The Passionate Pilgrim
Chapter 1 - Girl on the Ground
"Hey, Bruno, catch!" Ephron called to his dog friend. Ephron's brown hair blew and bounced around in the summer breeze, as he played with his dog, Bruno. They were the best of friends. Ephron was fifteen, and he loved life. His family was so tight-knit, and everything always seemed to fall into place, all the time. Most girls had crushes on Ephron, the small-town farm boy. Ever since he left town to venture the fields of Geffen, he hasn't met a single girl... until...
"I guess I threw the ball too far..." Ephron thought to himself. "Bruno, wait! Not so fast!" he chased after Bruno.
"Bark! Bark!" Bruno ran fast. Faster than he had ever ran. Bruno jumped over the ball, and he slowed down and started sniffing the ground.
"Bruno, here's the ball . . .! Bruno...?" Ephron cautiously followed Bruno...to what seemed like a young girl with white-blonde hair passed out on the ground. The girl was wearing a black silk dress. Bruno got excited, and started barking.
"Bruno, back off. Sit, Bruno," Ephron ordered. As soon as Bruno had backed off, Ephron approached the girl on the ground. Ephron got on his knees. He grabbed the girl's hand...
"Miss…miss? Are you alright, miss?" he shook her quietly. All he got from her was a little groan. Bruno started to bark loudly. Then her eyes opened. Her eyes were deep blue.
"I..." she muttered quietly. Then she drifted back to her long sleep.
"Miss! Wake up!" Ephron said. "This is no use," he muttered quietly. Ephron carefully lifted the girl, and put her in his arms, as if the fragile girl was a princess. Ephron stared at her. She was really decent to look at. He led the way back to camp, Bruno tagging along.
Chapter 2 - Awake
It was dawn. The girl woke up.
"What am I doing here?" she muttered. She put her hands on her forehead, trying to remember what had happened. She unzipped the tent, and looked around. She saw Ephron sitting by the fire, and Bruno asleep at his feet. She stood up, pulled her dress so it wouldn't get dirty, and walked slowly to Ephron. She had stepped on a twig. Ephron looked back.
"I see you are awake," Ephron said.
"Err...yeah…" she muttered inaudibly. She walked slowly to Ephron and sat down beside him.
"What's your name?" Ephron asked. The girl turned to Ephron. Ephron got lost in her deep blue eyes, just like a warrior drowning in the Pacific Ocean.
"My name's Chitarra. It's another language for Guitar. My father's a bard, and so is my brother. My mother died when I was four," she said. Ephron kept on staring at her.
"I'm sorry," Ephron blushed and looked at the fire. Chitarra didn't know if Ephron was apologizing for staring at her, or for her mother's death.
"My name's Ephron," Ephron said. "My family is back at Prontera, but I decided to leave because...well, because all the girls back there were 'all over' me and they had crushes on me. Mainly because I was so sick and tired of the 'small town' life. Everyone knew everyone and I wanted to meet new people,"
"Oh... I see you are the adventurous type?" she asked.
"Heh, yeah..." Ephron chuckled and blushed.
"What's your dog's name? From what I remember last night, his name is... Brown?" she asked.
"You're so close. It's Bruno," Ephron chuckled.
"Oh," Chitarra chuckled. "Well, he's very cute. I used to have a dog,"
"What happened to your family?" Ephron asked.
"Oh... they... they disappeared while I was sleeping and...And I found out when I had woken up and...People from my town thought I had killed them, so I ran away and..." her voice sadly trailed off.
"Oh, I'm truly sorry about that," Ephron said passionately. Chitarra suddenly got up, and made her way back to the tent. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry. Was it something I said?" Ephron looked up to Chitarra.
Chitarra turned and looked down at Ephron. "No, I just need... I just need time alone, ok? I'll be fine." she tried to smile, but her heavy eyes made it impossible to.
"Ok..." Ephron said. He thought that it wasn't what she wanted.
Chapter 3 - Blind
All this time, Ephron had been blind to who Chitarra really was. What he thought about Chitarra was way different than what she really is. Ephron thought that she was a young lady who had everything and wanted nothing at all.
"Sniff...sniff..." Chitarra sniffled. She wiped the tears in her eyes. "God...why can't I tell the truth? Why is it so easy for me to be isolated?" she said, holding her cross necklace tightly. Chitarra had lived a life of angst and depression. It was quite hard for her to make friends all the way growing up. The only friend she ever had was her dog. She would bring her dog to school and play with him during recess. Ever since her dog died, she had no one and nothing.
Ephron suddenly entered the tent. Bruno was still asleep by the campfire. Chitarra quickly let go of her necklace, and wiped the tears in her eyes. Ephron sat down beside her on the cot, pretending he didn't notice that she was crying.
"We're off to Geffen today," Ephron said without looking at Chitarra.
"Oh..." she said. "Can we stay at an inn there?"
"Sure. I'm guessing you're tired from all of the running away, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah... I haven't gotten 3 days of sleep. No wonder I had passed out last night," she said.
"Hey...why don't we go outside?" Ephron tried to cheer her up.
"Okay," she said. They both walked out of the tent. Ephron woke Bruno
up.
"Oh, right, I had a basket of food in the tent. I'll be back, okay?" he said.
"Okay," Chitarra turned to Bruno. "So...you're a dog, huh?" she asked.
Bruno's tail started to wag, and he started to pant.
Chapter 4 - Sleep
"Got the food right here...let's go!" Ephron said. Ephron led the way to a tree in the woods. Chitarra followed, and Bruno trotted along somewhere in the back. When they found a perfect tree with lots of shade, Ephron sat against the tree, and Bruno sat in front of Ephron, facing him. Chitarra sat down, too.
"Aren't you hungry?" Ephron said.
"Not really...I...yawn...I never get hungry," she said sleepily. Bruno barked at the squirrel nearby, and started chasing it.
"Where are you originally from?" Ephron asked.
"I'm from Monertia," she said. "I had lived there all my life. I barely knew my own mother. She would always work and work, and my father would go out looking for something. I don't really know what, but at least he had something to do. It was always my brother and I at home. I'm not really sad about my mother's death," Chitarra was looking at the sky, her blue eyes sparkling. "What about you?"
"As I said before, I'm from Prontera. I had two older brothers, so I was the youngest. They treated me like I was some hotshot or something... the girls did, too. It was pretty annoying. I didn't really have a focus in anything...until I found Bruno when he was only a puppy. My father put me in school, and during weekends, he would pay me to work his farm, because that's when he would go somewhere. My mother stayed at home," Ephron explained. "In Prontera, women are not allowed to work. They are to stay home and clean and take care of the children."
"Oh... well, we both come from very different towns," she said with a light chuckle. "My brother would always wow his friends with his guitar skills... usually on weekends, my father would make more money because he was in a band with his friends. They were all bards. That's where I got my name, Chitarra. My father loved guitars."
"So...what happened? Why did you run away?" Ephron asked. She was brought to this question again. A question she had tried to run away from earlier.
"Th-they disappeared and... I was accused for killing them and the town wanted me to be hung, so I ran away," Chitarra said.
"That's horrible," Ephron said.
"Yeah..." she said. She lied down on Ephron's legs and fell asleep. Ephron kept munching on food, while Bruno was chasing squirrels.
"She's really sleepy..." Ephron muttered to himself. He shook Chitarra. "Chitarra..."
"Y-yeah?" she said sleepily.
"I'm going to go play with Bruno, so I need you to..." he said.
"Oh, right, I apologize," Chitarra said.
"It's okay," Ephron gave Chitarra a quick smile, and chased after Bruno. Chitarra fell fast asleep, her back against the tree trunk.
Chapter 5 - That Night
"Bruno, follow me...I'm tired now..." Ephron called to Bruno. Bruno barked and trotted along right behind him. Ephron approached Chitarra. "She's fast asleep...again..." he muttered. "Well, Bruno, looks like we can't make it to Geffen after all," Ephron carried Chitarra to the tent.
When he got to the tent, he placed Chitarra on the cot carefully, and he took off his baggy jacket and put it on her. Bruno settled on his blanket and started to nap.
Ephron reached under the cot, and took his guitar case. He took his guitar out of the case, and started playing a soft melody. Chitarra's eyes began to open slowly. "Wh-wha?" she said, confused.
"Oh, hey, sleepyhead," Ephron chuckled.
"So, you play guitar, too?" Chitarra had asked.
"Yeah..." Ephron muttered. He stopped playing. "When's your birthday?"
"My birthday's on December 27. I'm 14 years old," she said.
"Oh, mine's on August 6. I'm 15 years old, though..." Ephron said. "Hey, can I tell you something that's kind of weird?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm up for anything that's weird," she said.
"Well, I'm kind of glad I found you. I was kind of getting lonely. I was
thinking of going back to Prontera the night I found you but…" Ephron's voice trailed off.
Chitarra chuckled. "I'm glad I was found,"
"By Bruno?" Ephron asked.
"Yes, by Bruno," Chitarra chuckled.