The group has finally come back to their mobile "home" and continue on their journey, most likely back to Fallowshire to collect their reward.
Goddard has been "abnormally" quiet since the fight in the obelisk. He silently helps to make sure the wagon is in one piece and ready to go.
Bast eyes him thoughtfully. A part of me is not surprised, she thinks. After all, Goddard told me he was not of this world. But another part of me...
ReplyDeleteShe puts it aside and checks Beta over carefully, looking at his giant hooves and teeth. Once satisfied, she walks around the wagon, tugging on various straps and making sure everything us secure.
"We have business in Fallowshire," she says, climbing onto the driver's bench. "Goddard, you ride with me. I teach you to drive, yes?"
Goddard nods, quickly climbs up beside her and looks out at Beta with a sigh. Well...they haven't chased me off or anything...yet... He doesn't look up at Bast and he doesn't move much except for the occasional twitch of his tail and ears.
ReplyDelete"So Goddard care to explain what happened back at the Priest? What are you?" Orzad asked as he was looking around for any bits of scrap metal to add to his collection.
ReplyDeleteBast hands Goddard the reins and taps under his chin. "Chin up. You cannot drive if you're looking at the ass. Relax your hands. That's it," she praises. She gives Beta a verbal command, and the animal starts plodding slowly toward the road. "I see no reason to press you," she tells him silently. "You are not from this world. That is enough."
ReplyDeleteEartha lazily lounges on top of the wagon, wearing just a thin green gauze wrap. "What are any of uz? Just travelerz on zee long road, waiting for our turn to get off." She rolls over to expose her back to the sun and stretches. "All we can do iz help ozzer travelerz along zee road."
ReplyDeleteOrzad returns to the cart with a hand full of scrap metal and walks into the cart and takes out the body of the spider they killed in the obelisk. Orzad takes out his bag of tools and spare parts and begins examining the spider. let see if i can find out how this thing worked and maybe get some of it's thread for my self "We should get going soon before those beast things start to come after us." Orzad yelled form inside the cart.
ReplyDeleteWhen Eartha rolls onto her stomach, she sees Orzad climb into the back of the cramped wagon. She silently climbs down and slips in behind him. She watches over his shoulder as he begins to sort out his tools and attempt to pry open the spider that attacked them on the walkway. "Perhapz I could help? I am very good wizz my handz. I haz never had a complaint of any kind." She smiles at her last sentence, hoping it will convince him to lower his guard a little more.
ReplyDelete" I'm good, Thanks. I'm good with building and taking things apart." Orzad systematically takes the spider apart and wrights down all the damage done and where everything was so he could try to rebuild the spider once he's done examining it.
ReplyDelete"Az you wizsh." She slips past him in the rocking wagon and lets her tail drag across is shoulder and tickle his neck before she grabs a different outfit and flits out the back and up the ladder beside the door.
ReplyDeleteGoddard almost growls a bit at Orzad then sighs when he hears Bast. He listens to what she tells him and gets Beta moving. It's a bit rough at first and Beta reacts stubbornly, but eventually, Goddard gets the hang of it.
ReplyDeleteWhen it's just he and Bast alone, Goddard finally looks up at her. "Thank you...for just...reacting the way you did...the way you do...I don't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to make sure she was safe." He looks down again and shakes his head as he laughs a bit. "I hope Eartha doesn't hate me for being...well...a dog."
Bast smiles softly. "It is our way. If she is uncomfortable with your... person, she will ignore it and be grateful for your actions. Kitty is loyal to her center."
ReplyDeleteEartha stands on top of the wagon and takes off the green gauze wrap and the holds the blue piece in front of her. This should help wake up ...well... anybody. She smiles and lets it fall over her head and down her body. She wriggles as it drapes and barely covers anything and giggles to herself. She tosses the green wrap down and into Goddard's lap as he's trying to lead Beta.
ReplyDeleteHe nods at Bast's words and smiles again before the wrap Eartha drops falls before him.
ReplyDeleteGoddard looks down, confused, at the green fabric in his lap then looks up, hoping to find any reason why this would suddenly float down onto him. Eartha?
Eartha sits on the edge of the wagon's roof, letting her paws dangle over the side and watching the trees go slowly by. Bast? When are we ever going to play? And can one of the males play with us when we do? She smiles at the thought and lets her mind project the image outward so Bast can finally 'see' what she means by play.
ReplyDeleteBast gasps at the picture in her mind. She turns away from Goddard, her face red in this new sunlight. "Kitty! What...what a thought! I- I don't know what to say!"
ReplyDeleteEartha smiles to herself. It is simple, say yes and we can enjoy each other's company. We could even enjoy another's company as well. She wriggles down in the soft pillows she had gathered for her lounge on top of the wagon. You will find it very enjoyable, just give it a chance.
ReplyDeleteOrzad decides to take a break from examining the spider and placed all the parts and hit notes into his pouch. Orzad pokes his head out of the window near Goddard and Bast "Have you ever seen the sun like this before? For as long as I can remember it was blue, but now... its different then what we know."
ReplyDeleteGoddard looks up at Eartha's dangling paws then looks over at Bast, puzzled when she gasps and turns red. "Are you ok?" he asks softly, tilting his head.
ReplyDeleteWhen Orzad appears, Goddard quickly turns his head to face forward. "It's because there was a dome and it's broken now...or did your eyes malfunction too?" he grumbles. "You've all lived in a glass ball."
"I can see that but when its all you know this here is new and strange. Wonder who put it there and for how long it was here" Orzad said still looking at the sky
ReplyDelete"That's why you head out later and find out," he mumbles some more. He looks up at the sky and rolls his aching shoulder. Goddard winces a bit, almost forgetting why it hurts. I remember everything that happens, but some of it is a blur... He yawns and looks beyond Beta's head.
ReplyDelete"Does it hurt badly?" Bast asks quietly, feeling the heat finally receed from her face. "I can help when we make camp."
ReplyDelete"Not too bad," he shrugs. "I've had worse...and...thank you."
ReplyDeleteShe taps Beta on the rump with her riding crop and he picks up speed. Ever since they started out, she had been carrying on a conversation with her grandmother, discussing what could have happened.
ReplyDelete"Goddard," he hears. "Maman is as confused about this...'dome' as we are. Her grandmother's grandmother has traveled this land, I myself have seen more than most. Have you ever seen anything like this containment?"
Preferring to communicate silently, she reaches under the bench and withdraws a basket filled with a knitting project.
"I," he begins to speak aloud, then stops, watching Bast pull out her basket. I'm not really surprised. I've seen things like this before...big ones, small ones and the weather can be different. I usually see them with snow on the inside.
ReplyDeleteHer fingers stumble over her needles. "Are we dreaming? I've had dreams about a yellow sun, but Maman always called it foolishness. Now I...
ReplyDeleteWait.
Snow? On the inside?"
Yeah snow. He nods and then looks thoughtful. Those were typically much smaller.
ReplyDelete"This is all so strange... This dome, the Priest, Eartha... I will be glad to see my kumpania again soon."
ReplyDeleteLooking out over the scenery, her vision seems to blur. Blinking rapidly, it clears and she looks back down at her hands.
What's so strange about Eartha? The dome, the priest, the snake thing...all of that is strange but not her.
ReplyDeleteBast blushes again. "She...ah...she has asked for some time alone with me. She does not often ask for such. It is unusual for her."
ReplyDeleteGoddard looks over at Bast a little confused. "Oh? I thought you two were close and spent a lot of time together anyway."
ReplyDelete"We do. Kitty and I have known each other most of our lives. But she means something altogether different. I cannot explain." Her blush deepens, and she looks up at him nervously.
ReplyDeleteGoddard tilts his head, still unsure about what Bast is talking about. "You two are strange..." He laughs and shakes his head. "I don't know if I will ever understand you two."
ReplyDeleteBast laughs out loud before covering her mouth. "I'm not certain I will ever understand her."
ReplyDelete"Let me know where's a good place for camp," Goddard says out loud. "I'm not used to finding places for carts and cows," he snickers, starting to sound like himself again.
ReplyDelete"Understood or not, at least you have each other." He looks over at Bast and smiles. "One who was supposed to be my friend, was the one who left that big scar on me and now that you see what we are, it makes sense why it's so big and why I was fairly ok afterward."
Bast returns his smile. "You are right. Perhaps she and I cab come to an arrangement over her desires.
ReplyDelete"So there are more of you? Do they all live on that one rock you showed me? How SI you get dreams to eat?"
"There are many rocks floating...and yes, there are more. We are all I have ever seen there. On the floating platforms, there are..." Goddard furrows his brow as he tries to think of a way to properly describe the swirling portals that he used to sit at and watch. "There are...they are sort of holes in the air...we see dreams there." He looks down, almost embarassed. "That's why I seem strange...all I know of the world is from dreams..."
ReplyDeleteShe giggles, hiding behind her long hair. "The dreams you must see. Do they all taste different?"
ReplyDelete"To me, the good dreams taste good, and the bad, are bad. To others, the bad taste good. They tend to have a nastier attitude too." He quickly puts a hand to his ribs where the deep scar is and goes back to steering Beta. "But I can eat your nightmares and you'll only have good dreams." He smiles at her. "Works better than a dream catcher."
ReplyDelete"Is that a good place?" Goddard asks softly aloud, pointing to a clearing big enough for the cart, Beta, and a camp. "I know it's early, but we should eat and take a breather. We never got a chance to after returning to that horrible camp of sorts...that...snake thing..." He shudders at the thought of being swallowed by the huge snake creature.
ReplyDelete"You have a good eye. Yes, it is a good place." She takes the reins and maneuvers the cart so it is completely off the road and against the woods.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as they're stopped, she leaps off the wagon and goes into action.
Orzad walks out from the back of the Cart, he noticed that bast is getting the camp set up "I'll take a look around for any fire wood and any other things we may need." Orzad takes his spear and wonders into the bushes near the clearing.
ReplyDeleteEartha jumps down silently and follows Orzad into the woods. She flits from tree to tree, trying her best to remain unseen.
ReplyDeleteOrzad has a strange feeling that hes being watched, He stops and looks takes a quick look around and noticed nothing. it's just nothing this place is creeping me out Orzad goes back to gathering supplies in the woods
ReplyDeleteBast nods, intent on her work and listening to her grandmother.
ReplyDelete"It will be painful, Sebastiana, but it is necessary. We will be outside Fallowshire to meet you."
Head bowed, Bast sighs. "Yes, Maman. I understand."
"This is a fine place, Goddard. Lots of grass for Beta," she tells him, trying to smile.
Eartha hears a slight crumple of dried leaves and instantly spots the rabbit trying to remain still as Orzad passes. She creeps up on it using him as a distraction. She smoothly pulls a dagger and tosses it straight through the rabbit's neck and pins it to the trunk of the tree it was nestled beside.
ReplyDeleteEartha returns to the camp with three rabbits and a grouse in her pack and silently begins to clean them beside the fire circle that Bast and Goddard have began to construct.
"Oh, Kitty! You are a dear!" Bast says when she sees all the meat she brought. "Fresh meat will be lovely for a meal!"
ReplyDeleteShe walks over and kisses the top of Eartha's tawny head. "Thank you."
Orzad here something with in the woods and he begins to look for the source, In a clearing he see a Deer like creature with a think body and log legs and giant antlers on its head. Orzad gently raises his spare and with all his might tosses the spear into the heart of the beast killing it instantly. Orzad collects his spear and the deer's body and returns to the cart with his kill.
ReplyDeleteEartha smiles as Bast kisses her on the head but continues to strip the rabbits clean of fur and skin. She looks up as Orzad enters the clearing with the deer-like beast draped across his shoulder and smiles at him. "Quite a fine kill you haz made, Orzad. You dezerve a reward of zome kind. Perhapz you zshould zink on it and tell uz later what you would like." A devilish grin dances across her face upon finishing her comment.
ReplyDeleteGoddard helps as much as he can before he flops down onto his back with a sigh. He stares up at the sky and the tree tops for a few seconds before he squirms free from his cloak. His tail snakes up beside him, wrapped around a mirror, and he lazily examines the wound on his shoulder. "Not too bad," he smirks. "Mummy knights are no match for me," he chuckles to himself and VOX, almost out of no where, comes crashing down on Goddard's forehead.
ReplyDelete"What do you mean I was lucky!? You couldn't even see! You were hiding! Like...Like a...OH SHUT UP!" Goddard and the floating orb comically argue. The only side of the conversation anyone can understand is what Goddard says.
As Eartha cleans her kills, Bast dices the meat and adds it to the kettle. Soon, a wonderful scent begins to waft from the fire. Bast throws unusual looking things in, seemingly at random.
ReplyDelete"You remember Maman's rabbit stew?" she asks Eartha. "She taught me her secret."
Orzad drops the deer carcass down and starts to skin the animal and chop it into small pieces so it can be transported easier. Once he's done slicing the deer it takes the body parts and salts them so they will keep. Orzad not wanting to waste anything of the animal he uses the leather to make straps to hold things together and the bones he ask if bast had a need for them before he would bury them.
ReplyDeleteGoddard slaps VOX out of the air and sits up. "Stupid...ball!" he mumbles and his ears prick up at the mention of a secret. "A secret for stew?" he asks.
ReplyDeleteShe nods. "It makes it savory and delicious," she explains. Once the kettle is simmering, Bast excuses herself from the group and retreats to her wagon.
ReplyDeleteAlone, she locks both the front and back door and pockets the only key. Sitting on her bed, she removes a velvet bag from her pack and sets it on the small folding table she uses for fortune telling.
The crystal ball rolls into her hand, large and heavy. It matches the cut crystal she wears on her forehead. The same square... It never- She squeaks and drops the crystal. It doesn't roll, but stays stationary as she stares at it.
A pair of eyes stare out at her, dark purple and streaked with green.
-----------------------------------------------------------
ReplyDeleteAfter Bast dismisses Goddard, he heads over to the kettle and serves himself a bit of the stew. He smells it and stirs it, examining all the different bits of food before he finally, reluctantly tastes it. His eyes light up and he looks down into the bowl. "Mmmmm this is amazing," he tells no one in particular and continues to eat multiple bowls.
This will never fill me up, no matter how much of it I eat...but it's so good!
Bast closes, but doesn't lock the door behind Goddard. Her trembling hands lift the scarf from the crystal, but the eyes are gone. She returns it to the velvet bag and tries to compose herself.
ReplyDelete"This won't do," she mutters, and reaches into a small hidden space between bed and wall, retrieving a bottle. "A few sips of Ezra's blackberry wine will help."
After a few minutes, she returns the bottle and goes outside. "See, Goddard? I am fine, and keeping my word to be outside."
He nods and smiles at Bast. "This is delicious," he mumbles with a full mouth, gesturing toward the bowl. He swallows. "I could eat this everyday." He tilts his head and stares at Bast. "You sure you're ok?"
ReplyDeleteShe smiles and nods. "I am glad you approve. And yes, I am fine. I was dizzy for just a moment."
ReplyDeleteGoddard watches her for a few more seconds, then sets the bowl aside before laying down on his back and looking up at the sky. "It's weird how it all changed color. Coming here was new for me. My light is purple, then here it was blue, and now it's something totally different. I wonder what other colors other worlds have..."
ReplyDeleteShe shivers a little, unsettled by the change in light. "I wonder if our world is a lie. I have been north to the snowy region, and so far south with Kitty I thought I would melt. I can read the land as if it were an old woman's palm.
ReplyDelete"What could be so enormous to hold a whole world, and still be a...a birdcage?"
"There was the world you know, inside of another world, on top of another world, in a space of other worlds," he mumbles softly. "Up there," he points to the sky, "are other worlds and in between those worlds are even more...I come from in between worlds..."
ReplyDeleteHe chuckles and closes his eyes. "Sorry...sometimes I just wonder about all those different places and wonder if all the dreams are a truth someplace..."
ReplyDelete"Maman says that all dreams hold truth," Bast offers. "But it takes a clear vision to see it." She makes herself a bowl of stew. "Perhaps that is something that does not change no matter what world you are in."
ReplyDelete"Well...I think certain dreams are true for certain worlds," Goddard chuckles again. "I have seen many dreams where people flap their arms like bird wings and fly into the sky. I have yet to see anyone here do that."
ReplyDelete"How wonderful that would be..." Bast eats a few spoonfuls of stew before offering it to Goddard. "I think I'm in need of some rest, do you want mine?"
ReplyDelete"It would be convenient, that's for sure..." he says thoughtfully.
ReplyDeleteGoddard then sits up quickly and happily takes the stew from her. "Thaaaaank you!" he beams and finishes the bowl of food even though he knows it won;t do much to help his growing hunger.
She pats him on the head when she walks by. "Your hunger can be sated soon," she tells him. "Kitty? Come lie with me a while? I need to talk with you." She climbs into the wagon, dousing the lights and crawling into her bed to wait for Eartha.
ReplyDeleteAfter Orzad finished his stew, Orzad removes the tower shield that he got from one of the "Priest" guards, from his back and starts to examine it. He sees the image of the Priest on the center of the shield. Orzad tried his best to not make a lot of noise because he knows Eartha and Bast went into the wagon to retire for the evening, and takes out his tools and begins to scrapping and hammering out the icon.
ReplyDeleteEartha silently jumps off of the roof of the wagon and tumbles to a stop just beside the rear door. She quickly pads up the steps and closes the door behind herself, sealing her and Bast in the cramped comfort of the tiny rolling home.
ReplyDeleteBefore Eartha even has time to speak, Bast pours out her story of what happened with the crystal. "Those eyes...I've seen them before," she says. "I can't stand to have them watch me. I always have to keep it covered or put away."
ReplyDeleteEartha takes Bast's hands in hers and soflty pats them. "Zeze eyez? Where haz you zeen zem before? You haz never mentioned zem to me." She smile softly at Bast. "Zings will be fine, my love. I will allow nozing to harm you in any wayz, never."
ReplyDelete"They look out at the crystal. I've caught them at it at least twice before. Both times I had been sleeping." Bast looks up at her. "Maman doesn't even know what it is or why someone is watching me."
ReplyDeleteGoddard's long ears twitch as Orzard works. "Wake the dead why don't ya..." he mumbles and stands up to stretch. "And what do you need a shield for anyway? You're metal..." He hops onto the top of the wagon and lays across the various supplies they have tied up.
ReplyDelete"Perhapz we zshould zell it to zomebody, or tozz it in zee river. Let zome one elze worry about it, cazt it away like bad fizsh." At that she grins broadly and nuzzles Bast's neck playfully. "Let uz forget about troublez for zee night, juzt enjoy eachozer." She smiles hopefully at Bast, wishing she would understand.
ReplyDelete"Just because I'm metal dose not make me immortal, and after what we've seen at the priest I can use all the defense I can get." Orzad said still banging the icon out. "im pretty sure if there where any dead around hear to go after us you can gnarl on their bones." That's good as its going to get no one should noticed the image with out looking at it closely. Orzad straps the shield to his arm and takes out his spear and starts to jab at the air to get a feel for it.
ReplyDelete"What?!" Goddard's head appears over a large barrel and he narrows his eyes at Orzad. "What's that supposed to mean..." He watches Orzad with the spear and slips back behind the supplies. "Walking can opener..." he mumbles.
ReplyDeleteBast shakes her head and drops down onto the bed. "I've tried to throw it away. It comes back. I've given it away, and it returns."
ReplyDeleteWhen Eartha nuzzles her, Bast giggles. "Kitty, you always make me forget the worst."
When Bast falls on the bed, Eartha jumps next to her and straddles her. "Zat iz what I'm here for, to help you forget zee bad zings." Eartha then grins and begins to tickle Bast playfully.
ReplyDelete"Well..." Orzad continues to get a feel for his shield and adjust the straps on it for a tighter fit around his arm. "nothing" After a jabbing and slashing at the air orzad decides to see how his aim is with the shield on. Orzad tosses his spear towards a tree near by and the mass and wight of the shield knocked off balance his aim and he misses the tree and lands in the bushes behind the tree. Orzad takes the shield off and walks out into the woods to look for the spear.
ReplyDeleteBast screams in laughter, wiggling under Eartha and trying to get away. "Kitty!" she gasps. "Kitty, stop!"
ReplyDeleteEartha suddenly stops tickling Bast and looks down at her. "I wish you could underztand, I really do. Zee zings zat I feel drive me wold at timez and you are a big part of zat." Eartha smiles and hugs Bast for a moment.
ReplyDeleteBast pretensions under the affection like any teenager. Curling up against her, they're quiet for a moment. "Maman and I have been discussing my future," she offers quietly. "It seems that some offers have been made for me, but Maman won't allow an arranged match. She said for me to have my adventure and then we can talk about marriage."
ReplyDelete"Offers?" Eartha says with distaste. "Zere iz no one zat dezervez you, you are to good for any of zem." She raises up and crosses her arms across her chest as she still straddles Bast. A smile begins to creep across her lips and she starts to tug at Bast's top playfully. "Perhapz you do need to adventure az much as you can."
ReplyDeleteShe laughs. "Kitty, your kind are so strange. You always want to be naked together," she laughs.
ReplyDeleteEartha grins slyly. "Zere iz nozing wrong wiz nak-id. If you let me, I can zshow you zuch pleazure in it. You will never be zee zame when I am done." She continues to pull at the ribbons and such on Bast's top.
ReplyDeleteBast puts her hands over Eartha's. "You shouldn't. I quite enjoy being as I am. You would never change me, would you?"
ReplyDeleteGoddard lazily looks over at Orzad and catches his failed attempt at throwing the spear. He stifles a laugh then presses his ear against the top of the wagon. Goddard leans back with a sigh. He can hear them talking still. He can't understand what they are saying, but it's enough information to assume they aren't asleep and dreaming yet.
ReplyDeleteEartha stops tugging at Bast's top. "Never, I juzt want to zshow you zome thingz you haz never zeen, enjoy zome zing you have never enjoyed, not change you. I would never change my Bazt, never." She smiles at Bast and kisses her on the nose.
ReplyDeleteShe tugs Eartha down beside her and cuddles close. "Let's rest while we can. We can save whatever wonderous things you have for when we aren't surrounded by men."
ReplyDelete"Perhapz you are right, zoon zough? I may die if I don't get to zshow you zoon." She looks into Bast's eyes pleadingly, waiting for her answer, praying it's the one she needs.
ReplyDelete"What the..." Goddard looks over at his hand which is slowly sinking into the wood of the wagon. "Oh what the hell! Not now!" he quickly clambers over the top of the wagon and through the bags and barrels that are attached, finally making it over the edge and landing on the ground with a thud.
ReplyDelete"Ow..." he groans, sitting up and rubbing his head. "I guess I'll just have to sleep on the ground?" Goddard carefully presses on the ground to make sure he won't fall through the planet before curling up in his cloak.
Eartha jumps up, looking about quickly. "Did you hear zat? Zome one waz zpying on uz, I'm zure of it." She slides from the bed and goes to the back door and flings it open. Eartha glares out into the darkness letting her gaze fall on Goddard. "With a icy smile she speaks. "Did you enjoy yourzelf liztening to two friendz talk about zee road and where to go next?" She folds her arms and continues to scowl at him.
ReplyDelete"I couldn't hear anything," Goddard mumbles sleepily. "I mean...what?" he quickly sits up and looks at Eartha. "I was trying to see when you two were asleep...I wasn't trying to hear anything...ok I was but it's not what you think!"
ReplyDeleteBast comes to the door, forgetting to tie the ribbons on her shirt. "Are you alright?"
ReplyDeleteHer smile seems to melt briefly but comes back twice as cold when he admits to trying to listen. "Perhapz God-ard would like for kitty to take him into zee woodz? To zshow him what happenz to zoze zat lizten to zingz zey zshould not? Perhapz God-ard needz kitty to teach him zee way to act around femalez?" She steps down the ladder slowly and begins to walk toward Goddard, the firelight dancing in her eyes as she stares at him.
ReplyDeleteGoddard looks up at Bast and tilts his head. He starts to tell her about her ribbons but quickly looks over at Eartha.
ReplyDelete"Hey! I said I couldn't hear!" He scoots up onto his hands and knees and backs away from Eartha. "All I heard was muffled talk. I figured when it was quiet, you would have went to sleep!"
Orzad takes a few steps into the thick woods and falls into a ditch. Orzad lands at the bottom of the ditch and looks from where he fail and see it was a ten foot drop. Orzad looked around and found his spear sticking up from the ground. He grabs it and tries to find a way back up, He founds a tree that is tall has roots going up almost all the way up the ditch. Orzad places the spear into a loop in the belt that is around his chest and begins to climb up. About half way up Orzad hears a Growling sound coming from below him , It was a four foot bear that had some of it's skin falling off almost like its rotting of exposing a dark green skin and black spikes going all across its spine. Orzad try not to let the bear see him as he's climbing up and when Orzad made it to the top he look down to see if the bear noticed him and he saw that the bear had three smaller cubs running right behind it playing. Orzad returned back to the camp with no emotion on his face but sadness
ReplyDeleteBast puts a hand on Eartha's shoulder. "It's alright, Kitty. No harm is done. Come back, and lie down with me." Looking back at Goddard, she nods slightly. "You must wait a long while to make sure she is sleeping," he hears.
ReplyDelete"Come, Kitty, and tell me about these things you want to show me."
Eartha places her hands on her hips at the 'sleep' comment. "Why doez you wait for uz to be azleep? What iz it you haz planned for uz?" She walks closer to Goddard and squats down in front of him. Moving close enough to touch his nose with her's. She continues to stare into his eyes, waiting for a reaction. She then speaks at a whisper's level. "Tell kitty, God-ard, what iz it you have planned for Bazt? Are you going to defile her zo no uzzer man will haz her? Or do you haz eyez for kitty?" She smiles as she speaks.
ReplyDeleteEartha's smile begins to melt away and she stands and turns from Goddard. She begins to walk toward the woods, stopping she turns around. "I am zorry God-ard, I haz zaid zingz I zshould not. I know you meant no harm, I am juzt...on edge. Zere are zings I need but can not get, zings zat will help me calm myzelf but zey are not coming to me. Again. I am zorry." She turns back and walks into the woods, quickly swallowed by the shadows and overall darkness.
ReplyDeleteBast watches her go. Kitty, do not be so sad. With a sigh, she sinks down to sit on the top step. "She has changed so much. I never know how to help her anymore."
ReplyDeleteGoddard's eyes dart over to Bast occasionally, looking at her for some sort of help with the seemingly crazy kitty. When Eartha begins to walk away, he frowns and watches her leave.
ReplyDelete"What was that all about?" he asks Bast, making his way over to the wagon and sitting beside her. "What does she need? We can't just...help her?"
"I don't know..." she sighs. "She keeps telling me there are things she can show me, but she doesn't tell me what they are. When I ask, she gets moody. Perhaps you could help her, if she explained it to you?"
ReplyDeleteGoddard nods. "I'd try and do my best to help her out if she just explained what she needed. She's never explained it to you? You two are close...I would have thought she'd talk to you about it," he sighs.
ReplyDelete"We are. But there are always parts you keep to yourself. She talks in riddles and I cannot make head or tail of it."
ReplyDelete"We should get her and her explain...to the both of us. I don't really like seeing her sad." He says looking out at the woods. "Or you," he adds. "Don't like seeing you sad either."
ReplyDeleteOrzad returns to the camp, gets the shield on the from the ground and his maul laying beside the cart and drops them down near a rock and lays down beside it and starts to pass out.
ReplyDeleteGoddard curiously watches Orzad as he enters the camp. I wonder what he does when he wanders around out there alone... He turns his attention back to Bast and motions toward the undone ribbons on her shirt. "I don't think you want to end up shirtless like me," he chuckles.
ReplyDeleteBast looks down and sees that her shirt is half open. "Oh," she gasps, blushing and clutching the loose fabric to her chest. She turns away from him and quickly knots the ribbons closed, stammering out an apology.
ReplyDelete"I- I think I'll go look for Kitty," she stammers, her face still burning. Her cloak and a lantern float through the air towards her, the cloak wrapping itself around her.
Goddard shrugs when Bast tries to apologize for her ribbons being undone. "It's ok...I mean...it's not like it was bothering me...OH NO not like that! Um er...well..." he bites his lip and turns away from her.
ReplyDelete"We can both go look for Eartha," he suggests, standing up quickly and making sure he still has the daggers in his boots.
Pulling her hood up against the cool air, Bast walks into the surrounding forest with him. "Kitty? Where are you?"
ReplyDelete"She does this sometimes," she tells him. "All her clan do. They get moody and disappear- sometimes for days. But this just seems...different."
She makes the lantern float higher above their heads, lighting a larger area.
Goddard walks behind Bast and looks at her surprised. "I hope she doesn't disappear for days. I don't want to have to stay in these woods longer than I have to." He wraps himself tight in his cloak and shivers a bit. "I really hope she's ok..."
ReplyDeleteShe shrugs. "I doubt she will be gone long. We are in unfamiliar territory, and she would not be so foolish." Again she tries to get an answer from Eartha. "Kitty, where are you?"
ReplyDelete"What do you think's out there," he whispers, walking closer to Bast. "I've seen huge terrible furred creatures with multiple heads, monstrous birds with teeth in their beaks and spikes on their legs, ghosts with mouths like black holes...and they suck out your soul..." He looks around at the darkness. Goddard will catch movement and shapes from the corners of his eyes, and quickly turn his head towards it. His ears twitch at every sound.
ReplyDeleteBast can hear a sudden soft growl behind her that gets cut short abruptly. "Sorry," Goddard chuckles nervoulsy. "That was me..."
She looks over her shoulder with a slightly wicked grin. "I imagine if anything were to eat my soul, it would be you, Goddard. And should something attack us, I'm sure you can handle it."
ReplyDelete"I'd do no such thing!" Goddard says defensively. "What do I look like? Some kind of mons...never mind..."
ReplyDeleteShe laughs. "You are just like Maman's son. You take teasing too seriously."
ReplyDelete"Well...I have to take everything seriously. Who know's if things are just being tricky..." He watches a few green and blue glowing insects fly around before gently catching one. He examines it and then shakes his hand so that it flies away again. "And you can't trust even things like that no matter how small and pretty and shiny..." he trails off and catches another small insect.
ReplyDelete"So what if things are being tricky?" she counters, catching one of the bugs on a fingertip. "If you spend all your time being serious and looking for a trick, you will waste your life."
ReplyDelete"I guess that's true...and I want to see everything. There are so many interesting things out there..." he says softly, relaxing a bit more and appreciating the initially frightening woods.
ReplyDeleteBast nods and looks around as they walk. It's been some time since Eartha left camp, and she's beginning to worry. "I hope she is not hurt, I cannot find her anywhere."
ReplyDelete