The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 48

Once out of the deck, it didn't take the crew long to figure out something had happened to Echo. Zarabean was first to notice Celeste leave her cabin and he swung over from the tops of the mast to meet her. He was just up there to loosen the sails at the command of Kinabrick, who wanted to continue the journey as long as they had daylight. Bean landed on the deck in a crouched position before standing up straight. His eyes met up with Echo's and he visibly became nervous, not knowing where this young child came from. Echo, on the other hand, was very happy to see Zarabean. He remembered that he was the one who saved him from Captain Sealen. "Bean!" He exclaimed, yanking his hand away from Celeste and stumbling toward him. Zarabean was unnerved since he didn't know who this child was but he was quickly gathered into a tight hug and picked up off the ground. He gasped for air as his glasses went crooked. "Celeste... This child is hugging me... Celeste... Celeste..." Celeste couldn't help but snicker a little bit because it reminded her of when Zarabean first held Echo a few days prior. She walked over quickly. "Echo, set Zarabean down. You're hugging him too tight!" Echo's bright smile faded when he realized he might be hurting the poor ridgerunner. He quickly set Zarabean down with tears starting to come to his eyes. "I'm sorry!" Zarabean breathed normally and stepped back a few feet or so from Echo with wide eyes. "Echo?" He finally asked with his eyes narrowing. Echo sniffed and nodded. "I didn't mean to hurt you." Despite confused, Zarabean stepped closer and gave Echo a gentle pat on the head. "No, no, Zarabean is okay... Don't cry little one..." Echo seemed to feel better after the reassurance and he smiled softly and proceeded to wipe his tears away. "How did you...?" Zarabean looked up at Celeste with a confused expression before looking at Echo once again. "Humans don't grow this fast normally, do they??" This question made Celeste and Clef laugh but sudden laughter made Echo jump. "No, Bean, this was something else." Celeste reassured him. Clef looked about deck and saw the other part of the crew drawing near. "Everyone, meet us on the back deck! Lore Wain Celeste needs to tell you all something!" Soon, Alagatha, Nibble, Cynthia, and Kinabrick gathered at the back of the ship while Ramger stirred the ship steady as a temporary placement. He figured he had already caused enough trouble and had somethings to think about. Everyone else observed Echo curiously. "When did he get on board?" Cynthia asked inquisitively. "He looks so familiar..." "Everyone, let me answer you all now... This boy is Echo." Celeste paused as she heard gasps and saw looks of disbelief. "Something happened that we don't quite understand... What was an unique Annieran song somehow had this effect on him... Now, here's the plan... We're going to help Echo where he's at right now and try and figure out how to bring him back to normal... if that's possible." Echo just stood there listening but still didn't know what was going on. It didn't look like there was a lot going on behind his eyes but... He was just a few months old twenty minutes ago so that kind of makes sense. The crew was silent a moment before Cynthia slowly walked up to Echo. "Hi, Echo..." Cy murmured. "Do you remember me?" Echo looked at her a moment before narrowing his eyes at her talons. "You scratched Bean. I remember." Zarabean quickly interrupted the interaction. "But Zarabean is okay now, Echo. Cynthia was forced to fight me, remember that?" Echo's eyes widened as he looked at Zarabean. "They made her fight you?" He looked baffled at the fact someone would order a kid to fight someone. "But that's mean!" "And I'm really sorry!" Cy apologized though she had done it previously. "I was scared they would let me drown. I can't swim..." Echo looked back at Cynthia. "Oh... I can't swim either..." He twiddled his thumbs a moment. "Sorry that happened... Can we be friends?" Cynthia looked puzzled but she nodded. "Of course." Echo quickly gave Cynthia a hug like he did Zarabean but he found he couldn't pick her up. She was surprised by the sudden hug and she looked over at Zarabean awkwardly. "He's clingy, isn't he?" Bean whispered to Cy and gestured to Echo. "He's just excited, don't mind him." Cy giggled and nodded before being released from the tight hug Echo had her in. "Aye, do ye remember a certain diddy yer auntie sang a few ago?" Alagatha asked Echo curiously. Echo stared at Alagatha like she spoke a different language. Nibble chimed in. "Ssshe sssaid 'do you remember the song your auntie sung a few days ago?'" "Oh!" Echo nodded. "Bombubble in the middle of the sea?" He fumbled over the word 'bomnubble' with a little lisp. Alagatha nodded. "Aye, that's the one! Do ye want to hear it again? Maybe ye auntie can play it for ye again if she had her lute." Echo looked excitedly at his Celeste. "Auntie, can you play the bombumble song?!" Celeste giggled a bit at his cute lisp and nodded. "If Mr. Clef can play his flute with me." She looked over at Clef curiously. Clef felt the eyes of everyone on him in that moment as he felt around his inner shirt pocket for his flute. He then remembered he had dropped it back in the Captain's cabin when he witnessed Celeste faint. "Ah, one second. I dropped my flute back in the cabin." So Clef left everyone on board for a quick minute to get his flute. When he went into the Captain's Cabin to retrieve it, he noticed his bag not far from it. After he picked up the flute, Clef found himself staring at his bag curiously. "Wait... I had something in the mouth of the bag a few days ago, it should of fallen out when I pulled the clothes out..." Clef looked around the cabin floor to see if he could find it but he didn't. That's when he got the idea that Ramger might of saw it fall downstairs so he immediately went to check below deck for it. When he stepped out of the cabin, he saw everyone waiting for him still. "One more second, I think I lost something..." Clef told them before going below deck. Alagatha, seeing the look of worry on Clef's face, looked at Celeste and suggested. "How about you play a different song for now?" Celeste had gotten her lute and was sitting on a barrel when she agreed. She gently strummed a different song while Clef was away. Clef was below deck for a few minutes looking for the item he had lost. It took him a moment to realize that it was gone and someone must of taken it. Clef stuffed his bag back in its previous spot with frustration. "Where did it go???" He thought for a moment before realizing the last person to have his bag was Ramger. Clef took a deep breath and went above deck to calmly question him.