Towards the Arena

I woke up the next day very excited. Mom insisted we eat breakfast, but I really couldn't wait to ride on one of the Golem dogs. Before we could do that though, mom had to do some preparations. "This will be a bit of a bumpy ride Anna, so mommy made a special chair for you", she said after preparing everything. I wasn't sure what she meant exactly, until I stepped outside with her and grandpa.

Pebble had some sort of chair without legs, attached to his back. 'Not this again…', I thought. "You will ride on Pebble, while your grandpa will ride on Sandy. If you need a break, let Pebble know by patting his head, alright?", she said. "Do I really need that chair…", I asked. "Of course you do! Stop complaining young lady, and come here", mom replied sternly. I nodded in defeat and let mom put me inside the chair. 'I hate to admit it, but this chair is really comfy… At least my butt will not hurt', I thought and took a look at grandpa. He was riding atop Sandy, and he only had a cushion just like mother. "Everyone ready?", mom asked. "Yes! Let's go!", I exclaimed. Slate led the way, while Pebble and Sandy followed him. They were fast, really fast. Even Suly couldn't compare to their speed. We quickly left our house behind, and entered the region called Wilderness.

Although the Wilderness was mostly empty, we encountered some animals on our way. Ognars were really big, grey in colour and walked on all fours. Ognars were not aggressive, as long as we didn't disturb them. We encountered a few small groups of them, but they didn't bother us at all. Mother also warned me about Scramblers. These creatures were not that friendly, and attacked anything on sight. She said we could encounter one on our way, but since Slate and others were there, we wouldn't have any problems with them.

After a few hours of travelling, I patted Pebble's head to take a break. Pebble released a loud howl before stopping, which made other Golem dogs stop as well. Mom got off of Slate's back, and let me out of the chair. "Are you hungry?", she asked. I wasn't really hungry that much, but told her we could eat something while taking a break. "Mom, how long will this take?", I asked. "Hmm... About a week, maybe a bit longer. Don't worry, we will get there in time", she replied. Grandpa didn't look so good though. "Are you alright grandpa?", I asked. "Hah, I think I'm too old for such adventures", he replied visibly tired.

"Father, you've been slacking too much. No wonder you got so tired already", mother said. "This daughter… You gave me one small cushion, and expect miracles", grandpa retorted. "Hoh? If you want, you can ride without one. How about that?", mom asked. "Anna, when did your mother become so evil…", grandpa cried out. "Mom, can't we do something about it? Grandpa is no longer young after all", I asked. "Alright old man, I will make a chair for you too", she said and went to work. "So my daughter still remembers how to be nice", grandpa said. "Now that I think about it…", mom started but grandpa quickly apologised. I found it funny how they interacted with each other.

It took some time, but mom made a simple chair for grandpa and attached it to Sandy. We resumed our journey once again, but it was rather boring. The scenery didn't change much, and there was nothing to watch really. Even though we travelled for so long, it felt like were barely moving. 'Just how big is the North?', I asked myself.

In the evening, we stopped to make an overnight camp. Mom had a tent prepared for that, she even had two beds in her storage item. "Daughter, you only brought out two beds…", grandpa complained. "Oh did I? Hmm, but I don't have more. What a shame", she replied. Grandpa again complained to me that mom was evil. "Mom can sleep with me, the bed is big enough for us to fit, right mom?", I said.

"It would be too uncomfortable for you my dear… Oh look at this, I do have one more bed after all", she replied. 'Mom is really evil…', I thought. That night passed uneventfully, and the next morning our trip resumed. In the afternoon, I spotted some clouds in the distance. 'Huh? Mom said there is no snow in the North, how come there are clouds?', I asked myself and patted Pebble's head.

We stopped shortly after, and I asked mom about it. "Not every cloud produces snow, you know? That place over there is where Voltars live. You know who Voltars are, right?", mom explained. "Then, why are there no clouds anywhere else?", I asked, still confused. "These clouds are a bit special you see. These are Electric Clouds, and they originate from Boltier, the city Voltars live in. Since the electric energy is so strong over there, those clouds can only form in this place", she replied.

"Can we visit them?", I asked full of hope. "Hmmm, maybe one day. If you work hard enough… Do you want to take a break?", she asked. I shook my head and told her I only wanted to ask about those clouds. Since mom didn't let me off of the chair, we resumed our trip shortly after that. For the next few days, the journey was rather mundane. Besides the Wilderness, nothing else of interest was around. This made me wonder, 'Why do we live so far away from pretty much anywhere remotely civilised?'.

Mom's explanation was peace and quiet. Although true, what about convenience and friends? Everything was far away, we had to grow everything by ourselves or someone had to bring stuff to us. I didn't have any friends I could see everyday either. Grandpa and others visited us, but they were much older than me. Only Leran was younger than me, meeting some people my age would be really great. 'Mom mentioned there will be some contests at the Arena. Perhaps I can make some friends there', I thought.

Another two days passed, and we finally arrived at the Land of Sands. The scenery changed a bit, but it was still as empty as Wilderness. Instead of trees, boulders and small caves filled my view. We had one more day of travel left, but we were almost there. While setting up the camp for the night, mom told me more about the Arena.

"In the past, Arena was used for battles only. The times changed, and although people fight each other sometimes, it's now mostly reserved for performances. Singing is really big right now, but you will have a chance to experience that yourself. When we arrive at the Arena, make sure to keep close to me, alright? There are many people visiting, and I don't want you to get lost", mom said. "I understand… Mom, you mentioned some sort of contests. Can I participate too?", I asked.

"Sure. You can have a look when we arrive. I think there will be a few contests, so you can choose whichever you feel comfortable with", she replied. "If they have any Formation contests, our little Anna will surely win", grandpa said. "I'm not that great grandpa. I can only draw the Runes, and any Formations I can create needs to be placed on the special paper… Although I can always give it a try", I replied. There was no point guessing, we would find out soon.

The next day, we encountered more people heading the same way we did. They either walked or used some sort of creatures to travel. When I asked mom about that, she said those creatures were called Tauruses. "Atols used to reared them in the past. Now though, these creatures are available in pretty much every city of the North", she added.

Tauruses were a bit pale red in colour, and had large horns atop their heads. They walked on all fours and stood taller than mom or grandpa. The Tauruses we saw had some bags and packages tied to them. "Mom, why are there so many things on them? Can't people use their storage items to keep those things?", I asked. "Some people have limited space, or simply don't want to clutter their storage items with those things. Tauruses are very strong though, and that is why they are used. They are really friendly too, especially if you treat them well", she replied.

I wondered why we didn't get Tauruses for ourselves? After all, we lived so far away from everywhere. 'I'd like to have a pet in the future, but I don't know whether mom would allow it or not', I thought. No matter what, we were getting closer to the Arena. Early in the afternoon, I could finally make out some sort of building in the distance. The closer we got, the better view I had. The Arena was a large round building with a few floors clearly visible from afar. Besides its size, there were loads of people surrounding it.

'They must be here for the performances too', I thought as my excitement reached new heights. Mom and Slate stopped just outside the entrance, and she let me out of the chair. "We are here love. The show will start in a few days, therefore we have some time to explore the Arena. Don't wander off by yourself, alright?", mom said. "Yes!", I replied excitedly. Mom took the chairs and other stuff off the Golem dogs, and bid them farewell. They would return after the show, and take us back home. "Shall we enter, Anna?", mom asked and extended her <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight">hand. "Yes! Let's go!", I replied and walked with mom towards the <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-word-highlight">entrance</msreadoutspan>.</msreadoutspan>