Chapter 65 part 3

"When did you enter this forest?" Jenn asked, not sure how else to ask, given she wasn't sure the best way to phrase the question. She just hoped that this would be good enough for the moment.

"A couple days ago," Chonyne replied, sounding a little sad. "I knew what had happened first when I came to this forest, but I didn't go back through immediately and when I thought to do so a few minutes later, I couldn't find the way back." Jenn wasn't sure, but she thought she Chonyne was close to tears from her tone. Though, she couldn't really see if her face looked that way. She just heard a sadness that had mirrored her own in the past during the few times when she'd felt lonely.

However, she didn't trust herself to do anything if she so much as moved, as she knew she really wanted to squeeze the warm softness that was in her hand, but had concerns about how well that would be received, especially since she could feel two more mounds of softness pressing against her back. Jenn started to wonder if it would be a bad idea to try and pull Alex into a dream conference just so she could enjoy time with her and maybe get the urges she was currently feeling to not be so strong.

She couldn't say if that would be the case or not, but she hoped that things wouldn't come to that. Not when she didn't have any idea of what might be going on back on Earth. Though, she wasn't going to let the possibility that she herself died before completing what she came to do enter her mind. If she did, she had a feeling that she might be spelling her own demise with thinking like that. Even though she couldn't say for sure if that would be true or not. Although, it would be a kind of depressing outlook to take on.

"Jenn?" Embris asked, startling Jenn, making her involuntarily hug Chonyne tighter.

"Ah! Not so tight!" Chonyne complained as she stopped and turned her head to look back at them. "I'm not used to anyone on my back, so please be careful. I don't want to fall over or have any of you fall off."

"Sorry," Jenn said, confident that she'd somehow screw this up if she didn't say anything, as it was technically her fault, given she was the one who'd gotten startled.

Chonyne sighed. "It's alright, I guess. Though, I'm still trying to get used to being touched on my upper part. Usually that's not something that gets touched, except by my father or mother."

Jenn hoped that statement meant that where her hand was located didn't mean anything to Chonyne. That if she lost control of herself and squeezed that wonderful softness, that it wouldn't create a problem between them.

"By the way, how old are you?" Jenn asked. She thought that Chonyne looked like she was around twelve or fourteen, but she couldn't be sure. As she didn't even know how fast centaurs aged. Or if they were like elves and lived for a really long time if they weren't killed by something else first.

"I'll be thirteen in the spring," Chonyne replied. My father trusts me to do the hunting, but others say I'm too young. Even though I brought back more cockatrice and pheasants."

"Are these the pheasants you hunted?" Jenn asked, wondering if these might be a variation from the ones she was used to, since they certainly looked a lot larger than the pheasants she'd even seen in books.

"Yeah. I know right where to find them most of the time, when most of the adult hunters can't find them," Chonyne giggled, sounding more like a child now than she had so far, which Jenn couldn't help but find rather endearing.

As they continued on, they continued talking, though they hardly touched on anything of what Chonyne's world was like. Jenn didn't want to make herself curious and want to go through that gate to see what it was like, even though she was pretty sure that the proximity to the gate to the edge of the forest where the duchess lived would be enough to deter her from trying to go through.

However, she didn't want to take any chances if she could help it. As that would merely make things more difficult for her than they really needed to be. Or at least if her curiosity did make her more interested in seeing what that world was like if she heard anything about it at all.

It was about when they sun was going down and the sky through the mist was starting to darken that they reached the gate, though if Chonyne hadn't decided to gallop the rest of the way, Jenn was pretty sure that they'd have had to either wait for the morning or to travel in the dark in order to reach it.

"By the way, what season is it on your world?" Embris asked, though Jenn as Jenn had relayed most of what Chonyne had said, sounding rather curious. "I mean, you did say that you'd be thirteen when the next spring arrived, or something like that."

"It's autumn," she answered, looking rather troubled by the question, though Jenn wasn't sure if it was because of the question itself or if it made her think of something she'd rather not. "The Trial of the Hunters should start soon, but I'm not sure they'll let me participate this year."

"Why's that?" Jenn asked, wondering if her getting lost in this forest might have been part of it.

"Well, I was supposed to have returned from my hunting trip yesterday, with three pheasants, but I'd only gotten two before I came here, and then I'd given you one of them, so I don't even have that."

"What if you showed them this forest?" Jenn asked, hoping that this might be the solution that Chonyne had been looking for, even though she had a feeling that wouldn't be accepted.

"They'd just demand to know why I didn't hunt something from this forest," Chonyne replied bitterly, like she'd had similar issues like that in the past.

As Jenn relayed Chonyne's response to Embris, unsure how to respond herself, Embris asked, "Why not bring us with you and we can talk to them."

"'We?'" Jenn echoed with an arched eyebrow. How would it be a 'we' if she was the only one of them that understood what the centaurs were saying?

"Yeah," Embris answered, clearly not picking up on Jenn's issue with her using that word. "Both of us can go and help her out."

Jenn sighed. She had hoped to avoid travelling through the gate, but couldn't say that she was that opposed to the idea. Especially since there wasn't any reason they couldn't. As it wasn't like Tchisa would complain at her taking more of a delay than she already had so far. Although, on the other hand, if they got one of the older centaurs to give them a ride back, it was possible that any delay they accrue would be offset by the assistance they'd receive.

Assuming that the other centaurs would be willing to listen to them in the first place, that is.

Jenn sighed as she could tell that Embris wasn't going to let this go. She doubted that Embris had considered how long this might take or what else might be involved in it, but that wasn't exactly the point for Jenn. However, she couldn't bring up the energy to actually protest or anything, so she merely accepted what that would mean.

"Would it make a difference if we accompanied you?" Jenn asked, hoping Chonyne would say no. "That way we could verify that you had gotten lost and needed someone to help direct you."

Chonyne sighed, though it sounded like a mix of sadness and resignation. "It probably would help, but then they might decide that I am too young to become a full hunter," she said, her tone sounding like she was also complaining as well as responding to Jenn's question. "They'd likely go on about how a true hunter doesn't get lost or that I should still have found a way to hunt something else as well."

"That sounds rough," Jenn commented, unsure what else to say about it. Especially since she couldn't say that she knew much about her culture, as in the culture Jenn was familiar with, she probably wouldn't be allowed to be that until she was closer to eighteen, regardless of how good she was.

"Well, maybe if you do come with me, it'll help me out a little," Chonyne said, looking like she was trying to think her way through the issue. Though, Jenn suspected that she was merely asking them because she herself had accepted Embris' suggestion that they accompany her to her world. What happened beyond that Jenn couldn't guess.

"If that's the case, then go on through," Jenn said, unsure if she should move her hands at this point.

Chonyne nodded and stepped through the gate.

As they emerged, Jenn could feel Embris shiver from the sensation of passing through the gate. Not that Jenn could blame her as she recalled the first time she'd passed through a gate. Or at least the first time when her life wasn't in immediate danger afterwards.

They came out on a field that looked to be in the early evening. The field extended as far as they could see in the bright moonlight from three moons. One was blue, the largest pink, and the last was orange.

"Hold on," Chonyne said, I think I see some pheasants."

"Go for them," Jenn suggested. "If you can get enough, that might help your cause. Especially if you don't come back short."

Chonyne shook her head. "They'll know I bagged them after the time limit."

"Go for it anyway," Jenn urged, somehow feeling like this was the right move. "You'll never know unless you try and if they know you didn't bag them under that time limit, then don't try to hide it. Just let them know that you came across them on your way back, after you found someone to help guide you."

Chonyne didn't seem like she was convinced, but took her bow and pulled an arrow out anyway. Jenn felt like she should take her hands off of the wonderful softness her hand had been frozen on for some time, but she worried what her hand would do if she tried moving it. Especially since she didn't want to distract Chonyne at this moment. Not when she was trying to bag another pheasant.

Then in a flash, the arrow was gone from the bow and had flown all the way through the air into the pheasant, causing several to burst out of the bushes where they'd been hiding a moment before.

Chonyne didn't waste any time and had already nocked another arrow and drawn her bow before Jenn was able to register that she'd done that. Then a moment later, she'd let go of the arrow and another pheasant fell to the ground.

"Well done!" a voice called out from the darkness.

Chonyne turned in that direction, surprised, while Jenn found that she'd squeezed the softness from her own surprise, though she hoped that Chonyne hadn't noticed. All Jenn knew was how wonderful it felt to her hand.

"Chinta?" Chonyne asked, sounding almost horrified. Which made Jenn wonder if whoever the voice belonged to was either a member of Chonyne's family or one of the individuals who would be deciding if she could participate in the Trial of the Hunters. Which Jenn hoped was merely a simple hunting exercise rather than something that she'd seen in a video game that Wes had been playing once.

"You were gone so long that we thought something had happened to you, young filly," the voice said.

Chonyne looked down and Jenn wondered if she was dreading what was coming next. Meanwhile, Jenn carefully pulled her hand away from Chonyne's breast, not wanting to run the risk of squeezing it again, nor was she confident about how her hand being there would come across to the other centaurs.

At least she assumed that these were centaurs, as it wasn't until that moment that she even thought that Chonyne might be living among other races and not just centaurs.

However, the individual that stepped into the moonlight from behind a tree nearby was clearly a centaur. Though, Jenn felt like she should have been able to see the centaur behind the tree anyway, even with the poor lighting. Yet, she had to admit that she hadn't.

"I assume the reason you're late is because of this?" the centaur that Jenn assumed was Chinta asked, indicating the gate that they'd just come through. Chinta was also female and had black hair, looked like she might be closer to middle age, if not older, though Jenn couldn't make out her eye color in the light available.

"Yes, it is," Chonyne said, making Jenn wonder if lying to this centaur had ever crossed Chonyne's mind or if the consequence for doing so was so severe that she wouldn't contemplate it for fear of getting caught. "I got lost almost as soon as I went in."

"Child, be at ease. Getting lost in an unfamiliar place is easy to do, even for an experienced hunter. The fact that you made it back on your own speaks for itself that you are ready," Chinta informed Chonyne.

While Jenn would like all the warm fuzzies going on between these two to mean that she and Embris could just head back through the gate again, she was pretty sure that it wasn't going to be that simple or easy. Not without a good amount of talking, at least. During which Jenn was certain that the centaurs would be heading back to their town, or village, or whatever. She wasn't sure which it would be, but was confident she'd find out whether she really wanted to or not.

"Though, you might want to put these two humans down. The others might not look too kindly about you letting them ride on your back," Chinta added after a few minutes. "We're not used to being around humans, so there's likely to be some who wouldn't be happy with that, regardless of the reason. It could even cost you your slim chance at getting to participate this year."

"'Slim chance?'" Chonyne echoed. "I thought because I came back late that I wouldn't be eligible anymore."

Chinta waved a hand as if to dispel a bad odor Chonyne's statement created. "There's other things to consider. Such as how you bagged two pheasants so quickly and with only two arrows. Then there's the fact that you got lost in unfamiliar territory without knowing that the gate was even there."

"So, I might get it still?" Chonyne asked, her voice sounding like she was starting to hope, but was still afraid to. "I'll be able to participate in the Trial of the Hunters?"

Chinta nodded. "You might, but we'll have to see what the council decides. You knew that it'd be up to them in the first place, regardless of if you had succeeded in your task and returned on time."

Chonyne nodded, her sprits clearly refusing to be dampened. Jenn wasn't sure if she should congratulate Chonyne or not, but had a feeling she should stay quiet as much as possible. She didn't want to draw more attention to herself than she had already gotten.

So, Jenn merely followed Chonyne and Chinta with Embris to wherever the centaurs lived after Chonyne collected the two pheasants she'd shot since her return to this world. Not that the walk took very long. Maybe an hour or two.

Though, Jenn did feel the pheasant she was carrying really starting to get heavy, as she hadn't had time to do anything about it, though for being dead for at least two days, she couldn't help but feel surprised that it hadn't started spoiling. Though, she merely assumed that it was a characteristic of the birds from this world, or maybe a bit of centaur magic of some kind.

It was possible, as Jenn really had no idea if it was true or not. As all she could be certain of was the fact that the pheasant didn't seem like it have been dead as long as it apparently had been.

When they reached the village, Jenn felt a little surprised that she hadn't thought of what it would look like before. It almost felt like a grouping of stables for horses to Jenn. Though, as she thought about it, naturally it'd make sense to them to look like that. Since the centaurs were part horse, if nothing else.

Jenn couldn't say that she remember all that Amelia had told her about horses, since Amelia's aunt worked at a ranch with horses for people to ride. Though, generally those were for rides through the mountains rather than in a race. Or at least that's what Amelia stressed on the matter, which Jenn couldn't say how it mattered.

Jenn and Embris were shown first to a place where they were told that they could stay before Chinta led Chonyne away. Which Jenn could only assume was to determine the results of her hunt. Though, Jenn couldn't help but wonder if they'd send word out to the other centaurs who had also gone to search for Chonyne. After all, if something had happened to her, it made sense to send out a party to look for her rather than a single individual.

Though, she couldn't say that the same logic for humans applied to centaurs.

Jenn was about to follow Embris into their shelter when she saw another centaur run up to Chonyne. This one was also clearly female, with a well-endowed chest, platinum blond hair that fell to her lower shoulders. Jenn wasn't able to see the new centaur's face, so couldn't even begin to guess as to what her eye color was, though it was clear that whoever it was really happy that Chonyne had returned, given the force of the embrace she gave Chonyne.

Though, at that moment, Jenn suddenly realized that she hadn't even thought to see what Chinta's eye color with the light in the village.