Another Hero's Journey: Present

     The other white Blumaroo stared at him before raising an eyebrow. “It sounds more like the perfect Day of Giving present…for you, Reuben.”

     Reuben snorted and draped an arm over his companion’s shoulder. “Why can’t it be both my Day of Giving present for myself and my Day of Giving present for my most famous, most favourite little brother?”

     “I’m your only little brother.”

     “You didn’t even bother to deny the ‘famous’ bit, Rohane.”

     Rohane slowly lifted Reuben’s arm from his shoulder and adjusted his hat. “Let’s just go.” He glanced out the window of their cabin and frowned. “Wait a minute, wasn’t the sky clear while we had breakfast?”

     Instead of checking the window, Reuben hurried toward the door and threw it open, only to be greeted by a wild gust of wind that caused him to take a step back. As snow whirled inside, both Blumaroos immediately shut the door.

     “What in Neopia was that?” said Reuben, leaning back against the door and listening to the roar of snow outside.

     “Looks like a blizzard.”

     “But they told us the weather would be fine! Er, as fine as it can get on Terror Mountain during the Month of Celebrating…”

     Rohane watched as the storm became a pure white blur, gradually obscuring their outside surroundings. “I don’t suppose you have a Plan B?”

     The older Blumaroo spread his arms and answered, “Even if I did, my Plan B would still involve us going outside. That was the point of this trip – a change of scenery!” He groaned, massaging his temples, and raised his voice to be heard over the roar of the blizzard outside. “And quality time for the both of us. You get to escape Meridell Castle, and I get to breathe a little from running a weapon shop and smithy and raising a rambunctious baby Kyrii.”

     Turning away from the window, Rohane began stoking the flames in the fireplace, adding two more logs. He sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace and gestured for Reuben to sit beside him. “You know, I wouldn’t have minded if you brought Darel and Andrea along on this trip.”

     “I don’t know,” said Reuben, flopping dramatically onto the couch after tossing his brown cloak unceremoniously onto the table. “It might be too cold for Darel, and Andrea was okay staying behind in Trestin. At least she can keep Mother company.”

     “I have to ask, though.” Rohane tilted his head in askance. “About the snow sculpture contest…did you plan on entering both of us as a team, or were you going to show off how well you could create something big with snow?”

     At first, Reuben didn’t say anything. Then a slow smirk spread across his face.

     “Of course I was gonna enter solo. I’m the artistic one in the family, remember? I inherited all the art and flai – ow! Did you really have to push me?”

     “Combat is also an art, Reuben. Would you like a demonstration?”

     Reuben groaned again. “Please don’t tell me you brought a sword on this trip.”

     “You never know what could happen,” said Rohane gravely. He gasped when Reuben shoved him.

     “You’re hopeless.”

     “And you’re a hypocrite.” Rohane pointed accusingly at his older brother. “How many daggers do you have under your jacket and in your boots?”

     “Is that a challenge?” Reuben slowly slid the hilt of a dagger from beneath his sleeve. “We can’t fight outside, but if we scoot all the furniture aside and make sure not to hit the walls – “

     “Are you crazy? This place looks like I’ll spend a year paying for whatever damage we’ll cause!”

     Reuben spun the dagger in his hand once before letting it rest on the couch arm. “Nah, not really. The owner gave me a discount since she said she had family in White River. Not only are they loyal patrons of my shop, but they’re indebted to you, little brother.”

     “So, you dropped my name to get a present for me,” said Rohane in the most deadpan tone of voice he could muster. “That doesn’t seem right.”

     “I didn’t even have to drop your name!” Reuben exclaimed. “Pretty much everyone in Neopia knows you’re my little brother! You…” Suddenly, he extended his arm and swiftly unpinned Rohane’s red, blue and gold knight badge, clipped it to his jacket, and began strutting around the living room with a hand on an invisible sword hilt at his waist while declaring dramatically, “’Hello, hello, I’m Sir Rohane the Bladedancer, I saved five entire Neopian lands, but I can’t handle all this fame and fortune! Too bad I can’t solve that problem the way I solve my other problems – with a sword!’”

     At first, the other white Blumaroo stared at him. Then he burst out laughing as Reuben pretended to draw a blade and strike a heroic pose.

     “That’s terrible. You know that’s nothing like me.”

     “What, you think you can do better?” asked Reuben. He swept up his cloak and threw it at his brother. “Go ahead!”

     Rohane jumped up from the sofa and donned the cloak. Clearing his throat, he said, “Hi, I’m Reuben, and when I can’t solve my problems with daggers, I solve them by reminding everyone that Sir Rohane is my younger brother.”

     “Pffft, that’s all you can do? Come on, where’s the flair? The pizzazz?”

     “I’m doing my best!”

     “You’re dishonouring my name here! Dishonour on you, dishonour on your Kau!”

     Reuben grabbed a couch cushion and threw it at him. Rohane managed to catch it cleanly before tossing it back.

     “Spoilsport.” Reuben threw two cushions this time around, with Rohane catching one and dodging the other, which landed back on the couch.

     “You started it, Sir Rohane the Bladedancer.”

     The older Blumaroo threw up his hands and flopped back onto the couch, unclipping the badge. “Yeah, I’m done being you. It’s exhausting.” He passed back the tiny shield-shaped pin while Rohane handed his cloak back to him.

     “Are you kidding? You’re juggling a full-time job with a lot of clients and your own family. You built your business from the ground up. I don’t think I could ever do that.”

     “Well, you left home one day and came back a decorated hero. I can’t do that. Probably for the best that I can’t.” Reuben leaned back with his arms folded behind his head. “It’d be too much if both the sons of the great Sir Reynold became world-famous heroes. One of us has to be the normal one while the other gets to be the strong one.”

     Rohane shook his head. “Nah, I always thought you were the stronger one, Reuben.”

     “Huh?” Reuben raised an eyebrow.

     “You stayed with Mother when I left home, took care of her, and helped keep Trestin safe. You always seemed to know what to do, after Father…well…”

     “Not always,” was the sheepish reply.

     “Whenever I’m asked who I think is the strongest Neopian I know, I tell them it’s you, Reuben. On top of being a warrior, you held our family together.”

     Reuben opened his mouth and closed it again. “Oh. I uh, I just…do what I have to do, as the big brother and all. And really, some son I’d be if I didn’t get a job to help Mother!”

     “Yeah, you’d be a lazy bum and I’d be yelling at you when I got back,” said Rohane. He yelped when Reuben whacked him lightly with a cushion.

     “Thanks for making sure my ego didn’t swell, little bro,” said Reuben, standing up and consulting a pocket watch. “Should be about time for our open-air lunch, but that’s way out of the question with all the air whooshing about, but I think I can do something with our leftovers from breakfast.”

     Rohane jumped to his feet as well. “Let me help.”

     “Who’s the stronger brother, again? And who’s got the artistic flair – hey, watch where you’re throwing those cushions!”

     * * *

     “Artistic flair or no, sorry it wasn’t the buffet planned for today,” said Reuben as he began clearing the plates, raising his voice to be heard over the howling of the blizzard outside. “I’m just glad we had enough eggs for a breakfast omelette.”

     Rohane was already at the sink, ready to wash the dishes passed to him from the table. “Come on, we had a nice hot lunch together without anyone bothering us.”

     “Especially not your adoring public and the paparazzi?”

     “Yes. Especially them.”

     Reuben pushed the chairs back and moved to start drying the already washed plates and pans. He chuckled. “I probably should’ve thought of that when I planned the itinerary. Though I could’ve talked to the staff, maybe slipped them a bag of Neopoints to make sure no one bothered you…”

     “Reuben!”

     “It was just an idea!” The older Blumaroo tossed a plate from one hand to the other before stashing it into the cupboard. “Lunch worked out for us in this case, but there’s no way we can have a souvenir shopping trip, or a snow sculpture contest, or even a dip in the mountain springs in here.” He stroked his chin, walked out of the kitchen, and started looking around. “There are some books in here, but they’re all Terror Mountain stories, guidebooks…and if you wanted to learn about big blizzards in history…hey!”

     “What?” Rohane hurried over to where his brother was and peered at the bookshelf, eyes widening at the sight of something that was rectangular in shape but certainly not a book. “I didn’t notice there was a chessboard here. Perfect for days like this when we can’t go out.”

     “So, does that mean you’re up for a game? Like old times.”

     “Since you made lunch, I’ll make some tea for the two of us this time. You can get the board ready, but no messing around with the pieces!”

     * * *

     Rohane glared at Reuben, whose fingers were hovering over a black pawn and a white rook. “Don’t even think about it. I hated it whenever you switched the pieces around.”

     “What a coincidence, so did Father,” Reuben answered, the picture of innocence as he brought his hand away and chose to inch the black pawn forward. Sighing contentedly, he raised his cup of tea to his lips. “Remember when we’d play so many chess games to win against each other? Our parents were so impressed, but it was all because I was jealous of you.”

     “I was jealous of you, too,” said Rohane, withdrawing the rook. “I thought you were the better chess player. Even if you did move the pieces around. I was mad because you didn’t take the game seriously, but you somehow won, all the time.”

     “Did I?” Reuben picked up his queen and advanced it with a decisive clack on the surface of the board. “Check, by the way. I mostly remember messing with you and throwing tantrums whenever you won. But you’ve spent years honing your strategy and tactics, so you might have the upper hand this time. Besides, you don’t need flair to win a game of chess.”

     The knight narrowed his eyes as he stared at the board. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”

     “Maybe, maybe not.” Reuben made a big show of shrugging, but immediately snapped back to attention when Rohane placed the white king behind his own queen.

     “I really appreciate you going through all the trouble to give me a present for the Day of Giving,” said Rohane, “but fooling around, playing chess, eating food you cooked…this is the real present.”

     “Hmm?”

     “You didn’t have to get me anything, really.”

     Reuben clapped a hand to his chest in mock offence. “Wow, thanks a lot.”

     “You know that’s not what I meant!”

     After breaking into a peal of laughter, Reuben said, “But I wanted our time together to be…I dunno, special. Not just us hanging out at a tavern whenever you’re nearby, sparring outside my shop, or me showing up at the castle and dragging you out into the marketplace. It’s always been hard for either of us to find any peace and quiet, and the moment I finally find the perfect time for us, a blizzard wrecks my plans.” He sighed again, but not contentedly this time.

     “Any time with you is special, Reuben. Like right now. Maybe that’s why they call it…the present.”

     Reuben gaped at Rohane. “Did you…did you just make a joke? Did you make a pun?” The swordsmith shook his head in disbelief as he picked up his king and spun it between his fingers. “Okay, I think you’ve spent more than enough time with me, let’s both go to bed and hope the blizzard is gone when we wake up.”

     “I can make jokes too, you know!” Rohane groaned, rolling his eyes. “By the way…check.”

     “Is that one of your jokes, then?” Reuben frowned at the board. “Sweet Fyora, it’s not. Uh…right.”

     “Checkmate.”

     “What?”

     “You forgot about my knight here.”

     “Oh, Meepits.” Reuben clapped a palm to his face while grinning. “What do you know, you won. I told you, you got so much better.”

     “Only because you were always relentless in chess games,” said Rohane, winking. “Jeran’s a bit like you. We have pretty intense chess games back at the castle.”

     Reuben nodded sagely. “I can imagine.”

     “But I had a lot of fun playing with you. Like I said…your plans may have been a bust…”

     “Did you have to remind me?” The other Blumaroo gesticulated wildly at the nearest window, which offered a view of nothing but turbulent white.

     “But this is the real present.” Rohane began clearing the chessboard. “Our time together. Just being us, without the public attention. Without you using me for discounts.”

     Reuben chortled but managed a warm smile as he began lining up the pieces in their starting positions. “Thanks, Rohane. Well, we still have the rest of the day, I can’t namedrop you anywhere outside these walls, and this blizzard isn’t letting up. How about best two out of three?”

      The End.