Chapter Eight
"Well. That sucks," Cid said, sounding as disappointed as I felt.
"That… That, wasn't there the last time I was here," I said, staring at the comparably large gap that led into the Briar Patch. Comparably large, since I'd never seen any place in the sprawling tangle of prickly vines that would allow anything bigger than a squirrel—maybe a raccoon—to enter it. The gap in the vines in front of us was many times larger than that. We could easily pass through, which is exactly what the White Stag had just done. The vines formed a tunnel, as if daring us to travel into its depths.
The Briar Patch itself is one huge shrubbery. It runs along the river for at least a kilometer, is maybe a third that wide, and stands above a tall mans head. Looked a lot like the area around the castle in that sleepy princess movie for kids. The place the prince had to chop through to fight the dragon. Not even remotely as creepy though. This place was alive, green and growing. Roses of many colors grew randomly but sparsely among the thick limbs of the shrubs. This snarled jumble of inter-twisted creepers spiked with barbs spread across the large area, creating an impassable barrier. Or so I'd thought.
We'd chased the Stag all the way down the Briar path, a goodly distance. It had taken us most of an hour on foot. The holy thing had kept a constant distance from us. Close enough that we could see it, but never catch up to it. What was its game? Was it leading us somewhere? I had to find out.
"What now?" Chase asked as I considered our options. The smart thing would be to head back, but where was the fun in that?
"We follow it, of course," I answered casually as I started forward, my mind set.
"Whoa, wait up just a second," Cid caught up and put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. I did, turning around to him with a quiet, disappointed sigh. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. "Do you really want to go…" his mouth turned down on one side, his brow wrinkling as his eyes narrowed, "in there?" he said with a pointed nod at the Briar Patch,
"Well, yeah. Why not?" I said, still trying for casual. I really didn't want to go in there. Green and growing or not, those massive prickles looked painful. And they were everywhere. But it was the White Stag! How could I not go in and call myself an adventurer? Plus, these were kind of my lands. I didn't own them or anything, but they were all under my protection and care. Well, at least my families. Still counts. There was no place I couldn't go. Aside from the Enchanted Forest of course. I could go there I guess, but after the stories, I really really didn't want too. I was also getting a strange feeling as I stared at the tunnel leading into the patch. It made me nervous, kind of anxious. But I also really wanted to find out where it led. I needed to almost.
"We agreed to follow it through the Scattered Forest, not into the Briar Patch itself," Cid argued. "That looks like a mess. What if we get lost in there? What if we get hurt and no one can find us? What if there are… snakes in there," He finished, getting quieter as he spoke. Ah, now I see. Cid is not a fan of snakes. They seem to enjoy biting him for some reason. Hes been bitten like three times, though never by any venomous species thankfully.
"Oh, come on," I argued back. "We'll have Chase with us. No snake would dare bother us with him around. He'd smell it from a kilometer away." Chase gave me a dubious expression. I continued, ignoring him. "Besides, this is our perfect opportunity. We might have been chasing the stag forever out in the open. We couldn't gain on it, remember? Here its trapped. No where to go. We can finally find out what its up to. Please?" I implored him.
"I don't know. I really don't like the look of that tunnel. Or how it makes me feel, honestly," he said with a shiver, but took a tentative step forward after he said it. He must be feeling the same thing I was. "What do you think, Chase?" Cid asked the pooch.
"Me? I think the Old Wizard gonna boil us alive. Eat us for supper," Chase said. "Look at her," he was looking at me critically. "You can tell. She's not gonna back down. Has her mind set. She's going in, we gotta follow her. Then, maybe the Old Wizard buries our bones. Instead of throwing them to the crows," he chuckled at his own morbid humor.
"See, Chase already knows. We're going. Its adventure time, remember? Adventures aren't a single thing that happens until its over. They twist and turn, throwing a curve at you when you least expect it. You should know this. Your acting like this is our first adventure. We've been all over the Sanctum together. We can handle anything it has to offer." I finished with a smug smile.
Cid was looking up at the sky, as if praying something would come to save him from my insanity. Nothing did. He returned his gaze to me. "Are we prepared? You bring any of your gadgets?"
"Obviously. I always keep some in my emergency pack. Your gloves are in yours, so you have no excuse. Lets go already." I was bouncing on the balls of my feet again, getting excited now that I had Cid convinced.
"Fine. Lets go. Before I come to my senses," he said resignedly while shaking his head. "And we better not see any snakes."
"Yeah," I said and pumped my fist. "Lets go catch us a stag."
We started for the entrance into the gloomy tunnel formed from the intertwined vines, when Cid jerked to a halt. "Crap," he half shouted. "I forgot. We were supposed to meet Peeps and some of his Crew further along the road." He turned back towards the way we had come, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Oh no, we're still going. Your not getting out of this that easy. We left all our stuff back there. They'll keep going, and when they see the bikes and blanket, they'll know we took a little detour. We'll probably meet them on our way back. After we catch up with the stag, of course," I said, leaving little room for discussion.
"Fine. I had to try. Hopefully they aren't too upset we bailed on them," Cid said regretfully. I was a little worried too. Sparrows can be a rather sensitive bunch. Maybe we'd plan a full weekend to stay at the HQ, to make it up to them.
"They'll be fine," I assured him. "We'll make it up to them somehow. Now, we've wasted enough time. There's only so many hours of daylight left."
"Okay, but I'm in the lead," Cid said. "I intend to keep my promise to bring you back in one piece. I don't want my bones going to the crows, after all." He gave Chase a smile.
"Ha. And I'm leading him. Oldest one here, so you have to listen to me," Chase one upped Cid, who didn't seem disappointed by the offer. The dog might not be huge, but he's fierce when needed. Chase started forward, and we headed into the unknown.
Chase stopped almost immediately. "How we gonna see? Way too dark, even for me. Puny human eyes got no chance."
"That's my cue. Time for gadget number one," I pulled off my backpack and began rummaging through it. "I know I threw some in here somewhere. Where is it..." I finally found what I was looking for, pulling out a glow-stick. "Found you."
"Hows that gonna help," Chase asked. "Not gonna give much light. Pretty dark in there too."
"Well, it wouldn't be one of my patented gadgets if I hadn't added a little something special. I was able to enchant it to produce more light. Won't last as long, but I can turn it off if I need to. That was one of my toughest enchantments so far. Pops had to help me with the chemistry involved. Took a while to get right, but now it works like a charm." I hope. I didn't add that last part. Don't want them to lose confidence before we even start.
"Its not going to explode?" Cid asked, then continued. "Again..." The jerk.
"That was one time. And it was like three experiments ago. This one works great, trust me." I hope. I cracked it, and the liquids mixed. The light it produced was what you'd expect from any glow-stick, until I muttered something nonsensical and fed it a little power. I crossed my fingers… Then it burst into a steady glow; several times more powerful than it had been, while not being so bright as to blind us. I'd really out done myself this time, if I do say so myself.
"Wow, nice one Lizbeth," Cid congratulated me. Then winced at my expression. "Sorry. I meant Liz." He smiled at me sheepishly. Lizbeth had been my nickname for a long time while I was a kid, but I was getting too old for that. Liz is much more befitting a young lady, such as myself. Cid reached out, and I reluctantly gave the enchanted glow-stick to him. There was a long string attached to it, and Cid slipped it over his head to wear it about his neck. He started forward, Chase stepping in front of him to lead the way. The adventure was back on.
"Ouch," I shouted, for what felt like the bejillionth time. It was probably only the third or fourth time, but these darned prickles were starting to get on my nerves. In a big way. I clamped my hand over the scratch this particular little bugger had left. "It really got me that time," I lifted my hand from the scratch, one finger coming back with a tiny bit of red on it. "Dang it. This outfits ruined too. Just great. Even if we make it back in time tomorrow, everyone's going to know we went on a detour. Gramps is going to kill me." Oh well. Too late now. My clothes had been torn in a few places. With the light source in front of Cid's body, I ended up in shadow half the time. Luckily, the exceptional fabric of my clothes had saved me from several more cuts. It's durable flexibility kept all but the sharpest barbs from penetrating.
"Know how we feel now. Serves you right. We adventure together, we get buried together," Chase said helpfully, lifting one shoulder and tilting his head to that side in a half shrug. "Only fair."
"Yeah, yeah. I just didn't think we'd be in here this long. How far could it possibly go. We have to be fairly deep now. We've been in here, what? Thirty minutes already? It just goes on and on." The tunnel kept curving and twisting. Made it impossible to tell how far it went.
"This is the perfect place for an adventure, right? Cause of all the twisting and turning," Cid said, throwing my own words at me. He looked back when he said it, only to stop suddenly with a loud, "Ouch. And there's the curve when I least expected it. Adventures are so pleasant." The path had turned in front of him while he wasn't looking. He rubbed his upper arm, where he'd been pricked.
"You know you love it," I admonished him. "Chase, we still on the scent? Would be really lame to go all this way just to find out the White Stag slipped off somehow."
"No scent. Hasn't been the whole time. No tracks either," Chase said, but he didn't sound very concerned. "We may be magic creatures. Yes, you humans too. Your creatures, just more arrogant. White Stag is more. We have magic. Its of magic. Big difference."
We stopped talking for a while, trudging along, my thoughts occupying me. I focused more on where I was going, not wanting another annoyingly painful tear in my skin. I couldn't quite pin down what Chase meant by a creature of magic. As far as I knew, the White Stag was just another animal. A very majestic and magical one, but there are lots of those around the Sanctum. Though, its presence couldn't be denied. I'd been able to feel it when it was still many meters away, when I first saw it. Maybe Chase knew what he was talking about. I made a mental note to ask our Supernatural Zoology Professor—my Uncle Gomez—about it.
"So, Liz," Cid said, breaking the silence. "Do you, have a, thing for Remi?" he asked. I stumbled to a stop, completely taken off guard by his sudden question. He hadn't looked back when he asked, and didn't stop walking. I resumed as the light moved with him.
"What? No. What?" I said. "Where did that come from?" I asked defensively, glad he couldn't see me blushing.
"Its just, something I saw. I mean, I wouldn't blame you. The guys, I mean. I'm not gay, and even I can tell he's a, more than handsome guy," he continued, obviously uncomfortable with the topic.
"What? No," I said, showing how impressively witty I can be. "I mean, obviously he's attractive. But you should know me better than that. Takes more than just a chiseled physique and the face of a movie star to interest me." Where was this coming from? Cid had never asked me about other boys before. He is my best friend though, so I guess he just wants to know whats going on in my life. I'd been really busy recently with my experiments, as well as all my school work. We hadn't seen each other as much recently as we used to.
"Oh," he said a little more cheerily. Then, "Oh," in a lower, maybe slightly dejected tone. He continued trudging through the tunnel in silence. Chase, obviously above such concerns as teenage love drama, hadn't joined the conversation. But I couldn't just leave it at that.
"What about you," I asked Cid. "You have a thing for Malia? A little crush maybe?" I said, my voice higher and more singsong as I teased him, trying to get a reaction.
Cid stopped to turn around and give me a bewildered expression. "Why would you think that?"
"Hey. Light," Chase grunted, and Cid turned back around. We kept walking.
"Sorry Chase. But seriously Liz. When did I do something that would give you that idea? I mean, Malia is awesome. And super pretty. But I don't know her all that well. She's usually hanging out with Remi after classes. Or you, when your not working in your Tree House." Cid shrugged ahead of me, his shoulders slumping when he finished. Maybe I had touched a nerve.
"Its just. Well, you seem to get really nervous whenever she's around. Not quite yourself. Thought maybe there was something there, that's all."
"Oh, that," he said. He continued walking for a while before answering further. "That's not about Malia," he sounded embarrassed. Was he lying to me? "Its, actually Remi." Huh?
"Huh?" I asked. That didn't make any sense.
"I don't know," Cid said hesitantly. "Its just, every once in a while, I catch him giving me this strange look. Like he's calculating me. Assessing my strengths and weaknesses. That might not be right, its not a look I'm used to. It doesn't make me uncomfortable really, just, extra aware of myself. Makes me second guess everything I do or say. Maybe its something to do with all that alpha male stuff I've heard about? Makes sense. How could a guy like me compete with him? That's probably what you noticed." He definitely sounded like this topic of conversation was going to have a negative impact on his mood, so I quickly tried to think of a way to change the subject. Before I could, Chase let out a low, menacing growl.
Cid had stopped, and I looked up to see that the tunnel forked ahead of us. But this was not what had instigated Chases warning.
"Oh, Hell no," I shouted, then looked to the ground, searching. When I spotted what I was looking for, I grabbed a few and stepped past Cid. A little to one side, so the light could shine past. I put three in my left hand, bouncing the remaining small stone in my right. "You better get out of here, rabbit. I swear, I'll throw these at you. I'm sick of your games." I cocked my arm, preparing to throw the rock.
Sitting at the entrance to the left side fork, was a large rabbit, maybe a hare. It was brown, but one of its ears had a white spot, the other a black one. It couldn't be a coincidence. This had to be the same blasted creature that had tormented me so many times in the past. It rapidly thumped one foot, then bounced up, chattering in unmistakable laughter. I warned it. I tossed the stone. It missed. The darn thing was quick, and it ducked under the stone as it sailed by. It bounced up and down several more times, still chattering its annoying laugh.
Now, you have to understand. Several times on my adventures over the years, I had met a large rabbit that looked similar to this one. And every, freaking time I saw it, something bad happened to me. I'd see it, then my pleasant adventure would turn into a hectic one. Usually ending in me gaining some new minor injury. I'd given it the benefit of the doubt in the past, but not this time. I'd had enough.
"I said get out of here, you vermin," and I threw another stone at it. It ducked that one as well. As it thumped its foot and laughed again, Chase gave another menacing growl. He hates rabbits too. Well, maybe not hates them, but he's not a fan. It's even part of his name. His fully translated name means, 'Chases off rabbits far and wide'. Apparently, chasing rabbits was his favorite pass time when he was a pup. Not to eat them, he says he doesn't like how they taste. But they are fast, nimble creatures. Very fun to chase, I guess. Not so much fun to throw stones at. That nimbleness worked in its favor greatly in that regard. Then I had an idea. I waited for a couple seconds, watching the rabbit carefully. It was still mocking me. Thumping its foot and bouncing up into the air. But that's exactly what I needed. When I saw it gather its legs for a hop, I flung the stone, aiming above its head. The stone sailed towards it as it jumped, colliding with it in midair. It thumped on impact, and the stupid rabbit landed heavily. It recovered quickly, its chattering now sounding angry. It turned its back on us, then used its foot to shovel dirt in our direction. It took off, still chattering.
"Yeah, you better run. Silly rabbit," I shouted after its quickly retreating form. "Tricks are for kids, dummy. You aren't tricking me anymore."
"Wow. That was a bit… extreme," Cid said.
"It had it coming," I responded, only a tiny bit regretful for my actions. I love all animals, but that one was the exception. "You remember the last time we saw it? Or did you enjoy your visit with the Little Goblins?" He cringed, remembering the unpleasant experience.
"True," he said. "But did you have to hit it with a rock? We could have just ignored it, and gone down the other fork."
"I guess. I just don't want it to think it can come harass us whenever it feels like it. It will never leave us alone if it thinks it can walk all over us. I'm sick and tired of it ruining all of our adventures." My blood was still running hot after that encounter with my arch nemesis. I did start to hope that I hadn't hurt it too badly. Just a little. But I had to take a stand. That bunny was bad news.
"Alright, we are definitely going that way." I pointed down the right side fork. "I'm not going anywhere that fur-ball's going." I looked down at Chase right in front of me. He now had on a thoughtful look as he gazed after the rabbit.
"Hmm…" he said. "Okay. Lets go." He turned right, and I let Cid pass me to light the way, as we traveled further into the Briar Patch.