Turn the Page

by Ryeran

A peaceful morning in Vale is interrupted by a thunderous blast followed by the appearance of a new warrior. Who could he be? What will come of his arrival; a new quest?

3. Zeran

Chapter 3_____Zeran

A bright ray of sunlight shone through Isaac's window and danced over the sleeping warriors face.  He stirred, and opened his eyes, only to quickly shut them again since he was looking directly at the early morning sun.

Isaac inhaled deeply through his nose, and lifted himself into a 'push-up' position.  He turned over and sat on his bed, looking around.  That's when he noticed he was still in his clothes.  He felt them.  They were slightly damp.

'That's right.  I've got to get over to Ivan's,' he reminded himself.  Isaac stood up and headed toward the door.  He didn't really feel like changing, and the sun would dry his outfit well enough.  Mostly awake, he made his way downstairs.

"Good morning Isaac," said a voice.

Isaac yawned, "morning Mia."  Isaac headed over to the counter to get a cup of chorici.  "Wait what?"  He turned around to see a young woman with sea-blue hair and matching eyes sitting at the table.  "I mean, Mia what are you doing here?" Isaac asked when he sat at the table across from her.

"Your mother and I are going shopping today, and she's just treating me to breakfast."  Mia gave him a mock glare.  "Is there something wrong with that?"

Isaac shook his head.  "No, no.  That's fine.  It's just, I didn't expect to see you here first thing in the morning, that's all."

Mia laughed.  "Well surprise.  By the way, did you do what I said to tend to that boy?"

"Uh, well that's just what I was about to do," Isaac said when he got up and grabbed a piece of toast off the plate in the center of the table.  "I'll see ya later, okay?"

"All right, bye," said Mia as Isaac left.  She looked at the cup that he didn't drink at all from.

"Do what?" asked a woman in her mid-thirties as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hm?  Oh, Isaac saved a young man from the river last night," Mia informed.

"What!?"  The woman looked shocked.  "Where is he now?"

"At the inn.  He seems to be doing fine, though."

"How come I haven't heard about this?" the woman questioned.

"Well, it was rather late when it happened, and Isaac seemed pretty drained from the effort, and not to mention the temperature of the river."

The woman just sighed and sat down where Isaac was sitting a moment ago.  "That's just like him.  Always going out of his way to help other people.  The river is pretty cold.  Is Isaac ok?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Thank goodness," the woman breathed.  "Oh, and Mia?"  She picked up the chorici that Isaac had left and began sipping at it.

"Ma'am?"

"Please, call me Dora."

__
The young man in the inn opened his eyes.  Everything was blurry at first, but as his vision cleared, he saw another person sleeping on a chair next to the bed.  By the looks of it, the blonde boy on the chair wasn't a whole lot younger than him:  a couple of years or so.
He studied his surroundings.  He was in a room that was actually a section on a larger one, with a single bed.  'Probably a symmetrical double bedroom, but that's not even the point.  Where am I?'

Just then he heard footsteps coming up some stairs, then he saw another person come around the edge of the partial wall and approach the bed.

"Well, it looks like you're doing ok," he said.  He was about the same age as him, with spiky golden hair.  He placed a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder and gently shook him awake.  "Ivan wake up."

"Huh?"  Ivan yawned and looked up at his waker and then at him.  "Oh, he's up."

"How are you feeling?" the older one asked.

"I guess I'm ok.  I feel fine."  He started to get out of bed.

"Not too quickly," the spiky haired man warned.

He took his advice and slowly stood up without any problems.  Then he froze and looked at the other two with a confused look on his face.

"What is it?" Ivan asked.

"I thought my leg was broken."

"It was, but Mia healed it," the older one informed.

"Who?"

"A friend of mine.  You'll meet her later.  By the way, my name is Isaac."

"Nice to meet you.  You're the one who pulled me out of the river?"

"That's right.  So, what were you doing in there in the first place?"

"I fell in," the young man replied.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that one out, but what were you doing before that?"

"I was headed here, following the river, but I slipped and fell in.  Then I was washed a good ways down through the woods, and got stuck on some roots in the water...breaking my...leg."  He examined his right leg, verifying the fact that he felt no pain at all.  "You said a friend of yours 'healed' it?" he said looking perplexed.

"Yep," Isaac said simply.

"Incredible," he said barely under his breath.  "How?"

"She's a healer.  You don't know how to use psynergy?" Isaac asked.

"What's that?"

"It focuses the power of the four elements into a spell, then is cast on a specific target.  In some places they call it magic."

"Oh, Magic.  I see."

"You can use it?"

"No, but where I come from most people can use it.  I was never trained to be a magician.  I'm a swordmaster; I don't like to rely on spells and other crap to defeat my foes.  I like using pure skill of the hand and body."

Isaac nodded.  "Me too, mostly, though I use some psynergy every once and a while."

"Hey Isaac.  Aren't we supposed to meet Garet in a little bit," Ivan interrupted.

"That's right.  Well I'll see you later if you'll be fine on your own.  I'm sorry I can't show you the town, but please feel free to take a look around for yourself if you want to get out of the inn."

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

Isaac and Ivan left.  The young man looked around and noticed his sword was missing.  He still had the sheath strapped to his back, though.

"Crap."

Just then Isaac came back in the room.  "You know, I haven't gotten your name yet."

"Oh, It's Zeran."

"Zeran," Isaac confirmed.  "Ok, well I've gotta go now, later."

"Bye."  Isaac left again and Zeran searched through his pockets, sure enough his pouch was still there with the two gems inside, thankfully.  'Maybe my sword is still downstream.'

Zeran walked out of the inn and looked around the plaza.  It was a bright morning, and just about everyone was out to take advantage of the fine weather and 'get some work done'.

I wonder what kind of currency they use here.  I seriously doubt they'll accept Galen.  He looked around in some of the stores, and found nothing of interest.  Even the weapons were crap compared to his blade.

"Dammit my sword.  It's still in the water somewhere.  I have to find it!"  Zeran stood still for a moment; he heard the sounds of the waters in the wooded distance.  He took off in that direction and, once he was out of the town, made his way through the forest.

He arrived at the ravine and searched up and down the running water.  There were a few mild rapids and a large log bridge a little ways upstream.  Under it a bunch of tangled tree roots were barely visible under the surface.  'That's probably where I got stuck,' he thought.

Looking further up the river, he pondered the situation.  'I fell into the river pretty late.  It wasn't much later when I was pulled out.  That means the point of fall was not too far up there.  About a kilometer or so.  My sword can't be past that point.'

Zeran started upstream.  He kept his watch for the place he remembers falling in.  In a few minutes he came across a large clearing where the river widened out over a large platform of dark stone.  The main river stepped its way down the rock and ended noisily with a small waterfall spilling into the deep forest below.  'Here it is!'  He looked around at the place.  There was a massive boulder jutting up on the side of the waterfall at the lower end of the clearing.  'I climbed up on that thing to see if I could get a better view of the area.  The moon was bright last night, and I could still see a good distance through the woods.'

He carefully made his way across the ankle deep water toward the rock.  He accidentally stepped into a deeper pool and soaked most of his right leg.  "Ghhedd!!  Cold!!" he exclaimed while pulling his leg out and holding onto it.  The water was like slush.  The only thing keeping it from frosting over instantly was the fact that it was moving.  After spending a moment rubbing his leg trying to warm it, Zeran climbed up on top and searched around.

'I remember what happened.  I slipped and fell into the water below.'  He cautiously peered over the edge and down the small cliff.  The waterfall splashed into a large pond about 20 feet or so from where he sat.  'So my sword has to be down there or beyond.'

Zeran climbed down and made his way to the bottom of the cliff.

_____
Isaac stood in the plaza staring at the massive dark blue crystal sitting on a tiny island in a small pool of water.  In the front the distance was just short enough to jump over to it.  He sat down and thought about the night before when he agreed he help Jenna find her brother and how she hugged him.  Then they saved Zeran from the river.  'Wait a minute.  I haven't seen him all day since the inn.  I wonder where he is.'  Isaac looked up and noted it was noon.  'He might still be exploring around town.'

He got up and walked toward the stairs leading to the upper parts of town.  When he got there he saw Ivan coming down.

"Hey Ivan, have you seen Zeran?"

"Who?"

"The man we helped," Isaac explained.

"Oh.  No I haven't seen him since this morning.  He's probably looking for his sword."

"How do you know that?"

"When you brought him in the inn last night I noticed he had a sheath but no sword.  I figured he lost it in the river, and now that's most likely where he is now."

"Alright thanks."  Isaac started off toward the woods on the western side of town.

__
Zeran stepped over a massive log jutting out of the bank over the pool.  He studied the foaming water that most likely hid his blade.  'I can't very well see in there.  Maybe I'd have to dive in,' he shivered at the thought.  'Well might as well do it now.'

He tightened his boots and belt, and made sure everything was secure.  He took off his pouch and placed it next to the log.  "Here goes..."

Zeran dove into the water.  He was instantly greeted by an agonizing wave of coldness.  He went to the surface and caught his breath.  Knowing that he has to press on, he quickly breathed in and out to get a good supply of air in his lungs.  Holding that supply, he dived under again.  Zeran searched the bottom of the pool for his sword.  No luck.  He looked around the bed of rocks forcing his eyes to stay open.  The sword was not there.

He surfaced and swam for the bank with the log.  The young warrior climbed out and lay on the mass of wood sapped of his strength.  "Further...down.  It has to be."  Zeran just rested there for a while.

__
Isaac crossed the river at the log bridge that he carried Zeran over the night before.  He'd probably be searching further upstream if that's where he fell in, if his sword fell out of its sheath when he did.

Now on the far side from the town, Isaac made his way upstream, keeping an eye out for the sword if he happened to see it first.  He crossed over fallen trees and large rocks, all the while passing through tall ferns and other brush.

Isaac knew he was getting close to a large clearing where the river flattens out over a floor of stone.  'Maybe I'll find something there-' Isaac stopped.  He saw a white glimmer in the water to his right.  He got closer keeping an eye on the gleam.  When Isaac was standing over the side of the gully, he peered closely into the clear water.  "I wonder..."  He jumped over onto a small ledge just above the surface.  As soon as he landed his feet sunk about a foot into soft mud.

"Aaggh...dammit."  Isaac tried to pull his feet out of the substance, but the suction was too powerful.  He sighed and dug out around him.  When the mud was a little shallower he pulled his feet out and fell back into the river.  He almost panicked.  Reacting to the icy cold conditions, he grabbed onto the nearest thing he felt with his hands.  His right found itself holding onto a large tree root while his left grabbed an object that felt similar to the root, but straighter and smoother.  He used the root to pull himself up toward the surface while he held onto the other item.

When his head was out of the water he swam toward the edge.  He crawled onto the ground and shivered from the cold.  After a few moments he sat up and looked at what was in his hand.  It was a sword.  It had a short blade with a hilt wrapped in leather, and had a brilliant red stone on the end.

"Well what are the odds...?" Isaac smiled to himself.  He stood up and trudged up the side of the river, intent on finding Zeran.

__
After pulling himself out of another section of the rushing water, Zeran was on the verge of giving up his search.  "Damn, where can it be?"  Just then he heard someone approaching in the wooded distance.  He jumped back behind a fallen tree trunk.  Peering over the edge he saw Isaac come into view, holding a small sword.  "That..." he whispered.  "That looks like my sword!"  Zeran jumped up and called out to him.  Isaac turned his attention to the young man on the log about forty feet away, and ran up to meet him.

"Hey, you found my sword!"

"Yeah," Isaac replied.  "I found it in the river right down there."  He pointed at the thicket to the south.  "When I saw it glimmer I got closer to investigate, and then I fell in and grabbed it by chance."

"Thank you," Zeran said when Isaac handed the blade to him.  He instantly sheathed it behind his right shoulder.  "So I guess that's the end of that.  I'm hungry, does the inn serve any food?"

"Of course.  But why don't you come to my house for supper?"  Isaac offered.

"You're sure that'll be alright with your parents?"

"Yes I'm sure, with my mother at least.  Maybe we'll still be able to catch Mia there.  C'mon!"  Isaac started down the side of the brook, and Zeran followed.  All the while Isaac's thoughts dwelled on the promise he made to Jenna.

_____
Author's notes:

(1) I'm sorry that it took so long for this chapter to be released.  I had the first draft finished for quite some time, but the corrections and revisions have fallen victim to my renowned tendency to procrastinate.  I promise I'll try harder to get more chapters out sooner.  The story should get more interesting since the real action/adventure part is about to get here.  These chapters are just needed to get the characters in place.

(2) xT-Zealot (if you're reading this) Please go back and finish Gohan Meets Sasami and Love at Hogwarts.  Recently I've been reading a number of Gohan/Sasami fics, and, of course, I become somewhat of a fan.  Those two stories seemed very promising, but you need to go back and focus on them for a little bit, please.  Also, you need to tell Pal that she needs to continue on Okayama Summer for very similar reasons.  I appreciate your cooperation greatly.  Thank you.

(3) I'll be releasing a 'Notes on Turn the Page'.  The terms you saw in the story that do not seem to be in the English language (such as chorici and Galen) will be discussed in this section.  This part will explain more as the story progresses.

Until next time, this is Master Barrin, signing out.

~master