Back from vacation! Thanks so much for the support on the last chapter, and sorry this is so late! I am really happy you liked the twist I pulled on the last chapter! Pretty soon the story will heat up so I hope you like it! Ok, onto the chapter!
Chapter 4- The Thief
(Rollan's POV)
"I am very sorry about my lord," Devin said, "He gets angry easily nowadays. Ever since he disappointed his father by not summoning a spirit animal, he has been a bit down."
"It's ok," Tarik replied, "I would be too, and after the war I think we are all a little bit on edge,"
"Where are you going next?" asked Devin
"Zhong," Tarik said, "Jano Rion to be exact, which reminds me, we must go soon, we don't want to make the trek to Zhong too long."
Zhong, Rollan thought, That's right, the next land on the tour, maybe I could see Meilin, after all the candle she did give me was Zhongese… maybe she knows how to get me back! But then again, after what he saw Conor was like, did he really want to see how Meilin was too?
"Why yes of course," Devin said, "I wish you safe journeys, Rollan and Tarik!"
"Thank you," Tarik said, turning now to Rollan, "Now, we must leave."
The trek to Zhong was long and hard, Rollan didn't understand why they couldn't have taken a boat instead of the horse, but then again, did he really want to fare with sea travel? Sure, the road was long and hard, but he could only think of one thing: Meilin. How was Meilin in this world? Would she even help them? Or would she reject him and call him crazy, like Conor? Sure the parallel universe thing did seem weird, but it was true, but then again, who would believe that? Rollan and Tarik rode in silence, until Tarik suddenly broke it.
"So," Tarik said, "Why did Conor get mad at you back there?"
Rollan's first instinct was to lie, but then he thought a little bit more. He could tell Tarik the truth, but then what was he going to say, Oh, I told Conor I needed help to get to a Parallel Universe because I'm not the actual Rollan you know, I needed help to get back to my universe. Oh and by the way, in my universe you are dead, there is more than one fallen Great Beast in the first war, and oh, did I mention you are dead? Rollan couldn't risk it, he couldn't risk losing Tarik twice, but then again wasn't that what he had to do in order to get back home?
"Oh, just because the war really messed things up in Truns- FENRAY- so he is a little bit upset," Rollan lied. Rollan hated lying to Tarik, but sometimes that's what you have to do in order to spare feelings, even if they are your own.
"Ok," Tarik said humbly, "We should get to Zhong tomorrow, then we will be heading to Jano Rion,"
All Rollan got from that sentence was one more day until he gets to see Meilin.
(Meilin's POV)
It was a normal day in Jano Rion, Zhong. Hot, crowded, busy. Meilin was running down in the market, with a bag of food in her hand, hoping not to get seen. She was running for what seemed like ages, until she turned into an alleyway, where a mattress and a cloth overhead were. Her home. Meilin was homeless, but she wasn't alone, her father was with her, but he was out, doing whatever he did. So now, Meilin was alone in her home. She opened the bag of food. Apples, bread, and jerky. For stolen goods, they were fine, they would last them a day. Her father didn't appreciate when she stole food, but when dinner time came, he just sat there and nodded slightly. Meilin personally didn't care. They wouldn't even have to steal food if the emperor didn't falsely claim that her father stole gold from the emperor's palace. So now they live in poverty, being punished for something they didn't do. So now, Meilin personally hated the government.
Just when Meilin grabbed a piece of jerky from the bag of stolen goods, she saw a figure watching her. He looked foreign. Even though he was wearing a hood, she could tell he did not belong here.
"I can see you, so you can stop stalking me now," Meilin said to the hooded figure
"But I only want to help," the figure said. The figure walked closer until he was a mere few feet away from her, then finally took off the hood. The figure was a boy, close to her age, with blond hair and blue eyes.
"With what?" Meilin said
"With your… situation," the boy said, "You see, I want to help people like you, who get into situations they don't deserve,"
"Go on," Meilin said
"I need your help," the boy said, "You see, you must have heard of the Hero of Erdas coming to town right?"
"Yes, of course," Meilin said. If you didn't know that the Hero of Erdas was coming to town, you basically lived under a rock. But Meilin wasn't too fond of the news. If Meilin hated anything more than the Zhongese government, it was the Greencloaks. Waving their flag of victory around, while others like her were still suffering. The other thing that bothered her about the Greencloaks was that they only cared for the Marked. She had been hoping to summon a spirit animal at her bonding ceremony to get out of poverty, but when she had failed, the Greencloaks had just left.
"Well, you see, the Hero of Erdas has something of mine, it is probably in his pack. Since you are very good at stealing," the boy said, motioning to the bag of stolen goods, "I need you to steal his pack."
"Why would I help you?" Meilin asked
"Because, I have this," the boy said tossing her a bag. When Meilin opened the bag, she couldn't believe what she saw. It was full of gold coins. Then after a while, boy then grabbed the bag back.
"It could be all yours, if you just steal the pack," The boy said, as Meilin considered. All those gold coins could get her and her father a tiny apartment. Sure, it was small, but it was better than her current situation.
"Ok, I will help you, on one condition," Meilin said, "Tell me, what is your name?"
The boy smiled and simply said, "Shane."
(Rollan's POV)
Rollan and Tarik got to Jano Rion, Zhong the next day. It was hot and loud, but he quickly got used to it, as it was like his home in Concorba, Amaya, only more Zhongese. They fed and watered the horses, before they rented a stable to keep the horses until they left Zhong to go to the next stop on the tour. Rollan was starving so Tarik decided to go to a little café in Jano Rion to eat some food.
"This place sure is crowded," Tarik said, while eating his soup.
"Yeah, sure is," Rollan replied. Sure, the food was great, but Rollan had one thing on his mind: Where is Meilin? Meilin had to be here somewhere, but where? He shuffled through his pack to try to find some water (as though the server was nice, she was terrible at refilling drinks), before setting the pack behind his chair. He looked around the room to try to find the server, before finding someone else. Surely it couldn't be her, but it was.
"Meilin!" Rollan called to her, ushering her over to the table
Meilin blushed and ducked her head down and said, "How did you know my name?"
"Oh, just a knack of mine. By the way, I'm Rollan." Rollan said, grinning. He couldn't believe Meilin was here, it had been so long since he had seen her.
"I'll go stand over there," Tarik said, going to a nearby table
"Hey Meilin, I need to talk to you about something," Rollan said once Tarik left
"About what?" Meilin said, blushing, keeping her head low
"You see, what I say needs to be in between us," Rollan said, as Meilin nodded
Then Rollan explained everything to Meilin, about the Parallel Universe, the candle, the wish, everything.
"Well," Meilin said, looking astonished, "I wish I could help you, but you see those candles are very rare, it is a hard to obtain one, they say only one place in all of Zhong sells those candles, and they are very pricey."
"Do you know where they sell it?" Rollan asked
"No, sorry," Meilin said, "I can't help you. Good day to you Rollan."
As Meilin walked out of the café, Rollan just watched her go, with a pack on her back. With a pack on her back. Meilin didn't have a pack when she walked in, if he could do one thing, it was notice the important details. He looked down where his pack was, but it was gone. But, why would Meilin steal his pack? Then he remembered: he is in a parallel universe, everyone has a different personality than the one he knows. So instead of Meilin being a noble in Zhong, she was a just a child, living on the streets, stealing just to get by.
Rollan took a deep breath before saying, "You know, Meilin, you didn't walk in here with a pack, and well now you do have one. And that pack sort of looks like mine, before it got stolen."
Meilin's eyes wided, as she found out she got caught, but before she could do anything more Tarik yelled, "She stole Rollan's pack! Get her!" And with that, Meilin ran out of the café while tens of guards started to come out on the streets to try to catch her. Rollan was in panic, he didn't want Meilin to get caught, and even it wasn't the Meilin he knew. But all he could do is stand there and watch.
"Don't worry, we will get your pack soon," Tarik said, before he ran out of the café.
Rollan just stood there, unable to do nothing, while someone he cared about was being chased and being hunted down, just for a petty theft. Don't worry Meilin, he thought, if they catch you, I will get you out that I promise you.
(Meilin's POV)
Meilin ran for her life with Rollan's pack on her back. She could hear many screams as she was being chased by Zhongese guards. Then she got to the intersection of alleyways. She turned right, left, right, before getting to her home, where Shane was.
"Here's the pack," she said, tossing to it into his lap
"Perfect," Shane said, as he looked through the pack
"What did you need from that pack anyways?" Meilin asked
"Hold on still looking, and haha! There it is," Shane said before pulling out a box of matches
"Matches? Really? That's what he took from you? You could just get that at the store!" Meilin said
"Oh, but these are rare," Shane said, "They are made of wax and a special kind of tree sap from a tree you can only get in Zhong."
"Yeah, yeah, now where's my reward?" Meilin said impatiently
"Oh yeah, about that," Shane said, stuffing the matches in his pocket, then giving the pack to Meilin, "There's been a change of plans."
Before Meilin could say anything, Shane yelled, "Guards! She's over here!"
"Wha-What!" Meilin said, as two guards ran up behind her and held her down, "But I'm innocent! That guy, Shane made me!"
"There is no innocence from stealing from one of the Four Fallen," Shane said, but something was weird about his statement
"What are you talking about? There was never a Four Fallen!" Meilin said
Shane twitched before he said, "My mistake, but you do the crime you do the time."
"What!? No!" Meilin said, turning to the guards holding her down, "You have to believe me!"
Meilin turned and said, "You will pay for this Shane!" But by the time she said it, Shane was gone.