Bound by curse (Sain and PennySludt)

[Sain]

Somewhere, an unseen bird chirped to welcome a pale blue light of the morning that had only just begun rising to light up the world outside of the forest with a new day. But there, down on the forest floor, the long dark shadows still had a few moments as the leaves of the ageless woods lent their canopy to delay the approach of dawn. Only the earliest creatures of the day were beginning to rise up, but remained cautious and quiet in their nightly retreats. They could sense that the last few things of the night had yet to crawl into their everdark corners in the depths of the roots and earth, and these things they showed utmost fear and respect. Only the birds up high on their branches and small insectoid creepers knew they would run into none that would bother them. Everywhere, as if by command of the first note of the morning bird, the undulating slither and chitter of the night was slowly getting outshadowed by the calm melodic rippling of the forest stream, until eventually utterly disappearing.

More birds began cautiously testing their voices, disturbing the slumber of Astrid - a young girl - who had huddled up in a nature’s own shelter formed in the crevice between a large moss topped boulder and thick roots. The stone was cold against the skin the moss on which she had slept had overnight shared its moistness with some of her clothes.

The awakening was alien compared the mornings she had lived in the village, and it was not just because the warmth of home was missing. Even in the woods around the village, there would have been that distant chatter coming from where the houses were and the ever present roar of the sacred waterfall that cut it’s path between the cabins of the chief and the seer. But there was no laughter of people here and the trickle running through these woods was but a tiny fledgling compared to the stream back home. This was not home, and there was no one else, just the lonely girl with back her against untouched nature.



If the morning was like a dream, then the last night had been a nightmare.



Like so many other times, the games of that night had started as just an innocent game of dare between Astrid and her childhood friend Calden. When challenged, he had boldly ventured into the forbidden cave behind the last water curtain of the sacred waterfall’s last step downhill. His grin and words had made light of the warnings of the moldy elders and legends as they had treaded into the narrow descending tunnel of wet slippery stones. The smile he had shown her before turning his back to her and heading in first could have been the last grin Astrid would see on his face.

Something had happened in that cave when Calden jumped on the stone slab that had been the only thing in the room which lied at the end of that tunnel. One moment he had been Calden, then suddenly a strangeness had descended upon the children. The cold air of the waterfall cave had become a musky breath of warmth in an instant without either of the children casting a spell on it. A wind that could not be felt by skin had made the light of the sphere hovering on Astrid’s palm flicker like it was a small candle flame facing a tempest. The shadows that the waxing light of the orb made had revealed flashes of a silhouette of some enormous creature, and with each flicker it had crept closer to Calden. In vain he had hopped off of the stone table and backed towards a corner, begging the shadow to halt. It took him nonetheless, jumping right from the walls into air where it was sucked into the boy's eyes and mouth. His screams had filled the cave, but before the whole shadow was gone inside Calden, a small part of it slapped Astrid's shoulder at the same moment that Calden fell silent and they both fell unconscious.

Astrid had awoken on the rock bed of the cave with intense pain on her shoulder, just to see Calden slowly walk outside the range of her light, out of the cave. When the boy stopped at the edge, the face that had glanced behind at her certainly certainly belonged to him, but the bright hopeful gleam of Calden’s eyes had been replaced with a chilling otherness. With perfectly smooth motion, the boy's head had turned away from Astrid. He ran.

They had went straight through the waterfall. Calden’s body hopped right along the river from one boulder to another like his body was a feather. Into the woods and straight for the forest the chase had led, blowing through a prickle thicket that had retarded Astrid’s advance, but seemed only to embrace and aid whatever it was that directed the boy’s escape. She could still see his dark long hair flash between the trees when they had crossed the village border, running right past a knee high arrangement of stones with old marks carved in them. The wall that they had for so long respected for keeping danger out of the village went dismissed in the heat of the chase. She had ran, probably for hours, but he could not be caught.

When Astrid first had stopped in exhaustion the forest had swirled around her. Strange lights on the branches were as blurred as the darkness between the trees. The constant throbbing pain on her right shoulder had only gotten more agonizing.



The rest seemed to have taken the pain away. There were no signs of Calden now. Only more moss covered trunks of thick trees spread around in each direction for as long as the eye could see. Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted the morning choir of birds and stream right below Astrid’s ear, as if someone was whispering from behind her. It was Calden! It returned louder with each word, with clear panic mixed in the still boyish tone of her friend. “Where am I… it’s dark, I can’t see anything!? Where is this? I can’t move!! Astrid! Where are you? Help! Help!!! Someone help me! Astrid! HELP ME PLEASE I CAN’T MOVE! What’s happening?!”

[PennySludt]

Astrid


It was the silence that woke her. The silence and the cold. Astrid stirred, feeling the damp penetrating her clothing and making her joints and muscles stiff. Her long, thick, dark lashes fluttered open slowly and she stared at the mossy rock directly in front of her dark gray eyes for a moment before her mind caught up and she realized where she was, and she sat bolt upright. "CALDEN!" she shouted in horror.

Getting to her hands and knees and poking her head out of the little shelter she had managed to find she looked around quickly, half checking for danger and half hoping she would magically find Calden standing right there. She sat back on her heels with a half sob and held her right hand over her mouth to hold it in. Moving her arm was painful and for a moment it confused her, until she remembered the thing from the cave hitting her shoulder. She clutched her upper arm at the memory, but it did seem to be less painful than it had been last night. A strand of her long dark brown hair had escaped her braid at some point and she tucked it back behind her ear.

“Where am I… it’s dark, I can’t see anything!? Where is this? I can’t move!! Astrid! Where are you? Help! Help!!! Someone help me! Astrid! HELP ME PLEASE I CAN’T MOVE! What’s happening?!”

The petite girl jumped with fright and fell down on her butt as she spun around quickly to look for her best friend. "CALDEN!?" she shouted, frantically looking around. Crawling out of the little space and stumbling to her feet, catching them on the hem of her dress, she whirled around searching in every direction. "CALDENNNNNNNN!" Her voice echoed back at her from the rock and disappeared around her into the still, thick forest. Another sob broke from her chest as she stood still waiting, listening, hoping. She KNEW she had heard him! She was SURE of it! She had heard that voice a million times and that had been him!

[Sain]

The lush moss mat sploshed under Astrid's movement as she stumbled from under the stone and into the small opening between the tall oaks. Calden was awoken then as he felt his whole world shaking as she moved, and recognized the sensation of a gentle touch when her hand brushed at the shoulder area. Suddenly an immense panic took over him when he tried to move and nothing responded. Then, the yells. He could hear the sounds he was making, but could not feel his breath or mouth. Again, the darkness that his world now was shook violently when Astrid stumbled from the spook.

He stopped when her voice called for him. He knew it came from very close though he could not see from where yet. He could feel the world spinning around as she turned around, looking at him from the wrong direction. He felt a moment of dizziness that delayed his reply. When her calls began turning into sobs, he could sense the rhythmic tremors running all across him; the rhythm was very familiar. The fear was still present in his voice, but he tried to give it a hopeful mask when he yelled back. "Hey. HEY! Astrid you're there?! Stop moving please! I'm right here! Somewhere close, it's alright, please don't cry. It's alright! I can't see anything, it's dark and I'm stuck on something; can't move a thing. You've got to calm down and help me Astrid. I must be stuck in some cave or something, but it's shaking so please don't move around so much." His own reasoning was starting to sound solid to Calden and it helped calm his currently claustrophobic nerves, but he dared not to think too hard on the holes in the logic. Whatever he was in felt nothing like a cave aside from the darkness, he could not breathe and worst of all there was this haunting memory from last night...

Calden's words shook with an anxious note. "Just follow my voice Astrid. I've got to really near. Right here! Dig me out I think I might've broken something..."

[PennySludt]

Astrid completely stopped moving when she heard Calden's voice again.

"Stop moving please! I'm right here! Somewhere close, it's alright, please don't cry."

Her heart was pounding in her throat as she tried to look around without moving. He HAD to be close! She could hear him right there beside her! Or...behind her....? She tried to turn her head as much as possible without turning her body. There was nowhere around her that would be dark and spinning that Calden would sound so close if he was there. "Calden!?" She tried to steady her voice, and lifted her hands to wipe her eyes of tears as she took some deep breaths to think.

He had said he couldn't see...that it was dark...that he couldn't move...that it was shaking, presumably when she moved...That didn't make much sense at all!? He thought he might have broken something? What? "Calden? Calden, can you still hear me?" She was speaking more normally now, not shouting. If he was close, he should be able to hear her. "I'm going to move. You're right next to me. I can't see where you could be though...there's only trees and rocks...What do you think you broke? Does it hurt?"

Very slowly and carefully she began to turn to her right, trying not to make anything move too much. She didn't understand how her movements would be affecting him wherever he was...He said to dig him out...perhaps he was underground and her footsteps where what was moving him. Shaking the ground maybe? She tried to turn on the balls of her feet without picking up and moving them to test this theory. "Calden?"

[Sain]

Despite how ridiculously queer his situation was, hearing Astrid calm her tone and suddenly feeling the world still again helped Calden. He sighed mentally, forgetting for a moment the fact that his body didn't seem to sigh with him. He kept focusing on her voice and in replying to her. The distance between their voices was still somehow unsettling, it was as if her voice boomed from all around his location in addition to being from above.

"Just carefully okay? Rocks and trees? Where are we- You know never mind, just find me first. I'm... not hurting anywhere, but I can't move. So maybe it's my back or something."

When she began moving again, his world shook. Even the subtle changes in her posture translated to wherever it was that he was trapped in being thrown around like boat in a storm. A nauseating thought began crawling into Calden's thoughts and not just because of all the unpredictable movements. Had he not been unable to breathe, the panic would have been clear in his voice when he replied. His tone was calm, but it hid a certain fearful undertone that only grew more obvious as he went on. "It's still shaking. Everything is shaking. I can...     I can feel your movements. I..." He focused on the noise that had been there all along, it had now come more stable and though it was like a loud wind to him, he could now recognize it as breathing. Astrid's breathing. Furthermore, hidden behind that gushing sound of wind visiting the lungs was a smaller voice; her heartbeat.

The tremble of his voice was obvious now when he continued. It soon bordered panic and broke into sobs at times. "I can feel your heartbeat Astrid. I can hear your heartbeat. Where am I?! Please help me where am I! I can't move or feel a thing, I can't see, so why! Please! Quickly I'm scared, am I dead?!"

[PennySludt]

Instantly freezing when he said everything was still shaking, Astrid listened as intently as she could, trying to place where his voice was coming from. She looked down, in case she was standing on some kind of loose ground or something, but it seemed exactly like all the ground around her, solid and hard. "You can feel my movements? How much?" She slowly turned just her head, looking to the right slightly. "Can you feel this?"

When she heard the tremble in his voice she began to feel the tears stinging her eyes again and her heart started racing at his next words.

"I can feel your heartbeat Astrid. I can hear your heartbeat."

"I...I don't know, Calden....I don't know!? I can't see you!" She was beginning to panic now, just as much as Calden seemed to be doing. And her shoulder was starting to burn with pain now. She lifted her left hand to clutch at it automatically, wincing. What had that thing done to her!? What had it done to Calden!? Maybe he was a ghost....and that was why she couldn't see him...but that didn't explain why he felt everything move when she moved, or why he said he could hear her heartbeat. "I don't KNOW!" she shouted as she began to cry again.

[Sain]

Calden felt the pressure all over him when Astrid's hand went over him. In that dark confinement there was no escape from his still growing confused fear and hearing his only remaining link to reality beginning to cry as if to express emotion he couldn't only worsened the feeling. Worst of all was the ghostly tingling when his body didn't respond to the whirlwind of emotion roiling inside him. There was no tightness in his chest, no cold sweat on his skin, only this empty darkness and the seemingly nonsensical stimuli that came from Astrid's movements. Quite gradually, he was beginning to feel angry at the situation. His inability to feel or act all the while his friend was lost somewhere.

Some of his anger got loaded into his words without Calden realizing when he shouted over his friends sobs. "Don't cry! Astrid please don't cry now! You are alright aren't you, you can't start crying now! Come on! Just follow my voice and find me already, please." The volume and hostility of his voice began to face off after he had yelled out a few words and realized who he was being angry at. She wasn't at fault. What happened in the first place? Calden's thoughts suddenly switched to wonder why or how he had gotten himself here in the first place. He recalled yesterday, at least he hoped it was yesterday. The sensation of his slightly cold numb fingers dirtied by stumbling down on the dirt inside waterfall passage was still clear in his memory. He had stood there, on the ancient pedestal that the old ones had told them not to disturb and laughed, but then...   an eerie chill washed over Calden's mind, replacing the immediate anxiety with a horror that gripped his soul much deeper.

For the moment he fell silent and Astrid's words, though heard went right past his attention as if she was behind a window. The shadow took all the room there was in his mind when he focused on it. It had advanced along the stone walls - creeping towards him - and then there was nothing. At least not until this morning. He took the mental equivalent of a deep breath before talking to Astrid again, trying to keep his voice as steady as he could.

"What happened. What happened Astrid? Where are yo- I mean where are we? Did we get away from that shadow thing?"

After calming a little, Calden noticed something tingle in his field of view or perhaps it was inside his head. Although it was dark, he thought that for a moment he saw a faint blue light twingle in and out of existence.


The forest around Astrid kept calm as morning continued its slow rise. Strangeness of night had all disappeared and the shadows were brightening. Birds and other little critters avoided from being spotted by the girl, but made their presence known by all sorts of chirps and chitters. It was almost a crime to have such an oddly disturbing crisis in this place.

[PennySludt]

Astrid tried to calm her breathing when she heard Calden yelling angrily at her. Her fingers squeezed around her arm as she attempted to gain control of herself again. "I...I'm sorry, Calden...I'm sorry! Yes...." she squeezed her shoulder slightly more for a moment as she thought about his question...WAS she alright? "Yes...I'm alright. Okay, I'm coming, Calden. I'll find you. I promise!" She turned to her right again, trying to follow the sound of his voice.

"What happened. What happened Astrid? Where are yo- I mean where are we? Did we get away from that shadow thing?"

Astrid stopped turning for a moment with a confused expression on her narrow face. "What do you mean, 'what happened'? What happened when?" She looked around thinking she had missed something he could see from wherever he was. "I...I THINK we got away...I mean...I don't see it...do you?" Then she remembered he had said he couldn't see ANYTHING and blushed slightly. "I mean...I don't think it's near us. Keep talking, Calden. I can hear you SO CLOSE next to me everywhere I turn! Bu I can't see you anywhere." Her voice was trembling slightly, but she managed to keep herself from crying again at the thought.

She listened carefully around her, hoping to hear something that would guide her to her friend. She HAD to be close. She HAD to be! "Calden..." she whispered, thinking of another trick to try and locate him, "Can you hear me now...? Where does my voice sound like it's coming from...?" She knew HIS voice was coming from somewhere to her right, very near, but no matter where she turned he was ALWAYS on her right...So she hoped that having him listen for the direction SHE was in would give them a meeting point to find him in.

[Sain]

Right after hearing Astrid's reaction to his outburst, Calden's voice turned apologetic and he felt an instant pang of quilt. "No, no I'm sorry Astrid. It's not your fault..." He didn't even really notice the accidental jab at his blindness, he kept tried to just focus now and talk to let Astrid find the direction and keep her from getting more upset. "I'm hearing you somewhere from above left too, from really close. I must be there somewhere. I feel like wherever I am is moving every now and then though, swinging around or wobbling even. We got away eh? Good, good, whatever that thing was I don't think we would have been safe if we stayed in the cave. I can't really remember any of it though...  did you carry me all the way here or something? Geez Astrid I didn't know you were so buff, have you just let me win every arm wrestle and tumble on purpose until now? Hehe, we'll have to take a rematch when you find me again. My manly pride can't let you be both stronger witch and athlete."


The moss right under Astrid had gotten stomped by her turning about on her heels trying to find the direction. A small pool of water had formed in the middle part that was pushed down the furthest. Slowly the water was starting to seep through the shoe bottoms and chilling the girl's feet. It was really quiet with the morning chirps growing more distant now that she moved more and nearby birds had probably fluttered to rest some distance away. Only the constant rush of the small stream was loud enough to not be forgotten as just a faint background noise, but even it wasn't enough to hinder Astrid's search.

[PennySludt]

Above and to the left he had said...That was where he heard her...She looked down at the ground to her right, but saw nothing but the soft moss, the small puddle, some fallen leaves and bits of brush and her cold wet feet. Where else could he be that would move every so often...somewhere where her voice came from above and to the left...She froze, a sickening thought beginning to form in her mind. She squeezed her fingers on her upper right arm, a place that had been burning ever since she woke up and began talking to Calden. A place the thing had touched right before they ran away. She didn't hear the rest of his babble as her mind began to work overtime, forming a picture of what might have happened.

Slowly, deliberately, fearfully, she removed her hand from her arm and pulled down the neckline of her dress, uncovering her right shoulder. There, on her upper arm, was the reason for her pain, and...she feared...the place where Calden was stuck. A bright blue swirled pattern in her skin, like a tattoo...almost looking like it was glowing, with a single eye in the middle of the design. An eye that almost seemed to be moving slightly...

"C...Calden..." She whispered towards her shoulder. "C...can you h...hear me...? Can you f...feel this...?" She gave her arm a gentle swing back and forth, her stomach in a tight knot of terror and dread.

She could hardly feel the cold in her feet now. Her whole body was ice cold with panic that no amount of warmth would have dissipated. She knew...even before he answered, she knew...she HAD carried him out of the cave...

[Sain]

Calden stopped talking when Astrid's hand pressed against him. It was not painful but the pressure he felt was akin to a sensation of lying under heavy unmovable rubble. Although, the squeeze felt to him now many times stronger than before, he realized then an unquestionable familiarity with it and the touch of his friend. He knew he had been found, but dared not ask her or himself why Astrid's fingers seemed like heavy logs of timber. As they rose, Calden's mind held breath in expectation of what was to come next. He could hear the hand now that he recognized the small sounds of shuffling and moving had to be Astrid moving around and the hand was beginning to ruffle the layers that covered him and obscured his sight.

A flash of brightness covered Calden's entire world when Astrid let a beam through the trees cast it's light on her shoulder. Calden squinted reflexively, though to the girl it looked like the queer eye in middle of the tattoo just tightened it's pupil which was fixated on looking up at her. The adaptation did not last long though, and Calden could see his new world. That which was once a petite looking smooth skinned slope of a young girls neck leading up to her still somewhat childishly featured face was now in his view an enormous cliff belonging to a gigantic girl. Calden's black round pupil widened and the glowing streams leading to it brightened as he traced his unblinking gaze along Astrid's features down from her shoulder. Despite the strangeness that gripped the back of his mind Calden felt grateful to be able to see her again, even if fear was robbing her of the smile at the moment. He was all too preoccupied with the little positive thing to fully realize his current position and what it meant.

With the covers pushed aside her whispers rang to him as cloud as speech. When Calden answered some of the dark markings on Astrid's shoulder beat to the rhythm of his voice with faint increases and decreases of blue glow. "Yes. It's me. I can see you! I can feel that. I'm swinging. You can stop that now. Astrid...  why are you looking at me like that?" The bright blue eyeball took a glimpse at where it was attached to as the pupil rolled to one side and almost touched the skin. Calden saw the strange lines too as they disappeared from his view to the dark foldings beneath the cloth covered skin, but he couldn't really comprehend what they were yet. He turned around and looked in every direction as the cog wheels in his mind worked to get the answer. He could sense the feel good of finding Astrid fading as puzzlement kicked in and began to be slowly pushed away by the return of deep panic and fear. Calden swirled around wildly in his shoulder socket. Both the lines connecting to the eye and the eye itself lost their light and began turning darker blue. The eye returned to gaze up at Astrid and fixated on her. "Astrid. What is this?" He tried moving but only the eye would twitch to his will and even it unable to do more than turn about. "I can't move. What is this? Why am I not in my body...  Get me our of here Astrid. Please. Do something!"

[PennySludt]

The blood drained from the young girl's face when he answered her questions. Yes...she had certainly carried him out of that fateful cave..."Y...you can s...see me...? You can see me looking at you...?" She watched the blue patterns on her arm shimmering from light to dark, hovering between fascination and horror. In answer to his question, "I...I can't Calden....I....you're....That...THING took your body I think...I don't....I mean...you're...on my arm, Calden. You're a mark on my shoulder...that thing touched me there. It burned me right after it....it did...whatever it did...it hit my arm. I think....I think it put you...the you that's makes you, you...I think it put you in the mark on my arm...It's like a blue sort of swirl and there's a...an image of an eye....that...that moves..."

She moved her left arm to hold her hand just above the mark, then began to slowly move it up and down along the line of her arm. "Calden...can you see that...?" She couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of magic had placed him there, but she was sure now, that Calden was somehow in the mark on her shoulder...and she had no idea how to fix it. If that thing had stolen his body...where would he go even if she could find a way to undo the spell?

[Sain]

"What thing? The- from the cave? I'm where?!" The eye looked around again, though now Calden focused his gaze on his surroundings for a longer while instead of just quickly glancing over them. He could only see so much from the fixed location, but there was no mistaking it now that Astrid had said it aloud. "What? My body! Where is my body? Yes, I can see your hand! Tell me where is my body? Astrid?! Why are we here and not in the cave? We've got to go back, to my body! Astrid quickly, maybe if it's still there the village elders can do something about this. Please... I'm feeling sick, there is..." Calden's eye looked past Astrid at the leafy ceiling above them while taking quick glances at her. There was that disturbing light again that he had seen so faintly. It was on and inside Astrid, fluctuating in a melodic rhythm like waves in a small pond. The trees were a lake, not as deep as her but vast. "Magic...  I can see magic." He blubbered while still staring up in a trance like state of awe.

Just then, for a very short moment, Calden's eye got fixed at a point in the distance far behind a pair of old moss covered trees around Astrid's right that blocked the view to horizon. A faint wind washed across the leaves at that instant, moving over her head like a wave viewed from underwater. It carried a very quiet sound, a soul piercing cry of pain from something very old. It left the forest silent, quieting even the distant birds and the rustling of leaves as if they were holding their breath to confirm if what they just heard was real. A cloud must have had wandered over the rising sun behind the canopy as the light seeping through leaves began to slowly grow weaker and with it the air just became slightly chillier.

[PennySludt]

Astrid was trying to calm herself down, even as Calden was winding up more and more. "Calden...Calden, calm down. I need to think! I need to...figure out what we're going to do..." She sat down where she was, crossing her legs and putting her head in her hands, her eyes shut as she tried to quell the horrible thoughts running through her head. "Calden...we can't go back to the cave. Whatever that...THING was...it's long gone. That's why we're here. I was following it...him...you...your body I mean. It ran away, into the forest, and I tried to chase it. I tried, Calden...I tried...", she trailed off as tears of defeat came to her eyes again. She took some calming breaths, she didn't need to get worked up again. "I think you're right though...If we can get your body back, maybe there's something that can be done to...you know...put you back in it, or something."

"Magic...  I can see magic."

Astrid lifted her head slowly, looking down toward her shoulder. "You can see...what? What do you mean? You can see magic? How? What does it look like? How do you know? Where?" She was talking very fast, trying to understand what he meant. "Why do you feel sick, Calde-" She broke off instantly as the forest around her seemed to pulse, and a faraway scream echoed in her ears. The sound seemed to pierce her heart, hurting her to the core with it's agony. She straightened up quickly and looked in the direction the wave of force and the cry had come from. She sat frozen for a moment, uncertain about what to do. She turned to ask Calden, then remembered he wasn't actually there to look at and looked back in the direction of the sound. "C..Calden...did you hear that...? It sounded like something....bad...like something was hurt..." She waited a moment to see if she could hear anything else and to give him a chance to answer. "We should go see if it's okay...it might need our help. If it's hurt, it might not be able to survive. Something might hurt it more. We need to help it."

Without waiting for him to tell her not to be so stupid, she was up on her feet and tramping through the damp forest in the direction of the cry. It was much harder going than she had remembered the night before. Maybe because she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going then. Now, she was listening to hear any further sounds, but she also wasn't focused on chasing something in front of her. She was beginning to breathe harder after about an hour of walking through soft, foamy earth, puddles of cold rainwater, climbing over fallen logs and pushing through thick hanging vines. If she hadn't been so upset about Calden, and worried about the creature that had been hurt, she would normally have been bathing in the beauty of the scenery. She always loved being out of doors, feeling the connection with the earth and the life around her.

After about three hours of walking she broke through the thick darkness of the trees to a breathtakingly beautiful little glade. The trees seemed to be leaning toward the little circle of moss and flowers. There was a ring of moss covered, broken tree trunks, surrounded by more lush green moss patched here and there with tiny, delicate pink, purple and white flowers scattered along a little babbling brook, tripping over a miniature waterfall. It seemed to almost emanate magic, as if they had walked through a veil and were now in a puddle of it. Astrid was certain that this was where the cry had come from.

[Sain]

Calden answered softly as if unconsciously avoiding to disturb whatever had made the sound. "I think it's magic. I see it all around you and...  a flash from where that sound came. It just looks weird, makes my head spin a little, but I'll be fine, I just need a moment to wrap my hea-   I don't know I just need some time." A small hopeful undertone seeped into his voice when he responded to Astrid's idea of going to help this thing, Calden would have smiled if he could have at how she could already think of helping others despite what troubles they were in. "Yes. That's probably for the best." Soon enough Calden fell more quiet as the soft rocking motion of Astrid's walking through the woods calmed the last of his nerves. He was going to be stuck for now, that much he could understand, and there was nothing they could do about it right now. He went on and off sleep, taking short naps and only occasionally responding to Astrid's queries of whether or not he was still there with a drowsy yes.

However, as they got closer to the secret glade, Calden began to stir awake again. The sounds of forest that had not been with them in their morning had gotten more intense here. The tree branches above their heads were thick with birds, even some deers spied at them from not too far away with little fear for the human girl. The ground too, was brimming with insects, though they parted to make way for Astrid's steps even without her looking down at them. The yell for aid had clearly been heard and more than just the human were answering the call. The amount of wildlife got thicker and thicker as they approached the last leafy veil that barred vision to the glade.

As she stepped inside, the chitter and chirps once more were muffled as if by some spell. Instead there was the soft sploshing of the tiny waterfall and a low strange beating bass sound of a heart, but it was out of rhythm, dying. Along with the sounds there was a strange pervasive pine scent that hid under it the fainter scents of forest flowers and everything else, but it was not altogether unpleasant. The source wasn't obvious at first, but soon both kids saw it. It looked like a moss covered trunk at the first glance, but a second look revealed that it was moving; breathing.

The creature was a mythical thing from the legends that the kids had been told of in their childhood by those old half demented elders; it was a forest lion, creature that was said to guard old forests by keeping all the predators out. The sight of it still held some forlorn sense of wonder, even in its current state where it's normally soft moss covered skin was losing large patches and revealing rotten bark underneath and its once thick leafy mane was now dark and flaccid. The creature had its huge head resting on the flower bed with its amber colored eyes barely visible behind the droopy green leaf like eyelids. Cause for its misery was just as clearly visible as the rest of it. It's belly which was resting half submerged in a wide puddle beside the small brook was an open hole. Moss and bark had been ripped open violently and thick dark wooden branches stuck out like a rib cage. Green vine like gatherings of veins had been cut off when something that they all connected to had been ripped out of the lion. A slow steady stream of golden sap like liquid with a strong odor was flowing out of the cut off veins and mixing in long slow swirls with the forest stream. Animals that had gathered around the opening seemed to be keeping a their distance and as soon as new birds flew in, ready to chirp in to ask what was going on, they too fell into solemn silence and hopped a few branches back.

The forest lion acknowledged Astrid's presence as its eyes widened slightly to reveal a black slit pupil that seemed to be having hard time keeping focus on the little girl. It made a brief jump from her to her shoulder, then the eyes fell nearly shut again. The lion's chest expanded as it drew in a cumbersome breath to speak. Its voice was throaty and filled with a sense of condolence, but it could not suppress the pain from affecting its speech. "Do not fear little human, I may have been the king of these woods once, but even if I was walking I would not seek to harm innocent children." It took a brief pause, and gathered strength before drawing in another breath. "I am Eidolon. Are you lost, child?"

Calden was keeping quiet for now, he looked up at Astrid and back at the lion. The whole tattoo was glowing with light blue anticipation as he whispered to her, hoping that no one else would hear. "That, thing is too bright. What is it?"

[PennySludt]

Astrid felt her breath catch in her chest at the heartbreaking sight of the once magnificent creature before her. She had to admit that a flash of fear had passed over her momentarily when she had first realized what it was, but in it's current state, and after it's introduction, she was no longer afraid of the poor thing. Instead, she felt the overwhelming need to help this magical beast. Not answering Calden at first, she asked, "A...Are you a....Forest Lion....?" She took a slow step forward, her eyes running across the broken form of the creature, tears pricking her eyes at the devastating sight. "What...did this to you...?" Astrid took a few more steps toward the center of the glade, dropping slowly to her knees in front of his head. "Calden...he's hurt...", she whispered to him. To the lion she said, "Hello, Eidolon...I'm Astrid....I'm...well...I am lost, but I'm looking for something and I can't go back until I find it. But how did you get so hurt, Eidolon? Can I help you? I must help you!"

Very slowly she reached out her right hand to touch the soft moss along his side, looking at the broken bark and twigs, and the dripping sap. Her mind was racing. How did one help a creature such as this? Perhaps there was a spell she knew...? 'Don't be silly, Astrid. No spells YOU know could help a magical creature like him! You can barely control your light orb! How can you help a magnificent thing like Eidolon?' she thought to herself. But she had to try. She couldn't just shake her head and give up. He needed help, and she would help as much as she could, even if it meant just staying with him until....well...she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

[Sain]

The droopy eyes of the beast followed Astrid's advance in serene anticipation that only the already dead could muster. It let the girl speak, waiting for her to finish and get up close by until drawing in another painful breath to give her an answer. From a step away it was clearly audible how the ribs and barks snapped inside the expanding chest. A small patch of the green moss also fell off of the bark and sploshed into the stream. It bounced back to the surface all wet and began flowing down the trickle like a small island boat. As if to save its strength, the lion spoke with a lower and quieter tone now that his voice did not have to carry as far. "Yes, you are a clever little girl to know us Astrid." Its eyes flickered on the girl's shoulder when she spoke to Calden, but they returned to the girl as she laid her hand on its drying mossy fur. As it continued, the lion's words might have been intimidating, but the tone they carried was so tired and zen that their hostility was completely washed out. "Brave too, on a good day I would not have received a human like you with a strange thing like that with you in such friendly manner. It stinks... same foul stench as the wandering god. I pity you though girl, to have to carry something so twisted with you despite being so young and kind...  I cannot help you find anything now, and I fear that you cannot help me either. A vessel of a maddened just awoken God trod past and plucked my heart out when I roared it to turn back."

Calden was quieted by the creature's attitude towards him, and seemed to be still having hard time keeping his eye on the lion. Some parts of the tattoo creeped over the blue lens to squint at whatever light he was seeing. The lion stopped talking as it's voice began to grow too throaty to continue. It caught a sudden fit of cough that made some of the glistening sweet resin spill from its mouth on a wide radius. For a moment the outflow from its veins was hastened too and a large floating slick of golden fluid was formed on the surface of the water from the outburst. The veins were still spewing out the golden liquid, but slower now, yet, the creature had once been strong and didn't seem to be dead just yet.

[PennySludt]

Astrid had begun to cry softly, glistening tears trickling over her cheeks, rosy from her walk. It hurt her so much to see this magnificent creature in a state like this. His words about Calden also hurt her. She wanted to explain, but wasn't sure how or even if she should. She herself wasn't even sure what had happened. How could she explain it to someone else? Though he may know more about it than she did.

"I...do you mean...on my shoulder...? He's my friend, Eidolon. My dearest friend..." She bit her lip, trying to quell the sob that threatened before she continued. "That..thing...that...God? You said he smells like it did...? I think that God stole Calden's body...He...he touched me...and I tried to chase him, I really tried, but he was too fast...and...and I followed him into the forest as far as I could. Then I found this mark," she showed him her shoulder, pulling down her dress's neckline to let him see the blue pattern on her skin, "And I could...hear Calden...talking to me from it. He's not evil, I promise. That...that...God that took his body..." She didn't know what else to say about it. She didn't feel comfortable disrespecting a God, even if it HAD stolen a body and had probably murdered a magical creature.

"Eidolon...isn't there SOME way to help you...something I can do, or get that will save you...? There must be something...isn't there?" The tears fell more heavily as she looked on the pathetic sight before her. "Eidolon...did you...did you know the God...that did this...? Who was it? Do you know if there's a way to undo this magic? Maybe if we catch him...?"

[Sain]

The lion's heavy eyelids seemed to lower when it noticed tears appear in the eyes of the human child. It let out a small regretful puff of a sigh, already thinking that it might have been better off just keeping quiet about her problem. Meanwhile, Calden had turned to look at Astrid from his perch down below her chin. He was beginning to grow accustomed to whatever sight had kept him quiet at first, and could not keep quiet when Astrid's breaking voice spoke of him. His words came out as more of a sobby whisper as being so close to his friends emotions seemed to be overwhelming the boy too. "Thank you... Thank you Astrid, you mean the world to me too." However, they weren't too quiet for the lion's ears, but it listened patiently for the girl to finish before trying to answer.

Once more, the drying moss covered trunk gnarled to draw breath and the creature spoke in that low tired growl of its. "I'm sorry. I did not see that the curse involved another child too. You must understand. We are sometimes rash we lions." It broke into a brief coughing chuckle, but suppressed it soon after realizing how painful it was and continued. "I welcome you too Calden and must apologize again. If I was a sapling still I would have rallied the whole forest to chase that cursed God for what it did to you. Stealing innocent human bodies. Unforgivable." The lion took its eyes off of the girl and gazed into some far distant direction. A flash of anger appeared into its eyes just as the last few words had been said with a strong flavor of pent up frustration and hate, but it only flickered for so long before returning to that serene drowsy state of near death. It looked upon Astrid with all the gentleness when she desperately asked for ways to save its life. "I don't know...  I have never seen another of my kin die. Until now, I believed I was some sort of immortal God too...  silly thoughts they were. Can you make me a new heart? A pumping heart of the forest? Maybe then you can save me. That thing though... it was a real God. I haven't seen him ever before, no, but he looked old and somehow out of touch. Maybe he had been sealed for centuries before my time and grew bitter and twisted in his prison, or he was like that already before the slumber. That magic he laid on you is too potent for me. I've only ever fled from something of that sort, if it broke free it could consume the whole forest, if it was that sort of spell... It's a fools quest to chase that thing and expect anything but calamity to follow. If I was sapling I would help, but I'm growing stiff; my bark hardens; my moss dries." The lion's voice was beginning to fade into a faint whisper.

[PennySludt]

The young girl tried to wipe away the tears running over her face as she looked at Eidolon. "A heart of the forest...? There must be some way to get that...couldn't we all," she gestured around her at the creatures gathering at the edges of the glade, 'do something together? If we all...I don't know...put our hearts together or something...if we willed you to live...? Surely something must be able to be done to save you, Eidolon!?" She had begun to sob desperately now. She had never been able to tolerate the death of the good or innocent. Countless times she had nursed the tiniest animals back to health, and saved a great many dying plants and trees with her kind touch and gentle heart.

It was hurting her greatly to see something like this. Her soul was crying with despair at being unable to help. The child knelt in front of the great beast, running her hands softly along his drying bark and moss, as if she were petting a kitten. Somehow she had to help him, even if it merely meant offering a soothing touch or a caring presence.

[Sain]

"If...    was...    sapling..." The lion's speech faded with it's last breath and the wood of it's jaw grew stiff. The only sounds that answered the girl's questions were the constant and incoherent babbling of the stream and ruffling leaves in the background. However, forest the lion did not move again. The soft green lush mossy fur that had covered it began to wither rapidly until it was brittle and took an ugly colour between grey and dark green. The leaves of the lion's once great mane crisped; they drained of colour until reaching yellowish hues of autumn and beginning falling onto the ground. As the mane thinned of leaves beneath was revealed a thorny skeleton of a brush that had held that majestic crown together. The transformation from a mythical forest creature to just another piece of dead wood reached completion as the last few drops of that shining golden dew drippled from the open veins of the creature's abdomen and mixed with the water. In mere moments the body had lost much of the resemblance to those noble animals of prairie and turned into just another tree trunk by the stream. Only a careful long look or knowledge of what the trunk had been could lead an onlooker to spot the faint curves of liony face and tell the twisted limbs apart from simple dead branches. Most of the animals that had answered the roar had now begun to slowly disperse one by one as they pushed their face through the wall of trees surrounding the opening and confirmed the tragedy with their own eyes. It was as if whatever force that had compelled these simple creatures to gather around the glade had vanished, or perhaps the woodland creatures moved to take their grieve elsewhere, letting the weeping human girl stay with the corpse.

It was a very empty moment. The early noon sun that had come out to take a peek through the tattered blanket of clouds was warming. It had in all unnoticed subtlety dried the droplets of dew that had been spilled on the flowers as it helped dry Astrid's clothes, but the warmth of sun was a small comfort. Calden too was very quiet. His internal confusion showed on the tattoo pattern in the colours switching between deep blue and darker tones as depressing thoughts coursed through his mind. He didn't like animals dying any bit more than Astrid and had often been just as down when they had brought some small dying bird to a village elder and been told that there was nothing to be done. This time though, watching the creature turn into an un-moving and dead husk was not the worst. Before he had always been there with her, letting her grasp at his tunic and rest her weeping head against his shoulder while he suppressed his own tears and ruffled her hair, coming up with whatever the silliest reasons for why it was alright; why everything would be alright. Now, he was without a body, a faceless mark on her shoulder. From his fixed prison he could only stare up at the tears flowing down from Astrid's eyes, and slowly the frustration and feeling of helplessness began again seeping in to fill his soul.

Calden tried to offer a comforting word, but the act of speaking it without actually being able to be there for her felt somehow awkward, and made him sound somewhat more hesitant and distant than usual. "Hey. Astrid. It's okay. It-" His voice began to tremble and broke into sobbing as well, and even Calden wasn't sure why. After a few attempts where his voice came out as too muffled by emotions to spout out full words, the boy managed to continue. "Astrid, what do we do?"

[PennySludt]

The sounds of her crying were all that Astrid was aware of for a long time. She merely sat, curled up next to the remnants of the once great creature and sobbed her heart out.

Eventually, her tears began to slow, and her sobbing diminished until it was mere sniffles. She seemed to have spent the whole day crying. Calden's gentle words began to sink through her sorrow,

"Astrid, what do we do?"

The girl shook her head slowly, wiping the tears from her cheeks, "I....I don't know, Calden..." She sniffed quietly as she looked up and took in her surroundings for the first time. She had no idea where they were, but the lion had looked over his shoulder when he mentioned the God. "Maybe....Maybe we should try to...", she shook her head, trying to think clearly, remembering what the lion had said,

"...That magic he laid on you is too potent for me. I've only ever fled from something of that sort, if it broke free it could consume the whole forest, if it was that sort of spell... It's a fools quest to chase that thing and expect anything but calamity to follow..."

"I thought...if we went after your bod-...the God...We might be able to find a way to put you back somehow. Maybe....Maybe one of the elders would know the kind of magic it was...", she trailed off. How could they go back to the village, even if they knew the way from here? They had disobeyed the laws, they had entered a forbidden cavern, and they had paid the price dearly. How could they go back to the village and ask the elders to help them when they so obviously didn't deserve the help?

She shook her head again, "No...I don't think we can go back to the village without your...body...We can't show our faces there ever again unless we get this fixed. I don't know what to do, Calden. I don't know. All I can think of is to just keep following the God. Maybe something will come along to help us when we need it. You know, maybe one of the Gods will take pity on us? Maybe destiny will reveal the path if we keep going...?"

[Sain]

Mention of the home village sent strange thoughts through Calden too. He had at first thought that returning would be the obvious choice. He thought that of course they should return to ask elders of help, but Astrid's words brought the harsh doubt to that idea. They had indeed disobeyed. They had ventured into the forbidden cave and broken every rule ever taught to them. He had even jumped on the sealed stone. He had disturbed that thing. He had set it free and how was losing a body any price to pay for that? Calden's eye flickered to the trunk of the forest lion, but only for a moment as he couldn't quite bear to stare upon those twisted still features of a once noble creature. He felt a crazy guilt burn from the inside. That had been his fault too, and much more would be if someone didn't do something - if they didn't do something.

His tone began humbled, but gained some small measure of confidence as he went on. For a moment there Calden sounded almost like the brave though foolish young man he had been. "Uhm...   uhhuh. I know. I did something terrible, and even if they let you return I don't know what would happen when I'm still stuck to your shoulder. I think we've got to do something too. The lion's dead because of me, who knows what else that God will do? But...  Astrid you'll be in danger. It's all my fault but I can't really do anything for you. I'm so..." There, Calden had already lost the hopeful spark and began trailing off into more despairing thoughts as he went on. "...powerless, I can't do anything, not even a speck of magic. I'm just a useless ugly stain on you. A curse. I'm just distracting you and, and probably doing some bad stuff to you. The lion said that I was a bad thing, remember? How can we chase after that thing the way we are? Why am I even thinking that you should come too. We need to find a way to save you from me and then you can go back safely to the village and I take care of my mess, alone."

[PennySludt]

Astrid shook her head and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "No, Calden. I'm just as much to blame as you. We went in there together. We both did it.  I'm not trying to be 'rid' of you."

The young girl sat still for a long while. She was lost, in more than just the physical sense. She had no idea how to proceed or even what she wanted. She had thought that catching up to Calden's body would solve all their problems. Now she realized that was a foolish and childish idea. The lion had said it would be terrible. And what had she really expected anyway? That the God would willingly hand over the body and go back to being...what? She had no idea what it had been before it took his body, but she doubted it would willingly go back to whatever existence it had had in that rock.

She shuddered. A small part of her felt sorry for the God, being trapped as nothing for all eternity, entombed in a stone deep in a forbidden cave...she wondered what it had done to deserve that and who had trapped it like that. But when she glanced at the remnants of the lion in front of her the pity disappeared and a hatred began to burn. She had never known hatred, not even against those who teased her for her magic back in the village. But here, now, for some reason, a deep seated hate began to settle in her heart. She hated that thing for what it had done to Calden, to her, to Eidolon.

Whether that hatred was part of the curse placed on them by the God, a sort of 'piece' of him that was trapped when he trapped Calden on her arm, or whether it was purely from Astrid herself in response to the death of such a creature as Eidolon, was impossible for anyone to know at this point.

[Sain]

Calden paused for a moment after hearing the reply, for a brief moment he allowed himself to feel comfort in the notion that Astrid felt like they were in this together, but then the insecurity returned to bang the door on the back of his mind. No, he thought, it was all his fault after all. He had disturbed the sealed God. He wanted so bad to jump out and go find a way to fix things, but for now there was nothing to do. All he could do was to comply with Astrid and believe in her. Calden too had been staring at the motionless husk of the lion, but turned his eye back to look up at Astrid as he was about to ask her something.

The words got stuck before any could be said when he saw a strange, unfamiliar expression on his old friend. Seeing the pretty face of a gentle girl wear rage like that for the first time in his life was downright eerie. Furthermore, from his lowered point of view it was not the furious face of a little girl but that of an angered giantess. Calden blinked a couple of times. It took him several moments to snap out of it and put it in a perspective that he used to have. He glanced back to the dead forest lion, and knew that he should be able relate to Astrid's thoughts. He knew that by all rights he too should be angry, screaming curses that both of them wanted - needed - to hear. Yet the guilt that had began gnawing at him was by far the dominating emotion now, and on top of that heavy guilt wagon was just now added another burden; Astrid's rage. Something had to be done about this God, but Calden did not even dare imagine what would happen if Astrid were to now be consumed by her rage and begin an utterly lunatic chase through the wilds. He had to try and say something to soothe her.

Calden could not shake the tremble of emotion from his tone, but perhaps that just made it all the more calming as the worry in it was clear. "Astrid. I know what you must feel. I- I feel just as bad. We need to stop that thing, and fix this, but...   you can't chase him now. Who knows, maybe it would do whatever it did to me and curse you to share body of some frog or worse."


That said, there was something in the glade that both of the kids could notice now that their eyes began to wander from the already dead lion. The flowers on the spots where that golden dew had spilled when the lion had coughed had all grown in size and strength and attained an unnaturally bright bloom. Same was the case with the moss that covered the stones at the shore and bottom of the brook; the moss had grown thick and fluffy. Most visible of all the vigorously grown plants though were two bushes that formed parts of the foresty wall around that glade. It looked like a large splat of that vigor enhancing liquid would have been spilled at the veil of leaves there. Although, the path that way looked like it was filled with life and hope due to the plants, both of the kids could imagine what sort of horrid events had led to so much of the dew spilling on that opening to the glade.

[PennySludt]

Astrid sighed. Calden was right. They would be foolish to chase after a God that could do something like this to a creature like Eidolon. She looked slowly and sadly around at the new life springing from his death. At least, at the very least, Eidolon's life had not been completely spent. His life force was flowing through the living things his energy had touched. She took a little comfort in that.

Eventually, she stood slowly, gently brushing the dirt from her skirt and sighing once more, "Well, I suppose we should find something for us to eat...I mean...Sorry, Calden", she said quietly. She hadn't meant to be so callous about eating, when he obviously could not. She bit her lip, feeling very uncomfortable as she randomly chose a direction to head in, in the hopes of finding something edible.

[Sain]

"I think I there's another one, behind the squiggly tree we just passed!" Calden whispered with a hushed urgency right below Astrid's right ear. He had asked her to pull down the neckline to keep at least his eye out of the clothes after the Lion. Calden had said that he was starting to get a hang of the weird colors of magic that he had been seeing, and though it didn't seem to have helped in the food gathering which Astrid had to do by herself, it had become increasingly relevant as the day turned to twilight.

The first one had been spotted some half an hour ago, when the clouds that could be seen in the skyline had shone with hues of bright orange and red. Calden had visibly spooked by it and yelped when he had seen the aura. His description of the creatures however had been somewhat lacking. Calden had told Astrid the one he saw was a small, maybe bunny sized, dark crawling thing with glowing eyes. However, when he had tried to point one out as proof to her, the tree branch he had indicated was empty.

However as the sunset had begun turning towards reddish purple and pink and the sky opposite began gaining a deep darkening hue, the creatures had begun growing bolder. Although they still kept out of sight, only rarely letting Calden spot them out of carelessness, they began gradually singing in low undulating gnarls that seemed to follow the kids, always some distance away. With the shadows of the trees growing darker and longer against the forest floor, the creatures began closing in. At first, they might have kept three trees between them and Astrid, then two, and now Calden had spotted one on a tree they had just passed.

It would not be long until the utter dark of night would embrace all of the woods, turning stone, trees and moss into one featureless blackness.

[PennySludt]

With her heart racing and sweat building on her body, Astrid scrambled through the damp forest, trying to keep ahead of the encroaching 'things'. What scared her the most was not knowing what they even were. The fear of not knowing what could be out there. Calden at least was able to 'see' them, but could give her no definite idea of what they were or what they might be capable of. The feeling that they meant no good was obvious to both of them.

The panic was rising in her chest as the darkness fell around them, and the sounds of the animals grew louder and closer. Soon, Astrid kept enough of her head about her that she thought to at least conjure her blue ball of light to help her see. "Calden...", she whispered. "Do you think they might keep away from my light...?" She wasn't sure it would be bright or bold enough to keep whatever it was at bay, but it was a tiny hope, and it kept her from falling apart.

"We need to find somewhere to spend the night", she said, her voice shaking in fear and exhaustion. They had been trekking through the forest all day, and now when she would have welcomed a slower pace, she had been speeding up to keep ahead of their shadows. As she stumbled through another swampy patch and heard the rustling of other small creatures running from her splashing she held her light up high while it hovered over her hand, trying to see further into the shadows in the hopes of finding some sort of safe haven to spend the night.

Eventually, just as they came out of the swamp and into a more wooded part of the forest again, Astrid froze, her light as high as she could hold it. "Calden, I think I see an opening in that rock over there...", she whispered. "Do...do you see anything in it...?" She was terrified of heading toward what may very well be the home of some terrible magic creature. If Calden didn't see anything magic though, perhaps they would be able to make a camp there for the night.

Even though she knew Calden was with her, she was still alone, and that terrified her. To be lost, alone, defenseless except some weak beginner's magic spells and some others she seemed to have no control over, and with no one else to help her if something happened, the fear was almost all-consuming at this point. It was all Astrid could do to keep her mind calm enough to not do anything rash.

"If there's nothing in there, maybe we can spend the night there. Hopefully, if I block up the entrance with some flames or something...do you think that would keep those things away...?" She asked it in a tiny, fearful voice, tears threatening to spill at any moment. She wanted to go home. She wanted her safe, warm house, in the familiar village she had grown up in.

[Sain]

For several moments after Astrid conjured the magical sphere, Calden could have sworn he saw some of the creatures stop on their tracks at the very edge of the light. Yet, before he could let himself feel safe (let alone tell Astrid of it) they continued the chase. There was a clear change in their movement now though, the creatures seemed to be avoiding the areas illuminated by the magic, just as they had kept out of sunlight. An uncertain hint of victory was audible in Calden's whisper. "Yes. Yes! Astrid they're trying to avoid the light. They're still chasing us, but they're clearly avoiding the light." Just when he had said that, the boy reconsidered. A particularly daring chaser ignored the fading blue glow being cast on a trunk they just hopped over and followed them; the rest of the darkness came only few steps behind them. "Or... maybe not. I don't know. Yes. You need to get somewhere safe." Calden tried to keep his eye on the way forward. He could hear Astrid's heart thumping so hard and the heavy breathing. The feeling of being a burden had never before been so tangible, but there was one thing he could do. He could be her third eye, but what good an eye could do to stop a pack of monsters?

The night was already well on its way when they resurfaced from the now wholly black swamp back into some sort of cleaner woodlands. For a long while Astrid's light had been much stronger than the distant dimming shine of the sunset and now neither of the kids could spy even a speck of color other than darkening hues of blue or black on the sky behind the trees. The pack of creatures hissing behind their footsteps were still keeping their distance from the center of the azure glow, but some of them were already beginning to question whether or not the magic light was actually dangerous.

One tried the area lit by blue glow carefully with its thin clawed paw as if testing to see if the water was too cold for swimming. It's head was brought to view now just for a brief moment. In the end of a thick neck covered in black fur there was a flatter area from where two red dots glared back with hunger. Just for a brief moment the squinting eye on Astrid's shoulder could make out the details. He saw a face covered with the thinnest layer of dark fur. Wide brows, a small nose and a lip-less grin lined with small thin teeth. Calden quickly turned his eye from the disturbing man faced creature to look into the direction Astrid pointed out for him. Magic had been so easy to see in the day time and he had thought that most of it would have the friendly glow, but these creatures of night were just as black wherever he looked at them or perhaps darker yet. While trying to not look at the details, he gave another creeper close by another brief glance to get reference of it's dark aura and looked into the cave.

Calden instinctively matched his voice to Astrid's and kept it hushed. He had little will left to even try keep the terror within from being audible in the voice. "Uh... no. I think it's empty. I can't say for sure, but I don't see any of them in there. They aren't going to stay away from just your light forever, we need to move fast. But I think fire does it. They always say that fire keeps beasts away don't they? Fire has to work. But how-" He looked up at her tired, terrified face. Calden felt pity and desperation, he had ran out of good words to help her, the only thing he could do was repeat what he had been saying to her ever since. The boy's voice trembled as he tried to convince both her and himself. "You can do it Astrid. I'm here with you. We can do it." Calden hoped - prayed - that she could find some strength to pull herself into that hole and set up a fire that would stay till the morning.

[PennySludt]

"Uh... no. I think it's empty."

A tiny feeling of relief trickled through her when he said that, and the feeling gave her a boost of strength. She pressed forward toward the crevice, her heart pounding. With a quick look behind her she slipped into the hole in the rock, sliding in sideways through the narrow opening. The gap seemed to open up to about arm width apart just inside the slit, and seemed to extend back just a little further than her own height lying down. She turned to face the opening, racking her brain to think of how to block it up and keep whatever seemed to be chasing her from getting in. She didn't want to find out what they wanted.

"Calden, d...do you think I could...s...summon a fire...?" She had never been able to properly summon a lasting flame before, but she had also never wanted or needed to so desperately. Without waiting for his response she left her blue ball of light to hover beside her and held her hands out in front of her. Trying to clear her mind of the fear that was threatening to crush her, she concentrated all her power and energy into one small point right in the doorway, trying to extend out through her hands to that point. She felt her arms and hands grow warm and strengthened her pressure toward the tiny point. A moment later she screamed as one of the creatures poked it's evil looking head through the crevice and her flame spell suddenly took hold, flashing into a small fire before her. The creature shrieked in pain and pulled it's head out of the small space, and she heard it yelping as it ran away from the heat and light of her spell. It wasn't a large fire, but it's light reflected off the specks in the stone around her, making it look larger than it was, and the gap in the stone was so small it filled the space almost completely.

Tears of relief flooded out of Astrid's eyes and she sank to her knees, shaking in fear and weakness. She had been pushing through the forest and swamps all day, and had really been struggling even before it grew dark and the creatures began to chase her. The bottom of her dress was soaked through, and her legs and feet were almost numb from cold. She knelt on the dirt floor, leaning forward and sobbing into her hands uncontrollably. Her whole body shook as the tension and pain of the day escaped in a painful rush.

Once her tears were spent, Astrid curled into a little ball on her left side, remembering even in her terror and exhaustion that Calden was on her right. Almost instantly she was asleep, huddled with her arms wrapped around her knees, trying to keep warm. The fire continued to give off it's magic light and warmth in the entrance, and her little blue light ball hovered where she had left it. Outside, the growls and snarls of the creatures were evidence that her fire was working, as they angrily paced back and forth a good way away from the entrance, staying away from her flames. She slept fitfully that night, shivering and waking with a start several times from either nightmares or from particularly loud or angry calls from creatures outside.

[Sain]

Calden's eye could do naught but follow the scene unfold from first person as Astrid slid into the tiny cave. He was on the very edge of excitement and barely able to pull his eye from the onward creeping mass of those crawling monstrosities when Astrid whispered her uncertainty. Of course she could do it, he thought, or maybe...  no, she could, she would do it. "Yes! Of course you can! Astrid hurry! Hurry before they get here!"

His focus was entirely drawn to the face of the creature poking into the cave before a bright orange flash was reflected on his round blue eye. He felt a powerful surge of success take place as the flame flickered before becoming a small stable flame and the gathered creeps fled in its wake, retreating into the darkness. "Hahaa! You did it! That was awesome Astrid!" Calden tore his sight away from the now brightly burning flame and glimpsed at the girl. He saw tears, but knew from her face that they weren't those of sadness. Unable to feel the stress of the day like her, he just grinned inside and kept on the small happy chatter of victory. He only stopped the cheering babble when noticing her eyelids had fallen closed and her breath had calmed to a steady sleepy rhythm. It didn't even occur to him to think how much her body must've been aching after such a day in the wilderness.

With Astrid asleep, Calden looked back towards the flame. He could see the vibrant brightness of orange fire, and on top of it the pretty magical energy being burned away to feed the flame. It was the first night he spent solely by keeping his eye on Astrid's magic while listening to her quiet puffing. The first of many nights that reminded him of just how much he missed being able to move by himself, or at least sleep to pass the time. In the night, while keeping a vigilant eye for the terrors in case Astrid needed awakening, he had time to ponder.

The night passed with both kids feeling their solitude despite the connection and days went past. Calden tried to keep up his attitude to keep Astrid in high spirits, but it was starting to get obvious how it now demanded effort for the boy rather than being a natural habit. He was starting to really miss the body.

Five days down the nature's own roads - still within the borders of the seemingly endless kingdom of green - and the for the first time after leaving their hometown, the two spotted another living, breathing, human being resting behind a tree. As they approached by climbing on top of a particularly large twisted tree trunk to get on top a small cliff, the voice of an old woman shouted out with a shrieking and wavering tone.

"W- Who goes there? Is, is that people I hear hmmm? Footsteps of a pretty child. Come! Come closer little one, be not afraid. I'm just an old woman weary and lost after a fruitless pilgrimage. Will you come sit down here and help me out?"

There she was, right around the corner, a dozen or so paces away sitting against an old moss covered giant tree on top of one of its roots. The woman was wearing rags that looked like they had been on her for years. Her back was so hunched that even while standing she would have probably not been able to reach Astrid's chin. The long white strands of her ruffled unkempt hair reached the forest floor where they curled into small bundles. However, the woman's face, despite being wrinkled and aged by time, was wearing a content grin as if today was the best day of her life. Her weary green eyes were looking right into Astrid, smiling along with rest of the face. She was grasping onto a dark wooden staff with bony fingers almost as gnarled as the wood. A tiny unlit oil lantern was dangling from the tip of the staff.

The old crone lifted one of her hands to motion for Astrid to approach and tapped the root next to her.

"We've got to go," whispered Calden with quiet terror in his tone. He had been somewhat wary of everything for the last few days, but it had been just careful precaution to try and balance against Astrid's curiosity. Now he really meant it, and only hoped that she would realize it too. Calden could barely even see the old woman that the thing before them was masquerading as. The whole area around her  in his field of vision was filled with a vortex of colourful intersecting auras that danced in strange flowing motions. "I mean it this time," he added, looking up at Astrid, trying to make a demanding expression at her, but failing to move anything other than the eye.

Patiently waiting, the elderly woman kept smiling at them with all the friendliness in the world.

[PennySludt]

Astrid felt a small amount of relief wash over her at the sight of another human being in the seemingly endless forest. She hadn't realized how lonely she was, even with Calden talking to her about things here and there. She smiled and began heading in the old woman's direction, her pace quickening a little in her excitement at seeing another person.

"We've got to go. I mean it this time."

Astrid slowed slightly at Calden's warning, but she so desperately wanted to talk to someone real and physical. And she didn't see the harm in this old lady. "Calden, it's just a little old lady. She looks tired and hungry. Come on. What harm could it do to help an old lady?"

She approached the crone with a sweet smile on her face and took the spot on the moss covered root beside the woman. "Thank you", she said to her as she sank onto the tree. It felt so good to get off her tired feet and rest for a little bit. She cocked her head at the old woman beside her, "Are you hungry? I don't have much, but I found some berries and nuts a while back, and I have some baked roots I cooked up last night. You're welcome to have some."

She dug into the pockets of her dress, fishing out a handful of nuts and somewhat bruised berries from one pocket and two baked tubers. She handed one to the woman and held out her other hand for her to take some nuts and berries. "I'm afraid I don't have any water...I haven't anything to carry it in. Perhaps you've seen a stream or something around near here?" She popped a few juicy berries into her mouth, which somewhat helped to quench her thirst. That was the hardest part. She got so thirsty walking all day and never being sure where she would find something to drink next.

She smiled at the old crone, "I'm Astrid. May I ask what your pilgrimage was, and why was it fruitless? Perhaps I can help you?" She took a bite out of the root. It was no longer warm of course, but it was still good. The skin was crisp, and the inside was soft, fluffy and delicious. She had to admit, this had been a lucky find! She hoped she could find some more for her dinner tonight. She had planned on having the second one for supper, but this old woman seemed like she needed it more. "Are you cold?" She put the tuber down in her lap and removed the shawl from around her shoulders, draping it over the old woman's thin shoulders.

[Sain]

Calden seemed to shut it as Astrid got closer, he really did not want to get spotted. Meanwhile the seemingly harmless old woman's eyes squinted almost shut as her smile widened due to Astrid's approach. The woman replied to her thanks with an old giggly tone. "Ohoho, you are welcome my dear. There is space here to rest for all." Her dry cracked lips pursed together, returning to the smile as her eyes opened again and looked at Astrid with an apparent surprise when she offered food. "Why yes, now that you mention it I am a little hungry. Oh, how generous of you."

The woman retrieved the goodies from Astrid's palm with a deft swipe of her hand. Through her lips she slid one of the nuts, which she then began to roll around in the mouth. "Mmm... it's delicious! Thank you little angel. It's so difficult for my old eyes to spot these sort of goods in the bushes." She placed the nut between her teeth, popping it visibly against her cheek before crunching it and beginning to munch somewhat noisily while Astrid went on introducing herself. Her head bobbed up and down while she was still struggling to swallow the nut quickly to reply.

She extended her bony hand to gently shake Astrid's with a grip weak like a breeze. "Oh it's a pleasure to meet a young lady like you Astrid, such a beautiful name you have I wish I had thought of that for my children. My name is... oh I think it was Julianna, but everyone calls me July. Did I say I was on a pilgrimage? I did, didn't I? Yes, I was trying to find this place here in the forest, but my eyes are not like they used to be and it's been difficult to stay on the road, we are still on the road aren't we? Your help would be most welcome. It shouldn't take all that long at all for me to find the right path again if you were to give lend me your eye." Perhaps it was just the light playing a trick due to leaves blocking it's path, but for just a moment the old woman's grin took on a strange uncanny aspect. Then, the leaves above ruffled with the wind and again her smile was that of a kind elderly woman.

"Oh, you dear must be able to read minds, I was a little chilly. The nights can be unexpectedly cold here," she replied as Astrid wrapped the shawl around her shoulders. She stopped Astrid's hand from returning by gently overlapping her own palm with hers and looking up at the girl with a pleading gaze. "This cape is wonderful, but actually, I'm still a little chilly. The old bones take a while to warm up you see. I don't suppose you could set me up a small campfire, could you?"

[PennySludt]

Watching the old woman eat the things she offered, Astrid smiled at her in a friendly way. The woman seemed nice enough. She didn't understand Calden's concern about being near her.

"Your help would be most welcome. It shouldn't take all that long at all for me to find the right path again if you were to give lend me your eye."

Astrid nodded. "I'd certainly like to help you. I'll do my best anyway. I'm not entirely sure where I am, actually..." She looked around, frowning slightly. She had been trying to go in the same direction as much as she could, though there really wasn't any way to tell for sure. It was difficult to see the position of the sun through the heavy canopy of the trees, so half the time it was guesswork. But she wanted to help the poor woman if she could.

Astrid contemplated how to help the woman without knowing exactly where she herself was. "I'm afraid I haven't seen a road at all. We-...I've been walking for days and I haven't come across any roads at all." She looked curiously at the old woman. "Where are you coming from? Where are you trying to get to?" Something about what the old woman was saying didn't make sense. Perhaps Astrid was just tired, or maybe it had just been so long since she'd spoken to anyone, but she wasn't clear what it was the old woman wanted. It didn't make sense. She chewed quietly as she tried to think. She wanted to ask Calden, but she felt that Calden didn't want to be known, so she held her tongue.

[Sain]

July seemed amused by Astrid's confusion of the location and laughed lightly. "We're in the forest silly, the Forest! It's all the same really." Her head tilted slightly and she shook her head in a gentle disappointment at the girl's remark about lack of a road. "Oh, and here I was hoping I had not steered too far from it." She wore her surprised face again when Astrid asked of her comings and goings. "Why I'm on a pilgrimage. I'm journeying from my home towards the sacred place that I'm trying to find here. It's a tricky place to find, which is why I'm still here wandering like a silly old demented lady I am, hehe. I could really use your help dear, but would you first be an angel and make me that campfire." She hugged her arms and pulled the cloth tighter around her back, shaking visibly. "My hip needs a moment to warm up before I can walk, I thought I had to wait through the whole noon here while bathing in the sun, but now that you are here to fix me a fire it's going to be alright!"

[PennySludt]

Astrid sat up straighter in horror at forgetting the fire. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot! Yes! Of course!" She scrambled off the root and looked around for a good spot for a fire. She wanted somewhere that the old woman could stay seated comfortably. Finally, she settled on a place right near the root she was already sitting on.

Focusing her mind and power she held her hands out in front of her, staring at the spot she wanted it. Closing her eyes for a moment, she forced the power down and out of her arms and hands and a spark burned for a moment in the spot she had chosen, then flickered and went out. She sighed, then tried again. Once more, the flame flickered and died. On the third try she managed to get the fire strong enough to stay lit and sank back down onto the root beside the old woman. She had always had trouble consistently getting the fire spell to work, and she had been amazed that it had worked the first time that night in the crevice. She felt that she was getting better though, and was pleased it had only taken three times today.

After resting for a minute, she looked back to the old woman and asked, "Well, I'm happy to help you find a road...But is there a road leading to the sacred place you're seeking? Which direction are you going?" She looked up between the leaves above them and frowned. "We should also think about keeping an eye out for a place to camp for the night. Where have you been sleeping, July?"

[Sain]

The old woman looked in awe at Astrid's spellwork and clapped excitedly when the effort finally paid off. "Hohoo a talented little witch aren't you?" She then leaned forward towards the flame and placed her hands closer to it, but something about it didn't seem to please her as July's grin gained a slight pouty frown to it. However, she settled for just listening to the magic fire crackle with warmth while sitting quietly until Astrid asked of her destination again.

Strangely enough the old woman seemed to outright ignore her query as she replied with some pent up disappointment seeping through her tone. "It's all well and good to make fire like this, but you know it just isn't the same thing as a good campfire, this sort of magic flame. You will learn when you get to my age little girl. Your fire is missing all that makes a fire enjoyable to sit around. Sure it has the warmth and colour right, but the sounds...   I miss the crackle of wood as they crispen before turning coal. Oh, and the smell, the smell!" As if to exemplify her point the old woman's nostrils widened as she drew in a deep breath. "It's burnt air I smell in your fire, not wood." How can you start to think of lodging when you didn't even get the fire down right? Well, aren't you a lucky little girl that I am right here to set you straight. Go gather some wood for me, I'll guide you through the process."

July's face was again squinted into one big smile. She had retracted her hands, but now raised one to point a finger towards an old dry standing tree without leaves and only a little moss at its roots. The tree stood some distance away, but worst of all was on top of a small hill with a very steep looking hills. "There, that's just perfect. First go get me some logs from that tree over there."

[PennySludt]

Astrid cocked her head at her fire. She had been quite proud of her bit of magic, and the old woman's critical reception of it hurt a little. But now that the old crone had pointed out it's flaws, she could see them. They still didn't bother HER, but it obviously bothered the little old lady next to her. She looked in the direction that the woman had pointed and saw the tree she meant.

"First go get me some logs from that tree over there."

Astrid appraised the tree and it's surroundings and sighed. Glancing up at the sky again, she looked to the woman once more. She wanted to tell her that they needed to find somewhere to stay the night, and that making a 'real' fire was not on the list of important things to be done right now. But she could see it was important to her, so she sighed once more and stood up. Walking toward the tree, Astrid felt just how tired she was and how heavy her legs felt. She trudged to the little hill slowly, and when she judged herself to be out of earshot of the woman, she whispered to Calden, "I hope this doesn't take too long. I'm so tired and we really need to find somewhere safe for the night."

She struggled up the hill breathlessly, slipping and skinning her knee painfully. Once she reached the top she broke off a good handful of branches and twigs and turned back toward the old woman. As she started down the hill her foot slipped out from under her and she landed hard on her rear and skidded all the way down to the bottom. She sat at the bottom for a moment, recovering from her spill before standing and carefully brushing the dirt from her bottom and gathering the sticks she had dropped. Sighing again, she trudged slowly back to the root and her little magic fire, feeling the bruises already forming.

She laid the sticks down in a little pile next to her magic flames and sank down onto the root beside the woman, wincing as she sat on the tender parts from her spill. She watched the flames for a moment, waiting for the woman's next request.

[Sain]

July waited patiently for Astrid to take on the task while showering her in a continuous faint smile that widened even further when the girl finally began heading to fetch the wood. She encouraged Astrid with a playful tone. "Oh, it'll be all worth it when you're resting by a proper campfire, I promise!" She seemed to enjoy the sight of Astrid climbing, though made a slightly exaggerated silent gasp with a hand on her mouth when a knee scraped against stone painfully.

Calden hesitated slightly to answer back, he glanced back towards the old woman through Astrid's cowl, and even then his eye seemed to be seeing something through the fabric. He hissed back in a hurried whisper. "Astrid! You can't seriously be planning on playing around with that- that thing! We should run now and get as far as possible. I bet she only wants campfire so that she can roast you on a stick and eat you for dinner! Ow, just look at yourself. You're getting injured for some cursed campfire! Come on Astrid stop dancing to her tune just because she's an old lady..." He fell silent again as soon as Astrid's return trip approached its end and the distance to the old woman grew uncomfortably close to Calden's taste. He knew very well how hard it was to get her to not help something, heck he hadn't even tried it before. But then again before he could not have seen this old lady for what it truly was, or at least seen what it was capable of.

The elderly woman kept her eyes and a soft smile constantly on Astrid and, once the girl was done, she didn't hesitate to continue with her demands. "Ah, to be young again! It looked so easy when you did it. Now, be a dear and snuff out that smelly little flame of yours. We don't need no fake flames to help us make real ones do we? Here, let me show you how to get started, then you can do it on your own."

Tip of the old woman's gnarled staff softly pierced the moss on the ground as she steadied it to become a support with which to lever herself up. Both hands on the staff, she managed to rise on her feet, though it looked like she would fall back down at the slightest breeze. She hobbled to the pile of wood and began arranging the twigs into a very traditional looking campfire, then picked a particularly large piece of wood and laid it in the middle, and picked another smaller twig in her hand before turning her face towards Astrid. "Here, watch closely my dear. You put the twig between your palms and place it against the large log like so...  and then roll your palms against each other until tip of the twig begins smoking. Do be careful when it does, a lonely spark is so easily snuff out!" July shuffled on her knees to offer for Astrid to take her place while she would remain at the side and watch.

[PennySludt]

Once more, Astrid glanced up at the sky and back down at the little old lady, her patience with her slowly beginning to wane. She didn't want to put out her magic fire! It had taken a lot of energy to make it, and now the woman wanted her to snuff it out just to make another one in some silly non-magic way. Astrid sat still, thinking. She wanted to tell her no, and keep her magic fire, but she felt sorry for the old woman, so she sighed heavily and got to her feet. Looking longingly at her little magic fire, she slowly waved her hand over it, absorbing the magic and putting the flame out. The cold and damp almost immediately began to permeate her tired body, especially since she had given her shawl to the woman and only had her thin, slightly wet dress to keep her warm. She got to her knees and aligned the sticks as the old woman had, and began rubbing her palms together. She knelt in front of the pile of sticks and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed. Nothing.

Astrid sat back on her heels, panting slightly with the effort, and looked up at the woman with a distraught look on her face. "I...I can't do it. Perhaps I could just use a spark from my fire, just to get it started? It would give you a nice fire much faster, and it would still be the fire you want..." She desperately hoped the woman would accept that offer. She was rapidly running out of energy and daylight and it was beginning to worry her. She didn't want to be caught out in the open at nightfall again. Once had been enough! And she didn't think the old woman would be able to outrun those creatures. "We really need to find somewhere to spend the night, July. We can build a fire there..."

She gazed hopefully up at the little woman, crossing her fingers and praying to the Gods that she would accept that suggestion. Astrid  was getting more and more tired by the minute, and all she wanted was a warm, safe place to rest. She was beginning to think that Calden had been right about helping this crazy old lady. Perhaps it was a mistake. She didn't think the woman was going to cook her or anything, but she was tired enough that she didn't want to deal with much more.

[Sain]

The old woman nodded approvingly when seeing Astrid comply with her request and begin the painstaking attempts of trying to make a 'real' fire. Every now and then she would give a small encouraging comment with more snide in her tone than actual advice, but mostly she just enjoyed watching Astrid work while huddling under the extra clothes she had been given. All of the wrinkles on her face dropped into a one big pouty frown when Astrid dropped the attempt. "Oh, no no dear. We can't do that. Oh I will manage for a while. This is a really important lesson for you my girl, you really need to get this down correctly and you will thank me for it. I promise you that." Some of the frown seemed to turn to a sparkling smirk again, and the old woman, with great effort, pushed herself to her feet again.

Between offering food and wasting strength in an effortless attempt to set up a fire, some time had passed indeed. Although the sun was yet high enough to not begin coloring the clouds with anything but perhaps a faint yellow glow, even the slight decrease in light meant a rapid growth in darkness there on the bottom of the heavily grown forest. Shadows were no longer just light green outlines on the ground, but dark blue spots in which things could hide. Bird chirps and other sounds of life were still strong however, but then they had always stayed loud before ending abruptly at nightfall.

"I do agree. It's getting late, almost tea time, and we'd better have proper shelter in case of rain. We best not waste the good wood though, would you pick them up for us?" She waited for the girl to react while looking down at her, clinging closely to her staff for support while standing. The old woman then squinted her eyes towards the blocked wooden horizon and spoke in a pondering tone. "Now where would you start with the shelter my dear? I believe we don't have the time to make it into any nearby villages today."

[PennySludt]

Nodding in slight relief, Astrid began picking up the dried sticks, finally standing in front of the old woman.

"Now where would you start with the shelter my dear? I believe we don't have the time to make it into any nearby villages today."

She shook her head, "No, I haven't seen a village for days and days. We'll find somewhere sheltered away from the...natural elements..." She wasn't sure if she should mention the creatures that came out after dark. She didn't want to panic or scare the old woman. She looked around, trying to determine what direction to head in, and finally settling on the same direction she had been heading in when she stopped.

"Let's go this way and see if there are any good places in this direction." So far, she had been fairly lucky in finding secure places to stay and her magical fires had worked well in keeping them...HER...protected from the evil creatures that followed her every night. She tucked her bundle of sticks under her left arm and held her right arm, the one Calden was on, out to the woman to offer her support as they walked.

[Sain]

"Oh yes, they say the nature can be unpredictable even in the forest. You hear all kinds of hearsay of vengeful sprites, but I say it's all a ruse to keep people out of this beautiful place", speculated the old woman. Regardless of the complaints she might have voiced before about needing to warm up her hip before moving, she seemed to be more than happy to go now. Her green eyes detached their amused stare from Astrid to peer towards the direction that the little girl was looking at. There was no protest or dismissal in the tone of her reply, rather she seemed to trust this Astrid with this choice. "Very well, you lead the way dear."

She was already starting to limp on her own with the help of her staff when Astrid extended her hand. After a brief expression of bemusement, July's face turned again into a wide grateful smile. "Aww, aren't you just the thoughtful little angel." Her dry thing fingers wrapped around Astrid's palm. They had barely any strength in them but didn't slip even when the old woman let some of her weight shift onto the hand to ease her own burden. She still made no sign of noticing Calden who was feeling a perfectly infuriating mix of fear, anger and frustration towards Astrid's stubbornness. Had it not been for the scary aura emanating from July, which now filled his vision almost entirely, he would have screamed for her to go. Then again, had it not been for that lingering aura he would have likely felt compelled to help the old lady too...

[PennySludt]

Astrid led the way through the forest, supporting the old woman on her arm, though she herself was tired and sore from her recent exertions on the hill. She smiled when the crone called her an angel, and she looked sideways toward her, "So, July...where do you live? Do you have family there?"

She was very curious about this strange old lady who seemed not to have any idea of the dangers of the forest, and yet must have been traveling for days in it to get where they were...How was that possible? Perhaps the woman was not alone after all? Perhaps she had just become separated from whoever was travelling with her? There was nothing else that made sense. The creatures that circled her every night surely couldn't be unique to her, so how had the woman survived until now?

[Sain]

The woman gave Astrid sideways glances every now and then as she spoke, while keeping eyes mostly on her own feet so as to not trip on the roots and rocks on the ground. "Oh, no not around here. I've traveled for a long while I have. It's far away, very far. Maybe you will come visit one day?" She directed her smile straight at Astrid, then turned it into a slight frown as she continued. "My children, they've all spread their wings by now..." The old woman kept her eyes pointed forward and fell quiet for a while.

The old hag seemed genuinely like a confused lost old woman on her half demented wanderings. Calden of course knew better. He was constantly looking for a moment when the 'thing' that he saw would put distance between Astrid and him so he could try persuade her again, but to no avail. July didn't give out much new clues of her origin or purpose during the travel to find a shelter, nor did she really complain much aside from occasionally remarking how long they had been walking.

The sky was still quite bright, in the first stages of twilight, when they found somewhere to spend the night. July seated herself on the best spot immediately as if she had been homing towards it. "Ah!" She exclaimed, loosening her grip on the staff and placing it to rest against a wall. "Leave the fire for now dear." She advised Astrid with a flick of her wrist that motioned her to come closer. The elderly woman crouched; her back made crackles that sounded almost painful; and she reached to take her shoes off. If there had been uglier and smellier feet in existence, then Astrid probably had not seen them. The granny wiggled her callous toes in the air playfully. "Come now. Won't you be a dear and help an old woman relax. My soles are dying!"

[PennySludt]

Astrid had dropped the sticks into a small pile and bent down to form them the way July had instructed earlier, but paused when the woman spoke to her.

"Leave the fire for now dear."

Astrid looked up at her in confusion, sitting back on her heels to wait for the the next daft request from the old lady. She wasn't prepared for what came out of the old crone's mouth next!

"Come now. Won't you be a dear and help an old woman relax. My soles are dying!"

Astrid gaped at her for a moment before coming to her senses looking away quickly, trying to think. What was she going to do!? To refuse would be rude, and disrespectful! But...She glanced back at July's feet...WHAT in the world was she supposed to do!? Astrid looked around her, hoping to find a stream or brook or ANYTHING that she could get water from to offer the old woman to soak her feet. But alas, no such luck. Not to mention the fact that the young girls was awfully thirsty and would have appreciated a cool drink as well.

After a moment, and another glance up at the sky to check the quality of the light left, she sighed and shook her head. "July...I'm very sorry...I really can't help you until we get our shelter fixed for the night. I'll do what I can when we're set...But right now I really need to work...and if you want a proper fire, it's going to take some time..." She hoped she was letting the old woman down gently, and she fully intended to do what she could, but right now the biggest thought in her head was securing their shelter before the light died. They could take all the time they wanted on feet once that had been done, but if they didn't have a shelter before dark, they probably wouldn't have FEET to WORRY about!

[Sain]

When Astrid still had some distance between her and the crone, Calden did not wait to seize the moment. The pent up frustration in his voice was as palpable as the stench of the elderly feet that were being displayed some steps away. The boy hissed in a whisper. "Astrid! It's really time to go. I've been telling you that woman is not human! Not a normal one anyway. I can see it! She is coated in something strange. Just please, we need to get away, it's going to be night soon. Please don't spend the night with that thing..."

Even if his voice had been just maybe a little bit on the louder side, July did not seem to recognize it under the background noises of the forest and more importantly her own ridiculous demands. She listened to Astrid with a smile, but at the end of the girl's explanation, the old woman's face twisted into a hideous expression of both surprise and frown. "Really now?" She snorted disapprovingly. Her eyes shifted away from Astrid for a moment. Her tone was radiated disappointment. "And here little old me was already thinking you were an upstanding young lady who understood the plight of an elderly crone. It's fine. I will do it myself!"

Fueled by a strange burst of childish and uppity attitude, July tried to bend her knee while she reached forward to try and grasp her own soles. She wobbled wildly while doing so and barely stayed on her seat. Maintaining balance while performing such acrobatics was clearly no longer possible for the old woman. In the end she her finger tips did not even reach her foot, no matter how painful an expression she summoned up to steel her grit and help the old back bend just that one extra inch further.

The old lady gave up and threw her hands in the air to exaggerate her bafflement at how impossible the task was for her to achieve alone. "I suppose I won't be walking tomorrow then. Nor the day after. Nor the on the next. You really got me there little thief. I thought you were a kind child, but in fact you just wanted to exhaust me by leading me around the forest, then rob me in cover of the night and leave my crippled old self crawling helplessly for aid. I really don't understand how you can have the heart to refuse. Sometimes I just wish that young hooligans like yourself would get to feel what it is like to be old." Her tone was condescending, but the face she wore showed pity and grief.

[PennySludt]

"What do you mean, not a normal human? What is she then? I think you're overreacting, Calden..." She was going to get into it more with him when July spoke up, berating Astrid for her suggestion. Astrid sat there, tears welling in her dark gray eyes. She felt like a terrible, horrible person! Maybe July was right. Maybe she wasn't a very nice girl. She certainly had no intention of stealing from the old woman, even if she looked like she had anything to steal anyway! But was she just making excuses not to do something she didn't want to do?

She watched for a moment as the old woman tried to rub her own feet, then jumped up to help her sit down again. "I'm so sorry, July. I...I didn't mean to make you think I don't care. I do. I just...I just thought if we..." She looked around them into the forest, "I'm scared...at night...There's things out here that are...terrifying...And I'm afraid of being caught without somewhere to stay at night..." She looked at the woman in front of her, "I'm sorry. I'm sure your feet must be very sore and tired. I'm sorry, July."

Astrid moved toward her and knelt in front of her, taking one of her disgusting feet in her hands, resting the heel on her lap and beginning to rub softly on the soles of the woman's feet. As she did so, she looked around them, as if she could see the things waiting for darkness to come. There was a battle waging inside her. She wanted to help this woman, didn't want to make her think Astrid didn't care...but at the same time, she wanted to tell the old lady there were priorities. And staying alive in this wretched forest was one of them. She vaguely began to wonder what Calden meant by not human. What else would she be...? Why was he afraid of her...? How could he tell she wasn't human...He had said she was coated in something strange...like what...? She wanted to ask him these things. To find out what he was afraid of. But she was stuck right there, massaging the old crone's stinking feet.

[Sain]

At least one coating around the crone was imminently clear upon the un-booting of her feet; a thick layer of hardened dead skin had grown there. Twilight had already taken steps towards the night by the time July allowed Astrid to let go without moaning about problems of age or trying to guilt trip her into continuing. The shadows were inching father and farther from their roots and they grew darker with each passing moment. Those critters that filled the day with vivid chirps and sounds of life were too beginning to recede into their secret hiding places.

July's approval of Astrid's treatment did not need spoken confirmation. All of the old woman's wrinkles had united into one big pleasant grin by the end of it. She looked like she had been smiling all her life. Such reaction was really no wonder for it must have been a long while since the crone had gotten her feet scrubbed. They had stiff as planks and even in the end did not get softened up that much, but apparently even that little bit seemed to make all the difference to July. "Ahh... thank you, but you should learn to ease up a little dear. You worry all too much," she said, laying a wispy hand on Astrid's shoulder.

Those green slits that were the old woman's eyes jumped from Astrid's face to the woods behind her with feline quickness. A wicked property got mixed into her gentle smile as she spoke, "Oh, I don't those ugly things you speak of venture into these woods." She blinked. Her smile returned to normal and gaze turned back to the girl. July's expression was questioning but her tone saturated with assurity. "You see child. They say that a God walks these lands. A living one, and that he protects the forest. He keeps the nightmares at bay and the dark things underground. Now an old woman like me, I can't possibly ward off or run from anything anymore. We old folk, we have to keep our faith. In the Gods of land, forest, rivers and those that dwell in the sky. Yet, we always end up fine don't we?" The few yellow teeth left in her mouth gleamed in the faint light as the elderly's grin widened. "So you see. We will be fiiine!" Her hand brushed the air nonchalantly to further embody her comfort in with their chances to pull it through the night.

Towards the kids forest did not seem to be treating any differently so far though. The last rays of sun were muffled out by dark clouds before the horizon was dyed crimson. Not all the crawlers of night were harmful. The kids had already spent many nights in the forest and even though most often they had ended up in the wrong end of a chase with those monkey-like shadows, there had always been others in there; in the dark. The sharp chittering of those monkeys could not be heard yet, but already some of these more mellow minded things were popping out of their holes.

The first to appear or perhaps just the easiest to spot were tiny - pinky sized - segmented worms with a fluffy fur. They emitted brief bursts of faint light teal illumination each time they squiggled in the air, projecting themselves further in their seemingly uncontrollable drifting through the air. Calden had remarked on another night how he hoped that the forest was just filled with these flying feathers instead of those dark monkeys as even he seemed to like them. They crawled out in hundreds through infinitely small crevices in the bark. More and more took air, and though their glow was faint, it grew as the clouds did to candles, torches and even lanterns with the largest gatherings. These fluffy friends however had never been there to stay, and that would not be the case this night either. Fluttering gatherings of light slowly moved further and further from the ground, reaching the upper branches of the trees and then beyond as they penetrated the veil of leaves.

As the afterimage of the illuminating worms faded, more of those nightly critters were beginning to reveal themselves. Something large in the distance made deep gnarling sounds as it walked towards and unknown destination, away from the makeshift camp. A bzz almost too high to be heard emanated from the canopy. Some of its singers, five fingered star fish shaped creatures that slowly slid across the bark with stealth of a chameleon, were at times visible near the camp, but soon they too would hide among the leaves. There were some things, long things, that slithered through the ground moss as if it was water and countless more queer critters of darkness. Only the familiar shadowy monkeys were missing. Their cries were either too quiet or far to be heard across the cacophonous soundscape of the night.

July had kept her grin and attention on Astrid as the night fell, following her reactions. She spoke victoriously, "See? Nothing nightmarish out there. Just a few bugs." She had put her shoes back on, the nights were still chilly even if they had been getting warmer. "Now, could you stop gawking? It's high time we ate something. Go catch us a one of them big juice white puffy pillows. The ones that grow near oaks. I'll make you a stew you won't forget if you do!" Her tone in the end was almost playful.

[PennySludt]

Astrid had never had time to appreciate the beauty in the forest, for her deep fear of those 'things' that seemed to hunt them every night. As the sun set and the shadows grew longer, her fear increased dramatically. She tried to keep the panic from her face and voice as she spoke with July, rubbing the old woman's feet, but her assurances that nothing would hurt them were hard for Astrid to grasp. When July spoke of the Gods, though, Astrid suddenly felt a flutter of reassurance, the tales of her younger childhood coming back to her. Tales about Gods protecting and helping, testing and caring. Gods nothing like the one that had stolen Calden's body.

The old woman's smile beamed down on the young girl, and she smiled up at her as best she could. She was still deeply afraid, but the story of the Gods had helped lessen her fear a great deal. But as the light disappeared and the other woodland creatures came out, making themselves known...or not, as they so chose, Astrid was able to take in the abundance of magical creatures that lived in these deep, dark woods. She sat back on her heels, still in front of July, watching all around her as one of of the forest went to roost, and the other half woke and came to life in beautiful, mysterious glory. Her face shone with wonder as she looked around, completely missing July's glare into the woods behind her in her wonder at the life around them.

For the first time since entering the forest all those days ago, Astrid was not afraid of the night. The evil creatures were nowhere to be seen or even heard. She wanted to ask Calden if he could see them, but she didn't want to do that in front of July. She wasn't really sure why she didn't want July to know about Calden, but something, perhaps Calden's concern over being near the old lady, was keeping her from making him known to her.

"Go catch us a one of them big juicy white puffy pillows. The ones that grow near oaks. I'll make you a stew you won't forget if you do!"

Astrid cocked her head at the old woman. She nodded slowly and sighed as she stood. She was so tired, but she was also very hungry, having given her dinner to July earlier. She was also very thirsty, and she figured that perhaps she could find a little stream or something as she went looking for the things July told her to get. She surreptitiously wiped her hands on her dress, then conjured a little ball of blue light as she had so many nights, holding it hovering slightly above her hand and raising her hand level with the top of her head so the light shone around her like a lamp. "I'll be back soon, then", she told July, and walked off into the dark of night, surrounded by her magic blue light.

[Sain]

July was left behind in the camp, she lit the oil lantern that hung from her gnarled walking staff. The flame flickered orange and yellow, illuminating the surrounding enclosure with warm light. After the girl had passed a few trees the lantern light was already completely muffled by the dark. Astrid's own magical sphere gave the surroundings a ghostly blue hue. The moss and bark were different in that light, the magical glow did not drive away the magic like the fire did. New things rose from their daily slumber. Small polyp-like wings unsheathed themselves from tiny cones of lichen. They did not glow by themselves and were regularly pale white; almost invisible in the night. However, those that the girl had walked past retained the blue magic glow in themselves, lighting a path. Likewise those lucky enough to bathe in the stray strands of moonlight that made its way through both leaves and clouds glowed silver light.

Countless more appeared and disappeared, though most were still too elusive to be caught with eyes and quickly scurried behind a corner or a branch when they felt the girl's presence approach. Calden finally felt they had enough distance to the crone. His voice oozed of frustration when he spoke, "Did- did you not see that Astrid? Now is the time. Lets just get away while she thinks that you're going to find her this...  ahhh! I don't even know. Just run, okay? She did it! I saw it! Something in her aura shifted when the night fell and part of it flew towards the forest. She did some evil magic here. I don't know what but please for the love of Gods just please listen to me. This is the perfect chance. We can lose her in the night and there aren't even any of those nightmare monkeys around. Phew..." He took a brief pause, waiting for Astrid to answer, and then, when he felt an opening he added, "Let me see too. I can only spot blurred picture of magic from here, and even just that is so pretty. I wanna look!"

[PennySludt]

Astrid pulled the neckline of her dress down over her right shoulder, letting Calden see around them better. She walked slowly and silently now that she was a little further from the old woman. Calden's words of warning and pleas to run were swirling through her head and she was confused and worried. He really seemed afraid of July. Was he just nervous because of what had happened? Was he paranoid? Or was he right? After all, he had said he could see magic around her. And if she had magic, why had she not used it? And if she HAD used it....what had she done....?

"What do you mean, evil magic, Calden? How do you know it was evil? If you don't know what it was...how can you say it was evil?" She felt responsible for the old lady. She didn't think she could just leave her here, alone in the forest. She seemed to be quite mad in the head and Astrid wasn't sure how well she'd be able to fend for herself. But Calden was beginning to fill her with fear too. She also wondered WHY there were none of those creatures around. What if there were none of those things because they were afraid to come here....what if this was the territory of something....worse.....?

She poked around looking for the things July had described. She was awfully hungry, and July had promised a delicious stew...Her stomach rumbled at the thought. Then she thought of something, "Calden....? Do you get...hungry? Or thirsty?" She didn't know why she had never asked him this in the last few days, but perhaps she was just beginning to accept that he was merely an attachment to her own body now, and not his own person. Perhaps she was starting to understand a little more. She herself was very thirsty, and as she looked for the things for July, she kept her eyes and ears open for the sound of water.

[Sain]

"What, how do I know evil? Uh-", Calden stuttered to come up with a good reasoning for his suspicions about the crone. "I'm just, getting this... I don't know," he sighed. It was true that despite her eccentrics July had not done anything that would justify putting her in the same category with monsters, and it was not like Calden was entirely sure about what he had seen. He couldn't read those auras too well yet, they very different from what regular eyes could see and not always so straightforward to decipher. "Well she did use some sort of magic. I saw a big cloud of it leave overhead towards the woods earlier, even through your clothes! And she, she isn't just old lady that's for sure! I can see the magic inside you and it's beautiful, but hers, its..." He paused again. Truth be told Calden had only seen one person in his new state aside from Astrid and that was the old woman. How could he be sure that wasn't just how people normally looked like? Doubt began creeping into his mind, had he been accusing her for nothing? No. That couldn't be, something didn't feel right!

The swirling dance of doubt and suspicion stopped as Astrid directed his mind elsewhere. Calden turned from the scenery around them take a glance at Astrid. "Umm," he pondered out loud, trying to remember the last time he had felt hunger or thirst for that matter. "No. Not really... I-" he was about to mention of not even sleeping, but held his words. He thought that Astrid would no doubt feel guilty that he sat there in the darkness, alone. The only thing talking about it would have done is ruin her sleep and put more stuff on her already loaded conscience. Calden improvised to quickly come up with some words that he had paused, but the half- truth he conjured up sounded weak. "Not that I really miss it. I mean, we're living on just berries and shrooms. Heh! I'm kinda glad for it at the moment really." Calden continued pondering on his night-times, coming up with reasons why it wasn't so bad, and really he could still come up with many. It had not been that long since the 'merging' and he had needed a lot of time to think so as to not fall apart and cry of fears that lurked in his heart, ever ready to jump at a weak moment.

The night continued its mystical display of the hidden parts of nature around Astrid as she walked. It was hard to say if the sounds were even louder than during the day, but it was difficult to spot any rippling of a stream from beneath the concert of chitter. After climbing over some mossy rocks and landing back on the soft green ground, Astrid's foot sank in a bit and wet seeped through the leather of her boots. It was not a stream. The moss ahead sank in a gentle slope to form a small forest pond. It's surface undisturbed, the pond reflected in the ghostly blue light of Astrid's sphere to wrap on its surface a twisted version of the forest around her. In the darkness, its water was perfectly black. Anything could be hiding below the surface. There were a little less of those strange critters making sounds. Around there, the night was beginning to feel truly like one.

"Um...  lets go back?" Calden suggested; his tone trembled slightly with trepidation.

[PennySludt]

Astrid listened to Calden's reasoning about why he thought July was evil. None of it made sense to her. She couldn't see the magic he was talking about. She couldn't feel anything bad about the old woman other than the annoying things she was having Astrid do for her, and that was just the eccentricities of an old lady, wasn't it? Besides, so what if she'd used magic earlier? That didn't make her bad, did it? Astrid had magic in her, was she bad? She began to wonder about that. After the things July had said before Astrid had given in and rubbed her feet, she wasn't sure now. And if having magic meant you were evil....She felt a sharp stab in her heart as she thought about it. Perhaps she really wasn't a very good person...After all, it had been she who urged Calden into that cave. She who had conjured the light to see by to get them to the place where he had jumped on the stone and released that...thing. She who had been ready to refuse to help July with her painful feet. Perhaps she really was an awful person and she just hadn't been aware of it before...? When Calden said he could see the magic inside her and it was beautiful, she felt a little better about that. If Calden thought her magic looked beautiful, then perhaps she wasn't ENTIRELY bad?

When he mentioned being rather glad for not feeling hungry and thirsty she felt a momentary wave of resentment when she thought that it was not 'we' that was living on nothing but berries and shrooms, but 'she'. He couldn't feel the pain of hunger in her belly every day. He couldn't feel the burning of her throat and chest for water. He probably couldn't even feel the bone-deep exhaustion of her young body. She pushed the sudden and unwelcome feeling down deep, trying not to think that way. He was her best friend. He was there for her. Of course he would say 'we'...But she couldn't un-feel something that had been felt already.

Suddenly her foot sank into wet and she gasped, pulling her foot back and shaking it off as she looked further ahead of her. "WATER!" she said with relief and excitement. "Calden, it's WATER!" When he suggested they go back she nodded, not noticing the fear in his voice, "As soon as I get a drink. I wish I had some way to carry more. A bowl or something. At the thought of a bowl, Astrid paused, a defeated, disappointed feeling coming over her.

"A bowl..Calden! She said she'd make a stew...but we have nothing to make a stew in! Why didn't I think of that before? How could I have been so stupid!? Here we are on a useless trip to find something for a stew we can never make!" She groaned as her stomach rumbled again. She wanted to cry right now. She was thirsty, hungry and exhausted, and she was wandering around in the dark in a strange magical forest with no way to protect herself from whatever might come. "Oh, Calden! I'm such a fool!"

She began walking down the slope dejectedly, "At least I can get a drink, though I don't have a way to bring any back for July...keep an eye out for anything we can use as a bowl or something..." After she had said that, she felt a pang of guilt. Calden ONLY had an eye to keep out. How could she have been so callous!? Maybe she really WAS a horrible person...

[Sain]

"What do you need a bowl for? Just drink your fill here." He was still somewhat suspicious of the quietness that had fallen around them, but Astrid's worries of commonplace things interrupted those fears. The loss of body really went ways to detach his mind from much of the worries that he used to have been able to share with Astrid. Calden couldn't really understand why bowl was so important right now or how to make a stew. This July person really had something to hide, possibly something dangerous. In his mind they really couldn't afford to think of bowls and stews at that moment.

"Yes. We can agree on that," he chuckled with some arrogance in the tone in response to Astrid's admittance of foolishness. He was more than glad to oblige with the rest that she said after though. There wasn't really much he could do to help and he had on many occasion made solitary vows to keep an vigilant eye out for dangers that might lurk around Astrid. His words were infused with proud confidence, "No need to tell me that. I'm always watching."

The water in the pond was cold to touch and the moss around it thoroughly wet. The surface was a dark mirror. Before it was interrupted a clear reflection could be seen in the light of the glowing sphere. A girl with disheveled hair and ragged appearance stared back at Astrid from the pond and on her shoulder gleamed a large blue eye surrounded by squiggles that continued below the clothes. The reflection didn't show a pupil for Calden's attention was directed at the canopy above them. Once a hand was put into the pond the water turned out to be perfectly clear. There was as slight earthly flavor to the water, but that was a familiar taste very similar to that of the lake back home.

"Think we should go though," remarked Calden after a while. "It really is too quiet. I can't hear any of that humming anymore. Haven't seen a single critter in ages either." It was true. The sounds had altogether faded away. The only sound present aside from Astrid's breathing was the gentle night breeze rustling leaves high above. Nothing strange appeared yet. It was almost like a normal night again. "Uh, well there's no oaks here. Those creatures that we were supposed to catch grew near oaks. Can you maybe make your light brighter too? Even I can't see that far in here." Calden made some suggestions. He sounded like he really wanted to get moving.

[PennySludt]

"I want a bowl to take some back for July to drink, silly dilly!" Astrid said in response to his asking about why she needed a bowl. She did grow quite cross and a little sulky at his attitude when she realized there was no way to make the stew without a bowl anyway.

She continued down to the lake in silence, and knelt on the edge before she realized just how wet the edge was. The front of her dress was now soaked and she sighed in frustration at her stupidity. Now she'd have to sleep in a wet dress all night! Oh well, too late now. She leaned forward and looked into the water, seeing herself for the first time in a long time in the crystal clear surface of the water. She frowned at what she saw, but continued anyway. She carefully let go of her ball of light, letting it float above her, leaned closer to the water and cupped her hands. She drank and drank and drank, until she finally sated her thirst with the cold water. Finally, sitting back on her heels and sighing in relief she looked around again.

Calden's unease was beginning to take hold of her as well, now that she could think beyond how thirsty she was. "Why do you think it's so quiet here...?" When he pointed out that there were no oaks around she nodded, "Yeah, that's right. Okay, I guess I'll just have to watch for a tree knot or something to carry some water back in. It WOULD be really good to be able to carry some with us anyway. So we don't have to rely on finding water every day..."

She collected her ball of light and paused when he asked if she could make it brighter. "I....I can try....I'm just....so tired..." She trailed off as she focused more of her energy into making the ball glow brighter, bouncing it's light about a foot further in each direction. "Is that better...?"

[Sain]

"I don't know why, but I don't think I like it anymore," Calden admitted about the stillness that lingered in the night around them. His glance switched from tree to tree in a fretful manner before magic pushed revealed that nothing other than plants and moss hid in the shadows of the trees. When last they could see barely past two of those ancient thick trees, a wide are was bathed in the magical illumination. Calden was glad, he gave their surroundings a careful look before thanking Astrid, "Yes. This is good. Thanks." He didn't offer much comfort to take her thoughts away from the grumbling stomach or the heavy and tired limbs. It didn't even occur to him to think of saying something. He was preoccupied looking for oaks and danger.

The brightness helped and Astrid didn't have to drag her feet too far from the pond before a victorious yelp came from her shoulder. "Haa! Look, there! Behind that thick crooked beech to the right. That could be an oak?" It was dark and one just couldn't be sure from afar, but indeed between the shadows of its surrounding wooden sentinels there stood the first oak candidate of the night. Approaching it confirmed all the suspicions. Before Astrid could take more than a few steps towards the tree, something took flight from near its roots. It had been almost invisible against the ground, but as it floated in the air one could make out white outlines of an opaque creature. It was like a ghostly mushroom cap or a round piece of cloth that curved at the edges to form a fluttering upside down cup. Its edges oscillated to some silent rhythm while the cup descended with unnatural disregard of gravity. A strong pulse pulled together the sides of the creature and it pushed air away, jumping another half a dozen feet up through the air before resting again. This one was quiet, but there were some of those noise makers again and here and there trees had patches of those light absorbing polyp.

Calden watched the floating creature with fascination and disbelief. Looking at the invisible auras overlap with the already mythical scenery, he felt really happy. It had not occurred to him before, but now that the stress of July's evilness had subsided somewhat, there was spot for the positive thoughts to lift their head. He felt a tingle of thankfulness of his current state. Without any leading in on his thoughts or mention of a context, Calden made a somewhat relieved statement, "I wish you could see this from my point of eye." He, or the mark that supposedly was part of him, glowed with light, though it was so faint in comparison to the one Astrid made that it just seemed like regular blue.

[PennySludt]

Astrid turned quickly in the direction Calden indicated, peering through the darkness to see if it was an oak tree. She began to approach it and grew excited when it did turn out to be a big old oak tree. "Oh, I hope we find some of those things so we can get back. I'm SO hungry and tired!" But she had hardly got close enough to identify that it was the tree they were looking at, let alone verify that what they needed was indeed under it, when something flew up in front of her. She gave a little cry of fright and jumped backward away from it.

Once the initial fright was gone, she drew a little closer again, watching the floating white...thing...She couldn't tell if it was some kind of creature or plant. "Do you think that's what she was talking about, Calden?" She stood in wonder for a moment longer as the strange thing wafted in front of her. She put a hand out to grab it, but the thing floated up and away just out of reach.

When it came back down again, she reached up more slowly, but still the thing floated away just beyond her reach. She waited again, and when it came within reach she stuck her arm out quickly to grab at it and take it by surprise, but once more the white fluffy thing managed to stay just out of reach, almost as if it knew EXACTLY how far she could reach, and was able to stay frustratingly just outside that area.

She huffed in impatience and stood still, her hands on her hips as she contemplated the task in front of her. When Calden said he wished she could see it his way she got a little upset with him and snapped, "See what? That annoying thing!? How am I supposed to catch it? What IS it anyway? I've never seen anything like it. What do I DO, Calden? Every time I move, it just floats away!"

Her hunger and tiredness were beginning to take better hold of her emotions and she was starting to lose her patience and self control. She was already close to tears of frustration at not being able to catch the thing. She couldn't think of any other way to reach it. She just wanted to go back and go to sleep, and maybe try to find something to eat in the light of day!

[Sain]

Calden saw Astrid's tone as a rude interruption the serene mood that he had not really had the luxury of experiencing that often after they had freed that thing. "Huh? You don't have be rude. Why are you asking like I should know? I have no clue what she meant or what that..." Calden held his sentence to try and come up with a name for the creature, though he had to yield in the end, he had never been that imaginative, "...pillow is. Just jump! It's not THAT high. You can easily catch it, I've seen you jump higher before." The floppy creature continued its rhytmical taunting maneuvers. It slid down within reach and then pushed a puff of air right in Astrid's face as she approached to project itself out of arm's reach. Calden's world rocked up and down with any attempt Astrid made to catch the thing.

"Come on! Just get it and you can go back. We can't spend all night chasing some dinner, you're going to need sleep so we can decide what to do with that crone tomorrow. Maybe we should give her a chance after all," he spoke, making it clear how tiresome he found this whole ordeal.

Gradually, the creature was flying away from its home oak. Some of those glowy plant creatures that lived on the bark retracted back into their lichen shells behind Astrid faster than they normally did. Those star shaped things that were hanging on the lowest branches climbed up along the trees and fell utterly quiet. Even a big one that neither of the kids had seen until then stirred, revealing itself. It had looked like a few year old birch, but now as it moved, the creature lowered its whole frame against the ground. The branches in its rear end retracted into one tight bundle, which rattled as the creature slithered out of the way. It was difficult to note the change in atmosphere from the ghost chase and the charged mood, until in the distance a familiar sound echoed once. It could only be those nightmare monkeys.

[PennySludt]

Astrid felt the frustration gripping her chest as she kept jumping up trying to reach the thing. "I AM jumping! Can't you FEEL it! I'm doing the best I CAN, Calden!" she snapped impatiently. She stopped and watched it float much further out of reach, her shoulders slumping in dejection. Calden was right. She should just head back and at least get some sleep.

Suddenly, in front of her a larger creature seemed to be running away from something. It hadn't run when Astrid had come near it, but it suddenly broke it's position and left, creeping away in fear. She watched it go for a while in confusion and then the sound reached her ears.

She froze, her eyes wide and filled with horror. "No! Calden! Do you hear that? It's them, isn't it? It's those things!? Oh Gods no! No!"

She looked around her wildly, trying to place which direction the sound was coming from. But everything seemed to echo terribly in these woods, bouncing off the leaves and trees, and she couldn't figure out which was they were. Her heart was racing in terror, cold sweat breaking out on her body. WHY had they trusted that there wouldn't be any around here!? WHY hadn't she just refused July and stayed at the camp and made themselves safe for the night!? WHY oh WHY oh WHY!?

Tears of fear pricking her eyes, she whispered, "Calden, what do we do? What can we do? Can you tell where they are? Can you see them?" she asked in panic.

[Sain]

The presence of those wicked creatures hit Calden just moments after Astrid had reached the terrifying conclusion herself. "I- yes. I heard it too," he whispered in disbelief with all that frustrated negative dispelled from his voice as it got replaced by something much simpler - dread. He would have swallowed could he have felt the cold sweat himself, but instead Calden remained quiet in a state of realization as his mind processed it all. His first thought was a statement that he knew it. He knew it! Somehow he just found himself immediately blaming these creatures on July, but how could that be? Even he knew that at least these weren't her pets, but maybe something else. It could still be a trap by her! Yes. That was possible.

In all that chaos of accusing thoughts and Astrid panicking next to him, Calden had not given the real situation a single thought. He sounded just as clueless as her with his answer, but at least his tongue instinctively found the words, "I don't- Run!? RUN! I can't see them yet, no wait." He quickly revised the statement after noticing a shadowy aura slid along a tree in the darkness that lied beyond the range of magical light. "One right ahead of us. There, in the shadows, it just climbed down! Go back the way we came. It's uh..." His eye spun wildly in its socket. A large moss covered boulder he had never seen before. A congregation of smaller oaks growing almost trunk to trunk. He couldn't find it; he couldn't spot anything familiar.

"Where was it? We can't be that far," he insisted, trying to reassure himself as much as Astrid. "The pond! The pond. Just find the pond, there was that big pile of rocks there. It's not too far away from there." He wanted out of the situation and it didn't matter how or where. No matter what the old lady was his heart couldn't wholly deny the impression of a gentle old woman. Maybe she wasn't a human, or maybe she was, but also something more, it didn't matter to him as long as Astrid didn't get caught by one of these things.

[PennySludt]

Astrid instantly spun on her heel and began running for dear life in the opposite direction from where Calden had said the creature was. She had no idea where she was going, which direction the lake was in, how to get back to July. She just ran. Ran as fast as she could looking wildly around her for ANY sign of where she was or where she could hide. She was desperately fighting back tears of terror as she stumbled once or twice on fallen branches and raised roots, managing to catch herself before she actually fell and continuing as fast as she could.

Surely she should have reached the lake by now? She felt like she'd been running much longer than it should have taken to get back to the water. She hadn't walked that far to get to that oak tree. And yet, where was it? Had she been going in the wrong direction? "C...Calden..." she panted as she ran, "Can you....see....anything....behind us...? I can't....see.....the lake......! I don't know....where we are......" she was breathless with running and fear as she sped through the dense forest.

"There! There! Over there! Is that a crevice? Can we fit?" She veered slightly to the right toward a large mound that looked like rock. Sure enough there was a thin gap between two pieces of it. It looked awfully small, but she would have to try. It was the only thing she could find around here. "Is it safe? Is there anything there, Calden?" she gasped.

[Sain]

Calden's voice shook and trembled with the girl's shoulder as she rampaged through the forest. "Where, where are you going? Astrid!" They had gained good distance, and as the chilling screeching yells of the creatures became more distant the scenery around Astrid became strange, unknown. Calden's up and down shuffled and switched places wildly as Astrid stumbled on the roots and rocks. He too had lost all clues of where they were. He searched for creatures once Astrid's run stabilized again. Those spine tickling sounds came from all around them from the night. Their voices called for more to come forth from deep corners of the forest and gather, but none were within his view at that moment.

His eye darted to stare into thee cave that Astrid pointed out. The flashback to the first night in this damned forest felt like a vivid déjà vu. All the emotion of the first night flowed in unchecked. A pang of heavy anxiety gripped from beneath the fear. Would this be their life? Hiding in caves every night, fearing for their lives. No, it was worse than that. For a brief moment his thoughts veered into the territory that he had tried to blockade, his state. It was impossible for the boy to separate the panic that rose from sudden reminder of the bodyless state from the acute terror. His voice shook, "Yes, its safe! Cave is okay."

He tried to concentrate. Calden attempted to focus his mind on the creatures around them, on watching Astrid move her hands or just on her intense expression. Nothing helped. He had subdued this feeling on the first day so easily, but it would not bow down now. The logic stripping panic kept growing in intensifying pangs. Every time his eye twitched he could feel the absence  of motions that his body would have done if he had it. He had no heart beat but something in his mind thumped in thought numbing volume. The magic tattoo engraved on Astrid's skin flashed faintly in chaotic patterns of black and blue. He could not offer any advice anymore, even understanding what she was saying was difficult. His voice was broken and teary, "Astrid. Give me your hand. Something. I'm afraid. Please." He realized that he had not really touched another human in many days. Despite being part of her shoulder, but feeling the shoulder was akin to feeling your clothes after wearing them the whole day. His eye was on her hand, he just wanted that to brush him.

[PennySludt]

As soon as Calden said the cave was clear she made a beeline for it, sliding her slim little body into the crack and immediately began trying to conjure a fire in the entrance way. On the fourth try she managed it, and she huddled in the back of the little crevice with her knees to her chest, tears of fear in her eyes as she stared at the flame, the only barrier between her and those things.

Once they were safely inside and blocked off she turned her attention to Calden again. She pulled the neckline of her dress down over her shoulder so he could see, not that there was much to, but she thought it might make him feel better. Gently placing her hand over the mark on her shoulder she thought that had been a pointless move, since he couldn't see now anyway, but then she thought this way her hand wouldn't be blocked by the fabric of her clothing.

"Like this, Calden?" she asked softly as she rested her hand on her arm lightly. "Can you feel that?" She felt the ache in her heart returning as she thought of him stuck there, unable to even reach out and hold her hand. She'd managed to push that feeling aside the last several days, and today, since meeting July, she'd had no time to even think about it. "Are you okay....?" she asked tentatively. "Is there anything else I can do to help?" She wanted to reassure him as best she could, but she was at a loss as to how.

[Sain]

The gentle touch of Astrid's smooth hand was a warm wall against the night. The fingers were so tiny, but in that cave they were strong and beautiful bars that would keep everything but the light out. Already it helped a little. The black iris on the unblinking eye relaxed and widened into a gentler round shape from the thin slit that it had been. The boy's voice wavered with relief as he spoke, "Yes. Thank you..." He would have closed his eye and to enjoy the sensation of touch to the fullest, but that was of course impossible. Instead the eye rolled to look up at the girl's features, twitching every now and then as it soaked in her face. An idle thought passed his mind. Too bad that she isn't smiling.

If he could not dream then Calden would at least fill his vision with the next best thing. He had come to know this angle of her face very well. On those nights when she had not in her unconscious slumber pulled the veil over his eye, Calden had spent most of the time just looking at her. Yet when she asked what was wrong, he could not keep his mind away from that sensation of wrongness that made it feel like his sanity was tip toeing on the edge of a knife and below lied madness. No friendly face or word could stay it off forever.

He did not have to search long for the answer and it came out accompanied with the exact same emotion of fear that he attached to this state. "No," he answered to the first question and quickly continued, "Just keep your hand on. I hav- haven't felt anything. I try to forget. I thought I did, but these nights are bad." Although Calden had never had problems speaking his voice stammered as he struggled to keep the tears from flowing. "I don't know. Am I going to be like this forever? I can't do it. I can't even remember how to move anymore. It's just so empty in here. Help..."

[PennySludt]

Tears filled her own eyes as Astrid listen to Calden explain as best he could what was wrong. She pressed her hand to her shoulder more tightly, as if she could hug him, hold him to her and make him feel better. "Bad in what way?" She couldn't fathom what he must be going through. It had never occurred to her that living without a body could be so hard to cope with. On some level she had understood he was having trouble with it, but in her mind, it was more the horror that something had stolen the body that belonged to her friend and that was what was so terrible about it. The loss. She had never considered what it would be like to live WITHOUT a body.

"You won't be like this forever, Calden. I promise I'll do everything I can to get you back to normal. I'm here, Calden. I'll always be here for you. I promise." She found she was rocking gently, as if trying to comfort a child by rocking them in her arms. She was unconsciously doing the same for Calden, holding her arm and rocking gently, soothingly, hoping to calm and reassure him.

[Sain]

Calden could not hold it in as he felt the comfort of Astrid's hand and words. His cry was uncontrolled by dignity or fear. He had to let it out. There were no thoughts in his mind as he bawled, just the simple sensation of touch, her words and the pain and panic being turned into tears.

They would not see it or notice from their woes, but the little monkeys that had driven them once again to take refuge in a miserable hole snapped shut their screaming jaws as they felt another presence approach. Its shoeless steps were soft and utterly silent. They left behind nimble footprints, but by the time any natural light would shine on the tracks the moss would have assumed its normal puffiness and cleaned all evidence. The person was clad in a green hooded robe which concealed all details. The figure was tall, standing upright in a proud posture that emanated strength. One hand with a gentle looking hand gleamed from underneath the heavy sleeve. Its fingers were wrapped softly around a dark wooden gnarled staff with an oil lantern hanging from the top. In the lantern burned a mystical flame that danced between the colors of purple, green and red. All of the nightmare monkeys that saw the person made a hasty exit, yelping in quiet fear as they hoped to not be followed.

The mysterious figure came to a halt when that lonely little magical flame of Astrid's came to sight from between a thicket of trees. The hooded figure's head lowered a little in the pity that it felt. It did need a magical eye to see the and hear what the little human girl and her friend were suffering through. What had started as a playful jest to spend some time had ended up as an ugly feeling that gnawed at the conscience of the hooded sorcerer. It was time to leave the forest, but before that, the sorcerer would leave something for the little witch. Surely the child was smart enough to find it. The right hand slid from underneath the sleeve as the sorcerer raised a a forefinger against the bark of the nearest tree. The finger stroked downward against the bark. A trail of  faint magical flow followed and as it faded the bark had been neatly carved off. The finger moved left in an arching spiral, then continued with gentle motions until a beautiful rune carving decorated the ancient tree. The sorcerer continued walking and circled the cave slowly while keeping the flickering warding light against the night in vision at all times. In the end of the round many more trees around the damp stone 'camp' had runes carved on them which would keep the monkeys away and make sure rest of the night was quiet.

The sorcerer gave Astrid's direction one last look, hoping that perhaps one day after she had grown a little they might meet again. The right hand took a pinch of something from within the foldings of the sorcerer's robes. A faintly masculine voice chanted in a beautiful lost language. In the end, right before finishing the spell the right hand dropped a gust of powder in the air. The flame of the lantern burst over the seams of its container, engulfing the sorcerer in an instant of light that was unnaturally faint to have been caused by such a wide flame. The fire died down as quickly as it had grown and again Astrid was the only magician in the forest.

In the morning they would realize why it was so quiet at the later hours of night and find a circle of runes carved on the trees. July would not be found.

Two days later the air would become warmer. Not because the sun was slowly rising, no the Autumn was still on its way. The air was drier than in the swampy parts of the forest through which Astrid had waddled for so many days. Then, while walking up a slope in the woodlands a bright shine of daylight filled the underneath of the canopy and dyed the leaves bright green. The edge of the forest was right there, ten trees away.

Approaching the edge one could feel the wind gaining strength. A free open freshness of mountain air replaced the stale musky stench of the forest. Even bird chirps sounded brighter. The edge was sharp. The trees suddenly ended into a dangerously steep cliff that oversaw a wide valley scene. Lakes and fields dotted the green landscape and in the middle of it all rose a tall city with human lights shining all over it and smoke rising from dozens of thick chimneys. The sky was clear aside from a group of clouds that had gotten stuck on the mountain range opposite to the cliff. The vibrant range of yellow, red and purple filled the sky and the sun was almost blinding in its brightness.

[PennySludt]

Astrid kept her hand over her shoulder all night, crying silently as she listened to Calden's sorrow and heartache. Eventually, after who knows how long, she fell asleep, her back propped against the back of the tiny crevice, cramped as far back as she could tuck herself in the shallow space. When she woke, cold and slightly damp with the dull light of the morning and extinguished her little fire, she peered out into the surrounding woods and carefully crawled out. Standing up slowly, brushing the dirt from her dress as she looked around. She had been running in such a panic last night she'd had no idea where she was going.

As she looked around she noticed the trees around the rock they had been hiding in and froze. "Calden....Calden can you see...this....?" she asked as she began to inch closer to the nearest tree, her fingers stretched out to tentatively touch the carving on the tree. "What.....what do you think it means.....?" Suddenly, she cried out, "July! Calden, what about July! We left her alone all night! We have to find her! What if she's....what if those...." She couldn't finish her thought.

When they finally found the place they had stopped with July the night before she was nowhere to be found. The only sign that she had even been there was an old, worn out pair of boots, lying haphazardly next to the place she had been sitting when they left. No other trace of the old woman was to be found. "C...Calden....You don't suppose those.....creatures....." Her mind began to work, thinking of all the possibilities, "If they HAD taken her....her staff would be here too....wouldn't it? But it's gone...." Then she thought of something else, "Do you think.....maybe.....what if it was July who left the carvings....Maybe you were right, Calden....Maybe she wasn't just an old woman....." She trailed off, embarrassed to admit that she might have been wrong and that perhaps she aught to have listened to Calden from the beginning. Then she began to wonder, "Do you think it was....July....who made those markings around us last night...I mean, whatever it was that was pretending to be July....?"

Even so, she was awfully hungry now, having had nothing to eat since the previous midday because she had given her dinner to July and her hunt for dinner had been cut short. She spent a while searching the surrounding area for some roots and berries to calm the gnawing hunger in her belly. Once she was less hungry she could think more clearly and she began to wonder, "Calden....Do you think....if I copied the runes on the trees....that it would keep those things away from us tonight.....?" Surely it was worth a try?

That night before dark fell Astrid found a large fallen log that created a sort of ledge in among some other trees. She walked around the area in a circle, marking the trees with the same symbol they had found on the trees that morning, hoping above hope that they would work. Then she set to work on creating a circle of fire around the little shelter, just in case the runes didn't work, and also for some warmth. As they settled down and darkness fell she waited tensely, expecting the sounds of those creatures to appear as always, but to her utter and complete relief, there was not a sound to be heard from them. The night remained peaceful and calm, and the lights and sounds of the other creatures of the night began to lull Astrid into a soft, deep sleep. It was the best sleep she had had since before they had entered the cave.

After that she carved the runes in a circle around them every night as they continued on through the thick forest until finally, one afternoon they broke out of the trees onto a glorious sight! The trees ended abruptly and before them was a beautiful valley, and perhaps best of all, a town! People! Other human beings! "Calden! Calden do you see it? Can you see that far? It's a town! We're out! We're out of the forest, Calden! We did it! We made it!"

Astrid was giddy with relief and excitement and practically bounded out of the line of trees and began following the narrow winding trail down the mountainside towards the dwellings below. At this rate, they would reach the town before nightfall and perhaps they would find somewhere to stay the night. As she walked along she began to hum an old children's song, feeling happier than she had in almost two weeks.

When they drew nearer the town however, she stopped and asked, "Calden...Do you think it's safe to go there....? I mean....I'll hide you, of course, but do you think we'll be alright? And I haven't any money....where will we stay?" Suddenly, she was filled with trepidation and insecurity.

[Sain]

Calden had calmed down later, long before she would have fallen asleep he had already seized sobbing, though would still request her to keep on with her soothing; his voice still fumbled as he asked so. In the night, there was the gentle rhythm of Astrid's breath that he had grown familiar with and the soft crackling of the magical flame, but something was missing. It's difficult to find just that one detail you've began to take for granted when it suddenly disappears and the eerie sensation of wrongness gripped at him until in the end it dawned him: the nightmare monkeys were gone?!

In the morning, he didn't hesitate or wait to inform Astrid almost as soon as she woke up. "Those monkeys. Astrid, I didn't hear a single one in the night. Usually, after you've slept they've come and kept howling from a distance but now...  OOooh..." He peered around curiously from her shoulder. Also simply gawking at the trees and the strange scriptures carved onto them. He hadn't seen such things before, not exactly, but they were familiar, maybe? The village elders also used runes, but those were different and he had never learned any.

"No... I've- I've no idea..." No idea of what they meant, no. How could such things just appear from thin air. He could see faint magic lingering on the runes. It was not strong in volume and almost invisible in the brightness of the morning light, but he had no doubts of the power of the spell behind them. That was a thought he left unsaid for now Astrid grabbed his attention back to the present, back to July. "Oh! Yes! No... aww. No, maybe the fire kept her safe? Agh." He had doubted the old lady, but now, after his own despair had been eased and put away Calden could only recall the gentle tone and mannerism of the woman. The thought of her getting cornered by those things did not make an image that he dared to even fathom.

His heart was kept in suspense until they made it to that old, now abandoned, campsite. He could only peer around curiously. Astrid voiced her own guesses as he was about to make his own and instead he simply found himself agreeing. He was glad to have been right, well partially anyway and to be fair this was better than what he had thought when he claimed that July was some evil creature. "Well... maybe I was wrong too. I mean I thought she was somehow evil, but she did bully you. Hehe I'm kind of really glad she wasn't. I mean if she did draw these, or whatever it was that looked like July." He decided that next time they'd meet he would greet her too, and Calden was quite confident that even if that - whatever it was - changed its form he would recognize that strange aura anywhere.

He jumped right at her idea of trying out the runes. "Yes. It's not that big a shape, and the magic I see in it is... well it's not that strange or too big. I'm sure you can do it. Heh, you came up with flame on the spot!"


His cheers were so happy when it worked, the exact opposite of last night. He chatted happily that night, only quieting when Astrid finally stopped responding. But it was not the fearful solitude that he had in store. Even without her comments and reactions the night was beautiful enough to keep his head straight and away from darker thoughts. Calden just wondered at the forest creatures of the night and was glad to get to observe them, he began trying to figure out their habits, keeping notes of the little details; something he wanted to prepare so he had things that she might want to hear. It was the closest to a dream he had had in many nights. On the following nights he would still sometimes ask her to remind him of human touch, but Calden became noticeably happier, chattier. He no longer had to spend the nights alone with only the sound of her breath reminding him that there were others in the world than him and those horrid creatures. No, the last memories of that forest were ones he would cherish.



He beheld that distant valley town quietly from her shoulder, but the excitement and anticipation were obvious even in his whisper. "Aaaah. Finally!" He too looked forward to seeing others. Afterall, they had never been outside of the village in their lives. Cities were a thing of stories told by older people who had seen the world and traveled just as much as forest lions and nightly creatures of the woods had been. A lot of wild legends began mixing in inside Calden's imagination. Would they be all witches and sorcerers too? Would the people even look human? What could they be then? Trolls, dragons? What were those big rising smokes? Could it be like the pyres of midsummer back home? Maybe they were having a festival. Most of the sillier ones he kept to himself.

The boy's thoughts were in another realm altogether until Astrid voiced her worries. It triggered those of his own, but his voice remained calm and determined as he gave his own opinion on the matter. "Hmm... I think so. I mean people who live in that big a city must be friendly, right? They couldn't be able to stand so many neighbors otherwise. I mean there's soo much space in the valley, if they weren't good folk they would spread out don't you think? But... yes, maybe it's best you hide me. I mean even the forest lion thought I was something bad, and they're friendly things, much more so than most humans at least if the elders' stories are true. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for magic! I can see it through the clothes. I'll whisper you if I spot something strange. The money um..."

He had forgotten there was such a thing. They had never used it in the village and he hadn't cared about that particular story too much. Pieces of shiny metal having value? Silly idea, but now that word - money - raised mysterious doubts. He too could vaguely recall how it was everything to people outside and that without it one was worthless. Even if people liked their neighbors here, Astrid wasn't one. Maybe they wouldn't help her? She was sharp and good at magic, now maybe even better than he or the other kids had ever been, but what good would that do? Maybe everyone here was like July.

Calden tried to sound convincing as he reassured her, "It'll be alright, I'm sure. We can always go away if they don't want us there, right? Forest isn't so bad nowdays, though maybe next we should go up there," his eye looked up at the mountain range on the other side. It had looked big from the edge of the forest, but from down there in the flatlands through which they were making good pace they seemed absolutely gigantic. He was captivated by their majesty, Calden had always loved high places. "Or, maybe that way?" He looked to their side, to the direction in which the valley opened up into distance where low hills, rivers and small puffs of forest made a continuous horizon of a more gentle looking landscape. "It'll be okay even if they turn us down."

[PennySludt]

Reassured by Calden's support and alternative solutions Astrid began on her way again and very soon was passing the first few houses on the outskirts of the town. She was in awe. These were incredible structures! The people had used many things to make their homes. Stones, wood, and who knew what else! She walked slowly down the widening path until it seemed to no longer be a path but something much bigger. The houses began to stand closer together now the further she went and soon she was surrounded by the bustle of people.

She was quite overwhelmed by the number of people in the streets, calling and jostling each other, peddling wares and hurrying on their way. She walked slowly, her eyes wide, trying not bump into people. She had never seen so many people in her life! Everywhere she looked it seemed utter madness and chaos. She wondered how anyone could live like this!

She half wanted to hold her shoulder, as if she were holding Calden's hand. Something that would offer some sense of security or comfort. She felt so out of place! Not to mention shabby and dirty and completely unused to being around people, July being the only person she had seen in about two weeks.

"Wh...where should we....go..." she whispered fearfully to Calden. She felt so lost!

[Sain]

The buildings, they were much different from the wooden buildings back home. The roofs had strange scale like rocks on them instead of hay and the windows weren't just wooden shutters but made of glass - that expensive and strange opaque material that some elders wore on their eyes. The village had stench of the countryside to it. Dry and many times stomped animal dung were mixed in with the hardened dirt roads. The noise too was amazing. On the way to the city, past the farmlands of the valleys it had been serene chirps and songs of crickets, buts here the babbling of crowds muffled all else. The streets were busier than the home village had been during a festival, dozens of people moving past and talking, arguing around what seemed to be like some sort of stall with clothing hung on several racks for display. A particularly heartily smiling older woman in a blue tunic who stood behind the the open air counter was ranting on about something to the small crowd which had gathered around her.

Another stranger passed Astrid. A tall and burly man with brown braided beard and a shirt hanging from his waist with its sleeved knotted into a belt. He was carrying a heavy looking steel hammer, a bigger one than the village smith had owned; the hammer head rested against his shoulder. In his other hand hanged a loose canvas bag from which emanated a delicious warm smell of bread. He wasn't interested in the little witch for long and averted his gaze as he passed her. The smith began climbing an ascending street that split off from the wide dirt road Astrid was in. It went further up towards the hill on which the village was built and after a brief ascent squiggled between tall stone buildings. More and more strange looking people passed by the girl. Well, at least they were human, and most seemed to have quite pleasant expressions on them, even if many seemed too busy to pay this little wanderer much attention.

Calden too was positively smitten with the change in scenery. There were so many things going on that even if he'd had had a body he would have probably forgotten what to do with it right there other than stand around dumbfounded. His words staggered as he just spoke something in an answer, "Uh- uh- food? I- I've no clue. What's going on? Can barely hear you and all I see through this cloth is just sooo many people, so many people. I think they're people. Do they look like people? They feel like people, their auras seem so normal and fluffy."

He didn't spot them all in time though. A gentle small frame bumped against Astrid's back. It was a little kid, no more than seven or eight, though it was difficult to tell the exact age. The kid had short hair with messy brown bangs that covered her brows and almost her eyes as well. Her mouth was pursed into a stern downward frown and she looked up towards Astrid with two wary brown eyes. Her clothes were really different from those that the kids back home would have had. On top of her colorfully embroidered multi-colored dress she had a light poncho; it hid her hands.

She spoke apologetically, averting her eyes somewhere. "Uh, erm... sorry. I was just-" The kid stopped mid sentence, a sudden surprise spread on her face. She turned back to Astrid. "Whaat?! What?" Her hands had been discreetly going through Astrid's pockets, but now the kid tapped them so obviously that everyone looking could see what she was doing. Nobody in the village seemed to care though, at most they grinned with mild amusement. "Miss you have nothing in your pockets? Nothing!" She invaded Astrid's personal space and stepped in to actually look into the pockets instead of just feeling through them. "How? Why? Where on earth did you stumble from? No food, no money, no trinkets, no nothing..."

[PennySludt]

Astrid felt as though she were being tossed in a rushing river of people as she was jostled and bumped by the rushing people. Her stomach rumbled at the smells of bread and cooking wafting on the air. It had been so long since she'd eaten proper food!

"Yeah...I'm sure they're people." She giggled softly, "You can see their auras? Even if they're not magic?" That was a new revelation. They hadn't seen any 'normal' people since that fateful day in the cave, so it was interesting to learn that everyone seemed to have something about them that Calden could see.

"Oh, excuse me!" Astrid responded when the child bumped into her, then looked at her quizzically when she seemed shocked and confused, padding Astrid's pockets. "Why are you looking in my pockets?" she asked curiously. She didn't understand what the girl had been hoping to accomplish. "If you were hungry, you could have asked me. But I'm afraid I didn't think to save anything from breakfast. I'm sorry. I've never had any money, but I've heard about it though. Is it pretty?" She smiled at the young girl with a genuine kindness.

[Sain]

"Yes, I guess. I mean the trees had some outlines too, though they were fainter," commented Calden quietly to Astrid's question, before the strange kid had rushed them.

The kid took a small step back from Astrid when she was being spoken back to. For a moment she squinted at this new arrival, not quite sure if she had heard right. Then, the surprise shifted to pity and further rather quickly into simple amusement. The kid covered her mouth with both of her little palms. Her eyes however remained visible and could not hide the laughter in them, not that covering of the mouth did much to muffle her giggles either. She turned away from Astrid and the giggle grew to full on uncontrollable burst of hilarity. However, the kid was no stranger to these. With immense focus, she drew in a big breath that puffed her cheeks and let it out. She repeated this thrice before being able to face Astrid again. Her eyes were still slightly moist from tears.

"Ahhh... missy you are really daft aren't you?" The voice was just as bright as her smile. "Is this your first time being pick-pocketed or do you not even know what the word means? Hehehe..." She was biting the lower lip out of excitement. Clearly, from the reaction of rest of the townsfolk so far, travelers were not all that uncommon over here, but this little kid in particular seemed to find them (or at least Astrid) more fun than it made sense. "No, I'm not hungry," she stated, very matter-of-factly. "But, uhhuh! Money is pretty, look!" She brought her hands to the front from behind the back and held up a single silver coin towards Astrid's face. It was big in her small hands. A thick silver disk with grooved edges and something carved on both sides.

"How come you don't have any though?" She asked, still rolling the coin in her hands. "Travelers always have a lot of money or other things. How can you travel without money, or food, or anything?" The smile had at some point been replaced by concern and the kid's thick brown brows were furrowed in a quizzical look. She took a cautious step back, pocketing the coin in a swift move. Some measure of worry and doubt resonated in her voice. "Um... you're not something strange are you? You're not a monster or anything?"

Some of the adults who had been just idly looking at the situation from the other side of the street, whilst engaged in their own conversations turned their stern gazes towards the girls. Many still passed by mostly ignoring the whole scene, but some had overheard and were beginning to grow curious. Calden remained quiet all the while, but he was beginning to worry. Was this it? Was it going to be just like she had feared, even though he had said it would be alright.

[PennySludt]

Astrid looked curiously at the child giggling in front of her. "What's so funny...?" Instead of answering her the child began to ask questions of her own.

"Ahhh... missy you are really daft aren't you? Is this your first time being pick-pocketed or do you not even know what the word means? Hehehe...No, I'm not hungry, but, uhhuh! Money is pretty, look! How come you don't have any though? Travelers always have a lot of money or other things. How can you travel without money, or food, or anything? Um... you're not something strange are you? You're not a monster or anything?"

"Pick...pocketed....? Why would anyone want to do that when you just have to ask...?" she asked curiously. This child was rather strange...She reached her hand out to touch the money the girl held up in front of her. She was right, it was very pretty. What were the funny markings on it? Was that why it was special? Did it hold some magic power in the runes engraved on it?

Suddenly, she drew her hand back when the child stepped back and hid the coin in her pocket again. Astrid shook her head at her question, "I'm not a monster!" she said in an injured tone. How could this child think she was a monster? "I just....I wasn't expecting to travel when all this started, and I...I got lost...." She wasn't sure how much she wanted to or should go into things with this girl, here in the middle of the busy market with people beginning to stare.

She bit her lip and blushed slightly as she glanced at the gawkers, fiddling nervously with the hem of her apron. "Ummm....What's your name...?" She wondered if the girl would let her see the money again. She was very curious about the power of that little circle.

[Sain]

The kid's brows deepened into an inquisitive look as a reaction Astrid's answer. She nodded sagely, licking her lips, evaluating the truthfulness of Astrid's answer. Some of that fear which had appeared on her faded immediately. She just couldn't stay doubtful of Astrid the honesty was so blatantly visible in her. However, she continued the facade just for a while longer, enjoying every moment. "Or so you say," she noted in a quiet ponderous tone while glaring up at the little witch with her eyes squinted into narrow slits. "Hmm..." She stepped forward again and tip toed to lift her face closer to Astrid's, all the while maintaining an intense eye contact. It was unlikely that the kid could ever look as intimidating as she did at that moment.

However, suspicions of the onlookers faded as they read the scene and saw what was happening. A short burst of chuckle was soon suppressed from the direction of a thickly armed burly man carrying an axe. The adults just turned back to their business and the surrounding babbling picked up in volume again. The stream of traffic resumed its slow and steady pace. The kid's serious expression opened wide into a bright toothy grin in an instant. She dropped back on her heels, sliding back down below the height of Astrid's shoulders. Her small open palm reached towards Astrid to  offer shake. She answered the question in a chippery tone, "I'm Kate, the town thief!" She sounded proud to give herself such title.

The pace of her speech quickened as she continued, "I could tell right away you weren't any monster, was just testing you, hehe. So who are you exactly, and where from? You must be really tough if you can just wander out there without anything, are you like from some sort of secret tribe of rangers or something?" Kate bit her lower lip while fidgeting around, anxious to get an answer from the older kid.

[PennySludt]

Astrid leaned back slightly, a little afraid as the child seemed to be glaring at her and suddenly stood up higher near her face, staring menacingly at her. She was about to take a step backward when the the big man near them tried not to laugh and she glanced in his direction fearfully for a moment before turning her attention back to the child. She was even more startled to see the girl suddenly drop back to her feet and grin at her, holding her hand out to her.

She looked down at her outstretched hand with a small frown of confusion, then back to her face as her question was finally answered, which only caused more confusion. After a moment, Astrid gathered herself enough to speak.

"Uh...I don't...." she glanced back down at the girl's open hand, "I don't have anything to give you...." Perhaps the child thought that she had something hidden that she wouldn't share? She looked back up to her face and stared in utter confusion at the girl's name and description of herself.

"Why would a town want a thief? What do they need with that?"

[Sain]

"No, no, here, like this. Let me," Kate said when she reached in to grab Astrid's right wrist with her own left hand and bring it forward to shake her own right hand. Her grip and shake were firm. "It's a handshake dumb. It's like hello, but with hands." She seemed somewhat confused at the question as to why a town would ever want a thief. Kate blinked and looked away, furrowing her brows slightly into a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm..." She didn't honestly have much of an idea why a town would want a thief. A thief's job was to steal from the others and she could imagine how annoying it would be if someone stole from her. For some reason everyone seemed to be pretty happy with leaving small things dangling somewhere where she might take them and never seemed to mind too much. Maybe they just hadn't noticed it yet? Yes, that was probably it. She lowered her voice into a whisper when she continued, "Right, well lets keep it a secret for now. I'm not sure if the town needs a thief, but I sure want to be one. It's awesomely exciting to take something and then run away for as long as you can until you get to hideout where you can take your time and enjoy the loot. I'm not expecting you to understand because it's hard to explain really, but that's just thief's life. It's just who I am."

After proudly presenting her whole life philosophy, Kate let her smile fall a bit as she looked over Astrid. The traveler was looking terribly messy and even if she was from some secret tribe of rangers who feared nothing in the wilds, she couldn't possibly use her survival skills in the city. She might've been a thief, but she was an honorable one and real thieves gave to the poor. "It's decided then. Come," she said grabbing hold of Astrid's hem to pull her along. "I'll tell help you survive in the city, but you must tell me your secrets; how do you just survive out there without anything with you. Come I show you my secret base. You can stay there."

[PennySludt]

Astrid was even more confounded when Kate grabbed her wrist and shook her hand. What in the world did that do? "Hello...with hands? Is it not allowed to say hello out loud...?" She suddenly glanced around warily, as if she expected to be pounced upon for saying it.

She turned her attention back to Kate when she began to explain about herself, leaning forward to hear the child's whispers. "Can you not just get what you need by asking?" It seemed so very strange that she would need to run away with things she needed in order to have them. Did people not share their things with each other?

When the child grabbed her dress and began pulling her along behind her she gasped in surprise and stumbled for a moment before she found her feet again and trailed after the girl listening to her excited babble. When she told Astrid she could stay at her secret base she smiled down at the young girl and hurried to walk beside her instead of being pulled along like a pet. As they walked Astrid began to ask more questions of her self appointed guardian.

"How old are you, Kate? Are you parents thieves too? What kinds of things do you steal? Do you do that every day? How long have you been doing that?"

[Sain]

Kate had just laughed at Astrid's confusion of the greeting and shaken her head at the question of thievery. She began leading Astrid through the town, keeping one hand on the hem of her dress and eyes up front at whatever destination they were heading to. She spoke while they walked and answered all her questions excitedly. "You need money. Those round things I showed you. Without them you people won't give you stuff, that's just stupid. If they would then imagine some really big wood cutter man. Imagine how much food he would ask if he could just get all that he asks for. There wouldn't be enough for the rest of us and he would just bloat like those nobles in big cities. Bigger cities I mean, this one is a city too."

Their route went away from the main street as soon as they had passed the small opening square with some marketplace stands. It went straight to a side alley, an ascending cobblestone slope with two tall buildings. Some strings or ropes were hanging high up between the windows of that alley and clothes were hanging from them like small flags. Some tiles on the ground below them had small wet spots on them. Kate made a sharp turn as soon as they had climbed up the hill between those two buildings, she went left through a gate. They trespassed past a small garden with a pond and tiny flower arrangements in the shade of a tall building and popped out on the other side onto the roof of a building. They could see the first few lower tiers of buildings circling the hill from up there and only a shabby wooden railing was between them and a drop of over a dozen feet.

"I'm ten," she claimed as they walked across the opening. There could not have been a lie more obvious. "My parents aren't thieves. Papa is away and mom is helping Grumbles with his bakery. They both work really hard. I steal many things. Mostly stuff that people leave laying around. Like sometimes Grumples leaves cookies and some other shopkeepers also leave small trinkets. Last month I stole a coin, it's my biggest catch yet. I don't steal every day, just when I'm really bored," she spoke as they continued along. The wind picked up as they were now on open ground, a backyard of sorts though it was just cobblestone. Kate brought his free hand to swipe some of her hair to the side, but didn't stop for the view of the city or the wide farm fields around it. She led Astrid right back into another smaller alley.

She had a small pause to think of the last question, but found some sort of answer in the end. "Two years now. So I'm a real professional. What about you, have you traveled all your life? Wait, you didn't even say your name yet. No, you don't need to say if it's a secret." The paths they took narrowed and the bits between alleys became more and more obscure ranging from tiny stone bridges that connected buildings to simply wooden planks. No other people crossed their path though sometimes people would look from their windows and wave and smile. There were a few cats that Kate had to shoo away. They mostly blocked the path in spots where sun had warmed up the roof tiles.

The climb across the town hill ended up on a small perch of sorts. It was the roof of some kind of smithery or forge building, faint clanking could be heard through the thick roof and smoke rose from the numerous black chimneys on the roof. There roof of the house continued over the edge of the walls and covered this little platform, which wasn't actually part of it as well making it kind of like a small hut, the ceiling was low enough that even the kid had to bend her back slightly to enter. She crawled in first and went to sit on a pile of clothes at the back then signed for Astrid to follow. "Come, come. It's not much, but... no it kinda is pretty awesome. Hehe! What do you think, it's the best spot in the whole town."

[PennySludt]

Astrid was desperately trying to look at all the things they were passing by as she was dragged through this wondrous place and listen to Kate at the same time. Everything was so new and strange and...exciting! She thought about Kate's reasoning that someone like the wood cutter would take everything.

"But, wouldn't people just take what they need and share the rest...?" That was the way it worked at home. She didn't understand why things were so different here.

She would gladly have taken twice as long as Kate was rushing them through the town, wanting to see everything. The buildings, the clothing, the wares, everything was different it seemed. When Kate said she was ten Astrid looked down at her suspiciously. She was certainly small for being ten! Perhaps people here were smaller? No, the wood cutter certainly hadn't been small. But why would Kate tell her something that wasn't true?

"Where is your father? When will he be back? What do you do when you're not stealing?"

Astrid paused when they came out up high on the rooftops, staring in awe at the scene before her, a little scared at the drop in front of her. But she barely had time to register the amazing view before Kate grabbed her away and back through more alleys. When Kate asked her own questions Astrid tried to think how to answer.

"Uh..no, this is the first time I've ever left the village..." She grinned when Kate said she didn't have to say her name if it was a secret. "It's not a secret. My name is Astrid."

She trailed after the girl until she disappeared into a little hideaway. She knelt down on her hands and knees and crawled after her into the little hideout, sitting next to her on the pile of clothes and tucking her knees up in front of her and smiling.

"It's a nice little hideout, Kate. So, what do you do in here?" she asked as she glanced around the little area.

[Sain]

The kid had brought Astrid to her hide place but based on the look that spread on her face after being asked what she did in here she had not planned much further than that. "Uhh... I, sometimes feed cats when they come." For whatever reason she never really answered some of the questions Astrid posed on the way there. Her father she had left as a mystery. Kate just stared at Astrid for some time after they arrived wondering what to say, like she had run out of things to show, but that didn't last too long. Soon enough her face brightened as she remembered why she had been so interested in Astrid in the first place. "So... um, you are a traveler right? Where do you come from? How do you live in the wilds with nothing at all? Where are you going? Tell me." She looked at the older girl with hopeful sparkle in her eyes.

The wilds weren't in truth all that different from this hideout though. Sure enough it was warmer and dried here than in any of the mossy forest holes that Astrid had spent nights in, but even so this hideout was still just a cave. It had a roof and an opening. The real difference was in the furnishing. There were some grey woolen blankets pushed into a wide stack at the back that were likely just like the heavy winter wools back home. There were proper little wooden and clay dishes here, some big urns with water and smaller ones arrayed against the corner containing who knows what. Then there were the heaps of strange items only a kid would gather. Queer looking twigs, shiny stones, bird feathers and pieces of broken tools. It was no different than some of the hideouts Astrid and Calden would have had back in the village when they were younger, except of course that this was built inside a town and not on a treetop in the wilds.

And like the secret huts of back home this too was on perfect spot to overview the village. Even from back of the hut the scenery opened up wide and clear. It was even better than from the opening on the way there. This was nearer the top of the hill. Several tiers of building circled the rising slope of tile topped buildings below. People working the fields were small ants and the view past the fields was even clearer. There, behind some distant hills, to which the main road from the town led, opened a wide hilly landscape dotted with small forests and ponds. The mountains surrounded this place on all sides like a horseshoe and from here, looking to the right, the small opening into deep ancient woods was visible as an eerie shadow between two tall white tipped giants.

[PennySludt]

Astrid didn't push the girl to answer her questions. It didn't seem like she really wanted to. But then she flipped the questions over to Astrid and began to ask about where she came from and how she got here and wanted to know everything about her.

The older girl smiled. She was growing rather fond of this precocious young thing. She paused for a moment before answering, not exactly sure what to tell her. Finally, she answered, "I suppose I am a traveler, yes. My village is on the other side of the forests. I guess I just...did...." she replied, in answer to Kate's question about surviving in the wilds with nothing. "I found food from the roots and bushes, and water when I could. Though, a lot of the time I wish I'd had a flask or something to carry water in. I got so thirsty very often when I couldn't find fresh water for a day. That was the hardest part...That and the nights..." She shivered at the thought of those wild creatures that had hunted them every night until they met July. "But, we made do", she said, forgetting not to say 'I'. "There was usually some kind of cave or crevice to shelter in, and with a fire at the entrance that kept the bad things out for the night."

She thought about the next question and finally answered truthfully, "I don't know where I'm going..." She really had no idea. They had just been trying to follow the general direction of the God. Where or how far that would take them she didn't know. And what they would do if they ever CAUGHT him was well beyond her as well. She sighed and looked out at the widespread view before them. This was quite a lovely little place to hide out, actually. Peaceful, quiet and beautiful. She wished she could show Calden. She absently put her hand on her shoulder as she thought of him. She'd been doing that a lot since that fateful night when he had panicked. It seemed to help both of them. Just a little touch here and there for reassurance. Almost like they weren't both together, and yet so alone.

[Sain]

He had been there all along, quiet but peaceful under the layer of cloth. There had been stress and fear for sure, especially back in the town square where the girl had accused Astrid of being a monster. For a moment there Calden had been petrified of fear, he imagined the worst when it came to strange villagers discovering him on her shoulder. Would they be like barbarian tribes in the stories or old evil hags that eat others or would they just have cut her arm off in order to try and safe her? The thoughts would have turned his stomach upside down if he still had had one.

It all turned alright in the end and even without participating in the conversation, Calden had felt like he was part of it. They had not often played with the other kids back in the village, she had been teased a little because of her inability to do magic like the others. Hence, just seeing or rather hearing her get along with someone else like that had been a peaceful experience; almost as lulling as the last few nights in that magical forest. He would have liked to give some sort of sign that there was nothing to worry when her hand blackened his vision, though he did not really mind the touch. "I'm alright," he thought to himself, realizing only a few moments later that it had been out loud.

Kate gasped. Up till then she'd been looking at Astrid in a thrilled trance, just absorbing every little nugget of information that the mysterious traveler dared to spare. The 'we' had left a brief puzzlement in form of a raised thick brown eyebrow on her face, but that had soon dissipated as Astrid had went on. Travelers were rare in these parts, and mostly they were older people, men and women who had seen much and carried that experience with them in an aura of unapproachable mystery. Kate saw some of that in Astrid too, she had been sure that the older kid was hiding things and was determined to seek out the truth. She had many theories of Astrid forming. Maybe she was a member of some long lost race, an elf; but she did not have long ears. Maybe she was just disguised? Maybe she was a thief even better than her and simply moved her belongings around under her clothes, that's why she could not be pickpocketed! Or perhaps, just maybe she was a traveling witch?! Not even the wildest of her guesses came close to the strange combination that her guest was in reality.

The noise had not immediately registered as speech to Kate. She blinked and looked at Astrid with her mouth half open in a dumbfounded expression, leaning backwards with hands as a support. Then, as parts of the moment passed and the memory of the noise became more of a blurry whisper, just before that whisper turned into incomprehensible blather, Kate realized that it had been words. "What?" She asked in genuine surprise. Who is alright, she wondered. The surprise was beginning to look a bit like more worried, on its way to turning to that fearful face that Kate had first shown to Astrid when she first doubted her humanity.

[PennySludt]

Astrid paled in shock when Calden spoke out loud. It would have been fine if Kate hadn't heard, but she obviously had, judging by her reaction right after he said he was fine. She stared at Kate, her mind spinning wildly trying to think what to say or do to explain what had just happened.

"Wh...what are you...I mean...You...you heard...what did you hear....?" She didn't want to give away more than she had to if Kate had heard something else. She needed to get a handle on the situation, to try to recover herself and think clearly.

Part of her was telling her that Kate would be safe to tell about Calden, but what if she was scared enough to out her to someone? What then? Would they simply drive her out of town....or worse...?

[Sain]

Kate's stare of disbelief lasted some moments. Her mouth remained as wide as the eyes that stared right into Astrid. She looked frozen in the moment. The steady clanking of anvil and hammer could be heard from below; sound muffled by layers of roof. Wind howled at the opening, ruffling some hay at the corner of the hideout. The sound went unexplained. Kate could see the same sort of surprise and fear that her face must have shown mirrored on Astrid. Surprise could not last forever in a young kid's mind, it was soon quenched by waves of doubt. It could have been someone outside. One of the workers yelling maybe, or perhaps it was the wind? Maybe it was just her? Astrid sure can make strange voice. Maybe I just imagined it? Kate blinked, seeing that Astrid was still fretting over it she began to feel sorry for startling her.

"Um, never mind. Heh, sorry. I just spaced out for a moment, thought I heard something. Sometimes the workers get really loud, that's maybe the one bad thing about this hideout." Kate spoke trying to hide embarrassment, but her eyes jumping around the room yet never looking straight at Astrid betrayed her lost composure. Furthermore, Kate had picked up the coin again and was fiddling with it nervously. "Heh, your camps are probably much nicer. You sleep right? Uh... sorry no I mean you've went through the mountains right, and you said you came from the forest. Must have been so pretty there."

There was a very quiet, almost inaudible, whisper from below Astrid's right ear. "Sorry about that," said Calden. He was immensely relieved, feeling something on par with when they had for the first time realized her flames could ward off their nightly haunters, even though Kate was of course nothing nearly as threatening. He was glad that it was just a little kid they were dealing with. It would be almost too easy to keep things hidden from Kate.

[PennySludt]

Astrid smiled kindly with some relief at Kate when the girl changed the subject.

"Yes, I sleep" she said with a grin. "My camps?" She cocked her head slightly in confusion. "You mean, when I stopped for the night? They were mostly crevices and caves in the rock actually. Not very comfortable...but it kept the nasties out." She looked out over the town again as the memory of so many night's spent huddled on cold, damp earth against cold stone came back to her. She turned back again after a moment and nodded with a little smile.

"Yes, it was quite pretty." In truth, she hadn't really paid much attention, especially in the beginning. Most of the time she'd been too scared or searching for food and water to appreciate it's beauty. But towards the end, especially the few nights after their brush with July, she had had the time, confidence, and inclination to look around and take in the prettiness of the place and it's creatures. Well, most of them anyway.

"It was also terrifying, to be honest." She didn't want to make the young girl think that it was all beauty and wonder, and have her go off to explore and never return. "There were things in there that hunted us at night and stalked through the darkness crying out to each other. There were swamps and ledges and brush to push through, and it was hard to find food and water...especially the water..." She didn't want to scare the child though. "But yes, it was pretty at times, too." She smiled.

She didn't realize her slip of 'us' when she was telling Kate about the things in the forest. She had been occupied with her memories and thoughts about their experience to remember to say 'I'. When she heard Calden's whisper she simply said, "Mhhmm..." softly, almost a mumble or a sigh. For some silly reason, she almost wanted to tell Kate about their experience with the God. What had happened to them. About Calden. Perhaps she just wanted someone to share the burden with. The secret and guilt was weighing heavily on her and she felt so very isolated and alone. She appreciated that Calden was with her, at least in spirit and mind, but she still felt like she was carrying the brunt of their endeavor on her own. She was still quite young, and the burden of the last few weeks was becoming very taxing, both emotionally and physically. She wanted comfort, help, sympathy....kindness...But to find that in a child of Kate's age was likely impossible. In fact, to find that from anyone was probably a fanciful wish that was completely impossible. She sighed softly and looked out at the view again.

[Sain]

Calden chose to remain quiet for now, consciously zipping it. He could not bear to cause any trouble here. He could not bear robbing such an opportunity to relax from Astrid. He kept rolling around in the socket, looking at the faint auras that remained visible even through clothing, continuing to practice his vision while the steady conversation lulled him to feel safe.

That sparkle of curiosity which only the little kids could have had returned to Kate's eyes. Her stare was lifted from the surroundings and got firmly fixed on Astrid as she began to describe her life in the wilds. She could never hear enough of these kind of stories. Kate was an adventurous kid too, always searching for the way to get up on highest and best spots in the town, always roaming the area around and exploring forgotten parts of the fields. Never had she went as far as to venture beyond the farmlands however. The flame of curiosity had yet to feed her bravery enough to overcome all the tales that the parents had fed her of the scares and dangers of the world beyond the hills. She had formed her own ideas of what bandits, witches and things of legends might look like, but could never get enough. Even the little details were treasures she would recall for a many long years to come.

"Terrifying? Ooh..." Some little fear was beginning to creep into Kate when her imagination ran wild in trying to picture these nightly stalkers. An image of tall dark things was dispelled by Astrid's smile before it could really assume shape. It had to be really pretty if someone as pretty as her said so, was the line of thought going through the kid's head. "Heh I see! Sounds wonderful, well maybe pretty tough too, but still amazing. You must be pretty clever then if you could deal with those stalker thingies. They sound pretty bad... I probably couldn't get away so easily, but when I'm a bit bigger I'm going to go adventure too. Travel I mean." Kate corrected herself at the end. She knew that most travelers had their reasons and good ones, words like adventure was more fitting for legends and stories. She was a little bit embarrassed over such blurt, for some reason feeling like she had insulted the older kid.

It did not seem like Kate noticed the 'us' again. She was starting to regard that as one of the many weird quirks of Astrid. It was only natural for travelers to be a bit different from the regular towns people. That gave them strange charisma. Kate was so thoroughly smitten by the audience with a real traveler, especially one so young that she had forgotten how to treat quests. That realization could be read on her face in as a sudden shift back towards embarrassment. "Oh, no!" She yelped, bringing both little hands to cover her mouth. They fell back down right away as Kate turned to crawl around the hideout, checking frantically through big clay urns and pots and causing quite some clatter while toppling a few. "Sorry, I didn't offer you anything yet. You must be hungry and I did promise to give you some food. Wait, just wait a bit." Kate could not stop to look towards her quest. She felt the heavy load of responsibility and urgency, recalling the rumbling of Astrid stomach from the street.

There was some bread, dried slices of vegetable that could not quite be identified and bit of jerky on the makeshift plate - urn lid - when Kate had finished looting her own wares. She quickly shoved the offering towards Astrid. "Here you go. I don't have any of that bread though, but I can go get some if you want."

Sun was still rather high, though it had began setting some time ago it would still be long before it descended behind the mountain range in the west. The scene was still bright and colors of the city vibrant. Some chirps of birds that had by the sound of it made nest on the roof of a nearby building mixed together with the clank of anvil from below. All in all the soundscape was barely any different from home village, and by the looks of it the kids (or at least this one) were the same too. Well, maybe not in every aspect. There had not been signs of magic and mystery here yet. It was almost as if this place lived in a reality a step removed from the one that Astrid had been born to.

[PennySludt]

Astrid watched the young girl's face as she described some of what it had been like, and was thankful she had mentioned how terrifying and dangerous it was also. She could see the sparkle of the adventurous streak in the child and was fairly certain that if she hadn't mentioned any of the bad things, that the next the she knew, Kate would be off and into the forest in search of adventure and excitement. She had barely made it and she knew that, even with her feable magic. Kate would hardly stand a chance and would probably be lucky to last one night.

She smiled when Kate corrected herself from 'adventure' to 'travel'. It was an adventure, really. Albeit one taken grudgingly. But the way Kate had of looking at it made it less of a fate and more like a choice. After all, they didn't HAVE to go trekking across the world after a rogue God in the faintest hope that they would somehow find a way to return Calden to his body...They could accept what had happened and just get on with their lives as best they could as they were. But they were CHOOSING to take the more difficult path. And, in a sense, it was an exciting adventure.

At Kate's sudden outburst of 'Oh, no!', Astrid's eyes widened in shock and she was quite taken aback and worried. "What's wrong!?" she asked in concern as she watched the young thing begin searching through her little camp desperately for something. She was about to ask what she was looking for so she could aid in the search when Kate answered her question. Astrid's face broke into a smile and she shook her head.

"Really, you don't have to worry. I'm not angry. I can hardly expect-" she broke off when Kate thrust a makeshift plate toward her, filled with tidbits of scavenged provisions. When the girl said she would go get some of the other bread if she wanted, Astrid shook her head and smiled at the child.

"No, no. This is fine, thank you, Kate. You're wonderful." She took a bite of the jerky and sighed. It was delicious. She'd been living on whatever she could dig up or pick while she had been in the forest, and the meat was a wonderful treat. She offered the plate to share with her as she took another bite, her mouth watering with the goodness of it.

The rays of the setting sun were beaming into the little hideout, glinting off Kate's mussy brown hair, illuminating the normally invisible threads of gold and red that were interspersed with her plain brown, making it look like her head was glowing in the light. The heat from the blacksmith shop rose and warmed the little space, along with the last rays of the sun, and it was the most comfortable Astrid had been in weeks. She could feel her eyes growing heavy with exhaustion as she relaxed. While she certainly hadn't eaten enough to fill her empty belly, it was at least not biting at her anymore, and she was utterly worn out enough that it wasn't enough of a bother to keep her from sleep. She cocked her head at Kate, her eyes threatening to close of their own accord at any moment.

"Kate...? Would you mind....Could I....May I sleep here tonight....?" she asked tentatively. If the child said no, Astrid would need to leave immediately to find some other shelter before she was too tired to move.

[Sain]

Kate was very happy when it was apparent her gift was well received. Wide smile spread on the little face accompanied by a giggle. "Hehehe." She began eating something herself as well, from the quantity of urns and such it seemed like the kid had really stored quite a mass of food there in form of dried snacks and such. She just sat there quietly like she did most of the time, though now instead of peering down at the village her eyes would every now and then steal a glance of the older girl.

It was quiet for a moment aside from the crunching and munching that overwhelmed all fainter sounds from below. Kate was a bit surprised even when Astrid broke it with a question. "Uh no, no. You can sleep here of course. Didn't I already promise you could?" She was sounding lively again, though not as pushy as back in the city. It was probably in part her sponging off of Astrid's seemingly calm demeanor and part just dropping some of the act due to familiarity she had already grown to feel in her presence. Kate noticed right away the drowsiness which was creeping upon Astrid.

"You can take all the blankets, they should be warm enough. I've even slept here during winter once and now it's still almost summer." She pointed at the big pile in the back of the hideout. There was enough to use as covers and as some sort of cloth mattress. Kate got on her feet, though she stayed crouched in a little ball she still retained nimble moves, able to make it all the way to the entrance with a few hops. "I've got to go sleep home though. I already slept here yesterday so Mom might get worried. You can't sneak away during night though! You need to promise that you stay at least until I get here in the morning, okay?" Worried, she glared at Astrid with a small frown.

Kate was on her way. She didn't want to pester Astrid if she felt sleepy and as soon as she got to bid her good night and protection of some strange God with an unfamiliar name, Kate quickly slipped out into the twilight lit city. Breeze was already beginning to feel colder. Not enough to raise goosebumps, but lacking that wholesome warmth that a midsummer wind carried. None of it reached the slightly staler air inside the shelter. Only a faint howl against the doorway and the waves washing over fields below reminded of its presence.

Night fell around Hill Town very differently from how it came in the forest. The disappearance of sun behind the tallest mountain in the west was very sudden, almost unexpected even if everyone could see it coming by just looking at the sky. Still the shreds of clouds spread across the horizon held some more vibrant shades of evening for long moments and orange light shone from behind the silhouette of the range. Sky above was still bright as if light had forgotten it was supposed to leave. Nevertheless, the valley was already wrapped in a deep blue shadow of night. The little lanterns and torches that the villagers set up cast only a small sphere of light near themselves. They did not obscure the stars. Their cold light shone in an unorganized sea of twinkles with borders that tricked the observer to paint their halos in blue, green or red. The sounds of village died gradually and silence even deeper than that of the wilderness fell upon it. No clank of anvil, no stray cricket or bird and no strange chitter or chirp of those phantom creatures.

In the morning Kate was already waiting in the opening, before sun crept to light up the valley again. She peered from the entrance and watched, fiddling nervously, but staying quiet.

[PennySludt]

Smiling when Kate made her promise not to run off in the night, Astrid nodded.

"I promise. I'll be here." She watched the young girl creep out of the hideout and off into the early evening before she moved to create a little nest for herself out of the pile of blankets. She laid some of them out on the floor as a pad, then used the rest to pull over herself, folding one into a little square for a pillow. When she lay down and her head hit the makeshift pillow she sighed. It was so soft, comfortable, and warm. It seemed forever since she had felt comfort like this. She turned on her side to face the entrance, pulling the blankets up to her neck. As the sky grew darker and the stars began to show more brightly in the sky, Astrid looked out at the dark blanket of night.

It was much brighter here. The stars seemed to twinkle, almost like some of the little glowing creatures that lived in the forest. She hadn't been able to see the stars in the forest. The trees had been too thick to see through, even if she hadn't been cowering in caves by the time night fell, her fire blinding her to any stars that might have peeked through the thick cover of the green canopy. It was beautiful. Almost magical. It made her feel that the Gods were much closer and gave her a sense of comfort and reassurance. After a while of looking out at the peaceful sky, she spoke softly.

"She's a sweet thing, isn't she, Calden...? It was so kind of her to take care of us like this. To be honest, I was quite afraid when we arrived here. Everything is different. Busy, loud, crowded...everyone seemed in such a rush, and like they didn't care for one another very much. I thought maybe we weren't going to be welcome without the money. It seems to be very important here. It was pretty, wasn't it? Oh, sorry...you couldn't see it, could you? It was round, and little, and so shiny. It had markings on it, like some kind of rune perhaps? Maybe that's why it's important...maybe it brings good fortune, or protection or something...? It certainly was interesting. I rather wish she'd let me get a closer look. Perhaps tomorrow..."

Her musings came further apart and more quietly as she began to relax and sleep began to overtake her little body. Gradually, her eyes drifted closed and her ramblings turned to mumbles and eventually became silent. The only sound was her deep, slow breathing. She was warm, comfortable, and if not full certainly not as hungry as she'd been before, and could have been if it weren't for Kate's generosity. She slept soundly, even more so than she'd been since they began carving the runes in the forest and had finally been able to ward away the evil creatures. She was fast asleep when Kate returned early the next morning.

The rays of warm sun streaking through the entrance finally drew Astrid from her sleep and she surfaced slowly, stretching with a groan before she forced her eyes open. She jumped when she spotted the figure standing in the entrance, watching her intently. It took her a moment to recognize the little form of Kate, shadowed as she was by the sun behind her. She sat up with a sleepy smile for the girl.

"Thank you, Kate. This was wonderful. I haven't slept so well in a long time." She gestured for the girl to join her on the little makeshift bed, moving over a little to make room. She looked out the entrance at the rising sun as the sounds of the town began waking up and beginning a new day. The sun streaming into the little room showed the tiny, sparkling specks of dust dancing in the air around them, swirling with the gentle breeze that dipped slightly into the very outer edge of the entrance without intruding on the warmth of the shelter. She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, turning her head to look at her little friend.

"How was your night, Kate?" she asked kindly.

[Sain]

"Mmmhm..." He mumbled in agreement in a soft and unhurried pace that came almost like he was lying there with her. "It really is strange this place. Sorry about that scare heh, we were kind of lucky that she didn't notice anything. Kind of eerie how different some people live yeah. I don't think the money was magical though, I couldn't see anything on it, but... hmm... could be some weak magic perhaps or a lucky item yes. What's really strange though is I didn't see any witches here. You know how inside you I see a bright dancing array of lights, like it could be anything at any moment but the people on the streets they all had just really small lights and all were kind of monotone. I don't mean like grey or boring, but just simpler. Moreover I tried looking around when you ran in the city, for anything from protective glyphs to small spells, but there wasn't anything at all! It's like this whole town doesn't know magic and not just Kate. Pretty weird huh? Wonder how they revere the Gods if their elders haven't even studied shamanism." Once again the same nightly scene repeated itself where Calden rambled on top of Astrid's ponderings until he noticed a calmness spread in her aura and recognized it as her having fallen into steady slumber.

"Good night..." He whispered after she was already fast asleep. Again he had the night to himself. Silent darkness paced by the rhythms of her body. His thoughts turned inside. Calden was growing more accustomed to their predicament by each passing day and now as they finally had proper refuge from the wilds he needed not even worry whether or not some strange creeper would approach Astrid whilst she slept. He could relax, focus on the strange world that the cursed eye saw and wonder on the meaning behind every subtle hue and shade. Sometime in past midnight he noticed a sensation even further hidden beneath the flood of visual stimuli. A tiny irritating sensation that could not quite be described. A presence echoed in him. It was far behind planes and mountains at first, but slid across the vast distance of imaginary scenery in blink of an eye to stand before him; Calden's reflection stared back at him. Calden winced and grunted quietly as he shed the ugly image of that sinister God. He hid that memory for now, knowing that if he would tell Astrid she would in all likely hood hurry to chase that phantom and leave this rare oasis of peace behind.



"Hey! Good morning," Kate greeted when she noticed Astrid stir to her presence. She immediately climbed into the hideout and sat herself on the blankets next to Astrid with a big smile on her face. "I'm glad you like it. Isn't it just the best hideout ever?" When Astrid shifted to allow her even more room on the bed Kate shuffled to the other side to lean her back against the wall. It was hard stone so she took a smaller bundled up blanket and placed it carefully between it and her head. She had a fresh change of clothes. Tiny leather shoes that barely reached her ankles, slightly bagging pants and little too big woolen shirt. Somebody had folded the sleeves and pant legs to be just right length for her.

She was eager to answer and explained with eager devotion her happenings, "I slept good. Our home is almost as nice as my hideout. Well, the house is a lot bigger, but it's a lot lower on the hill. Mom was pretty happy when I told her all about you. She was a bit worried because you're a traveler, that you might be one of papa's friends, but I told her you weren't." She took a small pause there, hesitation entered her as her gaze averted from Astrid and lower lip was partially sucked inside the frown. "Mom thought that I should have asked you to come over to our house instead. She thought letting you sleep in my hideout was a terrible idea...  Um, sorry if it was bad. I didn't think, but I guess... maybe people should actually sleep in houses and not secret bases, at least guests should."

She brightened up again, expression shifting fast back to joy. "But she gave me some breakfast to bring you! Now we eat! Here!" Kate produced a little twined box and placed it hurriedly on the blanket between them. She twisted open a little wooden lock mechanism in it and revealed strange looking bakeries. Many near identical little twirls of bread with perfectly golden crust. Between their folds was sprinkled into the dough small cubes that could be anything from fruit to meat. Even if the bread was cold the faint scent that emanated from within the basket was still thick enough to rouse appetite. Kate shoved the box towards Astrid a little bit and picked two of the bread up herself. By the speed with which she began eating it was obvious that the meal was her breakfast too. "They are pretty good. Grumbles usually gives mom leftovers like these. If I wasn't going to be a traveler I would go work in bakery instead."

[PennySludt]

Astrid looked curiously at the girl when she began telling her about her mother, and how she had been worried Astrid might be one of her father's friends. She tucked the question away until Kate had finished telling her all about her night and the morning and apologized for letting her sleep there. She had been about to speak when Kate suddenly brought up breakfast and produced the little box. Astrid watched eagerly as the girl opened it and pushed it toward her. Her tummy rumbled hungrily as she reached in and took one of the buns, biting into it with a grin. After a few bites and some chewing in silence, Astrid finally spoke, now that Kate's mouth was full and she could get a word in edgewise.

"I'm glad you let me sleep here, Kate. Don't worry! It was the best night I've had in a very long time. Thank you." She smiled brightly, hoping the child would believe she was being sincere. She wasn't sure if it would have been such a good night if she'd been in someone else's home.

"Who's Grumbles?" she asked curiously as she took another bite, giving Kate some time to answer. After some more time had passed, and the curiosity had chewed a massive hole in her mind, Astrid asked, "Why would your mother be afraid of me if I were one of your father's friends....?"

[Sain]

Kate's cheeks bulged with the bread stuffing, which indeed somewhat hindered her ability to speak on top of Astrid. Her eyes and attention shifted up from the basket and got fixed on the older girl. At first she tried to speak something in response, but it came out as mumbles so incoherent that even the little girl realized it was best if she wait and chew. Her eyes moisted a bit as she took a painfully large looking swallow of the food to quickly get her mouth empty. "Guuh... no but our house would have been better," she insisted even after Astrid had complimented her stay at the hideout.

This time around, when Kate picked up another bakery she was more careful. Instead of munching the whole piece in before she had time to even gulp down the first bite, Kate took carefully deliberate nibbles.

"Grumbles? Grumbles is the baker of course. He made these things," Kate said knowingly while dangling one of the food pieces back and forth like a pendulum. The bottom of the basket was starting to show as the girls made their way through breakfast. Kate didn't dare to put her hand into the casket when she saw that only few were left. "Well papa travels too so of course she'd be worried. He visits pretty often, but sometimes he sends friends to bring news instead when there has been some problems or trouble and mom always worries when we get those. They never tell me exactly what is wrong, just that it'll be a little while longer till papa comes back. Once though, hehehe..." Kate seemed quite proud of this one as a grin more smug than any she'd worn so far spread across her face. "I sneaked to listen when mom and one of papa's friends were talking. I was hiding, lying hidden on top of a wooden beam on top of the narrow alley so they had no way to know I was there. I heard this friend, he was a really short person with a tail that came from under the cloak, he had pretty weird voice too. He said something about 'e-li-mi-na-toon unsuccessful will have dire con-se-quu-ense'. It sounded pretty cool, but mom was not so happy, so yeah she was pretty glad that you aren't one of his friends." Kate finished with a bright smile.

[PennySludt]

Astrid smiled and shook her head when Kate said again that their house would have been better. "Honestly, Kate. This was perfect." She listened carefully as Kate began answering her questions, trying not to look or appear too curious when she talked about her father, and especially when she mentioned the strange visitor she'd overheard talking to her mother.

"What does you father travel for? What does he do?" She was intensely interested in finding out about her father. "That friend of his...How was his voice weird? Do you think you'd recognize him if you saw him again? When was that? When was the last time your father was home? How long does he usually stay home? Does he go out after a certain amount of time, or does he get messages to go?"

She paused with a guilty expression, realizing she had been asking far too many questions far too fast. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry..." she said awkwardly.

[Sain]

Kate gave Astrid a puzzled look as if the older girl was a little daft when she asked what her father does. Travelers travel, was there something else to it? "Hmm... papa is a traveler. I dunno. What do travelers do other than go different places. That is their job," she stated. She smiled a little and shook her head. She could forgive this as just another strange personality quirk of Astrid's. Travelers truly were a unique breed. Kate's eyes wandered to the low hanging ceiling of the hideout as she strained to recall the strange friend. "Hummmm... he... it was like 'pshhh!' and 'zhhhh' and 'hiiii'," Kate hissed with her best lizardy voice imitation, adding in angry yet strangely silly looking expression as an extra.

"I didn't see him that well. Just from behind. I was spying on them from above!" She squinted her brows a bit into a quizzical look that carried over to speech. She felt it bit weird Astrid was suddenly so interested in what her father does. Did they know each other after all? "It was some moons ago. Papa usually comes visit every so often for a few days. I don't know...  I can't spy papa all the time. He moves very slippery."

Kate assumed an understanding smile and nodded when apologized to. Astrid was just a curious girl, she thought to herself, accepting her queries. "No worries! I already told you a big secret when I said I'm a thief so it's alright. Everything else is small compared to it." She noticed that the breakfast box was empty and reached to pull it off the bed and stove it in the corner with all those other little food containers. Kate fell into her own thoughts for a moment. Her fidgeting and gaze wandering out of the hideout towards the valley basking in the morning made her intentions obvious before they worded. Kate had made some mistakes that her mother had scolded her by letting Astrid sleep in the hideout so she wanted to be a bit more cautious this time instead of simply grabbing her hand and pulling her all over the city. She asked in a subdued tone, "Do you want to to see some more city then? I can give you a tour if you want to."

[PennySludt]

When Kate looked puzzled when she asked what her father did, Astrid smiled, "Well, usually there's a REASON to travel. Either they have business somewhere else, or they're looking for something, or they're trying to get away from something. People don't usually just wander around for the sake of wandering around. At least, I don't think they do." She cocked her head when Kate explained how the stranger sounded. She had never heard anything like how she was talking, but then again, Astrid really had no idea about life beyond the village until the little glimpses she was having now on her own journey, so who was she to talk?

She grinned when Kate said she had already told Astrid her 'big secret' of being a thief, so everything else was minimal. Kate really was quite cute. She was about to ask the girl if there was something wrong when Kate sat fidgeting on the makeshift bed, but the child spoke first, asking if she wanted to see more of the city. Astrid grinned and nodded.

"I would LOVE to! And I'm sure you can give me the best tour!"

[Sain]

Astrid was led then around every place that the child saw as worth showing. She did not pull the traveler girl forcefully along like she had last night, but simply always jogged a little bit ahead when they moved, eager to get to the next spot and the next! The city was at a closer look quite cozy looking in certain ways even if the forest was far away and houses so clumped together. Those narrow alleyways and routes through hidden back gardens were sort of like passageways through thick woods or shortcuts past bushes.

Most remarkably there were a lot of shops in the higher hills of the city. A whole little street packed with a dozen or more small houses each filled to brim with different kinds of merchandise be it clothes, food or some some strange trinkets. Kate explained that money was for those, that the people of that village gave coins to people who sold things in return for their goods. She could not quite explain why they did it, apparently it was something that was pretty much a given. "Even papa says that everywhere else you use coins too, though they might look different than the ones we have," Kate had added on that subject. To those coins was indeed related this town's main livelihood. On the very top of the hill was the inaccessible chief's mansion that the two could only peer from afar, but around it were numerous smithies, all puffing out black smoke into the sky. Many of the village men worked in those, tending to the big furnaces and large vats filled with strange orange hot liquid. Kate said that it was silver. They spied from one of the windows set high up close to the ceiling how the men below funneled that molten metal from container to container with grooves embed on stone. Kate could not help in explaining what was actually happening as she had very little knowledge of the intricate processes involved, but nonetheless she liked to watch. Even from afar the hot glow of silver felt warm on the skin. They had to take small pauses though as the brightness at times left black spots in the vision like when one has stared at the sun for too long. Eventually that liquid ended up in a variety of different molds. There was one whole room filled with stone tables that had little empty slots for coins carved on them, though the men weren't using that one today. It was all very different from how the elder who did blacksmithing back home handled things; the scale in comparison was here ten or hundred fold!

Astrid was also explained in length by Kate that most of that silver came from underneath the hill. There was one big mine. Some were also working down there, but it was a lot more dangerous so the kids weren't really allowed anywhere close and even Kate did not know of shortcuts to get there unnoticed. The entrance was right there in middle of the furnaces, a big tunnel opening into the side of the hill into a cave. Inside there was allegedly some sort of wooden elevator that helped raise the diggers and haul back up, but it could not be seen. It was not a very interesting sight to stare at for long though as only occasionally people would just come out with a big cart filled with rocks and then go back in with an empty one.

People were certainly a lot busier than back in hometown, but all in all they did seem pretty much the same. Some that worked in the same jobs had friendly quarrels, kids even smaller than Kate ran where they pleased on the streets. Maybe life in this kind of village wasn't so bad either. Everyone seemed to give the two girls smiles and sometimes waved when they passed. It could not be said though if the villagers were always this friendly, it was pretty obvious that everyone seemed quite fond of Kate which was not all that strange all things considered.

There were still many things to visit. Kate seemed to never run dry of ideas. Whether it was some fat black cat at certain old lady's backyard who was had just recently had had many kittens or some old man on the opposite side of the hill who would, on request, play songs on his his harmonica, Kate had just countless of things to show. However, midday caught them as did hunger. There was of course always some dried food at the hideout, but Kate herself yearned for some real food too. She also had a good idea where to get some. Having pulled Astrid to some dark alley  which supposedly hid them from curious eyes, Kate whispered, "I'll show you my awesome thieving skills now. Back at the smithy they have this big lunch cauldron. The men there eat a lot as you can see from their tummies, but the cook always makes too much. If we go up there and wait for good moment, I may be able to sneak a cup or two."

[PennySludt]

Astrid felt like she was being swept up in a whirlwind as Kate led her around the town, showing her seemingly every inch of the place and everyone in it. It was quite thrilling actually, and rather exciting in a more peaceful way than the sort of excitement they'd experienced up til now. Kate seemed to know every nook and cranny of the place and gave Astrid a glimpse into every window and door it seemed. Astrid was fascinated by the hustle and bustle of the people here but she was also relieved to see that they seemed reasonably friendly, at least as far as Kate was concerned. It might not have been the same if she was without her tour guide, but Astrid didn't think that was a problem, or even at all likely that Kate would leave her alone for very long at all.

Once again, the coins caught Astrid's curiosity and she was happy to watch the transactions going on everywhere. She turned to Kate at one point to ask if she could see her coin more closely but the girl had already grabbed her hand to whisk her off to the next stop on the tour. The idea of men working under the ground seemed quite strange and she had begun to wonder if Kate was making that up when a man came up on the contraption she called an elevator with a cart full of rocks. Astrid couldn't fathom why men would spend their entire day digging holes under ground to collect rocks! Couldn't they gather rocks above ground? Why gather rocks in the first place? These people certainly were strange...

Her mind was spinning with questions by noon when Kate finally seemed to grind to a halt and pulled Astrid between two tall buildings and whispered to her about the food at the smithy. Astrid cocked her head in confusion when Kate said they could sneak a cup or two.

"Why do we have to sneak it? Couldn't we just ask them for some?" She still didn't quite get the concept of the coins and their value, or the fact that the people wouldn't just give them anything extra they had to spare.

[Sain]

"Hehe!" The corners of Kate's lips widened into a toothy grin as she snickered at her own brilliance. "You see, this is what being thief is all about! You have to do it secretly or otherwise they would know. You will learn! Come, you just need to watch." Kate's mood had went from good to the very edge at which it seemed like the little girl might burst to giggle at any moment, yet somehow she still persisted with only occasional chuckle. It was obvious how much she enjoyed this act of thievery.

They took a rather inconspicuous approach while returning to the forges, avoiding the main streets and taking those same back alley and rooftop routes to which Astrid had been introduced to on her first day in the village. The roof tiles had been warmed up by midday sun even as the air remained chilled by the wind. They radiated a little bit of heat, though it would have not been enough for to be of any notice had the girls climbed up the other side of the hill, the one catching those winds rolling over from the open horizon.

Near the destination Kate took a jumpy step back and placed a hand on Astrid's shoulder to pull her down to crouch with her. They were at the edge of the roof and down below, some few meters off the building's little cliff was a shadowy opening. Kate's thick brown brows furrowed into what was probably supposed to be an expression of serious intent. The wicked grin remained however. She hissed, "Shh, quiet now. It seems like we are in luck!" Her gaze turned back to the opening. A wooden door opened on a side of one building. Out backpedaled a thin tall man whose face looked just as rugged and unkempt as his food stained shirt. He did not seem to mind though as he was throwing some sort of jest back indoors to his friend that came soon after. The friend was a rather big woman in more than one sense of the word. From the looks of it she was somewhat entertained by whatever he had been saying. Between them the two carried a huge and heavy looking cauldron. Their steps were more waddles than real strides, so heavy was the pot.

The pair moved with labored motions, aiming towards the center of the little opening. They relieved themselves of the heavy load and lowered the pot to wait outside. Up on the rooftops the kids could hear that the cooks thought the hardest work was done. They only needed to fetch some dishes and tell the men to come pick it up. "This is it!" Kate squealed in hushed tone. "I thought we could get some soup once its cold, but now we get the best parts."

For all her enthusiasm, Kate seemed to possess a strange patience when it came to this hobby of hers. She awaited patiently for the cooks to carry some large loads of bowls and spoons outside, then waited for them to close the door before setting to motion. Kate hopped off the roof, her little cloaket fluttered to the sudden motion as she began falling. Her little hands wrapped around an outwardly pushing corner of the building's wall to stop her descend. She let go a few times to hop down in a controlled manner and landed softly; up to the roof her landing sounded only like a distant and quiet thump. Kate proceeded with haste, quickly scuttling over to the pot. She took a hold of the lid and pulled. Clank. It did not come off. She tried again; another clank. Kate walked to the other side and a frown appeared on her. She looked up towards Astrid and tried to communicate in some hand motions that really made no sense whatsoever.

[PennySludt]

Astrid shook her head at Kate when she tried to explain why they had to sneak around, but she followed the young girl through the alleys and backways of the town, finally returning to the smithy. The tiles were pleasantly warm on her hands as she climbed the roof to look down on their target. She could imagine they would get quite hot during the summer months when the sun shone down on them all day, but today they were nice against her skin.

She almost fell when Kate suddenly leapt back and pulled her down by her shoulder, and she gasped softly as she crouched next to the girl, peeking over the top of the roof to the doorway below, wondering what that was all about it. When the door opened she understood, and she watched the two people staggering outside with the biggest pot she had ever seen in her life! Her jaw dropped slightly as she looked down on it, watching the steam rising and glinting in the sun. She turned to look at Kate when she squeaked that now was the moment. She frowned slightly, not really sure they should be doing this. It was one thing to take the leftovers after everyone had already had their fill, but to take from the pot before everyone had their servings...that just seemed wrong...

She was about to bring this up to Kate when she suddenly jumped down off the roof. Astrid gasped, leaning forward slightly to watch her land effortlessly, as nimble as a cat! Astrid was rather impressed actually. She watched as the girl dashed to the pot and grabbed the lid. It looked like she pulled, but the lid didn't budge. Another pull and it stayed where it was. When Kate looked up at her and began gesturing wildly, Astrid frowned in confusion and shrugged her shoulders, her hands palms up in a gesture of not understanding. She peered down the way Kate had gone, looked back to the girl, and shook her head. She was fairly certain that if she tried to go down that way she would break something, either on the building or herself!

"What should I do, Calden? She's down there alone, and I THINK she wants me to come help her. I don't think she can get the lid off...I don't know what to do. This doesn't feel right...." She gestured for Kate to return, hoping the girl would come back up and talk to her, but from the look of it, it didn't seem likely.

[Sain]

Kate was growing anxious. She looked behind her towards the alley that lead to a larger street, likely the direction people would be coming from to pick up the cauldron and dishes. Her gestures grew more furious; hands flailed about wildly.

"Hmm... why not just go? I don't quite know what this thieving means, but she seems to be alright with it. Maybe it is a thing in this city like the girl says," Calden commented in a calm and hushed tone that emanated form Astrid's shoulder. He had not seen everything that clearly, but the auras he saw through clothes and conversation between the thief and witch had been enough to give the boy a general idea of what was going on. Calden didn't seem all that worried. Something about being with people, being in a village, made this all seem safe as if nothing could go wrong. After all the only "bad" people in the life of these kids had been some other children teasing Astrid for her lack of proper magic and maybe that witch in the woods? That last one Calden was beginning to think may have actually been a good person in the very end, as she had left them those strange glyph to copy from the tree bark. "It's not like you two are taking all of the soup, right? I mean the cauldor has got to be pretty big, or is it small? Just two girls taking two plates out of something meant for many workmen... they probably won't even notice it."

Before Astrid could climb down however, everyone in that shadowed alley could hear noises. Voices echoed from the corridor between buildings opening to main street, deep rumbling voices chuckling to some jest. Kate dropped her eyes off of Astrid and frantically looked around, her eyes searched for a hiding place. There was some barrel at the corner, but if she went there the men would see her once they came to the cauldron! She looked towards the wall that led to Astrid, climbing was too hard as well. She would not be fast enough. The voices were closer, only a corner away... Kate had to decide on the spot.

The girl quickly crawled under the little wooden rack under the huge cauldron that was meant to make it easier to carry. She went out of sight just in time as two large and muscular old men came from around the corner. Both had brown leathery aprons, working gloves and leather pants all with black stains and scrapes they had no doubt gained from work in the foundry. One was bald and the other sported a full brown beard to go with his short hair. His words could be heard now, "Hohoho! Does me nose smell pepper? And is that... garlic?  Yumm They've really outdone themselves this time. Let's take the cauldron. Henrich and Matt will bring the rest." With relative ease the two mean lifted the large black metal cauldron along with the carrying rack under which Kate had gone hiding and began carrying it out of the alley, into the shadowy corridor.

[PennySludt]

Astrid listened to Calden as she looked down on Kate, feeling slightly better now that he had also said it seemed to be okay. She nodded, "Okay...You're probably right. And yes, the cauldron is very big. I guess I'll try and find a way down without breaking my neck..." She was just about to start looking for a way to get down when she heard the voices and froze in shock, staring down at the young girl in the courtyard with wide eyes. She gestured to Kate to come back up, unaware that it would be too hard to climb back up the way she had come.

Astrid covered her mouth with her hands as she watched Kate scramble under the huge pot, slipping into the stand that supported the massive thing. She was afraid the girl would get burned by the hot metal if she even made it under there! But she didn't see her come out again, and almost immediately two large men appeared, laughing and talking amiably. She ducked down slightly behind the pitch of the roof and gasped when she saw them lifting the pot and beginning to carry it away!

"NO!" she whispered in horror. "What do I do!? What do I do!?" She watched the men disappear back down the alleyway and peered back over the side looking to see how to get down. Gingerly she swung her leg over the edge and held onto the roof as she swung her other leg down slowly. Her foot searched for some kind of hold, finally finding something that seemed steady. She lowered herself carefully and hung onto it as she attempted to get the rest of the way down. She glanced behind her at the ground. It wasn't too much farther...maybe she could just jump...

She did. And fell hard on her butt with a little bounce and a big 'OOF'! It took her a moment to catch her breath and scramble to her feet again. Looking down the alley the men had taken she began jogging quietly after them. She could still hear their voices, though they were a good distance ahead of her. What if she lost them! What if Kate got into trouble! She ran faster, trying to follow the sounds of their laughter and chatter.

[Sain]

Calden couldn't quite see all the details that Astrid was observing, but he could make out from the bits and pieces what was happening in that murky bluish canvas of auras that his eye saw. If he had a mouth the boy's lower jaw would probably have dropped in shock. For all the chases in the forest and little things they had run into with Astrid, Calden wasn't that used to surprises like these. "What do... what do?" He chanted in a quiet absent minded tone, merely repeating Astrid's own words as his thoughts blanked of ideas.

He was luckily not in charge of the body he was riding however. Calden had to do nothing but watch as the little witch began moving and descended. Although the landing lacked grace and sent the boy's view wobbling as Astrid's shoulder moved around in her standing up, it was all done pretty swiftly. He looked to the direction the men had disappeared to. The thick stone houses blocked his sight as well as any trees even if they were cold and lacked any signs of life on their own. The little exercise and movement of Astrid's made him give a mental kick in his metaphorical butt and try start thinking; he had to try help too! But what could he do?

The voices of the men were easy to follow especially as one of the men in particular had a burly and deep laughter that made every chuckle of his hail to Astrid like a signaling horn. They had gone past the alley and disappeared behind another corner. It was rather easy to keep up and hidden for the nimble little girl. After all, the men were carrying a heavy iron pot filled with soup which despite their bulky structure must have been quite a load or at least definitely was enough to considerably slow down their pace. It was easy to keep up a stealthy pursuit for someone used to sneaking in the woods as in the end this town was not altogether that different from a forest with immensely thick trees depending on how one thought about it. Calden had gathered his thoughts enough to express them in a worry. He saw no one nearby and thus didn't really bother to hush or soften his voice too much other than to keep it quiet enough so as to not give away Astrid's position to the two men carrying the cauldron, "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Should- should we really be chasing them? I mean... what can we possibly do?"

Calden let out a confused chuckle as he continued, sarcastically proposing some silly idea as he could not come up with good ones, "You're going to walk up to them and just say; 'Hey. I forgot my friend under your cauldron. Can I have her back.' Yeah- um...  I'm not sure if that'll work. Kate did say that she wasn't supposed to be noticed when she does stealing. What would happen if she is caught doing that stuff? Wouldn't it be band? It is wrong isn't it? It kind of sounded like it was to me, or was she joking? I could not see her face that well."

All the while Calden spoke, Astrid kept up with the two men. They were slowly making their way towards the forges, but now as they had gotten to a staircase which led higher up to the top of the hill where their workplace was, their treading had slowed down considerably. Astrid could spy from behind a corner that opened up into the steep ascending stairs the two men grunting as they climbed and a brief glimpse of Kate's clothing from underneath the wooden carrying platform. Some few dozen steps up there was a small platform and as the men arrived there they wearily laid the cauldron down on the ground. One of them began shaking his thick arms, trying to relieve the tension his muscles had gathered up. The other one stroke up some small talk with his friend, looking towards him from over the cauldron. Kate could be seen now as her face appeared at the edge. She did not spot Astrid as the little witch stayed at a safe distance, but she looked around and her eyes seemed to catch onto something. Following the little thief's gaze Astrid would too notice that the cauldron had been set just right next to another narrow alley opening. It was difficult to see where it led from how hopeful Kate's eyes looked when they peered towards it, it was easy enough to surmise that it could be her escape route. Kate did not seem to dare to dart there though... she looked up along the feet of one of the men with a little disappointed frown on her mouth.

[PennySludt]

When Calden expressed alarm and concern about following the men, Astrid shook her head. "I don't know. I'll think of something! I can't let her get in trouble or anything! Maybe something will come to me if we stay close. I'll figure it out." She ignored his comments about Kate's stealing, mostly because she had been thinking the same thing but she didn't want to betray her friend. Sure enough, an opportunity to help presented itself when the men put the cauldron down for a rest.

She suddenly saw Kate's little head peeking out and looking around, seeming to fix on something nearby. Astrid looked in that direction and felt a little spark of hope when she noticed the alleyway. Her mind began working fast. It didn't seem like Kate thought she could risk dashing out of her hiding place to get there. In an instant of inspiration, Astrid dashed forward and approached the two men, glancing down quickly at Kate before looking back up at the men again.

"Um...excuse me...sirs...." she started, stammering slightly with nerves. "I...um....was wondering if you could...um...tell me how to get to the...um....bakery....?" she asked, desperately hoping Kate would seize the opportunity to escape while she distracted the two men.

[Sain]

Calden had not been all that convinced about the choice of his host; he would have wanted a moment to comment the possible dangers; but there wasn't much to do when she decided on something now days. His point of view was't really the most ideal with a layer of clothes muffling the auras his eye saw. Some of the details (most of them really) in the scene like whether or not the men looked dangerous or friendly were all obscured. Astrid could be sure that Calden suppressed more than a few outbursts of bafflement.

The bearded man turned slowly to peer back and down at the base of the stairs from where a strange little traveler revealed herself. His friends eyes had gone to the girl right when she had come from around the corner and that shift in attention had been his cue to look at her too. Both of the men looked more surprised than anything and simply waited for Astrid to speak. Hilltown being a relatively small village, they had already heard rumours of the newest visitor, and though the men might not have shown it to Astrid they too shared a curiosity similar to Kate's. Travelers were something of a rarity in these rural areas and many - like these men - thought of them as something mysterious. It seemed at least one of these fellows in particular didn't fear the unknown though. The bearded man smiled openly - a white row of teeth shining in middle of the brown bush of hair - his friend was more disturbed as he had just been in middle of explaining something 'important'. "Hoo? What is it?" Started the bearded man with a friendly ring in his deep voice to try and help the fidgeting kid speak up. His arms shifted to a align with rest of the man's comfortably patient pose, crossing over his belly. The smile he wore soon rose to a grin. He answered immediately, "Aye, no problem lil miss. It's uhm..." The bearded man gave his bald friend a quick glance and idly scratched his tummy as his forehead tightened into a momentary ponder. "It is on the Elf Maiden's stairs no? Yes, it is!" He turned back to Astrid. The friend hadn't been particularly helpful in confirming his suspicions, it was more for mental support.

"Yeah! You go up these stairs to the very top and..." He said and began to explain in great detail the directions Astrid should follow to find Grumbles' bakery; it was the only one in town. Soon the reason why the bald one was so disgruntled by Astrid's interruption dawned. The bearded one, he was quite the talker actually once he got warmed up. No doubt the moments when he let his friend share his mind were rare and far in between and thus treasured. Soon enough the bald one was counting clouds and leaning his rear on the cauldron while waiting for the topic to shift from Grumbles' bakery to the only cafe of the village, then back to the bakery and finally trailing wholly off course to inter village trading and how the silver mine of Hilltown was a real pride of its people.

It was relatively easy for Kate to take advantage of the moment. She was surprisingly meticulous about this though. Many times her head peeked through the holes of the wooden rack, every time a little farther as she scouted out where the men were looking. When she finally moved it was a sneak move worthy of praise and would have went undetected by Astrid too had she not known where the tiny thief was hiding. There was a long shadow cast by a nearby alcove connecting two buildings. Neither men suspected anything as a small silhouette slipped into the alley and out of the scene. Astrid could hear Calden's approving 'hmph' softly from her shoulder. "Phew, nice. I guess you were right this time, but I would really like if you keep me up with what's happening somehow," he whispered, though quiet his voice was clear enough to be heard from below the workman's booming tone.

Eventually the witch could wiggle herself out of the conversation and leave. Kate had not stuck around to wait for her, but it was rather easy to figure out where she had gone, with what Astrid mentioning the bakery and all that...



A silver plate with the words 'Elf Maiden's stairs' engraved on it was bolted to the wall of a building at the very top of the hill. Steep stone stairs, not unlike many others in the town, trailed down in dizzyingly steep descend, curving slightly to the left so that the very end of the street was out of sight. The sun did not shine on this side of the town yet. The warm autumn sun was replaced by a blanket of cool shade that wrapped the streets in a light blue hue. Astrid had to squint her eyes to make out the small nameplates of each building, but the windows were really the biggest help. Even if they had not had a bakery back in home village, the witch should be able to tell where people were baking right? Maybe.

"Maybe the bearded man lied," Calden suggested when they had already went at least half way down the hill and nearing a corner on the Elf Maiden's stairs with still no signs of bakery in sight! "He did seem pretty sincere though...  why would he-" He quickly shut up as a familiar voice hailed out from the very corner. Kate was there, grinning like she did so well, waving her tiny hand vigorously to get Astrid's attention. "Oi! Here! Here! Come here!" She shouted. The bakery was there, but pretty well hidden as Astrid could observe once she got closer to where the little kid was motioning her to come. The entrance was at the very corner. No big windows, no nothing. The only indication that this was indeed Grumbles' bakery was tiny silver sign resting above the hard wood door.

Kate hurriedly opened the door and immediately Astrid was greeted by a whiff of warmth and pleasant aromas. The room was lit by a few burning candles by the window and bright oil lamps. The air was thick, almost suffocating compared to the fresh cold air outside with some flour floating about and the scents of bread and bakeries dominating everything. Although the entrance was small the room widened up and at the back was really roomy. A hard wooden counter dominated the space and cut the whole room at the middle. Behind it were against the wall thin wooden shelves on which rested pretty much as much food as the whole home village of the kids prepared for winter, and it wasn't even salted or dried; all of it was fresh.

Grumbles greeted the girls as they stepped in, "Afternoon girls. You must be Astrid eh? Hehehe... did she really let you sleep in her hideout? By the Gods that girl can be dumb when she wants to. To let a budding youth spend her first night in town in some scrappy nest. What sort of first impression are we giving here, huh?!" He was turning out to be a rather expressive man despite having very mild and unremarkable appearance from a lightly stubbled round face to the grey garbs he wore. His eyes went wide as if what Kate had done was a transgression comparable to blasphemy or something. The man continued, "Should've brought you here right away, but I suppose best sooner than never..."

"OI TRISTY, YOUR GIRL'S BROUGHT THE TRAVELER HERE!" Grumbles suddenly shouted towards the door at the back with volume that sent everyone's ears ringing.

Out came Kate's much talked mother. She was very short and very much like her daughter with perhaps a little longer hair. It did not at all bode well for Kate's dreams of growing tall one day, but at least she would remain the right size for her thieving hobby. She ran to hug her mommy right away and buried her face under her chest. Tristy patted the little girl's head and lifted her eyes to Astrid. She spoke very gently, but there was a tingle of something sad in her tone, "Hey Astrid. This here's Grumbles and I'm Kate's mother, you can call me Tristy. It's so nice to have people like you visiting our little town. How are you liking it so far."

[PennySludt]

Astrid tried to listen, or at least appear that she was listening, as the large, friendly man began describing just exactly how to get to the bakery. Her attention though, was torn between him and Kate, whose head kept poking out every so often from beneath the cauldron. She did try to pay attention at least to the general directions on how to get there, so she would know where to go if Kate managed to escape her predicament. As soon as the child slipped out from under the large pot, Astrid relaxed and smiled more naturally up at the large man as he waffled on about this, that, and the next thing. Eventually though, her legs grew tired of standing still and she could tell the other man was beginning to get impatient. When he took a breath, Astrid jumped in.

"Well, thank you very, very much, Sir. I'll just be on my way then and let you get back to your business before your food grows cold. Thank you for your time." She smiled at both of them and scurried off before she could be drawn into another lengthy 'conversation'. Once she had gone a little way from the two men she slowed down and smiled slightly smugly, whispering to Calden.

"Of course I was right. Besides, now that I think about it, was she really in any danger...? She could have just said she was playing hide and seek or something if they'd found her..." Astrid mused as she began following the stairs the way the man had said. She supposed she had perhaps been a little rash in her haste, but in the moment she had been afraid for her friend. She sighed, "Alright, I'll try to keep you in the loop. But how?"

She trudged along the stairs, peering into windows and trying to decipher the little signs, but nothing looked like a bakery. When Calden mentioned the man might have lied she began to wonder that too, but before she could answer him she heard a little, high pitched voice. She looked around and smiled when she saw Kate's grinning face and wildly waving hand. Astrid sped up a little to reach the girl and followed her into the little shop. As the delicious smells of baking assailed her, Astrid's stomach gave a low growl. It smelled delicious! Her eyes grew wide as she looked about the place and caught sight of the masses of baked goods on the shelves. How in the world could they even MAKE that much food, let alone give it to people?

Her thoughts were interrupted when another large man greeted them. She smiled and nodded when he said she must be Astrid, nodding again with a grin when he asked if Kate had really let her sleep in her hideout.

"Oh, no Sir. It was quite alright. I didn't mind it one bit. She made sure I was comfortable, and I had a lovely sleep. Thank you. She's been ever so kind!" She jumped a little when the man suddenly shouted over his shoulder at someone and she glanced at Kate with slightly widened eyes for a second before settling back into a smile as the kind looking woman appeared and Kate ran over to her.

"It's lovely to meet you. Kate talks about you both quite a bit." She smiled when Tristy asked how she liked the town, nodding her head, "It's quite lovely, though I wouldn't call it little!" she giggled. "I've never seen a town as huge as this! And Kate has been awfully lovely to me. She's been kind and generous, and has shown me around a bit. She's been wonderful!" She beamed at her little friend, then looked back at her mother and then at Grumbles. "Thank you very much for the delicious breakfast. It was the most wonderful thing I've had in a long time!"

[Sain]

Calden had went quiet when asked how he should be kept in loop. Didn't seem like the boy had much thought it further than up to the fact that he just disliked not knowing what was going on. He had muttered in answer, saying he would 'think of something', meaning he probably wouldn't come up with anything in a while. Seemed pretty difficult for him to really be kept out there in the open as people would no doubt be disturbed by the weird eye thing on the girl's shoulder and more so when it would move and talk.

People of the bakery didn't have to know. They were all smile and grin as they welcomed Astrid into the spacious establishment filled with warmth and inviting scents. "Ah! That is good to hear," sighed Grumbles as what little worries he had held of Astrid's impression towards the town seemed to fade with her complimenting the hideout. A silent moment of realization appeared on his face and the older man quickly began clanking through some utensils, plates and such as he began to prepare what seemed like proper dinner. He left the quest's entertainment to Tristy and her daughter. Kate's embrace around her mommy's waist loosened a little and she turned to look back at her newest friend; her face beamed with a blissful little smile. Tristy's hand stayed at the rough short hair of her daughter and began inattentively stroking the hair while keeping her attention on Astrid. "Glad to hear you liked it. I made those actually. There might still be a few"-she cast a glance above the counter towards the baker's back-"but I think Grumbles just began..." her tone faded into mumbling as the booming male voice shouted in response, "YES! YES! I'm preparing a feast - a welcome feast! It'll be great... just hold on I'll... Grrr!" Grumble's fumbling was heralded by a particularly noisome rattle as he accidentally let some pans drop onto the floor. Tristy ignored the man whose rambling quickly became mostly nonsensical monologue.

Tristy continued to behave like a model hostess, treating Astrid with kind and un-intrusive little questions and answers - her travels, if she had something she wanted to know about the town and other such. Kate joined in. Naturally she could not stay quiet and had to add her own opinion to every topic even if it wasn't valid. She did seem to behave a little less high and mighty around her mom though than she had when her and Astrid had been alone. In the background Grumbles ceaselessly worked to produce something for them to enjoy. He would occasionally pop into the backrooms where the real kitchen seemed to be.

It was on its way to be a nice calm evening; mundane without any sort of strange disturbance. Calden had remained quiet. Of course as he did not want to give away their cover. He had also been in a pretty good mood though. There were plenty of sounds, a lively conversation and bright auras of the three humans around them giving him entertainment. Kate yelping and complimenting the smell emanating from kitchen was when his relaxation was interrupted. In that world of his where bright auras danced against a void background a ripple ran across the floor of the blackness or rather a wave of something reached him - them. It flowed harmlessly across the room and people who remained unaware, but to Calden it had different effect which incited a thorough terror in his mind. A vision of himself or at least his own body and the thing that had taken control of it. He could see it stand proudly on top of a black heap with an ominous grin on his lips. The pitch black eyes of the God rose from the lump at its feet and looked into Calden, laughing. He was frozen in fear that the boy could not describe or fully comprehend, but under that weakness began stemming immense rage - how dare it use my body like that?!

Calden's voice was stern when he whispered during a good moment when no one else but Astrid would hear him, "I saw me. I saw 'that' God. Think I know where it is. It's doing something bad. We need to go." He didn't much spare thought for whether or not sun would set in some hours or what Astrid thought right then.

[PennySludt]

Astrid felt so warm, comfortable and welcomed by the little group in the bakery. She was astounded when Grumbles called out that he was making a welcome feast.

"F...for me....!?" she asked incredulously, staring from him to Tristy to Kate in shock. "Oh! You don't have to do anything like that! Really! I don't want to put anyone to any trouble!" She couldn't believe they were making such a fuss over her. It felt....awkward but good. She sat down with Kate and her mother and they chatted about everything it seemed. They were friendly and welcoming and it was so nice to be around people again. It had been nice being with Kate, but there was just something about being in a group of people that she had missed. She was so happy right now. She hoped Calden was having a nice time too. When Calden whispered to her when the others were occupied she nearly fell off her seat in shock.

"What!?" she whispered in a panic. "What do you mean you saw him? What's he doing? How did you see him? Where? Here?" she asked, whispering in a hoarse voice as she looked around frantically. "What do we do? What do we do?" she asked fearfully, not really paying attention to whether anyone could hear or see her strange behavior.

[Sain]

The host family were likewise surprised, though theirs was due to the sudden reaction. "Hey? Everything alright?" The mother already asked with a little weirded out look on her face; Kate's eyes had the same worried stare. Calden did not seem to care however. That nightmarish vision still lingered vividly in his mind's eye. It was a miracle enough that he kept his voice hushed when he continued; his voice still shaky and scared, "No... not here. I don't know... It just- Just came from there"-he tried to point towards the valley, but realized there were no hands-"uhm... from the valley, somewhere. He is wearing my body. I looked disgusting on him. Those eyes." Calden quieted his own whimper after finishing, gathering his wits to continue.

"What's wrong Astrid?" Kate asked, adding to her mother's concern for their guest. Ignoring their reactions, Calden continued, "It's, not there anymore. I don't- it just flickered, but I could feel where. I know where he is, I think, or was." Some of the dread flaked off of his tone as he grew more confident. As much as he dreaded the very idea of seeing that God-thing face to face, this was the first hint of its location that they had had since it ran off. "It could start moving again any minute. Astrid, we gotta to, lets go. We can come back later."

The boy waited for her answer nervously. Evening and dinner were on their way though, but just within the first day that thing had already harmed a king of a forest and left it to die. Who knows what it might have done by now.

[PennySludt]

Astrid looked up quickly when Tristy asked if everything was alright, but she was too distracted by Calden's insistent whispering in her ear. She stared blankly at the two of them as she listened to Calden, her eyes wide and panicked. When he mentioned the valley she turned her head slightly in that direction as though she could see it.

She couldn't help the shiver of horror that ran up her spine when he described how the thing had looked in his body, her face going pale at the thought. She looked back at Kate when she asked again, but Calden was still talking and Astrid couldn't concentrate on both at the same time. She simply stared blankly at Kate as she listened to Calden.

If he knew where the thing was, or thought he knew, did that mean the thing knew where they were too? Did it work both ways? He insisted they leave, and Astrid was caught. When he finally stopped talking, she gave a little shake and focused on Tristy and Kate.

"Uh....I....I have to....have to go...." she stammered, standing up quickly and looking around her almost wildly. If the vision worked both ways and that thing knew where they were, it could decide to come after them. What if it hurt Kate, or Tristy, or anyone here because of them!? She had already got Calden...well...hurt wasn't exactly the term, but he had been harmed because of her. She couldn't let anyone else come to harm because of her. She began walking toward the door.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I...I have to go....I have to go now....I'm so sorry...." she said, trying to stop the tears as she opened the door and began walking out into the dusk of evening. Where she was going or what she planned to do, she didn't know. But she had to leave before anyone else got hurt.