Finding Shelter

At the end of the hall there are stairs that if she were to go up them would lead to one room. To her right there is a door that will lead to the gardens. Whitney can choose either way or keep searching elsewhere.

She doesn't want to go to the gardens for fear that she'll be easy to spot there and doesn't want to go upstairs for the probable lack of another exit. Whitney keeps looking.

(If there are any signs of people coming she will run upstairs)

There is the sound of footsteps behind Whitney. If she waits she will see who it is.

Whitney doesn't hesitate to run up the stairs. She moves as quickly as possible but also tries to be quiet so it won't be evident which direction she has gone.

The stairs spiral upward with an occasional window that lets in moonlight. After Whitney's leg muscles start to strain from the climb they end at a door. It is slightly ajar and a flickering light, perhaps from torches, comes from inside.

Seeing no one else in the room. Whit enters and bolts the door behind her (if there is one). She just needed some time to think.

Once safely inside, Whit begins to examine the tree and trying to decide what to do. I just want to go home! she thought.

The tree was strange, it looked both solid and insubstantial at the same time. She reaches out and tries to touch it with the tips of her fingers (apparently not having learned her lesson from when she touched the glass lol).

((LOL at the last comment, Whit. Apparently, you did not!!))

(ha ha. Well other than my dramatic re-entrance into Gnale I haven't seen much magic. So what do I have to be afraid of? It's probably just glass and led lights right?)

The surface is cold and hot, smooth and rough at the same time. Upon touching the tree a faint voice fills Whitney's head. danger...he's here, please help...protect... The longer Whitney touches the tree the more clear the voice becomes. The tree will begin to become more apparent with the room beginning to fade away. If Whitney looks to her right she will see a girl on a swing; just like the tree she is solid and translucent, though, the longer she is in contact with the tree the girl comes more into focus.



The girl makes eye contact with Whitney.

Whitney can keep touching the tree or not.

Whitney stares at the girl for a few moments. She was kinda creepy. The room was beginning to fade away. She was reminded of when the JFSB had also disappeared as she was taken through a glass window. She wasn't too eager to remove that experience and quickly let her hand drop.

She thought once more about her present circumstances and, using a Filipino adage, thought Bahala na (More or less whatever happens will happen) and put her full palm back on the tree.

The room vanishes and Whitney is now standing in a expansive field. The grass in brown and dead, with the exception of a few green patches here and there. The clouds above seem to speak of a coming storm. The girl looks straight at Whitney, then stands up from the swing. She seems to have difficulty in doing so.

"You are Whitney, the one who saved Lola. Where have you been? Gnale has been in need of you since you disappeared," the girl took a step forward, but collapsed to the ground unable to support herself, "Minst is in need of you now."

Despite the apparent weakness of the girl, Whit has difficulty feeling sorry for her. She was frustrated, "Ok. What's going on!? What does everyone know my name? What do you mean I saved Lola? And who the heck is Gnale?"

Whit glared at the girl. So much for a quiet place to think things through...

The managed to get to her feet using the tree trunk for support.

"You don't remember, do you?" then mostly to herself she said, "Magson said you might not." The girl continued, "Six years ago you and three others, Jessica, Alyssa, and Charlie, appeared in Gnale. Gnale is the name of this continent. No one is sure how you came here, but we knew you were not of this world. Six years ago Lola's parents were killed by a man named Thanos. He then proceeded to try and marry Lola and become the one who would fuse his soul with mine. I am Chessa, the spirit that protects Minst, but it is against my nature to harm any living thing. For centuries I have fused my soul with the kings and queens of Minst so that they can use my power to protect the people here. As a result Minst has known centuries of peace. You, and your friends, help Lola realize Thanos's intentions and drive him out of Minst."

Chessa paused, a little out of breath, "I don't have much time to explain because Thanos is back in Minst. I think he is here, in this castle. When you and your friends disappeared from Gnale things got even worse than when you had come. The people of Gnale need you now more than ever."

"Charlie, Jessica and Alyssa? I didn't even know them six years ago and I've never been here before!" Whit cried in frustration "Gnale? Thamos? Chessa? I don't know what you're talking about! What do you mean I'm from a different world?"

Whit was reaching her breaking point, "What do you mean the people of Gnale need me? Why am I even here? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

Whit took a deep breath. She felt a little guilty for yelling at the apparently helpless girl but none of this made any sense, "I want to go home!"

"This must all be very confusing for you, but I can't explain any further. Thanos is here. I don't have very much strength but I can restore some of your powers. Remember, the healing only works through transference."

Whitney feels something similar to goosebumps, but other than that she doesn't feel any different.

"If Thanos-" Chessa begins to say.

Whitney is suddenly thrown to the ground. She is now back in the room, though it is dark now. The tree is no longer glowing, the bark is gray and leaves are falling from the branches. If Whitney looks closely she'll notice a hole in the trunk with a dark, sap-like substance oozing from it. Standing next to it is the hooded man Whitney saw earlier today. In his right hand he is holding a knife. The same sap from the tree is dripping from its blade.

"Hello Whitney."

Whitney looked from the dying tree to the man with the knife. She gasped in fear (she'd never been much of a screamer) and pushed herself away from the man. She climbed to her feet and tried to run for the door.

The man started towards Whitney, but stopped when he heard people running up the stairs and voices from the other side of the door. From under his hood he smiles.

"I was going to kill you as a favor of what you and your friends did, but I think this will be much more interesting," he laughed.

The man throws the knife in Whitney's direction. It clatters next to her feet. The man mumbles something and then starts changing shape. He grows smaller, his cloak becomes feathers then forms into wings; he is now a large black crow. The bird caws at Whitney before flying out the window and into the night.

There is pounding at the door. Whoever is on the other side can't open the door as Whitney has bolted it.

"Open up!" the person on the other side shouts.

Now wasn't this a quandary.

Whit watched as the bird-man flew away unsure what to do. She glanced at the knife on the ground. She'd just been framed.

No speech to strangers could have been as bad as this could be she thought pessimistically (and honestly, who could be an optimist in this kind of a situation).

She tried to clear her head.
1 - Sooner or later people would get in her. They would find a dead (presumably important) tree and her alone in a room with a knife.
2 - They would very likely blame her.
3 - There would probably be negative consequences.

If changes could be made to her first assumption, perhaps the consequences could change.

She didn't trust these people enough to think that the straight truth would be believable...though it was a option. She checked the window. It was too high to jump. She wished she had gone down to the gardens instead. She thought about stashing the knife somewhere but then she'd still be stuck with a dead tree.

Not daring to open the door yet, Whit called through the door, "Who's there? I think we need to talk first..."

"What have you done? Who are you? As prince of the Me'Lan of Fehl I demand that you open this door," Tanira sounded a little panicked.

"I didn't do it!" Whitney called back. His status as the prince didn't make her any more likely to open the door for him. "I want to talk before the door's open." Let's assess the situation before they put me up on the chopping block.

Whitney slumped down against the tree and rested her hand on a root.

"Didn't do what?" There was more pounding at the door. Then after Whit's last comment the prince fell silent, as if contemplating the situation. Then in a much calmer voice, "Talk about what?"

Whit took a deep breath. What had the tree-girl said? "Thanos is here."

Whit moved across the floor until her back was against the door so that she didn't have to be so loud when speaking through it, "Do you know a man named Thanos?"

"Yes, Lola told me about him. Do you mean he's here in Minst?"

"I think he was just here. I think he did something bad..." Whit trailed off "...and he wants me to be blamed for it."

She hoped the prince would understand.

"Is that you Whitney? Please, open the door," his voice sounded sad, "Something's wrong with Lola."