Finding Shelter

She kept the horse moving forward and then pulled back gently to stop it when she reached Artellen.

That wasn't so bad...

"Okay, now how to turn your horse in the direction you want it to go. To do this you steer with your legs. If you want to go left, use your right leg and put pressure on the horse's side with the heel of your foot. While you are putting pressure with your right leg, "open the door" with your left hand. That means you loosen up the reins only in your left hand and pull outward like you are opening a door. Doing those two things plus steering with your reins will give you perfect control. Go ahead and practice steering the horse left and right, and stopping until you feel comfortable. If you need help or have questions let me know. I'll stay close."

This part seemed easy enough. She led the horse back and forth across the clearing a few times turning it back and forth until she had the hang of it.

"See? It's not that hard. Do you think you can get down yourself?" Artellen walked over, just in case Whitney might need help.

"I think I can manage that part," she said smiling as she unhorsed herself. (ha ha ha! it took me a long time to remember that the word dismounted existed so I thought I'd leave it!)

She hands the reins back to Artellen as she wasn't sure how to resecure it to the tree.

Artellen took the reins from Whitney and retied the horse to the tree, "How would you feel about riding in front tomorrow? It would be good practice and I would be right there behind you just in case."

There was the sound of horse hooves; it was Tanira, back from his hunt. He had two rabbit-like creatures in his hand. He dismounted and tied his horse up next to Artellen's.

"It's not much but it's better than nothing," Taniira sat with his back against the tree and pulled out a knife.

After Whitney answers his question, Artellen will begin to build the fire.

Artellen took the reins from Whitney and retied the horse to the tree, "How would you feel about riding in front tomorrow? It would be good practice and I would be right there behind you just in case."

Whit smiled, "Sure but if any more crazy generals or crow people try to attack us you steer ok!?"

Whit glanced at the two rabbitish things that Tanira had caught and felt momentary guilt at their death. The nice thing about buying meat from a grocery store is you never have to see where it comes from.

"It's not much but it's better than nothing," Taniira sat with his back against the tree branch and pulled out a knife.

Whit knew they'd probably taste fine. After the Philippines she could stomach pretty much anything but she didn't really want to Tanira clean the things. She did her best to focus her attention on other things and not to look over at Tanira while he did the deed.

Whit smiled, "Sure but if any more crazy generals or crow people try to attack us you steer ok!?

"Sounds like a deal," Artellen smiled, then proceeded to build the fire.

Tanira skinned the two animals and as soon as the fire was going, set up a make shift spit, and put the meat on to cook. The sun had now set and left a chill in the air. It wasn't long before the smell of roasting meat filled the air. It wasn't long before Tanira took the meat off the fire, cut it, and handed out equal parts.

"Where did you say you were from again?" Artellen broke the silence.

Whitney took a few bites of the meat. Despite its earlier appearance, it was actually quite good.

In between bites she told Artellen, "Um, are you familiar with our geography at all? I'm from a country called America."

She sketched a rough outline of the country in the dirt with a stick. "America is made out of 50 states and I live in one called Utah."

She added Utah to the sketch. She didn't get more specific than that figuring it wouldn't really matter anyway.

"No, I've never heard of it," Artellen studied the map Whitney had sketched in the dirt, "Everyone knows that you're not from this world, though. What is your home like? Is it different from Minst?"

She nodded, "It's very different. There are a lot more people and very large buildings. There's no magic where I come from either. I guess you could say that we have technology instead."

She pulled her cellphone out and offered it to Artellen so he could take a look, "This is called a cellphone. In my world we use them to talk to people across long distances. Even across oceans or in different countries."

She felt a sudden pang of homesickness. She'd been homesick on her mission but she'd always known that she'd go home eventually. A pessimistic part of her wondered if she'd ever make it home this time. It's not worth worrying about. I'll find a way.

Having finished his portion of meat Artellen took the cellphone from Whitney and examined it, turning it over curiously in every which way. He even figured out how to open it and pushed a few buttons.

"Sounds a lot like Inthe," Tanira spoke up, his tone slightly skeptic, "They cast magic aside years ago in exchange for this so-called technology. Except the magic hasn't left Inthe, it's holding on. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there."

"I thought Fehl had allied with Inthe," Artellen questioned.

"We did and they're a powerful and welcome ally. I just don't like their attitude towards magic. They think now that they have technology they can just throw it away."

Whit was a little surprised, "Do they have things like that (indicating the cell phone) in Inthe?"

She was having a hard time imagining that there was a place here that could be as advanced as her own world was. I guess I haven't seen much of this place other than Minst though. Who knows what else is out there...

"Inthe has many things including something like that," Tanira gestured to the phone, "Ships that fly in the air, light that never goes out, exploding weapons, and much more. Not to mention the entire country is like one, big city. With the exception of the forest at its center."

"I can't even imagine," Artellen commented.

Whit was still having a hard time imagining that cell phones and technology could actually hold a place in a world where everything else didn't make sense. Weird things happened here and magic was usually behind it. The fact that there was a place where technology and logic existed much in the way they did back home was oddly reassuring. Somehow the world made a little more sense.

A sudden thought occurred to her, "If they have cell phones here, do you think mine would work if I tried to call someone? My friends are supposed to be here in Gnale somewhere too. Do you think it would work?"

"I don't know. Never used one," Tanira shrugged.

He stared into the fire, thinking about something. The night had grown thick with the chatter of nocturnal animals. Then, snapping out of his trance, Tanira said, "If you don't want to take the first watch I can do it, otherwise I'm going to try and get some sleep."

"We still have a long way to go," Artellen agreed.

Tanira and Artellen will go to sleep if Whitney decides to take the first watch. Otherwise Tanira will remain awake.

On a whim, Whit writes a quick text to her three friends:

"I'm in Gnale. We're heading to Inthe. Where are you?"

It's worth a try...

Whit was feeling pretty drained and allows Tanira to take the first watch. She'll take her turn when it comes.

((On the bottom of the ocean floor, Jessica's phone jingles: SUCKING TOO HARD ON YOUR LOLLIPOP OH LOVE'S GONNA GET YA DOWN...!

Haha. Couldn't resist!!))

Her phone shows no service so the text messages aren't sent.

Whitney is standing in the forest, holding her coin purse with the seeds in it. Leaves fall from the trees around her, blanketing the forest floor. The air around her is warm. She extracts one and plants it. The ground opens up before her, forming a tunnel. Whitney can see something at the other end, it's...

"Whitney," Tanira gently shook her awake.

If Whitney has nothing to say, Tanira will remind her to wake up Artellen for the last watch and lay down to sleep.

Whit awoke a little confused and frustrated at not being able to finish the dream. She hated that! Now she would never know how it ended unless...

Whit got up to take her turn at watch. She searches through her bag until she finds her coin purse. She takes out one of the seeds and rolls it absentmindedly between her fingers.

The last time I planted one, it grew into vines. Why a tunnel this time?

She wondered about timing. She had seen leaves falling all around when the tunnel had appeared. Would a seed always become a certain thing or did it become a certain thing at a certain time or in a certain situation?

She holds the seed in her palm thinking...

If Whitney observes the trees around her she will notice more trees are beginning to let go of their now red and yellow leaves...

Whit noted the falling leaves.

What the heck I'll try it!

She plants the seed in the ground near her feet.

Vines start sprouting, slowly at first but begin to take on speed. The vines wrap around Whitney's ankles and climb up to her calves before tightening around her. Two vines shoot up and grab her wrists. The vines begin pulling her down to the earth and already have one of her legs halfway submerged in the earth. If Whitney tries to pull away she will find the vines only tighten their grip.

Artellen and Tanira are still asleep, unaware of Whitney sinking into the earth. Though the horses are awake and stare at Whitney, though they make no sound.

Um, what happened to the tunnel idea? I liked that game better! Whit thought as the vines began to sprout.

When they grabbed hold of her, she instinctively struggled only to have the vines wrap on tighter. When she couldn't get free, she panicked and again acted on instinct and screamed.

Artellen sat up, confused. As soon as he saw Whitney though he was by her side. He tried pulling the vines off, but they were too strong. Artellen unsheathed his sword and made to cut at them. Vines shot towards Artellen and coiled around his arms and legs.Tanira was now awake. Though before he could take a step towards them the vines pulled both Whitney and Artellen under.

Damp dark earth surrounded them making it impossible to breath. The vines dragged them further. Just when it seemed like they would pass out from the lack of air they broke through what seemd like the ceiling of a cave. Damp earth was replaced by damp air. The vines released them and they fell to the floor of an underground tunnel. Moss on the walls glowed a florescent greenish blue, illuminating the tunnel. It stretched out in both directions into the dark.

Artellen coughed and gasped for air. When his breathing was steady again he moved over to where Whitney had been dropped, "Are you alright? What happened?"

The vines that had pulled them under lay at their feet, though not unmoving. But instead of crawling towards them they now retreated. If Whitney watches them she will see that they belong to a wolf-like creature. It has the face of a white wolf, and it's body is in the shape of a wolf, but the fur that covers it is made of flowers, leaves, and vines. The wolf stands there, looking at them.