looked into each other's eyes, feeling very uncomfortable. It was clear that neither of them wanted to have this discussion, but after all it was something they had to do sooner or later.