Prologue

 

"Gone! It's gone, I tell you. We'll never find it if we don't act now!"

"Yes, Geraldine, we are all aware of the 'missing' artifact, but acting right away will not solve any of our problems. What good will rash decisions be in this type of situation?" An ancient looking man with a beard as white as snow sat at a long, wooden table. He wore a robe of olive green silk with a darker brown trim. He had pale, almost translucent blue orbs, and crows' feet tugged at the outer edges of his eyes.

"But what good are we doing just sitting here talking about it?" The woman named Geraldine huffed, short auburn hair framing her tanned face. A long, terracotta colored dress hugging to her curves. A clay tinted sash hung from her hips, swaying with her every movement. She stood up, her sandstone chair sliding backward against the floor, her hands pressed firmly against the cool wooden table. "If we don't act now, the villagers may find out and want war again! You know as well as I that the Ring of Frederick was the only thing keeping our peace, Cecil," she persisted, her amber eyes ablaze with fury.

Cecil let out a long sigh and leaned back in his tall wooden chair, moss and lichen climbing up the legs and back. He closed his eyes for a brief moment in what seemed like resignition. "Perhaps we should consult the other Village Leaders?" He shifted and looked over in the direction of two other young men now. "Ralph? Hamish? What do you think?"

A brunet man stirred in his own chair made of a what looked like ice and some sort of transparent material. He wore a heavy, indigo coat whose hood was lined with soft, white fur peppered with black spots. His warm, honey colored eyes flickered over to the older man and he leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the wooden table, chin between his hands. "What do I think? I think this whole thing is a ploy to start up some feud between the villages. I don't plan on losing my head all because some old ring has disappeared from Frederick's mausoleum," he replied dryly. "We should find out who took it and deal with them."

"It might not have been stolen, Hamish. Let's take things slow. We shouldn't break it to the people just yet, not before we have some more information. What if we make false accusations?" Ralph reasoned, idly running one hand through his blond hair. He donned a vibrant, forest green cloak over a thin olive green shirt stitched at the the torn v-shaped collar. His emerald gaze fell on Hamish now, who seemed to be unbothered by the young man's words.

Geraldine grit her teeth and slowly sat back in her own chair, slumping against its back, defeated. "The people already know, Ralph. Maybe not a lot, but they certainly know something," she grumbled bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest.

The old man looked over the younger Village Leaders with a hint of amusement. They were young, many years younger than he, and had much more to learn. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips but he resisted and instead cleared his throat. "I believe that waiting may prove to be beneficial to us. Spreading any news of the disappearance of Frederick's ring might cause turmoil," Cecil decided, his wooden chair creaking as he readjusted his position.

An air of silence filled the room, the sound of the steady breathing of the four Village Leaders providing the only source of sound. Finally, Hamish spoke up again.

"The Children of the Glimmer Pool." He spoke in such a quiet tone that Cecil almost had not heard him. The words did not sound pleasant, in fact, they sounded like a curse the way Hamish uttered them.

"Yes, Hamish, what of them?" Ralph inquired, urging the other man to continue on.

The mousey haired boy grimaced, seeming nervous now. "They'd always had... You know. Some sort of strangeness about them, haven't they?" Hamish ventured, fiddling with some of the fur lining at the hems of his sleeves. "It could have been one of them. They might have taken the Ring."

"Yes! Yes, of course, why hadn't I thought of that?" Geraldine exclaimed in excitement, throwing up her hands. "The Children of the Glimmer Pool!"

"But why?" The blond boy questioned, furrowing his brow in confusion. He was the newly appointed Village Leader and had held this position for little over a month. Ralph was unfamiliar with many of the stories and customs of the Village Leaders, and so he could not understand why the Children of the Glimmer Pool might be possible suspects.

Cecil took it upon himself to explain to the younger man. A fondness flickered in his dulling vision as he turned to Ralph with some minor effort, the ancient wooden chair creaking once more. "Ah, yes, I'm sorry, Ralph. I forget you are not as familiar with the story as Geraldine and Hamish. You know that the Ring of Frederick belonged to a man named Frederick Elswood, correct? Frederick was a peaceful man who thought that violence was never the answer to anything. He traveled through four vast climates all inhabited by clan people, most of which were rather barbaric. They fought viciously and ravaged one another's lands for food, for territory, and dominance.

"While Frederick ventured through these places, he took note of their uncivil behavior and left for middle ground between all four landscapes. It is the place we now know as the Glimmer Cave. Frederick took it upon himself to fix the warring clans' situations and into the cave he went. As the story goes, Frederick prayed to the heavens and a ray of sunshine broke through the roof of the cave. A beautiful woman was formed from the sunlight and told Frederick that she would grant him seven days to come up with a wish that he wanted most.

"For seven days, Frederick stayed in the Glimmer Cave with the beautiful woman and over the course of that week, the two of them fell madly in love. On the seventh day, Frederick wished that the clans come together for peace and just as promised, the woman granted his wish. The four clans stopped their fighting and eventually settled into the territories our villages reside in. After the woman fulfilled Frederick's wish, she dissolved back into the ray of sunshine from which she was born. This caused Frederick great sadness and a single tear fell from his eye, mingling with the sunlight that the woman was formed from.

"The woman's sunlight and Frederick's tear mingled together and formed a never ending pool of iridescent water we call the Glimmer Pool. Frederick could see the woman's reflection in the Glimmer Pool and drowned himself trying to reach his love. In due course, the clans who had been brought peace by Frederick's wish went in search of him and when they discovered his dead form in the cave, floating at the surface of the Glimmer Pool, they mourned for him. Each clan decided that for the sake of Frederick and his love, a child from each clan would be sacrificed on the seventh month on the seventh day every other year.

"The Children of the Glimmer Pool are children who were sacrificed to the pool. Typically, the children sacrificed will float to the surface of the pool, but those who sink will swim to the surface seven days after with a type of iridescent feature. Most often, Children of the Glimmer Pool are seen as unnatural beings. After all, what child sinks to the bottom of a never ending pool and then swims up a week after?" Cecil spoke every word affectionately, as he had told this story dozens and dozens of times.

Ralph stared at Cecil for a few moments and was silent for a good two minutes, waiting for Cecil to continue. When it was evident that the old man had finished his story, the blond sighed and asked, "But what of his Ring? Why is Frederick's Ring so significant to us? If he wished for us to have peace, then shouldn't we have peace? There is no need for a ring."

"It is because it was Frederick's. Frederick is dead, but as long as something of his remains, it reminds us that we are to keep the peace he wished upon our clans," Geraldine explained, rolling her golden eyes in annoyance. "Or are you so daft you can hardly comprehend something so simple?"

Again, the blond man was quiet and leaned back in his chair. He decided that it was not too clear, but now that Geraldine had explained it further, he understood a bit more.

"Precisely. So couldn't the Glimmer Children be our prime suspects?" Hamish pressed, cocking a brow as though daring someone to question him.

Cecil grunted and stood up. "Why would it be the Children of the Glimmer Pool? Have you any evidence? Or perhaps you have a confession from one of them?" He shuffled away from the table, cuing the other Village Leaders to do the same.

Hamish grit his teeth and began tugging on a pair of woolen mittens as the four of them exited a large wooden building constructed in the resemblence of a tree. "The Glimmer Children are unnatural beings, Cecil, that much is clear to anyone. No human being can breathe underwater, much less in an endless, iridescent pool," he pressed.

"Yes, perhaps they are not of this world. But they have not made any conspicuous trouble, Hamish. Until we have extensive knowledge concerning Frederick's Ring, we should not tell our people the details." The old man turned away from the brunet boy and looked to Ralph. "Now, Hamish, Geraldine, I bid you a warm hearted farewell. Come, Ralph, let us go."

Without another word on the topic, Cecil and Ralph turned left at the exit and made their way toward their own separate Villages: Cecil went down an old, worn forest trail while Ralph made his way toward a mountain range.

Hamish and Geraldine went just the opposite of the other duo. Hamish, still fuming, whirled on his heel to face Geraldine now. "Geraldine, you understand, don't you? The Glimmer Children are not to be trifled with but they must have had some hand in the disappearance of Frederick's Ring!"

The auburn haired girl stared at Hamish for a moment and bobbed her head up and down in a nod. "Yes, Hamish, I agree wholeheartedly. The Glimmer Children are strange and otherworldly. They are not to be trusted. Everything about them is suspicious and we would do good to be cautious about them," Geraldine grimaced, adjusting the sash at her hip.

Hamish nodded vigorously and held out one ungloved hand to Geraldine. "We shall make an oath, our very own secret agreement between the two of us. Cecil is reaching his prime age and soon his words will not matter," the brunet boy grumbled bitterly, staring expectantly at Geraldine.

"Yes, our own secret oath," Geraldine replied in a quiet tone, taking Hamish's hand and shook it firmly, sealing their secret conversation.

Without another word between them, the two made their silent oath of secrecy and parted ways, one toward the icy arctic climate, the other to a hot, barren desert. 

 

Chapter 1: The Little Boy Calls for Mommy

The warm summer sun bore down on the vast desert terrain, waves of heat floating up from the dunes of sand.  Cacti grew in patches here and there, small pink and white flowers blooming amid the prickly green plants.  There was not a cloud in sight, simply a clear blue sky that offered no sign of rain for miles.

A cloaked figure trudged through the sand, laden with bags and pouches of all sorts, containing everything from foreign herbs, strange seeds, and little round bottles filled with an ominous blue liquid that seemed to glow. Clutched in one hand was a thick cord of braided rope tied to a wooden dog sled. A cool gust of wind blew past, forcing the dark, olive colored hood from the wearer's head. Thick blonde locks whipped about the girl's face, her emerald eyes squinting against the rough wind. She pulled her free hand from the cloak and ran it through her unruly hair, brushing it away from her line of vision.

Not more than a stone's throw away was the Desert Village with its large sandstone buildings and cracked cobblestone roads. The girl grit her teeth as sand kicked up by the wind scratched at her pale cheeks. In an effort to protect herself, she grabbed for the hood of her cloak, pulling it up over her head as she continued through the sand.

She was greeted by no one. The Desert Village was usually quite vacant during the afternoon hours, when the sun was the highest in the sky. Only a few children littered the streets, kicking a well worn ball back and forth. When they noticed the foreigner, they stopped their play and sent her hostile glances. The smallest one, a fair haired boy, gathered the red ball up in his arms before reaching out to a blonde girl, his sister. They exchanged hushed words before the young girl scampered off and disappeared into a building, presumably their home.

The boy approached the young lady who had stopped to admire a large stone statue in the center of the village plaza. When she did not at first acknowledge him, he tugged on her cloak.

Feeling the tension on her cloak, the girl whirled around, her hand at her side where a dirk was strapped to her leather belt. Realizing that the culprit was a startled child and not the pickpocket she had first thought it to be, she cleared her throat and tugged the cloak over the long bladed knife before crouching down to the young boy's height.

"Hello there. Can I help you?" She asked, her soft emerald gaze focused on the child.

The boy seemed to relax a little, his own threatening gaze clashing with the older girl's tender one. "You're not from around here, are you?" It was more of an accusation than a question.

The fact that a small boy could have such an intimidating tone in his voice surprised the girl and she was a little reluctant to reply. She assumed that perhaps the boy was just frightened of her and in an attempt to soothe him, she expressed a gentle smile. "No, I'm not. Actually, I-"

An earsplitting shriek rose up from the boy's throat and immediately he grabbed at the blonde girl's cloak again, this time pulling on it much harder than he had the first time. This sudden clamor caused a wooden door to slam open and nearly burst into splinters as it smashed into the side of the building. A heavyset woman stood in the doorframe armed with a frying pan, a small dog yipping menacingly at her feet.

The woman tore across the sandy cobblestone street and advanced toward her son and the older girl who looked to be in a state of comfusion. She reached out and grabbed the boy's hand, heaving him up off of the ground and to her side before turning to the girl and giving her a hefty shove.

The girl stumbled backward, bewilderment flashing in her eyes before rage replaced them. Her hand flew to her side for the second time in five minutes, fumbling for the dirk. "Listen, ma'am, I'm not here to cause trouble," she warned, dusting down the front of her cloak, "but if you want to start something, I'll have no problem finishing it."

"I didn't start a thing! You were the one trying to hit my boy, Clemont, here. Now why don't you get out of here before things start gettin' physical, stranger," the mother threatened, emphasizing the last word of her sentence. She held the frying pan in a malicious manner, as though she were carrying a double edged sword.

Things may have escalated further had a young woman with auburn hair not stepped onto the scene. "Bertha, who are you threatening now?" She asked accusingly, making her way over to the large woman and prying the pan from her hand. "You and your delinquent children know better than to drive off travelers! Now go on inside and take Clemont with you. I don't want to have to tell you twice."

Bertha clenched her jaw, glaring intently at the reddish-brown haired woman who firmly crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a brow as if to say, "Well?" Bertha let out an sigh of annoyance and grabbed her son's hand, leading him back into the house and slamming the creaky wooden door behind them.

The young woman turned to face the blonde stranger who stared back dumbly. "Sorry, you'll have to excuse Bertha and Clemont. They have a nasty habit of accusing innocent travelers of crimes they haven't committed. My name is Geraldine. I'm the Village Leader here," she greeted, sticking out a gloved hand.

"Oh. No, it was no problem. Um... Iris. My name is Iris Lockwood," the younger girl greeted, sending Geraldine a small smile. She felt slightly more comfortable with the Village Leader than she had with the malevolent woman, Bertha. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble. You see, I'm a merchant and-"

This sparked Geraldine's interest and a small grin crossed her features. "A merchant? What do you sell?" She inquired.

Iris' green eyes widened in surprise at Geraldine's question. In fact, she was a little hesitant to give her an answer. In fact, if it were not for Geraldine's position, Iris might have just snapped out a quick, "None of your business" and be on her way. She shuffled her feet a little and jerked the rope in her hand, drawing the wooden dog sled forward.

"Sleds?" Geraldine ventured, raising a brow in question.

"Dog sleds, to be exact. Not much use for them back home, though," Iris explained sheepishly, her gaze briefly flickering to the dog sled at her side. "But that doesn't mean they can't be used for other things. I sell them mainly in the Arctic Village, you know, because it's colder there and you can't really get around fast. Of course, I'm sure they work just as well here. I've sold some to... Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I just get so..." The girl trailed off, staring at the little sled again. She did not know where else to look. She had just embarrassed herself in front of a Village Leader.

Geraldine offered Iris a sympathetic smile and shook her head. "No, it's fine. I don't mind. Perhaps I'll purchase one myself. While you are here in my village, allow me to show you my village's kindest hospitality," she decided, starting off down the empt road.

Iris stared after Geraldine for a good minute before realizing she ws supposed to be following the village leader. "Oh, of course!" She hurried after Geraldine, tugging along the dog sled.

The auburn haired girl guided Iris through the village who's residents slowly began filing out. The hottest hour of the day had passed and now they were ready to get back into motion. Vendors rushed about at lightning speed to set up their booths, children poured into the streets to play with one another, housewives left their homes to buy groceries for their families and each of them sent Iris the same strangely hostile glare.

In all truth, it unnerved the blonde girl a little. She had been to plenty of places with scary looking inhabitants, but the fact that Geraldine came off so nicely frightened Iris. She increased her pace so she and Geraldine matched strides. "Geraldine?"

Geraldine's amber eyes flickered over to look at Iris briefly before stopping in front of a building made of the same material as everything else: sandstone. "Here we are, the only Inn for miles. There are only a few rooms, but no worries, Iris, you're the only guest we've had for weeks on end. Go on in, make yourself at home," she insisted, ushering Iris inside.

Iris suddenly frowned and dug her heels into the sandy earth, wriggling away from Geraldine. "Oh, but I don't have any dollops, ma'am!" She objected, stepping away from the Inn and the Village Leader.

"Nonsense! I shall pay for you, Iris. Now, go on, it'll be fine," the woman pressed, taking Iris' arm just above the elbow and escorting her into the inn before the younger girl could refuse.

The interior of the building was quite different from it's exterior. The walls were draped in a scarlet fabric with golden tassles at the end of each hem. A large, C-shaped desk made of cherry wood sat pressed up against the left wall. At it's opposing, right wall, a matching set of dark, wicker furniture made for a comfortable waiting area, though who would wait there was a mystery. Straight ahead was a large, arched double doorway that no doubt led to the rooms.

Behind the desk was a young, russet haired man who looked quite pleased to see Geraldine coming in with a possible customer. "Ah, Geraldine, it's good to see you. Who is our guest?" He asked in a friendly tone, leaning forward over the desk.

Geraldine smiled and nodded her head in greeting. "Hello, Brendan. It has been a while since I'd last had a good conversation with you." She swept her free hand in Iris' direction, though it was a little unnecessary seeing as the girl hadn't moved from Geraldine's side in the slightest. "This," she began, "is Iris Lockwood. I'll be paying for her stay. She sells dog sleds."

Although she was sure Geraldine had not intentionally meant to embarrass her, Iris felt her cheeks flush. She mumbled quietly, something that sounded like, "Nice to meet you."

Brendan turned around to the corkboard hanging on the wall behind him and pulled a set of keys from the seven that were suspended by nails. He set them on the table and smiled innocently. "Here you are, Miss. Lockwood. Room number seven."

Iris subconsciously flinched at the number seven. She grit her teeth and forced a small smile in return before snatching the keys from the desk. "Iris. Just Iris. Please," she replied curtly, reaching down to grab the rope of her dog sled before turning on her heel. Looking over her shoulder at Geraldine, she mumbled a, "Thank you," and shoved through the arched doors.

"She's a bit of a wild one. I can tell," Brendan said suddenly, momentarily distracting Geraldine. He idly turned his back to the Village Leader, as though her position meant nothing to him, and leaned against the desk.

Geraldine rose her brow and frowned. "Excuse me, Brendan, but I do not appreciate that attitude toward a paying customer. If I hear that you're-"

"It's only fair. We don't get strangers-"

"Travelers."

Brendan sighed and rolled his gray eyes. "Sorry, travelers. We don't get travelers here often. And you know that since Frederick's Ring has disappeared-"

"Silence! We will talk about this later, Brendan. What if she heard you? Now here, take these so that I may be on my way," Geraldine snapped, reaching for a small animalskin pouch hidden under the sash at her hips. She yanked it open, grabbed a handful of translucent turquoise coins and tossing them onto the desk.

Without another word to Brendan, Geraldine stormed out of the inn, leaving the innkeep to admire the coins on his desk. "That's a lot of dollops for just one person," he murmured, slipping the coins into his pocket.

 

*******

 

Iris made her way down the corridor of the inn, fiddling with the room key in her hand, the sound of the dog sled dragging along the stone floor resonated through the hall. It had not been her intention to stay the night in this village, but after Geraldine had offered to pay, how could she refuse?She was so distracted that she had not even heard the sound of another door in the hall opening.

"Oh. Uh, hi."

Iris' muscles went rigid when she processed that she was not alone in the inn's hallway. She spun around to face another girl around her age.

The girl's hair was not very long, even in dreads. It came down to just above her shoulders and fell haphazardly about her face. Her skin was the color of a sunkissed mocha and her eyes were a startling bronze color. She was dressed comfortably in a tanktop the color of a mountain stream and a pair of well worn black pants. She wore a loose fitting, gray sweater about her shoulders and slid her hands into its pockets. "I didn't know I'd be having company."

The green eyed girl stared dumbly at the other girl and cleared her throat, giving a small nod of her head. "Neither did I," she let out an uneasy laugh. "I'm Iris, your temporary neighbor."

"Rad. I'm Nova. Did you just get here?" The girl asked, trying to make idle conversation. She was not much of a people person and the only reason she had come out of her room at all was because the sound of the sled dragging across the floor had freaked her out.

Iris nodded her head and continued to jingle the keys in her hand. "Yeah. But I'll only be staying for a little bit. I think," she mumbled, shuffling her feet.

"You think?" Nova ventured, raising a brow in question.

"Geraldine, the Village Leader here, said she'd pay for my stay," Iris explained, frowning.

Nova mumbled a quiet, "oh" and shifted her weight to one leg. "That's cool. So you come from the Mountain Village, too?" She asked, taking notice of Iris' clothing.

The blonde girl perked up at this and a grin pricked at the corners of her lips. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. I guess you do, too. Good to know," Iris replied, giving a small nod of her head.

There was an awkward silence between the two girls and finally, Nova decided to break it.

"So, uh... I guess I'll see you later?" She took a small step away toward her room again, throwing Iris a small wave of her hand before shuffling into her room.

Iris nodded again and waved her own goodbye. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. See you." With that, she turned on her heel and scampered to the end of the hallway, stopped in front of the seventh door, jammed the key in the lock, and stepped into the room.

She was exhausted from all of her walking and the heat had only made things worse. She unbuttoned her olive cloak and let it fall to the floor and made her way over to the rather cozy looking bed in the corner of the room. Iris collapsed into the plush blankets and kicked off her coal colored boots before pulling her knees in toward her chest. In only a matter of minutes, she drifted off to sleep, blissfully unaware of the busy Desert Village's nightlife.

 

Chapter 2: Dog Sleds and Windows

Iris Lockwood woke with a start, her muddy green eyes snapping open when she heard three loud, rapid knocks at her door. She shifted into a semi-sitting position, forgetting for a moment that she was not in her own home, but rather at a Desert Village inn.

Contemplating as to whether or not she should actually get up, Iris let a small frown cross her lips. The bed was quite comfortable, despite the sheets being dusted with a fine layer of sand.

"Hey, uh... Iris? Iris! Are you in there?" Nova's voice came from the other side of the door and from the sound of it, she was growing a little impatient. The dark haired girl let out a loud sigh of annoyance and slammed her fist on the door roughly so that perhaps Iris would hear.

The blonde girl winced at the loud banging and reluctantly threw off her blankets, muttering bitterly to herself. Iris reached for her boots and tugged them on, not bothering to lace them up. She stumbled over to the door and fumbled for the knob, twisted it, and pulled the door open. "Hello?" Iris asked, stifling a yawn.

Nova stared at Iris in disbelief. Had this girl been asleep? "It's past noon. Were you still sleeping?"

"Mmm? Oh, yeah. Is it really that early?" Iris asked, letting a yawn slip past her lips. She contorted her body position so that she could twist her upper torso, effectively cracking her back. "Did you need something?"

The brown eyed girl frowned and shook her head. She decided she would leave the topic of waking times for another day and switched the subject. "I didn't need anything, I just thought maybe you might want to pack up and get going," she warned, glancing over her shoulder anxiously as though worried someone else might be listening in on their conversation.

Iris stared quizzically at Nova, green orbs meeting brown ones. "What? Why? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing that I can physically prove, but I have my suspicions about the Village Leader and the innkeep. I've been here for a few days but I only intended to rest for a night. Unfortunately, when I tried to leave, the innkeep told me he'd give me a few extra days, on him. I thought it was strange that the Village Leader would be doing the same for you," Nova explained, furrowing her brows in concentration as she mentally played through a few scenarios.

"Isn't that just them being hospitable to travelers?" Iris countered. She was not exactly trying to challenge Nova on her word because she herself had only meant to pass through the Desert Village. There was not much use for selling and trading dog sleds here. In fact, Iris had been a little wary of Geraldine's overly friendly behavior when all of the villagers were being so hostile and quite frightening to say the least.

Nova snorted in contempt and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because the Desert Village has always been known for its kindly inhabitants and generous leader," she muttered, sending another wary glance down the hall. "No," she continued, "I was listening in on one of their conversations and I think they want to keep us here."

"But why? They seem like... nice people..."

"Looks can be very deceiving, Iris. Have you heard of Frederick's Ring?" Nova asked quietly, stepping past Iris and into the girl's room.

Iris stepped back, allowing Nova inside even though she had not really invited the girl in the first place, and sensing that what the dark haired girl would be telling her was not meant for anyone else's ears, the blonde girl closed the door behind her. "Yes, I've heard of it," she confirmed, seeming a little hesitant to answer.

"I'm not one to spread along rumors because I really, really, hate rumors, but this one is a little too serious to ignore. Now what I've heard is that," Nova paused and drew the curtains over the window, just in case, before continuing, "it's gone missing. Or rather, that it's been stolen. Naturally, they'd want to find out who stole it and right now, there's talk of the thieves being one of the children of the Glimmer Pool."

Stiffening up at the mention of Frederick's Ring supposedly going missing, Iris grit her teeth. "Is that so? Do they have any evidence?" The blonde girl asked slowly, leaning with her back against the wall.

Nova shook her head in response. "No. They don't have proof of anything, really. Just that the ring is missing and that things are going to get bad if the villagers find out," she explained glumly. Her warm brown eyes flickered over to Iris again and she added, "But they've been asking me strange questions and I think they're trying to pin it on any of us that they can if only to bring some peace to their villages."

"Oh, I understand now," she mumbled, standing upright and making her way past Nova. Iris moved to strap her dirk to her side again and grabbed the rope tied to the sad wooden dog sled on the floor. "Did you get any of your things?"

"What things?" Nova asked, not quite understanding Iris' sudden question.

Iris turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder at Nova with a grin. "Well, you're coming, too, aren't you? After all, they'd know it'd been you that was passing off information to me. And of course, that'd give them all the more reason to assume that you were the one who stole Frederick's Ring. So, you're coming, too."

At first, Nova was a little surprised by Iris' reply, but deciding that the girl was probably right, she nodded her head. "Oh. Of course. I'll just be right back," she mumbled, turning on her heel, opening the door, and making her way down the hall to her bedroom. Not even five minutes later did the dark haired girl return to Iris' bedroom with a tool belt clasped around her waist and a bag of trinkets tied to it in a messy knot. "Ready."

"That's all?" Iris asked, though she seemed vaguely amused. She was not quite sure what Nova had in the tool belt's pouches, but it sounded like metal clanking and jingling about. And the little bag tied to it sounded just the same, just not nearly as loud.

Nova seemed indignant at first but rolled her eyes afterward, deciding it was best not to argue with the girl. After all, they'd be so much better off as a team. "Yes, that's all. It's not a lot, but it's all I've got with me," she replied, giving a crooked grin. She shifted her feet for a moment  before clearing her throat. "Anyway, we should get going now. The inkeep's already awake downstairs, so we'll have to go out a different way."

Iris gave a small nod and stepped over to the door, closing it and jamming the key in the lock. She twisted it, earning a satisfying 'click', and gave the key a hard jerk to the side, effectively snapping off the top of it. "Open the window, will you? We'll go out that way," she decided, tossing the remaining part of the key off into the room somewhere.

The girl nodded her head and spun around, hurrying over to the window. She threw the curtains aside and frowned. The window was not very big. In fact, they would probably have a little trouble squeezing through it. Not to mention the fact that there were old metal bars in front of it. Nova shoved the window open and examined them thoroughly, fishing into her tool belt and tapping the bars with a small hammer. At last, the girl turned on her heel to face Iris, who had been watching the girl inspect the bars.

"Can we get through?" Iris asked quietly, hoping that she had not just locked them in the inn's room.

"We should be able to," Nova replied, a grin stretching over her features. "There are metal bars here but they're old and rusted and the sand has worn them down, I think. I could break them away with my hammer," she decided, already going to work with her tool.

Just as she said, the metal bars were rusty and well past their time. Nova had to only give the tops and bottoms a rough tap before they had torn away from the window and soundlessly fallen into the sand where they would rest for who knew how long.

Nova turned back to look at Iris, who had resigned to touching up her wooden dog sled.

Noticing that the other girl had finished with the window, Iris stood upright, smiling sheepishly. "We can go now?" She inquired, taking a small step forward.

"Yeah. I think we'll be fine now. Let me go first, though, just in case," Nova said, already figuring how to go about getting through the window. At last, she decided she would go hands first, slipping her upper body through the window effortlessly. Her hands sunk into the warm sand a little, but after pulling herself through the rest of the way, she pulled herself into an upright position and peered back into the window.

Most people would have denied letting someone they had met only just yesterday go first, especially under such strange circumstances, but already Iris had felt that she could trust Nova. After all, it had been Nova who had even warned her of something so important. Iris abruptly grabbed her small dog sled and managed to fit it through the window. Of course it had taken some work, but the sled got through. Now it was Iris' turn.

Staring intently at the window, debating on whether or not she should follow Nova's lead, Iris frowned. She decided to go the opposite way and awkwardly shimmied her legs through the window first. Iris landed on her feet and then limboed her upper body through afterward. She grabbed the rope tied to the sled and grinned at Nova. "Where to, friend?"

Nova was a little putoff by this and grimaced. She grabbed for her tool belt again and opened a pouch, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. After she unfolded the paper, it came to be clear that it was a map. It was divided into four sections, more or less, each one classified by a color. The Arctic Village was a pale blue color, the Mountain Village a lavender color. The Forest Village was a light green and the Desert Village an red-orange.

They were much closer to the western part of the Desert Village's territory, meaning they were nearing the cave of Frederick's tale. There, they could go into any of the other Villages because that was essentially where the other territories met.

Nova set her expression into a rather pleasant one before turning to look back at Iris. "We'll go to the Mountain Village," she decided.

And with that, Nova and Iris started away from the inn they had been staying in, making their way westward, toward their home village.

Chapter 3: A Monkey Calls from Her Tree

"What's your favorite color?"

"I don't know, different shades of blue, I guess."

"Do you like dogs or cats better?"

Nova let out an exasperated sigh and had to resist throwing up her hands in annoyance. "I don't know, Iris."

Since their departure from the Desert Village's inn, the blonde haired girl had constantly pestered Nova with questions. Most of which pertained to things that were either out of the ordinary or ridiculously childish.

The dark skinned girl grit her teeth. How could this girl keep up her non stop chattering for nearly an hour and a half? Nova was beginning to get a sinking feeling in her gut. Perhaps she should have just left her to the village leader and the strange innkeep? No, that would have been terrible, even for her.

"-va. Nova? Nova! Are you even listening to me anymore?"

Iris' complaining tone snapped Nova out of her thoughts. She jerked her head to look at the other girl and rose her brows in questions. "Huh?"

The blonde girl groaned and dragged her hand over her face rather dramatically before repeating what she must have asked while Nova was too busy in her own mind. "I asked you what you thought of me," Iris smiled up warmly at the brown eyed girl, awaiting an answer.

Nova stared dumbly at Iris, brows furrowed in confusion. "Excuse me? Are you coming on to me?" She asked, her eyes widening a bit. She was having second thoughts on this new friendship. More like seventh thoughts, but it's more or less the same.

Iris' own green eyes widened and she hastily tried to correct Nova. "Woah, woah, woah, hold on, that isn't what I was saying. That's not what I meant, I swear. I was just wondering if you thought we'd end up being, you know, friends," she explained.

Relaxing, Nova shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. i met you, what, a day ago? And even then, it was just a brief encounter in the hallway of an inn we both happened to be staying. You can't just base a friendshi-"

"That's not what I meant, either, Nova," Iris insisted, green eyes briefly flickering to the taller girl. "Do you think we could get along for a long period of time? You know, if we ever have to go on a journey?"

"What makes you think we'd be going on a journey?"

"I was thinking maybe we could-"

"No."

"-search for Frederick's Ring-"

"No way."

"-and set things right-"

"Hell. No."

"-in the villages."

As soon as Nova's mind put together that Iris wanted to search for Frederick's Ring, she immediately set her decision. Frederick's Ring was no concern of her's, let alone Iris', and the fact that this girl she only just met wanted to include her in some sort of fictitious epic journey that would end in a disaster was more than ridiculous.

"That's stupid. The entire idea is ridiculous, Iris,"  Nova stated firmly, her brown eyes boring into Iris' very soul.

Iris seemed offended by Nova's answer. "Pardon?"

Nova let a long, drawn out sigh escape her. "What would make you think you'd even find Frederick's Ring in the first place? And in addition to that, it isn't your concern. It isn't your responsibility to retrieve something the ignorant Village Leader's couldn't keep contained. If the villagers rebel against them, it serves them right. What kind of idiot can't keep something like a ring safe? If it was so sacred to them, why didn't they just make sure it didn't fall into the hands of another moron?" She reasoned, hoping that perhaps it would change the girl's mind. It wasn't that she had intentions of befriending Iris, it was just that trying to retrieve some ring that was probably lost forever would be a waste of time.

"How can you say that? Th-"

"Shh."

"Did you just 'sh' me? Nova, tha-"

"No, seriously, be quiet. I thought I heard something," Nova whispered quietly, stopping dead in her tracks. This caused Iris to stop, too, though she seemed to be rather uneasy.

Nova suddenly took hold of Iris' arm, just above the elbow, and dragged her toward a rather large oak tree that somehow managed to survive in the desert's nutrient lacking soil. "Stay right here," she commanded, releasing the blonde girl and reaching up to grab one of the limbs of the tree.

In only a few moments, Nova had completely disappeared from Iris' sight, hidden among the leaves in the tree. The brown eyed girl scanned the branches, seeming to be searching for something. They fell on a strange shape peeking out from behind the wide trunk of the tree. It was axe-like in shape, but as Nova pulled it from its hiding place and into her lap, it became clear that it was actually a guitar. The neck appeared to be the handle, but the base of it was more like a double edged axe. Wrapping her hands firmly about the handle of the bass-axe, Nova began to descend from the tree.

Iris let out a yelp of surprise when she saw the sharp blade and jumped back a few feet when Nova's feet hit the ground. She slung the weapon-instrument over one shoulder and glanced at Iris. "Just in case we meet some sort of foul enemy," she explained.

Nova's poor reasoning did not soothe Iris' frazzeled nerves in the slightest, but she nodded her head nevertheless. She let her hand fall to her dirk and she patted its handle almost affectionately. "Can we please get back on track now?" She asked tentatively, feeling that she should watch her words now that Nova was supplied with a potentionally fatal weapon.

"Yeah, fine," Nova sighed in resignition, starting back the way they had come. Iris trailed right beside her. "I was just getting it because I thought maybe we would need it fo-"

"Protection? From who?" A higher pitched voice interrupted Nova, effectively silencing both she and Iris. The voice sounded rather amused as it continued, "Are you scared of the woods?"

Nova grit her teeth and immediately swung the instrument-weapon from her shoulder, preparing to start hacking away at who or whatever she needed to. "Scared of the woods? What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

Iris, completely unprepared, blindly groped for her dirk. She successfully grabbed the handle and unsheathed it, defensively holding it out before her.

A rustle in the oak tree behind the girls caused them to become slightly startled before the two spun around to face it, assuming this was the voice's hiding place.

"I don't take either of you for an idiot." A girl dropped from one of the higher branches up in the tree to one of the lower ones. Her eyes, an intricate brown color with a gold ring around the outer edge of the iris, locked onto both girls quite innocently. She swung her feet back and forth as they dangled from the tree limb. Her hair was a darker shade of brown hanging loosely in two looped pigtails. "Are you guys going on an adventure?"

The darker skinned girl snorted and, deciding this small girl would be of no threat to them, let her bass-axe go back to her shoulder. "Our motives are none of your business, kiddo," Nova replied, turning on her heel as she started back the way she and Iris had been heading.

Iris obviously hadn't caught on that they should be leaving because she just stood in the same spot, smiling as friendly as possible at the shorter girl. "Oh. No, not just yet. Actually, we're going to the Mountain Village," the blonde explained, sliding her dirk back into its sheathe before approaching the base of the tree and looking up at the brown haired girl.

"Iris!" Nova hissed, whirling around. Not only was the other girl a little annoying, she was also a little daft. She could hardly believe Iris had just blathered their plans. It may not have been very important, but the girl could have been a Desert Village spy.

"What?" Iris whined, looking over her shoulder at Nova, who was fuming beside her. "I was just talking to her."

"Her has a name," the girl in the tree chimed in quietly. She wasn't about to intervene in the soon to come bickering between Iris and Nova, but she thought perhaps it would be worth mentioning her name.

Nova snorted and rolled her brown orbs, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You were not just talking to her, you were providing her with valuable information that she could possibly use to hinder our travels," she snapped back, wondering how Iris was so oblivious.

Iris furrowed her brows in confusion and instead of giving Nova an intelligent response, she gave her a dismissive wave and turned back to the girl up in the oak tree. "What's your name?"

"Farren. And yours?" Farren spoke over Nova's annoyed groaning and watched as the taller girl moved to sit in the dry grass.

"Iris Lockwood. The grouch over there is Nova... ah..." Iris trailed off, realizing she had not ever learned her new friend's last name. The blonde girl turned to look at Nova and gave a crooked grin. "Nova? What's your last name?"

The dark haired girl looked up from ripping dead stems of grass out of the nutrient deprived soil and mumbled something inaudible. Noticing both Iris and Farren give her quizzical looks, she suppressed a sigh threw grass up into the air. As it fell about her, Nova repeated: "Nadira."

Farren gave a small nod of her head. "Nice to meet you, Iris, Nova," she greeted, smiling warmly. "I saw you guys leave the inn," she said suddenly, causing Nova's eyes to flicker up from the grass.

Nova's brown eyes widened to the size of saucers and she stared at Farren accusingly. "You watched us?"

"Mm. Yeah, I did. You guys went through the window," she replied simply, swaying from side to side on the tree branch.

Iris grinned and couldn't help but wonder if Farren had followed them. She didn't bring it up, though, because she saw Nova mutter something bitterly and walk off. Quickly, the blonde girl started after her friend before pausing and turning to gesture for Farren to follow as well.

Farren obliged and leaped from the branch of the tree before joining up with Iris and Nova.

Nova heard the extra pair of footsteps and sighed again. "No, absolutely not. Go home," she instructed, though it was halfhearted.

"Nova, you're so cold. Farren can come with us," Iris replied for her new friend. She was quite pleased that she had already made two new friends. Granted, one was a little grouchy and the other was proving to be a little upbeat.

It was worth a shot. Nova grimaced and slid her free hand into her pocket while the other was tightly wrapped about the handle of her bass-axe. She let out another sigh, probably the umpteenth one that day, and continued to lead Iris and Farren through the forest, gradually becoming more and more dense.

 

*******

 

Three hours. That was how long it had been since Nova had decided to go on this trip to the Mountain Village. Originally it had just been with Iris, but they had ended up picking up what Nova called their little stalker, Farren, on the way. It might not have been an issue had the blonde and the brown haired girls not talked the entire time.

"I spy with my little eye something that is... gray," Iris decided with a grin, glancing over at Farren.

The shorter girl seemed to be thoughtful, glancing about them as they walked, tilting her head to the side out of habit. "Something gray, something gray, something gray," she echoed softly. At last, she widened her eyes, looking as though she had just made a new discovery. "Nova's sweater!"

Iris gasped and clapped her hands together to commend Farren's answer. "Yeah, that's right! Really good. Okay, Nova, it's your turn," she declared, looking to her right.

Nova had walked in between both girls the entire time. Iris was on her left and Farren was on her right. The girl absentmindedly tugged on her dreads, grimacing when she heard her name. "I spy with my little eye something red."

"Red?" Iris and Farren exchanged looks of confusion before glancing back over at Nova, hoping she would further evaluate. When the brown eyed girl didn't continue, the two girls broke into questions.

"Is it a butterfly?"

"A rose?"

"Cardinals?"

"Is i-"

"It's going to be the blood spewing out of you two if you don't shut the hell up," Nova replied in a monotonous voice.

Again, Iris and Farren looked to one another, but this time it was in horror. Nova let a smug grin cross her features and had to resist the urge to laugh. For the entire hour following, there was no conversation. 

 

Chapter 4: Attacked by Night Butterflies

The hour after Nova had made her empty threat was more or less silent, the only sounds were twigs and branches cracking underfoot. Iris and Farren walked on either side of the dark skinned girl, not daring to speak a word. In fact, they were consciously trying not to breath too loudly for fear Nova would carry through with her threat.

It was Iris that broke the silence. "It's getting dark," she commented, her emerald eyes flickering to the horizon, where the sun was descending behind it. Soon, it would disappear, and they would be in the pitch blackness of the forest. "I think maybe we should set up camp and rest."

Nova glanced over to look at Iris, who had suddenly stopped. "Pardon? Did I hear you right? 'Set up camp' out here in the forest? Iris, that's insane," she frowned, idly fiddling with the buckle of her tool belt, causing whatever was in the pouches to jingle and clink together.

"It's really dangerous out here. We could be killed. You know all four territories meet up at the corners in the middle. The five mile circle is free reign territory for everyone, not just the villagers. Thieves and murderers and stuff!" Farren agreed. She hugged her arms and tried to protect herself from the possible scenarios.

Iris grimaced and clenched her teeth. "Yeah, I know that. But we can't just keep going. We're going to get tired. If someone did ambush us, what good would we do fighting back when we were already exhausted?" She reasoned, running her hand through her blonde locks.

The dark skinned girl grimaced and her calf brown eyes flickered briefly to meet Iris' emerald gaze before falling back to her feet. At last, she let out a sigh and slid to the grassy ground. "Okay. We'll rest here, but we need to have guard duty," Nova decided at last. She obviously would not be taking first watch, seeing as she dropped to lie on her side and curl up in the plush grass under the shade of an oak tree.

Farren looked a little torn. She was tired, too, but she didn't want to make Iris stay up by herself. After what she had heard about the other girls' short travel before they had met her, Farren felt as though she should take watch. Just as she opened her mouth to volunteer, Iris interrupted.

"You should sleep, too, Farren. Even if it's just for a little bit. I can take watch," Iris sent the brown haired girl a small smile as reassurance and before Farren could object, Iris pulled herself into the tree above Nova to keep watch.

The short girl shuffled her feet a bit and rather than objecting, she bobbed her head up and down in a nod before settling to lie in the grass under the same tree as Nova. She curled into a ball with her back to Nova's and after glancing up at Iris among the leaves, Farren closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't long before Iris was the only one still conscious, which surprised even her. She had been worried that taking on watch was a little more than she bargained for, mainly because every time she heard something, she jumped, grabbed for her dirk, and sighed when she realized it was just a rabbit or something harmless. Every once in a while, though, the noise would come from Nova or Farren shifting in their sleep or mumbling incoherently.

Iris shifted in her tree branch, sliding her dirk out of its sheathe and tossing it into the air. She caught the hilt by sheer luck; every other time she would catch it by the blade and cut the palm of her hand clean open. Grinning triumphantly, she tossed it up for another try and caught the hilt again. One more time for good luck. Again, Iris threw the dirk into the air.

"Oh dear god!" The blonde girl winced when she felt the cold blade slice through her skin with ease. She had hoped that perhaps she would catch it again, mostly because she was becoming a little cocky. Iris clenched her fingers instictively and flailed her hand about, trying to keep quiet so as not to wake Nova or Farren.

"How'd you do that?" A familiar little voice chirped from beside Iris, causing the girl to jump. Her green eyes landed on Farren, who had silently climbed up the tree and onto the branch beside her. How she hadn't heard the girl was beyond Iris.

Iris bit her lip and stared innocently at Farren, keeping her fingers curled into a fist. "What?" She hoped maybe she could play dumb with the smaller girl.

Farren would not be fazed. "I heard you. What'd you do? Cut yourself?" The brown haired girl inquired. The metallic-copper smell of blood was usually not that easy for humans to pick up, but Iris' was so unusually strong that it had overwhelmed her.

"Maybe just a little. It's okay. It was an accident," Iris replied nonchalantly, though her fingers were still clenched rather tightly.

"I can smell it. It has to be deep," Farren insisted, frowning in dissatisfaction. She suddenly perked up and let a small grin cross her features. "Can I wrap it? I have a bunch of bandages."

"No! I mean, no, it's okay. It doesn't hurt," Iris replied warmly, running her free hand through her fair hair.

Farren grimaced and leaned forward gingerly poking Iris in the side. "Iris," she whined, "I want to help. You guys have to let me do something. Here, I'll wrap it fo..." The brunette girl trailed off after she had reached out to grab Iris' wrist, prying the older girl's fingers away from her palm.

Iris' palm was cut, but not deep like the younger girl had first thought. In fact, it was just a little cut, but that wasn't what had startled Farren into silence. Leaking from the wound was an iridescent liquid the same consistency of blood. It glowed faintly in the darkness and when Iris stopped hearing Farren's words, she jerked her hand away, recoiling her fingers so that once again, her fist was clenched. "Please don't tell."

The tanned girl looked up to meet Iris' emerald eyes but she could not find them. The blonde girl had turned her head away. Farren slowly moved to wring her hands together, staring intently at Iris' balled up hand. The glowing was even fainter now, but Farren could still see some of its poor light shine through the crevices of the elder girl's palm. "I won't tell. I promise." She shifted her position. "Can I still bandage it?" She asked quietly.

"I... don't know," Iris replied softly, readjusting herself on the tree limb. She ran her free hand through her hair again and let her gaze fall on the younger girl. Farren's face was somber and had wilted a bit; she looked upset. A pang of guilt hit the blonde girl and she gently nudged Farren with her elbow. "Don't you want to see something cooler?" She asked in a whisper.

Farren almost immediately widened her eyes, her interest piqued. "Something cooler?" She echoed softly to herself. She nodded her head vigorously, having decided that this would be a much better option than just bandaging Iris' hand and going back to bed.

Iris broke into a smile and started up higher in the tree albeit with some difficulty. Farren followed right after her, always one branch behind in case Iris' foot slipped. The blonde girl stopped just a few branches from the top of the oak tree, patting the tree limb. The brunette girl joined Iris and stared at her quizzically.

"Okay, watch. Just stay really still, okay?" Iris instructed softly.

The brown eyed girl gave a small nod of her head in reply and waited.

Turning her head away from Farren, Iris looked to the sky. It was more or less clouded, concealing the full moon that desperately tried to shine through. Extending her hand to the sky, Iris and Farren waited in silence. For a moment, nothing happened. The wind abruptly picked up and the clouds clogging up the night sky were blown from the moon. The soft white beams of moonlight shone out freely and one of them caught the iridescent blood still leaking from Iris' palm.

Iris pulled her hand down and let it rest, palm up, in her lap. Farren gasped in awe at the new brightness of her friend's strange blood and when she opened her mouth to speak, Iris shook her head and mouthed, "Just wait." Again, the two girls waited in silence. The wind had slowed again and the clouds covered the moon once more, surrounding them in darkness, save for the blonde's hand.

A humming sound caught Farren's attention. She jerked her head in the direction she heard it coming from, east. She thought perhaps something, hummingbirds, maybe, were having late night adventures, but the the brown eyed girl was mistaken. Her eyes rounded to the size of saucers when she saw a swarm of god knew what flying straight toward them. The flying things drew closer to them and when Farren made them out, she realized they were moths.

"I call them night butterflies," Iris mumbled quietly, green eyes meeting Farren's brown ones. She had to keep herself occupied. Moths, pale green ones with brown wing tips and feelers fluttered down onto the girl's hand, clustering around the cut in her palm that was covered in glowing, iridescent blood. She cringed a little and hardly moved an inch.

Farren gave a small nod of her head and decided that it was okay to talk, so long as it was quiet. "What kind are they?" She whispered, glancing at the leaf-themed moths still gathered on Iris' hand. "Does it hurt?"

Iris gave a small shake of her head, flinching a little when the moths beat their wings at her movement. She looked back to Farren. "Luna moths. They're gorgeous." Her hand was quaking ever so slightly, and whether or not it was from the moths or it was just unintentional, it was quite noticable to Farren. "Not really. Just tickles and feels kinda wei- ACK!" She nearly fell back when the luna moths suddenly erupted in front of her and fluttered into the dark sky, no doubt to fly back wherever it was they had come from.

"What did they do?" Farren asked, tilting her head to the side. Her looped pigtails were undone from her sleep and she was busily fiddling with them, trying to untie and then retie them.

"They just cleaned up, that's all," Iris explained vaguely, opening her palm for Farren to see. It was completely healed, save for a pink scar running lengthwise of her hand. The iridescent blood was gone, no trace whatsoever.

Farren stared in silence at Iris' hand. She didn't seem to be as surprised as she had been earlier. Instead, she was just quiet. The brown haired girl slowly glanced up at the older girl beside her and grinned. "You're one of those... One of those uh..."

Iris grimaced. She didn't help Farren along in her sentence. She didn't want to, anyway. It would have just made her awkwardly uncomfortable.

"You're a child of the Glimmer Pool," Farren whispered, smiling broadly.

Typically, Iris might have scowled or just turned away, but Farren's smile was contagious. Iris broke into a grin and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm a child of the Glimmer Pool."

Chapter 5: Where Has the World Gone?

"-ake up. Hey. I know you can hear me. Wake up!" Nova's voice slowly began to rise as she vainly tried to wake Iris from her slumber. Farren had taken watch after Iris and was still wide awake, even into the morning hours. The only one who hadn't gotten up was Iris.

Nova grit her teeth. She was running out of nonviolent ways to try and wake Iris. She gave up and decided to put Plan B into action. Nova stepped away from Iris, walking back a few steps and then turned on her heel. She sprinted back to Iris and gave her shoulder a kick.

Almost immediately, Plan B succeeded. Iris' green eyes snapped open in surprise and she shot up into a sitting position, her hand flying to her shoulder. She looked a little disoriented but when she noticed it was just Nova and Farren, she relaxed. "That was pleasant," she muttered sarcastically.

The dark skinned girl grinned from ear to ear, pleased with herself. "It probably would have been a little better if you had woken up the first time I called you," Nova reasoned, though she was almost certain that if she hadn't kicked Iris, the blonde girl wouldn't have woken until mid afternoon.

Iris grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. "I can't help it," she mumbled, moving to stand upright. "I was up kinda late on watch and all."

"You sleep late even if you're not up late," the taller girl muttered.

Farren seemed to be quite satisfied that everyone was up now and clasped her hands together. "So where do we go from here?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"The Mountain Village. After all, that's where we were headed before you started stalking us and before we had to make a little pit stop," Nova murmured with a sigh, running one hand through her dark dreads. They were a little annoying every once in a while, but she was relatively happy that they more or less stayed out of her face.

Iris nodded her head in mutual agreement. "That's right. I almost forgot!" She patted down the front of her shirt, dusting away any dirt particles and dried leaves or twigs that clung to the fabric.

Farren gave a small nod of her head before glancing over at Iris and then at Nova. For a moment, she almost mentioned the incident last night, but after realizing Nova probably didn't even know, she caught herself and closed her mouth.

On that slightly awkward note, the three girls gathered up their belongings and started through the forest again.

 

*******

 

Nova balanced herself precariously on a log, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. Her arms were extended out to either side, hoping that it would keep her stable as she crossed over the rushing river. The log she stood on was hollow but it was so large that it remained between the large stones someone had wedged it beside so many years before them.

"Please be careful, you're freaking me out," Iris' voice called out to the dark haired girl from behind, slightly startling her.

Whipping her head around to glare at Iris, Nova felt herself start to tilt a little. She clenched her jaw and turned to glare straight in front of her instead, walking forward even as she shouted. "Iris, shut up, you're distracting me!"

Iris let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a neverous whine and a whimper before finally quieting down. She set her emerald eyes on her feet as she waited in silence.

Farren was more or less calmer than Iris was at the current moment. She stared briefly at Nova; she was almost across the log, so she figured she would be fine. After all, Nova was a big girl and didn't need to be supervised like a child. The brunette girl looked to her friend that remained beside her and gently reached over to tap her shoulder.

At first, Iris flinched. She wasn't all that fond of people touching her when she couldn't quite see them. Nevertheless, the blonde girl jerked her head up and stared at Farren quizzically. "What's up?" She asked, glancing back at Nova, who was nearing the other side.

"Nothing. Just letting you know Nova's going to be fine. It's only a river, after all. It isn't like she'll die," Farren smiled reassuringly at Iris, hoping to at least ease her nerves when really there wasn't much to be all that worried about.

A slightly stupid look crossed Iris' features, replacing her bewildered one. "Oh. Yeah, no, I know. Of course I know that. But she might slip and hurt herself or fall into the river and it's probably really cold, you know? Or what if Nova hits her head on something on the way down and she-"

"Iris, that's just about enough of your pitiful whining. Shut up and cross already," Nova's voice interrupted Iris and once again, her attention was captured by something else quite easily.

"Yeah," Farren began, leaving Iris' side and starting up onto the slick log. "Nova's fine. You really have the worst mindset of us all," she giggled, carefully picking out places on the wood that weren't as slippery. She actually navigated the log faster than expected. In only mere moments, she was more than halfway across the log. Her foot slid on the surface of the wood and caused her to drop. Thankfully, she just fell back onto the log, one leg on either side, arms tightly wrapped about it.

Iris hadn't known it at first, but as soon as she heard Farren's foot slide, she had sucked in a breath and held it. She didn't dare breathe for fear she would offset Farren's balance even more.

Nova, too, was worried. Her calf brown eyes were intently focused on Farren. She took a small step forward, then another, and another until finally she was in full stride, back on the log. "Give me your hand," she instructed calmly, although internally she could hear a voice in the back of her head screaming at her to get her ass off of the log and back onto solid ground.

Two pairs of brown eyes locked for a moment. The log was quaking. At first, Farren suspected that perhaps she was just trembling so hard she was making it move. Then, when she heard Nova's voice for a second time, repeating what she had just said, Farren became painfully aware that it wasn't just her.

The log was shuddering under the weight of the two girls and its ancient age probably wasn't helping the fact that it could split right down the middle at any time. In only a few mere seconds, the log started to break free of its prison between the rocks at either end. It splintered and cracked, two sounds that were sending waves of fear through all three girls.

Overcome by pure panic, Iris launched herself toward the log in an attempt to somehow save both Farren and Nova, however, her adrenaline kicked in too late. The log suddenly split in a transverse fashion, separating both girls for just a second before they dropped into the frigid river.

Nova's muscles went rigid and her first instinct was to grab for the nearest half of the hollow log. This proved to be a challenge seeing as the fast moving current was already sweeping her downstream. She kicked her legs as hard as she could, despite being a less than average swimmer, and managed to latch onto one of the halves.

It provided the soaking girl with a short period of rest. As it turned out, the hollowed out log was not all that buoyant. In fact, it was weighing her down a little. Nova still managed to keep her head above the water before she started to feel her everything grow tired.

And then she remembered Farren had been on the log with her. Frantically, Nova tried to heave herself up onto the log in hopes of being able to have a more clear view of the rushing rapids around her. This was only in vain; she hardly had the strength to hold on to the log as it was. Feeling a little frustrated, she blinked the water from her eyes. "Farren!" She thought perhaps she could just call for the younger girl and this might have proven to be successful had the log not suddenly dropped out from under her.

Nova grit her teeth and struggled against the water for as long as she could before she noticed that the area surrounding her started to grow progressively dark. Surely it wasn't twilight already? That was really all the brown eyed girl could think of before she could no longer hear the roar of the river and before the world went dark.

Chapter 6: More and More Questions

 Widened green eyes the size of saucers stared at the open space above a river where a log had been just moments before. Iris dropped to her knees and crawled over to the edge of the grassy area. She grabbed fistfuls of the long green stalks as though if she fell, they would prevent her from toppling into the river like Farren and Nova. If she hadn't been there to see her friends fall into the river with it, Iris would never have known that a log had connected one side of land to another.

She leaned over the little cliff as far as she could without throwing herself offbalance, searching the rough water for any signs of human life. The area below was devoid of anything to show that Farren and Nova had ever been in the waters. In fact, not even the pieces of the log was there.

Iris swallowed the lump in her throat and reluctantly heaved herself off of the ground, off of her knees, and to her shaky feet. If she hadn't any hope for the survival of her friends, she might have just remained in that position and grieved for who knows how long. Fortunately, she did have some shred of hope, no matter how small. She hadn't any sense of direction but she knew she needed to -no, wanted to- find Farren and Nova, and the only sensible thing she could think of to do was to follow the river downstream.

Without a moment more of hesitation, Iris scanned her surroundings. The only other way down to the riverbed was more or less a steep slope. Trees were almost uprooted trying to bury themselves amid the rocks in search for actual soil and not just sand and silt. She could either take the same detour Farren and Nova had or she could try for the unstable slope. Neither sounded very safe. The girl grit her teeth and subconciously tightened her grip on the rope in her hand.

The rope. The rope in her hand. The rope in her hand that was knotted to the dog sled trailing along behind her. Iris could literally feel the gears in her head furiously working away at a plan. She might have grinned if she had someone to share the joy with.

Instead of smiling to herself like an idiot, Iris set the dog sled down just at the top of the steep hill. Sure, she could have used intense math and physics skills to predict the trajectory and the height and all of that nonsense, but at this point in time, Iris was thinking blindly and she didn't care how she got to the riverbank, just as long as she got there.

She seated herself on the small, dog-sized wooden sled, tightly winding the rope about her hand to prevent it getting tangled in anything. Iris made sure to set the sled in a position that was more or less out of the way of any stray rocks or pitiful shrubbery.

In one fluid motion, Iris reaced her free hand out to the side, slowly easing herself off of the balance point atop the hill. It took just a second for the sled to gain motion and just like that, the blonde girl was seeing blurry outlines of her surroundings before her sled came to a slow stop just at the bank of the river.

It actually took Iris a few minutes to process that she was already at the bottom of the hill. Slowly, she stood upright and allowed the rope around her hand to unravel just enough so that the sled had room to trail along behind her and just like that, Iris started to hurry downstream.

 

*******

 

Farren had never been so painfully aware that a river could be so cold. She had managed to crawl up the riverbank, soaked to the bone and shivering. The brunette girl wasn't quite sure what all had happened after the log split in half; she'd slid off of the thing and hit the water before anything else.

She had surfaced first, too, but the cold water had sent her into a temporary shock. Farren could mostly just remember that she had fallen, fought against the river, and crawled out of it and onto the bank.

All of this thinking was giving her a headache, so Farren dragged herself further up the sandy bank and onto the grass, collapsing in the soft green stuff. She let out a long, exhausted sigh and closed her honey brown eyes.

The sound of the rushing river behind her was lulling her off to sleep, and actually, if Farren's thoughts hadn't been urging her to stay awake, she might have fallen unconscious. The girl forced her eyes to open and very reluctantly, she moved into an upright position.

Farren turned to stare at the area surrounding her, still finding it difficult to take proper account of her new environment.

The river was behind her, that much she was sure of. In front of her was an endless stretch of thick green forest, the same one she, Iris, and Nova had just come from. To either side of her, the view was more or less the same: sand of the riverbank that clashed with more plush green grass and large stones.The only way to tell which direction Farren had come from was the direction the river water was running.

The brunette girl slowly got to her shaky feet. She saw no sign of Iris or Nova and this frightened her a little. She had no bearings here and without her friends, she was a little lost. Farren felt her wet hair and with a sigh, pulled them out of their ponytails. She retied them halfheartedly, the looped pigtails resting on her shoulders.

"Nova?" Farren called, wrapping her arms about herself and rubbing up her arms in an attempt to warm herself. "Iris?" She repeated the names of her friends louder and louder, hoping that by some off chance, they would call back to her. There was no reply to her calls, just silence.

Despite her urge to want to find her friends, Farren wanted to find her way back to a village. To her, it didn't matter what village, just as long as she could rest and know she wouldn't be lost. So without a moment to waste, Farren crossed her arms over her chest and toward the thick gathering of oak trees before her.

 

 

It wasn't too many miles away from Farren that Nova had washed up on the riverbank. She could feel the gritty sand on the right side of her face and wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction. As much as she wanted to sit up and wipe the stuff from her cheek, she didn't have the strength.

Nova was curled into the fetal position, calf brown eyes tightly closed. She honestly couldn't find a reason to get up right now. It wasn't because she didn't have hope, because she did, it was just that her limbs were so worn out from having to fight against the river that she could hardly bear to move them.

She was well aware of the fact that Iris was probably panicking, wherever she was, and that Farren was most likely in a state similar to her own. If she was even alive. This stray thought of negativity caused Nova to force her eyes to open. She set her face into a grimace and glared at the sand on her cheek.

The dark skinned girl let out a quiet groan that grew progressively louder as she moved upright until she was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest. Nova scowled at her wet boots and she angrily untied the the little bow, causing it to knot. This only frustrated Nova further and she finally kicked the boots off and opted for walking barefoot until she could find Iris and force her to unknot and then retie her shoes for her.

Or should she find Farren first? Nova grit her teeth as she got to her feet, the laces on her boots knotted together. She unlatched her tool belt just so that she could hang the shoes from it and started to walk. Her boots hindered her balance just a little, but other than that and her own exhaustion Nova was quite proud of her motivation to go onward.

"Is something wrong?"

A voice that came seemingly from out of nowhere, a thing that started to make itself become a bad habit, startled Nova in her fit of rage. She groaned again and turned on her heel, assuming whoever had called out to her was going to be behind her. She was wrong.

Nova looked around warily. She didn't see anyone. The brown eyed girl grabbed at the strap across her chest; it was more or less made so that she could always have her bass-axe with her at all time. Right now though, she was almost certain she wouldn't be playing any sweet tunes on it.

Pulling the instrument-weapon from her back, she inspected the weapon end. Both sides of the sharp, double edged axe blade were nicked and not nearly as deadly as they might have been before her little dip in the river. Nevertheless, Nova slung it over her shoulder for easy access in case she needed to cut some limbs off.

For a few moments, Nova remained in the same spot she had been when she'd heard the voice call out to her. Still nothing. So when she couldn't find the source, she started up again.

"Hey! Where're you going?"

Nova grit her teeth when she heard the voice again. She was already angry and this voice was only making everything worse. She felt a lump in her throat and worried that she may break into a fit of furious crying, she spun around again. "I don't know! Home? Away from here? I'm trying to find my friends, so if you could kindly shut the hell up, that would be spectacular!"

She waited, her free hand clenched into a fist. Nova glanced around again and sighed loudly. "Great. Now I look stupid: standing around looking like an idiot and having a conversation with some 'invisible voice.' Yeah, good job, Nova, way to live up to the family name," she grumbled bitterly, starting off again.

Just like it had twice before, the voice interrupted her. "Can I come with you?"

"No, you most certainly can not. I don't want a stupid voice coming along with me," Nova spat, tightening her grip on the handle of her bass-axe.

"I'm coming anyway."

"No, you're not!"

"You can't tell me what to do, stupid!"

"Jerk!" Nova retorted, stalking off. She might have gone even further had she not heard footsteps behind her. It hadn't quite been her intention to draw the source of the voice out, but this was actually a good start. She needed to let off some steam and hacking up some annoying brat would prove to be good for her.

Spinning on the heel of her foot, Nova turned around to face her new adversary. She had both hands on her bass-axe, preparing to whirl it around in a death strike, but stopped short when she saw a curious look in the girl's bright blue eyes.

The slightly shorter girl standing before Nova wore a pale green shirt with a plaid design. Over this she donned a cinder colored vest that she had lazily left unbuttoned. She wore black boots, the same as the other girls of the Mountain Village.

Nova made a mental note to punch herself later as she lowered her weapon. "And you're the voice that called me stupid?" She asked slowly, arching a brow.

The innocent looking girl grinned and nodded her head. "I had to think of something to get you to respond, didn't I?" She ventured, leaning back and forth on her heels. "Where are you going?"

Again with the endless questions. Nova grit her teeth. "To find my friends." She turned and started to walk again, upstream, at least.

"Can I come with you?" The girl inquired, though she was already at Nova's heels, clearly having already made up her mind.

"No."

"My name's Vanessa," she girl announced suddenly, sliding her hands into her pockets as she easily kept pace with the dark haired girl beside her.

Nova sighed loudly and slung her bass-axe over her shoulder. "Nova."

"That's a nice name, Nova. Aren't those like, something to do with space? Were you named after something in space, Nova?" Vanessa asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

And so, once again, Nova was thrown into a never ending, lengthy conversation filled to the brim with hundreds and hundreds of questions, something she managed to slowly become accustomed to. 

Chapter 7: Stupid Questions and Stupid Debates

At the current moment, Nova was getting along with Vanessa better than she had first expected. By now, she thought she would have hurled the poor girl off a cliff, but she had managed to take a liking to her. She was excellent company, even if some of the things she said were a little out there. And despite that, the dark skinned girl found that Vanessa was keeping her more or less distracted from the idea that perhaps her friends were dead.

“So what sort of stuff do you use that axe for? Do you cut down trees like a lumberjack? You know, the ones in the forest village. Or do you like, cut off chicken heads with it? The edges look kinda cruddy. How did that happen?” Vanessa inquired, swinging her arms back and forth as she walked beside Nova.

Nova's brown eyes flickered over to meet Vanessa's blue ones before moving back to the bass-axe she slung over her shoulder. Her brows furrowed in slight offense. The blade of her bass-axe was only nicked, and not even that badly. “First off, Nessie, it's a bass-axe, not just an axe. No, I don't cut down trees and no, I don't cut off chicken heads. I play it and I use it to cut off the limbs of the ignorant. Secondly, Vanny, the edges of my bass-axe are fine. Don't criticize it. I've gone through some tough shit in the last few hours and just before that, this baby was pristine and shiny and new,” she explained, taking care to give Vanessa as many ridiculous nicknames as humanly possible.

Vanessa frowned and increased her pace so that she could be slightly ahead of Nova. “That's cool, I guess. Not as cool as cutting off chicken heads and watching them run around for a minute or so, but it's still cool, sorta.” She was quiet for a few moments before she finally seemed to realize that Nova's clothes, which had dried substantially in the sunlight, were still a  bit damp. “How did that happen? Aren't you cold?”

“Oh. Not as cold as I was earlier,” Nova replied simply, absentmindedly fiddling with some of the dreads her dark hair was pulled into. “Just a little accident by the river was all,” she replied, a bit unwilling to go into further detail, though she didn't really make it clear.

Obviously Vanessa wanted to hear more. “An accident? What kind? What happened?”

Nova grimaced. “Some friends and I were crossing this log and one of them slipped. Long story short I tried to help her and we both ended up in the river. I don't really know where either of them are, which kind of sucks because they were sort of... entertaining, I guess. You would have liked them, I think,” she sighed, glancing at the river that she and Vanessa were currently following. After all, she thought that would be the best way to find Farren and Iris.

Now, the blue eyed girl seemed to make sense of Nova's previous rudeness and unsettling attitude. Sort of. Vanessa bit her lip and continued to stroll alongside the river, glancing over at the rolling waves that carried away anything it happened to snatch up from the bank. “Did you ever think maybe they went looking for the nearest village?”

This seemed to pique Nova's interest. “Pardon? Where exactly, is the nearest village? The three of us were sort of running from one of the more... unfriendly ones. It's not like we'd be in any rush to get back to them,” she sighed.

Vanessa, however, did not seem to be fazed. “That had to have been miles and miles and miles away, though! We're close to the Glimmer Cave, so wherever it was that your other friends are, they probably went to whichever village was closest to them,” she explained, and her logic, though slightly strange, did sound sort of sane to Nova.

The brown eyed girl stopped in her tracks and stared down at the grass intently, as thought it would provide her with the answers to everything. “I... guess that makes some sense. How did you know we were close to the Glimmer Cave?” Nova asked abruptly, turning her head to look at the other girl.

With a smile, Vanessa grabbed Nova's arm just above the elbow and guided her a few feet forward before spinning to face the sun, which was just now beginning to descend in the west. The two girls stood facing westward for a good minute and just when Nova was about to interrupt the silence with a smart comment, a strange light that could only be described as a glimmer in the sky caught her attention.

It wasn't that far off from the girls and it seemed like the source, the Glimmer Cave, was probably only a few miles off. The glimmering light was iridescent and sent something that was more or less a rainbow from the source and into the sky.

“It'll only last for a few hours,” Vanessa stated abruptly, looking over at Nova, who was startled by the sudden comment.

“What will?” Nova asked slowly, calf brown eyes focused intently on the strange light.

Vanessa let her hands rest around the waist of her dark jeans, slipping her fingers into the two lateral belt loops. “The light. It only happens for a few hours every day just when the sun starts to set. That's supposed to be when Frederick died trying to reach the woman created from the sunlight. You know the story, don't you?”

Nova grimaced. She had heard the stories several times before, but she didn't remember every single detail, unlike Vanessa, apparently. “Yeah, I know the story. My mom and dad always used to tell it to me before I went to bed at night. They always used to tell me not to be foolish like Frederick.” She seemed to be a little amused at the memory.

The other girl turned her head to look over at Nova in disbelief, eyes widened just slightly. “Foolish? Frederick? How so? Frederick wasn't foolish!” Vanessa insisted, crossing her arms over her chest.

The dark skinned girl frowned, displeased. “What sort of idiot drowns himself trying to reach a woman made from sunlight? Couldn't he tell it was just a reflection?”

“It was out of love, Nova! He fell madly in love with the woman and he wanted to be with her! Can't you try to imagine being so in love with someone that you just... you just want to be with them at any costs?” Vanessa urged, desperately trying to explain her take on Frederick's story.

“I believe the word you're looking for is 'obsession.'”

“Okay, smartypants. You tell me why you think Frederick's such an idiot,” Vanessa retorted with a huff, turning around to start up walking again.

Naturally, Nova followed right after her. “If I have to,” she sighed, adjusting the gray sweater worn loosely about her shoulders. “Frederick could have amounted to be a great leader for all of us –the villages, I mean– instead of just 'praying to the heavens.'

Who's to say that even happened? People here pray to the heavens for things much less trivial than mutual peace for all of the villages and no one answers their calls.

And the whole 'woman created from sunlight' thing was probably a fantasy created by Frederick's inability to keep it in his pants. There was no doubt he was without company and probably ingested all sorts of things that he didn't know the effects of. Frederick most likely stumbled into the cave hopped up on hallucinogenics –and who knows what else– and drowned in the pool.”

This explanation seemed to annoy Vanessa because she let out a sigh. “You have no imagination.”

Nova frowned and shook her head. “You're unbelievable. When we find Iris and Farren, I'm getting their views on that stupid story,” she muttered.

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

And with that, the two girls continued following the riverbank in silence; Nova tried desperately to hope that she would come across Iris and Farren as soon as possible while Vanessa quietly thought about Frederick's tale.

Chapter 8: It Keeps Happening

 

While Nova and Vanessa walked on in silence, Farren was having a little less of an interesting time. For a few hours now, she had been making her way through the dense forest, hoping that she would come across... well, anyone.

Her hair that she had halfheartedly pulled into looped pigtails had been tugged at and pulled on by stray branches. They looked a little messy but still managed to stay looped. Farren let out a sigh and continued to trudge across the thick grass, her clothes, still more or less soaking wet, were clinging loosely to her.

Farren had not had the luxury of being out in the sun as Nova had been, and the fault of this was her own, but it wasn't like it mattered all that much. The brunette girl glanced about her surroundings. On the bright side, none of the things around her looked the same, which meant she had managed not to make a complete circle just yet.

“Find a village. Get supplies. Stay safe. Find a village. Get supplies. Stay safe,” she repeated the words over and over again. Really, they were motivating her. This had been a habitual process of Farren's. Whenever she was left alone in an uncomfortable situation, she felt the need to try and calm herself down.

In her anxiety-fueled mumbling, her boots, slick and muddied from the ground, slipped on a rock. Immediately, Farren tried to regain her balance by grabbing for the closest thing to her, which just so happened to be a tree branch. As her fist closed around the limb, it snapped from the base and Farren hit the ground, knocking all of the air from her lungs.

As she lie on the ground, gasping for air, she saw a dark shadow out of the corner of her eye. Farren let out a sigh and closed her eyes, thinking she had hit her head so hard that she was blacking out. She lie there for a few moments and probably would have fallen asleep had she not heard a few leaves on the ground to the side of her shuffle about.

Her calf brown eyes snapped open, shot over to the source of the noise. At first, she couldn't quite comprehend what it was that she was seeing. She thought perhaps the girl was Iris because of the scuffed and damp mountain boots, but as she fully observed the stranger, she came to realize she had no idea who it was.

On instinct and driven on by adrenaline, Farren managed to scramble into a semi-sitting position and do a sort of backwards crab-walk until her back met a tree. The person, whoever it was, took a few steps toward her. This immediately threw Farren into a type of panic and just as she was preparing to get to her feet and run as fast as her legs would carry her, the stranger stopped progressing, prompting Farren to take a closer look at her adversary.

Long, wavy locks the color of a deep maroon framed the girl's face. Her skin was a pale fleshy tone close to the color that a watermelon might be had it been bleached. She wore a plaid shirt similar to the grass and jeans the color of bronze. Two pairs of big brown eyes met and immediately, Farren felt more at ease.

Whoever the stranger happened to be smiled at Farren when she relaxed her muscles a little. “You look a little muddy,” the girl stated bluntly, though her expression showed that she more or less meant well.

Farren felt a little embarrassed by this comment and slowly rose up from the muddied and dirty ground. She vainly tried to brush away any traces of dirt from her body and clothes, which really only smudged them and made things worse.

The other girl was vaguely amused by this and slid her hands into her pockets. She disturbed a few coffee mugs that had been loosely hanging from strings on her belts, causing a faint clinking sound to echo through the forest. Before Farren could even bother to question as to why the other girl wore mugs, she spoke again.

“You sort of made the whole muddy thing worse. I can take you back to the place I've set up shop. It's in the Forest Village. We're not all that far from it, just a mile or so from here. You can get cleaned up and get something to eat if you want,” she offered, taking a few steps away from Farren.

Farren was unaccustomed to this sort of kindly treatment from total strangers, and as such, she was hesitant to give a reply. In this time of silence, the other girl grimaced and started to walk away from the muddied and soaking girl. “You don't have to come if you don't want. I was just offering.”

Farren stood with her back leaning up against the tree, brows furrowed in confusion. She hadn't quite understood all it was that the other girl had said until the moment after the girl had disappeared behind a tree. “Wait,” she called hoarsely. Then, realizing the girl wouldn't ever hear that, pushed herself away from the tree and started to follow the footprints. “Wait!” And just as Farren turned the tree she had seen the stranger disappear behind did the girl's voice startle her yet again.

“I knew you would agree. Someone in your state wouldn't turn down an offer like that. Though, you really had me going there for a minute,” the girl stepped out from behind a different tree, looking almost relieved.

This interested Farren and she might have looked into it further had she been willing to, but currently she was exhausted and didn't quite feel like questioning the others motives. The girl reached out, taking Farren's dirt covered hand and leading her through the forest. “My name's Maritza.”

Farren stared dumbly at Maritza, following after her blindly. “I...what...?” Her mind was foggy, much too clouded to allow her to clearly comprehend what it was that Maritza had even said to her.

Maritza frowned as she guided Farren along a very faint path. “I said my name was Maritza. What's yours?” She repeated, sounding mildly annoyed at having to do so.

Blinking owlishly at Maritza, Farren's eyes rounded slightly. “Marit... Maritza,” she murmured softly, trying to make a mental note of the name. She cleared her throat, finally aware that the other girl had asked her a question. “Oh. Um. Farren,” she replied, shuffling her feet a bit faster so that she could keep pace with Maritza.

“That's a nice name, Farren,” the other girl remarked, flashing her a warm smile.

Farren continued to stare blankly at Maritza and decided that if she had wanted to kill her, she'd have done so by now. So, she continued to follow the girl for what seemed like eons until the maroon headed girl started to slow her pace.

This caught Farren's attention and she turned her brown gaze to Maritza. “Why've we stopped?”

Maritza turned back to meet Farren's gaze and offered her a small smile. “We're here.” She gestured to a little building that had been concealed by numerous trees and foliage until Maritza had pointed out its position. The small stone cottage was something almost out of a fairytale with green moss crawling up the corners. The outside walls were more or less the same, overrun with ancient vines that curled and wrapped around themselves, the windows, the shutters, and the stones.

The roof, which was miraculously held together with layers upon layers of straw, was flanked by a stone chimney. At the moment, just a few wisps of smoke were escaping out of the top of it. On the left side of the cottage was a wooden waterwheel that looked so ancient that Farren was worried that if the wind blew too hard, the thing would crumble into dust.

What was probably a stream that broke off from the river Farren, Iris, and Nova had tried to cross ran just under the waterwheel. The level of the stream was low enough to be below the actual wheel, so it didn't turn whatsoever.

“It's been like that for a couple of weeks,” Maritza said abruptly, once again startling Farren.

“What d'you mean?” Farren inquired in return, habitually tilting her head to the side.

Maritza's expression seemed to turn almost grim, which seemed like an uncommon thing for her. “The water level. It's been kinda low like that for a few weeks. Used to turn the waterwheel just fine. But I guess the water's gotten clogged up somewhere back there. I tried to check it out, see what was going on back there. Thought maybe a log had fallen and blocked it, but I didn't really see anything,” she murmured quietly, making her way toward the cottage.

Farren followed right behind her, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Oh. That sounds bad,” she commented in a sympathetic manner, dragging her feet in the dirt as she tried to keep pace with Maritza.

Apparently this irked Maritza and the girl whipped around to face Farren, quick as a whip, jingling the coffee mugs hanging around her waist. “Stop dragging your feet!” She snapped.

“I didn't –I'm sorry,” she apologized, flinching at the tone Maritza's voice held.

Maritza's expression, which could have been considered to be fury, softened a little. She cleared her throat and turned her head away, jammed her hands into her pockets, and continued onward. “Yeah. Well, don't do it again.”

And so once again, Farren followed Maritza in solemn silence. Maritza grabbed an old, rusted key from her shirt and shoved it into the lock on the wooden door. It took some effort, but she managed to get the door open. “Wipe your feet and take off your shoes,” she instructed, kicking the mud off of her boots before stepping out of them and setting them just to the side of the doorway.

Farren did as she was told, scraping away caked on layers of dirt and mud and then unlacing the mountain boots and putting them aside. She finally turned her gaze to the inside of the cottage and was a little startled by the interior's appearance. The walls were decorated with a hideously antique wallpaper a deep shade of green similar to that of vomit. And just to make things worse, it was trimmed in a deep rowan brown and gold. It had looked like someone had been inspired to create the wallpaper after tending to a child.

The room was vaguely furnished. By the far wall was the fireplace and positioned around it were a matching set of wicker chairs and sofa, embellished with deep olive cushions, all of which had seen better days. To Farren's right was a sad looking dining room. The two chairs that were there were wobbly and the legs were no doubt uneven. The table they were centered toward was just the same; wobbly, uneven, and quite ugly looking.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Farren stepped onto the old wooden planks that acted as the floorboards and shuffled her feet around uncomfortably. “This is a lovely little-”

“Shithole? Yeah. It's not mine, thank Frederick,” Maritza laughed. She made her way over to the cobblestone fireplace and grabbed a bundle of dry branches, tossing them into the embers of the fire that had probably been roaring hours ago. “It's actually one of my relative's cottage. They're sort of... on leave at the moment. I came here a while ago so I could have some peace and quiet. You know, to get my work done,” she explained, reaching for a small bit of moss that was crumbly and yellowed. She tossed it onto the ashes, on top of the red glow coming from beneath it, and in a matter of minutes, the rekindled flames were greedily licking up the tinder and the firewood.

“What is it you do? Your work, I mean,” Farren questioned, making her way to the fireplace and holding her hands at a suitable distance from the flames.

Maritza stood up and began untangling the numerous mugs hanging from her waist. “You ever hear of bean water?”

“Bean water? That bitter, brownish stuff?” Farren looked to Maritza, who nodded her head in confirmation. “I drink it all the time. Love it,” she replied honestly.

“I make mugs for it. I have quite the collection, actually,” Maritza grinned, setting the mugs that she had taken from her waist and setting them just beside the fireplace. “So, Farren,” she began, turning to look over at the smaller girl, “I have a few questions for you.” She brushed a few locks of hair behind her ear and moved to plop down onto the old wicker sofa. “What happened to you?”

Farren's brow was creased with confusion. “I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you mean...” she shuffled to sit with her legs crossed under her, back to the fire now.

“Your clothes are all wet, your hair is messy and damp, and you pretty much looked like you were terrified out of your mind when I found you.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that.”

“Um...”

“If I'm crossing some sort of line here, let me know, but I mean... No, you know what, come on, spit it out now,” Maritza grinned in a teasing manner, leaning into the cushions of the sofa.

The brunette girl let out a small laugh and readjusted her position a bit. “There's no real line. It's sort of just a weird thing. A couple miles back, just outside of the Desert Village's territory, I met up with these two girls. I'm not all that sure where they had been going at the time, but we all ended up going along together, wherever it was. The one girl, Iris, she's real nice. And the other one, Nova, she seems scary and she called me a stalker, but she really doesn't mean it.

“We were crossing this log, you know, over the river that this stream comes from, I think. Nova had crossed first and I went second and my foot slipped and Nova tried to help me back up and onto the other side. And then I guess the old log couldn't really sustain the weight of the two of us,” Farren explained, her voice growing a little shaky. “I remember hitting the water before anything else. And Iris looked so horrified. And Nova... I couldn't find her. I was so scared.” She cut herself off, desperately trying to push away the feelings of  terror so that she could continue. “I don't remember seeing where Nova went. I just sort of let the water do what it wanted and when I woke up, I just wanted to find someone. Anybody, really. So I ran in the woods and you found me and here we are.”

Maritza's brown eyes scanned over Farren, who had finally gone quiet. She seemed to understand most of what the younger girl had been telling her and after a long moment of silence, she stood up and dusted down the front of her plaid shirt. “Well, Farren. I think perhaps it might be best for you to stay here for the night. And then tomorrow, we'll search for your friends. Does that sound alright?”

In all truth, after telling Maritza the whole story, Farren wanted to get back outside and go search for her friends, but in reality, she was physically and mentally exhausted. Relaxing and getting some needed rest sounded like the best option. “Is that really okay?” Farren asked slowly, seeming unsure.

“Of course it's okay. I think there's a spare bedroom you can stay in,” Maritza smiled warmly at Farren and stood up off of the sofa, stretched, and peered out of the small little windows before turning her attention back to Farren. “It won't be long before the sun's completely down. I'll make you something to eat, how's that?”

Farren only just then realized how hungry she was and her stomach seemed to respond for her with a loud growl. Her ears were hot with embarrassment as Maritza laughed and made her way into another room, no doubt the kitchen. “I'll take that as a yes.” 

Chapter 9: Screw Fate

 Unfortunately for Iris, in this long amount of time, she had yet to encounter anyone at all and in honestly, she was starting to lose hope. By now, she thought that she'd have come across someone, be it a Desert Village tracker, a traveler, or even a rabbit, but as fate would have it, she was without a companion, and not to mention, without a dog sled. The one she had used to slide down the slope had ended up breaking apart.

“Damn fate,” the blonde girl muttered bitterly, tugging the hood of her navy green cloak over her head. “Damn fate and damn destiny. Damn all of it.” Most of this cursing was fueled by her own personal problems, but Iris felt the need to take it out on the world. She hadn't made any progress. The sun had almost completely disappeared behind the horizon and the stars were beginning to make themselves visible.

To say the least, Iris felt miserable. “Hasn't this happened too many times already?” She asked herself, pulling the cloak about herself. She turned her emerald gaze to the river rushing along beside her and felt a pit in her stomach. Her head jerked away, forcing her to look elsewhere before she could start becoming sentimental again.

She was determined to continue looking for Farren and Nova all night if she needed to, but a little voice in the back of her head called out to her: reason. What good would endless searching do if the girls were dead? What if they were swept away by the waves and they had been drowned? There would be no point for her to search, to feel guilty about them.

“Alright, alright,” Iris snapped. She could care less that she was talking to herself. She found that it was comforting, in a way. “Forget it. If they lived, they lived. Get over it. They're sensible people. They'll find someone and they'll be fine. If they died, they died. You can't change fate,” she decided, completely disregarding that fact that she had just damned fate moments ago.

Her eyes flickered to the river again and just as she had earlier, Iris looked away and turned them elsewhere, which happened to be the forest. Or rather, past it, into it. Her stomach was doing flips and she wasn't sure what was happening right now. Either her internal compass had kicked in or something was drawing her toward the forest. And it didn't matter to her right now, just as long as she got away from the river. It was sending her a plethora of bad vibes, bad emotions, and she didn't have time to deal with any of it. So, Iris turned her back to the river and as quickly as she could, started away from the bank and sprinted toward the trees.

Only a half hour after she had started into the forest did the sun finally set, shrouding the entire world around her in darkness. Typically whenever Iris ventured into the forest she would be on guard at all times, one hand on the handle of her dirk, the other clutching her cloak tightly about her. But for some reason, this part of the forest seemed to send her into a calm, collected state.

The feeling that seemed to lead her into the forest, what Iris had called her internal compass, hadn't let up. In fact, it had just intensified. The strength of the feeling sent shivers through her body and the surface of her skin felt as though it were tingling. In most cases, this happens to newcomers of the Arctic Village, namely because of the frigid temperatures. However, Iris' strange feelings were not a result of the weather. It was quite warm out, even despite the sun setting.

Any normal person may have been frightened by this strange occurrence and may have found the silence of the forest ominous, but in a strange way, it comforted Iris. Even in the darkness, she managed to walk along without trouble, stepping over large rocks, around broken twigs, and away from poisonous shrubs or leaves. Actually, Iris felt as though she were following a path that felt so familiar she could have picked her way through it if she were sleeping.

“I've gone insane. That's the only reasonable answer for this. Oh god, I'm beginning my descent into madness,” Iris muttered in a sarcastic tone, though it was more or less halfhearted. This statement seemed to send her back into reality and once again, she stopped where she was standing, staring at the ground with a quizzical expression. “This isn't a good idea.”

Apparently, changing her mind about certain subjects was a common occurrence, because Iris felt the need to turn around and get back to the river. Just as she moved to turn on her heel, the palm of her hand, the one she had cut with her dirk, started to throb rather painfully, as though she had reopened the wound. Iris instinctively moved her hand to her face to inspect it for blood, but her skin was devoid of any of the liquid.

Iris cringed at the intensity of the pain shooting through her hand and in an effort to stop it, she whipped her head about, searching for a water source. It felt like she had thrust her hand into a fire and the flames were biting at the tender area. She clutched her hand to her chest and just like earlier, she felt her legs carry her forward, more or less of her own will. For a few moments, she thought the pain was so unbearable that she considered sitting down and just crying. Not only did she have a low pain tolerance, she also had a habit of not doing things that were sane.

The fair girl stumbled along past large trees and logs that had been lying in the dirt for what seemed like centuries until her cloak caught on something cool. Iris jerked the cloak back to her and turned to face a large cave. It was quite large and almost looked as though some greater force had delicately carved out the insides and the sharp edges around the outside.

She was awestruck by the place and just like before, her stomach started doing somersaults before her skin started to tingle. Throwing caution to the wind, Iris started toward the mouth of the cave and slowly made her way inside. “Alright, internal compass, get it together. This had better be where you were taking me,” she grumbled bitterly.

As Iris made her way deeper and deeper into the cave, she began to notice that much of the ground had been flattened into a type of trail. She was quite aware that people had been here before her but didn't seem to care that they could still be inhabiting the place. Stalactite hung from the roof of the cave like giant icicles, and although they were rather frightening, there was no intention that they may fall. There were stone pillars of rocks that almost touched the ceiling along every edge or curved part of the cave that almost acted as supports.

Iris glanced about her dark surroundings, mystified by the entire interior of the cave. She was a little taken aback by the extravagant nature of the place and wondered just how far back she could go, fortunately, she noticed that the cave seemed to split into two hallways. She could have deeply pondered as to which way she should go. She should have, really, but Iris had lost all sense the moment she stepped foot inside and just bumbled down the left tunnel.

The tunnel was not nearly as long as the other part of the cave had been, and she knew it wasn't because only a few moments after she had started down it did she see a strange, luminescent light. Whether or not it was daylight didn't matter to Iris because her shitty internal compass was telling her that was where she needed to go. So she blindly made her way toward the light, and as soon as she reached the end of the tunnel, she was met by a pool.

For a moment, Iris' eyes were intently focused on the shimmering water that was the source of the strange light she had seen. And right after that, her brain finally made sense of the whole thing. Her stomach lurched in an uncomfortable manner and she glanced at her hand.

“The Glimmer Pool.” Iris spoke the words without quite intending to. She sort of just felt them fall out of her mouth. “This is the Glimmer Cave. This is bad.” She repeated the phrase a few times before her body finally processed that it needed to perform movements before Iris could actually leave the cave. She shuffled backwards a few feet but had trouble keeping her eyes off the pool of water. “I need to leave.”

The movement of her feet disturbed a few rocks and they tumbled into the endless pool, sending dozens of ripples over the surface of the water. This sent the Glimmer Pool into several iridescent waves, the reflections of the colors reflecting on the cave wall.

Without a moment more of hesitation, Iris turned on her heel and fled without so much as a word.

She ran out of the cave so fast that everything around her looked like a blur and she was so focused on getting away that she just kept running. She wasn't exactly sure when it had happened, but after she left the cave, her throbbing palm finally stopped. Iris tore across the forest as though Death himself was at her heels, and all the while tree branches and who knows what else cut and clawed at her. There was no point that would ease Iris' nerves enough to get her to stop running. The one thing that stopped her was her own ignorance. Her intent on getting away from the cave blinded her senses so much that Iris actually ended up running right into a tree.

She fell backward onto the grassy ground without even a groan of pain. Colliding with a tree was nothing when she had seriously thought her own hand was going to erupt into flames. She lie on her back in silence, her eyes wide open and staring at the sky that was mostly concealed behind the leaves of trees. She felt a warm liquid trail down the side of her face and screwed her eyes up trying to look over at it. “Am I bleeding...?” Iris asked softly, half expecting someone to answer for her. Sliding one hand up over her cheek, she wiped away what she assumed what the iridescent blood. Of course, it was blood, but she was also crying.

And so in order to keep herself from bursting into a scene of gross sobbing, Iris vigorously wiped away the blood and tears from her face before yanking the hood up over her head and curling into the fetal position at the base of the nearest tree.  

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 18.06.2015

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