chapter two

Chapter two.......

"You realized that we only brought one tiny tent, don't you?"  Asked the girl.

 

"Yes, but it's Lorel's tent, so we'll be fine." Replied Nightshade.

 

"I don't get it" the girl commented.

 

"Come take a look for yourself because I have successfully pitched the tent." Lorel shouted from a few feet away.

 

"That tent doesn't look like it could fit him let alone all three of us.” the girl said as she saw the tiny tent.

 

Lorel laughed and gently pushed her inside the tent stepping inside himself. Nightshade followed behind smiling at the look on the girl's face.

 

"Where we come from we use magic." Lorel explained to the girl as she stared at the inside of the tent with astonishment.

 

"Having your love of living things maybe we won't have to go to war. " the girl said softly. 

 

"What would you know? You are just a kid to your people and a baby to our people" Lorel said angrily.

 

"You don't want war?" Nightshade asked.

 

"My family did but that got them killed, so I think if war can be avoided I will do anything to bring peace. Not just peace between humans and fairies but all the races of Terre together in peace and friendship." The girl replied.

 

"She's royalty alright" Lorel stated.

     

"I'm queen now. I was princess but my brothers killed my father for power and then killed each other until none were left. All for power. I don't want that." She said.

 

"Save your speeches for my queen. She is reasonable and doesn't want bloodshed but your people have done much damage to our forest home." Nightshade remarked.

 

"Are you hungry?" The girl jumped as the question came from Lorel who was digging in a drawer behind her.

 

"He scares a lot of people, but he is a pretty decent cook." Nightshade commented.

 

"Yeah, I'm a little hungry." The girl said as she sat comfortably on a silk couch.

 

"Viola" Lorel said as he set plates of fruit onto the table in front of the couch the girl was sitting on. He grabbed an apple and sat down on the couch opposite the girl's and beside the chair Nightshade was sitting on.

 

"So you want to make peace between our people. You might want to know our culture and language as a gesture that you are willing to put some effort into our peace talks." Lorel stated coldly as he played with his apple.

 

"Eat that" Nightshade ordered Lorel. "You get so aggravating when you are hungry." Lorel smiled apologetically and took a bite of his apple. "But about learning our ways, he is right," Nightshade said.

 

"Very well, but we don't have a lot of time" the girl replied.

 

"Well let's get started um. I realize that I don't know your name." Nightshade said with surprise.

 

"My name is Chat." She said.

 

"In our language that means cat. Was that your parents' intention?" nightshade asked.

 

"I think so,"

 

"Well ‘Cat’ are you ready to learn our ways?"

 

"Of course," Chat replied.

 

"We fairies control most of the west coast which is mostly forests. We depend on the Araignee River for water irrigation and transportation. Do you understand?"

 

"Yes, Nightshade, but how will I remember all of this?" Chat asked.

 

"Just do your best. Most fairies are a master or a particular craft that they have chosen. We don't like doing things we don't enjoy."

 

"So if I wanted to be a musician, I will right away learn the skills I need for that choice?" Chat asked.

 

"Correct. Now let's move on to language. Most fairies speak both ours and your language but it is very insulting if you don't greet my queen in our language."

 

"OK, I’ll take your word for it." Chat remarked.

 

"In our culture being polite is essential. So to greet people in the morning or during the day we say 'bonjour'. In the evening or at night to greet people we say 'bonsoir'. Repeat the two words and their time of day. Nightshade explained.

 

"Bonjour in the morning and during the day, and bonsoir at night and evening."  Chat repeated.

 

"Now to continue a conversation it is only polite to ask the other person how they are doing. We do this by asking: ça VA? After this there are many different responded you could get. You could get 'bien' meaning good, 'mal' meaning bad,  'triez bien' meaning very good, or somebody could say 'triez mal' meaning very bad. Do you think you can handle that?" Nightshade asked.

 

"I think all I will need is more practice, but please continue." Chat answered.

 

"After learning how people are doing it is customary for two people who are meeting for the first time to say 'enchantee' meaning nice to meet you. If the person is interested in continuing the conversation they will usually ask your name by saying 'comment t 'appels tu?' To respond you say 'je m'appelle' then you say your name." Nightshade said with a yawn.

 

"That's enough for today. We have a serious problem to discuss."  Lorel put in.

 

"Are we finally going to die in this thing?" Chat asked.

 

"No the problem is that there are three of us and one bed.”

 

"I'm fine right here I don't trust this thing." Chat said uneasily.

 

"I guess we get the bed" Lorel said as he looked at Nightshade.

 

She grabbed his hand and said sarcastically, "it’s a dream come true." They both smiled and walked to the back of the tent where there was a canopy bed with long green curtains. Nightshade walked to the table on the left side of the bed and grabbed the hair brush and started brushing her long dark purple hair. They dimmed the lights with magic and went to bed.

 

Three times during the night Nightshade woke up because of a nightmare involving a very ugly leprechaun searching for his stolen gold. The third time she woke she was so scared she let Lorel hug her and kiss her head.

 

Nightshade woke still in Lorel's embrace. "It’s about time you woke up" Lorel said with a smile.

 

"We should be going now." Nightshade said with a yawn.

 

"Today we should reach Nightmare City. It’s one of my favorite cities."

 

"Let's go" Nightshade said as she got out to the bed.

 

"Do you want breakfast Chat?" Lorel asked as he walked into the front area of the tent where Chat was stretching on her couch.

 

"No thanks," she said.

 

As Lorel taught Chat the proper way to go down the rapids Nightshade took down the tent.  "Nightshade are you sure that you want to do this?" Lorel asked with a laugh.

 

"Why wouldn't she want to do this?" Inquired Chat.

 

"I hate swimming and water will get my wings wet which means that I can't fly until they are dry. Meaning this will be a very bad day" Nightshade explained as she looked at the water with distaste.

 

"We'll meet you at the inn on the main street in Nightmare City around midday." Lorel said to Nightshade as he hugged her goodbye.

 

Chat stared in astonishment as Nightshade rose into the air and flew off into the distant spot of Nightmare City.

 

"Chat don't forget that when going over the rapids the water does the most work so let up on the paddling and hang on." Lorel advised as they both got into the boat started their journey.

 

As they traveled Lorel quizzed Chat on her memory of the fairy language. "What is leg?" He would ask.

 

"Jounu” replied Chat. Again and again they practiced colors, greetings and body parts as the miles went by.

 

"Now that you can speak part of our language you must learn some of the animals that live in our forest." Lorel said after hours of practicing.

 

"What animals live in your forests that we don't have in our patches of forest that still remain?" Chat asked in bewilderment.

 

"Dragons, unicorns, Pegasus’s, unipegs, pegacorns, and pixies to name the majority." Lorel replied sharply.

 

"Your woods must be very dangerous if you have dragons running around." Chat remarked.

 

"Dragons are wise, majestic, and will only harm people if they are threatened." Lorel said matter-of-factly.

 

"What is a unipeg and a pegacorn?" Chat asked timidly.

 

"They are cross breeds of a Pegasus and a unicorn. A unipeg has a father unicorn and a mother Pegasus, and vice versa for a pegacorn. They are very sweet and love helping people. We might be able to fly on the back of one when we get to Nightshade's castle" Lorel explained.

 

"Are these the rapids that you warned me about?" Chat asked as she saw white foamy water up ahead.

 

"Yep hang on." Lorel shouted over the water's roar as he started to paddle faster. The small boat went down the rapids quickly and then they were soaking wet in smooth water.

 

"That was terrible, no wonder Nightshade flew ahead." Chat complained.

 

"Just look at that" Lorel said as he pointed to a shimmering Nightmare City.

 

"What is that?" Asked Chat in awe.

 

"That is Nightmare City. It was made by the dwarves, that is why it is so pretty, but most of the population are Backoo. They are demons that eat nightmares."