Chapter 38 part 2

Bells chimed in the distance, signifying the merchant's cart was open for business. The tunnel that led to the village was dark, but the boy knew that the tunnel would open up soon and the darkness was more because of how early in the day it was.

He ran, excited to be nearly home. How long it had been, he couldn't say. Just that he was almost there. The feeling of the familiar tunnel that led to familiar streets brought tears to his eyes.

He startled a few people as he ran by, not caring and as the people saw who it was, they just laughed. A few people called out to him, reminding of his grandfather had been looking for him. The boy called out in response that he was going home right then.

The feeling of running was always exhilarating for the boy. He never understood why none of the other boys hadn't figured out how to run in a dress. Whenever they tried, they would generally trip over the skirt and eventually would give up. None of that affected him even though he was often scolded that he should be behaving more like a boy and not be so interested in things for girls. That he needed to get ready for the day when he'd be raising his own family and taking care of his own children.

The boy wasn't worried about that. He knew what he'd need to do, he just enjoyed running. He didn't see what the problem was either. It wasn't like he competed in the races the girls in the village had every so often.

Not that they'd likely let him join. He had no illusions that he'd be welcomed by the girls. They'd be like the rest of the village and tell him to act like a boy. Which might be why he didn't have many friends in the village and would often leave the village to play in the forest, even when he'd get told repeatedly that he shouldn't go outside the village. That it was dangerous.

He knew now that he should have listened.

It wasn't long before he arrived at a house that was old and smaller than all the other houses that he'd passed but was also at the base of a blackwood tree. The size wasn't important to him, it was home. Where he lived with his grandfather, mother, and little sister.

At this time his mother would have gone to work, but the boy had a feeling that she'd be waiting, just because of how long he'd been gone. Maybe not, but the boy knew even if she was there, he needed to go in. Whatever happened would be easier if he didn't try to avoid this. He was sure they were already aware he was waiting outside.

Sighing, he opened the door. There wasn't much light on in the room, but he could see his grandfather standing over the crib that held his sister. His grandfather, whose hair had long ago turned white, whose amber eyes always caught everything around him and whose dress always looked old and worn to the boy, didn't need to look or say anything for the boy to know that his grandfather was aware of his presence.

The boy merely walked in slowly and sat at the table, waiting for what he knew would come. The lecture. The punishment. The admonition. Then finally the apologies.

The boy didn't ask where his mother was. Her absence said all he needed to know. She was at work, probably building more houses for their ever growing village, despite how they always tried to keep it hidden from others who would pass by along the road in the forest.

Finally, after what felt like hours to the boy, his grandfather spoke. He didn't turn away from his sister, but said, "Are you okay?"

The boy blinked. He hadn't expected this. Always before when it was known he'd gone outside the village, when he returned, he'd always had the same reactions. This wasn't it.

"Uh, y-yes, grandfather," the boy stammered. "I'm alright."

The old man sighed, "I'm sure you feel responsible for what happened, don't you?"

The boy stared a his grandfather who turned to look at him, the weathered face etched with concern as he looked at his grandson. The boy couldn't even move his mouth to respond. Yes, he knew what had happened, and he knew that him leaving the village was what alerted them to the presence of the village.

"Well, I'm sure you feel responsible for what happened, but I have to tell you that they knew about this village from before you left it that day," his grandfather told him after waiting in silence for a few minutes. "You leaving might have spared you the worst of the horrors that happened here that day."

"Wh-where did mother go?" the boy whimpered. "She would have fought… wouldn't she?"

The grandfather nodded. "Yes, she fought. She was one of the few who survived long enough to have been taken alive," the old man replied.

The boy felt his breathing grow ragged as his eyes began to overflow with tears. Both from the pain at hearing what had happened that day and from relief that he hadn't been the cause of it after all. A regret that had haunted him for so long.

"Wh-what about my sister?" he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

"She was killed quickly," the old man answered calmly, the tears flowing from his eyes. "I watched as they threw her against the tree, her head hitting the trunk first. They didn't care. Even as I begged for my life, they took turns swinging their swords into me."

The boy blinked the tears out of his eyes. He was finally with his grandfather and sister again. If his mother had been taken, then that might be why she wasn't there anymore, which was alright with the boy. He felt an odd sense of comfort knowing that.

Charlie then looked towards where the crib was. She couldn't explain how she got there or why her eyes were full of tears. She only felt a residual sensation of relief and peace. She couldn't say what it was that she was looking for when she looked at the empty crib, only that there had been something she had wanted to see.

Charlie got up from the table and walked over to the crib. On the way, she paused as she realized she almost stepped on bones that were laying on the ground, the tattered remains of clothing still clinging to some of the dry bones. The light from the rising sun was just barely enough for her to make them out.

Charlie felt torn at seeing them there. Like she would if it had been the bones of someone from her family. Without moving further, she looked around and didn't see anything else for a moment, until her eyes saw in the corner the bones of an infant, the skull shattered from where it looked like it had been thrown against the tree that made up a wall of the building and then fallen to the ground at the base of the tree.

Charlie couldn't say why she felt so detached and yet so invested in the bones she could see. Maybe it was similar to the man who'd died just after meeting Charlie and her friends in the forest and she wondered if she should make a grave for these two as well. One for Sembris and Wyowes.

Charlie blinked as she put a hand to her head. Why did those names come to mind as she thought about burying them properly? Her head felt like it was pounding all of a sudden. She couldn't say what was going on or why everything around her felt so familiar and comforting. Or even why part of her thought of Sembris as her grandfather and Wyowes as her sister.

Charlie closed her eyes and let her feet lead her across the room. Another thing that she couldn't explain is how she knew what the layout of this room was. She didn't need to look to know she was heading towards a bed. Made from the roots of the blackwood tree that the house rested against, the mattress had consisted of old leaves that had long been broken up by wild animals that came through periodically.

Even still, Charlie lay in the bed, somehow feeling comfort at laying in the bed for what felt like the first time in a long time, when she knew this was the first time she'd ever been in it.

Charlie suddenly felt an itch on her leg, but as she scratched it, she suddenly became aware that she wasn't wearing anything. However, somehow it felt like she already knew that. Like she'd come to this realization, not just this time, but several before this.

Even though she was laying down, she suddenly felt like the room was spinning around her. Like She was overworking herself. Not that she had any idea of why she felt that way. Just that she couldn't say how she even got there to begin with.

Charlie felt her eyes close as she fell asleep. Only to wake up somewhere else again. As someone else again.

_

Beth groaned inwardly as she, Embris, and Cinder approached the well in the middle of the village to draw water from it. While Beth knew of a clear pond about a few miles into the forest, Embris and Cinder weren't interested in that.

Even though Embris had braved the forest to pick the red, or hisasi, mushrooms, she apparently didn't care to go too deeply into the forest. Just staying with less than a mile from the edge.

Beth was happy to have learned at least most of the language these people used. It certainly made it easier to not rely on Ralph, who Beth could tell was getting worn out from having to be the one everyone turned to in order to be understood by the locals. Among being the only one who could be left of their group to babysit for Embris, Cinder, and their father.

Besides, she actually enjoyed talking with Embris, despite how the first encounter they had with each other had gone. Cinder had stuck himself mostly to Amelia, and Beth had a suspicion that Cinder would make a great nurse for Amelia. Especially with how they'd healed others who had the same plague that Cinder's family had as well as Beth and her friends, which she found was called the spotted plague.

However, the reason Beth groaned wasn't because of the well, as that was their destination anyway, but rather because of who else was by it right then. A couple of the girls from the village that were more bullies than anything else were standing by it. All of them looked rather athletic, and the oldest two had muscles that were noticeable as well as a beard. Something that Amelia said she was trying to figure out among some other things about the people in this world.

There were four of them. The oldest was about nineteen, by Beth's estimate, the next oldest was eighteen, then the next was thirteen, and the youngest, likely a sister to one of the others, was nine. Though, she'd seen them several times before, she'd never managed to catch any of their names.

While Beth was still getting used to the girls being the tough ones as well as physically stronger than the boys, she was still used to the idea of how some people, no matter which gender they were, were bullies and would always find excuses to do what they want to do and even would try to make their victims take the blame for their actions.

"What do we have here?" the oldest asked haughtily, a girl with blue turquoise hair and bright emerald eyes. "Two lumps and a twig."

"Really?" another girl asked in mock surprise. She had jet black hair, bright petal pink eyes, a few whiskers that Beth could only see if she really looked for them, and was the thirteen year-old. "I thought there were three twigs coming this way."

"You actually might be right about that," the eighteen year-old remarked. She had dark emerald green hair and piercing azure eyes. "I haven't seen any of them show any signs of being a real girl, so whose to say two of them just aren't acting like it?"

"Maybe we should show them what being a girl is all about?" the youngest suggested. She had pink hair and plain brown eyes.

Beth was glad she didn't have anyone like this that she had to deal with at school, though it did have a drawback in that she wasn't sure what the appropriate way to deal with them were. Especially since she wasn't completely sure what was socially acceptable or not.

Although, she doubted that anything she might have learned in her world would be considered appropriate here. Especially since she could tell there was a lot more she could do without getting in any legal trouble at all. Such as how she'd seen a few brawls break out in the four months that they'd been staying with Cinder's family and there didn't seem to be anything done in response to them, other than to give the brawlers space in which to fight.

While Cinder seemed to be able to shrug off the comments easily, Embris wasn't able to. At least when they were directed at anyone else in her family. Not that Beth really understood what was meant by 'twig' even though she'd heard it a number of times. Yet, it was clear Embris was trying to ignore them. Much more than Beth had seen before.

Beth herself didn't say anything, mostly because she wasn't sure what a good comeback would sound like to them. If she said something that merely confused them, then they'd quickly dismiss it, while if she said something that they couldn't care less about, then it would have the same effect.

When they reached the well, the girls stepped in front of them, blocking their ability to collect water. Beth couldn't help but sigh at this action. Whatever the reason, it was clear they weren't so eager to let things go without getting a response.

"We need to get some water," Cinder said calmly. Much more calmly than Beth was sure Embris would have said it at that moment.

"We don't want you to poison the water, twig," the oldest said.

"Then shouldn't you be standing farther away from it?" Beth asked, her annoyance making her mouth move before she could stop it. "You're giving it bad vibes. That'll surely poison the water."

"Vibes?" the oldest scoffed. "What's that? Some kind of poison you plan on putting in the water?"

Beth knew the girls weren't really worried about that. They were just making up an excuse to harass them.

"I could explain it, but I'm not sure if your brain is big enough to understand it," Beth retorted, again without thinking.

The girls looked confused for a minute as Cinder stepped around them to start drawing water as their attention centered on Beth. Embris didn't move, her fists were clenched and Beth was sure she was doing her best to keep her anger under control.

"What did you just say?" the girl asked after a minute of confusion.

Beth was sure she really wanted to know rather than just being rhetorical. Not that she objected to it. She didn't expect them to react very well to that information. Besides, insulting another person's intelligence, regardless of the culture, was always a good way to offend someone. At least someone who was a bully. A smarter person might find a way to make it into a joke or something if not just ignore it altogether.

"Well, the brain is the part of you that tells the rest of your body what to do," Beth explained, doing her best to sound as boring as possible. Mostly because she was certain these girls wouldn't like it. "It's often associated with intelligence, reasoning, and-"

"Shut up and tell us already," the second oldest girl snapped.

Beth sighed in an exaggerated manner as if they were asking her to do something really difficult. "Well, since you put it like that," Beth said, doing her best to sound as serious as possible and not let her amusement show. "What it means is that if you have a small brain, then you're considered rather dumb and I'm not sure if I'd be able to find yours, really with how small yours are."

The girls looked stunned and Beth wished she had a stopwatch to keep track of the seconds as their minds processed the information. It felt like it would the kind where she'd seen in a comedy show where a person did a countdown before the person reacted to their insult and as they reached zero is when the other person got angry about what was said.

Beth managed to get to a count of five before the oldest realized what the implications were. However, as she pushed past her friends, she accidentally knocked Cinder over, spilling the latest bucket of water he'd been able to draw out of the well.

Beth knew it was an accident, but Embris blew up at that. She launched herself at the girl, even though Embris only came up to the girl's chest in height. Beth was stunned herself at the reaction. Embris might only be thirteen herself, but she was certainly a fighter.