Chapter 3

"The elder smiled as Quote entered her chamber. "Ahh, young Quote, and Curly. What a pleasant surprise! To what may I owe this occasion?" Quote and Curly sat down on some pillows in front of the elder. As soon as they had set foot inside the village, Balrog crashed down to the earth in front of them, exclaiming, "Huzzah!" Then, no sooner had they finished telling him that the two planned to speak to the elder about knowledge of the area, had a sour look crossed his face, and he took off again. It had almost seemed his metallic front had gone a bit pale, but it may have been the reflection of the sun.

"We're on an adventure," Curly explained. "And we were wondering if you knew a bit more about the area, so we don't get lost." After Quote had left the floating island, his map system did not seem to work as well. Since everything was mostly flat out in the open, it was hard to tell anything from anything else. He assumed it was mainly meant for cave navigation.

The elder smiled and nodded. "Well, you have wisdom in coming to me." She got up, and began walking towards a jar full of scrolls. "I've been wandering these lands since before you were built, I'd imagine." She looked through the various different pieces of parchment until she found the one she was looking for. Returning to her chair, she unrolled it.

The inside was completely covered in dust, which the elder blew off. Wiping away any traces, she pushed forward what appeared to be an ancient map. Quote and Curly leaned in to get a closer look. Despite the absence of their house, it seemed that the map was still somewhat accurate, at least, from the bit of the area they'd already seen. "This is a map I had made seven years ago. It should still be fairly relevant." She traced a line with her paw from what looked like the town towards what appeared to be a hilly area.

"From town to here is about four hours on foot. It is a rocky area speckled with caves. The townsfolk have tried to avoid this area, since the terrain is a bit dangerous, and strange noises have been heard from inside the caves." Quote and Curly looked to each other. This sounded quite exciting, but if it was dangerous, they weren't sure how strong an opponent they could take on.

"That sounds fun," said Curly, "But maybe a bit too dangerous." The old mimiga nodded, and traced a line to another point on the map.

"Over to the west is the beginning of the forest. Most of the plains are surrounded by it. It is about an hour from the caves, three and a half from town." She traced an arc through the forest to the southern end of the map. "Walking through the forest will give you a good feel of the area, and from where it starts to down here, it is more or less a half a day's walk." Quote nodded. It seemed as if they had a plan forming. The elder tapped an open area at the bottom of the map. "The forest ends at a sandy place... dunes I think? Yes, well, going south through the dunes, you'll end up at a large beach. No-one knows how far out the water goes, but the beach is fairly long and faces the west, which, if you can get there in time, will have a beautiful sunset."

Curly giggled. "You sound like you could be a travel agent!"

The elder looked up. "What's that?" Curly shook her head.

"Oh, nothing." She looked over the map one last time before nodding. "That sounds like a wonderful plan! I really like the sunset part!"

The old woman smiled. "Yes, the sunsets are quite the sight. I remember when I was a bit younger, a dashing young man took me out on a date there... I can still remember how his wind-swept fur almost glowed from the setting sun..." She seemed to be trailing off again, which both Quote and Curly knew was their cue to leave as soon as possible.

Quote stood up, stretching a bit. "Well, thank you for the guidance!"

Curly quickly stood as well. "Yea, I think we know a bit more now about where we should go!"

"Oh, really?" said the elder, quite pleased. "Well, I'm happy to hear it! Oh, goodness, I recall when I first went on a few adventures, I was no bigger than a..." Quote and Curly exited the elder's room. She seemed to continue talking to herself.

Back on the surface, there was a bit of a commotion going on. Most of the mimigas were looking up at something, children were running around, laughing. Before Quote had time to look up, Balrog crashed down from the sky in front of them. "There you are! I've been waiting for you!"

"Aww, how nice!" Curly smiled at Balrog. "We've decided on where we should go!"

"Really?" Balrog was interested. "Which way are we headed?" Curly pointed north towards the distant rocky hills. "First, we're heading that way!"

"Huzzah!" Balrog flew into the air once more, but came back down shortly. "Oh, I'll meet you there!" At this, he jumped back into the air a final time, and began flying towards their destination. Curly laughed.

"He's so full of energy," she said, shaking her head. She grabbed Quote's hand again, tugging him along. "Come on, let's get going! We have a whole day ahead of us!" Quote found himself once again stumbling after his friend, laughing and holding hands. It was a good feeling, and he was sure the day would be an exciting one. He looked back and waved goodbye to a few villagers and pressed forward.