Chapter 28 Aanya

Chapter 28 Aanya

            “Talith?” I whisper, “Talith?”

            “You okay Aanya?” he responds.

            “I’m fine. I think I’ll take watch now, you should get some sleep.”

            “No Aanya, honestly I can do it.”

            “Talith I’m not going back to sleep until you’ve at least closed your eyes for two hours. So I suggest you just do what I say.”

            “Okay, okay,” Talith says has he begins to lean his head against the bed.

            “And sleep in a bed,” I tell him, rolling my eyes.

            “You can at least be comfortable as you keep watch.”

            “Talith, bed, now,” I demand, “I’ll take the floor.”

            “Fine,” he breathes, “but I’m not going to like it.”

            “You don’t have to. Now go to sleep.”

            I lean up against the bed the same way Talith was and begin to watch around me. Nothing happens in the darkness of the night, all I can see is the pale light of the moon barely shining through the window. I begin to think of all the things that have happened to us so far in this new land, Letherland. First we get kidnapped, placed outside the Forest of Unknowns, chased by baboons, jumped into a portal, find some fairies, and now we’re sleeping in an inn with some dude named Sparrow. What on Earth is this madness?

            I continue to watch until the sun pokes out from behind the mountains and the first light of day shines where the moonlight used to be. Rachel begins to stir under her blankets and Talith is basically dead to the world. “Aanya?” I hear a voice groan.

            “Good morning Rachel, sleep well?” I ask.

            “Actually, I got some decent sleep. Do I smell waffles?”

            “Yes, I made some especially for you.”

            “Really?”

            “No.”

            “Dang it,” she sighs.

            “Sorry to get your hopes up but we have a long day ahead of us.”

            “We found a town, now where do we have to go?”

            “We need to find the Keepers of Letherland since they’re the only other ones in this place with powers like ours,” I explain.

            “I think we should stay here a few more days,” Rachel suggests raising her brow.

            “How about we go downstairs, get some breakfast, and analyze the story.”

            “What do you mean analyze the story? You heard Sparrow, nobody knows where they are, it’s only a story.”

            “Story or no story, we are going to find the Keepers of Letherland. So pack up.” I command.

            “Pack what up? I’ve been wearing the same clothes for like four days.” Rachel states.

            “I talked to Sparrow before we went to bed, he’s getting us some clothes and bags and stuff.”

            “This better be worth it,” Rachel murmurs.

            Rachel falls back down on her bed just as Talith sits up. “Where are we going?” he asks.

            “We are going on an adventure!” I exclaim.

            “Aanya, this is no time to be quoting The Hobbit,” Rachel tells me.

            “Fine, but you ended up with a nerd so it was bound to happen eventually.”

            “I suppose you’re right,” she replies.

            “I’ll be right back, take a shower or something,” I tell them as I open the door.

            “Shower with what?” I hear Rachel call after me, “We are practically living in Medieval Times.”

            I close the door behind me and head down the stairs in the clothes I’ve been wearing for four days, also in great need of a shower. I walk over by the bar where I find Sparrow making us some bacon. “I guess Rachel smelled bacon, not waffles,” I laugh.

            “What’re waffles?” Sparrow asks.

            “Never mind,” I shake off, “did you get the stuff I requested?”

            “All of it,” he replies.

            “Awesome, thank you so much for your help Sparrow.”

            “It is no problem, really. So what are you planning to do with this stuff?” he inquires.

            “We are going on an adventure,” I recite once more.

            “I love your enthusiasm,” Sparrow comments.

            “Why thank you,” I say, “I’m going to bring the stuff up to Rachel and Talith, where is it exactly?”

            “Over there resting on that table,” he directs me. I look over at a small table by a wood burning fireplace and I find three bags and few pairs of clean clothes, of course fitting the style of Letherland.

            “I’m going to bring these up and we will all be right down,” I tell Sparrow.

            “No hurry dear Aanya,” he answers, “Take as long as you desire.”

            I rush back upstairs and into our room. “Okay,” I begin, “I have three satchels, three cloaks, and changes of clothes.”

            “What exactly do they wear in this Letherland?” Rachel asks.

            “I’m not sure, let’s take a look. Oh and by the way Sparrow loves my Hobbit reference.”

            “He probably doesn’t even know what The Hobbit is.”

            “True, true,” I agree, “Anyways lets sort this stuff out shall we? I have a shirt and pants for Rachel, here you go,” I say as she takes her new outfit from me. “I have the same kind of shirt and pants for myself, and Talith there’s only pants for you.”

            “That’s fine I’ll just wear my T-shirt,” he says.

            “That’ll work. The satchels are already packed with food; all we have to do is find some sort of weapon before we leave. You never know if we’ll get chased by baboons again.”

            “Or kidnapped by Soda,” Rachel adds.

            “I’m going to go change into these clothes and then we can go eat, Sparrow’s making bacon.” I leave the room once again and enter another room prepared for guests so that I can change into my medieval attire. I put on the brown pants made of some form of cotton and a small dress which substitutes for a shirt. I make sure to tuck in the emerald green dress to make it go together more and put the brown cloak around my back and tighten the silver clasp. “I feel so, fantasy-like,” I tell myself. The satchel Sparrow provided is brown and leather with small patch on the bottom, I put it on across my chest to complete the entire Letherland ensemble and return back to the bedroom.

            I find Talith and Rachel standing there observing their new clothes. Rachel is wearing pretty much the exact same thing as me except her dress is blue and her satchel is black. Talith wears his original T-shirt and a new pair of black pants with a pair of tennis shoes, his satchel replaced by a small coin pouch tied around his belt.

            “You guys look good,” I smile.

            “Heck yeah we do,” Rachel cheers as she clasps her brown cloak around her.

            “I think we should go eat now and pick out some weapons,” I suggest.

            “I agree,” Rachel nods.

            “Let’s do it,” Talith laughs.

            We all walk downstairs together and find some freshly cooked bacon and eggs sitting on wood plates, ready for us to eat. And when I say freshly cooked, I mean freshly cooked, like made this morning. “This looks delicious Sparrow,” I say.

            “You guys forgot some boots I left out for you, they’re resting right by the chair over there,” Sparrow instructs.

            “Thank you so much for the stuff,” Rachel smiles, “they smell way better.”

            “You’re welcome Rachel,” Sparrow replies.

            “Yes, thank you,” Talith mutters and Sparrow responds with a nod and a glistening smile.

            “Do you by any chance have any weapons we could use?” I ask.

            “I do indeed,” Sparrow says, “I have everything. I’ll go get them while you guys finish your morning meal, I will be right back.”

            “Okay, thank you, again.” I shout after him.

            As Sparrow goes off searching for weapons Talith, Rachel, and I finish our breakfast and take a seat at the same table that had our supplies earlier this morning. “So where are we headed to first?” Rachel asks.

            “I was thinking we should analyze the story and then decide that together,” I answer.

            “Good idea. What was the first line of the story again?” Rachel inquires.

            “Over the mountain there’s a lake where in summer it turns to gold,” I recite.

            “How do you remember that?” Talith asks.

            “I’m not sure, for some reason it’s the only thing I remember in that entire thing.”

            “Maybe we can get Sparrow to write it down for us on a piece of paper or something,” Talith suggests.

            “That is an excellent idea,” Rachel enthuses. As we continue to discuss the contents of the story a young woman in a long blue village dress, and brown boots walks down the stairs followed by a puppy-sized fluffy creature with sharp teeth and stubby legs.

            “What’s that?” I ask Talith.

            “Well it’s not a Hobbit,” he begins, “It’s a pufftin.”

            “What’s a pufftin?” Rachel laughs.

            “A pufftin is a creature that is kept as a guardian, they are devoted to their owner and only their owner. They will attack anyone that tries to hurt them or their master.”

            “Kind of creepy don’t you think?” Rachel asks.

            “Just don’t make it mad and you’ll be fine,” he assures us.

            “Noted,” she nods.

            The young woman and the pufftin wander over to the bar and wait patiently as Sparrow makes his way to them. They exchange a few words and the young woman hands him a key, the key to her room. The girl and the pufftin head towards the door and leave, without making a sound and Sparrow heads into the back and continues to find us something to use as a weapon.

            “Anyways, where a lake turns to gold in the summer?” I say once again.

            “It could mean a lake filled with gold,” Rachel says.

            “Maybe,” I nod.

            “I think it’s like a poem,” Talith begins, “Maybe it’s saying something that’s hidden behind the literal meaning.”

            “Have you ever thought that maybe the author of a poem actually means what they’re writing? I mean, what if this lake real does turn to gold in the summer? Maybe there really is just two roads diverged in a yellow wood. Did you ever think of that?” Rachel exaggerates.

            “Yes, but considering how this is an ancient based land I’d see this is more of the hidden meaning thing Talith is talking about,” I laugh.

            “Yeah you’re probably right,” she agrees.

            “Gold, gold, gold, gold rush, California,” I begin to brainstorm, “goldfish, certain time, gold reflects. Wait a second!” I shout.

            “What? Rachel asks, did you think of something?”

            “No duh,” I smile, “maybe it’s a time of day the sun reflects off the lake. But it has to be during the summer because that’s when the ice is melted and everything is more normal. Because during fall it gets colder so there’s more clouds and during spring all the snow is still kind of melting. We need to find a time and a place where the sun reflects off a lake just right and that’s where we will find the whole path mentioned in the rest of the story.”

            “Aanya you’re a genius,” Talith enthuses.

            “I’ve got the weapons!” Sparrow exclaims.

            “Great, thank you. Sparrow, I know we’ve asked a lot of you,” I begin before Sparrow interrupts me,

            “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I typically do nothing all day anyway.”

            “Would you mind writing down the story about the Keepers of Letherland down for us.”

            “Not at all,” he answers grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill and inkwell. He sits down at a table beside the bar and begins writing.

            “Let’s go get some weapons,” Talith suggests. We do as Talith had recommended and go over to where Sparrow had placed the weapons in the center of the bar. Talith reaches for a dagger the size of his forearm with an intricate hilt and shining blade with engraved hieroglyphs, much like the ones in the gray room above the doors. Rachel retrieves an axe,

            “Oh yes,” Rachel nods, “I like this, makes me feel powerful.” (Charlotte, if you want we can change the weapon later, same thing with you Anne, I just wasn’t sure what to put). I laugh at Rachel’s personality towards her newly found weapon and pick up a long slim stick. It stretched from the floor to three inches above my head and had intricate twist and red rubies twisting all the way up. It was flat on both ends, which suggests it wasn’t a magic staff, but a decent weapon that wouldn’t do too much damage.

            “What’s that?” Rachel asks.

            “A Quarterstaff,” Sparrow replies as he hands a rolled up piece of parchment to me.

            “Thank you,” I accept, putting the scroll into my satchel.

            “Does it really do much?” I ask.

            “You maim creatures with it,” he explicates.

            I nod a little disappointed I hadn’t ended up with something better until I see a red twinkle out of the corner of my eye underneath the heap of weapons. “What’s this?” I think to myself. I reach under the pile and pull out a bow. It’s decorated just like the quarterstaff with twist and rubies running around all over it, “It’s beautiful,” I say in awe.

            “You like that huh?” Sparrow asks, “Here are the arrows to go with it.”

            Sparrow hands me a quiver of arrows with the same design and a white feathered tip. The quiver itself has the hieroglyphs on it, similar to the ones Talith has on his dagger. “I’ll take this weapon,” I conclude.

            “Okay, do you know where you’re headed?”

            The quiver appears to tie around the waist instead of slipping onto the back so I tie it around my belt and swing the bow across my chest opposite of the satchel and reply, “We have some idea. Can you tell us where the nearest lake is?”

            “The nearest lake is quite far, about a seven day journey.”

            “Seven days?” I see Rachel mouth exasperated.

            “What direction would you say the lake is in?” Talith asks.

            “It’s north through the Rocks of Palladia and the Dead Swamp. Places you do not want to go.”

            “Are there any villages on the way? Places we can stop for food?” Talith continues.

            “Yes, there are two. First, in about two days you should run into Carrion and then about three or four days after that you should find Spindle. I have an old friend who runs an inn in Spindle known as the Lake House. Mention my name and you should be set.”

            “Thank you,” we all say once more in unison.

            Sparrow looks and smalls at us and nods, “My pleasure.”

            A man, looking somewhat like a farmer wanders into the inn as we leave Sparrow behind and exit through the front door and I once again say, “Let’s go on an adventure.”

            “Aanya,” Rachel warns.

            “Sorry, I know, I know, don’t quote from The Hobbit.”