[i]“I’m sorry. Captain John and everyone else died two years ago.”[/i]

	At Caleb’s morose affirmation of the crew’s fate a gasp erupted from Jake. The brown-haired boy shuddered, his lips quivering, tears brimming beneath long lashes as if he struggled to hold them back. He fled, bounding through the homely garden before Roger could seize him, vanishing over the gate and scurrying away like a startled rabbit. Skyla, being much younger did not recognize the weight of Caleb’s words, giving the skeleton doctor a chance to snatch her up and pull the little girl into a tight embrace.

“Oh, dear. Oh, dear me.” Rogers muttered as reality sank in and the child began to cry. Caleb suddenly felt a lot more awkward, fiddling with his sword hilt and kicking at the lawn. It was amazing the amount of emotion the bleached skull could emote, even without proper eyes or facial features. The empty sockets were stricken by grief, and the clenched jaw bespoke unsounded sobs of his own.

“I- I’m so sorry.” Caleb said, feeling as if he might cry as well. He beat himself again and again internally. He should have broken the news first to the older members of the family and let them gently ease the younger children into the truth. “I should have known better; I was bringing news of their grandfather’s passing. I’m sure he was a good man; Rainbow spoke well of him.”

“Such a terrible loss.” Rogers shook his head sadly. “You could not have known the scope of this news, do not blame yourself Caleb. You merely brought the message, as dreadful as it is. Though to learn of their grandfather and father’s deaths. It is no easy thing.”

“W-what?” Caleb said aghast.

Rogers nodded. “Aye, Herrown was John’s son-in-law and journeyed with him. An up and coming sea captain himself supposedly, and a good man. A good husband to Mary… Oh dear who will tell Mary? She will be distraught. Always holding out hope that one day they’d both return safe and sound after all these years.” Skyla cried even harder into his shoulder as the kind skeleton patted her on the back. “I know, I know it’ll be alright Skyla.”

“Maybe we should go.” Caleb offered, looking to Edward for some sort of support. The Hippocampus shrugged, looking for all the world as awkward and heartbroken as Caleb felt.

	“No, no I must insist you stay. If you would not be imposed. With Rainbow missing, you are the only one who knows the story. I’m sorry I have to ask this of you Caleb, but this family needs the closure you could provide.” Caleb who did not think he could deny Rogers anything at that moment agreed to stay. Rogers rested a thin hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Thank you, you have done us a great service. We should get the children inside, and send summons to Sara, Mary, John junior and his daughter Kayden, and Marrathew as well. I will have the serving staff on that at once.” He looked to Edward and gave the tiniest shake of his head. “I’m sorry Edward, but a horse of your size simply will not fit comfortably within the homestead’s dimensions. You will have to remain in the garden. There is a bell you can ring to summon one of the servants if you require anything, I will instruct them to cater to your every need. Is this acceptable?”

Looking a little mystified at the concept of a bell, or servants Edward bobbed his head up and down. “Uh sure, that’s fine...”

The busy doctor glanced behind him, a pained look on his unmoving features, and a miserable sigh escaping his rigid jaw. “Caleb, I asked so much of you already. But Skyla needs my support until Mary can be brought back from her place of employment. Would you be so kind-?”

“Yeah, whatever you need.” Caleb said instantly before Rogers could finish. As long as it kept him busy. He did not want to intrude any more than he absolutely had to upon their sorrow afflicted abode. For his own sake as much as theirs.

“Could you fetch Jake?” That certainly was not the task Caleb had been expecting. He never really considered himself very artful at sympathy. Some people had the talent to make others feel better, but it was not one of Caleb’s skills. Not by any means. And what did he know of losing his father, he had never known his own parents, much less Captain John or his son-in-law Herrown. Caleb was a distinct third party in all these events, and probably not a welcome one to Jake’s personal grief or space. “The poor boy needs to be here when his mother arrives.” Rogers continued. “I would not ask if my arms were not already occupied.” He indicated the weeping child clinging to his chest.

“I – I’m not sure I would be the best…” Caleb trailed off, unable to refuse the pleading look Rogers was giving him. The skeleton doctor had been John’s friend, but he was looking to his young charges first and foremost before his own anguish, and it was only right as the bearer of this dark news that Caleb do something to ease his colossal burden. “…Alright.”

“Bless you, you’ve done so much for us already.” Caleb did not feel that way, but he nodded along with the doctor’s words. “You’ll probably find him in the boughs of the mighty Arrocmor. It stands at the southern corner of our grounds. He is quite fond of that old climbing tree, it seems the logical place to locate him in his current, mood. A good place to cry in private.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t bother him there, if that’s the case.” Caleb hesitated. “He would be better left alone.”

Rogers seemed to consider this at great length, preforming a rather odd motion with his hand. He stroked the air beneath his chin, as if he were running his fingers through a beard his face might have once possessed. An old habit from life before reanimation perhaps? “No, I would prefer he were here to meet his mother and be amongst family. Healthier that way. They will need each other. He is an obedient and well-mannered boy, for the most part, tell him I request his presence for a cup of my calming tea to help him feel better. He will follow I’m sure.”

“Oh – uh okay.” Caleb was not sure how he would feel after losing someone as important as a parent. He was fairly certain a cup of tea would do very little in making him feel better. But surely the doctor knew more on these matters than he?

Edward offered to be the transportation, and Rogers, after pointing the general direction of this Arrocmor tree retreated indoors carrying the still sobbing Skyra with him. Hippocampus and boy made a subdued pair as they traversed the significant sward that once belonged to Captain John Nieve. “Y’know Eddy.” Caleb stated, clinging to the Hippocampus’ golden mane as the proud, and freshly restored water beast trotted southward.

“Hm?”

“I somehow thought bringing them the news would give the Nieve’s happiness. Or at least I thought giving them the answers they have probably been waiting for years to receive would cheer them somehow. I guess I did not think about it the right way though.”

“Oh? Why not?” Edward asked, genuinely curious.

“Ever since I could really think about these sorts of things, I’ve always wished someone would come and tell me why. Or at least offer clarity. Answers were all I have ever longed for. Maybe it’s because I have never expected good news, or anything like that. But questions like why did they leave me at Red Twig Orphanage, or Eagletown? Who were they and who am I? They have been haunting me my entire life. Anything to fill that empty hole would be better than waiting and expecting nothing. It seemed like all the other boys who shared my story in Red Twig felt the same way. We just wanted answers, any answer really. Even if it ultimately was bad, it would be better than nothing at all. I thought my experience with loss would be everyone’s, but it wasn’t. They are heartbroken and disappointed, not at all glad or satisfied. It makes me worried how I might feel when I lose someone important, or that I won’t be able to handle the explanation of my own parent’s deaths, however they occurred. Maybe I shouldn’t want to know, maybe it should always remain a mystery, lest I feel the loss and pain the Nieves’ feel today. Does that make any sense?”

“Its all above me.” Edward admitted after carefully contemplating Caleb’s words. “I’ve never felt that sort of loss, hippocampus live such long lives, I shouldn’t have to worry about any of my family passing for quite some time. And you are going to be alright. You’re so smart and skilled with that sword of yours. And Rainbow, he’s tougher than a whale. Flower is a bird and can fly away from any danger… Nope, I don’t think I need to worry myself over losing anyone for a good long time to come.”

“So, you’re just not?”

“Yup.”

“Wow,” Caleb sighed pressing his face into the pale fur. “I wish I could be that way.”

The Arrocmor was not hard to spot. A massive tree that stretched up into the heavens, covered in large, low hanging branches. It was large enough to build a comfortable home within and still have plenty of tree to spare. It was awash amongst bright blue leaves that seemed to sing in the breeze, and soft crimson bark run smooth by generations of hands. Large plump fruit hung from its thinner upper branches, the lower more accessible ones having already been picked bare. Caleb craned his neck skyward, searching the mighty boughs carefully as Edward began the long circuit around its wide base. He spotted Jake when they were nearly a third of the way around, sitting with his back to the trunk, staring back, his face smeary as if he’d just had a good cry, but ceased at their intrusion, wiping away the evidence with dirty hands.

Giving Edward’s mane a gentle tug to have him stop Caleb hailed the arboreal mourner. “Uh, hi Jake. Um, do you mind coming down? Rogers wanted you to come back into the house for tea…” No response was forthcoming, and Jake looked away sniffing. Edward was not offering any assistance, and the one tactic Rogers gave him had flopped. Caleb wondered if he should just walk away having failed in this task. That would not do though. Slipping off Edward’s back he approached the root base of the tree. Hesitantly he laid a hand on the red bark, and almost cried out in surprise flinching his hand away. The tree seemed to thrum, as if it had a heartbeat. He pressed his palm against the wood once more, welcoming the sensation of a beating heart. The tree was alive, truly alive, and warm to the touch. It was so comforting, almost a substitute for a loving parent’s embrace. No wonder Jake had fled here. If given the chance Caleb thought, he might rest against the Arrocmor for an eternity. Pressing his fingers into he soft bark Caleb began to climb, hand over hand, springing from branch to branch with all the lithe strength of a young boy skilled in arboreal movement until at last he surmounted the middling branches, coming to a halt just beneath Jake’s own seat. The boy did not rebuff his presence, but he did not acknowledge it either, pointedly looking in a different direction, trying awfully hard not to cry.

“You know there’s no shame in tears.” Caleb echoed, thinking back to a dark and bloody night deep beneath the ground in the enemy’s lair. He set his back against bark, closing his eyes, and enjoying the rhythmic sensation that permeated from the mystical tree. Somehow it worked, driving the nightmares away, the twisted and bloody shapes that haunted him every night were swept aside, and their memories replaced by solace. “I never knew him, your dad, but Rainbow said the crew that sailed with your grandfather were good men. So that includes your father, right? I bet he would be happy to see you are safe here in Thorn. Um. Real proud of you too…” His words were having no effect. No response whether positive or negative were being initiated. If anything, Caleb felt like he was intruding upon Jake’s space. Maybe it would be best to leave, but the tree felt so soothing he wished to stay and unpack some of his own baggage. Whether for Jake’s benefit or his own he could not say.

“I never knew my parents, y’know. No one did, I was found on a doorstep freshly born with only a note bearing two words and a blanket. The couple who discovered me there did not want me. They gave me to an orphanage, in Eagletown. The matron Adria was nice, and the other children were as good a family as they could be. But it never felt like home, like home should feel like. I never had someone to hurt for, someone I felt so strongly for. Part of me has always wanted to feel the way you do today, and a part of me wants to protect myself from that pain. Seeing you hurt, it rips me apart thinking about how much you must have lost. You clearly loved them so much. I guess what I’m trying to say is I wish I could have had parents like yours. But I cannot ever feel that loss, or that love. Which is why I urge you to cherish his memory and treasure your mother too. For her sake as well as yours. Because not having that love is the worst thing in the world…” Caleb felt a small hand squeeze his shoulder and looked up to see Jake’s tear stained face staring down at him.

“I’m sorry…” Caleb whispered. “That was selfish of me, talking about my problems when-“

“That’s alright.” Jake cut across. “You’re right, I think. Mom is going to need me to step up now more than ever. Take care her, and Skyla, and my cousin Kayden too. I don’t really have a choice anymore.”

Caleb smiled, reaching up and giving Jake’s shoulder a squeeze in return. “I wasn’t lying when I said your grandfather and dad would be proud. That’s very grown up thing to realize.”

Thanks, I hope I make him proud, wherever he is.” The younger boy relinquished his grip and Caleb followed suit. “Do you know how he died? They died I mean?”

“From what Rainbow told me…” Caleb said hesitantly.

“I’d like to know.” Jake spoke with such seriousness Caleb had to check and make sure he was still talking to an eight-year-old.

Carefully, with halting words Caleb laid out the story as Rainbow had told it. Mulling over how much he needed to share, and watering down the more gruesome parts of Rainbow’s no doubt already watered-down version of events. Jake’s face never changed once during the retelling until he asked after the fate of the dwarfs, and Caleb explained their attack and his own part in ending the dwarfen menace. Jake’s face twisted into a bitter frown and he nodded appreciatively.

“Good, they deserved that.” Was all he said, before letting Caleb finish the reciting.

“-So we took their ship, and set sail towards Thorn City.” He concluded in short order. It all seemed so long ago to Caleb, but in reality, it’d only been several weeks since that night. Giving himself a little shake Caleb tried to remember how much his life had changed since being here to there, how much he’d learned and experienced and how many people he’d met. It felt almost surreal. “We should be heading back, Rogers wanted you to be there for you mom when she arrived.”

“Yes, and you’ll have to tell everyone what happened.” Jake reminded him. Together the two boys tore themselves away from the heart tree’s embrace and descended from their lofty vantage, plunging branch by branch until they joined a rather confused, but content to wait Edward amongst the spreading roots.

“Can you carry two Eddy?” Caleb asked, eyeing the golden hippocampus.

“Aye-up. No problem. You two don’t seem too heavy at least.” The sturdy equine assured them. “But don’t ask me to carry Byures as well, he wouldn’t fit.”

	“Whose Byures?” Jake asked, as Caleb helped him scramble aboard before hopping up and straddling Edward’s flanks.

	“A friend of ours from the Forest district.” Caleb explained. “We wouldn’t have found our way here without him.”

	“I should thank him.” Jake said after a moment of thought as Edward began their slow trot back to the homestead. “You were able to shed light on something really important for me and my family. I am glad you made it here Caleb. Thank you.”