"I can forget that they threw eggs at me," Lirzod clenched his fist, breaking the raw egg in his hand. "But, throwing at a baby horse for fun is something hard to overlook." He stepped forward in their direction. “I don’t know where its mother is at, but if they are thinking it’s alone, then it’s not.”
“Don’t fall for their trap,” 777 warned out of worry. “They probably hurt that horse to get to you. If you go now, you’ll be giving them just what they want.”
“Then let’s give them something special that they’ll never forget,” Lirzod said and grinned as he glanced at 777, puzzling him.
The egg—thrown at the foal before—rolled on the floor and now ended up stopping at Lirzod's feet. He glanced down.
"Don't even think about it," 777 let go of the luggage cart.
"Want to throw that at us?" one of the four men stood. "Dare it if you can."
"He wouldn't dare it for a horse," 777 stepped forward and blocked Lirzod’s path. "That thing’s mother died while giving birth to it. No other horses welcomed it in their group, much less fed it. Milk is a rare thing on these lower decks, so it's fed at irregular times. Compared to everything it's going through, what four eggs did to it is nothing. We can only hope that it’ll get stronger from it. It's a pity, but that's the reality."
"Now I get why it looks so bony," Lirzod couldn't help but remember the lives of the domesticated animals of his clansmen. Most people who owned buffaloes and cows never fully fed them. Even when they gave birth, their calves weren't provided with enough milk. Things were especially worse when a drought or a famine was upon the town.
When it came to taking care of their domestic animals, his clan would rank definitely somewhere near the bottom, in the entire state. Lives and lifestyles of people came first before their pets or domesticated animals. That was why most of the Faceless clan's pets and domesticated animals would likely have their bones exposed throughout the year. The few that looked sort of healthy were the ones owned by the rich families of the clan.
Though there were a few souls like Duera, who acted differently from most others and showed concern when it was needed, their deeds didn't really change the minds of many over the years.
Lirzod picked up the egg, which startled 777.
"I'm warning you. Don't do anything silly. Once you throw it, you can’t take things back."
Lirzod pressed it a couple of times, and it felt more like rubber than an egg. "My father used to give these types of things to my mother, hoping she'd learn to control her emotions. I think that's called a Stress Ball or something, but my mother relieved her stress by throwing those stress balls back at him." He stared right at the four men with a complex expression on his face. "My father was a frightening husband. He shut my mother's mouth from just getting a spongy thing thrown at him a few times. I’ve always wished to mimic something like he did, but you guys are making me be in my mother's shoes." He lifted his hand. "I guess this one can be called a Stress Egg. One egg to crack all of your crooked characters. That makes this—one hell of an egg, don't you think?"
"Heh, try it if you can." The four men were all smiles. “But then things won’t end well for you.”
“Won’t end well, huh…” Lirzod pondered for a bit and then glanced at 777 and said in a low voice while bouncing the egg in his hand, "Take out the flashy box from the white bag."
"Flashy?" 777 was perplexed. "What for?"
"Just take it out."
"Alright, but I need—"
"Need a coin again?" Lirzod glanced sharply.
"N-No," 777 opened the white bag, and it was filled with many paper boxes, but the red one stood out. "This one?"
Lirzod nodded, and it was tossed to him. Just looking at the box, Lirzod felt strange. I told them not to put this in, but I knew they’d put it anyway. I don’t like to deceive to get things done, so I’ll try using their foolishness against them.
“What’s in it?” 777 couldn’t help but ask.
“You’ll know it soon enough,” Lirzod said as his feet reduced the distance between him and the four men.
"What's that package?" one of them asked aloud.
"Maybe he's gonna gift that to us," another guy said, which made the others laugh in a wild manner.
"So he’s finally learned his place, huh, but it's too bad,” the third guy shook his head. "We don't receive any gifts other than eggs."
"Who knows, there might be eggs in that package," the fourth guy's eyes showed expectation. Hearing his words, the remaining three licked their lips, and their mouths salivated. “Eggs from foreign lands are always a treat to taste. Are there really eggs in that package?”
"I don’t want to spoil the surprise," Lirzod's voice reached their ears. “But I think what’s in it might be useful in boiling or maybe even roasting quite many eggs. However, if you heat it for too long, it’ll blow like a badly chosen cooking stone.”
"Haha, is that so? Then bring it. We are experts in cooking eggs, after all." The four men no longer showed any hostility toward Lirzod and freed their postures. "We are always looking for tools that help us boil eggs quickly. We surely didn’t think that you would be having one of those. The world is a strange place."
"Strange place, indeed," Lirzod said with a knotty smile as he stopped before them. "Just make a bonfire and place this on it, and then place the eggs on it for a minute or so, but no longer, whether the eggs are cooked or not, got it?”
“Yes, and then we’ll be good to gorge, right?"
“Well, you guys are the expert cooks here,” Lirzod replied.
"Haha, right. Anyway, we are sorry, brother, for everything that happened," they began to apologize. "We didn't know you were so open-handed. We wouldn't have hit you otherwise."
"It's alright," Lirzod scratched his cheek. Maybe I shouldn’t give it to them. A bead of sweat dripped down his cheek. "Mistakes happen all the time, but can you guys tell me why you didn't throw eggs at Burton?"
"Burton?" the four of them were puzzled.
"Uh, I mean the guy who went before me."
"Oh, you mean the one who was with the red-haired girl."
"Yeah,” Lirzod nodded. “He's the one."
"We would have thrown at him if he was alone. Too bad that he's with a girl."
"What's the problem if he's with a girl?" Lirzod was puzzled.
"We won't throw eggs at women. That's one of the fundamental rules. If we break it, our higher-ups will break our backbones."
"Oh..." Lirzod paused a moment. "Can I take this Stress Egg with me?"
"Of course you can. We have many more of them, so feel free to take it. When you get to Spare Market on the fifteenth deck, feel free to come and ask for us ‘Four Fishers’ in any of Brandables stores."
"Uh, thanks,” As Lirzod was saying, one of the men snatched the package from him in a jiffy.
“Hehe, we’re going to put this to good use.” The four of them looked at each other before hesitantly speaking to Lirzod, "We know it's rude to open the gifts in front of the givers, so... If you leave, we will start taking care of this thing. Only if you want us to do it right now, that is."
"F-Feel free to use it any time," Lirzod said before he turned around and started to walk away. What should I do? They did something wrong, but they apologized. Should I take that thing back and make them apologize to the foal instead?
After he took a few steps, as he was still in a dilemma, something struck his back. Even though he didn’t look back, he could tell what hit him. Suddenly, three more things hit him on the back. Lirzod slowly turned back when an egg came flying and into his face and struck it hard.
777 put his hand on his face. “I knew it.”
Lirzod rubbed the egg matter off his face and looked at those four who were snickering at him.
“Sorry, brother. You left us this gift, so we had to gift you in return. No hard feelings.”
“Haha, was four enough, or you want more?”
“Pfft,” the four of them kept laughing without restraint.
Lirzod silently turned back and walked away with a rigid expression. At that time, he remembered his father’s words: Against a soft fool, try and change him; against a hard fool, turn away.
“Oh, he’s leaving?”
“Let him go. We’ve had our fun.”
“Yeah. Instead, let’s put this box to use and see how good it is.”
The four men then wasted no time in arranging necessary things to light a bonfire.
Meanwhile, Lirzod reached back to the luggage cart and took out a kilo packet of white-coated boiled grams. He tossed it to 777. "Give that to the baby horse."
“These…” 777 stared at the packet for a moment. "It's still not old enough to eat these. Do you want to kill it?"
"Those are not your ordinary grams. They are soaked in milk for seven days, which makes them highly nutritious. These are a favorite food of bovines."
"Why the heck are you carrying cattle food?" 777 got weirded out.
"It's not just for cattle."
"Oh." He nodded to himself and then quickly went and poured the entire packet in a dirty metallic bowl that lay beside the foal. Though it was hesitant at first, the smell of the food made it give a try.
777 came back to the luggage cart and grabbed its handle, then glanced at those four men once. They were busy with their current mission of building a bonfire. Lirzod was already walking away by then. 777 quickly caught up with him. "I didn't expect you'd give them a gift. So, what's in the gift box?"
"Teachings of tradition."
"Tradition?"
"Yes."
777 got lost in thought for a moment. "In the olden days, especially during the winter, people used to gather around a bonfire at dawn and have long conversations. These days, no one's using such a great way of interacting, a nice place for exchanging information. Maybe only the woodworkers and some blacksmiths still use it today. Even they are losing their traditions one by one."
"Oh, so you worry about things other than money."
"O-Of course.” 777 said and snorted. “I care about a lot of things, though money has made its way to the top of that list."
"Doesn't even have to guess."
"Yeah, keep thinking that you've read me. I can't wait for the time when I'll make you bite your own tongue for that."
In a minute, the two of them left Exterior Slice, the open area, and entered the closed cabin region. From the moment he stepped foot inside, a huge corridor with rooms on both sides caught his full attention. People could be seen coming in and going out of their rooms. “Wow… An indoor street this big? And how is it so bright in here?” he looked around in awe.
“Well, you’ve seen nothing.” 777 said with a prideful voice. “This ship is full of mysteries for mortal minds to work upon. You can say that the more puzzles and secrets you solve on this ship, the better your knowledge and perhaps even strength will have improved.”
“Oh…”
777’s words made Lirzod only to wonder even more.
Lirzod looked around in awe. Lovely lighting, whose source couldn't be easily located, extended throughout the corridor, leaving no darkness in the vicinity, except for the shadows of people and objects. “In here, it doesn’t feel like I’m on a ship anymore. I can’t even feel the movement of the ship.”
“That’s a given. Think of this ship as a world of its own. It may seem crazy, but the kids born on this ship don't even know what the sea sounds like.”
“Watch out,” Lirzod suddenly said and stopped. His head was tilted down. “Ants.” He was looking at the line of ants on the floor and then nimbly jumped over the line and then glanced back and said, “What are you waiting for? Jump.”
“O-Okay,” 777 also did the same and made sure to not step on the ants.
Lirzod then raised his hand.
“What now?” 777 had a puzzled expression.
“Clap.”
“Oh…” their hands banged each other and resulted in a clap.
“Let’s go,” Lirzod then continued walking.
777 scratched the back of his head a bit and then looked back at the ants once more before taking a breath and then following the boy. After reaching the boy’s side, he asked, “Why do you care about some ants?”
“What do you mean?” asked Lirzod.
“I mean, their lives are small, right?”
“Small, huh... Do you know of any living being that’s busier than an ant?” asked Lirzod.
“They are doing their things, but...” 777 countered, “they can be replaced.”
“Maybe, but the ants are always active and productive,” said Lirzod. “The least we can do is put them in our eyes.”
“Uh…” 777 didn’t know how to back up his words with a reply this time.
In the meantime, back in Exterior Slice.
"He said, a minute is enough." The four men were highly excited as they put the gift package on top of the bonfire. They then placed a bowl full of eggs atop the gift box. There was a metal sheet that safeguarded the wooden floor from getting blemished. Extensive Voyage's wood was of so high a quality that the bonfire wouldn't be able to burn it, but it would still leave a slight mark. Though there were special spots on the ship to light bonfires, there weren't any strict rules saying they should light them elsewhere. As long as it didn't lead to an outbreak of fire, it was allowed.
Ten seconds passed.
"Hey, do you think the eggs are boiling?" one of them put forward his doubt. “It doesn’t look like that to me.”
"Idiot, just wait a bit longer."
Tens of seconds passed.
“Hey, it should’ve been a minute. It doesn’t look like eggs are even half-boiled.”
“You seriously took his words to heart? Since when eggs boil in a minute? Let’s just wait a bit more.”
“Y-Yeah. I was having doubts, but you are right.”
"Mm, I can't wait to eat these new eggs together. It's been so long since we did this."
"Haha, yeah, it’s all thanks to that fool."
"Hmm?" one of them narrowed his eyes and intensely stared at the bonfire, especially at the cloth covering the gift box. "Hey, is it just my imagination, or... Is the fabric on fire?"
Others focused their gazes on the package. "You're right. Why is the—"
CHUUSSHH~~!!
Flares of light particles burst out of the gift package and sent the bowl of eggs flying high. All four men fell to their backs in shock. “Shit! Run!”
BA DA BANG BOOM~~!!
The gift box exploded into red flames, yellow lights scorched the wind, and crashing noise reverberated all around, alerting everyone in the vicinity of a few tens of meters. Something rose up high into the air, leaving behind some sparkles of hot and haphazard light, which combined with the spreading smoke and engulfed the four men in an instant. Their screams couldn't even be heard in the noises that repetitive exploding sounds that explosion made. High in the sky, a series of new flashes broke out—again and again—and spread incandescent gases in every direction, baking everything they touched. Sounds of glass breaking of sorts, metal clinging, gases steaming, punched their way through the walls and reached the ears that lay beyond.
The rags of fire rapidly changed colors from red to violet—all the colors of the rainbow and repeated the spectrum all over again. From far outside, it looked like crackers were lit on the ship. But there wasn't any special occasion going on.
The sparkling lights set things aflame as good as any fire, or so it seemed. More and more smoke rings rose, twisted, writhed, shape-shifted into things that appeared like living beings born to devour everything in sight. Horses were scared shitless of the smoke, and the twinkling lights that changed colors too fast further heightened their horror. Howbeit, having tied down, there wasn't much they could do other than stamp their feet on the ground for as long as they could and neigh at irregular times.
The workers nearby who were looking at the sky in awe realized it a bit late that an unnatural amount of smoke cloud gathered right underneath the twinkling lights in the sky. While a bundle of pleasant and terrible sensations sank their hearts, every other hollow who was nearby came running to the spot, where a whirlpool of horror had unfolded. They tried to pour water using buckets, but even they were afraid that some sparks would come flying at them. However, with the union of some experienced workers, the water was splashed in the spot and cracking sounds were slowly but surely stopped.
As the smoke dissipated into thin air, they all saw dark gray matter on the floor, and lying in it was the four men who had suffered numerous skin-deep wounds, but thankfully, all of them were conscious.
“T-That little runt…” one of them expressed his displeasure and disappointment even though he could barely speak through the burning sensation he felt all over his body.
"Help them! Hurry!” Men quickly brought them away from the source of explosions and began to take care of those four soon after the smoke had dissipated.
The gray-haired fat man hurriedly arrived at the spot. “Move them carefully. Give them proper first aid!" As the men were gently moved to a nearby spot, he looked at those four men again, and they weren’t crying in pain as one would expect, even though they were awake, which puzzled him, but he didn’t think too much about it and looked around. “How did this even happen?”
The bonfire or wooden logs were nowhere to be seen. The metal sheet on the floor had multiple minuscule holes drilled in it. Though many workers gave their helping hand, they were still in shock. It was hard to believe that some small package had made so much noise and smoke.
“Luckily, the blast wasn’t life-threatening.” One of the workers breathed a sigh of relief as they already started to clean the spot.
“It didn’t take their lives,” the fat man walked over and said, “but it would have very well taken their eyes.” His words startled the workers. “Don’t yet clean the place. Let’s hear out their story first. For now, just look for clues.”
“Okay.”
The fat man observed the injured men again, and after they realized that his focus was on them, they started moaning painfully. He exhaled deeply and shook his head. These punks don’t need any aid!
Stussy, on the other hand, looked a bit intrigued. “It’s like a firecracker rocket, where much of the blast happens in the sky, but then as it rises, it leaves off some simple crackers and a lot of smoke behind. The combination of crackers and smoke looks deadly, but in the end, it’s probably meant to either scare or make a fool out of someone. This is a harsh way of embarrassing, even for my taste.”
A few minutes later.
It took longer than the workers thought to give the first-aid because the four men didn’t stop howling, for the fat man was watching over the procedure. After cooling down the bodies of the four men with lukewarm water for more than fifteen minutes, things looked a little better. Those four were taken away with care as per the order of the fat man.
Things have calmed down, but the horses were still restless.
At the top of the figurehead, Stussy, who sat in a laid-back manner on the wood itself, glanced back at the horses most of which were still at unrest, and her eyes stopped at the foal, which was the only horse that ate regardless of what was happening around it.
"Hunger creates wonders." Stussy peered back in the direction of the shore and was able to see through the fog, and most of the people left the shore, except for the three clan heads. "Those three... There's something odd about them. I wonder how such a small clan as this managed to get the entrance tickets. If their young ones succeed, this clan deserves a song, definitely."
The winds picked up the musical instruments, and all—except for drums—were afloat. "For now, though, let's strain the air for the foal and all the lonely lives of the world..."
Melodies flowed from all the instruments in a synchronized manner, and their resultant tune amplified and reached the ears of all the horses and lowered their heartbeats in a matter of moments. The violin string vibrated and produced sound waves that merged well with the waves of the flute and formed a great pattern. The wind instrument even furthered the amplification.
When the horses' feet began to tap on the floor in sync to the musical notes, the nearby workers had smiles on their faces, and they danced in their own fashion and tapped like they were masters in dancing.
“Oi, what happened to our treatment?” the four men from Egg Diggers guild were on the verge of crying, for no one tended their wounds at the moment.
Amidst all that, sourced from Stussy, a melancholic yet mesmerizing voice charged the air and overshadowed every other action around.
If you're in pain, you're not alone;
If you're in a long chase, you're not alone;
If you've wasted years of life, you're not alone;
If your future is in doubt, you're not alone;
If nobody helps you, you're not alone;
If nothing seems to work, you're not alone;
If the world seems to be crushing you, you're not alone;
If you feel like a broken thing, you're not alone;
If you're at your limit, you're not alone;
If you wish to sleep forever, you're not alone;
If you don't want to be alone, you're not alone;
When you commit mistakes, you're not alone;
When you can't find peace, you're not alone;
When you're walking a lonely road, you're not alone;
When you're in your own head, you're not alone;
When you're smiling alone, you're not alone;
When you're alone, you're not alone."
By the time her voice came to a halt, the horses were jumping around as if they had two tails. They were all over the moon, and even the foal jumped about and used its newly generated energy to lift its front legs high into the air while neighing at the top of its lungs.
A few moments later, the melody stopped.
Just the voices of the horses and the men remained in the air, for their hearts were still filled with effervescence.
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