Chapter 2_____Into the River and Through the Woods
"Hey Isaac, hold on!" a voice called out.
A man stopped in his tracks. He was about six feet tall with spiky brown/blonde hair and deep, ash-blue eyes. "What is it this time, Garet?" he said exasperatedly as he turned around to face his friend. As soon as Isaac could see Garet running up to him, he tripped on a rock and fell square on his face.
"Ooomph."
Isaac couldn't help but burst into laughter. Garet got up quickly and brushed himself off. He was taller and better built than Isaac, and had brown hair that stood strait up. He had brown eyes. After a minute he chuckled. 'Yeah, that was pretty dumb wasn't it' he confessed in his mind.
"Yeah that was!" Garet turned around and saw another young man walking up from the side. He was a little younger than Isaac with dirty-blonde hair that he just let hang loosely around his head.
"Hey! I thought you agreed not to read our minds!" Garet stated angrily at the younger teenager.
The boy's bright violet eyes went wide. "Oops!" With that he took off running.
"Get back here! What else do you know!?" Garet yelled, while he ran after him, not succeeding in catching up though.
"Be careful Ivan, don't let him trip on you! He'd probably kill you!" Isaac called after him. He laughed again, and turned around to find himself face to face with a brown haired girl, about his age. "Oh, hi Jenna."
Jenna, however, didn't look too happy.
"What's the matter?" Isaac asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"Isaac, I need to talk to you," Jenna said.
"What about?" Isaac now locked his eyes on her brown ones, and his face became serious.
"Can you meet me here later tonight?"
"Why can't you tell me now?"
"I don't want them to know about it, not yet, anyway," Jenna said as she looked from side to side to see if any one else is around. "Please Isaac?"
"..."
"Please," she repeated.
"Alright," he said hesitantly. 'Damn. I don't like keeping things from my friends.'
Jenna left just as Isaac was reminded of Garet and Ivan's chase when he heard yelling in the background. He turned back to his childhood friend; she's gone.
Isaac scratched his head. 'I wonder what she wants...' He looked up at the sun; it was a little after noon. His mother wanted him to fix the roof again, so he started walking home, not even bothering to tell his friends he's leaving.
A few seconds later, Ivan came up to where the conversation took place, a little out of breath. He looked around for Isaac and found him walking off in the distance. Ivan stood up straight and narrowed his eyes, watching him leave. After a moment he closed his eyes and sighed.
"There you are." Garet said as he approached from behind. "No use running now," he taunted with a smile.
Ivan rolled his eyes and sprinted away again.
"Hey!"
_____
Isaac was on his roof placing extra straw in the gaps. He had been working most of the afternoon,
and dusk was imminent. He stood up and
looked towards the setting sun and wiped the sweat from his brow. He's been thinking about what Jenna wanted
to talk about, since she had asked him to meet her. Isaac just couldn't place it.
Jenna's never done something like this before. Why now?
A few months ago they finally returned from Gondowan. It's been a full year since Isaac and Garet had left Vale on their voyage. Once they found Lemuria they had no reason for continuing their quest. The Jupiter Lighthouse was destroyed, and Felix went down with it. Isaac had actually tried to save him, even though he was considered their enemy. He tried for Jenna. He didn't want her to watch her brother die twice. No one deserves that kind of grief. NO ONE. Despite his desperate efforts, however, he failed.
Isaac gritted his teeth. He will never let her down again. Whatever her problem may be, he will help her with it to the best of his ability and better.
Isaac sat down on the top of his house. He watched the golden sun slowly creep down the reddening atmosphere. From his point of view, he could see pretty much the entire valley stretching for miles to the horizon. He looked down over the lower parts of the village. Several houses dotted the thinned forest, and a large warehouse sitting in a clearing could easily be spotted. From here Isaac could see his peoples' monument. A crystal about the size of a giant ape rested on a small mound surrounded by water. It stood triumphantly in the center of the plaza.
Isaac lay back on his roof. He watched stretching cirrus clouds travel across a brilliant orange sky. 'Maybe I will stay here after all,' he thought. For the past month, Isaac contemplated leaving Vale. After his adventure, he kind of wanted to get out and see the world again.
'Maybe I'll travel more in the future, but-'
Isaac's thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of a snapping twig. He sat up, searching around the house to see if anyone was there, nobody.
He averted his attention to a nearby entrance to the woods. 'Someone's there.' He slowly made his way to the ladder and climbed down. His first thought was that it was Garet playing a trick on him. His second was that there's some animal wandering into the town. 'A deer? At this time of day? It's not even dark yet.'
In any case, the situation will not be spared of Isaac's cautious attention. Knowing that his Gaia Blade was in his room standing in the corner, he picked up a stick about as long as his sword with a strong enough thickness.
Carefully Isaac approached the brush, the boarder-line between the forest and the village. The stick he kept behind him, pointing out to his right horizontally to the ground.
Garet suddenly stumbled out of the bushes. He caught his balance and stood strait up scratching the back of his head. "Umm, hey Isaac," he said with an all too innocent look on his face.
Isaac just dropped his weapon and sighed in relief. "What were you doing?" he asked in a slightly aggravated tone.
"Uhh, um. You know what? I not too sure." Garet looked behind him into the woods. "C'mon out Ivan, our cover's blown!"
The only reply was an exasperated groan followed by the younger teenager. "You mean your cover was blown, you moron. Why did you have to do that, anyway?"
"Well if I hadn't be-"
"Hey!" a very irritated Isaac interrupted. "I want to know what you guys were doing there!"
"Why don't you tell him, Ivan? Since I personally don't know exactly what you were trying to accomplish by sneaking up on Isaac."
"...Okay," Ivan breathed. "I wanted to find out what was bothering you, Isaac. Your conversation with Jenna looked somewhat disconcerting."
"Did you read my mind?" Isaac demanded softly.
"As I implied, no."
Isaac kept calm over the entire situation. Although he wasn't pleased about them trying to discover his problems by spying on him, he was glad Ivan was being truthful. That's pretty much all Isaac wanted in return for his friendship, honesty.
"I promised Jenna I wouldn't tell anyone about her problem. If she wanted you to know about it, I'm sure she'll tell you soon enough, okay?"
"Alright," Ivan said simply, understanding the situation. He turned around and started home. He's been living with the innkeeper for a couple of months, and he's now thinking about building a house in the northern parts of Vale. "C'mon Garet," he shot back.
"What would Jenna want to keep from me anyway?" Garet grunted.
Isaac glared. "I told you, she probably has her reasons for not telling you. As a matter of fact, I don't even know the details. Are you happy now?" Isaac knew that Garet is Jenna's childhood friend too, but now his persistence is just rude.
"Fine." At length Garet finally agreed. He turned and walked over to join Ivan. They both started off in silence, and after a while Ivan came back, leaving his disgruntled companion to walk home by himself.
"What is it?" Isaac asked when Ivan approached. Ivan looked back and saw that Garet was gone. He turned back to Isaac.
"Garet's not going to tell Jenna that you told him she has a problem. He does respect you Isaac. He knows that telling Jenna about what you said will hurt your friendship with her."
"How did you know-...oh." Isaac realized when Ivan simply gestured to his head. Tapping his temple with his index finger. "Thank you." Isaac had started to worry about what he told Garet. He was relieved now, thanks to Ivan.
"Hey Ivan, how come when you read Garet's mind, I didn't see you use psynergy? I mean, that's twice now, and I never knew about it."
Ivan smiled. "Well, my mind read ability is my most heavily trained, now it doesn't even use energy at all, or at least not enough for any other adept to notice."
"Wow, that means I'd better watch out right?" Isaac replied humorously.
"No, I'm not going to break my promise. I never told Garet I'd never read his mind."
Isaac laughed. "Yeah I guess that's true. Anyway it's getting dark. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, see you later." With that Ivan started towards the Inn at the plaza.
After Ivan disappeared behind some buildings. Isaac stretched and gazed once more at the sunset. The sun was now just a sliver of bright red light peeking over the distant mountains. Shadows began to dominate the town and people started going into their houses to eat a well-anticipated meal. Most of them wouldn't be seen again until next morning.
_____
A full moon bathed the resting village in a pale silver glow. Not a sound could be heard except the faint
chirping of crickets in the not too distant woods and the flowing of water from
the nearby river. To a better-trained
ear however, footsteps were making their way to the town plaza. A shadow walked up to the aforementioned
crystal, sitting silently on its little island in the night. The figure sat down on the cool grass in
front of the water and pulled back its hood.
"Isaac?" a voice in the background whispered.
The hooded man turned around and saw his friend Jenna come up behind him, her eyes straining to see in the dim light. "Yeah it's me," Isaac reassured.
Jenna came up and sat down beside him. "Thanks for coming Isaac."
"No problem. But I have to wonder what it is you only want to tell me and not the others." Isaac basically launched the conversation into progress.
"Umm. You know how the Jupiter Lighthouse was destroyed?"
Isaac could see where this was going. "Jenna I'm sorry that Felix-"
"No, no it's okay because, well, I know he's alive." Jenna didn't look very unhappy about the subject. In fact, she seemed confident.
"What!? H-how do you know?"
"I...can't really explain, but I just have this feeling that he's ok."
"Jenna..." Isaac knew she was probably right. During her life she seemed to get premonitions about these things. That's why, as she told him a few weeks back, she wasn't very scared when she was kidnapped. She knew that Isaac and his friends were going to be all right. That meant they would not fail. This ability, Kraden told him, was common in fire adepts. "Alright. So just what do you want to do about it?"
"..."
"What do you want to do?" Isaac was curious as to how she planned to solve the problem.
"C-can we go find him? I think he's in trouble, or at least, he will be if we don't do something soon."
"What?" Isaac was kind of shocked. Jenna wants to actually go back out there and find Felix. 'I mean, where could he be anyway?' "Do you know where he is?" he asked her, not expecting much of an answer.
"...No." Jenna replied with her head down.
'Do it.' Isaac heard a voice in his head. 'You want to help Jenna, now do it.'
"Okay." Isaac said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I'll help you find him." Isaac looked over at her, his eyes piercing hers.
Under his caring gaze, Jenna was suddenly filled with happiness. She moved over and hugged Isaac, her arms reaching under his shoulders and squeezing him affectionately. Her warmth and softness seemed to wrap around his soul, as well as his body. "Thank you Isaac," she whispered against his chest.
Isaac was taken aback a little from her move. Sure it felt good, but what did he do to deserve this? All he did was agree to help her find her brother...oh. Isaac thought back to all the times when he helped her when nobody else seemed to care. Some times even Garet failed in this field of friendship. 'This means a lot to her, you deserve this. You've deserved this years ago,' the voice reminded him. After thinking for a few seconds Isaac recovered his wits and wrapped his arms around her waist, returning the soft embrace.
Isaac looked up at the moon. Just then, his ears picked up on some sounds in the distance. Splashing, abnormal. Once he heard something else, someone calling out, he knew exactly what it was.
"Someone's in the river!" Isaac exclaimed trying to get up.
"Who?" Jenna released her hold from Isaac.
"I don't know. C'mon!"
Isaac and Jenna ran through the plaza and into the dark forest to the west, where Isaac thought he heard the noises. They sped their way through the brush, tall grasses, and fallen trees, following the cries for help.
Isaac was the first to arrive at the river. He looked down into the small gorge and the searched the raging waters. Jenna came up behind Isaac and halted abruptly, almost pushing him in also.
"Do you see him!?" Isaac asked Jenna voicing over the noise of the rapids a little ways upstream.
"No!" was Jenna's reply.
Isaac looked harder at the small patch of rapids. "There!" He pointed at someone hanging onto some roots protruding from the far side of the muddy ravine. From the looks of it he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.
"Hold on, we'll get you out!" Isaac yelled over to him. He and Jenna ran to a giant log bridge and started making their way across as fast as they could without endangering themselves also.
"Are you all right?" Isaac called to him when he jumped off the end of the log and slid down the muddy cliff. If he didn't have any injuries, this wouldn't be very complicated.
"I'm s-stuck," was the man's only reply.
"Where?"
"M, my le-leg," he managed to get out. "I think ih-it's b-broken."
"Damn. So much for things being simple..." Isaac examined the root that he was hanging onto. "Alright just hold on. I'll have you out in a second." He turned to Jenna, who was watching the entire seen worriedly. "Jenna, go to the inn! Have Ivan get some blankets and start a fire, and then go get Mia! I'll meet you all there!" Jenna immediately obeyed, and ran back over the log and disappeared in the silver-lit forest.
Isaac turned his attention to the young man again. "Which leg?"
"R-righ, right."
Isaac submerged himself and examined the situation under water. There was a maze of tree roots down there also. Isaac could hardly see basically because of two things. One was the fact that the water was icy cold and it hurt like hell to open his eyes. The second was because it was almost pitch dark, and the only light was from the moon overhead.
Isaac could, however, make out a foot in the midst of the root-trap. He came back up. "Okay," he said. "This may hurt somewhat, but at least you'll be out, and I can take you to my village."
"..."
"Hey, are you okay!? Say something!" Isaac started to worry. If he didn't get this guy out and fast, there will be no saving him.
The man looked up slowly. "Y-yeah. I'm f-f-fine, ok."
'Whew.' Isaac ducked back under and reached over to his trapped foot. He gripped the vines that held his leg, and started to pull them apart.
The man above the water, on the other hand, didn't really feel anything. Most of his body was pretty much numb, which is why he's not too sure anymore if his leg is really broken. He did feel that his leg was free, though, and its buoyancy took over, hovering in the running water.
A second later Isaac came back up and gasped. "Gods that's cold!!!" He reached over and took the young man's arm over his shoulder, guiding them out of the water.
Isaac struggled up the slippery ledge, hanging onto a low branch and basically pulled them up with one arm. About eight feet above the chilly water, they reached the top, and Isaac rolled the man off his shoulder resting him on the ground.
Breathing hard, Isaac took off his black cloak and wrapped it around the shivering victim of the relentless river. "Just hold on," he assured. "J-just a little longer..." Isaac shivered. The cold was already getting to him a little bit.
Isaac picked up the young man into a fireman's carry, and started making his way slowly across the log bridge. Luckily he made it across without slipping. He trudged through the deep grass and ferns, almost tripping on a couple of unearthed tree roots. 'Damn,' he thought. 'If I don't keep my pace up, were both gonna freeze!' The cold water he was just in was taking its toll on his strength. It might even feel warmer in the river now instead of the contrasting air of the late autumn night. Isaac began to march faster.
__
Ivan fed a few more logs into the fire, bringing the flames to a new state of
vigor. He had already gotten some blankets
out and set them on the bed of a vacant room.
He now waited in the main hall.
The only details he knew was that someone's in trouble and Isaac would be bringing him in any minute now. At least that's what Jenna hastily said before sprinting out the door again.
At that last thought somebody burst through the door. It was Isaac with an unconscious man on his back. Isaac himself looked pretty worn out.
"A bed!" Isaac commanded simply.
"Yeah, this way." Ivan quickly led him to the room he was preparing.
Isaac rushed over to the bed and slipped the man off his back and onto the soft bedspread. After removing his clothes, he quickly grabbed the blankets and wrapped them around him.
Just then Ivan heard more people coming into the building. Ivan left to greet them, only to return a few seconds later with Jenna and another young woman with long sky-blue hair and aqua eyes. She was dressed in white and blue robes and a large decorated sash tied around her waist.
Isaac wasted no time. "He said his leg is broken," he said turning to the young woman. "Mia, could you heal it?"
"Sure," she replied. "Which one?"
"The right."
Mia walked over and placed her palm over the man's right leg. Her hand began to glow a pale blue light.
Isaac turned to Jenna. "Thank you," he said to her.
"No problem," Jenna responded.
"He's not going to make it if he doesn't stay warm. The blankets may not be
enough..."
"I know." Jenna already knew what to do. She went over to the young man and slid her hand under his neck. She winced at how cold his skin was then she closed her eyes. The area around her hand slowly became warmer. She was radiating heat through his body.
When Mia was done healing his leg, Jenna pulled away also. Mia went to Isaac.
"Okay, he should be fine now. Just keep him warm and make sure the fire doesn't go out. When he wakes up, keep him in bed and give him only warm water. He can have soup, but nothing else, alright?"
Isaac scratched his head. "Um, ok."
"Good. I'm going back to bed." Mia yawned, and went out the room, intent on making her way back to Jenna's place, where she was currently living. "Coming Jenna?"
"Yeah, just a sec." Jenna walked over to Isaac and hugged him even though his outfit was still damp. "Thanks Isaac," she said, obviously referring to the conditions from earlier. "We'll talk more tomorrow, ok?"
"Sure thing."
With that Jenna left and caught up with Mia. They both then walked off to her house, that is, if they can get there without collapsing and sleeping on the ground first.
"Ivan, can you keep an eye on him for tonight? I'll be back first thing in the morning."
"That's fine." Ivan reached over to the desk and got the chair, setting it next to the bed.
"Alright, see you tomorrow. Thank you."
Ivan's only response was a yawn that seemed to make Isaac even more tired. "See you later..."
_____
Isaac made his way home and pondered several things. For one thing, who was this young man? What was he doing in the forest in the first place? Then his thoughts wandered to even earlier
than that. He promised Jenna he'd help
find Felix. 'Well, the journey can't be
made with just two people,' he thought.
'And why not?' It was that voice again.
'Huh?'
'Why can't you two make the trek alone?' The voice repeated.
'Because it's dangerous.' Isaac answered.
'Dangerous for you, or her?'
'Both of us.'
'How?'
'What do you mean, how?' Isaac defended
'You're afraid you might hurt her.'
'I'd never do that!'
'You're afraid of letting her know how you feel about her.'
'Dammit, how do you know so much!?' Isaac was getting a little irritated with this 'voice' in his head.
'I am your mind,' it said plainly.
'Curses!' Isaac tried to shut himself out without much luck.
'Do you love her?'
'What? O-of course I love her!'
'I don't mean in that way. Do you love her?'
'I,...I'm not sure,' Isaac confessed.
'Then tell her how you feel.'
'Wha.' Isaac was confused now. 'What do mean by that? By the way, if you are me, then how come you are asking questions? Aren't you supposed to know those answers already?'
'You don't seem to know yourself,' the voice said simply. 'How am I expected to know if you don't?'
Isaac started getting frustrated. In an irritating way, he knew the voice was right.
'Besides, that's not the point,' the voice continued.
'What's not the point?'
'You're supposed to admit these things to yourself, not me,' the voice said.
Isaac sighed. 'He's right,' he thought to himself. 'Alright, just give me a little more time.'
'Fine, but I suggest you go on this trip alone; the two of you. I guarantee you'll thank me later. And don't worry about your safety. You and Garet made a similar quest, did you not?'
'...Yes.' Isaac finally agreed with the voice.
'...and you turned out fine, so you can make the trip again with only two people.'
Isaac knew he was losing the argument. 'But Jenna's a-'
'Girl?' the voice interrupted. 'True, but you must not underestimate her skill and power. She can easily compare to Garet in any field.'
'Alright,' Isaac gave up. 'I'll think about it, but I'm not guaranteeing anything, agreed?'
'Agreed.'
'Whew, now I just want to get some sleep. I still have a comatose person to tend to in the morning.'
With the voice gone, Isaac quietly entered his house and lightly went to his room. Without even bothering to change out of his clothes, he let himself fall onto the bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.
_____
Author's notes:
(1) Sorry that took so long to get uploaded. For a while I lost access to the computer I was using to type this story. Now the chapters should be released just a little faster.
(2) There will be some music cues for this story later on. Mostly songs I thought kind of fit into the character and mood. I will include these cues in between paragraphs, and when the entire story is finished, I'll make an enhanced list of all the songs used (some of the music will change but the list at the end, or the 'soundtrack' as I like to call it, should be official).
(3) In case you haven't noticed, there were two versions of the first chapter, Road to Home. Some people read the first one (approx. 1400 words) and didn't seem to like it. I went back and carefully read it over myself, and found many mistakes. I also found that it was kind of confusing. So what I did was: I revised the first chapter, and reposted it onto fanfiction.net (approx. 1700 words), and that's what you all see now, the second version. (and would you believe it, I got some good reviews!) So thank you all for the support, I believe you will like what I have in store for you. (you know I guess it's true what they say, it always helps to actually read what you write.)
So thank you again,
~master