It took us awhile to find all the plants Luein needed, and by the time
we did, it was dark. We had talked a little bit and I learned some about
his family and where he was from. From what he told me, there was
supposedly a shrine and village on the other side of the mountain where he
lived. The shrine was to honor some sort of god that protected the
mountain. This interested me and I asked him lots of questions. He gladly
told me everything that I wanted to know, and by the time we were finished
with dinner, I knew the entire history of the mountain and village.
The next morning we set out in hopes of reaching the other side by midday. While on the way there, he asked me lots of questions about my family and history.
"So where do you live?" He asked me with interest. I wasn't sure I wanted to answer. I didn't think he had ever heard of California or the United States, and I wasn't sure he would believe my story that I had fallen through a portal into his world. I decided to be safe and tell him that I was from the Elvin village.
"Oh, I'm just from the village on my side." I told him.
"You are?"
"Didn't I just say so?"
"But I thought only elves lived in that village." He said to me, and stopped walking. "You're not an elf. I can tell because of your ears." I stopped walking beside him and caught a gasp in my throat. "Uh-Oh...I don't think this is good. Now he might think I've been lying to him." I thought. Quickly, I racked my brain for an excuse.
"Uh...um.t-that's because I'm not." I said in a rush, "There was an immigrant exchange not too long ago. and I was one of them." Even I was surprised at how good it sounded when it came out of my mouth.
"Oh. Okay that makes sense." He said, and smiled. I started walking again and he followed me. "That was really close." I said to myself, and headed in his direction up the mountain.
We didn't say anything for a few hours, and just paid more attention to the scenery and the horizon above. I had a feeling he knew I was up to something, and I didn't like the thought that I was lying. I really wanted to be truthful, but I could lose so much if Luein turned out to be a traitor. So I kept my secretes to myself, and for the rest of the walk I fixed my eyes on the trail ahead.
Luein's prediction turned out to be correct. By noon, we had finally reached the top of the mountain. There weren't many trees around and the wind whipped fiercely at our faces. It was surprisingly cooler and I hugged my arms around my chest. I looked down below and saw a mass of trees below. This side of the mountain was more over grown and not as steep. I guessed this was why I couldn't see a little village and a small shrine at the bottom as I expected.
We stopped under a hanging over rock and had lunch without much conversation. The silence was causing a little tension for me and I decided to say something.
"Um.thank you very much Luein for doing this." I said. He jumped a little at my words.
"Oh, it is no problem at all. Really." He said back. He seemed to look a little better now that I had talked to him. "We should be down this side in about a day if we keep up this pace. It is much faster because it isn't as steep."
"We can go as fast as you want to." I said to him. I was eager to see his village, and especially the shrine, so I had no problem at all in hurrying up.
"Ok then. If we want to get halfway down before dark, then we shouldn't waste any more time up here." He said
"Sounds good to me. Lets go," I answered and started to pack up. After about 5 minutes, we were ready to leave and carefully made our way down from the top.
The walk was much easier, so we picked up our pace a little bit and reached halfway much sooner than we had expected. We stopped anyway and had dinner before it had even turned dark. We decided to go to bed early, and fell asleep immediately.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning we set out in hopes of reaching the other side by midday. While on the way there, he asked me lots of questions about my family and history.
"So where do you live?" He asked me with interest. I wasn't sure I wanted to answer. I didn't think he had ever heard of California or the United States, and I wasn't sure he would believe my story that I had fallen through a portal into his world. I decided to be safe and tell him that I was from the Elvin village.
"Oh, I'm just from the village on my side." I told him.
"You are?"
"Didn't I just say so?"
"But I thought only elves lived in that village." He said to me, and stopped walking. "You're not an elf. I can tell because of your ears." I stopped walking beside him and caught a gasp in my throat. "Uh-Oh...I don't think this is good. Now he might think I've been lying to him." I thought. Quickly, I racked my brain for an excuse.
"Uh...um.t-that's because I'm not." I said in a rush, "There was an immigrant exchange not too long ago. and I was one of them." Even I was surprised at how good it sounded when it came out of my mouth.
"Oh. Okay that makes sense." He said, and smiled. I started walking again and he followed me. "That was really close." I said to myself, and headed in his direction up the mountain.
We didn't say anything for a few hours, and just paid more attention to the scenery and the horizon above. I had a feeling he knew I was up to something, and I didn't like the thought that I was lying. I really wanted to be truthful, but I could lose so much if Luein turned out to be a traitor. So I kept my secretes to myself, and for the rest of the walk I fixed my eyes on the trail ahead.
Luein's prediction turned out to be correct. By noon, we had finally reached the top of the mountain. There weren't many trees around and the wind whipped fiercely at our faces. It was surprisingly cooler and I hugged my arms around my chest. I looked down below and saw a mass of trees below. This side of the mountain was more over grown and not as steep. I guessed this was why I couldn't see a little village and a small shrine at the bottom as I expected.
We stopped under a hanging over rock and had lunch without much conversation. The silence was causing a little tension for me and I decided to say something.
"Um.thank you very much Luein for doing this." I said. He jumped a little at my words.
"Oh, it is no problem at all. Really." He said back. He seemed to look a little better now that I had talked to him. "We should be down this side in about a day if we keep up this pace. It is much faster because it isn't as steep."
"We can go as fast as you want to." I said to him. I was eager to see his village, and especially the shrine, so I had no problem at all in hurrying up.
"Ok then. If we want to get halfway down before dark, then we shouldn't waste any more time up here." He said
"Sounds good to me. Lets go," I answered and started to pack up. After about 5 minutes, we were ready to leave and carefully made our way down from the top.
The walk was much easier, so we picked up our pace a little bit and reached halfway much sooner than we had expected. We stopped anyway and had dinner before it had even turned dark. We decided to go to bed early, and fell asleep immediately.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *