Vasquez left the crowd as people started leaving to start their nights. He tried to sneak off to retrieve the bag he had hidden during his chase earlier that day, but was stopped by another young man who grabbed his shoulder. Flinching and turning back swiftly, Vasquez escaped the man's grasp. Confused, the young man apologized, 'I am sorry, I did not mean to startle you. I just have not seen you here before. My name is Ben. What brings you here?' Ben seemed to stumble over his words. The young, tan man was a couple of inches shorter than Vasquez, but his frame was a lot more filled out, with the definition of his chest and arms showing under his white canvas shirt. The sleeves cut short just under his elbow, showing a patterned tattoo on his arm, extending out to his wrist, made with very dark blue ink that glowed under his glistening sweat and the dusky sky. He had three metal wire necklaces wound around his neck. Vasquez smiled and with a polite nod of his head answered, 'My name is Vasquez, and I am just passing through here, trying to travel east.'
Ben frowned and looked Vasquez up and down. 'You don't look like you are from the east.' He paused, inspecting Vasquez some more. 'You aren't with those people from earlier. They were a lot…', he paused again and shuddered, remembering the town's past encounter. '…less human feeling.'
Vasquez, understanding the feelings of unease, remembering his own encounter with Fritz, Jacque, Nadii, and the rest of that group. He could feel the fried fish swimming in his stomach, and the tight, unshakeable grip that he was stuck in while they performed their ritual. Unable to hide his unease, Vasquez scratched his hair. 'Yeah, trust me I am not one of them.' He regained his composure. 'I had been camping near the town, but I saw the people of the town gathered at the fountain and I wanted to see what had happened. I watched those people you speak of leave the town on their horses.'
Ben tried to spit on the ground at the mention of the religious caravan, but his mouth was too dry, so it was more of a forceful exhale. 'Those people brought the death of the Lady of Hope and worse. Even they stole our offerings from the church. Many even brought their gunpowder to give to Maranza.' Ben brandished the knife tucked in his waistband and swore, pointing the knife upwards at the dark sky his head was turned to. He angrily announced, 'When they return, they will see how false their god is.' He looked back at Vasquez and cleared his throat, gaining some confidence from his vow. 'Are you going to stay the night here in Huecor? It might be dangerous traveling during the night.'
'No, I was going to camp outside the town. I wouldn't want to be a bother to anyone.' Vasquez didn't want to break any trust with the young man whom he had just made his acquaintance. So sleeping outside the town seemed like the most reasonable option. He didn't mind. He had slept through rough conditions all his life.
Ben, relaxed and showing a smile, said, 'I insist! You stay with me tonight. I have an extra bed for you to sleep on. Before that, we must go grab a drink at the Western Star. Many of my friends should be there, and this past couple of days, alcohol has been easier to come by than water.'
Vasquez was tempted. A bed and drinks sounded very good right now, and this man seemed to be trustworthy enough, so he very politely accepted the offer. Vasquez had never drank in Anjo. He was kept away from it and any other drugs, but there was never a better time than now. The newfound pair started their short walk over to the bar, feeling slightly more cool under the light of the half moon.
'What did they do?' Vasquez asked with a quiet voice.
'They tried to give us a blessing from who they worship. We didn't accept. They did not accept that. And then the blessing turned into a curse.' Ben started to walk a little slower.
'A curse?'
'Huecor is not usually this hot, even though we send a lot of the more comfortable aspects of weather to the Gardens of Maranza, we ask to keep it nice enough here to be comfortable and livable for us here. They even took that away.' Ben gestured towards where Vasquez guessed the empty fountain was, and his voice started to tremble, 'The fountain, we call The Lady of Hope, would be constantly flowing with cool water, but after they left… well, you see now.'
Sending the weather? Cool water in this desert? The Gardens of Maranza? Vasquez kept those questions to himself.
Ben continued, now with the same anger he had in his voice before, 'And they insult us more by stealing the offerings we had made just after they left while we were gathered looking for hope.' Ben's voice rang out, and the two walked in the echoes of the memories they had with the followers of Kraesa.
This reminded Vasquez that he had to eventually retrieve the items he had left near the outer parts of the town, but he could worry about that later. Now he can bask in the luxury of a bed, food, and drink. Clouds had formed above the pair, decreasing the temperature even more, which was greatly appreciated by Vasquez, who could finally feel his clothes get looser around his body. It also made the night very dark; Vasquez had to squint in order to keep an eye on Ben and see where he went. Vasquez did well until he tripped over a rock and almost fell onto Ben, who turned around and helped him up. When Vasquez looked at the young man to thank him, he saw an expression of pain and confusion.
Oh shit, he felt the guns.
Before Ben could say anything, Vasquez held his hand up and admitted, 'Sorry about my guns, I have been keeping them on me for protection.'
Vasquez could have sworn he saw a fire light up in Ben's eyes, 'Are they loaded?' Vasquez knew the true intent of the question.
'No. I have just had them during my journey for intimidation if anyone tried to rob or kill me.'
Ben's voice got quieter, and almost disappointed in this answer. 'That makes sense.' Then he sighed and mumbled, 'It has been really hard to come by.'
Sorry to disappoint.
Ben cleared his throat and declared, 'Well, let's continue on our way. We're almost there. Just be mindful of where you step… And keep those guns hidden inside.'
When they reached the bar, Ben swung the rickety wooden door open, and it made a loud creak. The light inside illuminated the street behind them, with their long shadows suddenly appearing behind them. They walked in and were greeted by the sight of many drunken men and women sitting at rectangular tables of various sizes, talking over drinks, laughing, and yelling about all sorts of various things. In the corner, there was a bigger, round table where the people sitting at it were playing some sort of card game, with small bags being passed around. The people sitting there were quieter, only talking amongst themselves. Next to the round table was the bar, where a young, handsome bartender with long, dark, brown hair that went just above his shoulders and similarly tan skin was mixing drinks, talking to the patrons that had requested his various concoctions. He looked up at the two newcomers and gave them a wave. His eyes were a piercing green that made them hard to look away from.
Walking up to the bar, Vasquez listened in to the conversations around him. At the table closest to the entrance, a fat man with a shirt too tight for his own good was wheezing over a joke he had made, spitting a mix of whatever he had just put into his mouth all over the table. The three people he was sitting with looked less amused, looking around at each other uncomfortably. They looked younger; one of them was a woman who Vasquez guessed was around his age. Her wavy black hair flowed just past her shoulders, and her skin was fairer than most of the people Vasquez had seen in Huecor. Her eyes were brown and carried a soft gloss, which looked like a perpetual tear was forming in them. The other two younger men also looked about Vasquez's age, if not a bit older, and were much more mundane to look at compared to the bartender and the young lady they were sitting with. They had similarly dark hair, with the one sitting next to the fat old man having longer curls. His nose seemed too big for his cherry-red face, the cause of that probably being the three empty cups in front of him. The other one was a lot more sober, but his cheeks were still flushed. He had a burn across his arm, leaving his exposed bicep fully black. All four of them had the same tattoo on their left pinky finger: a coil that got tighter as it got closer to the fingertip and used a similar ink to the tattoo that Ben has.
'You guys don't get it?' The large man bellowed. 'His mind was empty! That's why nothing blew up!' The other three looked around and laughed uncomfortably.
'Ohhhh that makes sense!' The man with the burn still did not understand, but wanted to just get this conversation and night done with.
'Well, when you go to church, make sure not to tell that one!' The fat man replied with laughter. 'Well, I'll leave you young people up to it. I can't wait to see you tomorrow morning!' He added with a wink, while he got up and went towards the exit.
'Fucking nutcase,' the red-faced man shook his head after the seat was vacated.
By the time the large man left the bar, Vasquez and Ben had made it to the counter and greeted the handsome bartender.
'Benjamin Canaan, my friend!' The young man had a raspy and quiet voice that somehow carried itself over to Ben and Vasquez. Ben grimaced after hearing his full name. 'Who is this?' He gestured to Vasquez.
'Hello, Andre. This is Vasquez. He is traveling through Huecor.' Ben replied flatly. 'Do you think you can get us a drink?' Vasquez gave a small wave to the bartender.
'Of course! Anything for Auntie Beatriz's son!' Andre's hair looked like it had a mind of its own, bouncing up and down and swaying while the young man made them a drink, pouring dark liquor into two tall glasses and adding some other liquid ingredients Vasquez couldn't recognize, and finishing with a dash of salt. Andre turned his attention to Vasquez and handed the two the drinks he made. 'Where are you traveling? You have surely come at a misfortunate time.'
Vasquez opened his mouth to answer, thinking he could tell Andre the same thing he had told Ben earlier, but Ben quickly answered for him, 'He is traveling. He wants to find his connection to Meranza.'
Andre smiled brightly. His teeth were neat and scarily clean. 'Why, that is just wonderful! Drink up! You will need whatever strength this can provide for you!' He started walking to a back room. 'Let me feed you!' He swung a gate open and disappeared into the darkness behind it, leaving Ben and Vasquez by themselves.
Ben took a big sip of his drink and stared inside the cup. 'My apologies about him and for my small lie. He is a friend of my mother's son. We won't have to worry about paying. He is deeply faithful, more than me. If he heard that you are heading east, for whatever reason you have, he would not be as cheerful as he is now.' He looked up at Vasquez, and his voice got quiet. 'Forgive my intrigue, but why is it you want to travel east?'
Vasquez shrugged, 'Apparently there is some family I have who moved from my hometown, Anjo, who have gone east. My uncle there is supposed to help me learn about life. At least that is what my mother told me.' He took a sip of his drink, expecting a bad taste. He had seen people grimace after drinking alcohol, but it was pleasant. It was somehow cool and sweet in his mouth, but he felt a burn in his chest when he swallowed. 'I don't know what that means.'
Andre swung outside of the gate, his hair flopping behind him, with two plates with rice and vegetables. 'Hopefully this heat won't last much longer. These vegetables were almost cooked before I even took them off the shelves! How do you like the drinks?'
'It's not bad.' Ben's voice was indifferent, but drink told a different story. It was nearly three-fourths of the way gone. He and Vasquez took the plates of food from Andre, and Vasquez gave him a smile and a polite nod in return.
'It is very pleasant, thank you very much.' Vasquez had started to make similar progress on his own drink and started to get to work on his meal. The last thing he had eaten was the fish, and that left a bad feeling in his stomach, but this food felt soulful and healthy, and Vasquez was very grateful. 'Wow,' he talked in between bites, trying to cover his mouth with his hand. 'This food is amazing!'
'I am glad you think so. It was actually this man over here,' Andre pointed to Ben. 'His mother made this recipe, and my mother was so enthralled that she begged for it for months on end.' He placed a hand on his chest and looked down with a sad smile. 'May they rest in peace.' Ben followed, but kept his head down a little longer until some of the other people in the bar came up and asked for drinks. 'Well, I must get back to work, but I hope you pair have an excellent night! And if I do not get to speak with you again, Vasquez, please do have a very safe journey.'
'Thank you very much! I really appreciate this food and drink; they are both wonderful.' Vasquez took a big sip of his drink, and Andre smiled and walked over to the patient customers. The round table in the corner had caught Vasquez's eye once more, and Ben followed his gaze and frowned. He asked his new friend, 'Are you a gambling man?'
'No, but today has been a day of many firsts. What are they playing?'
'You know poker, right?'
'I am familiar with the rules, but I myself have not played.'
'It is a variation of it. I guess if you want to play, they should not have a problem. Do you have anything to gamble?' Ben turned his gaze to the guns he had felt earlier on Vasquez's hip.
'Not those. I want to see how they play, though.'
Ben sighed and looked up before turning to Vasquez, 'Okay, let's check it out.' He looked around and took two of the wire necklaces from his neck. 'Keep your guns visible; maybe that can get you a seat at the table.'
So, Vasquez, while he walked over to the table, fastened the guns around his waist, using Ben's necklace. This was the first time Vasquez led the two somewhere. As they approached the table, the shadowy figures came into their sight, and the one closest to them at the round table looked back. First, he looked at the guns hanging from the loops in Vasquez's pants, then looked over at Ben and growled, in a way that seemed to echo in Vasquez's head, 'Why didn't you come with your mother?' He tilted his head upwards. 'Oh. That's right. You killed her.'