Hey! Hi everyone! It's me again! I'm glad to bring you another update today! But I'm also hurling myself across the room for forgetting to write more sooner! I guess I need to take a break or something... well whatever. I'll get right back to the chapter. Luckily, since I'm writing my synopsis, in two short paragraphs I can figure out where I am :)
Chapter 9
Of course as soon as they made it back to Chad's home, Fauna's parents were nowhere to be seen. When Chad unlocked the house, he figured that Zack wasn't there either.
"I'll go change quickly out of this. Stay put." Chad ordered.
Fauna sat on one of the stools and studied the simply decorated room. She was by a round table, and not far from it was a door. On both sides of it were bookshelves filled with books and various ornaments. Hand painted pictures hung here and there, and a small potted plant made its home by the staircase. It was different from her bedroom. Her room was neat and clean. Everything was placed exactly where they belonged everyday, not moving to another location unless deemed necessary. In a short moment, Chad came back down the stairs.
"Are you ready to go now? There's nothing more we can do. Maybe Kiara's aunt might know where they went. Or where Kiara is." Chad said, opening the door and leaving. Fauna followed and they made their way towards her home. It was a half hour walk, so a conversation immediately sparked.
"Hey, Fauna, I was wondering how you first found that cavern. It's really big and is strangely...off. I just don't feel right after going in that place. It was like something was wrong. And you got rid of that amulet...didn't you?"
Fauna paused for a moment. She hadn't gotten rid of the amulet. In fact, she left it at her home. And the cavern...she remembered a bit.
"Well, it was a little something like this..."
...X-Flashback-X...
Fauna and her father were clearing their 'storage cave' of junk when they stopped for a break. Fauna was tired of lifting things and organizing stuff. She wanted to practice with her skills and move things with her spells. But her father insisted that she use her muscles and not waste time with 'petty magic'. Annoyed, Fauna began searching for an area to practice secretly. About a few days later, her father was called to a town meeting. Leaving her alone to clear out parts of it, Fauna began exploring. After a while, she was in the back of the cave, where a couple boxes had been stacked carelessly. She searched each box, clearly confused to see nothing in it. For that was some food supplies she had hidden for a journey, like those days she said she would run away. But instead, all her meals she stored were gone, and some crumbs were on the ground. An odd scent seemed to swirl around her. Moving the boxes, she discovered a large hole. Curiously, she crawled in, examining the tunnels. She didn't go far before she remembered that she had other things to do. After two hours of wandering, she found her way out again. Exhausted, she pushed the boxes back where they were and left.
Not long after opening the tunnel, weeds had sprouted up in her mom's garden. They had hired someone to take care of it, but after a while, it just grew to be a pain. The hired hand had said he heard strange noises and insisted that they leave their garden. Fauna didn't believe him though, and walked into her mother's garden and began searching for the source. She was about to give up when she heard something behind her. Whirling around, she was knocked to the ground by a strange vine. She had run off, and fell sick the next few days. Every night she couldn't sleep. The vine seemed to haunt her dreams. After extreme training with her magic, she found out that the vine had disappeared. It was gone, and her mom's garden returned back to normal. But that didn't mean that the vine stopped haunting her. Every night, she could hear something in the storage room scrapping at wood and rock. She knew what it was. It was out to get her.
...X-End of Flashback-X...
"and that's why I ran off like I did when I saw that vine. I just knew it was the same type, and that it was out to get me."
"O-o-out to get you?" Chad said, whirling around in confusion.
Kiara finally awoke to see the stars overhead. She tried to sit up, but a shot of pain prevented her from moving. She fumbled with her wind chilled clothes and wrapped them around her blue shoulders. Carefully, she trudged towards the bridge back to the village. The cold wind whirled Kiara's hair, blowing it in all directions. After a long, painful struggle, Kiara had made it to the bridge. Using her energy to balance herself, she slowly walked across the rope bridge. It shook and wobbled, moved and swayed. She had crossed the bridge just before a strong gust tossed it roughly in the air. It remained put, thanks to the strong rope nailed down in the dirt.
She continued walking home, and ignored some of the confused gestures of the people she walked by. Kiara knew she was definitely sick, she could feel every breeze, everything breath go past her, and with each touch, she shivered. About halfway through the village, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"A-achoo!" Kiara sneezed as the fingers whipped back. She turned slowly to see Fauna's parents, and Zack, Chad's brother.
"Oh...Kiara, have you seen Fauna? Her parents are worried." Zack replied, scanning her. "You look cold, why don't I get you some tea?"
"N-no thank you." Kiara replied, sniffing, "I-I'm just fine."
"Well, Kiara, have you seen our Fauna? She hasn't come back yet. In fact, when we searched for her, she was nowhere to be seen, so we assumed she was with you and Chad, but after visiting his brother, we found out that she wasn't there either, and neither was Chad. So we went to seek out your aunt and...well we found you, and dear you look utterly awful!" Fauna's mother asked
"Oh, I was just heading home...a-and I haven't seen Fauna, I was heading over to your house to see if Fauna was still there because...well because Fauna said she wanted to show me something."
"Show you something? What?"
"I don't know...I got sidetracked. I'll be heading home if you don't mind, but please, come along." Kiara said, hurrying back to her humble abode. In a few minutes, they were at the door, where Kiara knocked softly.
Mila's expression was one of pure horror. She rushed her niece to the bathroom to wash, and then escorted the guests inside, shutting out the chilly breeze. As Kiara waited for the water to warm up as she sat by the fire, she heard the adults (and Zack) chatting.
"So they aren't here...where could they be? I told Fauna not to go that far..." muttered Fauna's father.
"I checked everywhere at my home, I don't have a single clue. The only thing that leads up is that he was headed to your daughter for something. And so was Kiara. Maybe she forgot. But I'm sure we might be able to find out if we stir some memories back into Kiara. But wait until she is warm. I don't think it'd be nice to be bombarded with questions before a hot bath." Zack's voice echoed.
Kiara got up and headed into the bathroom, dropping the cold garments on the floor and slipping into the warm, comforting bath. Kiara tensed up when the hot water made contact with her cold skin, but after a while, she relaxed. But what couldn't get off her mind was:
Where were they?
And...done! Hope you like it! Please review! - Edit: Sorry, I was in such a rush. Thanks all for reviewing. If you see any errors, I will head back and fix them. -
Yours truly, enjoying a winter wonderland,
AuthorPen11
