Ch 31 The Trouble With Long Journeys

Sophie and I took our time traveling south. There was no hurry to be somewhere so I let her rest whenever she was tired.

The main path was basically a giant circle around the continent. My plan was to reach the southern coast of the continent where we would come across the main path. I would then follow the main path to the northeast until I reach the southeastern peninsula. This is where the lizard-men were.

I was thinking of setting up a temporary home inland from the main path and keeping Sophie there. Only if I felt it was safe, though. And, if I could gain the favor of the lizard-men, I could see about bringing her out to the peninsula. That was a long way off, though.

The first obstacle is making it to the southern shore in one piece.

During our trek, we were attacked by a small two-tailed fox creature. It was not strong at all. I think it was starving. I held up an arm to its bite and asked Sophie for some meat from her pack. I took a medium-sized piece. I dangled it in front of the fox's nose until it released my arm. I threw the piece off of the path. It ran after the dried and seasoned meat with glee.

We continued our march south.

"Why did you use our rations for that creature?"

"We can forage. It was small, maybe It was a lost kit. Maybe its parents will be able to find it because it manages to survive a little longer."

"That's... A bit optimistic."

"Optimism can be a powerful thing. Sure, It can be a big letdown if you are optimistic about the wrong thing. Though, It was optimism that allowed me to save Mery and her sister. It was Optimism that let me believe you were still okay in Juiyo. I was not disappointed."

I showed her a forced smile. I was still hurting at the mention of Mery.

"I guess."

She seemed unconvinced. I bumped her shoulder with mine.

"You don't believe me?"

I decided to put on an act to tease her.

"My fair lady! She cares not, for my eternal optimism! I am folly! Dare I attempt, to woo the lady with more tales of my, hopes for the future!"

I bowed and leaned, twisted and waved my arms. She laughed.

"Stop it. You look so stupid!"

"Hey, I got you to laugh. That's good enough for me."

She leaned against my shoulder some more, as we walked.

The first night came. We found a good spot off of the path to stop for the night.

I recognized the area. It was not too far from the cave where Mery and I...

I shrugged off the remembrance to keep the painful memories at bay. I never want to forget her, I just can't be having these thoughts when It could endanger others. I can't allow myself to endanger Sophie.

We had some food from Sophie's backpack. We slept under the same blanket. The cold did not bother me but, she was so small. I didn't want her to get sick from the cold.

In the morning, we had a guest. The fox kit I had fed yesterday, was back. It was curled up on top of the blanket. Sophie was not awake yet.

It was aware of my consciousness. It sat up and wagged both of its tails. I reached out a hand to see what it would do. It did not back away. It carefully sniffed the side of my hand while looking at my face. It licked my hand a few times. I reached a bit further and began to pet its head. Its long ears went back as it enjoyed the petting.

It got closer and put its front paws on top of Sophie's, still sleeping body, giving its own body an awkward angle with a view of its gender. It was a boy.

"Hi there, boy. You like me now, huh?"

Sophie began to stir. He was surprised and backed away from the blanket. Sophie sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Who are you talking to?"

I tapped her shoulder a few times and pointed to the fox. She saw him as he was curiously sniffing the edge of the blanket.

"That's a wild animal. I knew we shouldn't have fed it. He could cause trouble for us."

I had foraged for food the night before, to cover breakfast.

"You spoilsport. He's cute."

I rubbed her hair and stood up.

"Ahhh! Why would you mess up my hair like that?"

"It was messy from sleeping anyways."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

I walked over to the food and pulled out a fruit. I held it out in an open hand. The fox sniffed it and cautiously took it from my hand. He lifted it into the air and caught it happily.

"Oh, he does his own tricks."

I reached down to pat him again.

Too soon I suppose. He shied away before I could reach him.

"It's alright. If you aren't ready. That's okay."

Sophie and I had our breakfast. I fed the fox a few more bits. He otherwise spent his time playing around our camp.

When it was time to leave, the fox began to follow us.

"Shoo, shoo!"

Sophie was not entertained by him.

"What, you don't like foxes?"

"He could steal our food when we aren't looking. He could call larger friends and have us surrounded."

"Tell me. When Mik slapped you that day. The day we first met. Were you expecting me to be nice to you?"

"No. I had no idea who you were."

"Can you say that you know this fox any better than you knew me at that time?"

"No..."

She let out a sigh.

"Why are you so intent to let it follow us?"

"For the same reason that you are so intent to shoo him away."

"He is covered in bugs?"

"No. Well, maybe he is. I haven't looked. I meant because you don't know his personality and neither do I. I want to give him a chance."

"Fine..."

After making friends in Lak'Tambu, I think she is more of a cat person.

A few more days passed. We were closer to the coast but, not quite there yet.

One morning, Sophie woke me up with sniffling and sneezing.

"Are you feeling okay?"

I felt her forehead. It was hot.

"I'n don't feel goo."

"Stay here, under the blanket. Atouk showed me simple medicinal herbs that grow around here. I'll see if I can find some and make you a soup."

I pointed at my little fox friend.

"Can you stay here and watch over her?"

He sat on his butt as if he were affirming his understanding of what I had just said.

"Good boy."

I threw him a small fruit. He happily chowed it down.

I wandered away, moving out in a spiral. I did not want to go too far from the campsite, just in case.

Just as I found the herbs I was looking for, I heard growling in the distance. It was coming from our camp. I ran back as fast as I could. I found my little friend, growling loudly at a much larger one-tailed fox.

This thing was huge. Bigger than Atouk. It had a nasty snarling face but, made no sound. A true silent hunter.

My friend was defending Sophie. 'Good boy,' I thought.

I pulled out Gleamour and transformed it. A reflection of light must have caught the large fox's eye. It turned its head to me.

"You don't happen to speak, do you?"

I had not heard of fox-type people but, I figured I'd try.

It slowly came at me.

"Oh well. That's good. Come after me."

As long as Sophie was not the target, my anxiety was nullified.

It was maybe ten feet away from me before It started to charge.

It leaped at me. I tried to block its jaw with my free arm but, it was too fast. Its teeth went past my arm and found my neck.

A normally fatal strike, for sure. It had me right where it wanted me.

Unfortunately for it, I was not so easy to kill.

I stabbed my sword through the torso while it tried to rip out my jugular.

It lost energy quickly and collapsed on top of me. I rolled the body over.

My little fox friend came to help. He bit onto the neck of the dead fox and began shaking his head furiously. He hated this large fox. Maybe he was from a different pack.

I returned Gleamour to its compact form and placed it back in my pocket.

I knelt down to pat him on the head. He released his grip and allowed me to pick him up with one hand. He reached up with his head and licked my still open but, healing neck wounds.

I walked back over to Sophie. She was my first priority.

After my wounds healed, I tried to wash off the blood with some water.

Her soup was in the process of cooking over a fire. When I was done cleaning up, I sat by the fire to stir the soup.

The little fox jumped up into my lap and wagged his tails while licking my chin. He was much more used to me now.

"I may have to give you a name, sooner than later."

I pat him on the head again. I placed the medicinal herbs I had gathered, into the soup.

Atouk had told me to put them in only just before the soup is finished cooking or the effects will diminish. When the soup was done, I brought some over to Sophie. She was still suffering a bit. I sat her up against my shoulder and helped her by blowing on the hot soup. I then brought the spoon to her mouth to sip from. She had her fill and she went back under her covers.

We spent the next two days in that spot. I skinned the large fox and cleaned it. I kept the skin and made use of the meat for a stew.

By the third morning, Sophie was feeling much better.

"I think those herbs helped quite a bit."

"Probably."

She spotted the little fox.

"Is he still here?"

She was not amused at the sight.

"That's a great way to thank your savior."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Before I found the herbs, a rather large fox found you. It was a quiet hunter. I wouldn't have known it was here if, this little guy had not started growling at it while blocking the path to you."

The fox walked up to her and wagged its tails a bit while panting. She seemed to look at him with a newfound curiosity.

"You really did that, for me?"

He yipped once at her. She slowly reached out. He moved forward to initiate the head pats sooner. She smiled.

I think her opinion of him is turning around.

"What is his name?"

"I haven't decided yet. How about, you come up with one?"

"Wha... Me? I don't know what to call him."

"You don't have to come up with something right now. Just think it over while we walk."

She had a look of uncertainty on her face again. My hope was that she would get closer to him if she were to name him.

We packed our stuff and began our trip south again.

"Goby."

Sophie blurted out, in the middle of the day.

"What?"

"His name. Goby."

"Where did that name come from?"

"You keep saying, good boy. I just shortened it."

"Hah. Ya know. That's not bad. Goby it is."

Sophie and I both knelt down to pet Goby.

"Hello, Goby. It's nice to meet you."

I said.

He seemed very happy. He jumped up into Sophie's arms and began furiously licking her face.

"No, stop. That's gross!"

She says stop but, she is still laughing.

The rest of the day was just more walking. Over the next week and a half, we traveled south.

Goby happily followed, ate and rested with us. He seemed to always be happy around us. It was a welcome sight. He made the trip that much more bearable.

We finally reached the coast. I saw an old enemy of mine. He was massive. Violent. Carnivorous.

"Let's go, this way."

At the T intersection before the beach, we turned left. The giant, arm-eating crab was left behind at the beach without ever seeing us.

"You seem a little annoyed. Are you okay?"

"That crab back there? He ate my arm a long time ago. I still want to get him back, someday. Not today, though."

"He ate your..."

She looked confused as she looked back at the crab.

We walked for half a day before we were within reach of the southern peninsula. We took shelter inland at night. There were supposed to be dragons on the nearby peninsula. I was told that they are among the strongest beings in Eyse.

They roost there because this smaller continent is inhabited by lesser races. And, the lesser races know not to fuck with dragons. Those are my words.

They still ventured out to find food once in a while. Since we don't know when or how often, it was best to keep watch, even while we were walking along the main path.

We passed a smaller path that split off of the main path. It went into dragon territory.

After five days of walking, we were nearing the northern edge of the Dragon Lands.

We thought we were safe. That was a wrong assessment.

At first, it was Goby who heard it. The sound of something large coming this way. You would think it would be easy to hear. Not true, when it's flying.

Goby began to growl. I looked in the direction he was angry at. In the sky was a massive shadow.

"Hide... NOW!"

Sophie began to run inland. I felt that was the wrong move. I grabbed her shoulder before she could go far and dragged her into the forest toward the Dragon Lands. We took shelter under the closest large tree.

I heard a terrifying sound. Had it seen us already?

The sound stopped and a roar began. It was louder than the first sound but, this one came with fire.

The tree above us was hit with a gigantic flame that was expelled from the dragon. There was enough cover from the tree that we were in no immediate danger from the fire. It trailed over the top of the trees where we came from and flowed steadily over the path where we just were.

Hiding toward the Dragon Lands was the right move.

The flying shadow continued on its path. It did not turn around.

When it was out of sight, I directed Sophie to go around the leftover fire spots to the north. We found an unburnt section of the main path again shortly. When we found the coast, we followed it for another three days.

We came across, what I understood was, the peninsula called the Lizard Lands. It contained the homeland of the lizard-men, Oddasa. This was my destination.

My next intention right now is, to explore a bit more inland for a safe place to set up a semi-permanent camp. I want someplace where Sophie can be safe for a long period of time in case things go wrong with the lizard-men.

I led Sophie inland, away from the Lizard Lands. We searched around for several days. Nothing really stood out.

There was a small mountain nearby.

"Let's take a quick look around there."

It was a short walk from where we were. I roamed around the mountain in half a day.

No real paths up onto it. I did see something that caught my eye, though.

I began to climb. When I reached my destination, I found something that was sparkling.

It was a simple hole. Or was it? I tried to look further in. It was impossible to see. It looked too round to be natural. It was maybe the same diameter as...

"Wait?"

"What is it, Lake?"

I turned around to find Sophie had followed me. I never told her to stay at the bottom but, I had not expected her to follow me up the side of the mountain. Goby was on her shoulder.

"I had a thought. It seems too easy."

I pulled out Gleamour. I looked at the size of the pen-shaped object. It fits into the hole nicely. It stopped. I tried turning it. No difference. I noticed a small notch ever so gently stopped its turn at one point.

"This feels like some sort of safe cracking situation."

"A what?"

"A safe is a box-shaped place to put small precious things that people value and they close a door with a complicated lock on it. Safecracking is the process of unlocking the difficult lock without the owner's permission. The way this is fitting in makes me think of that."

I found the notch again and pressed in. I noticed that it would not turn if I pressed in while turning at that notch.

"Maybe more force."

I grabbed the handle of Gleamour with both hands and it began to transform.

"AH SHIT! No, no, no."

The blade guard and the blade itself were inside the hole. It didn't sound like anything broke. I grabbed it with the intention of transforming it back. However, it slightly rotated with a newfound smooth movement.

I continued to turn it. It made a few clinking sounds. The mountain wall next to me began to shift. It moved back and began to rise.

"Whoa, this is some crazy stuff here. This still seems, too convenient. If you are coming in with me, be careful Sophie."

She nodded her head.

I tried transforming Gleamour again. It came out without a problem. It was a key.

Just inside the door was another hole exactly like the one outside. To close one's self in? If this place is a hideout, who's was it? Gleamour is supposed to be a legendary treasure. If it's really that old, is this place just as old? Are there other Gleamours?

I began my slow descent inside the tunnel. There seem to be small holes in the top and sides of the mountain that let in sunlight. The cave was not completely dark. This allowed for a safer entry. We found the exit to the short tunnel.

It was a perfect hideout.

There was a semi-steep staircase that went down to a grass-covered lawn in the middle of a dimly lit cave. There was a nice little shack in the middle. It was worn down but, usable. There were fruit trees and plants behind the shack. Some plants in front, on either side of the path that led up to the door. They were overgrown but, maybe there was some useable harvest.

More tiny holes littered the top of the cave allowing sunlight to feed in. We slowly made our way through the overgrown path and found the front door. It opened with ease. The inside was dusty. It was all one room. A bed in one corner. A kitchen area in another and a workbench in the third.

The last corner was just a small table and a couple of chairs. It had a perfect view out of the windows there.

I couldn't see beyond the outside of the mountain but, it let one see the garden out front. Sophie patted the bed and a could of dust rose up.

"Uhg."

She covered her nose and closed one eye.

"This place could use a good cleaning."

"Yeah, I like it though."

We agreed that this was more than a perfect place to stay.

I played with the Gleamour lock. It was simple. Put it in, transform the sword, turn, transform, retrieve. Almost like a front door key with an extra step. The door seemed reliable.

Sophie began cleaning the house while I used an ax I found to help clear out the overgrown foliage. The cleaning process took us several days. I had to make trips outside the cave to find other resources. Water for one.

I used the old ax I found to cut some wood to replace bad boards. Nowhere near the quality of the original boards. Just enough to make sure nothing would break while we walked on it.

Some of the front crops were unusable. I searched for some of the more useful ones outside and tried planting those. This took even more time.

Once we got set up in our new home it began to rain. My first thought was that this place might flood. I watched carefully. There were holes around the lower edges that led out of the mountain. Whoever set up this place, was good at figuring out the logistics.

I began searching through the papers left in and on the workbench. Plans for this place were found. There were a few Eysian words that I had never learned.

Sophie found another document in one of the cupboards in the kitchen area.

"Do you know what this says? I can't read it."

I took the paper from her. This was English. Written proof that I was not the first one here from Earth. Though, that's all it was.

"It's just a list of ingredients."

I wanted to laugh. I had no idea if any lesser spirits resided here though. It was a slightly different list of ingredients used for spaghetti than what Luv made. Someone had the same idea I had.

It made me wonder if this hideout was made by someone from Earth. Someone like me. For now, Sophie and I were set up in a good safe home.

I sat at the window, watching the rain dribble in from above. It was cold but, relaxing.

Sophie put the other chair next to mime and cuddled up against me. She wrapped the blanket around us.

Goby hopped onto my lap.

This was just, so comfortable.

I wanted it to stay like this. For a long time.