Tara is Back

I slowly got used to life in Apium as time passed. Whenever I got tired of my training, I would hop on top of Turry's back and ride around. About a month after the contest, Tara and a few other Atols finally returned from the Land of Sands. Although she went there for work, she also caught a glimpse of the contests taking place. "You know something? That guy competed once more", she told me. I was confused at first, but then realised who she referred to. "Did he win again?", I asked. Tara laughed, "Not this time. There were loads of strong people, and you'd be surprised to hear a Human won". That was really surprising to me, since Humans were really rare in the North.

"It's rare for Humans to compete for sure. I mean, past these few years, this was the first time I saw a Human competing… Well, other than you. He was really strong, the obstacles were like a joke to him. That smug Lizard was really pissed, when he realised the Human took his first place. He was actually quite young, younger than me. Perhaps he was your age... I didn't compete myself, but he seemed rather cold to everyone else", she said. She even told me that some people got really hurt this time. I asked her about the prize. "This year's prize was a weapon. A master blacksmith would forge a weapon for the winner. They could choose any weapon, but materials were already set… From what I know, the weapon would be created from a mix of Flash Blurite and Obsidian. Supposedly very good quality materials, but I don't know much about such things", she explained.

'No wonder the competition was so strong this year. A master blacksmith's weapon must be worth a lot', I thought. Though I didn't regret not taking part. My sword was good enough for my training, and even uncle Harlin said it wasn't that bad. Instead of talking about the Land of Sands, I showed Tara my new pet. "Heh? You got yourself a Taurus?", she asked, surprised. "Yes! I actually won him during a competition here in Apium. Turry, this is Tara my friend", I introduced them. "Since when did Apium have competitions?", Tara asked confusedly. "Uncle Ulon created one. A lot of people took part, and we had some fun. It's a shame you were not around", I replied.

Since Tara returned, there was much more I could do in Apium. We rode on our Tauruses, hung out together and even sparred a few times. Tara was actually really strong, but her spear skills were not that great. Still, we had fun. One day, she asked me whether we should leave Apium and go someplace else, but I refused. "I don't want to make my uncle worry about me, but more importantly I don't want to get in trouble. If mother learned about it somehow, both of us would get punished", I said. "We don't have to go far. A small trip for a day or two. Somewhere close, not to any city or anything like that", Tara explained.

'That should be possible… After all, I will be close to Apium…', I thought and nodded. "We should still tell my uncle. As long as he agrees, we can go", I added. Tara agreed with that, so we went to find my uncle. After a quick explanation, uncle began thinking about it. "I don't know Anna… Just the two of you?…", uncle said. "Tara is older than me, she is basically an adult already. We will just spend a day or two out in the Wilderness, that's it. We won't go to any city or anything like that. We will stay relatively close to Apium… It's just a few days, alright?", I explained. Uncle thought about it a bit more, and finally agreed. "Alright, but only a few days, and you will take medicine with you. If anything happens, get back to Apium as quickly as possible. Promise me you will not act silly", he said. I agreed and promised him.

Uncle packed a few things for me, especially some food. He told us not to hunt under any circumstances. If we saw any dangerous animals, we were supposed to return right away. With everything taken care of, uncle repeated himself to Tara, and made sure we understood. "We will be fine master Ulon. I will take care of Anna and if anything goes wrong, we will return home as quickly as possible", Tara reassured him. We were ready to leave, and spend a few days away from everyone. Although we wouldn't go far, camping outside Apium was an adventure in itself.

With a last farewell to uncle, we mounted our Tauruses and left Apium. Tara led the way, while I followed after. I had no clue where she wanted to go, but the sheer excitement of a small adventure didn't let me worry about that. On our way, we raced a few times to find out which taurus was faster. Turry won with Tara's Taurus every time, which made her a bit annoyed. "I hate to say this but, your Taurus is really good. What did you feed him? He is so enthusiastic and strong", she asked. "Poach Fruits. I won a month's supply during a contest. Don't get me wrong though, I had to eat those Jagged Fruits to win", I replied. I could see a change on Tara's face. "You deserved that prize…", she replied feeling sick. "Why do you even grow them? Those fruits taste so bad, I could barely swallow them", I asked. "Every Atol eats them when they are small. Although the taste is really bad, these are very healthy fruits. Hence we still grow them", she said.

"By the way, where are we going? It's already afternoon, and it's only going to get darker from now on", I asked. Tara smiled for some reason, and replied that she had a place in mind. I wasn't sure what she planned, but followed her nonetheless. A few hours later, we finally arrived at our destination. At least according to Tara. Her so-called destination was still the plain old Wilderness, with pretty much nothing around. I was confused, but Tara told me to follow her. "You might think there is nothing around here, but you'd be wrong", she said while we slowly rode our Tauruses. "What can possibly be here? It's plain Wilderness, just like any other part of it", I asked. "Hehe, you will see", she replied with a laugh.

Tara seemed to be looking for something specific, and after a while, she found it. We arrived in front of a well hidden tunnel, impossible to spot from the direction we came. The tunnel was very big and dark, which didn't strike confidence in me. "This is it. I wanted to explore this tunnel, but going in alone would be too dangerous. There are two of us now, so it shouldn't be that scary", Tara announced. "I don't think this is a good idea, we don't know what is down there", I replied. "That is what I want to find out. Besides, I checked it out a bit already, there doesn't seem to be anything inside", she reassured me. "I'm not sure, uncle said we are not allowed to do anything dangerous…", I added. "Since when did you become afraid of everything? I thought you like to explore stuff. Besides, we are not going to do it at night. We can enter tomorrow morning. The tunnel is large enough for both of us to ride our Tauruses inside, we can simply run away in case something's inside", she said.

No matter what, we had to camp in the Wilderness that night. I was interested in that tunnel myself, but worried something dangerous could live down there. "We will see tomorrow, for now, we have to make a camp", I said. Tara agreed and we set up the tent, then started a fire. I still had food with me, and Tara had her own provisions. We fed the Tauruses too, and went to sleep shortly after.

Tara woke me up the next morning. She was ready, or rather excited to explore the tunnel. I had my doubts, but my curiosity got the better of me. Tara handed me a torch and said, "The cave will be dark, so we will need them. Since you know how to use your energy, can you actually do some Formations now?". I nodded, and took out my tools. "I can make the torch last longer, and the flame a bit stronger, but that's about it", I explained. "That is fine. Just do your stuff and when you are ready, we will go inside", she replied. I placed a few simple Formations on a few torches, and handed half of them to Tara. "Alright, the torches should work no problem. Simply pour your energy to start the flame, and then it will burn by itself since it's a torch", I said. Tara nodded then we mounted our Tauruses. Slowly but surely, we made our way inside the tunnel. I had no idea what to expect, but I was excited at the thought of finding something new.