Chapter 2:
Renee's POV
I opened my eyes and everything was blindingly bright. I couldn't see. I don't remember anything that happened. But there was only one thing on my mind. Where was I? At the sound of a rustling and a groan, I whip my head around to see Adrianne sitting up slowly and mumbling something under her breath. She made to get up but fell down again, cursing and holding her now swollen ankle. 'Adrianne! Are you okay? Where are we? Do you remember anything that happened?' I asked with gaining panic. We slowly looked around and took in our surroundings. We appeared to be in the middle of a forest, with green trees circling us wherever we went. Everything looked lush and fresh, which made me guess it was morning. The sounds of twittering birds could be heard, singing to each other through the trees. All together it was breathtaking. 'This is just... beautiful.' Adrianne breathed in an awe-inspired voice, looking amazed. That look soon turned into a pained expression as she tried to move her leg. Just as I was about to put a hand on my friend's shoulder to steady her, the leaves next to me started rustling violently. I turned around in surprise just to see Thea groggily sitting up and registering the surroundings like we did before. She looked at Adrianne and myself with a bewildered expression before she said in a confused voice, 'Where the hell are we? Do you guys remember anything? I don't even remember what happened!'
'I don't know where we are, but do you think we could find civilisation soon and get some help for my leg?' Adrianne asked anxiously. As if we were going to say no. I turned to her and slowly agreed. 'Yes... I think finding a town or something would be safer than out here all night.'
'But... what if...' Thea started, but then stopped and shook her head slightly, her brown hair bouncing off her shoulders as she did so.
I turned to look at her. 'What if.. what, Thea?' I asked, wondering what was on her mind. 'What if... what if we're dead?' Thea asked slowly, as if saying it would make it true. 'I'm not sure... we'd better find out.' I said, giving her a reassuring look.
With one arm around Adrianne I stood up and gave Thea a look telling her to lead the way. With a nod, she grabbed a nearby stick and lead on, stopping them if there was a snake or anything in the path.
We walked slowly for a couple of hours, stopping to give Adrianne a rest every half an hour. When the trees finally thinned out, we appeared in a small village, with rolling hills and green grass, and trees every now and then. It appeared a very merry place, with a stone bridge crossing a stream, and markets bustling with activity. Other than that, however, I could not see any other buildings or anything. With a second glance, I suddenly realised that the houses were set in the hills themselves. This was a really odd village.
Once we got to the markets, we found a table and sat down, Adrianne letting out a low groan of relief as she planted herself on the wooden seat.
Once we got settled and focused on our surroundings, we realised the residents of this village were smaller than usual. And they didn't wear shoes. And they had large hairy feet! How strange I thought to myself, watching in awe as the small people wondered around, occasionally stopping to give the three of us weird looks and muttering about our clothes and stuff. Once they realised that we paid them no notice, the mutterings soon got louder and louder until people started asking questions and inquiring us. It got so annoying that I finally had enough. Grabbing Adrianne's hand, I gave Thea a look clearly saying you do the honours. With that lopsided grin of hers, and a nod, Thea opened her mouth and put her loud Aussie voice to good use. 'Oi! Listen up! Can you stop yakking about us as if we are statues and can't hear what you're bloody saying! we are alive you know, and we do have feelings!' with a pause, she stopped, now going slightly red with all the attention she caused and the silence that suddenly engulfed them, she took one look at all the small people looking at her in shock and finished with a 'Thank you for listening.' And with that, she nodded once and started walking away, all the villagers making a path for her, as if they were all afraid of her, in which I escorted Adrianne through.