Intertwined Destinies (Chapter 34)
Ohno followed Nino in silence for a while, before Nino tugged at his hand so that they were side by side again. “Where are we going?”
Ohno asked, half amused, half curious. Nino shrugged a little bit. “Somewhere nice. I think a space with flowers and grass would be good. And water close by.”
“Isn’t it dangerous to stay at such a nice place? Wouldn’t that be the first where people would settle down?”
“Maybe. But I can conjure a mirage so that nobody will see us if they are not looking for us.”
“Sounds good,” Ohno mumbled as he moved closer to Nino. Nino chuckled when their shoulders touched.
“My lord, I didn’t forget about our talk before.”
“Me neither,” Ohno sighed as he scraped his fingers through his hair. He sighed deeply at the thought of their earlier talk.
“Sammy, will you tell me about your father? He is the man I’ll be going against, it would help me,” Nino said softly in the end.
“Would you tell me about your father?”
“Of course, shall I begin?” Nino asked as he led him through a few trees to a burrow with a little smile as he pulled Ohno down with him to sit side by side. Their hands were still clasped together.
“I would like that.”
“Okay, then listen.”
Ohno smiled when Nino turned to face him, taking his second hand in his own as well, staring at their intertwined fingers.
“I think my first crush was my father. I loved spending time with him and learning things from him. He taught me how to follow tracks and to climb and survive in the woods. For me it was a big adventure, now I know that it was meant to prepare me for what might happen, and did happen in the end. I mean I learnt a lot from Morga as well, but in the end, they are dragons. The basics I had to learn from my parents before.”
“That sounds harsh,” Ohno hummed with a frown on his face. Nino giggled as he shook his head.
“It wasn’t. It was fun and playful. I never thought it was preparing me for something. I only realised later, when they were dead, and I was with the dragons, and they taught me even more. And it helped that I wanted to be just like my father. So I was happy with everything he showed me.”
Ohno nodded a little bit as he thought about it. It took a while but then he kind of understood what the other meant.
“I bet it was a cute sight, seeing you following your father,” he grinned then. “Especially if you had a crush on him. Even though I’m surprised.”
“Surprised why?”
“I always thought that the crush of little boys were their mothers.”
Nino shrugged as he tapped Ohno’s long fingers. They reminded him of his father, he thought absentmindedly. His father had very delicate fingers as well.
“I had a crush on Aiba’s mother. She was always laughing and singing. My mother was my mother. I loved her, still, do when I think of her, but I liked how she would hug me warmly and stroke my hair. Not in that way. And I never really cared about gender. I don’t think that’s important if you can see into the people’s hearts.”
“What about mine?” Ohno asked almost in a whisper. He feared his answer since if he came after his father, it had to be an awful one.
“Yours is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever met,” Ohno said with sparkling eyes. “Otherwise I wouldn’t let you come with me like that and tell you these things.”
Ohno allowed a small smile on his face before his face got dark again. “Your family sounds like the total opposite from mine,” he mumbled after a while.
“My father had always been cruel like I already said. He never had a kind word to anybody as far as I can tell. I’m sure he forced himself on my mother and that it was her broken heart that killed her in the end, not any complications. He forced a tight training regime on me and a strict lessons plan. If I didn’t perform perfectly, the guards would report to him, and I would be summoned. I hated these times. First, my father would tell me how disappointed he was in me. Then he would beat me until he thought the punishment I deserved was over,” he mumbled with a sigh.
“That sounds horrible,” Nino whispered, his mouth falling slightly open.
“My father is not a kind man,” Ohno just said with a small shrug as he adverted his eyes to look at the ground. “He never was. And I know that he is even crueller to the people he thinks are even more worthless.”
“I don’t think your father would call you worthless,” Nino said with a small frown. “No parent could hate their child.”
“He said so himself. And it’s okay. I feel no love towards him either. And as I said, I’m lucky. There is worse.”
“Tell me, Sammy. It weighs heavy on your mind.”
“Can you read that too?” Ohno tried to joke, but Nino shook his head.
“But you always have this broken look in your eyes when you think about whatever happened. I know that my questions brought that up and I am sorry for that, Sammy. That is why I want you to share your burden with me.”
Ohno stared at him for a while before he closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. “I was still very young, four or five years old when it happened,” Ohno whispered. Nino’s lips twitched as he tried not to imagine a small child with big innocent eyes, still innocents to the horrible things that happened in this world.
“There was a temple, they sheltered orphans of all ages and in the city there tend to be many orphans. Children being abandoned by their parents because there is never enough food or money to bring them through. The temples are supported by the king and the richer people around, so the children are taken care of there. Of course, it was a temple for the new Gods, the Gods my grandfather brought with him when he entered the kingdom, but… It was all a front. There were no teachings of the new religion but the teachings of the old Gods, teaching about dragons who protect us and are not the monsters my family makes them out to be. My father… He found out. I don’t know who blabbered about it, but I know that he did not survive either, my father killed him just es he did with the temple. We were all forced onto the streets when he got his revenge. It would have been terrible enough if he had just had his guards killed him, but he didn’t.”
Nino moved closer to him, and Ohno felt himself relax at the warmth of the other body so close to his body. He couldn’t help himself. His body now just relaxed if he was close to the other. It helped the horror that was in his body.
“He had them barricade the doors and windows and put the whole thing on fire. I will never forget the cries and smell. And the worst thing was that I did nothing to help or stop it.”
“You said it yourself, you were a child, not much older than a toddling baby.”
“Still…”
“No, Sammy, you can’t take the faults and sins of your father on yourself. He did that all. Not you. You are as much a victim as those innocent people. What happened was horrible, but not your fault. What happened to you wasn’t your fault as well but just as terrible. Did you ever mourn for all the things that happened?”
“I cried over their deaths,” Ohno murmured. “My father called me a weakling and punished me for making me strong and building up an armour.”
“I didn’t talk about them,” Nino said with a sigh and small smile. He shuffled a little bit closer to the other until their knees met. He caressed his wrist with his fingers before they wandered up, cupping Ohno’s face.
“I talked about you. Did you ever grieve over the horrors that happened to you.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Ohno mumbled.
Nino shook his head as his thumb stroked the tear away running over his cheeks. “It was. But he is wrong. You always were strong, more reliable than anybody else for not becoming who he tried to make you and staying true to yourself.
Ohno would never be able to tell when it happened, but suddenly Nino was on his lap. Ohno’s finger in the long soft locks of Nino’s hair as he tilted the head of the other, pressing his lips against the plastic warm ones of the other. And Nino, to Ohno’s big surprise, didn’t move back but opened his lips, when Ohno nipped them.
Ohno asked, half amused, half curious. Nino shrugged a little bit. “Somewhere nice. I think a space with flowers and grass would be good. And water close by.”
“Isn’t it dangerous to stay at such a nice place? Wouldn’t that be the first where people would settle down?”
“Maybe. But I can conjure a mirage so that nobody will see us if they are not looking for us.”
“Sounds good,” Ohno mumbled as he moved closer to Nino. Nino chuckled when their shoulders touched.
“My lord, I didn’t forget about our talk before.”
“Me neither,” Ohno sighed as he scraped his fingers through his hair. He sighed deeply at the thought of their earlier talk.
“Sammy, will you tell me about your father? He is the man I’ll be going against, it would help me,” Nino said softly in the end.
“Would you tell me about your father?”
“Of course, shall I begin?” Nino asked as he led him through a few trees to a burrow with a little smile as he pulled Ohno down with him to sit side by side. Their hands were still clasped together.
“I would like that.”
“Okay, then listen.”
Ohno smiled when Nino turned to face him, taking his second hand in his own as well, staring at their intertwined fingers.
“I think my first crush was my father. I loved spending time with him and learning things from him. He taught me how to follow tracks and to climb and survive in the woods. For me it was a big adventure, now I know that it was meant to prepare me for what might happen, and did happen in the end. I mean I learnt a lot from Morga as well, but in the end, they are dragons. The basics I had to learn from my parents before.”
“That sounds harsh,” Ohno hummed with a frown on his face. Nino giggled as he shook his head.
“It wasn’t. It was fun and playful. I never thought it was preparing me for something. I only realised later, when they were dead, and I was with the dragons, and they taught me even more. And it helped that I wanted to be just like my father. So I was happy with everything he showed me.”
Ohno nodded a little bit as he thought about it. It took a while but then he kind of understood what the other meant.
“I bet it was a cute sight, seeing you following your father,” he grinned then. “Especially if you had a crush on him. Even though I’m surprised.”
“Surprised why?”
“I always thought that the crush of little boys were their mothers.”
Nino shrugged as he tapped Ohno’s long fingers. They reminded him of his father, he thought absentmindedly. His father had very delicate fingers as well.
“I had a crush on Aiba’s mother. She was always laughing and singing. My mother was my mother. I loved her, still, do when I think of her, but I liked how she would hug me warmly and stroke my hair. Not in that way. And I never really cared about gender. I don’t think that’s important if you can see into the people’s hearts.”
“What about mine?” Ohno asked almost in a whisper. He feared his answer since if he came after his father, it had to be an awful one.
“Yours is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever met,” Ohno said with sparkling eyes. “Otherwise I wouldn’t let you come with me like that and tell you these things.”
Ohno allowed a small smile on his face before his face got dark again. “Your family sounds like the total opposite from mine,” he mumbled after a while.
“My father had always been cruel like I already said. He never had a kind word to anybody as far as I can tell. I’m sure he forced himself on my mother and that it was her broken heart that killed her in the end, not any complications. He forced a tight training regime on me and a strict lessons plan. If I didn’t perform perfectly, the guards would report to him, and I would be summoned. I hated these times. First, my father would tell me how disappointed he was in me. Then he would beat me until he thought the punishment I deserved was over,” he mumbled with a sigh.
“That sounds horrible,” Nino whispered, his mouth falling slightly open.
“My father is not a kind man,” Ohno just said with a small shrug as he adverted his eyes to look at the ground. “He never was. And I know that he is even crueller to the people he thinks are even more worthless.”
“I don’t think your father would call you worthless,” Nino said with a small frown. “No parent could hate their child.”
“He said so himself. And it’s okay. I feel no love towards him either. And as I said, I’m lucky. There is worse.”
“Tell me, Sammy. It weighs heavy on your mind.”
“Can you read that too?” Ohno tried to joke, but Nino shook his head.
“But you always have this broken look in your eyes when you think about whatever happened. I know that my questions brought that up and I am sorry for that, Sammy. That is why I want you to share your burden with me.”
Ohno stared at him for a while before he closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. “I was still very young, four or five years old when it happened,” Ohno whispered. Nino’s lips twitched as he tried not to imagine a small child with big innocent eyes, still innocents to the horrible things that happened in this world.
“There was a temple, they sheltered orphans of all ages and in the city there tend to be many orphans. Children being abandoned by their parents because there is never enough food or money to bring them through. The temples are supported by the king and the richer people around, so the children are taken care of there. Of course, it was a temple for the new Gods, the Gods my grandfather brought with him when he entered the kingdom, but… It was all a front. There were no teachings of the new religion but the teachings of the old Gods, teaching about dragons who protect us and are not the monsters my family makes them out to be. My father… He found out. I don’t know who blabbered about it, but I know that he did not survive either, my father killed him just es he did with the temple. We were all forced onto the streets when he got his revenge. It would have been terrible enough if he had just had his guards killed him, but he didn’t.”
Nino moved closer to him, and Ohno felt himself relax at the warmth of the other body so close to his body. He couldn’t help himself. His body now just relaxed if he was close to the other. It helped the horror that was in his body.
“He had them barricade the doors and windows and put the whole thing on fire. I will never forget the cries and smell. And the worst thing was that I did nothing to help or stop it.”
“You said it yourself, you were a child, not much older than a toddling baby.”
“Still…”
“No, Sammy, you can’t take the faults and sins of your father on yourself. He did that all. Not you. You are as much a victim as those innocent people. What happened was horrible, but not your fault. What happened to you wasn’t your fault as well but just as terrible. Did you ever mourn for all the things that happened?”
“I cried over their deaths,” Ohno murmured. “My father called me a weakling and punished me for making me strong and building up an armour.”
“I didn’t talk about them,” Nino said with a sigh and small smile. He shuffled a little bit closer to the other until their knees met. He caressed his wrist with his fingers before they wandered up, cupping Ohno’s face.
“I talked about you. Did you ever grieve over the horrors that happened to you.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Ohno mumbled.
Nino shook his head as his thumb stroked the tear away running over his cheeks. “It was. But he is wrong. You always were strong, more reliable than anybody else for not becoming who he tried to make you and staying true to yourself.
Ohno would never be able to tell when it happened, but suddenly Nino was on his lap. Ohno’s finger in the long soft locks of Nino’s hair as he tilted the head of the other, pressing his lips against the plastic warm ones of the other. And Nino, to Ohno’s big surprise, didn’t move back but opened his lips, when Ohno nipped them.