Chapter 7 - One Brave Thing

“This is not good.” Rick sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Of course. Of course, this is how things turned out. Rayne had his necklace. She had the very necklace that he was supposed to give to Taylor and at this point, it probably wasn’t going to happen.

“I am so, so stupid,” Rick hissed. He slammed his hands on the table in frustration. “That’s what you get O’Brien,” he spoke to his reflection in the one-way mirror. “That’s what you get for thinking things might be good for once.”

He glared at his reflection, and he saw what he knew everyone else could. A weak little kid that was trapped. Trapped and lost and afraid of everything.

Rick’s face softened, who was he kidding? He wasn’t even good at being angry, he just didn’t feel it. Maybe if he got locked up in the Explorer’s base forever it would be okay, it would be better if he was just gone.

There was a knock at the door, and Dustbunny poked his head inside.

“Room service.” The gormaden announced cheerfully. Rick waved him away.

“I didn’t order any room service—wait, hey!” He jumped up so fast his chains caught him, rattling.

“Well gee,” David poked his head in next. “I didn’t sneak in here all quiet like or anything. I’m not here to bust you out, no sir, just make all the flippin’ noise you want.”

“Wait,” Dustbunny frowned. “Aren’t we supposed to be quiet?”

“I was being facetious.”

“Wait,” Rick blinked at the two of them. “You’re here to get me out?”

“Well, yeah.” David shrugged. “I kinda felt bad that you got caught up in everything. Not that it’s my fault or anything.” Dustbunny nudged his leg. “Okay, it’s kinda my fault, but not completely. Anyway, I felt bad so I snuck inside, jammed a couple curly fries in the breaker box, and now I’m rescuing you.”

“Can you even do that?” Rick asked. “They’ve got files on me, they know who I am, where I live, everything. Won’t they just come to my house and arrest me again?”

“Don’t you worry about any of that,” David said. He reached into the leather pouch on his hip and pulled out a nail file and paper clip. He came over to the table and began to pick the lock on the handcuffs. “I’ve got this really great lawyer in the Luxe District.”

“Isn’t the Luxe District a homeless community?” Rick frowned.

“Just because he lost his own case doesn’t mean he won’t win yours,” David said defensively. He turned the paper clip, and the handcuffs clicked open. “Booyah. Now shut up and follow me, I’ll have you out of here faster than you can say a dragon grilled my hotdog.”

“I have a request,” Rick spoke, and his voice was tentative. “I need to get my necklace back, and the Explorer girl has it.”

“Rayne has your necklace?” David’s eye twitched. “I can’t see any reason we shouldn’t go, right Dust?”

“I mean outside of getting arrested, possibly killed, and having our entrails torn out and hung in front of the automatic sliding doors out front,” Dustbunny said with a cute little smile. “But those are small things. Small things.”

Rick swallowed nervously at each of those things, and even though he wasn’t sure about the entrails part, it was still scary.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” David asked. “I mean the exit really is like, down the hall and—”

A flash of memory. Rick hiding under the covers as his parents yelled at each other in the kitchen. Vivien was looking to him, fear and worry in her eyes. She needed him to be brave. The necklace had become something more than a gift for Taylor. It was Rick’s opportunity to be something more.

“Yes.” Rick said before he could chicken out. “Yes. I’m sure. I have to… I have to be brave. Just this once.”

“Whoo, side quest.” David whooped, not exactly keeping to his earlier quiet rule. “Oh, but before we go do that, I gotta make one teeny tiny pit stop.

***

“THIS IS IT?!” Rick hissed, glancing around nervously. “THIS is why we had to sneak all the way to the OTHER side of the building? We had to crawl through freaking LASERS!”

“Come on, baby…” David said, sliding his dollar into the vending machine. “Take my money.”

“This is INSANE,” Rick growled, keeping his head on a swivel. They were in the middle of a wide-open hallway, standing in front of a vending machine.

“Nonsense, being thirsty is natural…” David replied with a frown as the machine spat his dollar out. “Stupid corners again. You know Rick, there’s you a million-dollar idea; invent, like, a dollar that’s corners don’t fold in, or make a machine that can scan them anyway.”

“FOCUS!” Rick hissed. “Get your soda so we can go!”

“Alright, alright.” David sighed, sliding the dollar back in. “Ha! Okay… G… twelve. There we go.”

KA-DUNK

Rick flinched at what felt like the loudest noise in the world, and again at the crack as David popped the tab.

“Can we go now?!”

“Ah… That’s good.” David sighed in relief. “Sure, let’s go.”

***

They continued through the stone hallways, doing their best to dodge security cameras and anyone else that they came across. Rick’s heart was thumping in his chest, his anxiety levels through the roof. He was sick to his stomach with nerves but told himself to keep going. This wasn’t David’s adventure anymore, it was his.

Dustbunny leaned around a corner, and quickly hid back. He shook his little body.

“Here,” David said, leading them into a nearby bathroom. “This way.”

They checked around, making sure no one was inside, then David opened a stall and gestured for Rick and Dustbunny to come inside.

“Um… what are we doing in here?” Rick stepped inside awkwardly and closed the door.

“There’s a vent,” David pointed above his head, and there in the ceiling was the metal grate. “Alright Dust, show me what you got.” David stood atop the toilet, and grabbed Dustbunny, putting the little gormaden on his shoulders. The air vent in the ceiling did look big enough to crawl through, but it was screwed shut.

“Hm…” Dust muttered, reaching out an expectant paw. “Looks like a Philips.” David reached into his leather pouch again, feeling around, and then offering up a multi tool, then turned his attention to Rick while Dustbunny worked.

“What’s so special about this necklace?” He asked. “Is it magical? Super expensive?”

“No,” Rick answered, putting a hand in his pocket looking for a comfort that wasn’t there. “It’s… I made this necklace for a girl that I like, and I’ve been wanting to give it to her, but I can’t.”

“Too nervous?” David asked.

“I’m terrified.” Rick said, his voice becoming soft. “But you know, David, I’m terrified of everything. I’m so skittish, but one day… one day I see her… and I don’t know what it was, but I decided that I wanted to be brave. I made the necklace, and it was like a moment of inspiration. Now I can’t help but feel like if I don’t give her the necklace, then I’ll be afraid forever.”

“Wow,” David blinked at him, “that’s pretty pathetic.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“We’re in,” Dust said. The vent grate swung open, and he hopped inside.

“But,” David grunted as he jumped up and pulled himself through the vent, legs kicking around as he did. “I am a kind and gracious fellow. I will help you with your pitiful mission to gain the courage you desire. It’s what I do.”

Rick stood on the toilet and reached up, grabbing the edge of the vent, grunting, and straining as he tried his best to pull himself up. David grabbed his arms and pulled him up with impressive strength, and he collapsed with a thud inside.

“Gosh, you need some donuts,” David said, catching his breath and then closing up the vent. “They’ll help you build up muscle.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works…”

“Nonsense,” David replied, and then he began crawling down the tunnel. Rick closed his eyes for a moment, as if praying to someone, anyone, and crawled after him. The three of them scurried through the vents, taking turns this way and that until, finally, David turned back and put a finger to his lips in silence. He listened closely to the hallway beneath them.

“I think this is it,” Dustbunny whispered, pointing down. “Her room has to be around here somewhere.”

“How do you know your way around this place?” Rick asked in amazement. The more he found out about the adventurer, the stranger he became.

“We break into this place all the time,” David said and pressed his ear to the vent, listening for any sounds. Then he opened it up and poked his head down into the hallway, glancing around to see if anyone was there. “All clear,” he said, then dropped through the opening as silent as a cat, his leather boots just ticking on the hard floor as he landed.

“Why…” Rick started to say as he handed Dustbunny down, then clumsily, and rather loudly lowered himself down, “do you break into this place all the time?”

David paused, his green eyes dropping just for a moment in an expression that wasn’t the merry go lucky adventurer. “I’ve been looking for someone.”

“Are you looking for an Explorer?” Rick frowned, “can’t you just, you know, go ask the receptionist in the lobby or something?”

“It’s not that easy,” David shook his head, “and nah, the only Explorer I’m looking for is the one with your necklace.”

Rick took in his surroundings. He was in another hallway, but this one was lined with doors, each one with a number and a name beside them. He began walking by each one, reading some names until he came across one in particular. It was door number eleven, and on it a small piece of paper read: Maralyn Rayne.

David knocked, waited a moment, then another, and with a shrug, pushed it open. The room was plain and small, with only a few things to distinguish that someone lived there. A few maroon-colored button up shirts hanging in the dresser closet. A pair of cracked glasses on the desk, and also a stack of papers and books.

Books and papers detailing things about the ancient city of Alkania, and the Oasis.

“Necklace…” Dustbunny muttered as he hopped around. “If I were a blue necklace for Rick’s crush, where would I be?”

Rick searched around as quietly as he could. He looked over the desk, in the floor, and on the bed. He was about to give up when his phone rang. It was Vivian.

“Hey, Viv, what’s up?” He asked with a nervous laugh.

“Where’s my chili?” She asked, her voice so loud Rick had to move the phone away from his ear.

“Yeah, sorry, yeah… About that…” Rick stumbled through the words. “Look, Viv, I’m sorry, I’ll uh, I’ll be home in a bit, okay?”

“Right…” she said, disappointment in her voice. “Okay, bye.”

“Bye…” He said rubbing at his eyes. He was about to hang up when Viv’s voice rang out again through the speaker.

“Oh, did you see your girlfriend?” She asked, “did you give her that necklace?”

“Um…” Rick sighed, “no… not yet. I mean, I did see her, but I didn’t uh, didn’t give it to her, no.”

“Oh…” Viv said. “Just wondering. Bye again. Oh, and don’t forget my stuff.”

“Yeah- um, bye… again.”

She hung up the phone and Rick felt like crying. Just right there. When he looked up, David was sitting in Rayne’s desk chair backwards, watching him.

“What?” Rick asked, his voice cracking.

“You are a sad, sad little man.” He commented.

“Yeah… well, I know that.” Rick swallowed the lump in his throat and put his phone away. “Can’t do anything right, and all I do is disappoint people.” He glanced around the room one more time and shook his head. The necklace wasn’t in the room, which meant that either Rayne still had it, or it was somewhere in the Explorer’s headquarters, and he would never find it.

“Dude, chill out,” David said.

“I am not going to chill,” Rick hissed, that sadness turning to anger again. “I am going to freak out, because this has probably been the worst day of my life, on so many levels. Today has been insane.”

“You must not get out too much,” David grinned, but Rick wasn’t feeling the jokes.

“No,” he snapped back. “No, just shut up. This is all your fault. I mean, what was I even thinking, running away with you? I don’t even know you.” His voice was getting louder, his breathing shallow. He stopped and put a hand to his chest, trying to calm down.

“Okay,” David said, standing up. “Here’s the deal—”

“No.” Rick shook his head, trying to focus on his breathing. “I’m done, okay? I thought that I could be brave, but I can’t. I need to go home, and I need to go home right now.”

“Listen to me, guy from the chili aisle…” David’s voice sounding irritated now.

“My name’s Rick!”

“Guys,” Dustbunny whimpered, “quiet please!”

“Listen here, Rick,” David said, his voice noticeably quieter. “I do a lot of stuff, okay? I save the world, I eat donuts, but you know what I don’t do? I do not take self-doubting, purpose lacking, wishy-washy guys from the grocery store on my adventures because that kills my vibe and makes me look a lot less cool than I actually am. Now, I am willing to help you find your necklace, but if you keep trying to give up on me every ten minutes then I will leave you behind. The Explorer’s will find you, and they will most likely take you home, and you’ll be grounded for a couple of weeks. Now, how does that sound?”

“That is exactly what I want to happen,” Rick responded in as loud a whisper as he could. “Why is that so bad?”

“Because then you’ll be right,” David said. “No one thinks you’re a disappointment except you. If you give up on that necklace, if you give up on this girl, and if you give up on bringing home a can of chili, then you will be a disappointment.”

Rick sat there for a moment, his thoughts swirling like a vortex in his mind, but he couldn’t make any sense of it. He’d never been able to make any sense of it. The thoughts, the feelings that were always inside. He’d just accepted the normal person that he was, and he’d always been okay with it because it had never made him think. Just existing was easy, but being brave… being something more… that was harder.

Why was he here? He wondered. Then he remembered just a little while before he had said something. Something that at the time might have been just words, but now had a reason for it. He had told David that he wanted to get the necklace, because if he didn’t have the courage to give it to her, then he truly was nothing.

He wanted to be something, not exactly for himself, but for the people that believed in him. Vivien was one. She wanted the best for him, she always had and he kept letting her down. For better or worse, even David was encouraging him, and actually trying to help him succeed. He wanted to do it for Taylor.

“Are you okay?” David asked, raising an eyebrow. “You look like you’ve been very introspective the last thirty seconds.”

“I have,” Rick said finally, and he stood up. “And I can’t give up. I just gotta do one brave thing.”

“Atta boy!” David exclaimed, not at all concerned with the blaring alarms, and the dozens of Explorers actively searching for them. “We go on a quest. For love! For glory! Onward sir knight!”

***

“What’s going on?” Rayne asked as she walked quickly to keep up with her mentor’s long stride.

“Don’t know,” he said, his eyes taking in everything. The lights flickering through the building, the people rushing through the guild hall to various positions. The siren rang loud in their ears.

Someone, an employee of the guild, rushed past them, then skidded to a halt when he saw Marcus. He was wearing a gray jumpsuit with a tool belt on his waist. He rushed to Marcus and stood in salute.

“Sir, I need you to come with me,” he yelled over the noise of the alarm. “I’m maintenance from the third floor. It looks like someone sabotaged the lights; I think you should see it!”

Marcus was silent for a moment, then turned to Rayne. “Go back to your room. I’ll come get you when this is done.”

“But…” Rayne said before she realized what she was doing. “What if it’s-?”

“Room. Now.” Marcus said, and then he was gone. Rushing down the hall after the maintenance guy. Rayne exhaled a slow, angry breath. She’d been looking forward to being able to follow, to prove to Marcus that she could keep up.

“But what if it’s David?” She finished to herself. She wanted to go, she wanted to help, she wanted to do something that wasn’t useless.

But until then, she would just have to obey orders. She turned on her heel and made her way up the stairs and down the hall to her room. At the very least, she could sit inside and get away from all the noise.

She grabbed the door handle, opened, and froze.

There, sitting on her bed, was Rick, and above him, legs dangling out of the air vent, was David. Dustbunny sat on the side of her bed, feet dangling, twiddling his thumbs.

“Rick, buddy, help me up here,” David said, his legs wiggling as he tried to pull himself further into the duct. Only Rick stared at her, mouth agape.

“Um, David, we have some company.”

“What the fayr are you doing in my room?!” Rayne shook herself out of shock and dashed forward, grabbing one of David’s legs and pulling hard. The adventurer squealed as he fell out of the vent and crashed into Rayne’s wooden desk chair.

He hit the ground in a splatter of splinters and wood.

“Ow, ow, okay, that hurt…” David groaned. He jumped up, dusting the wooden pieces off his hoodie. “If you would let me explain,” he muttered, rubbing his neck, “we’re here because we need his necklace back.”

“The necklace… Oh, this?” Rayne pulled the small necklace out of her pocket and dangled it in front of her. “What’s so important about this? Is it some ancient artifact? Something else that you stole?”

“It’s a craft item for eleven fifty-nine,” Rick answered.

“Plus, tax?” Dustbunny asked disbelievingly.

“Plus, tax.”

“You can have the necklace…” Rayne interrupted, “If you give me back the Oasis Spark.”

“What do you even want with that old thing?” David asked, his green eyes glancing back at the stack of papers on her desk.

“What do I want with it? What do YOU want with it?” Rayne snarled, her eyes wild, chest heaving in anger. “There’s something about that spark, that accumulator. Something about it that’s important, whether it’s linked to Alkania or the cataclysm or some other thing, but I need to find out.”

“Well, as soon as I’m done with it, it’s all yours,” David grinned and tipped his hat. “You have dibs on it, so it’s official.”

“I had it first, and you stole it from me. Do you have any idea what I sacrificed to get there?” Her silver eyes clashed with his green, and if sparks could have flown from the connection, they would have.

“Yeah,” David said, low and quiet, “I was there.”

“Then you know why I’m not going to stop until I get it back.” Rayne looked away. “I’m not going to let my grandfather’s legacy disappear so easily.”

David opened his mouth as if he was about to speak when the door burst open, and Alex dove inside, tackling David to the ground.

“I got you!” Alex yelled, as he grabbed on to the adventurer, arms and legs flailing.

“Get him off, get him off, he’s crazy!” David yelped as he scrambled out of Alex’s grasp. Rayne leaped after him, aiming a punch right for his face. The adventurer palmed her hand away, and her knuckles hit the wall. She hissed in pain and shook her hand, her now empty hand.

Searching for the necklace, she saw Rick scoop it up and then crawl out the door. David chasing after him with Dustbunny jumping and catching David’s hood. Alex was next, and Rayne followed him out the door, the five of them in a chase.

Rick skidded around a corner, David and Dust close behind, and they stopped when they came to a dead end. Before them was a sitting room with a few chairs and a vending machine by the slanted glass of the building that showcased the night sky teeming with stars. It was a dead-end, and the two of them spun around to face their pursuers.

“Stop right there,” Alex commanded, reaching behind and drawing the rifle off his back. He wiped some blood off a busted lip with the back of his free hand and racked a bolt into the chamber. “You have nowhere to go. Now put your hands up.”

Rick immediately threw his hands in the air, the necklace wrapped around his right hand, the crystal dangling below. David, however, turned his head to give him a confused look, and only halfway raised his own hands. Rayne almost felt bad for Rick. He seemed so out of place. If she hadn’t seen him running around with David, she might not have believed he was the accomplice.

“You know I’ve been in situations like this before,” David said as casually as ever, “and I can assure you it never ends well.”

“Have a lot of people who hate you?” Rayne asked with a scowl.

“There’s actually quite a few,” Dustbunny peaked out from behind David’s head and nodded with insistence.

“Especially on bingo night at the nursing home,” David chuckled. “I swear the residents there keep guns in their slippers, and most evenings we end up in a standoff until someone keels over or has a heart attack or something.”

“You think you’re funny?” Alex hissed, taking a step forward.

“I don’t know. Rick, am I funny?” David smiled.

“You’re hilarious,” Rick groaned.