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Tomorrow's Way~ Part One: Journey to Port Town/ Day 2 |
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Note: The auther of this story is currently in Japan. I'm just her editor that was forced into editing. crying I mainly posted this for my other friends but if u want to read this than knock urself out. sweatdrop
Part 1:
Journey to Port Town
Day 2:
I was up all night on lookout duty. I couldn’t sleep anyways, and it’s not like I’m exhausted. The moment the sun came up was when I woke everyone up. I had to wake up Kirin first. When she fell asleep she used my shoulder as a pillow. When I got everyone to wake up we ate breakfast (we rummaged through Elliot‘s sack for that and found bread that we shared). After that, our journey for today began.
“Does everyone have everything?” Kirin asked.
“Yeah. Let’s get going," Elliot said, getting onto a horse.
I got onto the other one. I helped Megumi up onto the horse while Elliot helped Kirin up on his.
“On horseback, we’ll be there in about half of a day," Elliot estimated as the horses began in a canter.
“I suggest we try to sell these horses once we get there," I said.
“Why?” Kirin inquired.
“Well, we’ll need the money. We don’t have any food and the money we started out with isn’t enough for our whole trip to Ristern," I explained.
“You’re right," Megumi agreed.
After that, we were quiet throughout our whole trip. There is a high chance that everyone is thinking about the situation we were in. It definitely was not something to make light of. Even the ever optimist Kirin doesn’t have anything to say to brighten the mood.
I heard a grumbling behind me. I glanced at Megumi as her face began to become red. I think the grumbling was her stomach.
“Sorry," she apologized.
“Just hang in there," I told her.
After that it was complete silence. After hours of riding, we made it to the town. It didn’t take long to sell the horses for a fair amount. We were lucky that the people here spoke the same language as us. It seemed really odd though. Elliot quickly got the hang of the way the money worked. We were able to get lodging in an inn. First we did what we needed to do like getting supplies and taking baths at the inn. It was really busy and we had so little time. We were done when it was late into the night.
We were all gathered in the dining room of the inn, with our map spread out on our table. We had just finished eating our lunch.
“We’re here in Karita," Elliot was saying. “What do you guys think the shortest route to Ristern is?”
“It’s all the way over here… we’ll have to find a ship," I said, as I pointed to a continent other than the one we were on.
“We should go to the port town on the northern part of this continent and find a way to the port town for the other continent," Elliot said.
“The big problem is that we’re in the southern part of the Regin Kingdom," Kirin pointed out.
“So we’re going to have to travel there," Megumi sighed.
“What I’m worried about is the money we’re going to have to earn if we want to get onto the ship," I added.
“Not only that, we’re going to have to restock on items every now and then," Elliot put in.
“So to be general, we have a shortage of money," I finished.
“Ugh… this is harder than it looks," Kirin complained.
“How do you think we can earn money?” Megumi asked.
Elliot pointed to some towns on the map.
“Some towns have arenas in them. If a town has that symbol, it’ll be there. We have to pay quite a lot of money to participate, but if we defeat our opponent, we can have double the money we entered with," he explained.
“The higher the price is, the tougher the opponent is," I assumed.
“That’s right," Elliot said.
Kirin was studying the map. She pointed to four towns.
“Out of all the possible towns we might go through, four of them have arenas," she pointed out.
Elliot examined the map.
“The shortest route will be through the pass over here. We’ll have to cross this valley and after that, we can pass by this town which unfortunately doesn‘t have an arena. We’ll go through the upcoming plains and since this mountain isn’t that tall we can cross it. After that, we can go straight to the port town which has an arena," Elliot said.
“That’s a pretty good route," I agreed.
“I don’t like the thought of climbing a mountain though," Megumi said.
“I’m excited!” squealed Kirin.
“You four seem quite young to be traveling such a distance," a voice behind us replied.
We turned to see the inn keeper standing over us.
“What will you do once you reach the port town?” he asked us.
“We plan to get aboard a ship to Ristern’s port town," Megumi replied, politely.
“Goodness! Don’t you kids have a home?” he asked.
“We were originally from the village of Shar," Megumi said, eying all of us.
That must have been the village we came out of.
“Oh… that village. Word says that it was attacked by soldiers of Tamasen. I suppose that they’re trying to expand their kingdom," the inn keeper sighed.
“Are they always like that?” I asked.
“No. They used to be such a peaceful kingdom. They used to have a strong alliance with our kingdom, Regin," he answered.
“Is the Regin capital still standing?” Kirin asked.
“Yes, thankfully. If it wasn’t, our town would be crawling with Tamasenian soldiers," the inn keeper said.
“So this country’s in war. We’ve got to be extra careful on our journey," Elliot said.
I glanced at the map. Five continents, each with its own kingdom. Tamasen is the southernmost continent, and we’re going north. We’ll be fine, but it’d be best to be careful anyways.
“Why are you going to the Kingdom of Ristern?” the inn keeper asked.
“Our relatives live there," I said, calmly. “We were thinking about going over there to tell them what happened to us,"
“Couldn’t you just send a letter?” the inn keeper asked.
“But we were also thinking about living in the Ristern kingdom too," Megumi added.
“Well than… good fortune to you kids," the inn keeper said.
Once he was gone everyone sighed.
“We should memorize our stories so we don’t have to make them up on the spot," Elliot sighed.
“Yeah," Kirin agreed.
“Let me summarize. We all come from the village Shar of Regin which was attacked by Tamasenian soldiers and we are all headed to visit our relatives-”
“That’s no good," interrupted Kirin.
We all turned to look at her.
“When we get to our destination, should that still be our story? Some people might want to meet our “relatives," Some might try to help us find them. It’s no good. We need a different reason to go there," she explained.
“How about saying we’re extremely interested in the theaters there," Megumi suggested.
“But we know nothing about it… and really we couldn’t care any less," I pointed out.
“Why don’t we just say we want to live there?” Elliot suggested.
“Oh! I got it! Why don’t we say we’re traveling mercenaries!” Kirin said.
“What!?” Megumi asked.
“You know! Mercenaries! People paid to fight. If we can get a job now and then, that’ll help on our money crisis too. It’s perfect," she said.
“But aren’t we a bit… young? We’re still teens!” I informed.
“So? We beat up some Tamasenian soldiers and managed to escape while they rampaged our village. We have two close-combaters and two far rangers! We’re a good team, don’t you think?” Kirin notified.
“I think it’s a good idea. We can earn money that way and we have an excuse for going to the Ristern Kingdom," Megumi agreed.
“What excuse? We’re traveling mercenaries and we want to go to Ristern?” I asked.
“In hopes of getting employments there," Kirin finished.
“We can get employments here because this place is in war," Elliot pointed out.
“But after thinking about it carefully, we think that if we get employments here, we’re getting in over our heads," Kirin replied.
I sighed.
“Okay, I agree," I said.
“Yeah, I’ll stick with that too," Elliot said.
“And maybe we might even gain a little fame as an elite mercenary group," Kirin giggled.
“Now that’s in over your head, Kirin," Megumi laughed, elbowing her.
“A girl can dream," she said.
“Her dream’s more like a man’s dream," Elliot whispered in my ear.
I nodded in agreement.
“So it’s settled then. Kaze. Summarize everything for us," Elliot ordered.
“Okay. We’re a traveling mercenary group that once lived in the village Shar of the Kingdom of Regin until it was attacked by Tamasenian soldiers. That event apparently started our mercenary career. We’re traveling to the Kingdom of Ristern in hopes of becoming an elite mercenary force through training there. We felt that starting out here where this kingdom is in war is too much for us since we’re so inexperienced," I summarized.
“Perfect," Megumi said.
“I like," Kirin said.
“It’s okay," Elliot said.
“So that’s our story," I remarked. “It’s pretty good,"
The door opened and a man clad in armor walked in with a woman. She was in armor especially made for women. They didn’t look like ordinary travelers.
“Could those two be mercenaries?” I heard someone say to their friend.
I glanced at them. Are those what mercenaries are suppose to look like? I can expect that much of the man, but the woman seems to give off a very kind air around her. She doesn’t seem like she can hurt a fly, and yet she has a sword strapped to her.
“Wow they’re so cool," Kirin said.
I stood up.
“I’m calling it a day. Good night," I said, as I began to walk away.
“Um excuse me?” a soft voice said as I reached the stairs to the rooms.
I turned to see the woman who had walked in with the man. Apparently, the man was walking out of the inn.
“My name is Erina. I was hoping if you would please kindly help me find my room," she asked.
Even her voice was sweet. This woman surely does not give off the air of a mercenary.
“My name is Kaze," I said, since she started with introducing herself. “I’ll do my best. What is your room number?”
“It says room 34," she said.
I led her up the stairs and pointed to one side of the walls.
“Everything is in numerical order. This side has the odd numbers and the other,” I pointed to the other side, “has the even numbers,"
“Ah! Thank you. Er… the inn keeper said something about you and your friends," she said.
“What exactly did he say?” I asked.
“Well… I’m really sorry about what happened to your village to begin with. You’re all so young," she said.
“It’s not something to be worried about, I genuinely assure you of that," I said.
She smiled.
“The formal way you speak reminds me of my older brother. It really is reassuring," she said. “I’ll worry about you now,"
“There’s no need," I said.
“I truly hope you fare well," she said, and then walked to her room.
I walked towards mine and went towards my bed. I collapse on to my bed and gave an exhausted sigh. I wonder what my family is doing. When I do get back home… will I be in trouble? How far behind will I be when I return to school? What if I’m gone for more than a year or worse… what if I never return?
The door open and Megumi walked in.
“Megumi? Are you going to sleep too?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m tired," she said, going to her bed.
The two of us were silent but none of us doze off to sleep.
“Hey," Megumi said, breaking the silence.
“Hn?”
“We’ll find a way home right?” she asked.
“I hope so,"
“What will we do if we don’t?” she asked. “Will we all separate and go live in different kingdoms or cities or will we stay together?”
“I really don’t know," I answered.
“I hope we all stay together," she said.
“Why?” I asked.
“So that we’ll know that our former lives weren’t some fantasy I made up in my mind. We’ll be a family if we stay together," she said.
“A family?”
“Yeah. I kind of hope we stick with the elite mercenary thing too- but that’s only if we don’t go home. I still want to go home the most," she said.
“Hey,"
“Huh?”
I turned over to face her from a bed away.
“What do you think will happen once we get home?” I asked.
Megumi frowned.
“I’ll be in big trouble and I’ll be grounded for life," she said.
“What excuse do we have for being away so long though?” I asked.
She was quiet for a while and then she finally answered.
“We’ll figure it out when we get home,"
“Yeah,"
I turned back to my former position.
End of Day 2~
 SweetHotChocoIate · Tue Jun 24, 2008 @ 12:21am · 0 Comments |
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