The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 47

Celeste stroked Echo's head with worry. "I don't understand..." She looked back at Ramger. "... What are we supposed to do now?" Ramger was speechless and wasn't able to offer help. He stood there, feeling guilty for accidentally causing this. Clef stepped forward and knelt beside Celeste. "Well... I think what we need to do is roll with this until we can figure out how to get him back to normal." He looked back at Ramger as well, "Ramger... Can you go below deck and find my rugsack? It's brown.. and looks really old, like you. I should have something that Echo can wear in the meantime." Ramger, feeling otherwise useless and at fault, quickly left the Captain's cabin to retrieve the bag. As Ramger went to get the bag, Celeste scooped Echo into her arms with more difficulty than before. - The steps creaked under Ramger's weight as he went into the lower deck. The creaking reminded him of his spine that morning. "Where did today go wrong?" He thought to himself with a guilt starting to gnaw at his chest. That noise soon prompted a series of thoughts as Ramger descended. As he reached the bottom of the steps, Ramger remembered his mission to retrieve Clef's bag. At the thought of Clef, he remarked, "Am I really much different than him?" Ramger paused and looked back up the steps. "... I haven't always been in good straits with the Maker either... I turned to many things after her death that I'm not proud of..." He muttered before remembering Zarabean's comment that morning that compared Ramger's unruly hair to Clef's. "... I've been too quick to judge him, haven't I?" He thought to himself, unable to admit it audibly in that moment. Before he continued to dwell on his guilt and pride-shattering thoughts, he shoved them down within himself. "I need to get the bag. I'm taking too long." Ramger thought and forced himself into the sleeping courters. He looked around for the rugsack Clef had spoken of and he finally spot it in a little crevasse between a support beam on a wall shelf. Ramger quickly grabbed it and turned to walk away when he heard something fall out of it. Whatever it was, it made a "clunk" noise as it hit the wooden floor boards. He looked in the direction in which the item fell and he couldn't believe his eyes. - Echo's blue eyes slowly opened and he yawned a really big yawn like he'd been asleep for hours. He looked at Celeste and then at Clef and he smiled with a mouth full of teeth. It was like that whole ordeal never happened... except the fact he aged six years. "Echo, honey, how are you feeling?" Celeste asked, not sure to what extent Echo was aged up. She wasn't sure if his mind had aged as well or if he was still a baby inside that six year old body. Who could blame her for the confusion? It's never happened before. "Tired..." Echo's voice was heard for the second time by Celeste and first time by Clef. Echo stretched out his arms and legs but quickly noticed how much longer they were. It startled him. "What???" He observed his hands up close in awe. Celeste bit her bottom lip, not sure how Echo would react to being told he missed the most foundational years of his life... So she was silent. Clef watched in silence too, making the same face as Celeste and holding his breath. Echo's calm demeanor quickly shifted as he sat up and looked down at his legs. The previous vision he was given by the sea dragon came rushing back to his mind and he started to cry again. "There are wolves... I remember the wolves..." He looked at Celeste with his wide blue eyes. "Auntie, they're coming for us." "Wait, slow down. What do you mean?" Celeste asked, not understanding how wolves would be after them specifically. "Normal wolves?" Echo quickly shook his head. "No, big wolves on two legs! I saw them! I..." The more he spoke about them the more details he remembered and it frightened him horribly. He began shaking out of fright. "I-I could barely hear anything of what the wolves were saying but there was a big man with them... a-and a very weird noise I couldn't make out... I thought it might be music so I t-tried to to listen harder... but a wolf snarled in the vision so loudly I-!" He started to sob like he had been as a baby. "'A big man'"? Clef asked under his breath, wondering if it could be his father, Captain Sealen. Celeste hugged her nephew close. "Shhhh, Echo, shhhh...." She soothed him as she had done in the past. "It's okay, hon, I'm here..." Echo cried into his aunt with loud whimper. Clef gently patted Echo on the back, "It's okay, Echo, we're here..." While they were consoling Echo, Ramger slowly opened the door to the Captain's cabin. Everyone looked over at him as he entered. Ramger had a unique expression on his face that was curious to Clef and Celeste. However, he said nothing. He walked right over to them and handed Clef his bag without a word. "Thanks, Ramger." Clef said as he started digging through the bag, glancing curiously at Ramger the whole time. Ramger stared at Clef a long time before making his way back to the exit. Neither Celeste or Clef stopped him but they did observe him leaving with interest. Clef shrugged that feeling off as he found in his rugsack a tunic and some pants and took them out. Celeste consoled Echo to the point he had calmed down but was still very afraid. She pulled away from the hug to look at him in the eyes. "Echo, I need to you to be as brave as you can for me. I can't change what you saw but we can pray the Maker helps keep us safe, can't we?" Echo sniffled and rubbed one of his eyes with a pouty lip. "Yeah... I-I can try..." "That's my nephew." Celeste softly smiled and looked over at Clef. "Mr. Clef has some new clothes for you to wear too." Echo looked over at Clef as well. "They'll be quite big on you but we can use a string of fabric to tie it around you so the pants stay up..." Clef showed the old clothes to Echo and to his surprise, Echo seemed to like them. "Wow... You're giving me something? Thank you!" Echo said with a soft smile and a strange thankfulness. Celeste smiled at her nephew's politeness. "Well, let's help you get out of the basket. It looks like becoming older broke it..." She stood up and held her hands out to Echo for him to take. Echo reached up and took his aunt's hands and slowly stood on his feet. His knees understandably shook because he's never stood before. Once he was able to stand, Celeste helped him dress in the new clothes Clef had given him. "What do you think?" Clef asked, curious to get a former-baby's opinion. "I like them!" Echo shouted a little louder than he intended- he startled himself. "Oh um..." He raised one of his arms and saw how the sleeves slid down his skinny arm. "This is fun too!" Clef couldn't help but laugh. "You're a funny kid. Come on, why don't we go introduce you to the crew?" Echo tilted his head, "But I know them already?" "Well, they haven't seen you since you were uh, this big, Celeste explained as she gestured the size of an infant with her arm span. "You're a bit bigger since the last they've seen you." She cringed at her own statement, remembering family reunions growing up in the palace. Her parents would tell her the same line every year. "Huh." Echo's eyebrows scrunched together for a moment before he shrugged. "Okay!" Celeste took Echo by the hand and led him out to the deck with Clef following behind.