Finding Shelter

Whit blinked against the sudden light. She couldn't help but think of the Wizard of Oz and said under her breath, "I have a feeling I'm not in Utah anymore..."

She slowly stood and brushed herself off. She stood on a hill that overlooked a town and a large castle. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath willing herself to wake up. However, most of the time you don't realize you're dreaming in dreams she thought. This just couldn't be real.

The man had said that he would find her. Who was he? She wasn't sure she wanted to be found or how long it would take for him to find her. It seemed to have been getting darker as she stood on the hill. The sun was setting. She knew one thing for sure, she didn't want to be stuck out here, alone in the dark. Feeling she had no other option, she walked down the hill and in to the town.

When Whitney arrives at the edge of town the sun is almost set. Up ahead is an inn. On the street are civilians dressed in a manner Whitney has never seen before, except maybe at Renaissance fairs. There are also a few soldiers in armor walking about. Who will Whitney turn to for shelter?

Whitney was suddenly not so sure about her plan. Outside and alone was definitely not a good idea...but what was she going to do here? She didn't know a soul and even if she were to talk to someone, what would she say?

People were starting to give her strange looks and she realized that no one else was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

After a quick deliberation, she stops one of the soldiers walking by and asks, "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"

"This is Minst m'lady." The soldier stared.

He had never seen such cloth or a lady dressed as she. This was his first night on the job since he had been appointed as a soldier of Minst. He hoped to one day be a part of Her Majesty's personal guard, but for now he was doing his best serving as a street patrol. The woman before him, although strange, looked frightened and confused. What kind of soldier of Minst would he be if he didn't help her out.

"You look like you are lost. If I may be so bold, but if you want I can give you some shelter for the night. I don't get off duty for a few more hours still, but I can show you to my house so that you can get settled in for the night. My name is Artellen Minov, I am a soldier of Minst. What name may I call you by?"

"Minst?" Whit repeated, testing the unfamiliar word on her tongue.

"I am a little lost," she admitted "I'm Whitney; Whitney Hanks. And I guess I could use a place to stay."

She had just accepted an invitation to spend the night at some strange guy's house. She questioned the sanity of doing so. At any rate, it was nearly dark now and Artellen looked nice enough...

"This way m'lady."

Artellen led Whitney down a street, then through the town square, and up an alley crowded with houses. The starting wage of a street patrolman was not handsome, so all he could afford for living quarters was a modest house. But since he was the only one living there he didn't need much room and didn't mind the lack of space.



Artellan opened the door for Whitney, "After you."

He walked in after her and left the door open so that the remaining daylight would light the house. Artellen lit the lamp that was sitting on the table. He winced as he saw how untidy he had left his house.

"Sorry for the untidiness, but you can sleep there for the night," he pointed to the straw mattress on the other side of the room, "you may draw the curtain for privacy."

Artellen checked the cupboards in the kitchen and saw that there was only a loaf of bread.

"There's not much, but help yourself to the bread. I have to finish patrolling, but is there anything I can do for you before I leave?"

((KISS MY FACE OH SO LOVELY SOLDIER!!! ;D ;D ;D

Sorry. Inappriopiate comment on a thread that does not belong to meeee~! haha))

Whit smiled gratefully at the soldier, "No thank you. You've done more than enough already."

Whit seated herself on the floor leaving the bread untouched. She wouldn't dream of eating the last of the food in someone's house and she didn't have much of an appetite anyway.

What was going on? What was this place? This didn't feel like a dream but she was more than ready to wake up now. She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She knew there was no way she was going to be able to sleep. She was far too wound up plus it had been morning when she had been pulled into the glass. Her body still felt like it was just getting started.

She looked around the small house. It wasn't much but it was tons better than being stuck outside!

Artellen frowned with concern as the lady Whitney sank to the floor. He wanted to do something for her but he had to return to duty.

"Please, get some rest."

Artellen closed the door behind him and jogged back to the street he was supposed to be patrolling.

Artellen is gone for several hours leaving Whitney to herself. There is a knock at the door

Whit looked up at the door from her spot on the floor. This wasn't her house and she was already doubting the connotations of spending the night in some guys house. She didn't want to push her luck and decided not to answer the door. Instead she stayed on the floor and rested her head on her knees.

The knocking continues for several minutes before falling silent. The sound of foot steps grow louder and then stop at the door. The door slowly creaks open...

Artellen pushed open the door to find the lamp still lit and Whitney still in the same position he had left her last. He closed the door and bolted it behind him.

"You're still awake," he put a bag on the table, "I brought some meat and cheese in case the bread wasn't enough."

Artellen was a little tired but he couldn't sleep now with a lady in distress.

"Look, I don't mean to pry, but how did a lady, such as yourself, end up alone and lost? Where are your companions? Where were you traveling from?"

The words left his mouth before he could stop himself. What if she didn't want to tell him?

"Of course, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Thanks but I'm not very hungry" Whitney replied apologetically. The stress of all this was making her kinda sick to her stomach. She wanted to go home now.

The soldiers questions mostly echoed the ones that she had been thinking herself. How had she wound up here? Where was here? What had happened to the man that had pulled her through the glass?

What could she tell him? She hated to lie but what would he say if she told him the truth? She could just wind up back outside. And yet, there seemed to be an earnestness about the man. Like he really wanted to help her. She couldn't tell him the full truth but maybe she could get away with pieces of it.

"I'm not really sure how I got here. I was with someone but I don't know where they went. I remember falling..." Whit trailed off. It was a mess of words but maybe soldier boy would just assume that she has some sort of head trauma and leave it alone. She looked at him to check his response.

"I will do whatever I can to help you find your companion," Artellen said, "Maybe they might even come looking for you tomorrow."

Artellen was tired and she probably was too. "I'm going to turn in for the night."

He got up and laid some blankets by the unlit fireplace. He put his armor and sword up against the wall.

"Just put out the lamp before you sleep."

He felt bad for falling asleep before her, but he needed to sleep.

Artellan falls soundly asleep by the fireplace.

Whit blew out the lamp as Artellan fell asleep. She lay down on her own mattress and despite all the things on her mind, she too fell asleep.

Upon waking, Whitney is surprised by her surroundings. It is a moment before she is able to recall the prior day's events. She stretched, stood and then asked Artellen, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

She felt very imposing. Here she was forcing her host to sleep on the floor, to cook breakfast for her and she had a sneaking suspicion that the beautiful dress on a nearby chair had also been purchased for her.

"Oh, you're awake. No, it's just about done."

Artellen took a few more minutes cooking the food, then dished it onto some plates. He set both the plates on the table.

"I almost forgot. That dress is for you. I ran into my sister at the market and, well, she said you could have it. She just got here this morning for the festival."

"Thank your sister for me and thanks for the food," Whitney began to eat "What festival?"

"You might be able to meet her today, that is, if you want to," Artellen took a bite of food, swallowed and continued, "today there is a festival celebrating the Queen Lola's coronation. She was only sixteen when she took the throne. The late King and Queen both died of an illness, suddenly leaving her to rule the country of Minst on her own."

Artellen finished eating then said, "I will be part of the guard at the festival, but if you want I can have my sister show you around."

"That'd be great!" Whitney said and then took another bite of egg. It'd be great to get another look at wherever I am.

Whitney finished the last of her food. "I'll just go change."

She stood and pulled the curtain closed around the bed and changed into her dress. She folded her clothes nicely and stowed them in her backpack (I was at school right so I'd have my bag). She slung the bag on and hoped it wouldn't stand out to badly. You never knew when it might come in handy.

When she was done, she opened the curtain and sat back down on a chair not wanted to rush Artellen but ready to leave nonetheless.

Artellen tidied the kitchen a little before putting on his armor. When Whitney came out he was ready to go. He leads Whitney through the streets. If Whitney looks around she will see that colorful banners are strung between houses and decorating shops. There are people crowding the streets, sometimes making it difficult for her to stay close to Artellen. He stops by a wagon decorated painted in bright colors. Next to the wagon stands a girl. As soon as she sees Artellen she runs up to him and attacks him with an embrace.

"Artellen! It's been forever!" she laughed.

"I just saw you this morning," Artellen returned the embrace.

She let go of him and then danced up to Whitney, "You must be her! I'd recognize that dress anywhere. My name's Tillian, but you can call me Till."

Whit looked around at colorful decorations. She wondered idly what kinds of festivities such a place could have.

She smiled at Till and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Whitney."

"Nice to meet you!" Till said sincerely, then to her brother, "I'll take it from here Art. Go be responsible and protect people and stuff. We're going to go have fun."

"I'll be patrolling until nightfall. Come find me then." Artellen then disappeared into the crowd.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Till asked Whitney, "There's all kinds of food vendors, performances, shops, and also the castle gardens. They only open the gardens for this festival."

Whit had just finished eating so the food vendors held no appeal. The mention of the gardens however peaked her interest. She hoped that it would give her a chance to see more of the city and to hopefully figure out why she'd been brought here.

"Um...Can we go to the gardens?" Whit asked Till.

“Good choice,” Till said, “It’s still pretty early so there won’t be a ton of people around.”

Tillian led the way, playing tour guide. She pointed out to Whitney all the things the festival had to offer. Every street was lined with shops. Most of them appeared to be selling some kind of snack, but if Whitney looked a little closer she would see that there were a variety of things being sold: Masks, cloth, metalwork, woodwork, shoes, clothes, etc. When they walked through the town square Till pointed out the different performance going on. There was namely dancing, acrobats, singing, and even puppet plays. If Whitney notices the puppets they will send an unexplainable shiver of fear through her.

"This is probably the biggest festival of the year," Till explained; they were leaving the town square and now walking on an inclined path that had considerably less buildings and people, "I'm not sure what Art told you, but this festival celebrates Queen Lola's ascension to the throne and the heroes who helped her get there. It's called the Festival of the Crown and Swords. It's also known as the Festival of Maidens."

After climbing up a relatively steep incline the ground leveled out and the outer wall of the castle laid there before them. The main gate was closed but to the left there was a smaller door with two soldiers standing guard.

"This way."

Till led Whitney through the door and into the gardens.

"Feel free to explore on your own, just don't leave without finding me first," Till said and went off in her own direction.

Whitney can choose to explore on her own or follow Till.

The city was bigger than she had expected it to be. Whit was having a hard time taking it all in. Some of the vendors were hawking things that she'd never even heard of before. The puppets definitely creeped her out but she didn't know why.

The gardens were beautiful. Whit followed one of the stone paths through the myriad of flowers she didn't know the name of. The smell was wonderful. Till was right, there weren't many people here this early. Whit made her way to a bridge that overlooked a small stream. She leaned against the railing and stared down into the water.