Chapter 7: Nightfall and a Mysterious Stranger
Mel screamed again, Ava ran harder though the woods drawing closer, then, she could see Mel, watching something in terror, Ava spun around to find a tall, pink skinned lug of a creature with wild also pink hair, who was waving a very deadly looking club with spikes, and every minute drawing dearer
"Mel" Ava screamed "your sword!" Mel clutched her sword hilt and ava reached back, took her bow, and blindly grabbing a sapphire arrow, she strung it, ready to let it fly straight at the creatures hear, if it came any nearer, Mel unsheathed her sword it's blade flashing defiantly Still, it drew nearer Ava drew back the arrow a little more, and let it fly whizzing straight towards the creatures chest, the arrow began glowing fiercely casting a sapphire light all over the forest, then, it hit, and sliced into the creatures heart, the thing screamed in rage and pain, falling to the ground, it twitched for a few moments, then lay still. Without realizing it, Ava had grabbed another arrow, strung it, and had it ready just in case, for a few more minutes Mel and Ava stood there panting, ready for more mortal combat. The creature's moans subsided and it lay still, it was silent for a few moments, then, slowly Ava lowered her bow and eased up on the tension.
Mel lowered her sword. "Nice shot Ava" Mel said hen she had recovered "where'd you learn that?"
"I didn't" Ava said putting the arrow back in the quiver
"What o you mean you didn't? That was a nice shot, and I know you, that had to be practiced."
Ava, engorging the last statement replied "I've only used a bow once in my life, its the bow I think, and the arrows, that glowing thing was not natural. But hey, where did you learn how to hold a sword, like that?
Mel looked down at her hand which was still clutching the sword, "well," Mel coughed "I've always had a certain knack for-"
Ava cleared her thought loudly
"Ok, ok Mel admitted, so I've never held a sword in my life, I guess it's the sword too, I can't even begin to believe that I'm saying this, but you might, and might I said, be right"
Ava laughed, then looking back to the creature on the forest floor, "Mel where did my arrow go?" she asked staring at the thing, it still had the wound, and was bleeding profusely, but the arrow had vanished. Ava took her quiver off and peered inside "MEL! "She shouted "it's here! The arrow is back in my quiver!"
"are you sure?" Mel asked doubtingly "yes." Ava said firmly " I counted them, three aqua and three sapphire, and the arrows gone from that" Ava paused, "thing" she said in disgust, she had always hated pink.
"Well, we are in a new world, so I guess anything's possible."
"Ya," said Ava in awe
"let's go" Mel said finally sheathing her sword, and stepping around the large and bloody body of the lifeless creature. Ava followed and fell in step with her. they walked in silence for a while, ducking under think vines, stepping over fallen trees and logs, as hey got into the heart of the forest the trees started to grow closer and closer together, until it was dark as night
"Mel," Ava said voice shaking as she stumbled over an unseen log.
"Yea" she answered
"I don't like this place" Ava said glancing around, something about it, just isn't right" she said glancing around a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. she wasn't afraid of the dark normally, but this was something different about this dark it was suffocation, squeezing happiness, and life itself out of both of them, drawing there energy out, only to make it stronger.
"me either" Mel said, then she spotted something ahead of her, it was a faint shining of aqua moving just ahead of her in the forest.
"Ava, what's that?" Mel called
"What's what, Mel?"
"That strange aqua glow" she said,
the light stopped abruptly "where?" Ava called,
as Mel drew closer to the light she saw it was really Ava, "Ava!" she cried "your glowing, or, rather, something on you is glowing!"
"eeewww! Bug? Get it off!" Ava cried swatting at her forehead, as she did the light blinked out. "Ahh got it I think" Ava said relaxing.
She lifted her hand away and the light burst back into existence, illuminating Mel's face. "Your headband!" Mel cried, "That's it! Your headband stone is glowing!" Ava reached up and gingerly touched the light; it gave her a warm, reassuring feeling. They resumed walking, but Ava kept fiddling with her headband, after a few twists and turns of the jewel, it fell out unto Ava's palm. Mel, noting the light change glanced over, "Ava! you dork! You broke it!" she cried.
"I didn't break anything, shut up!" Ava snapped, horrified at her own assumptions that she had in fact broken it, she picked up the stone with her thumb and forefinger, to examine it, it seemed to have some sort of writing on it, shining, suddenly she felt the urge to twist the gem, she did so, and it grew larger, into a aqua orb of light, till it was as big as both of her hands could easily carry, the orb was completely weightless, as if it was just hovering over her hands.
Mel just stared wide eyed. Mel, regaining her composure, looked from the stone to Ava's face, and gasped. all the traces of the sky, unsure girl of 13 had vanished, leaving a tall womanly figure, the aqua glow shining over her, staring into the depths of the blue orb in her hands, blonde hair cascading gracefully down her back, she seemed to glow, she looked exactly like a fictional character in one of Ava's favorite books.
Ava looked up, eyes, shimmering with the aqua glow, met her innocently, completely unaware of her transformation. "What Mel?"
Mel felt a pang of jealously, why did Ava get to be pretty here? "What happened Ava?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" she asked
"You, look different, older." Mel said.
"Oh," Ava said, pondering this "well it makes sense, I suppose, if were in a different world, why shouldn't we become different? I bet you've changed too." before Mel had time to think this through, Ava burst out "look, I know this light is helping, but this dark is still giving me the creeps, can we contemplate our looks a little later?" then she turned and started out into the darkness once more. Calling over her shoulder "common Mel, I'll tell you what you look like when I can see better, you can do the same for me, if we have time."
Mel sighed, they began walking. "Why does she get the light" Mel thought, feeling extremely grumpy. "She's probably just going to drop it" she caught up to Ava.
Ava looked over and smiled, then looked forward again privately thinking, "Well, it's about time i got something Mel didn't. I bet she thinks I'll drop it-oh better be more careful, almost fell"
And so they continued though the forest, both Mel and Ava occasionally stumbling, but not falling, in spite of the light. soon, the wood thinned, and Ava looked up a moment to see millions of diamond-like stars shining and winking in there celestial glory and un-familiar constellations, with a few wisps of cloud here and there, and a bright crescent moon, spilling light unto the forest to create a moonlit path. Its beauty took her breath away. She stopped short gaping at the heavens, starlight reflecting in her eyes; Mel looked up also, and stared at the beautiful sky, searching in vane for a familiar constellation.
Eventually Ava looked down, to see Mel, still staring at the stars, a concentrated look on her face. And she understood what Mel had meant, for the young, frustrated, and struggling Mel had vanished, in her place, a taller woman, the moonlight reflected in her dark, raven colored hair, and in the place of meager knowledge was replaced with wise intelligence, and vast understanding much beyond hr 13 years.
At that moment Ava caught herself thinking about Jeremy, if he had seen Mel, she wouldn't stand a chance, he would never be able to look away from her. Ava sighed, "Well" she thought struggling to cheer herself up "at least you've got the light, and besides, Jeremy's not here" that reminded her, and she twisted the orb backwards till it shrank, and she replaced it in her headband.
Carefully clearing her face of all despair, and slight envy for her friend, she cleared her throat. "watcha lookin for?"
"Ursa major." Mel replied still searching the stars, with no success.
"What?" Ava asked partly confused, and partly just checking to make sure what she thought, it was, was right.
Mel smiled and looked back at her again "The big dipper."
"Ahh" Ava murmured smiling "to find the north star, right?"
Mel froze as if surprised she knew something like that. "Yea," she finally replied.
"But what difference would it make?" Ava asked "even if was here, which I doubt it is, I mean were lost anyway, we don't know what lies in any direction whatsoever."
Mel sighed "I guess so, I was just thinking that maybe, jut maybe they would have the same sky, it was entirely possible."
Ava shrugged "why would they? It's a whole different world" they walked in silence for a few moments, and Ava broke the silence with a loud yawn. "I'm tired, how about you?" she asked, stretching
"Ya, so am I, but lest try to find a clearing before we sleep, who knows what lives in these woods"
"who knows what lives anywhere" Ava added she glanced down and noticed that her light was still glowing, going on guesswork, she twisted it the opposite way, and it shrunk, dimming, she set it back onto her headband, twisting it into place. The light dimmed, even more, Ava concentrated on trying to shut it off, and it winked out.
She opened her eyes, to see Mel, waiting "you ready?" she asked Ava nodded and they continued walking through the woods. After a while they came to a small clearing in the woods.
Ava listened for a second "hey!" she said, smiling "there's water near by!"
"Huh?" Mel asked she listened but heard nothing "I don't hear anything" she said frowning.
"There's water near by" Ava said simply
"No, there's not" Mel said irritably
"There is" Ava repeated
"fine then, show me this water of yours" Ava shrugged , turned to her right, and walked purposefully onto the woods. Mel rolled her eyes and followed. They walked for about 5 minutes when Mel stated to hear a faint rushing sound as they drew closer, the sound got louder and louder, and by the time they stepped out of the woods into yet another small clearing, the roar was almost deafening.
She looked up the find that they were against one of the mountains, from the tall dark mountain water cascaded from about two miles up, coming to crash into a pool at the bottom. Mist drifted from the large cloud of spray where the water from the waterfall met the pool, almost touching the shore, where the water was calm, giving the whole scene a ghostly, yet beautiful appearance.
"It's beautiful" was all Mel could say, blinking again and again to check if it was all real or not.
"Water" Ava said smiling.
Mel sighed and rolled her eyes "all right, all right, you were right, but how did you know? Those sound waves couldn't have possibly reached your ears from that far of a distance."
Ava frowned "um… I dunno" Ava finally said "I-I- just knew where it was, I sensed, I guess." Ava replied falteringly.
"hmmm" was all Mel said trying to sound unconcerned , but she was thinking hard
"Anyway" Ava said abruptly "does it matter where or how we got water?"
"No" Mel mused "I suppose not"
"Well, then, I dunno about you, but after that long walk, that water looks delicious." They walked over to the pool and stretched their hands into the mist, dipping their fingers in the icy water. They both brought up handfuls to drink; neither was in the mood to pull a full face in this water. They drank their fill of the cool sweet water, and it helped wake them up a bit.
Soon, though they stood and turned to leave "wait a minute" Mel said "which way is back?"
Ava looked around, "um... why do we want to go back?" Ava said loudly
"Because it was a good spot you loser!" Mel shouted over the waterfall, frustrated at the thought of having to try to sleep with that racket going on constantly in the back ground.
"So?" I bet there are tons of good places here!" Ava shouted back over the rushing water.
"I can't sleep with this racket!" Mel screamed
"What?" Ava shouted "who can't leap with out their brackets?"
Mel shook her head in frustration, finally dragging Ava with her though the forest for a way till the sound was mostly gone, and they could hear one another clearly."Mel, "Ava said "your always saying how completely random me and Sam are-
"Sam and I" Mel cut in with a sigh
"Yea whatever, anyway that thing about the leaping bracket thing was so random"
Mel rolled her eyes "I said 'I can't sleep with this racket'"
"Oh, well problem solved, the racket is gone" Ava said simply, not quite understanding why Mel had so many problems with this world.
"Ya, but of you haven't noticed were not in a clearing" Mel said, but just then, they stepped out of a particularly dense bunch of trees and bushes, straight into a small. Even grounded clearing, with a small stream at the far end.
Ava looked at Mel, and opened her mouth
"Not a word" Mel growled. Ava smiled. "What are we going to sleep on" Mel asked
Ava shrugged once again, and said "why don't we focus on a fire first? I'm getting cold"
"Fine..." Mel sighed, knowing that they couldn't just avoid all their problems like that forever; being the logical minded someone she was. "You get the fire wood, and I'll look for something to start the fire going with"
"Fine" she sighed, "but somehow, I feel I'm getting the raw end of the deal" and with that she disappeared back into the thick, dark forest.
The second she disappeared, Mel fell onto the grass "fire starter, fire starter" she mumbled trying to think of what things she could possibly find there to start a fire. She lay there for a little bit, and looked up at the stars, that Ava so adored, and wondered why she adored them, they were just burning balls of gas, and up there, and those shooting stars she dreamed to be magical, why, they were only meteors, segments of rock falling though the atmosphere at-
"Wait!" She thought, "That's it! Rocks! Certain rocks create sparks!" she stood up and walked over to the stream, inspecting it's icy depths, after concluding that it could only be about a few inches deep, she plunged her hand in to grab a fist full of pebbles, she withdrew them, and dried them with a piece of her skirt, she sighed, now to test them all...
Ava weaved in and out of the forest in between trees, and under branches, stopping at certain timed to bend down and pick up a promising stick or small branch, then half the time tossing it away with disgust, bugs. She hated them. A lot. And even worse, these were strange bugs. she was so focused on her work, that when she bumped into a something that was a little to soft to be a tree, she screamed and dropped her entire armload of wood.
the thing that she had run into responded by letting out another, shriller scream then her own, feeling outdone, Ava screamed again, this time very shrill, the other thing also screamed again, yet shriller than Ava's. She tried to scream shriller, yet only succeeded in letting out a dry croak.
The thing burst out laughing, and soon Ava joined. After quite a few minutes both calmed down enough to speak.
"Who are you?" Ava asked, quite bluntly.
A girlish voice came out of the darkness, "I'm a traveler" it said evasively "who are you?"
Ava hesitated a moment wondering what to say, then she decided that two could play at this game "oh, I'm a traveler" she said in a distant voice. Smiling to herself when the other gave a exasperated sigh.
"Alright then" the voice said "fair enough, so, are you traveling alone?"
"Nope, Mel's back at the campsite, I'm just getting fire wood. How about you?" "I'm alone" the voice said, almost regretfully.
Ava thought for a moment, she knew this person could be dangerous; she was in an entirely different world for Frapichinos sake! But somehow, she felt she could trust this person. She didn't know why, but she just knew. "Well, if you don't mind helping me get firewood, you could come, and sit by ours for a while"
The voice was silent for a moment. Then it gave a little laugh, "alright, sure, why not? Where are you?"
Ava heard rustling, a grunt and then a large thump. Followed up by a small "ouch!" she giggled. She reached up to her headband, twisted, and a faint blue glow soon illuminated the forest with dark, moving shadows. She glanced around, and saw a lump on the ground a few feet away, she drew closer to find that the lump was actually a girl, sprawled on the floor, the girl stirred and sat up and stared at Ava.
The girl was about Ava's age from the looks of it. She was dressed fully, in black. She was wearing a black shirt, which fit tightly around her torso, and long sleeves that puffed out. She was wearing a black bandana, pirate style, and her long, wavy blond hair hung around her elbows. She had tanned skin, big, stunning green eyes, graced with thick dark lashes. Full, red, lips and a small nose. Silver earrings hung from her lobes in an intricate pattern. She had a simple gold locket over the black shirt, and, as she stood up, Ava could see she was wearing a black skirt, down to the middle of her shin, with a slit up to the middle of her right thigh and her small feet boasted black silk slippers.
They gawked at each other for a few more moments the strange girl staring at Ava strange out fit, wondering just how far this traveler had traveled. Finally Ava found her voice "love the outfit" she complimented
"Uh, ya thanks yours too, are those real gems?" she asked excitedly.
Ava frowned "I don't know." She said, then remembering what she was there for, "hey, so are you going to help me with the fire wood or not?" she said teasingly.
The girl smiled and jumped up, and began gathering firewood. After the two girls both had towering arm loads, the teetered back to the clearing, to find that Mel had started a small fire already. She folded her arms crossly "took you long enough, I had too-"she broke off in mid sentence when she saw the girl step out from behind Ava.
They both dropped their loads and ginned at each other "told you she was grumpy at night" Ava said, both girls giggled.
Mel felt her mood falling to an even lower level; she was so not in the mood. "Ha ha very funny" she said a little tight lipped. Ava and the girl looked at each other and then started piling pieces of wood on the fire "Careful!" Mel said agitatedly "you're going to stifle it, and then I'll have to make it all over again."
Ava rolled her eyes but stopped and plopped down on the grass across from Mel, and twisted the gem on her headband to shut off the light. "So, how did you start the fire Mel?" she asked, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Two rocks from the stream" Mel said shortly.
The girl sat down, quite gracefully, between the two and all three sat in silence for a while, each staring into the flames and they grew larger and licked the logs playfully, and getting lost in their own thoughts, as then night grew ever darker. Eventually, the fire gave a loud crack! As the wood settled all were awoken from their trace-like thoughts.
Suddenly Ava knew what she had wanted to ask this stranger. She turned to girl and asked "where are we?"
"Ansella, the country of the queen, part of the kingdom of Avion." She answered promptly without even looking up at Ava.
"Avion?" Ava asked incredulously that sounds kinda like my name.
"Or maybe, just maybe your name sounds like the name of the kingdom." Mel added, Rolling her eyes.
Ava stuck her tongue out at her. Then turned back the girl. "hey I was wondering-" she started, but a look from the girl silenced her
"you have been pulled into this world because of the prophecy of Zella it tells of 3 girls going against great odds to set their people, and the whole kingdom of Ansella free from the tyrants that control us, the Kzares, that is, the rest I cannot say."
For a few moments Ava and Mel just stared at her. Mouths open. They were just regaining their wits, when the girl murmured a few sharp sounds, and drew a strange symbol in the air. Then thrust an arm at each of them.
Instantly Ava felt her eyes closing, so, tired, she laid back on the grass as if in a trance. Looked up at the bright stars, then her eyes fell shut, to heavy to stay open any longer.
After both girls had fallen asleep the girl sighed. She had wished that she wouldn't have to do that, but she could see the questions, all the questions she wasn't allowed to answer, brimming about to spill out any moment. She stood, piled a few more logs into the fire, and walked towards the dark woods, disappearing into the night, as is she had never been.
A/N: sorry it took so long! But I hope this extra long chapter helped to make up for it The next one might also be a little slow in coming, cause I have exams this week, So what did u think? Please R&R!