Jenn glanced at Tchisa, seeing an almost imperceptive nod. Jenn wasn't sure what this was about, but had a feeling she probably wouldn't like it. Not with everything else going on. Not with everything else she was having to deal with right then.
"Is there anything that you can tell me about why I need to go back?" Jenn asked, hoping for at least some small bit of information. Something that would at least give her a glimpse of what was going on. Why she needed to return herself.
Saelea took a deep breath, her amber eyes holding Jenn's, as if they were held fast from a magnetic pull. "One of the scouting parties returned, and the other one is kind of… held up."
Jenn blinked, breaking the hold she'd been under for a minute. "What do you mean, 'held up?'" Tchisa asked, nearly making Jenn jump as she'd almost forgotten that she and Saelea weren't alone there.
Saelea looked to Jenn like she'd rather take a nap right then, but she wanted to know exactly what was going on so she could determine if she needed to head out right then and there or if heading out the next morning would be alright.
"Just tell me, I need to know," Jenn whispered, not sure if she should do anything else. She wanted to give Saelea a hug or at least do something to comfort her, but given what she knew of the culture in this world, she suspected that it wouldn't come across quite the way she'd want it to.
Saelea closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Fine, but I'm not really sure how to explain what happened," she answered, making Jenn wonder just how bad things really were. That if Saelea coming here wasn't by choice, but rather out of necessity. That she had been the only one who was able to come.
"The scouting party that came back first, was delayed because the snow was heavier where they were and they took shelter in a cave they'd come across. They got back maybe an hour after you left for here." Saelea paused and her head started to lean forward and Jenn worried that she might be falling asleep where she sat when she suddenly opened her eyes and pulled her head back. "Sorry about that. Anyway, two days after that is when They showed up. I'm not sure what They are, but they're about one and a half as tall as any of us and have two heads."
Jenn knew with that much that she needed to head out as soon as she was sure that Saelea was settled. While there might be more that Jenn could learn about everything that happened, she was pretty sure that she needed to get back as quickly as she could to help resolve whatever was going on.
"They said they wanted to speak with our chief. That they caught our scouting party and that our chief needs to fight theirs or the entire party will…" Saelea trailed off. "Uh, I'm not sure what they really said, but I don't think it'll be very good. Though, everyone agrees: we need you back there."
Jenn nodded, everyone likely meant all of her stand-ins, and was about to get up when a thought came to her. "Uh, how did you know what they said?" she asked. "I mean, I'd have thought that they'd have been speaking a different language, right?"
Saelea looked at Jenn like she didn't understand what Jenn had said for a minute, until Jenn saw the light of recognition spark in her eyes.
"Oh, that. Uh, I'm not really sure how I knew… it's kind of like… I just did," Saelea said, though each time she paused, she kept getting quieter, like she didn't want to actually say the words.
Jenn nodded, patting Saelea on her shoulder. "Get some rest," she said, standing up. "I'll take care of this."
"Thank you."
Jenn turned to Tchisa. "I guess I'll need to head back. I'm not sure how long it'll take, but I hope to have everyone here as fast as I can."
Tchisa nodded, looking around at the village. "This is a nice place you've brought us to. Just make sure that you return. I don't like owing anyone who dies before I can repay them," she said as her gaze returned to Jenn.
"Uh, what about… 'that?'" Riewis asked, making Jenn wonder what she might be talking about now. "I know you said that it might be good to give to the Blue Rose, but if Jenn has to fight anyone, then she probably should have a weapon of some kind."
Jenn felt a little lost as to what they were talking about, but her interest was piqued when the word 'weapon' was mentioned.
Tchisa glanced at Jenn and Saelea before she nodded. "Might as well. I'm sure the Blue Rose won't mind," she said, with a sigh. :If she does, I'll take the heat."
Then before Jenn could say anything, Riewis started running off, dodging around trees and buildings. Jenn wasn't sure what to make of the exchange, but had a feeling that she'd learn soon enough what it had been about.
"I'll get her to a place to rest," Tchisa told Jenn. "Though, whatever happens, try not to get yourself killed." Tchisa glanced in the direction Riewis ran off in. "I'm not sure if those who joined with me will follow whoever will be your successor if something happens to you. They'll probably try to make me be in charge."
Jenn nodded, understanding what the woman was getting at. Besides, it's not like she wanted anything to happen to her either. Although, she was pretty sure that she wasn't going to be in that much of danger. She wasn't sure why she felt that way, just that the feeling was there.
"I'll do what I can," she answered. "Just try to keep the repairs going as quickly as you can and bury any remains of those who used to live here that you come across, okay?"
Even thought they had gone through all the buildings, or the vast majority of them, at least, occasionally they did come across bones of someone who had died here.
"Of course," Tchisa replied, nodding as she helped Saelea to her feet.
Jenn watched at Tchisa half-led, half-carried Saelea to a nearby house where some of Jenn's people had taken residence in.
Jenn watched as Tchisa and Saelea went out of sight into the building. She wasn't sure how long she would need to wait before Riewis returned. Though, she hoped that whatever it was about would be worth the wait. Especially since she was already itching to head out. To get back to the rest of her people and sort whatever had happened out.
It probably was maybe fifteen minutes before Riewis returned at a run, holding a bundle in her hands. Though, Jenn felt like it had been at least an hour. While she couldn't be sure, she at least hoped that it hadn't been an hour.
"We found this while we were clearing out a building that was mostly intact," Riewis said. "We thought it'd be a good gift for the Blue Rose, considering how short she is, but like I said earlier, if you need to fight, it'll be better for you to have something as well."
Jenn accepted the bundle from Riewis. "I'll be sure to let her know that you had wanted to give her this," Jenn said, feeling a little twinge of guilt at the deception. She was pretty sure that Riewis wouldn't spread the secret that she was the Blue Rose, but she also couldn't be sure that Riewis would be able to keep looking at Jenn herself like she wasn't anything special if Jenn shared that with her.
Jenn looked at what the bundle was: a sword belt with a scabbard that held a short sword. She drew the sword out a little and was shocked at not only to find that it was a prism knife, but also had what looked like it was made with an artistic mindset to have the blade look like it was made out of a leaf.
The same kind that she recalled seeing briefly when she held the prism knife before she'd been auctioned. While it was only a moment that she saw it, she still knew that it was the same.
"Is something wrong?" Riewis asked, pulling Jenn out of her thoughts.
Jenn shook her head. "No, just could have sworn I saw this a while ago in the capital," she answered, not seeing a reason to lie or dodge that point.
Riewis merely shrugged. "Could be a style of forging the blades," she remarked disinterestedly. "I couldn't really care less about a prism knife. Now a circular prism, that's something I could work with."
Jenn couldn't help but smirk at Riewis' toothy grin as she proceeded talked about fighting with an axe. As if nothing else was going on. While she had wondered if Riewis was only ever serious, she was now showing a side that almost seemed rather carefree. Despite her talking about the virtues of how effective a weapon a circular prism was as opposed to any other weapon.
While she felt an urgency to get to the gate, she also felt rather enthralled at Riewis' dissertation about the type of battle axe she essentially had fallen in love with. Which made Jenn wonder if she should try to go out of her way to make sure that she got a circular prism. If only because she clearly loved that kind of weapon over all others.
Jenn wasn't sure how long it was before Riewis finally started to calm down about what was clearly a passion of hers, but eventually the woman ran out of things to talk about in regards to circular prisms.
"Sorry about that," she said, looking a little embarrassed. "I can get carried away sometimes."
"I understand," Jenn answered. "I've known others who can get like that when it comes to something they really like."
Riewis nodded, though Jenn was certain that she was still rather embarrassed. "Well, good luck with whatever's going on through the… uh, gate."
Jen put the sword belt around her waist and couldn't help but feel a little weird at how it felt sitting on her hips. It didn't bother her, but she was confident that it'd at least take some getting used to.
Then as Riewis started to walk to wherever she had in mind to go, Jenn started to head towards the entrance of the village. She might have wasted a little bit of time with listening to Riewis, but she was confident that she'd be able to make that time up. Especially if she used her magic, though she hoped it wouldn't create more problems for her when she arrived at the gate.
As she was pretty sure that it could be that she'd need to use her magic with whatever was going on. She just hoped that wouldn't be the case.
_
Beth wasn't sure if it was because they didn't have any roads to go by or just didn't recognize the landmarks as they traveled, but when they saw a city in the distance, she had thought that it was the capital. Yet, when they arrived, they found that it was the same city where they first had arrived on their search for Charlie, Ferusha.
Although, as she thought about it when they were situated in a room at the same inn they'd stayed at during their first visit, she did at least recall a waterfall in the distance and a river by the capital and they did cross a river about half a week ago.
Beth wondered if she knew more of the geography of this world if they wouldn't have gotten so far off course from where they thought that they had been. Even though this did put them ahead of the schedule that they'd set for themselves.
"Should we try to get some money tomorrow?" Ralph asked, as he tucked Lily in. The little girl seemed to almost have adopted Ralph as her father, or that's what it looked like to Beth. "We might not need it now, but you never know when it'll be useful to have."
Beth wanted to get back as quickly as she could, though she couldn't remember if there was a reason for that or not. Though, she thought part of it had to do with Ralph saying that he'd been in a dream conference, even though she and Wes didn't remember it. She'd like to get that squared away, though she was pretty sure that it would be at least three more weeks before they reached the Marquis' castle where the rest of their friends were.
However, as she looked at Ralph, she couldn't find it in herself to refuse. Though, she had a feeling the idea of being able to relax and take it easy might be playing a part in that here. Especially with all the walking they'd been doing without resting.
As she thought about that, she couldn't help but start to laugh.
"What is it? You're not going to push us on, are you?" Ralph griped, sounding more than a little annoyed, making Beth wonder if he was using that as an excuse to take it easy for at least a day or two as well.
"Oh, nothing like that," Beth assured him. "I was just thinking about how when we were traveling to this world how much we'd walk before something would come up and we'd take it easy for at least a few days."
"I actually had forgotten about that," Wes remarked as he put the light out in the room. "Was this the longest we'd travelled without taking a rest?"
"I think so," Beth said, nodding. "I'm pretty sure the next longest was our trip to this city in the first place. Although, I think the trip down the mountain of the world we went through to get to this one might have been close to that as well."
"Actually, on that world, we did take it easy when we were exploring that island. You now, after the storm hit it and all," Wes replied.
"Well that doesn't say whether or not you'd e fine with staying so we can earn a little bit of money here. I mean, we'll eventually run out of money to get food or a nice room like this where we don't need to have anyone keep watch through the night," Ralph complained.
"Fine, I'm in favor of that too, alright?" Beth retorted, feeling her patience running thin. "If nothing else, it'll be nice to take it easy for a couple days."
"Yeah, you get to take it easy, while Wes and I use our magic to play the music while Hesha and Feon can help collect the coins, right?" Ralph griped.
"I bet Lily would probably help if you asked her," Feon chimed in, letting Beth know that she really hadn't fallen asleep, despite how she had appeared to a moment ago.
"Maybe, but I'm not sure if I trust people in this city to not try and take her if we get a thick crowd at any time," Ralph said, making Beth wonder just how much Lily had grown on him.
"Well, I'm sure Aerbris and Raeys will watch her if I ask them to," Beth said, leaning back, wishing a little that she hadn't decided to go without sex again. While she didn't want to get pregnant while on this expedition, she still liked the sex. She was certain that wasn't going to change at any time.
Beth felt her breathing deepen as she started to fall asleep. Blissful sleep that would give her an escape from the difficulties this little trip had created for her.
"You know, maybe you should check on the friend you made when we first came here," Wes suddenly said, nearly startling Beth awake. "You never know, we might learn something we might find rather interesting. Something that will let us know if we need to rethink our plans when it's time to leave here."
Beth took a deep breath to calm herself. As she let it out, she hoped the tension that Wes' outburst had caused would go with it. Mostly because of how it had startled her.
She didn't want to go off on him, especially since she recognized that he had a point about that. Even if she felt that he could have done a better job of mentioning it in the first place.
When she was as calm as she thought she was going to be, she replied, "And what the fuck do you think could have happened? A wildfire or something?"
As the words left Beth's mouth, she realized that some of her annoyance came out with the words. It was too late to take back, but she also felt a little surprised to learn that she really didn't care that much. Not when Wes had sprung it on her without warning like that.
"If you don't want to, you can just say so," Wes replied, sounding a little too gracious for Beth's tastes. Which made her start to wonder if he had said that in the first place just so she'd react like that.
"I'll go see if she's around," Beth answered. "I can't promise I'll find out anything that would interest your morbid mind."
"Hey, my mind's not morbid. Not more than yours is, at least" Wes returned in good humor.
Beth merely shook her head, turned over to her other side and closed her eyes. Hoping this time that she'd be able to actually fall asleep again.
As she let her breathing deepen, she couldn't shake the sensation that she'd forgotten something. Something that for some reason felt like it was tied to the dream conference that Beth is confident didn't happen.
She couldn't imagine what she might be forgetting in regards to that, but the feeling wouldn't go away. It always came back when she was getting ready to go to sleep and she couldn't understand why.
She didn't say anything to anyone about it because she didn't want to deal with any potential reactions from them. Ralph would likely use that as evidence that there was a dream conference, Wes would likely try to do an amateur psychoanalysis on her, the others might get concerned about her, thinking that maybe she was getting worn out or something, and she didn't care to endure any of that.
It was much simpler for her to just push it to the back of her mind each time it came up until it stopped appearing. That way she wouldn't have to deal with it and she wouldn't have to deal with whatever reaction any of the others might have.
If Charlie was there, she might speak to her about it, but she wasn't confident that she would. As she was pretty sure that Charlie wouldn't have that bad of a reaction to her issue.
If only she knew where Charlie was. Though, she doubted that Charlie would make it easier for them to find her if they did get a lead on her somehow.