Sorry for the long wait, but I was busy with another one of my fanfiction and with my story, I still have to work about a lot of things before I can truly write it down, but I will do it, it is something I really want to do and I will do it so please don't hate me and hope you will enjoy the chapter.
-Trip on the Mountain-
"So this is the place hmm."
He asks looking around, his face still half asleep, he really has a desperate need to sleep.
"Well, at least it isn't a beach."
Right now, we are near the base of the mount Targon: in this are there are some interesting places to visit, and the scenario isn't bad at all with forest covering most of the scenario and a lake near the mountain. All in all I think I have chosen the right place.
"Last time we went to a beach you have become completely apathetic."
"Ehi, you know that I don't really like that place, the only reason that I don't dislike the sea is because I like to be underwater."
Yes, but that doesn't mean that because you don't like it, you can't enjoy to stay there for a small while, really. The only two places he truly likes are the mountain and his house and when he is inside the former, he ends up spending most of his time studying and he rarely comes out during the night or evening. I truly don't understand him that much when he acts that way, still, I have become accustomed to it, since he had always been like this.
"Ehi, how is doing your mysterious uncle?"
"Mmm…now that you mention it, I haven't heard him in a while, guess, I'll try to call him or either send him an email."
For as much as he shared with me, Shanro had always been quite reserved, both about him and his family, for all I know, his parents died when he was still little, one year before we knew each other and so he had lived with an uncle of his that was always busy working and didn't spend much time with him. Then, when he turned fourteen, he had chose to live by himself and since his uncle was always out of the city for work, that didn't make much difference for him.
"You two really don't go along that much with each other do you?"
"I'd rather say that we simply live our life without talking much with each other."
"*chuckle* However you put it, it's pretty much the same."
"Really, well, can we get started and start the trip because this train station isn't that much interesting."
"Fine, follow me then."
He really gets impatient when it comes to this kind of things, apart from that he is a pretty much patient, or to be precise lazy, person. However, I never heard him complaining about how tiresome a trip of this kind could be, so I have to admit that he isn't that lazy if he wants to. Moreover, even if he doesn't show it, he worries in his own strange way about those close to him and he tries to help them, but sometimes it would be better if he doesn't do anything. Really! There are times I think he isn't human for how clumsy or strange he can be.
"So, care to explain your plan for the day?"
"Well, haven't I said it's a surprise?"
"*sigh*"
I see his shoulders slump down in resignation, he doesn't like surprise, well, I think he will like this one, especially considering what I have planned. Around the station there are very few buildings selling a few accessories, after all this place is often visited by tourists or people like us, but we already have everything we need and so we don't waste time looking around for something we might not have.
Not even five minutes of walking we enter in the woods surrounding the place: here the trees aren't that high, but they surpass the ten meters, providing a good cover from the sunlight and creating a shadow area where the heat of the sun don't arrive and today it's pretty hot. Well, not that such thing is surprising, it's summer after all and the temperature is normally high during this period. Thus, many people tend to wear light clothes, still, there is one person that I know that never suffered due to high temperatures nor low ones, and he's walking with me right now.
Seriously how can he be able to withstand all kind of temperatures without problems? Sometimes I really am envious of him, still, I really love these trips: it all started when I was still a child, around six, but ever since then I started to appreciate the nature more and more, in truth, I also don't dislike the city, but I love when I'm surrounded by the nature. I can't help it but be at ease and enjoy every moment and breath of staying in such wild environment, as for him, I kind of, have had a hard time understanding what he likes and what no and even now there are times I don't get it, but if there is something he loves is to draw and normally these trips helps him to create new paintings. After all, he's already looking around in search of something that can catch his interest.
I take a deep breath: the air here is truly refreshing and the smell of the woods is something I love, still…there is something that makes me feel uncomfortable and to further confirm this, a chill run down my spine and then in all my body.
"Is everything alright?"
Seems like he noticed it, well, after all it's hard to hide something from him, unless that something is related to something very personal. In that case…well, if he manages to understand something, it's already a miracle.
"I'm not completely sure, better get away from here."
It's useless to lie and I think that if we get away from there, the bad feeling I have will go away.
He looks at me and then around us, as if he is looking for a possible enemy or a threat that is lurking in the surroundings. Sometimes, he really is paranoid.
"There is no one here, calm down."
He stops looking around and we resume to walk. The ground is changing gradually, replacing the dirt with stone and the ground was becoming steeper, sign that we are nearing the mountain. Still, the path isn't hard to walk and we have already travelled roughly four kilometres in one hours and half and we still don't feel tired in the least, both me and him are used to this kind of things and I truly am enjoying this trip: despite being summer, the air there is fresh thanks to the wind and this greatly smothers the heat. Also, there are a few clouds that are gathering here and despite the fact this also means that the sun's rays can't cook us alive.
The trees are decreasing in number, soon we will be out of the wood and considering the height we are now, the view should be one to behold and I'm not mistaken, we walk out of the wood and we find ourselves in a plain that expands in length and here the ground is getting sourer, making our walk a bit harder but not less enjoyable. Here there are very few trees that creates small pool of shadows here and there, still, to partially protect from the heat of the season there is a cool wind that blow from north and there are also numerous rocks coming out from the ground providing a few good spots to sit and rest.
We don't even need to talk about this matter and choose to pick one of those spot to look around and behold the view.
We go for a group of small rocks that are big enough to provide a good place to sit and with a tree to shadow us. Shanro immediately take out from the rucksack his note book on which he sketches and then, the next thing I see him doing is using his pencil to draw. The view from up here is pretty good, with the lake under the mountain in foreground, the woods also occupy most of the picture by covering most of the place around this location. Toward north, I see the other mountains that are part of this mountain range, there are very few that have traces of snow on their top, but considering the fact that this summer is one of the hottest in recent years, the absence of snow isn't that surprising. However, there are a few of those tops that are still white and among them, one stands atop of the other: a white coat covered most its surface and its imposing figure can't be in any possible way be compared to that of the other mountains, with its peak surpassing the clouds of the sky and even casting a shadow downstream. That is Mount Targon, one of highest of the mountains of the continent, if not the highest and it is also one famous destination for tourists: from what I've read, in the past that place was inhabited by a civilization that frequently studied the star and even today archaeologist go there in search of finds of any kind. Other than these information, I don't know that much about it, but he surely knows more, since history is one of the subject he's best in.
I keep staring around and at the sky, a bottle of water in my right hand while I enjoy the peacefulness of that place, the only audible sounds being the wind that is softly blowing there, the light rustle of the leaves and the quick movements of Shanro's pencil on the surface of his notebook while drawing the picture of the scenario in front of us. I stretch my arms and then I try to take a peek at his drawing: his hand is moving with quick and dry movements, creating the skeleton of the picture he will create later. When he makes this kind of sketch, he always pays attention to how he draws even if the final product isn't that, still, he's doing pretty well and I think he will be busy for a pair of minutes.
'Well, guess I'll…'
…
…
…
'…not again.'
Slowly I open my eyes and a flash of light make all the more difficult to see. I seems like I passed out.
"Don't force yourself."
At least he didn't ignore me. Guess he can also worry about others sometimes. I force myself up in a sitting position and then I shake my head, it looks like my anaemia managed to make me pass out.
"There are times in which you should worry more about your health."
As always he tends to put in evidence the error of the other when something like this happen. It may not look like it, but in truth what he's trying to accomplish is to make people aware of their mistake, still, if he's doing this to prevent them from repeating what they did, or because he wishes to lecture them or something along the line, is something I don't understand.
"You need to eat something. Here take this."
He hands me a small sandwich warped in plastic and I take it. As always, he carries pretty much everything with him and I wouldn't be surprised if inside his rucksack was a kit of first aid and who knows how many other things.
"Thanks, but when have you found the time to prepare it?"
Knowing how much time he spends on the books and his problem to sleep and from how they look, they don't seem bad. Without wasting anymore time, I take out the food from its coffin and then bite it: I'm not someone too squeamish and normally I will eat anything that is served and due to the particular kind of sickness I have, I'm forced to eat pretty often. Thus why I am eating with such heat, because midday has passed from fifteen minutes and today I haven't eaten too much at breakfast and now this decision is showing its result in the form of what just happened.
On the other hand, I also take a look at Shanro and it seems like I'm not the only one that is hungry: even he is eating another sandwich with a good amount of hunger in his eyes.
"Looks like someone hasn't eaten that much today."
I call out to him while eating my own food. In response he keeps looking at his notebook while eating his sandwich.
"I suggest you to finish the food I've given to you, because if not, I will eat it."
He sounds both angry and annoyed that I just reminded him of what happened a few hours ago. Still, I know him well enough to know that he's capable of doing what he just told me and I'd rather avoid such occurrence. So I finish to eat my small meal and take a sip of water from my bottle, I then look at him and I notice he's putting the things he has taken out to draw back inside his rucksack, clear sign that he had finished with his sketch and that we can resume our walk. I put my bottle of water inside my own bag and then we restart our trip without waiting any further.
Now we have to walk without the protection of the trees from the sunlight, but at least the wind manages to smother the heat. Still, the clouds are increasing and judging from their colour, I would say that it's going to rain today, but we're not done yet: the ground is getting harder and harder to walk on, but we can still go on without problem
We proceed without any trees over our head for around fifteen minutes before we enter again the forest and I welcome the looming shadows of the trees.
"How much will we have to walk before we arrive?"
He doesn't sound tired, so I don't tease him and instead choose to simply give the answer he asked me.
"Not that much, we should be there in 45 minutes or so."
I planned to reach a small river that is near the top of the mountain, the place where I am aiming to go to be precise is where it comes out of the ground. I thought it would be a good place where we could have lunch and then after having eaten, we would have descended down and take the next train to return back.
Still, those clouds don't promise anything good, hope that we will be able to make it back in time. Otherwise, it will get more complicate to go back and in truth, today I don't feel like facing that kind of situation. Thus I accelerate my steps and judging from the sound I hear coming from behind me, he's doing the same.
The ground is becoming less steep and more flat, this making our walk easier. I keep walking but I also look around me to enjoy the scenario around me, the forest is truly beautiful, around us I can hear the sound of the birds that are moving over our head, while many other animals swarm around in search of food. I keep listening to that melody while moving with silent steps in order to not disturb that music.
Then, I hear the sound of water, I look in the direction that I caught that sound and see the light reflecting on a transparent surface, I signal to Shanro that I have found the river and walk toward it. We still haven't reached its fount, but my guess is that we're not too far from it and I take this occasion to take a ship of that water: it is truly fresh and tasty, something that I have always loved about the water of the rivers like this one and considering that the point from which it comes out of the ground isn't too far makes it even more appreciable.
"Can we please keep moving that my stomach wish to eat something more."
"Have a bit more of patience. No one is forcing us to rush things."
"Those clouds are and I'd rather not have to be forced to face the consequences of waiting too much."
As he said these words he proceeds to resume to walk, this time following the course of the river contrariwise. I shake my head and look at the sky: indeed, the clouds are moving, but we still have time before it starts to rain and they may not release that much water. Still, he's always been someone that will rather not try his luck too much, guess this is one of those cases, but, if he rushes things as he's doing he will not enjoy the trip. I rise my eyes to the sky in resignation and follow him; at this point a guide is unnecessary and we can both advance safely by simply following the course of water.
We walk at a good pace and we reach our destination in what look like a few minutes to me, but in truth I don't really know how much time it has passed since I stopped to drink. I take out my phone and look at its clock: it's 13:11, guess that we managed to reach this place sooner than I have expected.
I look around, the place we are is a small clearing surrounded on three sides by trees but their fronds cover the place completely but allowing a few rays to come down to light up the place. The fount of the river is also visible and comes out from a small cave on a wall of rock on the only sides where there aren't any trees. Immediately he sits on the ground, laying his back on the wall from which came out the water and then he takes out some food from his rucksack, which is now next to him on the ground.
"What are you doing, we haven't arrived yet."
As I tell him this he looks at me and the eyes tell me everything I need to know. He then changes to a glare and put his rucksack back on his shoulders while grumbling something. He has already figured out what I'm going to do and shortly after I start to climb the wall from which comes out the water, he's following me while still glaring.
"I thought that we had arrived."
"Sorry to disappoint you but it won't be that easy."
The wall itself isn't so hard to climb, with numerous and solid holds for both our hands and feet and the place I plan to reach isn't that high. I keep proceeding without stopping and after having climbed up for a small while I have reached the destination: it's a small place of roughly eight square meters and with just a few rocks around that are big enough to work as small chair and the no protection from the sun. Still, the view repays of everything, hope that he will enjoy it enough to stop complaining.
"Hmpf…"
Here he is: he has finished to climb up and is now looking around to see where I have brought him.
"So what do you think?"
"…two to one."
"Eh?"
He says that leaving me a little puzzled and then sit down on a rock and proceed to take out something from his rucksack, most likely his notebook, pencil and his lunch.
"Two bad point to one positive."
At last he admitted that this place has one good point.
"First, I had to climb up till here to reach this place and second there isn't anything that can shield from the sun. As for the sole good point, it is the view."
"You really are impossible sometimes."
As I talk he has already started to eat and his personal things are gathered next to him. Ready to be used any time.
I close my eyes and inhale deeply, the air here is truly refreshing, next, I open my eyes and take a look at the scenario in front of us: below us starts what I can describe as a sea of green, the foliage of the trees covered almost everything on that side of the mountain but left small space where it is possible to see under their shadow, creating small island surrounded by leafs. However, as my eyes moved to my left, I can see the trees slowly decreasing until there are a few left alone, like lonely sentinels waiting for their companions to join them on the new ground. But for now they are left alone in a land of rocks, dirt and grass, where the wind blows freely and creates a melody of whispers that echoes all over the place. Still, that's not all that is to see; if I look forward toward the end of the mountain I can see what I think is one of my favourite landscape: this region is known for being characterized a chain of mountains that is famous all over the continent and from up here I can see the lake that is located at the base of Targon's mountain, while vast forest of evergreen trees surrounds it, not even the few buildings that I can see are out of place, because they form small areas where the plants are reduced in numbers and where the hand of civilization has modified the ground. I look at the sky and the clouds have covered most of it, but the sun is still clearly visible and so are its rays. I take another deep breath and then sit down on the bare ground, just as Shanro did before, I take out my lunch from my rucksack and start to eat it: it is nothing special, just two sandwiches with salad, tomato and cheese, a bottle of water and my favourite food, peaches.
I start to eat the first of the two sandwiches, savouring its taste to its fullest and while eating, I also look around: the scenario is truly beautiful and being able to witness it while at the same time eating something is truly a good experience. I finish to eat the first of the two roll and take out the second one from the plastic coffin it is kept and bite it, I prepared them yesterday's evening and in truth I think I should try to use some kind of sauce to make it tastier, well I'll think about it next time…
'Urgh…'
My head starts to spin...I can't focus and I feel a growing feeling of nausea…
I bring a hand to my face and I try to regain control, but it isn't easy, I'm feeling weak and my breath is ragged.
"Kaisa, pull yourself together."
He is next to me; I can see that he is worried. I take a deep breath and try to stabilize it. Slowly my head stops to spin, my thoughts become clearer and the nausea I was feeling recede, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. He nods to me as to say that now everything is ok and then he gets me his bottle of water. I take it and thank him silently before drinking some water to wash away that savour I am tasting. It doesn't go away, but at least now it is dulled, I shake my head, my breath is still a bit irregular and deeper than how they should be, but now I'm feeling ok.
"Thanks, now I'm fine."
"Guess that today isn't the day for a trip."
He is half joking, something rare and even rarer, he said it at the right time. I laugh lightly at it and this is the signal for him that I'm fine, he doesn't waste any time and return to his sketch.
"I think we should go back as soon as possible. Today it doesn't seem to be a good day for you."
He spoke causally, as he always does, and he also seems to be a bit annoyed by how things have gone, still, I think that in the end he is worried about my health.
"Fine, let me finish my lunch and we can go back."
He doesn't properly answer and instead let out some kind of grunt as to signal his approval. I turn my head and look again at the scenario, only this time I focus my eyes toward the point where we came out of the woods and entered in the plain where we took a break before. I look there and as I keep doing it I feel a strange sensation, as if something is calling for me, telling me to go there. I blink, again and again, but that feeling doesn't go away, there is something there, I'm sure of it…but what is it?
"Hey, are you going to eat those peaches or do you intend to search the woods like that?"
As I hear his voice, I feel like snapping out of some kind of trance and return to my senses.
"You're right, well, I'd better eat them quickly because those clouds don't promise nothing good."
Indeed, the clouds that are gathering in the sky don't seem to promise nothing good, but I said those words to cover the fact that I was looking at something even I don't know what it is, but I'm sure there is something there.
I take a peach and bit it: it is my favourite food and I love how it tastes, but today it doesn't, my mind is thinking about something different and as I eat that sweat fruit, I don't feel its taste, but something empty. There is something there I'm sure of it…but then, why…why am I scared of it and why it does feel like this isn't the first time I feel it.
Ooook, don't expect a new chapters any time soon, because first I heard that soon enough there will be new star guardian skins, much to my disgust, and new anti-star guardian skin. So I'm going to wait until their lore will be available, because I don't wish to mess everything up and these new adds could be very interesting. So see you next time.