chapter 2

I looked at her and said "do you want me to see if I can use this spell so you don't have to talk in front of everyone" she nodded her head and so I took another look at the page then crafted the script and said hello with my thoughts just to see if I had done it correctly.  A couple of seconds went by before I heard Rain say in my head "hello can you hear my thoughts"  I replied with "yes I can hear your thoughts, so what's up what did you want to talk about."  She looked down at the ground then said "would you be willing to adopt me into your family cause I don't really have family."  I moved only my eyes so that I could look at her the said "what about everyone that works along with you as apprentices under the head mage Lisa"  she replied with "they just act kind to me when the head mage is around but when she is gone on assignments or doing something important for the king they all tell me I am worthless and that I will never become a great mage like Lisa and that I should just quite before I drag everyone else down."  I took my arm and put it around Rain and pulled her a little closer which caught the attention of Jack and the princess.  then Jack asked ". Shirio what are you doing pulling her so close to you" I looked at jack and said when we get back to the castle I would like to make Rain here my little sister if that is possible."    

He looked at me and then said "let me guess she told you what all the other apprentices have been telling her"  I looked at him a little surprised then said "if you knew this was happening then why haven't you done anything to stop it and help her out because people can only take so much."  then Jack said "what could I have done or said to make them stop and even if I talked to the others they would have just kept doing it when Me and the head Mage were out on official business."  I replied with "if talk does not work then you help her break out of her shell like she has been wanting someone to help her out with but has been unable to find someone she could really trust because she felt like no matter what no one would really truly be there to see her grow."  Jack looked kind of taken aback by that statement then ask me "how do you know what she feels like and what she is thinking"  I looked at him ad said "because I have use to just watch people and there situations but did not feel obligated to do any thing because I did not know that and some people have died because of situations like that but now that I'm in a new world I'm going to do things differently."  Jack looked as if he had something else to say but the princess cut him off before he could say a word and said "do you intend to see her get a happy ending no matter the situation you might be put in because of what she might say or do."  I looked at the princess and said "I will protect her no matter what cause that is what family is for and I will always help her no matter what or who will stand in my way this I promise with my life."

he princess stared into my eyes as if she was trying to pear into my soul and see what I was really thinking so I just stared back and said nothing as she was trying to get an actual read on what I might be trying to do in adopting Rain into my family.  So she said "I want to know once she is your little sister what do you plan on doing with her or to her if you don't mind me asking you."  I looked at her then said "look if you think I have some kind of ulterior motive as to why I want Rain to be part of my family then you would be dead wrong cause to tell you the truth I have always wanted a little sister and further more I want to help her see that she really is worth more than she could have ever thought possible."  She looked at Jack and said "I didn't even hear the truth bell go off once so that means that everything he just told us is the truth"  Jack looked at the princess.  Then he said "it seems like everything he said came straight from his heart and its as if he truly wishes to take care of Rain no matter what but alas you can't make the final verdict only your father can do that but if he wins the tournament then his wish will be granted no matter what it is."  When I looked at Rain I could see that she was starting to nod off so I asked "Rain did you stay up all night doing research or something like that" she looked at me and nodded. 

 Then said "I use to be able to sleep peacefully but there have been nights where I would wake up in the middle of the night to find out that I had been taken out of my room and moved to a different part of the castle."  As she had finished that sentence I took hold of the side of her head and pushed her head onto my thigh and said "no one will do that hear so why don't you get some sleep while we are still traveling to the mountain and I will wake you up when we get there okay so sleep tight."  I could feel my leg start to get wet but I didn't mind it at all because I new that she was crying tears of joy at the fact that there were people like me who would take care of her and always be there no matter what.  In a matter of a couple minutes I could tell by the soft breaths that grazed my leg that she was asleep then Jack said "before..."  then I quickly cut him off by saying in a whisper "shhhhh she is asleep and I want to keep it that way till we get to the mountain so whisper please."  Jack nodded his head and said before we get to the very bottom of the mountain there will be a check point that we have to pass through do you think you can handle the plan I am about to tell you."  I looked at him and said I will hear your plan but I would like you to hear mine first is that ok" he nodded his head and so I continued by saying "I will have Rain pose as my real sister once we get there and I will have her put one ear as close to her head as possible as if it had been cut off and I will hid her face as well.  I will tell the guard that we were on the run from our mother who was very abusive to my sister just because she was a girl and she did not act that way until our father left because he fell in love with another woman and she thought it was because my mother had given birth to only one son instead of two.  

So she acted like she only had one child but I made sure to take care of my sister when I was at home but one day when I came home after collecting wood for a fire so that we could cook dinner my mother had cut off one of my sisters ears and so I knocked my mother away from my sister.  Then yelled at her and asked her why then told her to shut up as she was about to reply cause anything she could ever say would never bee good enough to justify this kind of behavior and I also told her that I would be leaving the house and taking my sister with me.  Since that time my sister will trust no one but me and she wont even look at any one because she feels like no one in this world will love her because of the way she looks except for her brother."  Jack looked at me with a look of surprise then said lets see how that plan goes because I was just going to show them the royal crest and explain to the guards who we are."  Then I said "we will have to explain why there is a royal night with us which means that the princess will have to play the role of a herbalist who is out here to search for rare herbs that only grow at this time of year on that mountain.  And that as you were about to pass us by you had the driver stop the carriage and then you asked us who we were we explained our situation to you then you told us you would take us in as your apprentices and you would teach us about the plants that are on the mountain and what the are used for."  Jack just nodded his head in agreement and so did the princess then jack said "I will have to leave the bell somewhere around here so that it doesn't ring while you are telling your story at the checkpoint in about two hours time."

we rode in silence for the next hour and half then I woke rain up after jack had asked the driver to stop the carriage so that he could hide the bell of truth before we got to the checkpoint at the bottom of the mountain.  I then explained the plan to her and then after another half hour of riding we finally made it to the bottom of the mountain and we were stopped at the checkpoint and the guard came to our door opened it.  He asked "what business do you have here and who are these two that are with you"  Jack then replied "we are here to study the herbs that grow in this region at this time of year and we are to pick some so that we can research at the castle.  These two were traveling by the road when we picked them up and the girl is hurt pretty bad but she won't let anyone touch here but the young man who told us that they were brother and sister and that they were running from home because of there mother and how she mistreated her daughter because she thought that her husband had left her because she didn't give birth to a second son."  The guard turned towards me and then reached out and grabbed my sisters hood and as he was about to pull it back rain pulled herself away from him and then her hood came off her head revealing to the guard that she was missing an ear and that she had a large bruise on the back of her neck.  Then he apologized for what he had done then he closed the door and told the guards in front of the carriage to let us through cause everything checked out and they are friendlies.  

The carriage started to move again and so after a while the spell wore off and jack asked "how did you get the spell to work like that without having to use it multiple time like we normally have to do."  I looked at him and said "all I did was rewrite the script to fit in all that I wanted them to see it was that simple cause in the world I came from I was a programmer."  They all looked at me and I could tell they were interested in what my former life in the world I came from so I told them about my child hood and how I went to college to be a programmer for videogames which is entertainment in the world that I was from.  By the time I finally finished my story we made it to the base camp located at the bottom of the mountain which the carriage was stopped at but the princess said "I don't recognize any of these men but just play along with them ok, is that understood you two."  Jack and I nodded our heads in agreement to this but we did not like where this event my lead to later on which had me worried cause these men were looking at me and jack like we were just going to be push overs and that we were nothing to be really scared of.  Jack and I stayed on guard just in case these guys tried something while we were unpacking some of our gear so that we could start up the mountain and be at least half way up it by the time night falls.  

We got all our gear together and then proceeded up the mountain and I noticed that our driver was talking to one of the men who looked as if he was the leader of this group which meant if we wanted to leave this place alive and with everyone we might have to fight them all later.  I took the time to rewrite the script for the telepathy spell so that I could tell everyone what I though was going to happen and what we might have to do if we wanted to leave this place and about the driver speaking to someone who looked like the leader of this group.  We got half way up the mountain just as the sun was just a little bit past three o'clock so we decided that just before the sun was setting that we would make a camp and get some sleep but one of us would stand guard till midnight then the other guy would stand guard till morning.  Jack and I started picking up wood along the way so that we could have a nice fire going as we slept that night and so that we could keep back any predators that were hunting at night and so that we could see anyone if the tried to sneak up on us. at about 5:30 that afternoon we decided to stop and set up camp so that we could all rest our tired bodies before we finished our hike tomorrow and reached our destination which would be the main door to the library of the wolf clans kingdom which has a lot of spells and other things like knowledge of herbs, the body functions, and even books on advancements in spell construction.  Jack got a fire started so that we could cook some fish, if we can catch any in the river that we built our camp by and lucky for us Rain had a book that had a spell for catching fish with a rod made out of magic which I thought was really cool.  I patted Rain on the head and told her that I was glad that she was with us,  and how we could always count on her to know what book we would need in all situations and after I told her this she started to blush a little bit and smiled very happily because of the compliment that I had just given her.  Jack and I caught enough fish for all of us two have two fish and they weren't scrawny fish they were nice and big and had a lot of meat on them so that we would all be filled up and so that our bodies would be able to us those nutrients to replenish our strength for tomorrows hike up the mountain to our destination which by my calculations was maybe another seven hours from where we are camped now.  

After we had cooked and ate the fish me and jack played rock paper scissors to see who would take first watch over the camp so that the rest could sleep with peace in mind that no one would be able to come close to the camp without being seen.  After about three rounds of rock-paper-scissors it was decided that jack would take first watch so Rain showed him a spell that would allow him to see even in pitch black darkness.  then she showed me the spell so that I could use it when it was my turn to watch over the camp and to make sure that since I was going to be leading us into the wolf clans library I could see any traps that were placed in the dark.  Right before I went to bed jack came up to me and said "I never really got to say this while we were back at the castle but I am sorry for the way I treated you and I am sorry that I doubted that you would be of any use to use while we were on this trip other to guide us."  I looked at him and said "It's ok if I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing to tell you the truth so please think nothing of it you were simply just doing what you thought was the right thing to do in that situation."  It looked to me that he was relieved to hear that and he probably felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off his chest, he left so that he could take up his guard position at the front of the camp and then he would walk around the edge of the camp to make sure that no one would be able to come at our camp from any direction without being seen.  

At midnight jack came over to where I was sleeping and shook me and said "hey Shiroi its your turn to watch the camp while I get some sleep and replenish the magic that I had used so that I could protect the camp."  I slowly rolled over and opened my eyes and looked jack in the face then I sat up so that the potential of me falling back asleep would go down then after sitting like that for a couple of minutes I stood up and stretched my whole body.  I then cast the night vision spell and instead of seeing a bunch of silhouettes I could now see every thing as if it was day time.  I walked to the edge of the camp and then did the same thing as Jack had done while he had been guarding the camp and then at about 6:00 in the morning the light started to touch the landscape at the top of the mountain.  And slowly making its way down the mountain towards our base camp and I guessed that the sun would reach us by about 6:45 and that would be a good time for me to wake every one up so that we could trek that last of the journey before 4:00 in the afternoon.  That is including all the breaks we might take to rest our feet every now and then, so that we aren't too exhausted when we get to the library that we have to take several breaks inside the halls of said library.  

As soon as the sun hit our base camp the first and only one to wake up without me actually having to wake them up was Aria then I woke jack up while Aria tried to wake up Rain but to no avail.  Aria walked over to me just as Jack was sitting up while rubbing one of his eyes and said "Rain won't get up so it looks like you or Jack will have to carry her on one of your backs at least till she wakes up."  I looked at her an said " I will carry her on my back because Jack has enough to carry with all the armor he is wearing plus his sword as well plus I want him to bring up the rear guard so that way if we get attacked from the back while I'm leading the way he won't have to worry about protecting not only himself but Rain as well and his movements will be a lot more restricted if he has Rain with him."  She looked at me a little shocked that I had thought of a solution to our problem almost instantly she then walked away and got ready to move out and so I went over to Rain and put her on my back so that if I tripped I wouldn't have to worry about trying to turn around in mid fall so that she wouldn't get hurt.  I then looked over at where Jack and Aria were and it seemed like they were ready to move out when ever I was so I looked ahead and started the last trek we have to make to get to the library.  After we had walked for about an hour and a half Rain finally opened here eyes and said " um big brother why are you carrying me on your back?"  I looked at her and said "that is because you were fast asleep and we didn't want to make a lot of noise trying to wake you up which would have woken up some of the animals and some of them would more than likely tried to kill us for waking them up which I didn't want any of you guys to get hurt."  I could feel her hug my back a little tighter after that and she also asked me in a whisper if she could stay like this for a little bit longer and I nodded my head which her response to that was to nuzzle her cheek into my back which I found to be very cute.             

And I thought to myself I hope that with me around now she can have a better life than what she use to have and maybe I can rebuild the country my people lost, so that she can start a new life without worrying about people bullying her.  Then she can finally have a life without to much to worry about other than studying magic and all of its uses and the affects of each spell if the structure is changed in specific parts.  After we had been walking for another half hour Rain finally woke up and said " big brother  you can put me down now I can walk but may I hold your hand while we walk."  I looked at her and said " sure if that will make you happy then I don't mind at all" so I stoped so that I could put her down and and after that I held out my hand so that she could take my hand into hers and once she did that we continued to walk the last five hour trek to the entrance of the library.  Once we got there i asked rain "is there a spell thatb will let me detect traps and also let me so how the structural intergaty of the building  that way i can map out the best rout we should take to get to the library without having to worry about something falling on us."  Rain looked at me then said "there is one of each spell but i don't know what type of reaction you will get if you combine them but if its you who does it I'm sure that you can do it cause you can do anything isn't that right big brother."  

 After she said that she looked up at with the cutest puppy dog expression I have ever seen so I couldn't find the strength to tell her no or even say that I might fail and I realized if it would give her a smile I would do everything I could to get all the spells I could learn working on the first try no matter how difficult that might be for other mages to do.  she then showed me the structure of both spells and then I closed my and pictured each structure separately but did not imbue them with magic instead I broke them apart and then started to put them both together piece by piece like a puzzle.  After that I could just tell that it was going to work then I started to poor magic into the newly structured spell that I had just combined using two different search magic spells to make one using the best parts of them both with some modifications to its range as well as its mapping ability.  After I put magic into the spell I some how new how to make an external map of the area using a spell that I didn't know I knew but I felt like something had helped me but I don't know what.  After I performed bot spells I opened my eyes to see how much of the map was complete and to my surprise the entirety of the halls and all of the library had been completely mapped out in just a short time.  I looked at the others and they were so suprised at my magical prowess that their jaws had dropped open and then