"Wow so are we sure that this is really the way it's pointed?" Kiel asked again as he tries to catch up with Jolene, who was holding the tracker. They left their city exactly at sunrise to begin their journey.
Granny did not let them leave that afternoon and suggested that it would be better to be well-rested and prepared. She had them packed with food as Kiel had to sleep in Jolene's bed, and Jolene slept with Granny as they cherished their farewells.
Jolene glanced at the pendant who was wrapped around her wrists, "Yep, I think it really leads here." They are now climbing a mountain after they had a fifteen-minute bus ride, they both thought it's going to lead them somewhere more "convenient" but here they are.
"I wonder what are we supposed to see here." Kiel looked around and they can see nothing but tall trees and rocky paths. The sounds of the birds are also loud inside the forest as they climb up higher. "This place looks very isolated." Jolene had the same thought, she is not sure whether her heart is beating fast because of their climb or is it because she is not sure about their safety inside this place. She is trying to save her breath from talking because she is growing weary from their hike, whereas Kiel does not seem to mind at all.
A few more times and Jolene called for a break. "We should probably take a rest for now and eat," she told him as she stops to look back at him. "It's just ten in the morning, are you tired already?"
"Yeah, I'm not very used to physical stuff like this," she confessed. Kiel smiled a little and dropped his bag to rest. Jolene did the same. They were both sitting down as he handed out a water bottle to Jolene, "Thanks, Lyndon." Kiel moved his gaze away from her, "Jolene, I told you I go with Kiel now..." he murmured, looking down.
Jolene paused, "Oh right."
"I honestly haven't heard that name since forever... it brings back old memories." Jolene held him in his shoulders, "I see, don't worry, I completely understand." she assures him, "How much do you remember though?" Kiel bitterly scoffed, "A lot. It's a kind of memory that comes back every now and then. What about you Jolene?"
Jolene looked up as she tries to recall, "Just fragments. I was pretty young and probably not so conscious about my surroundings."
"Well, that makes you lucky then."
"Was it really that bad before? The clearest memory I have is when the others went significantly missing one by one..." she tried to recall as much as she can, "...and the night when we escaped."
Kiel shut his eyes tight as the night Jolene mentioned flashed into his mind as well, "Better if we keep those memories aside for now." he picked up his bag, "We should try to move as far as we can while the sun's still up." Jolene nodded as she began to hike up again. Kiel was walking a bit ahead of her, his sight was focused far away while she was carefully watching her step, and watching at their tracker. Kiel told her it would be best if she handles it cause he can barely understand what it means, plus Jolene managed to find Kiel using her tracker.
"Kiel..." Jolene started to start a conversation, "I remember, the night when we were supposed to escape, we got separated because you came back for one of the kids in the orphanage, his name is... Vann? What happened to him?"
Jolene faintly remembers that kid, Lyndon was very close to her, but he's also close to Vann. He acted as if he was an elderly brother although they were all at the same age. He's the only other person she can remember aside from Lyndon because three of them used to always play together. Kiel suddenly paused which made Jolene pause as well because she was standing behind him.
Kiel looked back and faced her, "He..." Kiel could not look straight into her eyes as he remembers the young boy bloodied on the ground. "He died that night." he looked at Jolene with guilty eyes and Jolene had looked at him too, "It's not your fault," she assures her. Kiel felt such amazement at the lady standing in front of him, she didn't know the entire story but it seemed like she has given her full support and understanding to him.
He can't fully bring himself to believe it, but he liked it. It feels good, no one had ever had so much faith in him. "How can you easily trust me, Jolene?"
"You're Lyndon, that's all that I needed to know." she sighed and looked down, "and for some reason, I feel this familiarity to you, it's like I've known you so well already even if we parted for a long time." Jolene returned her gaze to him. They stood like that for a moment before Kiel gestured for them to continue walking. They're walking side by side now. "Still, I would really like to know more about you." Jolene retorted, yet smiling as she looks at his face for a response.
Kiel smirked, "Same here, pretty amazing that you ended up with Granny." Jolene's smile grew wider as she remembers how she and Granny first met, "Yeah we were both in need of company back then, but she did more for me, she kept me and took care of me as her own. I wouldn't be what I am now without her."
Hours passed quickly, they had their lunch and took quick breaks every now and then, they are getting higher and higher up in the mountain, far from the city. They might need to prepare to camp whenever the sunlight lasts.
"I wonder, does Granny know about... your skills?" Kiel randomly asked while they were walking. Jolene shook her head, "I haven't used that ability ever since we escaped, sometimes it comes out, but I cannot really control it now."
"Why don't you give it a try now?" Kiel suggested. "If I remember correctly, everything you say comes true right?"
"Basically, well, not quite. I haven't been exploring my abilities ever since I was a kid." she thought. She looked around and thought about what should she start with. She closed her eyes, focusing on bringing out her ability, she opened her eyes and Kiel was able to see her silvery eyes gleaming...
...for only about two seconds. Jolene tried to focus harder but her silvery eyes goes on and off, "A-a strong wind comes..."
Kiel held his breath as he just watches her, although her ability is obviously unstable, he can feel that it was going to be something.
Well, he thought so, but silence filled the entire forest when no strong wind occurred.
"Pfft." Kiel burst out laughing out loud. Jolene held her waist as she grumpily walks ahead, "I told you I can't control it."
"Wait up!" Kiel tried to conceal his laughter as he catches up with Jolene's fast walking, "You aren't supposed to figure it the first try."
"Oh yeah? Then for sure it will work on the second." she sarcastically said as she activates her ability, "Here comes the strong wind." To both of their surprise, a strong wind suddenly blew the in forest, leaves, and twigs circled around and they instantly stopped laughing. They both paused staring at each other while trying to let what just happened to sink in.
"Jolene, you did it!" Kiel told her in an amazed tone, it took a little more while for things to sink into Jolene, and then she smiled, her silver eyes never changed color. Jolene smirked as she looks at Kiel, she decided to play some tricks on him, "Laugh." Kiel snorted as he seem to understand what she was doing, "Are you trying to... to me?" he laughed.
"It's working, see?" Jolene says.
"I'm not laughing cause you told me so."
"Well then I'll try another one to show you, you'll sit down this instant!" Jolene frowned as she stares at Kiel remains standing and not moving an inch. Her ability deactivates and the strong wind ended, just like usual, she can't reactivate it at will again. It just goes out when it wants to. "That's impossible, why didn't you follow me?" Kiel's smirk grew even wider, "Wow you're really forgetting something..." Jolene gasps, "I-is it because you're also a silvertongue?"
Kiel tilted his head and played his eyes around, "I'm not exactly sure why, but it never worked on me ever, even back then." he playfully stuck out his tongue. They continued walking. "Show me your ability too!" Jolene told him, "Just like what you did at the marketplace before."
"You keep mentioning that 'happening in the marketplace to me' when I told you a hundred times that I really didn't do it." he was laughing.
"Aww no shame on destroying the shop, the man was pretty mean to you anyw-"
Kiel looked at her and wondered why she stopped. He noticed her gaze was nailed to something and he followed it. His eyes widened as he saw a huge gate, there's noise, and smoke coming beyond the gate.
"Hey this must be a village," he whispered. Jolene looked on their tracker, "The tracker points inside, we should go."
"Perfect timing, the sun's almost setting. Hopefully, we get a welcoming place to stay."
They walked towards the gate, they looked around but it seemed that there are no guards. Kiel aimed to knock at the gate when they heard a voice and halted them, "Who are you?" They both looked in the direction where the voice is coming. A young lady came out from nowhere. She was wearing a bright red dress and slippers, they cannot see her entire face because of the big red hood that she was wearing on her head. The lady's voice was mysterious and yet authoritative. However, they did not feel as if she was a threat because of her small-framed body, and they are all probably at the same age.
"We are just travelers... do you stay here?" Kiel responded, a bit unsure. The hooded lady took a while before she responded, "I'm the gatekeeper of this village, what do you need?"
"Ohh..." Jolene slowly nodded, "We are looking for something, and it happened to lead us here." she looked at Kiel who has been looking at her as well, "We are also unsure of what to expect here..." she nervously chuckled.
The aura of the lady seemed to be very intimidating and they also don't know anything yet about this place. The lady inhaled heavily, "You are both not being entirely honest, although not much of a threat, I know you are not ordinary people." Jolene and Kiel's heartbeats are getting wild, if they do not get approved by this girl, they wonder what is going to happen.
"We will not do anything wrong, we just really have to go inside and find the thing we are looking for." Jolene tried to reason out. But the lady did not say anything anymore, the lady looked beneath the bushes and raised her hand as a signal, that is when a bunch of men came out. "Get them," she ordered.
"Uhhh... no we will just go away. I'm sorry." Kiel reprimanded as he held Jolene's hand and tried to walk away but the men surrounded them, they had no plans of letting them go. Jolene squeezed his hands, they are on a dead-end now. One of the men grabbed Kiel's two shoulders and pushed him back. Kiel took a few steps back before he swiftly used his arms to shove the man's hand that was on his shoulders, the next thing they saw is the man knocked on the ground. Before Jolene could even react, she was grabbed away by Kiel to run. But the guards are just everywhere and they attacked Kiel altogether.
Kiel pushed Jolene to the side as he struggled to fight them. There were at least six men around but Kiel can surprisingly catch up to them. He gets held but he easily slips out of grasp. Jolene placed his hands on her mouth as she watches him fight. She didn't know this side of him. He fights like someone who had been fighting most of his life. And then, he gets to knock them down one after another.
"Enough." the red lady shouted. That is when Jolene noticed that she was standing close to her already. "Come with us peacefully." She pointed out a knife on Jolene's neck. Kiel stopped and let his guard down, that was the chance the men took as an opportunity. They kicked his knee and it made Kiel kneel, they shoved his face low on the ground while tying him up. Jolene was also tied up.
They entered the village, they were greeted by bamboo houses and torches as light, the village has a huge bonfire since the sun is setting soon, there are some elders gathered around. They saw the villagers all staring at them. Murmurs arise whenever they pass through, soon they were placed in a somewhat cell, made of bamboo. They were untied as soon as they were placed there.
"What are you going to do to us?" Kiel asked. "Tomorrow, you will face our chief, my father." the lady told them.
"No, you will let go of us now!" Jolene strongly said as she tries to activate her abilities, but it was not working at all. She groaned in frustration as she gives up. The lady scoffed, "Nice try, I saw a faint of light glimmer in your eyes." the lady behind the bars commented. "I guess that makes the two of us."
Kiel and Jolene gasped at the same time as the lady removed her hood and they saw her fiery red eyes glare at them.