Chapter 17
"Ugh! I thought you said we were close!" Cielo whined
We had been walking since morning. It was the middle of the day...Safe to say that this kingdom was not as close as we thought.
"I don't know anymore! This map isn't exactly easy to read." I said
The map only had the kingdom names and X marks above them. Other than the obvious trees on the corner, it was hard to tell how far anything was. It's like a child wrote this.
"Hopefully we find some shade. This branch isn't going to make it another day" Luna said as she leaves fell from the branch she held over her head.
Luckily, she noticed that there weren't as many trees in the field of grass we were walking through so she brought a branch for herself. Only herself.
"You know you could have brought extras for us" Cielo said
"If you have enough energy to whine, you have energy to shut up" she said
He huffed but kept quiet. We continued walking.
"Hey, what's that?" Cielo pointed to a blob in the far distance.
"Do we really want to check it out?" Luna asked
"Yes" Cielo and I said simultaneously
"What if it's dangerous?"
"What if it's food?" I asked
As we walked towards the blob, we found a child laying in front of a small carrier.
"Oh God, is he alright?" Luna asked
"Gee...I don't know. Why don't you ask the child laying out here in the middle of this heat?" Cielo asked sarcastically
I rolled the child on its back. He had light purple hair down to the middle of his back and odd white clothes that covered his entire body from head to toe. He didn't exactly wear shoes. Instead, they were connected with his pants and made from what looked like a type of cloth.
I checked his pulse like the man from the dream did. Not knowing what to look for, I waited to feel something. I don't think I'm doing this right. Wait. I fell something pulsing.
Oh! I get it. It's his heart beat.
"He's alive" I said
I picked the boy up from the ground. He was extremely light for his size.
"Wait! Wait! We are not taking him with us! We don't have enough food supplies for us let alone another mouth" Cielo said
"Well, we can't leave him here." I said "He'll die"
"...Fine. But you're sharing your food and water with him" he said
We walked past the blob on the ground where we found the boy. It was square shaped and didn't look familiar in any way.
"I wonder where he came from" Luna said
"Dunno. We'll find out when he wakes up" I said
"If" Cielo said from in front of us
"When" Luna and I snapped
We continued until we came across a road. Next to it was a sign that said "WARNING: NO TRESPASSING"
"Is that warning ment for us us or the people on the other side?" Luna asked
"Who cares? There's people close by!" Cielo said
We continued along this path until we found a house further along the road.
It was covered in vines and almost engulfed by the grass around it.
We knocked on the door but no one came out.
"Should we just walk in?" I asked
"I guess so" Luna replied
"Anyone here? Can I come in? I'm coming in!" Cielo yelled and pushed past the door
At least wait for an answer…
As soon as he walked in he started backing out.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going in?" I asked
"D-don't go in" he said pushing us back
"Why?" Luna asked
I pushed past him and saw what freaked him out. In the middle of the house was a chair and on that chair was a pile of what looked like human bones.
I pushed everyone out and slammed the door.
"There was a pile of bones in there" I said
"What?!" Luna yelled "What does that mean?"
"It means that the people here are crazy and we should head back!" Cielo yelled
"We can't! We need to forget this and keep moving forward" I said
"But what if we end up like the bones?" Cielo asked
"I literally have a sword inside my arm" I said "I can protect us"
"No we don't. My weapon hasn't come out since the wedding." Luna said "Haven't you noticed?"
Not really. I haven't even tried once.
I held my hand out. My bones cracked a bit and my skin rippled but went back to normal.
"Well shit" I whispered
"Great! Do still we need to keep moving forward?" He asked
I nodded
He sighed and looked up. The sun was setting.
"We'll have to camp here for the night" he said
"Now that's where I cross the line" I said
"Oh really? Tell me. What made the all powerful Estrella quiver in her shoes? The bones? The fact that animals could possibly be praying on us right now?" He asked
"Ghost"
Silence.
"You can sleep with me if that will make sleeping easier" Luna said
I looked down and nodded shyly.
We settled down for the night and went to sleep. Oddly enough, I found myself very comfortable sleeping next to Luna. Not enough to sleep though.
Luna slapped her hand over my eyes. "Sleep. No ghosts" she said sleepily
"Pfft"
I slept with ease after that.