Moonshine made me blind to this pyramid scheme (BL)

Sound of raindrops pattering on leaves high above, streams of water flowing down rough brown bark, sploshing sound of their steps. Ever since yesterday general mood was not great. Today's headaches, nausea and general dizziness that plaqued them in various degrees, and then the rain, made them sink even deeper into melancholy. Only bright spot, of sorts, was that at least light was dim.

After staring at that pyramid for a while and confirming their position on the map, Yax and Ivory decided to adjust their route a bit and walk on the ridge of the hill for a while. That route will bring them a bit more north-west than they originally planed, but sticking to high ground will enable them to survey the terrain a bit better before going down under the trees again.

And it worked well. Ridge was long about 20 kilometers, dipping here and there before climbing up again, some parts baren due rocky terrain, some parts covered with a mixture of different kind of trees. They even saw a small herd of something that looked like goats. They were running over rocks, sporting curved horns and long grayish brown fur. Or were they sheep? They were not sure.

And then the path they followed slowly descended and brought them to another valley full of trees. At first, no one actually noticed that they were on a path. It seemed like a rill, natural erosion due rain and water flowing down the hill slope. Then hey saw footprints in it. Not human of course, but paws. Big round paws with five toes and claws. After a bit of looking around, they guessed that in front of them was a pack of few carnivorous animals. Something like foxes, or wolves, or such. To be expected, with deer and sheep around.

They did not stress over it, and even though they continued to follow the tracks, they saw not a glimpse of those who left those paw prints behind. When they noticed that lights are dimming due sun setting down, they looked for a somewhat flat spot to rest for the night.

This time, setting up the camp went way faster. Without a hitch tents were up, sleeping bags set down, and yet another prepacked meal heated up over fire. And then, Jone dug into his backpack and pulled out some half a dozen containers and opened one. And there is where it all went downhill, they just did not know that yet.

Aroma that spread made Yax perk up. "Holy potion!" He said as Jone started pouring it into his cup.

"Got it from Ah Kin to use as disinfectant," Jone handed the next cup to Ivory "but I have a feeling our brains need it more right now."

Ivory was not sure at the time if that was the best idea, but still took it. "Well, perhaps you are right." Naively, he had thought that purging the sight of endless forests surrounding them from his mind for a while, could not hurt.

Cid saw his liege intoxicated plenty of times before, and never felt the urge to try the feeling for himself. Yet, at that moment he still took one of the containers, opened it up, and poured the drinks to Echo and Floreo, then one for himself. Why, he would not be able to explain. It was just.. going with the flow.

Blaze also did not refuse, even more, first cup he got he passed to Mani. And once when all of them had their drinks in hand, some carefully looking at it, others just sniffing it, Yax held his cup up, the way he saw his father and Ah Kin doing it, and said: "Bottoms up!" And that was it.

When they woke up the next morning, day started a bit.. chaotically. It has to be said that Cid and Jone did their best to steer everyone able to walk into their tents, and twins were light enough to carry. But Blaze was too heavy to be lifted though, so they just rolled him into his sleeping bag, zipped him up, and left there on the spot where he was. They did remember to put out the flame of their traveling stove, left cups and empty cans to be picked up in the morning and went to sleep as well.

So, after he got woken up by something tickling his face, and then looking straight at something that appeared to be a rabbit sniffing his face, Blaze screamed.. well, yelled really loud.

That startled Yax and he rushed out of his tent, stumbled over his sleeping bag, slipped over an empty can and fell. Right in front of Cid's tent. Where he was greeted with "Morning Yak" from a very pale looking Mani who just got up driven by his internal clock to make his morning coffee.

It was hard to say who was more embarrassed.. Blaze for screaming, Yax for slipping, or Cid, for forgetting to set up perimeter sensors.

Jone reminded that rabbits were edible so they could set some traps next time they stop for the night, but no one had a stomach to think about it right then.They cleaned the camp, ate some porridge, accepted the coffee Mani made, and then it started to rain.

As they were trudging through the forest that was getting more and more wet, they each dealt with consequences of their actions.

Sure, it was nice to relax for a moment. And honestly, Jone thought that their enhanced liver enzymes, designed to purify any organic pollution and toxins they might encounter, would neutralise holy potion as well.. But it seems he underestimated Ah Kin's expertise and cycles of experience in brewing them. He should realised that when he was told to use it for disinfection and cleaning. But it smelled of strawberries!

Walking at the back of the group again, Blaze found that he had to keep special attention on Mani. From time to time, that hangover clerk would start walking in a wrong direction. He would gently pat his shoulder and pull him back, and Mani would each time say "Thank you Blaise." His quiet voice made Blaze think.

Somewhere in his memory he remembered Mani sounding completely different when he was drunk. Sure, at the time he was sprawled on the ground, closing his left eye then right eye, squinting at the tree tops above and trying to spot stars through gaps. But he was sure it was Mani, talking about moonshine, or pyramids, or magic. He actually talked a lot last night.

Next time he noticed Mani veer off course, he took a hold of him and pulled him closer, casually throwing his large arm over Mani's shoulder and continued to walk while dragging Mani along with him.

"You know," he said while looking ahead "I think that you and I started on a wrong foot."

He scratched his chin with his free hand and continued to explain, "I was in charge of monitoring you at first so I might have been a bit overbearing, but I just realised that you came fresh from training, got thrown into that basement, and no one actually took some time to introduce you to others and show you around."

He remembered that he had Jone by his side when he first arrived. And even though he was monitoring Old Mone, he did not stick to the basement. Mone rarely went downstairs, he used to wander around middle level gardens pinching fruits while Dagda wasn't around, or hang out with Tzol at his lab. And Jone would bring his food down and tell him all the gossip about people he met in upper levels while they ate together.

Mani was the only one who arrived on his own, additionally he seemed to be shy. Blaze really felt that he failed his assignment and that he failed as a crew mate. He squeezed Mani, and cheerfully said.

"But don't you worry, while out here you will slowly get familiar with us, the younger crew. And when we get back, you will get to know old farts. They will look at you as if they are your dad or something, which can be a bit strange at first, but you will get used to it." He snickered thinking about Tzol's attempts to play fatherly figure to him. "But, in a few cycles, you will realise that we are all that we have to depend upon, as friends and as family of sorts."

He rumpled Mani's hair and let him free. "Since we came down here, there is no going up again. You are stuck with us, so relax and let yourself loose a bit. No need to be stiff in front of your family." He watched Mani scurrying ahead and smiled.

Blaze felt very satisfied with his speech. He perfectly embodied a Big Brother Figure. Only, he should have done that 10 years ago.

He comforted himself that in their long lives, a decade is a blip. Barely one fifth of a cycle. This adventuring period might make it exciting for a while, but once it's done, they will be back to their repetitive monotonous daily routines which melt into eachother, and then suddenly you are 10 cycles old, being an older brother to a young fellow as Mani.

He looked up, sparse raindrops hit his face and slid down into his collar. He shivered, glad that it seemed like the rain is gonna stop soon.