A Very Long Night

Jamil

Looking for a job? That is just great. It is a well known fact that there is dignity in labour but please, in all you do, never accept a job that requires you to be a go-between in a fight, especially if you don't know what the fight was all about.

Getting back to the tree with Blaire in tow, i just knew it was going to be a very long night. Ulo took one look at my train and turned around, immediately starting to walk away. Behind me, Blaire started to slink away as well but I managed to stop her in time. "Come on!" I pulled her along as I raced after Ulo. "Hey! Wait up buddy!" There was no way he hadn't heard but of course, my buddy chose to ignore me. I decided not to take offense. Of course, I had little other choices but let's not go there, yes?

"Let me go, Jamil. He obviously doesn't want to talk. Perhaps, he would be in a better mood tomorrow. I will speak to him then." Behind me, Blaire was throwing a fit of her own. I wondered for the umpteenth time what I had done to deserve this fate. Knowing her, if I let her go now, she would never apologize and they would go back to being awkward around each other. They also consider themselves as best friends but their relationship has always been strained at best. Being direct opposites of each other, Blaire often managed to get on Ulo's wrong side after which they would then become awkward around each other for a couple of days till they came to an uncomfortable settlement. Every once in a while, like tonight, I, the legendary peacemaker would step in and help get their acts straight. I tried to keep it minimal though because each attempt was always like stepping between two raging lions.

"Ulo! Come on, wait up." I called, dragging Blaire after me which earned a cry and a punch. Who knew Blaire could punch that hard?

Finally, after several curses, cries and bruises, we caught up to Ulo who threw a cold look our way.

"What is she doing here?" He asked coldly. I knew Ulo enough to know that he was hiding his hurt under his anger. Unlike Blaire who simply cried out her hurt, Ulo kept it bottled in and turned aggressive instead.

"I should go." Blaire gasped as she tried to flee once more but again, I pulled her back. That sounded easy, right? Well, trust me when I say it was anything but easy.

"Will the both of you quit acting like babies and tell me what is going on already?" I groaned, already running out of patience with these two who seemed absolutely determined on frustrating me out of ten years of my life.

"Ask her!" Ulo snapped, as he started to run out on us again. This time, I let him go, tired of being the clueless one. Not to mention that Ulo could be a bull when he decided not to talk about something. From his tone though, I had recognized something which was starting to give me a little more insight into what was going on. Ulo did not get mad easily but when he did, it was usually for very good reason. Like his pride or his favorite food lacking an important ingredient. Ulo hardly forgave blows to his pride, however innocently they had been struck. Not very quickly, at least. But, I was Jamil, the righter of all wrongs and the punching bag for all punchers. Which simply means, I was going to put an end to their fight.

"Let me go!" Blaire wailed.

"Tell me what happened between you two." I demanded, making it evident that I wouldn't be taking no for an answer.

She hesitated before giving up as her shoulders slumped and her head drooped. Her voice was so low that I would have missed it if I wasn't a wolf as she informed me about what had happened. "I told him to leave." And that was it. Did I mention Blaire's pride?

"Why did you tell him to leave?" I pushed, knowing very well that I wouldn't be getting any more information out of her.

She raised her head and gave me a tormented look. I sighed, knowing that look. It meant, you want me to share my worst nightmares with you? Hell no!

I sighed, kneading my temple in an attempt to rub out the headache that was starting to build up in its crevices. Knowing Blaire and Ulo, the matter was probably one that could be easily resolved if only they would talk about it but of course not, they had to be difficult to the end. I wondered if it was too late to give up on this mission. I was pretty certain that I had now become just as troubled as the other three. "You know what, let's just run."

I broke into a run, half hoping she would turn around but rather surprisingly, she chose to come after me. The moon was beaming even more brilliantly as we ran along. There was something about running, the cold wind slapping you in the face and tousling your hair, the thumping of your feet as they hit the ground, the speeding up of your heart, that just made you forget about all of your troubles. I raised my head to the sky and chuckled as I broke out of the palace gates. "Race you!" I called over to Blaire as I picked up my pace.

"Hey! Not fair." She complained but sped up as well.

We passed by Ulo who was walking very slowly now and I called out a taunt. That seemed to work as he started to run as well. Either that, or he couldn't afford to be a loser. We had a very impressive name for the loser in games like this. Usually, it would have been Indrik without a doubt but he seemed to be busy these days.

I was in the lead which was probably why I saw them first. I skidded to a stop, putting out a hand to stop the others. Oh, yeah! It was definitely going to be a very long night.