TAoP Chapter 6

Castle Adventures

The next morning, Penny woke up to a sun filled room. That's odd. The sun can't reach us under here. She sat up in bed and found herself in a very spacious room. The bed she was sleeping in was soft like a cloud; nothing like the hammock she was used to sleeping in. The room was a light red around the walls with a mirror and dresser against a wall. She noticed the window had balcony that showed the forest side of the kingdom. It was only after she felt Minnie coming closer did Penny remember where she was. This is my first time away from home. I wonder how everyone is doing.

She jumped out of bed and walked over to the mirror. Ever since she first saw herself, she can't help staring at her eyes. After awhile she grabbed her dagger and started cutting her hair. Minnie was right outside the door when Penny called out to her, "Come in!"

"Of course you would know I'm here. What are you doing?" Minnie asked as Penny chopped away.

"I noticed my hair was getting long, so I'm cutting it."

"Let me do it," Minnie moved towards the dresser and pulled out a pair of scissors from one of the drawers. "Sit here." She pulled out a chair and Penny sat patiently. There was silence except for the sound of the scissors as Penny tried to think of something to say. She could that Minnie was worried.

"Is the King back yet?" she asked. Her hair was falling around her.

"No. he probably won't be back until later. He always has a lot of questions." Minnie stopped cutting and moved on to brushing.

"What is so special about tonight?"

"Why don't you go ask Jayden? I have to get a few things ready for tonight. And you are done."

Penny moved to the mirror and found her hair less choppy and easy to manage, "Thanks a lot! I'll go find him now!"

"Have fun!" Minnie called as Penny ran out of the room. Star quickly followed and they traveled around the castle for a while. People were cleaning again and there was an air of excitement. Penny was about to turn the corner when she nearly trampled the lady who was with Minnie the other day. She quickly tilted her body and spun around the lady.

"Oh my!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you," Penny apologized.

"It's quite alright. I was just looking for the Queen, have you seen her? I'm Daisy by the way."

"Uh, yea, she's right up those stairs and down on the right side." Penny said pointing out directions, "Now can you tell me where I could find Jayden?"

"He's probably in Ludwig's workshop. Go down this hallway and it's the last door on the left," Daisy explained, "Thank you."

"Thank you to you too!" Penny called back as she ran down the hall again.

As she got closer to the door, she found another boy come out of the door. He looked exactly like Jayden except he didn't wear glasses. He wore a green shirt and over it was a white jacket that went down to his knees. His pants were also white with the normal brown boots that everyone else wore. The hair was brown and shaggy, but not as long as Ace's. The boy stopped and stared at Penny.

"I'm sorry, but I was looking for Jayden," she said, looking over his shoulder into the other room.

"He's in there, but he's very busy. I wouldn't bother him if I were you," the boy stated as he walked away.

"What a strange boy…" Penny entered the room anyway. Inside was the ship she rode in yesterday. It was elevated and parts of it were on the table which Penny saw Jayden's back. Sparks were flying around him and he had his goggles on again. She made her way toward him, looking at everything in sight. There were tools everywhere and little gadgets at the tables. When she got closer to him, Penny found him working on a grey cube. It was glowing and there were numbers and symbols on each side. Jayden stopped and took off his goggles, replacing them with his glasses.

"What are you making?" Penny asked suddenly, nearly causing him to drop the cube.

"Geez Penny! Don't just sneak up on people when they're involved in work!" Jayden said as he looked down at her.

"Sorry. I thought you got done talking to that other boy so I thought you would talk to me…"

"Boy? What other boy?"

"He had a white coat with a green shirt underneath and white pants. He looked just like you," Penny explained as she plucked the cube from Jayden's hands.

He frowned and turned to look at the door, "What was Joss be doing here?"

"Joss?" She examined the cube with interest. Star flew around it to try to get an understanding of what it is.

"He's my twin. He never comes in here though," Jayden explained, taking the cube back.

"Twins? You have those too?"

"Of course. There are a couple of twins here."

"Huh…so what's going on at the castle tonight?" Penny asked as Jayden bent back to work. She sat on the table watching him. He put the cube under a magnifying glass.

"Today they are announcing which of the warriors-in-training are going to become real warriors. Plus the captain-in-training will be announced too. It's a huge feast that everyone prepares for. The trainees practice last minute things while everyone gets food, fireworks, and anything else ready. Hmm," he looked at the clock above him, "I should probably practice too."

"Oh, what do you do?" Penny picked up the blow torch that Jayden was using, but from the wrong end.

"Hey! Don't pick that up! You'll burn yourself!" he grabbed her hand, causing her to drop it in surprise. He flipped her hand to see her palm, but it was unmarked, "Didn't that hurt?"

"No, it was warm. That's all." She pulled her arm back, frowning at him. Jayden looked at the blow torch, thinking. "Well, what can you do?"

"Me? Oh right, I'm a magician. Kinda like Donald. In fact, I studied with him."

"Cool!" Penny's stomach growled.

"You didn't eat anything?"

"No, I just woke up."

"C'mon, I'll take you to the kitchen to see if they'll have anything for us. I also didn't have anything."

They walked out of the workshop and went down to the kitchen. In there was crowded with people running around putting food here and there. Steam filled the kitchen making it hot, but the smells dominated the area. Their stomachs growled with anticipation as somebody walked over to them.

"What can I do for you, Jayden?" she asked, looking at the cookers instead of them.

"We were just wondering if you had any food we could eat, Clarabelle. We missed breakfast," Jayden explained.

"Like you normally do. There's a basket of fruit and bread you can have. Now, get out of the kitchen! We are very busy!" Clarabelle gave him a basket and shooed them out.

"Awesome! Now let's go see if we can find Illiana."

They set out to the training grounds outside of the castle, Penny eating an apple and Jayden eating a chunk of bread. There they found many people working on different moves and practicing. Penny noticed that many people were wearing the same colors, "What do the colors mean?" she asked watching someone swing a sword.

"Red means sword fighters; green is for defenders, they use shields; black means magicians, those who can control the elements and other magic; purple stands for sharp shooters, like Illiana; and white means healers," Jayden explained.

"What does blue mean?"

"It stands for other talents, like mine is mechanics. Max also wears blue and he can skateboard while fighting."

"But Donald wears blue, does that mean he has another talent?"

"No, blue is just his color. He always wears it and we all know that he is a very powerful magician."

"Oh. What's a skateboard?"

"Max will show you. Well speak of the devil." Jayden just spotted Max practicing by himself. Jayden and Max started to talk when Penny felt something calling out to her. It was coming from the forest and it was really faint. She moved closer to the fence to see if it got stronger or if it was just her imagination. It did get stronger, but only just barely. She looked back at the boys and found them too engaged in their conversation to notice her. Star flew in front of her face to see if she wanted to fly over.

"Let's go. I'll be back before they know." They flew over the fence and walked around the forest. Penny moved to where she felt the presence. She arrived at a hollow in a base of a tree and in that hollow was a wolf pup. It was fairly young, but too skinny. The black wolf looked as if it has been traveling for a long time and just settled down. Penny quickly knelt down, grabbing another piece of fruit she got from the basket.

"Hey there little guy. Do you want something to eat?" The pup turned to her, his blue eyes looked tired, cautious, and hungry. She grabbed her dagger and cut a piece of the apple. Penny gently offered it to the pup. He sniffed it and slowly took it. She sat next to him, cutting more pieces of the fruit as her ate them one by one. As he was finishing up, Penny felt a tug in the back of her mind. She opened her mind and the wolf spoke to her.

Do you know where my mama is?

"No, I don't. I'm sorry," she answered, both out loud and in her head so he would understand. She did the same thing with the birds, but it felt different with the wolf. "What is your name?"

She didn't name me…

"Then I shall call you….Midnight, for your black fur."

Midnight… the pup looked at her, tasting the sweet apple juice, I like it.

Penny suddenly felt a sense of panic and could hear Minnie's thoughts, Oh, where could she be?

"They're looking for me," she got up but remembered the pup. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Yes, I would like that," Midnight tried to get up, but wobbled when he took a step.

"Here, I'll carry you. My name is Penny, by the way."

Penny carried Midnight with care as Star followed and they made it to the fence. Once they got there, they found Minnie frantically pacing. Penny flew over the fence and Minnie immediately cam over.

"Where were you? Did you get hurt?"

"No, I felt something in the forest and I found him," Penny showed Midnight to Minnie, "I think his mom abandoned him."

"Oh, poor thing! But the King is back and he must speak with you immediately," Minnie said, rushing back towards the castle, dragging Penny along with her.

"Why, what's wrong? Can I go home soon?" They rushed to the library door.

"No, not that, dear! Mickey's master wants to speak with you!"