Shaky Introductions

 Short bit of a story where I have Hads Leppet meet someone who isn’t particularly thrilled to see him. All this stuff is just bits of pieces so obviously there might be some context that is missed. All feedback is welcome and there will be another post tomorrow!

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In line with Hads’s observation, all of the tombstones had been eroded heavily. The lack of care was apparent, especially on some of the older ones whose text was practically unrecognizable having been worn off over the years. Even the most recent one that Hads was talking about, had been put in askew and looked like it could fall over at any time.

 

         “Let’s just get inside, it’ll only take a couple of minutes, there’s not much to see.” Hads got up to the door and pushed them open.

 

         The doors opened with relative ease, which surprised even Hads. He expected the doors to have been lodged shut by years of misuse.

 

         “That’s odd,” Hads stealthily stepped in the door, quietly closing it behind him.

 

         The interior was very bland, just like the outside. A couple rows of pews led to a loft on the other end of the building. Most of the pews looked in disrepair or were flat out gone, mostly taken for use in other projects. At the loft sat a small altar, the room was completely devoid of any religious imagery, no crosses, paintings, stars, not a single thing. In windows where there would have been stained glass, all of the glass was gone leaving a bunch of metal outlines, giving the room a very moody tone. A small oil lantern hung from the roof, still lit.

 

         “How is that lantern still lit,” Hads took a few small steps forward, “has someone been here recently?”

 

         “Yes, someone has,” A voice came from behind the Altar, making Hads jump.

 

         “Hello, sorry to disturb you,” Hads was frozen with fear, the only thing keeping him from fleeing was Bill’s presence on his shoulder.

 

         A hooded figure stood up from behind the altar, “This is quite an interesting development, the second visitor I’ve gotten today, it must be my lucky year…”

 

         “I was just showing my Platypus around, uh… I’m Hads Leppet, the next heir.” It took all of Hads’s strength to not let his speech devolve into stammering.

 

         “Ah, so we’re still doing Platypuses,” The hooded figure let out a small laugh.

 

         “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s so funny?”

 

         The Hooded figure walked down from the loft, the lights shining on his robes, revealing that they were brown.

 

         “Those wretched freak of nature Platypuses,” His voice came out with a mix of humor and bitterness, “my great great great great grandfather’s predictions were wrong then.”

 

         “What was wrong with it?”

 

         “Oh, it’s nothing, you’re just too young to understand, you can ask your father about it.”

 

         “Did my father do something to you? If he did, is there a way that I can help?”

 

         The hooded figure removed his hood, revealing an old man. The years had not treated him well. His skin was covered in spots and even his wrinkles had wrinkles. He was rather hideous, his nose was misaligned, like it had been broken and had never healed properly. His lips were almost as cracked as the tombstones outside and he was missing a few teeth. Yet, in his eyes Hads saw something, his eyes defied his age, showing tenacity and spirit that Hads hadn’t seen in the strongest militiamen. His face contorted into a rude sneer at hearing Hads’s words.

        

“Oh, if a small child could fix all of my problems…” He muttered just loud enough for Hads to hear.

 

         “Well, I may not be able to fix all of them, but I can certainly try,” Hads offered his hand for a handshake determined to make the man’s day better, “I think we should restart our introductions.”