It was boring with the humans gone. Rooget had enjoyed all the excitement that they'd brought with them. He knew that they would be leaving, but now that they were gone, everything had died down to a minor buzz.
Before they had left, there was almost always some talk in hushed whispers about them or what to do about them. It wasn't surprising to Rooget, as the more vocal they were about the humans, the bigger the backstabber they were.
Most didn't pay any attention to Rooget, but he'd seen many of those people do things that he had a hard time wrapping his mind around. He'd been very appreciative about the human girl who'd saved him, even though she couldn't understand him.
He knew there were some elves who would have just left him to his fate, if not tried to get something out of it for themselves. Yet, that girl hadn't said anything about it from when she saved him until she left. Or at least not when he was around, though he doubted she would have been aware of when she was around him, since he knew that he'd kept himself hidden during those times.
He couldn't help but wonder if there was something going on that maybe even his father wasn't aware of. His father had been in full support of the humans, while some of what he'd overheard from others had been that the humans were cut-ears who had fooled his father into believing otherwise.
Rooget sighed as he thought about it while entering the kitchen. He was planning on getting something to eat, and this was the best way to get something to eat while avoiding his tutors. After all, while he was bored with the humans gone, he wasn't that bored. Not yet at least.
However, as soon as he'd managed to snatch a piece of chicken and a tart, he ran into the tutor he'd been avoiding for nearly an hour. He couldn't try to hide, because he could see his tutor had seen him at the same moment Rooget had noticed his tutor.
"Well, if you're done running about, we should get to work, young prince," his tutor said. "Your lessons aren't going to complete themselves."
Rooget knew it was useless to try to escape at this point. The last time he'd tried, he'd lost the food he'd gotten and hadn't been allowed to replace it before getting dragged off, literally, to his lesson. That was a hungry afternoon.
He at least knew that he wasn't going to have the food he'd managed to obtain taken away if he didn't resist. While he didn't really like the lessons, he could at least endure them if it meant he got to keep his food.
As his tutor led him back to the room his lessons were typically held in, Rooget's mind continued to wander back to the humans who had left that morning. He took another bite out of his piece of chicken, wondering what it was like to travel from world to world like they were doing.
"Take your seat and we can start on history," his tutor said as he closed the door.
Rooget did what he was told, knowing he'd have a harder time of it if he tried to resist. Although, what his tutor said, struck something in his mind. He couldn't say what it was, but it felt important, that much he could tell. Yet, he didn't have time to say anything about it as his tutor began his lecture.
"So, when we last left off, we had the armies of…" the tutor said.
Rooget couldn't bring himself to really pay attention. As part of the problem was how dull his tutor's voice was. He made even the most interesting parts boring and completely dull. He couldn't help but feel his eyes closing as he tried to listen, even though the dull facts and events just slipped out of his ind the moment they entered.
A slap on the desk startled Rooget awake. His tutor stood over his desk, a malevolent expression on his face. Which wasn't unusual whenever Rooget started to fall asleep during the lesson.
"Perhaps standing would help you stay awake?" his tutor asked.
Rooget didn't respond, though he knew it wouldn't help. This wasn't the first time he'd fallen asleep, or started to fall asleep, just as he knew if he started to fall asleep again, the slap would be on his hand which would make him really awake.
"I'm sorry," Rooget apologized, hoping this would keep his tutor from making him stand up. After all, if he didn't answer, he knew that his tutor would make him stand up. If he said he could stay awake without standing, he still have to stand.
"You're sorry for what?" his tutor asked, sounding a little too smug for Rooget's preferences..
"I'm sorry for starting to fall asleep," Rooget said, doing his best to sound contrite. He didn't feel that way, but he knew it would help his cause if he at least sounded sorry for it.
He couldn't help but wonder what the tutor would choose to do. If he complained about this and there wasn't any lasting marks, then he knew his father wouldn't do anything about it. It also didn't help that his tutors didn't leave any lasting marks with their discipline methods.
"If you're really sorry, then you'll pay better attention," the tutor said, moving back to where he stood while he gave his lecture. "Now, as I was saying, the hero Forysenth secured the alliance that fell apart during the war regarding control of the gates across worlds that have been closed ever since. As such-"
"Wait!" Rooget blurted. He couldn't say who Forysenth was, or care really, but the part about the gates caught his attention. "How were the gates closed?"
Rooget's tutor looked stunned. Admittedly, Rooget never interrupted them, but he also never asked questions. Even when he paid attention and could follow along with what was being discussed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean how were the gates closed?" Rooget pressed. "After all, the humans who came through were traveling through gates to find a specific world. So, what happened to cause them to be closed?"
The tutor looked at Rooget with a puzzled expression for a minute before sighing. "I don't know what you heard about the visitors that his majesty has taken a liking to, but they most assuredly are not humans."
Rooget now felt confused himself. "How do you know?"
"Because humans sided against us in that war. They fought for the enemy we never had a chance to see. The one fighting to control the gates and control when the gates opened and closed themselves. That's why the alliance Forysenth created fell apart. The humans are too unpredictable and prone to violence. There is no way those visitors could be humans," the tutor said. "Now, as to the gates, if they are indeed open, then it is only a matter of time before that war begins. Which means," the tutor paused for a moment to emphasize his point, "that knowing the history of our nation will help us, and you, from facing the same problems we had during that war."
Rooget felt stunned. What did knowing history have to do with fighting a war? Besides that, his tutor didn't answer his question! However, the tutor had already moved on in his lecture, and Rooget knew that it was hopeless to try to get an answer now. He would have to ask his father, once he was available.
Which meant he just had to endure these lessons for the time being. He wasn't going to let this go. If his tutor wouldn't tell him, he'd just have to find some other way to find out. He couldn't say why, but he knew that this was something that he had to do for himself. He didn't know whether or not the visitors were actually humans, but he did know that they were friendly towards him. Whatever they were doing, he wanted to be available to help if they needed it.
_
Charlie sneezed. The day on the other side of the gate had been nice and warm, maybe borderline hot, with the sun shining down. Yet now on this side of the gate, outside the cave, a strong wind was blowing while snow fell all around them.
While it was clearly day, they couldn't say whether or not it was early in the day or close to the end, as the cloud coverage blocked any sight of the sun.
In addition to that, the ground they were on was too steep for them to take time to set up their tents. Ralph had argued about staying in the cave, but Tim and Amelia didn't like the idea of a potential earthquake occurring and creating more problems for them inside the cave.
Although, Charlie couldn't help but wonder if an earthquake or something similar happened on the slope of the mountain, would such steep, snow-covered ground be any better? Especially with how it seemed that they were high up on a mountain slope and there was no telling how long it might take then to climb down.
"You know, I think I'd prefer to wait out this storm inside the cave," Hannah commented, clearly having a change of heart of her support of Amelia's position.
"I'm sure we can make some good time if we go on," Amelia insisted.
"I'm actually gonna side with Hannah on this one," Tim admitted. "I'm more worried about avalanches here."
"If we're in the cave when an avalanche strikes, it could trap us in there," Amelia argued.
"If that happens, we can use our magic to get out," Tim replied. "If we're out here, however, who's to say that we're going to be in a position to use our magic if we get caught in an avalanche."
"Whatever hurts you, that doesn't kill you, is supposed to be good for you, right?" Amelia retorted.
"But if we get caught in an avalanche, then what else might be in the avalanche?" Beth asked. "I think we're above the tree line here, but we could also just be in a desolate part of the mountain. If we are above the tree line, then we descend below it, then there could be trees uprooted by any avalanche. Then there's also potential big rocks and boulders. If we get hit by anything like that, we might not survive long enough to try to use magic to get out of it."
"Well, if we're going to be in the cave, can we at least stay by the entrance?" Amelia grumbled.
"If you need, I could create an ice shelf over the entrance, so if there's an avalanche above us, it'll keep the avalanche from hitting us just outside the cave," Beth offered.
"Let's do that," Amelia said, jumping at the idea.
"What's wrong with staying in the cave?" Ralph asked. "I mean, it's not like you're claustrophobic or anything, right?"
Amelia shook her head. "It's the stalactites inside," she said. "I just don't like the idea of those falling down on us. They kind of look like spears or something."
Charlie looked back in the cave and could see a few stalactites that Amelia mentioned. While the did kind of look like spears, they also looked rather firmly attached to the ceiling. If there was any seismic activity at this time period, it wasn't enough to shake them loose. After all, those stalactites had survived up to this point, so it wasn't likely that they'd fall from just any tremor.
"Don't worry, I'll make you a stalactite-free zone for you," Beth assured Amelia.
Charlie wasn't sure how far out Amelia had in mind to be, since it was almost immediately had a downward slope, that she estimated to be closer to a forty-five degree angle. Charlie certainly wouldn't want to be in the tent only to have it start sliding down the hill while she was in it.
Then there was the wind. While it wasn't necessarily that strong at the moment, they didn't know if that would stay the same or if it would get worse. It was a different world after all, so they had no idea what the weather patterns were like, or even what part of its weather cycle it was currently on. Which meant that this snowstorm could turn into a blizzard or it could just disappear.
If the snowstorm ended, Charlie could only imagine what the view might turn out to be like. The area around them felt like it might be higher up on the mountain, but it was hard to say at the moment. There was so much that it could be, but unless they could see more of their surroundings, it was merely speculation.
"Well, I guess since the cave is on a mountain, that would mean Wes won the pool," Beth remarked as they made their way back to the cave.
"Aww, I was hoping to not have won this," Wes complained, starting to get his tent out. "I mean, my dad took me to an outlet world before Christmas and got me a bunch of music CDs, so it's hard to say which ones to pick right now."
"An 'outlet world?'" Charlie echoed.
"It's a kind of thrift store, but you mostly pay by the pound," Tim explained, assisting Tim on assembling their two-person tent. "My mom's taken me there sometimes, but you have to be sixteen to shop there, since there's glass and other hazardous stuff in some of the bins they have what's available to buy. I think it's probably because of insurance purposes."
"So, weren't you bored there?" Hannah asked. "I mean, if you're not allowed to shop, you wouldn't have anything to do."
"'Shopping' there is a little weird," Wes said, amusement clear in his voice. "If you have your hands in the bins that they bring out periodically with new stuff to look through, then you're considered shopping. So, I can stand by my dad and point stuff out to him and he can hand it to me to look at and the staff can't complain about that."
"Isn't that still 'shopping?'" Amelia asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Apparently not how they look at it," Tim laughed.
Charlie shrugged. She really didn't care. She just hadn't heard anything called that before. So, instead, she tuned out the conversation from whatever topic it moved to.
"How's Flare doing?" Charlie asked, as she helped Beth with their tent.
"She seems to enjoy the weather," Beth remarked, glancing at Flare, who was exploring the area, but staying close enough they could still see her. "Maybe she'll enjoy this world."
Charlie shrugged. "Maybe, but we don't know what she might like anyway. She just might be excited to be somewhere new rather than cold."
"Maybe. She's at least happy right now and I'm good with that," Beth replied.
Charlie didn't say anything more. Though, after everyone had erected their tents, with Amelia's and Hannah's tent about half out of the entrance of the cave, which was also covered by a small ice awning that covered the space a little, they positioned the tents so the entrances faced each other. As best as they could at least, as the entrance was around five or six feet wide. They then got in their sleeping bags and started continuing reading the book they were on: Magician: Apprentice.
Charlie knew she was supposed to be listening, as she wouldn't know what was going on when it was her turn to read, but she was finding that she was having a little trouble finding enough interest to pay attention as it was being read.
While she appreciated having something going on that helped occupy her mind, she couldn't say that it was working at this moment. It at least helped keep her from being bored, but maybe it was because of the cold, but she was finding herself slowly nodding off while her friends' voices softly faded into the background and she was soon sleeping softly.
Yet, when it was her turn to read, Beth tapped her on she shoulder and she woke up with a start.
Charlie could hear her friends laughing as she looked around frantically, Her heart beating hard, though it took her a minute to even realize they were laughing.
"Don't… tell me… you fell… asleep… on this?" Amelia said in between laughs, her tent having a perfect view of Charlie's reaction.
Charlie wanted to say something, but was pretty sure that anything she did say would just make things worse for her. Especially since she could feel her face blushing furiously from embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it," Beth said as her laughter started to subside, clapping her hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Just try not to get so freaked out when you fall asleep before it's your turn to read."
Charlie couldn't help but scowl as her embarrassment receded. This wasn't one of her finer moments, but it was one she could live with. Especially since she had to admit, to herself at least, that it was her fault for letting herself fall asleep like that in the first place. As well as for reacting like that when she was woken up for her turn.
Though, she couldn't help but sigh as Beth passed her the book and pointed to where they were currently at in the book. Charlie nodded as she took the book and began to read aloud. At the very least, it gave her something else to focus on rather than how she reacted just now.