Chapter 4
Dayna opened her eyes as she heard someone shout that they had reached Pineal. She turned her head to look out the window and laid her eyes on the small mountain town. It reminded her a little of Dublith, but the area was surrounded by mountains and cliffs.
She yawned and stretched her arms up high and got up and picked her bag of the seat next to her. Dayna walked to the door and got off the train.
The town of Pineal was a busy little place. Everyone was walking around and some were watching the people as they got off the trains. She decided that the best way to start off was to ask someone where the area was to find the flowers and to get some climbing equipment.
She walked up to an old man who was sweeping the floor nearby.
"Excuse me?"
The old man looked up to see who was addressing him,
"Hello there miss. Can I help you with anything?"
"Can you tell me where I can buy some mountain climbing equipment?"
"The mountains are very dangerous this time of year. Are you sure you want equipment?"
"Yes. Please tell me."
The old man stood up straight and turned to the town's map behind him. He looked at it for a minute and then showed Dayna a nearby store where she could go. She bowed in thanks and quickly headed for the place on the map.
Dayna reached the place on the map to where she could buy some climbing equipment and entered the store. A middle-aged man was behind the counter, reading a magazine when she entered the store.
"Can I help you miss?"
"Yes. I would like to buy some climbing equipment"
"I'm sure you've heard that the mountains are unsafe this time of year"
"Yes, but I need to do something on the mountains"
Dayna reached into her bag and fished out the picture of the orchid and handed it to the man,
"Heave you ever seen this flower before?"
"Yes, in fact I have"
"It's called the 'Orchid of New Life' and I need to go to the mountains to which this flower grows on"
The man pulled out a map and showed Dayna the mountains where the orchid grew. They were located just a little out of town. He then pulled out some equipment and placed them on the counter.
"Are you sure that you want to do this?"
"I have to"
Dayna paid for her stuff, put it on and headed out the front door, thanking the man.
"Be careful kid", he said as she closed the door.
Dayna took a taxi to the base of the mountain, since it would've taken her a long while to walk there from the store. She looked at the large rock that stood in front of her; she had never seen anything so large in her whole life.
"The orchid's up there somewhere. Ok, the plan is try to get up there as fast as I can, get the flower, get down and back as soon as I can and save Ed."
She walked up to the mountain and looked at all the places where she could grab. Dayna adjusted the equipment and grabbed onto a ledge and started to climb.