I didn't want to update this story or any other story before updating Cherry Knots. Before I had decided to continue that story though, I had already written most of this one. I will update Cherry Knots and Extra Chapters after this though.
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Chapter 6: The Outdoor Marketplace
In a large white castle located within the area of a rich and successful city known as Atlas, the royal guards and servants were running to and fro with chore after chore. The ruler of the city, Queen Victorique, was taking a mid-day nap in her extravagant bedroom. She slept peacefully until the arrival of her most important "servant" interrupted her nap. The woman of about forty-two pulled off her sleeping mask and shot a glare at the blonde woman standing at the door. Due to her still tired expression, said woman could not take the glare as a serious warning.
"Uwova? What do you want from me now?" Queen Victorique groaned.
Uwova pulled at her turquoise sweater. "I apologize for disturbing your rest, but I have very important news to bring you."
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"That was the most awful experience of my life."
"At least we got these new clothes for free~"
"Man, wearing your underwear on the inside doesn't feel right..."
The party of three was heading down a beach-side shopping center full of exotic foods and items they had never seen before. The people that sold said items were just as exotic. They came in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Tobias stared at everyone they passed by until Kyle smacked the back of his head and informed him that staring is rude, but Kyle himself couldn't keep his eyes off the odd looking creatures that varied from being creatures to somewhat humans. Tobias rubbed the back of his head and adjusted the way he was carrying Kyle on his back.
After Yo had some difficult luck finding a doctor to treat Kyle, the boys were given alternative clothes to wear while trying to find actual clothes to suit them. Even though Kyle would have greatly appreciated being able to wear pants in order to cover the ugly stitches on his right leg, he had no choice but to settle with a pair of tight, blue jean shorts that stopped above his knees. He was also wearing a white dress shirt underneath a red v-neck sweater. There was a gold colored tie under the collar of his shirt that shimmered in the fading sunlight. The sleeves of both the sweater and shirt were rolled up to his elbows.
"Hey, Kyle." Tobias looked over his shoulder at the boy.
"What?"
"Do you think that when you're skin grows back, it'll have to grow your freckles back in the same position they were in before?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "That is a ridiculous question, and I would rather you say healed and not grow back."
Yo was leading the other two. She held their current most important item in both hands. On the projector screen there was a large green arrow pointing them in the needed direction. Straight forward. It was becoming closer to night, and Yo wanted a place to sleep. She could already see a few stars twinkling above them, but she couldn't see any inns or hotels. To be more accurate, she couldn't even read most of the signs and posters they passed. They were all written in different types of alien language. Yo sighed and smoothed out her black skirt. She thought her new clothes were "just absolutely adorable," even though Tobias said otherwise.
Her outfit included a bright yellow tank top with a pink ribbon, just like the ones she used to have in her hair, on the left strap of the shirt. She wore another shirt that was aqua colored with long sleeves that slipped off her shoulders. The Asian girl was happy to know that there was even a pair shoes available at the shop that resembled her other ones. Along with the shoes, she had two different types of stockings- one pair of stockings was transparent and black with sparkles while the pair underneath those were pink with horizontal black stripes.
"Yo, where are we going, and are we almost there? Kyle weighs more than I thought." Tobias meant no offense but a light grunt coming from Kyle clearly stated that the redhead misunderstood him.
"I don't know! But look at the sky, that doctor took a while tending to Kyle's wound, and it also took us forever to find clothes we liked; it's almost nighttime." She replied while continuing to follow the arrow.
"Well, I just don't feel right without my super hero uniform on! It's not the same I tell you!"
Tobias had the most trouble finding acceptable clothes. He would have almost settled for anything if he hadn't seen the neon green, short-sleeved hoodie that had a purple hood and black drawstrings in the hood. It heavily reminded him of his uniform that was his pride and joy to wear on a daily basis. He paired the hoodie with dark brown cargo shorts. The amount of pockets on them amazed him. Even though he was wearing a belt, his shorts still managed to slip and show a little bit of his lower back. For footwear, he had black, high top shoes that went all the way up to his knees. It was obvious to Kyle and Yo that he laced them up himself. After finding outfits for each of them, they had stumbled upon a place where you could make your own design to put on your clothes. This caused Tobias to dash into the shop, leaving Yo to help Kyle stand on his feet. He came out a few minutes later with his emblem etched onto the chest of the hoodie. It was an exact remake that he felt proud to say he made himself. Kyle was mostly in awe at the fact he managed to make a perfect circle.
The shop they had gone to in order to get much needed clothes and dry off, fortunately had human clothes. The owner of it, an odd green woman who resembled a slug despite the fact that she had two tentacles on each side of her legless body, had explained she sold them to make money faster and easier; though she didn't explain how she acquired them. She also told them that everyone was intrigued with the designs of human clothes from Earth. Kyle couldn't help but to notice that just as they were staring at anyone and everyone, those same people were staring back. Whenever some laid their eyes or eye on the three, they'd gasp and take a picture with a device that could possibly be an other worldly camera or just take a quick look. He couldn't really understand why everyone was so interested in humans.
"Don't you think we should found some place to stop for the night? I mean as much as I would enjoy getting out of this wretched place, we need to get our rest..." Kyle finished his opinion with a wide yawn.
"Why, hello there! Weary travelers! Short and fat!"
The three children jumped, and Kyle clung to Tobias.
"Hey, Yo. I think it was talking about you." Tobias whispered to her.
Standing before them, was what they assumed to be a woman judging by her chest. She was about the same height as Chum Chum and wore very plain beige robes. From under her large black hat, they could see many strands of powder white hair sticking out. She had jet black skin that was wrinkled and sagged in some places. Her body was wide, and her robes covered her feet. There was a large mole on her nose which Tobias tried his best not to lay his eyes on.
"If it's beds which you seek, then I have the perfect place for you to rest your aching heads!" She talked excitedly through the type of dried up voice one would expect to hear from a witch.
"Where would that be exactly?" Yo asked her.
She pointed to a two story building that was nuzzled between a food market and blacksmith. The building wasn't much and appeared to be made from a lot of dry mud. Sensing their thoughts, the woman continued on.
"Now, now, the exterior is nothing compared to the interior! I'll even let you stay one night for free!"
Tobias, unsure of how the others felt about staying at the unknown woman's inn, wanted to spend the night. When Yo turned around to talk it out with them, she was face to face with a begging Tobias. He gave her the best puppy dog eyes and trembling lip he could make.
"It's the only place we'll find, and she seems generous enough to let us stay free." Kyle said.
"We'll stay." Yo told her, and Tobias did a small leap in the air.
"Excellent!" The woman clapped her bony hands together. "Let me show you to your rooms. Follow me!"
The trio followed the woman across the street and into the inn. The inside really was a lot different than the outside. There were hardwood floors and white walls with several paintings and bookshelves. Strange nick-knacks were on each shelf that caught Tobias's attention. Next to the check-in desk, were the stairs that lead to the second story. In the small lobby, there were also a few beings that were no different from the ones outside. They either sat at one of the two tables, conversing with each other in English or other languages that the kids couldn't decipher, or read books from the shelves.
"You can feel free to become familiar with the private library or go straight to your rooms which are on the second floor, all the way to the end of the hall. The boys will share one room, and the girl can have her own." With that, the woman walked off to entice more visitors to her inn.
Tobias walked over to a chair and carefully placed Kyle in it. He rotated both arms and stretched out his back. After being satisfied with the sound of his bones popping, he ventured around the lobby, hoping to speak to anyone that resided in the inn.
"Wait a tic. Did she just say the boys will share one room?" Kyle repeated.
Yo, who looked afraid of the creatures in the room, answered him. "Yupp. Her words exactly."
"Hmph. Lucky... I have to sleep in the same bed as that." Kyle gestured to Tobias who was making friends with a glob of blue ooze that resembled Yum Yum.
Little did he know, the blue ooze was actually giving him information about Atlas and Aradia.
"This is just Atlas's market and trading center. It puts more cash in the queen's piggy bank. Atlas is a hell of a lot different than this. White castles. Gold toilets."
Tobias's eyes widened. "Gold toilets?!"
"Nah... Well, I don't even know. Those horses are strange." The man made of ooze waved his hand.
"Horses?"
"Well, yeah, little human kid. Everyone who lives in Atlas is a centaur." He said it in a way that made it sound as though it was common knowledge. "Not the kind in your mythology though. Man, these kinds are more human than horse, physically speaking of course."
Most of what he said went through one of Tobias's large, round ears and got caught in his brain. "Uh-huh... What do you mean by that?"
"You'll have to see them for yourself, lil man." He yawned. "I need to get this huge blue butt into bed."
Tobias watched him walk up the stairs until he couldn't see him anymore. He then walked over to a table with other questionable beings. They eyed him carefully, giving him a good once over with however many eyes each of them had. The one who sat across from him looked like a giant, red ant. It's eyes were enormous and contained human-like irises and pupils. It's green eyes roamed over Tobias intimidatingly. Under it's gaze, the boy could feel himself sweating.
"So, you're a human." The ant said, resting one of his thin elbows on the table.
The eleven-year-old pulled at his hood and twirled a drawstring around his finger. "Yeah. Me? Totally human."
The ant spat out between it's mandibles. Sudden flashbacks of when he had been ruthlessly attacked by ants after stepping in their dirt mound homes whipped through his head.
"You don't look so tough." The ant leaned in forward.
Feeling small and weak compared to the ant, he stuttered. He focused on his mandibles. "O-Oh, me? W-W-Weak? Haha! You're pr-probably right! I am j-just a human after all!"
Tobias smiled sheepishly at him while a few seconds of silence passed. The ant suddenly let out a horrendous laugh.
"You're alright kid! Ya' gotta love this guy!"
Once, Tobias had gotten his knees to stop shaking and his heart to return to a normal pace, he joined in the merriment of what was happening at the table.
"Look at him. Making friends like nobody's business. He's too friendly." Kyle said, peeking over his book to watch the other.
"Maybe you're just not friendly enough."
"So says the girl who's afraid of them." Kyle sneered.
"S-Shut up!"
After a couple of hours had passed that were full of chatting, meeting strange yet friendly creatures, and being given tips on where to find the best eateries in town, the group decided to go to bed. They walked up the stairs to their rooms.
"Maybe in the morning when we're fully rested-" Yo began.
Kyle cut in. "Hopefully."
"-we can try to figure out what's happened to us so far." She finished with an awkward smile.
"'Kay then~" Tobias opened the door to his and Kyle's room.
Yo closed the door to her room. Tobias walked into theirs while Kyle stood outside of the door. He was looking out of a window in between the two rooms. Out of the window he could see the large body of water they had come out of only a few hours ago. Night had fallen upon this new place. The moon which was much larger than the one on Earth, had a beautiful reflection on the surface of the water. Stars twinkled in the sky, adding to the illumination from the moon. As he looked down at the water, he suddenly remembered someone... Koirai.
"Aradia..." Kyle listened to the way it sounded rolling off his tongue.
Tobias's hand came out of the doorway and jerked Kyle into their room.
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Somewhere in the blackened sky, a book was flying through the air. On the book, sat a blue-gray elf who had hitched a ride on it.
"Could you go any faster?" Scrivener Elf nudged the other.
If Necronomicon had eyes, he would have rolled them. "Do you ave any idea what it's like to use my energy to bring us to this place and have to carry you?!"
Scrivener Elf said nothing. A wind whipped passed them. He glanced over to see a pair of wings shinning in the moonlight. Those wings were attached to a lion-like body. He quickly realized who was flying next to them.
"'Ey, buddy!" He shouted at the griffin, "How about helping us out?"
The griffin didn't give them a second glance before flying faster towards the outdoor marketplace.
"That good for nothing, bird... Looks like it's just you and me."
Necronomicon sighed. For miles and miles under and ahead of them, there was only water. The marketplace was a mere speck from their distance.
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I wanted to make half this chapter focus on Chum Chum, but that clearly didn't happen =_= So, the next chapter will be all about him. Also, the next chapter of Extra Chapters will be about Tobias and Kyle's night.