7 NOT ALONE

"I care not that they threw at me," Lirzod clenched his fist, breaking the raw egg in his hand. "Still, I care that they threw at a baby.

"It's not alone..."

The egg — thrown at the foal before — rolled on the floor and ended up stopping at Lirzod's feet. He glanced down.

"Don't even think about it," 777 let go of the luggage cart.

"Want to throw that at us?" One of the four men stood. "Dare it if you can."

"He wouldn't dare it for a horse," 777 stepped forward and came to Lirzod's front. "That thing doesn't even have a mother. It's a pity, but that's the reality."

"What do you mean, it doesn't have a mother?" Lirzod asked.

"No, its mother died while giving birth to it. No other horses welcomed it in their group, much less feed it. Milk is a rare thing on these lower decks, so it's fed at irregular times."

"That's why it looks so bony," Lirzod couldn't help but remember the lives of the domesticated animals of his clansmen. Most people who owned buffaloes and cows, never fully fed them. Even when they gave birth, their calves weren't provided with enough milk. Things were especially worse when a drought or a famine was upon the town.

When it came to taking care of their domestic animals, his clan would rank definitely somewhere near the bottom, in the entire state. Lives and lifestyles of people came first, before their pets or domesticated animals. That's why most of the Faceless clan's pets and domesticated animals had their bones exposed throughout the year. The few that looked sort of healthy were the ones owned by the rich families of the clan.

Though there were a few souls like himself or Duera, who acted differently from most others, and showed concern when it was needed, their deeds didn't really change the minds of anybody.

Lirzod picked up the egg,which startled 777. "I'm warning you. Don't do anything silly."

Lirzod pressed it a couple of times, and it felt more like a rubber than an egg. "My father used to give these type of things to mother, hoping she'd learn to control her emotions. I think that's called a Stress Ball. She surely relieved her stress by throwing them back at him." He glanced up at those men. "My father is a frightening husband. He shut my mother's mouth from just getting a couple of spongy things thrown at him. I always wished to be like him, but you guys are making me be in my mother's shoes," He lifted his hand. "I guess, this one can be called a Stress Egg. One egg to crack you all. That makes this one hell of an egg, don't you all think?"

"Try it if you can," The four men were all smiles.

Lirzod said in a low voice, "Take out the flashy box from the red bag."

"Flashy?" 777 puzzled. "What for?"

"Just take it out."

"Alright, but I need — "

"Need a coin again?"

"No," 777 opened the white bag and it was filled with many boxes, but the red one stood out. "This one?"

Lirzod nodded, and it was tossed to him. His legs began to reduce the distance between him and the four men.

"What's that package?" One of them asked out loud.

"Maybe, he's gonna gift that to us," Another guy said, which made them all laugh in a wild manner.

"But it's too bad. We don't receive any gifts other than eggs," The third guy shook his head.

"Who knows, they might be eggs," The fourth guy's eyes showed expectations. Hearing his words, the remaining three licked their lips, and their mouths salivated.

"Yes. There are eggs in this package," Lirzod's voice reached their ears. "We use this setup to boil eggs while they're still in the package. Even this cover is heat resistant."

"What, so he's not a bad guy after all." The four men no longer showed any hostility towards Lirzod and freed their postures. "We can boil the eggs without even having to uncover the package? That's cool."

"Yes," Lirzod said with a knotty smile "Just make a bonfire and place this on it for a minute and you're good to gorge." He handed the package to one of them.

"Sorry, brother," They began to apologize. "We didn't know you were so open-handed. We wouldn't have hit you otherwise."

"It's alright," Lirzod scratched his cheek. "Mistakes happen all the time. But can you guys tell me why you didn't throw eggs at Burton?"

"Burton?" The four of them were puzzled.

"Uh, I mean the guy who went before me."

"Oh, you mean the one who's with the red-haired girl."

"Yeah. He's the one."

"We would have thrown at him if he was alone. Too bad that he's with a girl."

"What's the problem if he's with a girl?"

"We won't throw eggs at women. That's our first rule. If we break it, our higher-ups will break our backbones."

"Oh..." Lirzod paused a moment. "Can I take this Stress Egg with me?"

"Of course you can. We have many more of them, so feel free to take it."

"Oh, thanks."

The four of them looked at each other before hesitantly asking Lirzod, "We know it's rude to open the gifts in front of the givers, so... If you leave, we will start taking care of this thing. Only, if you want us to do it right now, that is."

"Feel free to use it any time," Lirzod turned and walked away.

The four wasted no time in arranging necessary things to light a bonfire. Meanwhile, Lirzod reached back to the luggage cart and took out a kilo packet of white-coated boiled grams.He tossed it to 777. "Give it to that baby horse."

"It's still not old enough to eat these. Do you want to kill it?"

"Those are not your ordinary ones. They are soaked in milk for seven days. It's highly nutritious, and is a favorite food of bovines."

"Why the heck are you carrying cattle food?"

"It's not just for cattle."

"Oh." He quickly went and poured the entire packet in a dirty metallic bowl that lay beside the foal. Though it was hesitant at first, the smell of the food made it give a try. 777 came back to the luggage cart, and both of them were on the move. "I didn't expect you'd give them a gift. So, what's in the gift box?"

"My clan's tradition."

"Tradition?"

"Yes."

"... In the olden days, people used to gather at a bonfire and have long conversations. These days, no one's using such a great way of interacting. We are losing our traditions one by one."

"Oh, so you worry about things other than money."

"Of course. I care about a lot of things, though money is at the top of that list."

"Doesn't even have to guess."

"Yeah, keep thinking that you've read me. I can't wait for the time when I'll make you bite your own tongue for that."

In a minute, the two of them left the open area and entered the closed cabin region. From the moment he stepped foot in a staggeringly corridor, rooms were on both sides. Lovely lighting whose source couldn't be easily located, extended throughout the corridor, leaving no darkness in the vicinity, except for the shadows of people and objects.

"He said, a minute is enough." The four men were highly excited as they put the gift packet on top of the bonfire. There was a metal sheet that safeguarded the wooden floor from getting blemished. Extensive Voyage's wood was of so high quality that the bonfire wouldn't be able to burn it, but it would still leave a slight mark. Though there were special spots on the ship to light bonfires, there weren't any strict rules saying they should light them elsewhere. As long as it didn't lead to an outbreak of fire, it was allowed.

Ten seconds passed.

"Hey, how come the eggs boil? Shouldn't they get roasted instead?" One of them put forward his doubt.

"Idiot, there must be some kind of heat-resistant glass bowl inside, which may just be filled with water as well."

"Can't wait to eat them together. It's been so long since we did this."

"Yeah, thanks to that boy."

"Hmm?" One of them narrowed his eyes and intensely stared at the bonfire. "Hey, is it just my imagination, or... Is the plastic molding?"

Others focused their gazes on the package. "You're right. Why is the — "?

BA DA BANG BOOM~~!!

The gift box exploded into red flames and yellow lights that scorched the wind and the noise reverberated all around, alerting everybody in the vicinity of a few miles. Sparkles of hot star-shaped light, combined with the spreading smoke, engulfed the four men in an instant. Their screams couldn't even be heard in the noises that repetitive exploding sounds that explosion made. A series of new flashes broke out — again and again — and spread incandescent gases in every direction, baking everything they touched. Sounds of glass breaking, metal clinging, gases steaming, punched their way through the walls and reached the ears that lay beyond.

The rags of fire rapidly changed colors from red to violet — all colors of the rainbow and repeated the spectrum all over again. From far, it looked like crackers were lit on the ship. But there wasn't any special occasion going on.

The sparkling lights set things aflame as good as any fire. More and more smoke rings rose, twisted, writhed, shape-shifted into things that appeared like living beings born to devour everything in sight. Horses were scared shitless of the smoke and the twinkling lights that changed colors too fast, which only heightened their horror. Howbeit, having tied down, there wasn't much they could do other than stamp their feet on the ground for as long as they could, and neigh at irregular times.

While a bundle of terrible sensations sank their hearts, every other Hollow who's nearby came running to the spot, where a whirlpool of horror had unfolded. They tried to pour water using buckets, but even they were afraid as the crackers didn't seem like they would stop any time soon. Howbeit, with the union of multiple hands, the cracking sounds were slowly but surely stopped.

As the smoke dissipated into thin air, they all saw dark gray matter on the floor, and lying in it was the four men — severely wounded, and none were conscious.

"Help them! Move them carefully. Give them proper first aid!" Men quickly brought them away from the source of explosions and began to take care of those four, while the flames still didn't die down.

The bonfire or the wooden logs were nowhere to be seen. The metal sheet on the floor had multiple tiny holes drilled in it.

Though many gave their helping hand, they were still in shock. It was hard to believe, some small package had done so much damage.

It took longer than they thought to give the first-aid. After cooling down the bodies of the four men with lukewarm water for more than fifteen minutes, things looked little better. Those four were taken away with care.

Things have calmed down, but the horses were still restless.

At the top of the figurehead, Stussy who sat in a laid-back manner glanced back at the horses. And her eyes stopped at the foal, which was the only horse that ate regardless of what happened around it. "Hunger creates wonders." Stussy peered back in the direction of the shore, and was able to see through the fog, and most of the people left the shore, except for the three clan heads. "Those three... There's something strange about them. How did such a small clan as this managed to get the entrance tickets, I wonder... If they succeed, this clan deserves a song, definitely."

The winds picked up the music instruments — except for drums —around her, and made them afloat. "But for now, let's strain the air for the foal and all the lone lives of the world..."

Melodies flowed from all the instruments in a synchronized manner, and their resultant tune amplified and reached the ears of all the horses, and lowered their heartbeats in a matter of moments. The violin string vibrated and produced sound waves that merged well with the waves of the flute, and formed a great pattern. The wind instrument even furthered the amplification.

When the horses' feet began to tap on the floor, according to the musical notes, the other people nearby had smiles on their faces. And they danced in their own fashion and tapped like they were masters in dancing.

Amidst all that, a mesmerizing voice broke out and overshadowed every other thing, whose source was Stussy's mouth.

"If you're in poorness, you're not alone;

If you're in pain, you're not alone;

If you're in a long chase, you're not alone;

If you've wasted years of life, you're not alone;

If your future is in doubt, you're not alone;

If nobody helps you, you're not alone;

If nothing seems to work, you're not alone;

If the world seems to be crushing you, you're not alone;

If you feel like a broken thing, you're not alone;

If you're at your limit, you're not alone;

If you wish to sleep forever, you're not alone;

If you don't want to be alone, you're not alone;

When you commit mistakes, you're not alone;

When you can't find peace, you're not alone;

When you're walking a lonely road, you're not alone;

When you're in your own head, you're not alone;

When you're smiling alone, you're not alone;

When you're alone, you're not alone."

By the time her voice came to a halt, the horses were jumping around as if they had two tails. They were all over the moon. Even the foal jumped about and used its newly generated energy to kick the air with its rear legs.

A few moments later, the melody stopped.

Just the panting of the horses and the men — remained in the air.