(many thanks to all who reviewed!)
CHAPTER TWO
So far, it had been an extremely strange week for Adi, Lutra, and Ness. Strange and unexplainable things had been happening to the three 8th graders. But nothing could compare with the strangeness of what happened one Saturday at Ness's house.
Ness had invited Adi and Lutra over for the day. They arrived at 12:30 noon, and were scheduled to go home around 6. "Hey, Adi!" Ness said, opening the door. Adi waved to her friend, and Lutra who was already there. "What's up?" Ness asked. "Well." Adi replied, then proceeded to tell them exactly what was up. "Some clouds, particularly cirrus and cumulus. Also the sun, a few airplanes, and a blimp approximately 1.56 miles from here. And there's." "You're late." Lutra interrupted, cutting into Adi's long and detailed explanation. "It's 12:33." Adi rolled her eyes at Lutra. "Yeah, by three minutes." She said. "It's still three minutes." Lutra shook her head. The three of them lounged around at Ness's for awhile before Ness decided to order some Chinese food. She called the Chinese food place and ordered, and now they were waiting for their food ("How long does it take them, anyway?" Lutra said. "We ordered 17 minutes, 52 seconds, and 28 milliseconds ago!"). They talked about the usual stuff-how stupid the boys were in school, what books were really good, how many days now before spring break. . .
Soon the doorbell rang-Chinese food! All three of them stampeded to the door. Ness opened it, digging for money to pay the Chinese food guy. "Three orders of shrimp fried rice, spicy chicken, beef with mushrooms, egg rolls, wonton soup. . ." Ness counted out the money for the guy, pulling a wad of folded bills out of her pocket.
Counting, she realized she was short a few dollars. "I need four dollars more, drat, I need. . ." Ness handed the guy the money she had so far. She turned to Adi and Lutra. "Does anybody have. . ."
She was cut short when a blinding silver light surrounded her. Lutra felt the time around her slow to a stop, and Adi felt the molecules of space also stopping. The silver light brightened around Ness and expanded to include both Adi and Lutra. The Chinese food guy was still motionless at the door, expecting more money, with a wad of bills in his hand. The light's intensity grew, and it shined and glowed. . . And then the entire world they knew vanished around them
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The three girls roused briefly into consciousness about an hour later. They took a look at their unusual and new surroundings-they were on. . .top. . .of a mountain. ". . .four dollars. . ." Ness finished her sentence. "I think so. . ." Adi replied. And then they all fainted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The bright morning sun rose over the mountain peak, showing brilliantly in the eyes of Adi, Lutra, and Ness.
Ness didn't open her eyes immediately. Adi was the first one awake, sitting up straight and surveying her surroundings, now that she could get a better look. They were on top of a mountain, and at the bottom was a town that stretched into a city, and far off there was a place that Adi recognized as a "citadel."
Adi poked Lutra. "Lutra, wake up!" She said. "You too, Ness." She added, poking Ness as well. Lutra rolled over and stretched. Those months of colorguard and long practices had kept her body from getting stiff, but she was still not a morning person. "Ness!" Adi poked Ness again. "No thanks, Numair, I'll be fine." Ness muttered in her sleep. Adi and Lutra exchanged glances. "Who's Numair?" Adi asked. Ness came fully awake then. "Huh?" She said. "You just said, 'no thanks, Numair, I'll be fine.' Who's Numair?" Adi asked again. Ness blinked. "A guy I read about in a book once. I was dreaming. . .where are we?" It seemed that just now Ness noticed they were on top of a mountain. Adi looked around. "We're in Summersea, which is in a place called Emelan. I don't know anything about this place, just that that's where we are." "And it's 11:49." Lutra added as an afterthought.
All three of them were still thoroughly confused. "I'd ask how we got here, but somehow I don't think anyone knows." Lutra said, getting up and stuffing her hands in her pockets. "Do we have anything. . .useful. . .with us?" Asked Ness, the logical one. Adi, who had her backpack with her, pulled it open. "My CD player." She announced. "No CD's, though. Well that sucks. Some potato chips. The book 'Marlfox'. An origami crane." She turned to Lutra, who had her purse. "Got anything useful there?" Lutra peered inside. "Hair clips, tic tacs, my library card, some random stuff. And my cell phone." Lutra lifted out her cell phone, a normal looking black one. "But somehow I don't think it's going to work here. Do you?" Adi asked. Lutra shook her head. "This place. . .wherever it is. . .doesn't look like it would have cell phone towers." Nobody seemed to notice, however, the fact that Lutra's cell phone seemed to be shining an odd silvery color.
Ness sighed at the two of them, got up, and turned to face the town at the bottom of the mountain. "That helps." She said, wrinkling her nose at the stuff Adi and Lutra had with them. "Maybe we'll have better luck at the town. . ." Adi said, pointing. "It's approximately 2.3 miles from here." She added, causing everyone to stare at her. "Well, it is." She replied with a shrug.
"And if we hurry, it will take us two hours and 19 minutes to get there." Lutra added as well. "Well, then let's go!" Ness said. The three of them started down the mountain.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Lutra predicted, it took them two hours and 19 minutes to get to the town. Of course, now that they were in it, they didn't. . .know where to go next.
"We're lost." Ness announced after they wandered the streets for 14 minutes. Adi turned to glare at her. "No, we're NOT lost." She said pointedly. "We're in a place called Summersea, in Emelan." Everyone sighed. Adi had an unusually good sense of direction-no matter where they were, she ALWAYS knew just precisely where that was. Ness scowled. "Well, then, we don't know where we're going." She said. Adi nodded her approval. "Better."
They continued to wander-I mean, they continued to walk-for awhile
"You know, if we just. . ." Adi was cut off abruptly by a girl darting out and running into her. The girl knocked Adi down. "Oof!" Adi exclaimed in surprise as her and the girl fell into a heap. The girl scrambled up and off Adi and stood up. She had short, dark hair and had a foreign look to her. "Sorry." She said. There was also the hint of an accent in her voice. "Didn't see you there."
Adi got up, brushing herself off. "Where are you from, anyway?" The girl asked. "I mean, you definitely don't look like you're from around here." That was true enough-Ness's shiny skirt, Adi's jeans and shirt that said, 'On our raft we have a prayer-holy shit!' and Lutra's jeans and T-shirt that had a picture of a huge hairy ape and said, 'My band director can beat your band director' were very out of place in this world. The girl was wearing loose-fitting pants (a/n: Hey Steph! PANTS!) and a tunic, and her short hair was pulled back in a kerchief.
"Uh. . ." Lutra said. "We're from. . .across the ocean!" Adi blurted. She knew somehow that there was an ocean nearby. "Yeah. Our. . .boat crashed. . .during a storm." Ness added. The girl looked at them strangely. "Oookay then. . .anyway, my name's Evvy, what's yours?" "Adi." "Nessa." (she was interrupted by Adi saying, "Call her Ness.") "Lutra." Evvy nodded. "Come, I'll bring you to my teacher. He might be able to help. . .you guys seem lost." "Yeah." Ness agreed, but got a glare from Adi. "Well, we're not lost.we just don't know where we're going." She said quickly. Evvy shrugged. "Whatever." She started walking into the busier section of town, with Adi, Lutra, and Ness running to catch up.
Finally, Evvy stopped in front of one of the stalls in a marketplace. The stall was filled with all sorts of miniature trees-every kind you could imagine.
"Briar!" Evvy called into the stall. "Briar, a couple of girls are lost-" A glare from Adi stopped her. "I mean, a couple of girls don't know where they're going. I told them you could help." "Hold on, Evvy." A voice called. There was a rustling sound, and all the miniature trees seemed to lean towards an invisible something. A boy, about 17 or 18 years old, emerged from behind the trees. He had dark hair and gray-green eyes, and was rather tall.
"Oooh. . ." Adi whispered. "He's HOT!" Lutra nodded her agreement with Adi. "Hey." Evvy turned to them. "This is my teacher, Briar Moss. He's a plant mage." The three of them exchanged glances. You could tell they were all thinking the same thing-plant mage?
Briar smiled welcomingly at them. "Hello!" He said, then began moving about and touching each one of his trees in turn. "Sorry. . .these trees take up a lot of time. You three aren't from Summersea?" They shook their heads. "No, we're from Bufezda." Adi said. Briar stared at them. "Across the ocean." Ness interjected, so Briar didn't think they were crazy. "So, you don't really know you're way around?" "We don't know where we're going." Adi said a bit too quickly. "Oookay. . .I'll be right back. Evvy, could you show them around a bit? Bring them back later. I trust that won't be a problem." Evvy shook her head. "Alright, then." Briar vanished back into the mass of trees in his stall. "I get to show you around." Evvy said, grinning wickedly. Adi and Lutra just nodded. . .their minds were still on that. . .Briar.
Evvy led them through the winding marketplace. It was very easy to get lost, but somehow, none of them did.
CHAPTER TWO
So far, it had been an extremely strange week for Adi, Lutra, and Ness. Strange and unexplainable things had been happening to the three 8th graders. But nothing could compare with the strangeness of what happened one Saturday at Ness's house.
Ness had invited Adi and Lutra over for the day. They arrived at 12:30 noon, and were scheduled to go home around 6. "Hey, Adi!" Ness said, opening the door. Adi waved to her friend, and Lutra who was already there. "What's up?" Ness asked. "Well." Adi replied, then proceeded to tell them exactly what was up. "Some clouds, particularly cirrus and cumulus. Also the sun, a few airplanes, and a blimp approximately 1.56 miles from here. And there's." "You're late." Lutra interrupted, cutting into Adi's long and detailed explanation. "It's 12:33." Adi rolled her eyes at Lutra. "Yeah, by three minutes." She said. "It's still three minutes." Lutra shook her head. The three of them lounged around at Ness's for awhile before Ness decided to order some Chinese food. She called the Chinese food place and ordered, and now they were waiting for their food ("How long does it take them, anyway?" Lutra said. "We ordered 17 minutes, 52 seconds, and 28 milliseconds ago!"). They talked about the usual stuff-how stupid the boys were in school, what books were really good, how many days now before spring break. . .
Soon the doorbell rang-Chinese food! All three of them stampeded to the door. Ness opened it, digging for money to pay the Chinese food guy. "Three orders of shrimp fried rice, spicy chicken, beef with mushrooms, egg rolls, wonton soup. . ." Ness counted out the money for the guy, pulling a wad of folded bills out of her pocket.
Counting, she realized she was short a few dollars. "I need four dollars more, drat, I need. . ." Ness handed the guy the money she had so far. She turned to Adi and Lutra. "Does anybody have. . ."
She was cut short when a blinding silver light surrounded her. Lutra felt the time around her slow to a stop, and Adi felt the molecules of space also stopping. The silver light brightened around Ness and expanded to include both Adi and Lutra. The Chinese food guy was still motionless at the door, expecting more money, with a wad of bills in his hand. The light's intensity grew, and it shined and glowed. . . And then the entire world they knew vanished around them
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The three girls roused briefly into consciousness about an hour later. They took a look at their unusual and new surroundings-they were on. . .top. . .of a mountain. ". . .four dollars. . ." Ness finished her sentence. "I think so. . ." Adi replied. And then they all fainted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The bright morning sun rose over the mountain peak, showing brilliantly in the eyes of Adi, Lutra, and Ness.
Ness didn't open her eyes immediately. Adi was the first one awake, sitting up straight and surveying her surroundings, now that she could get a better look. They were on top of a mountain, and at the bottom was a town that stretched into a city, and far off there was a place that Adi recognized as a "citadel."
Adi poked Lutra. "Lutra, wake up!" She said. "You too, Ness." She added, poking Ness as well. Lutra rolled over and stretched. Those months of colorguard and long practices had kept her body from getting stiff, but she was still not a morning person. "Ness!" Adi poked Ness again. "No thanks, Numair, I'll be fine." Ness muttered in her sleep. Adi and Lutra exchanged glances. "Who's Numair?" Adi asked. Ness came fully awake then. "Huh?" She said. "You just said, 'no thanks, Numair, I'll be fine.' Who's Numair?" Adi asked again. Ness blinked. "A guy I read about in a book once. I was dreaming. . .where are we?" It seemed that just now Ness noticed they were on top of a mountain. Adi looked around. "We're in Summersea, which is in a place called Emelan. I don't know anything about this place, just that that's where we are." "And it's 11:49." Lutra added as an afterthought.
All three of them were still thoroughly confused. "I'd ask how we got here, but somehow I don't think anyone knows." Lutra said, getting up and stuffing her hands in her pockets. "Do we have anything. . .useful. . .with us?" Asked Ness, the logical one. Adi, who had her backpack with her, pulled it open. "My CD player." She announced. "No CD's, though. Well that sucks. Some potato chips. The book 'Marlfox'. An origami crane." She turned to Lutra, who had her purse. "Got anything useful there?" Lutra peered inside. "Hair clips, tic tacs, my library card, some random stuff. And my cell phone." Lutra lifted out her cell phone, a normal looking black one. "But somehow I don't think it's going to work here. Do you?" Adi asked. Lutra shook her head. "This place. . .wherever it is. . .doesn't look like it would have cell phone towers." Nobody seemed to notice, however, the fact that Lutra's cell phone seemed to be shining an odd silvery color.
Ness sighed at the two of them, got up, and turned to face the town at the bottom of the mountain. "That helps." She said, wrinkling her nose at the stuff Adi and Lutra had with them. "Maybe we'll have better luck at the town. . ." Adi said, pointing. "It's approximately 2.3 miles from here." She added, causing everyone to stare at her. "Well, it is." She replied with a shrug.
"And if we hurry, it will take us two hours and 19 minutes to get there." Lutra added as well. "Well, then let's go!" Ness said. The three of them started down the mountain.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Lutra predicted, it took them two hours and 19 minutes to get to the town. Of course, now that they were in it, they didn't. . .know where to go next.
"We're lost." Ness announced after they wandered the streets for 14 minutes. Adi turned to glare at her. "No, we're NOT lost." She said pointedly. "We're in a place called Summersea, in Emelan." Everyone sighed. Adi had an unusually good sense of direction-no matter where they were, she ALWAYS knew just precisely where that was. Ness scowled. "Well, then, we don't know where we're going." She said. Adi nodded her approval. "Better."
They continued to wander-I mean, they continued to walk-for awhile
"You know, if we just. . ." Adi was cut off abruptly by a girl darting out and running into her. The girl knocked Adi down. "Oof!" Adi exclaimed in surprise as her and the girl fell into a heap. The girl scrambled up and off Adi and stood up. She had short, dark hair and had a foreign look to her. "Sorry." She said. There was also the hint of an accent in her voice. "Didn't see you there."
Adi got up, brushing herself off. "Where are you from, anyway?" The girl asked. "I mean, you definitely don't look like you're from around here." That was true enough-Ness's shiny skirt, Adi's jeans and shirt that said, 'On our raft we have a prayer-holy shit!' and Lutra's jeans and T-shirt that had a picture of a huge hairy ape and said, 'My band director can beat your band director' were very out of place in this world. The girl was wearing loose-fitting pants (a/n: Hey Steph! PANTS!) and a tunic, and her short hair was pulled back in a kerchief.
"Uh. . ." Lutra said. "We're from. . .across the ocean!" Adi blurted. She knew somehow that there was an ocean nearby. "Yeah. Our. . .boat crashed. . .during a storm." Ness added. The girl looked at them strangely. "Oookay then. . .anyway, my name's Evvy, what's yours?" "Adi." "Nessa." (she was interrupted by Adi saying, "Call her Ness.") "Lutra." Evvy nodded. "Come, I'll bring you to my teacher. He might be able to help. . .you guys seem lost." "Yeah." Ness agreed, but got a glare from Adi. "Well, we're not lost.we just don't know where we're going." She said quickly. Evvy shrugged. "Whatever." She started walking into the busier section of town, with Adi, Lutra, and Ness running to catch up.
Finally, Evvy stopped in front of one of the stalls in a marketplace. The stall was filled with all sorts of miniature trees-every kind you could imagine.
"Briar!" Evvy called into the stall. "Briar, a couple of girls are lost-" A glare from Adi stopped her. "I mean, a couple of girls don't know where they're going. I told them you could help." "Hold on, Evvy." A voice called. There was a rustling sound, and all the miniature trees seemed to lean towards an invisible something. A boy, about 17 or 18 years old, emerged from behind the trees. He had dark hair and gray-green eyes, and was rather tall.
"Oooh. . ." Adi whispered. "He's HOT!" Lutra nodded her agreement with Adi. "Hey." Evvy turned to them. "This is my teacher, Briar Moss. He's a plant mage." The three of them exchanged glances. You could tell they were all thinking the same thing-plant mage?
Briar smiled welcomingly at them. "Hello!" He said, then began moving about and touching each one of his trees in turn. "Sorry. . .these trees take up a lot of time. You three aren't from Summersea?" They shook their heads. "No, we're from Bufezda." Adi said. Briar stared at them. "Across the ocean." Ness interjected, so Briar didn't think they were crazy. "So, you don't really know you're way around?" "We don't know where we're going." Adi said a bit too quickly. "Oookay. . .I'll be right back. Evvy, could you show them around a bit? Bring them back later. I trust that won't be a problem." Evvy shook her head. "Alright, then." Briar vanished back into the mass of trees in his stall. "I get to show you around." Evvy said, grinning wickedly. Adi and Lutra just nodded. . .their minds were still on that. . .Briar.
Evvy led them through the winding marketplace. It was very easy to get lost, but somehow, none of them did.