Joss fumbled with the embroidery he had ‘stolen’ from William; “I’ve heard that if you crush a spirit stone, it will turn into liquid form and you’ll be able to drink it! Just like this”. Joss cupped his hands and pretended to take in the invisible juice.

Then he continued, “By doing so, the spirit can be obtained. It’s said to increase the consumer’s life expectancy and make a leap in one’s refinement of the spirit!.. It’s some really amazing stuff!”. Having said all this, Joss began feeling vexed and jealous, at the one who got to obtain them all in the end.

Joss glanced at the girls, to see if they were affected by talks of such power. He was surprised to see, that both of them were frustrated over something. “At the time both clans sought to improve themselves; either through warfare or culture. And thus, it didn’t take long before distrust was spread amongst them, during their many collective feasts. Both parties, afraid that the other would exploit the mine and use its power, to conquer those who were gullible enough to let it sit untouched…”.

Joss accompanied his retelling of history with a few twisted faces and wild gestures. 

He took a deep breath as he was reaching the climax of this tale. He said, “Tensions build until it all collapsed... The mine was fought over many times! But none could gain dominance over it. Even other castles heard about the mine and tried to get it!.. This was when the Talcans and Blaises, stood together once again to defend it from a third party. They won and gained more power, each from the enemy-count they managed to harvest through these battles. Including newfound trust towards the other faction. So they decided to make peace and split the caves content into two… All seemed well until---”.

Joss made a shocked and betrayed face as he dramatically retold that, “At dawn, on the very same day that they had agreed to bury their grudges, both sides discovered that the mine was completely devoid of spirit stones! Which meant, someone had come and consumed it all! But who was the culprit!?”.

William and Remony gaped in disbelief. Someone had actually dared to go ahead and steal the stash, that was fought over by two ‘powerful’ families!? And right beneath their noses!? Impossible!

Joss could read their minds, telling them that, “Of course a strong distrust was sowed between both parties. For who could it have been but their supposed friend, that did this horrendous act of betrayal? The Blaises still suspect the Talcans and vice versa... Even till today, this case lies unsolved, for none has come forth with the truth or made it clear that they had gained the power to slay the other!.. It was, and still is a subject that splits the clans apart…”.

Remony got up to stretch her body. She had to leave for work but before she did, she turned around and asked Joss, “So... I guess you won’t be staying that long... Since, this possible reparation of their alliance, is an active quest that hasn’t been fulfilled yet”.

Joss blanked out for a second. He seemed unsure of the future, saying, “I’ll probably accompany my father once again… But we’ll see. It depends on which post my father gets to occupy... I don’t know, whether he’ll get to stay here and guard against any stranded bandits, or if he’ll get the chance to act as an ambassador for the Blaise family… But one thing I do believe in, is that we won’t be seeing those hateful bandits ever again!”.

This speculation made both William and Remony relieved. Even if it should turn out to be false, they would gladly hang on to this hope, that was thrown in their direction.

****

These news of hope, soon spread from the knights down to their servants, who in turn told their families. Everybody thought that the bandit snatchings were over. And they were. For 7 months there was ‘peace’...

It was nearing the middle of october. Wet branches, dripped their mirrors onto a pair of siblings. They were wandering through the mainland woods, with swords on their hips and a dinosaur on their side, whose job was to guide them.

Even though they were supposed to be out hunting together, Joss felt the need to stomp his way through the forest floor, that resembled more that of a pigsty. Drops of mud got splattered all over the place, as he made his frustrations audible.

William decided to ignore his brother for the time being. That was until Joss stomped down into an extra deep puddle, that in turn splashed its contents all the way up into their eyes and mouths.

“ENOUGH!”, William roared. They both froze on the spot.

Joss stared down on his feet, while William spat dirt out of his mouth. After a few wipes of his sleeve in the face, he was ready to scold Joss; “Stop being such a child!.. I thought you fully consented to me tagging along for the hunt?.. You said it was fine! That, because I gave you your sword, you’d accompany me out here to try and use it on a real target… But now this?.. Why!?”.

Joss stood still like a stone column. After hearing the birds chirp for a while, he decided to talk; “I don’t… It just doesn’t feel right… I know that I promised you this but women aren’t supposed to be out hunting and swinging around their swords… I’m afraid that I’m enabling you to follow the wrong path in life”.

William rolled his eyes and sighed. “And what is the right path?.. To become a mother perhaps? Like the holy men so often hold sermons about?”. Joss lifted his head and said, “Yes! Exactly!..”. William frowned but didn’t say anything further. He knew that change and foreign ideas were sometimes hard to swallow.

Joss took a gander at Vash. He wasn’t done protesting yet, so he said, “I don’t get it, Mirabelle. You seem so against it?.. Tell me, what’s so bad about it?”.

William lowered his head and decided to go ahead without Joss. Suddenly using this ‘shield of distancing’, made Joss annoyed at his sister. He ran up to William and shook his wrist; “Hey! Don’t ignore me!”. William gave him an uncertain glance, before muttering, “I don’t know…”.

“What?”, Joss asked, perplexed at his sister’s wistfulness. For wasn’t Joss supposed to be the one who was moody right now? He couldn’t help but think that William really was something, to steal this role so cheekily away from him!

William took a deep breath; “I don’t know if it really is that bad… I never gave it any thought, to be honest… However, what I have given lots of thought and the thing that I’m very focused on right now… Is, to become stronger… Why you might ask?.. Because I also want to bond with a dinosaur, Joss… That’s my goal in life! Nothing more nothing less... I want to become a bonded just like you”.

Joss felt his jaw become loss. Because ever since he was born till now, he had always been told that it was unthinkable and downright a crime.

The Solvinian religion didn’t paint his opinion consciously. In fact, it felt very natural for him to fear and object to these kind of ideas. When Joss finally comprehended what was said to him, he stuttered, “B-b-but!? You can’t do that!? It’s physically impossible!”.

William glared at this ignorant youth and told him, “How can we know that for sure, unless I try?.. Have you ever heard of a girl who tried to bond with a dinosaur, but failed? No?.. Maybe it’s because nobody ever tried, because they were forced to pursuit a woman’s role early in life… Never allowed to chase anything else”.

Joss fumbled with his words, “You c-can’t!.. If you do, something terrible might happen…”. William gave his brother a mischievous smile; “I’m glad that your worried on my behalf… Because I’m weak, right?... But you see that’s why I need to become stronger! Problem fixed!”. Joss huffed but didn’t say anything in return.

His instincts nagged at him to yell and scream about how dangerous it is to go against the flock… But somehow he also wanted his sister to chase her dreams. Because that’s what’s most important in life, besides life itself.

Joss really hated William for putting these two subjects on a tipping-scale. For how could he decide which subject to throw away, when it would inevitably cause the other to suffer?

He just hoped with all his heart, that someday she would see reason or at least not be so unlucky, as to be caught by an inquisitor!