As she walked further into the trees, Audrey caught sight of a flash of red. Her interest piqued, she followed it. If she was to get lost, she might as well go all the way. Only a squawk as a warning from Regn reminded her to not sprint, even if it was tempting.
Far off, she could hear singing, amidst the constant buzz of countless insects. Subconsciously, she followed the sound. It seemed to come from the very heart of the jungle itself, luring her deeper and deeper into the trees.
Soon, the dense undergrowth opened up into a clearing, and Audrey saw the source of the melody. It jumped as it spotted her, then backed up.
"Who are you, and how did you get here?" She heard the person speak. She sounded like a female, but there was a thick mask obscuring her face, and that combined with the hooded cloak made it hard to tell for sure.
"W-Wait! I don't want to be eaten!" Audrey stammered out.
The person just put her hands on her hips and giggled. Yep, a female. "Hey, I'm not a monster." She then peered closer at Audrey.
"You're not one of the Xoctol, are you? Your skin color may be the same as ours, but your clothes are different. That, and you seem lost."
"Actually, I'm from Pyros." Audrey puffed out her chest, before remembering that she was technically not living there as she'd run away. "...But not anymore."
"Mhmm. Well, I'm not letting a kid run around on her own. You're staying with us. Call me Casey." Casey was removing her mask and pulling down her hood now. Wavy dark hair framed a diamond-shaped face, and green eyes met Audrey's. At first glance she appeared teenaged, but the crow's feet around her eyes betrayed her true age. In many ways Casey reminded Audrey of her own mother, and she felt a pang of homesickness and guilt.
Shaking these feelings off, Audrey took Casey's offered hand. What could go wrong?
As they walked down the worn dirt path, Casey chatting with Audrey, a black bird suddenly swooped down, narrowly missing Audrey. She screamed and ducked for cover behind Casey, who just laughed before extending an arm out. The bird landed gracefully, and Casey moved it onto her own shoulder before scratching it.
"Relax, Audrey, she won't bite. Well, not unless you try to pluck her feathers or tease her too much."
Now much less nervous, Audrey edged closer to the bird. It swung its head around to stare at her, and ruffled its purple feathers.
"So, what is she anyway?" Audrey asked Casey.
"Nocs here is an alagos. They're intelligent birds and make great companions if trained well." Casey winced, before hurriedly correcting herself. "Only if trained well."
Regn chose this moment to peek out of the back of Audrey's shirt, and Casey noticed it immediately.
"That's a cute nimbii you have there. Where'd you find him?"
"Uh." Audrey paused for a moment. "Came to me, actually. In the desert. You said he was male?"
"It's the correct color, yes. Nimbii only approach magi that are quite powerful, as far as I know. He might be a desert nimbii, which would make you one lucky girl." Casey smiled at Audrey kindly.
"So they're rare? Wow. Hey, Regn, Casey here says you're rare!" Audrey smiled toothily at Regn, causing Casey to chuckle.
"Anyway, Audrey, if you're staying, I may as well show you around. Unless you would rather explore our little settlement for yourself." Casey barely moved as Nocs suddenly launched herself into the air like a dark feathered missile, hurtling straight at Regn.
As the bird flew away, both heard cawing that sounded suspiciously like cackling laughter. Audrey quickly called out to Regn, who rematerialised a couple of seconds later. He looked unnerved, but none the worse for wear.
"Sorry about that." Casey sounded genuinely apologetic.
"Nah. What do I tell people I meet?" Audrey was already skipping towards the houses.
"Anything, so long as it's not that I'm not taking good enough care of you!" Casey disappeared into the shadows of the trees beside the path.
Audrey just stared long and hard at the spot where she was last seen. A voice beside her ear made her jump.
"And we're introducing you proper tonight, so get to my house before it's too late. It's the one with the red door."
As Audrey wandered around, she caught sight of a grizzled old man sitting outside on a bench.
"Hi, who are you?" She ventured.
He just smiled in response. "Young 'uns oughta have better manners. In my time..."
"I'm sorry sir, did I bother you?"
"Naw, it's okay. Here, have a seat." The man dusted off the bench and offered the newly clean space to her. Audrey sat down, grateful for the relief it brought her legs. "You can call me Pa, Pops, or Old Man. What brings you here?"
Audrey looked at him in mock surprise. "I walked here, of course."
"Pah. Your clothes look like those of the desert folk, and nobody your age can possibly walk all the way here. Pyros, if I am not mistaken."
"Wait, how did you know?"
The man tapped his temple. "These eyes see a lot, but they're not what they used to be."
"Why are you talking to me?"
"My, you're awfully inquisitive. It wasn't just a coincidence that Casey-gal brought you here. Only certain people can see this village." He twiddled his thumbs. "Is that an etanian nimbii?"
"I don't know." Audrey answered this honestly.
"What's your name?"
"Oh!" Audrey got to her feet. "My name's Audrey!"
"Well, then, Audrey, how would you like to see my library?"
"Cool."
Hours later, Audrey was still within Pa's house, marveling at the books. She'd found out that Regn was indeed an etainian nimbii from one of the dusty journals. She'd also met Pa's zalon (which was a cream-colored dog with wings) and played with him. Eventually, however, she grew increasingly restless.
"Pa, why are there so few people in here?"
"The others are out hunting or training. You'll see them later." Pa, as she decided to call him, walked in with a sandwich and offered it to her. "I think you should get moving, it's nearly dark out." Audrey waved a good-bye before looking for Casey's house. Even though she had only been here for less than a day, the entire place had a homely feel to it.
Finding the red door (in the fading sunlight, it looked more of a deep maroon, she thought) Audrey pushed it open. Casey was busying herself preparing something, but looked up at her visitor. "Audrey, there you are! I was starting to fear that you got lost."
"Naw. I did meet the man called Pa. He's a nice person."
Casey picked up a tunic that was draped over a chair. "Here, you can change into this. Bathroom's the last door there."
Audrey thanked her, and shook it out. The tunic was in her size, and looked relatively plain. The light brown on top faded to darker olive towards the hem, which ended in a row of red diamonds. She ran a finger over the cloth, which felt smooth. Cautiously, Audrey edged towards the room to put it on, eyes not leaving the pattern.
Slipping it over her head, she found that the heavy cloth was lighter than it looked, and fell to around her knees. She kept her pants on, but rolled them up. Turning around, she left the room to look for Casey.
Casey was already standing by the door, hand against the door frame. Audrey noticed that she was again wearing her cloak and mask. She beckoned to Audrey, before slipping out into the night.
The air was cold against Audrey's face, and she could barely make out moving objects. She followed closely behind Casey, hearing the crunching and crackling of dry leaves below their feet. At roughly around where she saw Pa first, they encountered him again. Pa was wearing a white cloak, and holding up a glowing jar. They continued their trek in silence, only stopping when Pa put up his hand.
By the dim light, she could see a rock face in front of them, covered in a spidery script. Pa breathed in, flexed his muscles, concentrated on the stone surface and moved his hands too fast for Audrey to follow. What followed next amazed her.
The writing on the wall rearranged itself, words drifting towards the center to form a vertical line, which cracked open. They watched as the stone shrank back away from the center, forming a doorway barely tall enough for Pa.
Casey walked through after him, and Audrey dashed through without looking back.
They were in an even larger clearing with more houses, and there were several people milling about. Most were wearing cloaks of some color, but not as many had masks on. A few smiled at her, but most just moved out of the way of the party.
Suddenly, everyone started talking, and Audrey could see the crowd parting. Soon, the couple that caused this was standing in front of the trio. Casey pulled at Audrey's arm and hissed, "Bow!"
Audrey was caught off guard, and wound up performing a rather undignified curtsy. Beside her, Casey was doing the same, but with much more grace. Pa nodded stiffly to the male. "Jokul. Hey there, Lucia."
Jokul-the male, clapped Pa on the back. "Hey, Pa, who is this girl? I don't believe I've seen her before."
Pa smiled. "Audrey here turned up today at the edge of the forest, where Casey here found her."
Jokul positively beamed. He crouched so that he was at Audrey's level, and extended a hand. "Nice to meet you, Audrey. It's great to see new faces among those here." Audrey took it, and pumped it up and down vigorously.
"Oh, right, it's starting." Jokul stood up, and left while Lucia stayed behind with Audrey. When she spoke, it startled her. "My husband has been worrying about us not having enough people around. Do you have a familiar yet?"
"Oh, you mean Regn?" At her command, Regn appeared in a puff of smoke.
"Very good. Now, just do as you're told later, and don't worry about the others. You'll probably meet them in due course."
Pa put a hand on her shoulder, and steered her away from the others.
"Well, that's my girl. Later, when I tell you to do so, walk over to Casey and stand on the white stone."
"What does it do?"
"That, Audrey, can tell you what element you are the most attuned to. You'll see."
From her standing place, she could see Jokul greeting the crowd in a booming voice, but he could not be heard over the cheers. As he put up both hands, the noise died back down.
"And now, we may have a new addition to our number. Her name is Audrey, so you may address her as such."
Regn slid back into Audrey's tunic, causing her to instinctively grab her back with both hands. Pa either didn't notice or didn't bother, instead he nodded to her and then at the platform. Inhaling deeply, Audrey walked onto the white stone. As soon as she did so, she could feel magic in the air, but the sensation was gone as fast as it had come. There was, however, a symbol floating over her head.
"So air it is. Would you like to say anything, Audrey?" Jokul was now looking at her, along with everyone else. In the eerie silence, she shivered, causing Regn to claw his way out of her clothing. She could hear quiet muttering.
"Sorry about that. Hi, I'm Audrey, and this is Regn. I'm just happy to be here."
There was a pause, and then the whole place erupted in cheering and whooping. Jokul flashed her a grin and motioned for her to join the others.
No, it's not a Keep story. But close.
Welcome to the storytelling shack! There might be an awesome title image sometime in the future, but for now I'll stick to a message, hm? Basically, this is where I'll post some of my work, past and future, in one place. Comments, suggestions and discussion allowed here. (For the latter, not too much of it!)
