The Journeys
Okay, for those of you who actually read the other story that I just started, Before Everything Changed (check it our, haven't even gotten a single review yet) I know that it might be hard to juggle two stories starting up at the same time, but I think that both of the ideas were really interesting, and liked the general plot. So I'm doing two. (Well, actually three, but I'm not going to update my other one in a while because I want to focus on Pendragon.)
So, for the actual story. This is about Mark and Courtney's trip to Cloral, Third Earth, and Eelong. Hope you like it!
Mark POV
I landed with a wet splash in a large pool… somewhere. I heard similar splashes next to me, almost, but not quite, covering the sound of the jumbled musical notes growing fainter as they traveled away from us. Quickly doggy-paddling back to the surface, I confirmed my growing suspicions with the underground pool and leafy vines. We were on Cloral.
The water's edge was only a few yards away, which even for me was an easy swim. Within a few strokes I surfaced myself simultaneously with a young guy I remember traveling with on the flume. He was already turned around to help an older man out of the water. I quickly offered a hand, and with a grunt of appreciation from him started to pull. We had him out within a couple of seconds, then moved on to the next un-able-bodied person: a pregnant woman whose husband, it seemed, had passed out from the shock of it all. She herself looked pale and chalky.
We worked together to haul her out of the water, then moved on. It amazed me how many people we had to help. Senior citizens, young children, frightened women… it was just plain cruel. Welcome to the world of Saint Dane.
Finally, the whole group was out of the water. After looking around at the wide, confused faces, I could tell that no one had ever heard of this place before, much less been on it. It looked like I would have to take charge.
"Alright… so, I'm assuming none of you know where the heck you are," I chuckled tentatively, the sound dying out quickly as I got no response. The second I had started to speak, their eyes whipped around to me. Wide, staring orbs unnerved me.
"S-s-so… uh… y-you know… the Ravanins?" Their obvious displeasure in the word didn't buy me much confidence, but I was determined.
"Well… yeah, I-I guess y-you would know them. I mean, that's why were… here.
"Get to the point already!" an obnoxious voice called out.
"Oh… alright. Well, you see, they're right."
Eyes narrowed accusingly at me.
"Not about the whole "excellence will be rewarded" thing!" I stammered nervously. "About the whole "Halla" idea. Because we're not on second Earth anymore."
A large, middle-aged man shouldered his way to the front. The second he started to speak, I recognized him as the obnoxious voice that had called out earlier. He looked strait into my eyes and said quietly
"You are kidding, right?"
"N-no."
He took two steps toward me, and got his face into mine and hissed through clenched teeth
"You appeared out of nowhere. You've never joined in a protest before, never done anything against the Ravanians. Suddenly you join us, start screaming about some "Courtney" person, then tell us that the monsters we've been fighting against for months are right, and you expect us to believe you?
Once he phrased it like that, it did sound pretty pathetic. In fact, this whole situation was pretty pathetic. But it was true. So I had to at least try.
Well…I…umm…
So much for trying.
Before the rest of them had the chance to discriminate against me too, the young guy that I had traveled next to in the flume and who I helped to pull out all the weak out of the water stepped forward.
"Why shouldn't we? Why shouldn't we believe him? I disagree with Naymeer, but what he showed us looked true enough to me. This might be one of the Zazza-"
"Zadaa," I mumbled quietly. He ignored me. I didn't blame him.
"or Eelong places he was going on about."
Obnoxious guy started to interrupt.
"But it can't be true! The-"
"If it isn't true," my savior said grimly, "then what did we all travel here on? A tunnel to Wonderland? Hmm? No? I didn't think so. My guess is it's one of the flume things he preached about."
That one Mr. Not So Nice Guy. My helper stared at him for a while, then turned and called out
"So who's with me?
One by one, the two dozen-odd people murmured their assent.
"Well! Now that that's settled, I suggest that we return our attention to the only one among us that actually knows where we are." With a pleasant smile, he turned his face up to me. I fumbled for a second, not really expecting the spotlight back so soon, but I didn't stutter. Not once.
"Oh… yeah… um… so. This is a territory named Cloral. Like-
I paused to shoot a quizzical look at my helper.
"Antonio," He whispered quietly.
Like Antonio was saying, it's kind of like Zadaa"- I pronounced the name specifically so we wouldn't have people running around thinking that there was a territory named "Zazza"- and Eelong in the way that you get there by the flume and they're all separate territories. Second Earth's a territory to. I think that Naymeer sent us here as sort of a warning not to mess with the Ravanians. They know that we can't travel back to Second Earth, so they sent us to a different territory. However, unfortunately for them, I know this place enough that I might be able to get help. So we could go to the surface, thought we might face a risk of sharks, or we could stay down here eating fruit and hoping someone will come and get us. I say we go. Who's with me?"
The exiles all looked up, something new sparkling to life beneath the shock and despair shown clearly. They began to nod, their mouths set in a firm line, fierce in determination to see their families again.
It wasn't a cheer, it wasn't a yell, there was no fists pumping in the air. It was something much better. Hope.
We weren't giving up.
Alright everybody, it's a little short, but I have to get to bed and I want to post this before I sleep. The next ones will be longer, and I'm sorry for any mistakes I might have made. Let me know what you think!