He told her everything. Well, not everything; most of his past, he would take to the grave with him. There was far too much sin in his past hecouldn't reveal to such an innocent Gear like Dizzy. For now, he would pretend all he committed during the Crusades was the murder of human life.
While he paced the floors with his arms crossed, telling his tales, Dizzy sat in the chair, listening intently. "So, after that night, I went on my own. I'm no longer ashamed of what I did. I could say now that decision freed me. I did my best to stay away from human civilization. I wouldn't go near anyone, but then again, the uniform I was wearing was bound to attract attention. It was about two years after the incident when I found this place." He paused and gestured a hand to the air. "It was in the winter like this when I came across it. I was desperate but still wary of people, so I watched the place from a distance, making sure it wasn't vacant."
"So you've lived here by yourself ever since," Dizzy said.
"Not quite," he said, pointing a finger up before he began pacing slowly again. "I lived here for at least a year more before the owner came back." He paused a moment to look out the window over his shoulder. "I saw him crossing the bridge on horseback But I found out that this man was blind.I explained myself to him, and after I told him my story, he welcomed me to stay with him in the cabin."
"Did you tell him you were a Gear?"
"No. I don't think he would have believed me anyway. He was a retired priest, believe it or not. He even gave me that book there." He pointed to the black Bible laying on the small stand beside her. "When I did finally confess a few secrets, he forgave me. I was surprised he didn't command me to leave. He gave me a new path on life. I forgot it all and the past I left behind and hid the evidence I had as a fraud.." He then glanced up at the wrapped object above the mantle.
"So that's why you got so upset when I found your uniform."
He nodded. "I haven't touched it since I put it there and I never planned to. I should have destroyed it. It's still not too late, I suppose."
"I'm sorry I touched it."
He waved her off. "I forgive you for your trespasses, Dizzy. You no longer have to worry."
She bit down on her lower lip in a guilty way, looking up at him from under her azure brows. It was still hard to believe that such a child-like creature as herself could be a commander Gear. It was almost hard to believe she was even a Gear. She seemed too human, just a girl trapped in a Gear's body.
"You can go on," she said after his pause while he looked upon that face.
Ky shook his head after finding he was staring at her. She had pretty eyes, soft red eyes, nothing like his. She wondered why she could look into his.
He laughed lightly, and scratched at his hair. "Ah, right, right. Where was I?"
"What happened to the old blind man?"she asked.
"Oh. He died. He knew he was dying. That's why he came back to his cabin. I've been alone since. Well, not completely alone. There's Nora, his horse. I'm amazed by her. Most animals can sense the Gear in me, so they turn tail or try to attack me. Nora was the same way the first year, but she follows me everywhere now. She's my only companion."
He watched how she smiled. "May I see her?"
"Now? Dizzy, don't forget your leg. Perhaps later. But—I do need to feed her. Perhaps I could bring her to the door so you can see her, that is if you are careful on that leg."
"Could you do that?" she said with a big grin on her face, her hands clasped together like a delighted child.
He grinned at her. Commander Gear indeed. She was no Justice. "I suppose I could.
"I will," she quickly said. "I've been able to get around on my own fairly well. Do you want me to show you?"
"No, no, please, stay down. I don't want to set that leg again, and I'm sure you don't, either."
She shook her head quickly.
"I thought so. So, just take it easy."He turned his head to the door and began to take a step forward, but caught himself. He reminded himself he did need to feed Nora and let her out, but he didn't want to encourage Dizzy. He looked back at her. "Dizzy, yesterday you mentioned you were alone. But are there others?"
"I was with my friends when I fell."
"Gears?"
"No. But I want to find my friends later. Can you help me?"
He lowered his eyes to the floor and took in a deep breath and quickly let it out. He didn't want to let her go, he wanted to keep her like a newly found treasure, in which she was to him. "I suppose so," he slowly said, forcing the word out.
He sat there a long moment, with his head down, staring down on the floor, until they slowly wandered up to her shoes nearby. He had to say something soon, otherwise she was going to suspect something was wrong, and then she was going to start asking questions again, questions that could lead to him telling the truth.
"So," he slowly said, "tell me about the Grove."
Something was strange about this place. She couldn't place it, but something was in the air. She narrowed her eyes as she looked into the forest only a few feet from the opening where the pirates had landed. It was a tricky landing, according to April, and the marks on the grass behind the ship proved that. The ship's nose was just a few feet from hitting the trees and colliding right into the forest.
There was something about the forest she didn't like. It looked like something evil was looming from behind those trees, just waiting for them to step into it.
She frowned as she stared across into the abyss of the forest, then stuck out her tongue at it, just in case something was watching her.
"May, are you coming or not?"
She turned her head to the group waiting for her at the top of the steps. She looked at the group, then back at the forest.
"Yeah, yeah, it's just—this place gives me the creeps."
"I thought you wanted to come with us to look for Dizzy. You were the one who made it high priority."
"I know, and it is!" She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to shake the feeling that forest had over her. A shiver rippled through her body before she managed to get her feet going and joined the group. "Okay, okay, let's go!"
Johnny laughed as she ran to them, and slowly stepped down the stairs down to solid ground. The flurries hadn't coated the ground yet, but a few flakes were already sticking to the grass. She folded her arms over her chest as she followed the others down—and to that forest. Another shiver ran through her body as she walked.
She felt her muscles tightening as she came closer to it, and watched the trees, as if waiting for them to start moving. But they never did, they just stood there like any other normal tree.
It's just your imagination, she said to herself as she walked past the first row, pulling her head back, watching them a little while longer. See? Nothing happened. Just a bunch of stupid trees.
"Okay," Johnny said as he led the way through the forest, "she's gotta be somewhere in this forest, but it's going to be hard to say exactly where. As long as we comb it thoroughly, we'll find her."
"Shouldn't we split up, Johnny?"
"No," he said. "But we could sprawl out a bit, just enough so we can see each other. We can cover just enough ground. We'll keep going unless the weather starts getting bad. Then we might have to turn back."
"I'm not going back even if it's a blizzard," May said.
"We'll see, May," he said, although it sounded like he was humoring her like he sometimes did. "Okay, girls, spread out and let's start looking."
At his command, the girls fanned out, each girl a few feet apart from the other, just enough so the one beside her could still see her shipmate. May tried to find a space by Johnny, but she managed to be on the far right side, the last in the line. She would have pushed her way in, but she had already had been forced into her spot. Finding Dizzy became much more important than being with the one she loved.
"Can everyone here me?" Johnny's voice called through the forest.
"Yes!" the girls called back. "Yeah, Johnny."
"Okay, then let's find our girl!"
And then, they began calling: "Dizzy! Dizzy!"
Their voices echoed through the forest, bound to be heard by anyone in ear shot. They spared a few seconds of silence to listen for her to respond, then called her name again and again.
May watched as the snow fell with each minute that passed. She turned her head up, squinting past the striped branches of the trees, trying to get view of the sky, but she couldn't see it. It was like the trees had covered it up on purpose, countless great hands shielding it as if it were a secret beyond it.
She kept her head tilted back, waiting to see some sort of opening, while a few cold snowflakes brushed up against her face, tickling her skin. It almost made her want to laugh, but this was either the time or place.
The trees seemed to become more eerier. Through the darkness they seemed to be glowing, their darkened bark standing out just like the snow falling to the ground. But then again, some trees looked dark and twisted. Some didn't even look like trees, some looked like statues of creatures standing erect, arms stretched out towards the sky, like a frozen warrior ready to bring its arms down on her, waiting to grab her.
She tried not to let her imagination get to her and concentrated on what they were here for. She brought her head forward again, making her path through the forest, the snow giving her enough light she needed. Not even moonlight pushed through.
And then, she noticed something. The forest had become silent, with the sound of her own footsteps the only noise in her ears. She couldn't hear the other girls walking with her, couldn't hear them calling for Dizzy, and most of all, she couldn't see July who had been beside her anymore. The moment she realized this, she stopped in her tracks and looked around herself.
"Hello?"
She listened and squinted past the dark, waiting to see her shipmates, but she saw nothing. Not a living thing.
"Guys? Johnny?"
She listened again. No one answered, but something did make a noise. It was probably an animal, but it sounded all too much like howling laughter. "Hhaaaaaaa!" It echoed through the entire forest. She gasped when she heard it and slapped her cold hands over her ears.
When she removed her hands, there was silence again. Her ears nearly ached to hear the voices of her shipmates, but just like before, there was nothing. Her chest began to ache, making her breathe hard. "I can't be lost here. I'm not lost." She turned her head over her shoulder. "I just got off track. If I turn around and backtracked, I can find them. Yeah, yeah. I'm not lost. I'm not lost." She did an about-face and began to walk where she came from. But the forest didn't look familiar. She could have sworn she was following her old tracks, but when she turned around and—
She looked down and didn't see her tracks, from behind or ahead. It was as if she just jumped into the snow from above and had never been walking in the first place. "Huh? Hang on, I just walked here." She turned herself around in a circle. Her new tracks stayed, but where did her old ones go?
She spun around and ran a few paces before he turned back around, only to see her footprints gone, as if she had never been there.
"What?" She knew this couldn't be happening. How was it even possible? She closed her eyes and shook her head before she took off screaming. "Johnny!"
She ran as fast as she could, frantically trying to find her way back to her group. She kept running, keeping her eyes out for any sign of them, waiting to see some sort of tree or mark that looked familiar, but there was none.
She kept running until she was out of breath. She finally stopped and put her hands on her knees, panting. Some of her hair fell into her eyes as she struggled for breath.
Slowly, she straightened her back and glanced around herself. The forest looked just like it did before. She couldn't bare to try to look behind her, in fear she would see her footprints gone again. "Johnny!" She listened, but no one answered. "Oh no," she whimpered and took a few more steps forward. "I knew this was a bad idea. Bad idea." She slowly walked on, hoping to find something.
Then, after a few strides, she saw something leaning against a tree. At first, it looked nothing more than garbage left behind, but as soon as she got closer to it, she noticed it was someone sitting against the tree, his body slightly slumped as if he were asleep. But who could sleep while it was this cold? He was wearing some sort of blue coat with armor on the shoulders, but it looked old. The metal on the armor didn't shine anymore. The closer she got to him, the more something didn't look right about him.
When she finally walked up to him, she noticed it wasn't a man, but a rotting corpse sitting against the tree while snow coated parts of its body. Its stiff and stretched skin was hanging off its face, its mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Its eyes were empty from having fallen out long ago. Its clothing had been eaten away, with its bones sticking out of the rips and tears. Its face stared at her with its empty sockets, as if it were watching her.
She then took off screaming. "SOMEBODY!"
