"My people .. today .. we have two guests from the outer lands venturing into our village to help us with our current state ... so I as the chief of the Rock Village ... plead for my people to help them so we can escape this calamity .."
the villagers looked at each other .. each and every one of them with a look of concern and doubt ..
it has already been long since this had happened to them .. even powerful villages didn't have the power to help them .. what could two people do ??
..
hope was already lost yet their chief puts his trust in people who don't even seem to be of any help despite the confidence surrounding them ..
captain Rose stole a glance at Theo and frowned ...
if she had gone here all alone .. she would've gotten at least a little amount ... she would've already been close to getting a quarter of the pecuniary she needed ..
she turned her head and looked at the crowd ..
"My people ... for the village's sake and for your sake .. give these kind guests a warm welcome and a helping hand ... that's all I ask of you .." the chief spoke up in a humble tone with his majestic aura sweeping into the crowd's hearts and minds ...
after a few seconds of silence .. a hand rose out of the crowd ...
the chief looked over to the hand and nodded ..
"My chief .. isn't this useless .. we've tried many times ... I know I'm being disrespectful ... but please consider our opinions .. as your people ... we might as well join other villages ... that's a suggestion .. I don't know what my fellow villagers think about this .." the man spoke up ... bright brown hair .. emerald eyes .. deep brown beard .. tall built body ..
his chest and muscles peeking out of his tank top ..
"Leonard Kraken .. I hear you .. however .. that isn't possible .. if we join other villages .. what would happen to the bloodline .. what would happen to our heirloom ... .. think this through .. it might seem like an alliance .. but if you have eyes .. you would see that this is rather slavery in lieu of an alliance .. you will be powerless .. I will be powerless .. do you want your children to suffer and go through that ..?" the man in the crowd squinted his eyes at the chief .. however this didn't go unnoticed by Abir ..
a hand once rose up amidst the crowd ..
Abir nodded heaving a deep sigh motioning for the person to speak ..
"My chief .. although your reasons are very clear ... we can't just live in a village that lacks life ... if it wasn't for the Ayushtejas .. we would've already died ... for once my chief .. please consider our opinions .. this won't last very long .. dying in hunger and malnutrition is not an option .." Abir nodded at her and raised his fist in the air ..
"I hear that you're very concerned ... I promise you that .. if this doesn't work out as planned .. I will set you all free .. however .. I will remain and stay behind for my village .." chief Abir said in a very dominant and sad tone ..
it sounded as if losing his people was the same as losing his family .. however .. since it was their choice and not his .. he'd rather set them free rather than letting them live in fear of dying in hunger and helplessness ..
another hand rose up .. Abir nodded .. "I think your suggestion is best my chief .. if this does not work .. we get to join other villages ... I think all the villagers can agree on that .." a woman with red hair like fire waving in the air spoke up ... with a dazzling smile on her face .. his light brown eyes staring intently at the crowd ...
the people then nodded in unison ... the chief sighed in defeat ...
he then turned to look at the two promising visitors behind him ..
Rose nodded her head ... chief Abir too .. "Please .. do your best .. " he said before going back inside his hut as it closed in behind him ..
Theo looked towards captain Rose .. "So where do we start .. ..?? " captain Rose pondered about before looking over to the rocky surface ... flat .. looks fertile but literally hard as the hardest steel .. they've never come in contact with before ..
"Let's just see if there's something that'll give us a clue about the surface .. I don't think ... something like this can just happen .. out of nowhere .." she said walking forward through the crowds of people ..
the two walked around every cranny and nook of the village and every corner .. even in hidden places inside ..
"Can't find anything useful ..!!" captain Rose lashed out in annoyance .. looking at steel soil beneath her feet ..
it had already cost her so much energy to try making the soil a little soft ..
even with all her knowledge about these kinds of things .. including nature ... this was all beyond her reach ..
she couldn't help but feel helpless now ..
a captain like her who had gone through many things .. a captain who had experience couldn't even deal with such a little problem ..
"Captain Rose .. it's too early for you to be angry .. it has only been a day .. yet this problem is getting to your head .. " Theo said looking around trying to find as much as he can about their current situation ...
"There's got to be something significant left behind close to a clue .. a trail of some kind .. perhaps .. maybe we haven't searched every place inside the village .. how about we split up .." Theo continued looking to his right ..
right now .. they were in the middle of a corner of the village .. although they have searched everywhere .. he didn't feel like .. that was the case .. he felt as .. if he needed to go deeper to find the root of the problem ..
"Fine .. if you find something .. contact me .. is that clear .." Theo nodded before heading in the other direction ..
captain Rose went the other way as well her eyes everywhere trying to find even the smallest clue ..
on the other side Theo was trying to crack up his mind by figuring out the possible way to heal the land ..
this was familiar to him ... sand turning into solid steel ..
'I have to find the source of this mess ... there has to be a pond of some sort ... or at least something causing all of this ' he thought his eyes crawling up about the ground and the walls ...
although he felt that he knew the cause and the solution to the mess ...
his mind and memories were all mangled up .. he couldn't find what he was looking for ..
and worst of all .. the more he tried to think about it .. the more his mind suffered from brain pain ...
and eventually .. he tried finding everything out for himself ... his memories .. might have been foggy however .. his talent and skill of comprehending things was still superior ..
he only needed something to help him out ... a clue which at the moment was hard to find much less sniff it out ..
it was the first in his life that he experienced uselessness ... but he didn't let that get to him ...
he ended up going out of path heading into the wrong direction as his mind was somewhere else ..
he walked through many paths entering a hole in the wall .. that was certainly not man-made ...
and when he snapped out of his daze .. he found out that his stupidity actually led him somewhere .. to a clue .. a very 'big' one ..
however what was most surprising and suspicious was the fact that .. a large hole like this in the wall was unnoticed by he villagers and the chief himself .. after all .. the guards had to patrol every part of the village ..
'Hmm .. this doesn't add up ..' he put his index finger on is bottom lip as he pondered ..
what didn't add up was that even with the chief's power he didn't notice such a big hole in the wall ..
and the wall seemed to be dug through from long ago .. perhaps at the same time when ...
'Maybe I'll find the problem if I follow in this path ..' he thought to himself before looking on his left and right to make sure nobody was following him ..
he walked through the hole and advanced in the path leading him to the unknown ..
although the outside seemed harmless .. he kept his guard up regardless ...
ruffles in the leaves and bushes were heard and the trees ... well .. they were kind of abnormal ...
'Captain Rose told me to inform her if I found something ...' Theo took out a small round object ... two times bigger than his ear hole .. he placed it inside his ear and tapped on it causing it to glow and show many numbers running round about it ..
'Captain Rose .. I found something ... .. go east .. stop just thirty steps from where we last spoke ...'
/
'Copy that ...' captain Rose then kicked off her feet and immediately ran towards the east counting each step she made ..
of course she was too fast meaning she had to at least count three times the number of steps she took ..
and since she was in a hurry she ran as fast as she could towards the said destination ...