Chapter 3

The morning chime rang. I woke up with quick eyes, ready for the day. I turned my head over toward the bed beside me. It was empty; along with the room. 

I could hear chattering coming from outside. I lifted myself and put on my clothing. I walked out of the room to be met by yelling. 

"You were supposed to protect him!" 

Blue was screaming down to Skip who was sitting at the kitchen table. I looked to my right and saw Alice holding White in her paws, small droplets running down past her whiskers. 

Blue stomped toward Skip. Skip held his face strong, showing no emotion to the tantrum. 

"Black… Black won't even look…" 

Blue slammed his fist into the table. He mumbled out tears and snot that soaked into the helmet like a napkin. 

Blue turned back toward me. His arms were shaking. I took my attention to Skip who sat there silently. His glare was pressed against Blue's back. Skip's ears twitched toward the direction of the door. I changed my attention immediately as the door cracked open. 

In walked the boy in Black. The first thing I noticed was his shoulders. They slouched down as if they were exhausted. His clothes were darkened by dirt stains. His helmet tilted down toward the floor. The buttons avoided contact with everyone in the room. 

Blue marched straight past Skip and came face to face with Black. I could feel the anger pierce through the floorboards we stood upon. 

Blue took his hand and reached it down to Black's. Blue's hands shook uncontrollably compared to the completely silent palms that belonged to Black, even though they were covered in dark stains. As soon as their skin touched, Black flung his arm into the sky in retaliation. 

Blue watched as Black walked back out the door, slamming it behind him. Blue's buttons peered at his palm in silence. Each finger curled into a fist as he mumbled out toward Skip. 

"This is all your fault, fucker." 

Blue marched to the bedroom. I could hear his grunts of anger flying through the room. The tension was intense. I felt the burden held over Skip's shoulders, even if his still and strong facial expression tried to wipe it away. The silence was brief, but Skip decided to speak up. 

"White. Take our friend and go check if the carrots in the East field are ready to harvest." 

I turned to White, who was still being held on to by Alice. White nodded his little helmet up and down. I slowly followed him out the front door. My eyes were dragged back by Skip's glance. It gave me shivers. His glance was far stronger than mine. 

The white void greeted my eyes for another day. White and I had the same idea. We both immediately searched around for any sign of Black. White ran ahead of me as I bounced my eyes around the field. I couldn't see anything but green stems that needed to be pulled. I turned to see White's arm waving me down. I quickly hopped to my toes and trod the cold dirt toward him. 

I followed his arm to a pointing finger which was in the direction of a boy lying beneath the carrot line. As we approached, I could see his neck twitch his head in our direction. 

"I am here and alive. Is that not enough for you guys to leave me alone?" 

White shot down into the dirt and wrapped his arms around Black. 

"SHUT UP, JERK!" 

Black was so startled he couldn't react to such a pounce. I stood above them, not too sure of what to do. 

"I was scared you weren't going to come home too." 

I could hear that White was about to tear up. It warmed my heart a bit to see such brotherly love. Though I knew I didn't deserve to feel that way. They don't know me any better than I know them, so I don't deserve any privileges like brotherly love. 

"I am glad to be home too." He returned the hug to White. I could feel something was suddenly off. I couldn't pinpoint what caused it, but the way Black was holding himself together wasn't right. 

They both stood at their feet. White wiped the top of his helmet to soak in snot and tears. White then jumped up and exploded with energy. 

"I should tell Blue he is a jerk for talking to you so mean. You stay right here while I go beat him up." 

White childishly ran through the field. I couldn't help but let a giggle out from the strange interaction. But Black stood silently in front of me. 

"I need you to protect them for me while I am gone." 

Was the air always this quiet? I felt every muscle of mine tense up when I heard those words. 

"Why is that?" 

A small moment of silence was met with a sigh. Black then threw his hands to his hips and started to stretch. 

"I didn't get the carrots to the shrine. I dropped them, so Skip is sending me back when the next windchime echos." 

Is that so? 

"What are Shadows?" I asked. 

 I wanted to know what it was. What were the things that scared them all into the house when the chimes went off? What causes Skip to wield a sword on his hip? 

Black chuckled. 

"They are death."