that didn't matter. Because this area was almost uninhabited. That made this a perfect place for their project.
Although no waking soul would look out of the window at this precise moment, the boys were particularly careful about noises and movements.
If someone caught her here, both of them would have a problem. How should you explain to adults that you stole yourself out of your house at night with such dangerous and valuable cargo?
None of the parents would understand that. Nobody would understand how immensely important the evening was for both Genma and Raidou. Tonight they would be doing something absolutely cool and no one would interfere with them!
Your goal was achieved. There was a large wooden stable in front of the boys.The doors no longer existed, the wood looked strangely unstable, if not unstable, and in general the barn gave the impression that it could collapse at any moment.
Of course, both boys were far too naive to see this. And of course they couldn't escape the mystical aura of the two-story stable.
It was dark inside and there was a smell of straw in the air. The four children's feet padded over the prickly straw, which gave a slight rustle.
They moved very close to each other so as not to get lost.
"It has to be here somewhere!", Genma broke the silence first.
"Hmh.", Raidou just said and from his tone of voice Genma could tell that the boy was concentrating strongly. He probably seemed to want to remember where her place was.
"Are you sure it's this side - AU!" Genma suddenly yelled as he struck something hard with his big toe. Raidou knelt next to him.The straw crackled as he sat down.
Then you could hear a muffled clap. Raidous hand struck wood.
"Yep. Here it is." There was a trace of anticipation but also awe in his voice. He could hear Genma slide the backpack off his back. His friend himself could only make out silhouettes. Then there was a click as the buckles of the bag opened, followed by a rustling sound. A narrow box was pulled out.
Genma carefully opened the package while Raidou wiped some of the straw aside so that they had a flat surface.
“Do you have it?” Raidou's voice sounded tense.
"Yes. One moment!" Genma whispered.
Raidou was given something cold. The body of this object felt smooth and gleamed in the dim light.
The boy rammed that something into the ground. There was a click and then a hiss.
Both groaned softly as a light flickered.Genma had struck a match and the object Raidou had stuck into the ground turned out to be a candle.
While Genma lit the wick, Raidou mumbled full of anticipation and also with a little pride in his voice: "With knife, fork, scissors, light; little children don't play! We're so angry."
The other boy snorted in response. His eyes shimmered in the candlelight. The eyebrows were bent downwards in his concentration, as if lighting a simple candle were an elaborate act of thought. Then the wick burned and Genma carefully blew out the match.
"Where's the handkerchief?"
"Umm ..." Genma turned back to the box and took out the other two items that were still in it. A handkerchief and a knife.
His breathing quickened.
"OK. Let's do it now! Give me the knife!" Raidou asked his younger friend. Genma handed him the item. It was a pocket knife and it was his.Him alone. His grandfather had given it to him and it was very valuable and artistically processed. It was so valuable to him personally that he hadn't dared use it until now. But it was just precious enough for the occasion. The varnished, dark wood shimmered in the candlelight. Raidou unfolded the knife blade. It was polished so bright that it reflected the flame of the candle.
"Ready?" Asked Genma, looking determinedly at his friend.
"Done", Raidou confirmed quietly and concentrated the blade on the palm of the hand. As he squeezed something, a sharp pain pierced his hand. With steady fingers he conscientiously continued the cut. Blood flowed from the self-inflicted wound and ran down his arm. Tears formed in Raidou's eyes. It hurt a little more than he'd thought. But he didn't complain. Not a word of pain would escape his lips. Not now, so close to the goal.
He handed the knife to Genma.However, he hesitated when he saw the considerable amount of blood that was dripping on Raidou's pants.
"Come on!" Urged Raidou, who was now trying to stop the blood that ran down his forearm and ran from his elbow.
Genma, dazed, took the knife and held it over his hand. He ran it over his skin, but he just didn't dare to squeeze. He was so nervous and now he was scared too. Raidou was older than him. He was probably tougher at that sort of thing. But Genma just couldn't do it.
Raidou sat on glowing coals. He waited patiently, but didn't want to bleed to death either. Annoyed, he clicked his tongue. Genma winced and finally he closed his eyes. Then he pressed the knife into his flesh and pulled it through with a jerky movement. He whimpered softly in pain. It felt like his skin had just been peeled off. At least, he thought it would feel the same way.
He dropped the knife and shivered, shaking hands with Raidou.He didn't like watching his own blood drip onto the floor.
This enclosed her in his. Neither of them wanted to say anything. It was a silent ritual. When their hands touched and the wounds were pressed together, the pain doubled.
Both bit their lip. They didn't think the whole thing was that painful!
The blood of the two boys mixed. Every pulse brought new blood to the surface. After a very painful eternity, they let go.
"To eternal friendship.", Said Raidou. A trite saying, that was clear to him. But nothing else had occurred to him in a hurry.
Raidou shivered, so hard he had to suppress the cry of pain.
"Yes", Genma confirmed quietly and handed his friend the handkerchief, which he gratefully accepted.
The blood brotherhood was complete.

Then nothing happened for a while. And all of a sudden there was a completely different sound in the barn.As if stung by a tarantula, they both jumped up. Panic spread.
A growling sound came out of the darkness. A pair of bright yellow eyes glared at her. Both boys whined. As brave as they were to sneak away from home in the middle of the night, now they were really scared.
They weren't ready for that. They backed away against the wall behind them. Both trembled. This time, however, from fear. The being emerged from the darkness.
It was a cougar.
His eyes narrowed viciously to slits, he crept up to her. His paws pressed on the straw, which made hardly any noise.
But then, out of nowhere, the puma ran towards her. Straw flew through the air.
And now the catastrophe happened: the straw sailed straight into the candle flame. It ignited instantly and slid over the flame.
The glowing straws touched the ground and the straw that was lying there also began to burn. The worst-case scenario had occurred.The flames spread at an insane rate. With just the blink of an eye, the burn area had doubled.
Genma and Raidou were frozen. The puma seemed to understand too. He braked in front of them and turned. He skilfully jumped over the flames. The heat radiated towards the two boys.
The cougar was gone, but the exits were now both blocked. They withdrew fearfully into a corner. They whimpered and trembled. Fortunately there was no straw in this corner, but it was only a matter of time before the beams would start to burn.
The barn was very fragile and it certainly couldn't withstand a fire. Now the sparsely populated area turned out to be a clear disadvantage. Nobody would hear them, nobody would come to help them.
Very gradually the fire worked its way forward. And finally it began to eat its way up the rotten beams, which had turned gray from wind and weather. Every now and then there was a crack of the fire and sparks flew through the air as the fire spat out the burnt pieces of straw, which only spread the fire faster.Perhaps a minute had passed since the candle fell, but the entire thatch-covered area was already burning brightly. Genma and Raidou fell back further and further. They had no idea what to do now. The fire radiated such incredible heat that sweat ran down their bodies incessantly. Now they were trapped. There was no escape. They had raised the flames too high so that they were impenetrable and insurmountable towards the boys, who were still quite safe in their corner. They both winced when their backs bumped against the backboard. It didn't go any further here!
The two boys' legs trembled. Their bodies were lit orange by the flames and pure, sheer horror was written on their faces. The wide open eyes burned under the heat, the flames were reflected in them. Helpless and trembling with fear, Genma slid down the wall and fell to her knees.The six year old felt overwhelmed. He couldn't think and once again he realized how helpless he was as a child. There was nothing he could do. Nothing at all.
He wished so much that he could still lie in his bed now and dream of something good. It was then that he realized this could only be a nightmare. Exactly, that's how it was! Surely he would wake up immediately and only find, covered in sweat, that it was far too hot in his room.
But why was the fire so hot? For a dream it was all so real, the impressions so intense. The fear so ... really.
He looked up at his best friend, who seemed to think like him. Then his gaze followed the beam a few meters from them. The fire had almost reached the roof of the barn. It was so hot here! The sweltering August days were nothing against this.
In addition, the fire took away the precious oxygen and the air became more and more oppressive.And then, after a few seconds, there was a deafening clang.
The boys whimpered and Genma forced herself to get back to her feet. One of the roof beams had broken out from above and was now only dangling by a few fibers from the suspension.