Chapter 27 part 4

Beth couldn't say she was surprised that Ralph wasn't taking the news very well. The leaders were adament that they wait for the runners they'd sent to find out about the smoke return before they would move on. The sun was now nearing the horizon, so she could easily say that they'd been waiting there for a few hours already.

Beth wondered if they should just tell the pronghorn-kin to find their own way and take off themselves. Even she was starting to get bored. While she'd like to be able to start reading one of the books that she'd gotten Heathcliff to put in their packs so they could keep from eing as bored while they walked, she also didn't want to have anyone missing while they read any of them.

She had planned that each of them would take turns reading a book and they would all get to enjoy it. Though, they still had yet to figure out who won the bet about the season and time of day when they'd first arrived. Mostly because they hadn't had the time to focus on that.

Finally, Ralph heard something that seemed like it got him moving. He'd finished his nap a while ago and had been pacing around since. Which had started to get on Beth's nerves.

"Something happen?" Beth asked.

"I think so, but I'm not sure what. It sounded like the runners they'd sent out are back," Ralph replied, his attention clearly elsewhere.

Beth shrugged. If nothing else, this would be a nice break from the monotony. "Well, why not see the leaders now?" Beth asked. "After all, they were waiting for their runners to get back before we continued on, right?"

"Yeah," Ralph replied. "If nothing else, it'll let us know just how serious they are about seeing the place we know their people can be safe."

Beth shook her head at how Ralph worded that. It almost sounded like they were their guides and protectors or something. When all they were really was more along the lines of people who helped them as thy were merely passing along.

Following Ralph, partly because she was getting rather bored herself and they'd run out of pronghorn-kin who had gotten hurt, even if it was merely a twisted ankle that occurred while they were walking.

When they arrived at where the leaders were, they didn't even need to ask if they were going to continue on, like they'd said they would, since the leaders were ready to continue on. Not only that, but they were already telling everyone around them that they were to start walking again. Although, she had to rely on Ralphs translation for that part, since she was still at Ralph's mercy in regards to communication with the pronghorn-kin.

Sighing, Beth used her magic to let Wes, Amelia, Hannah, and Tim know about getting ready to move out again. After all, she could talk with them using their magic, so she figured, why not?

Maybe it was just having to have helped out on this problem rather than really focusing on the expedition, but she couldn't help but feel like she wasn't doing anything. If Charlie was with them, then at least they could have started on the reading she'd been hoping to do during this expedition.

Or maybe it was how this whole process of getting the pronghorn-kin moving was driving her almost as crazy as it seemed like it was doing to Ralph.

Beth sighed as the pronghorn-kin camp started to move. It was going towards the direction they'd been pushing the leaders to go, so that was at least good. Though, she wished they'd move just a little quicker, at least with all the stopping they'd been doing through the day.

As the walked along, Beth couldn't help but start to wonder what Charlie was thinking about with how long it was taking them to get to Petals' forest. Part of her was wondering if maybe Charlie had taken the opportunity to start exploring and searching for gates herself. Despite not having the method Heathcliff had shown Tim how to find the gates.

According to Tim, it made him want to go in the direction the nearest gate was. When he knew he didn't want that gate, he would have to focus on the next strongest pull. Beth didn't really understand it, but Tim seemed to, so as long as it worked, Beth couldn't really care less about it. Although, apparently if there wasn't a gate in a certain amount of distance, then he wouldn't feel anything.

Then as they reached the slope that they'd walked down the day before when they were first looking for the source of the smoke that turned out to be the pronghorn-kin's village, she noticed a slowing of the group. It didn't seem like the direction to stop had been given, but she couldn't explain why everyone ahead of her was slowing down.

So, she quickly passed by the pronghorn-kin, knowing Ralph was doing the same, when she heard Tim call out to her with his magic –Uh, guys, I think all of you should come up to the front. There's something you're going to want to see.–

Beth shook her head, picking up her pace. She couldn't help but wonder what it could be, but didn't think that it was anything good. Although, she hoped that it wasn't because they found Charlie hurt or anything.

While it took a bit of navigating around all the people, eventually she made it to the front with Ralph right behind her. A minute later Amelia and Wes showed up. All of them were struggling to catch their breath from the exertion of moving so quickly up the slope, despite have a couple minutes of downhill travel after they'd crested the rise.

Tim and Hannah were both still sitting on their raptors, but before them was a man. He had roundish ears on his head, much like pictures she'd seen of bears, so she was going to assume that this man was a bear-kin. Unless she was told otherwise. He had red-brown hair, was a little chubby, and brown eyes. While she couldn't be sure, she had the sense that his bulk might be more muscle than fat, but she was sure a portion of it was still fat.

She heard Ralph sigh about the same time she first noticed him. To Beth, that meant Ralph had seen him as well and knew that his translation services were required then.

"He came out and said something. Then the pronghorn-kin stopped and wouldn't go forward any bit," Tim said to them quietly as they walked next to him and Hannah.

"Maybe it's nothing, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Beth replied, just as quietly.

"What can we help you with," Ralph asked.

The man said something to Ralph, making Ralph look rather startled. Beth wasn't sure she liked seeing that happen. She had a feeling she might not like the reasons behind it, either.

The man said something else while Ralph hesitated to say anything back. Still Ralph didn't say anything, so Beth moved next to him and whispered, "What's going on? What did he say?"

Ralph cleared his throat and then said to the man. "Yes, I'm Ralph. These are my friends too. So, what about Charlie?"

At Charlie's name, Beth felt flags raise up in her mind. Fast. She wasn't sure what had occurred, but she was sure that Charlie's name should have been mentioned to begin with. After all, she was supposed to have already gone through to Petals' forest with the other pronghorn-kin.

"What's he saying?" Wes whispered to Ralph.

Ralph merely shook his head as the man said something, pointing in the direction to the right of them, in the rough direction of where they'd come from. Beth glanced and saw a spot on the ground that was still covered in burned plant life.

Since Charlie's name was mentioned and she knew Charlie was especially proficient with flames with her magic, she had to assume that Charlie had run into unexpected trouble. Might explain how this man knew Charlie's name, but not really why he was there and apparently waiting for them.

The man said something else and pointed up towards the top of the mountain. Beth sighed. She wasn't sure she liked what she thought he was trying to tell them. Though, she knew she still needed to wait for Ralph to translate for them.

"Uhhhhhh," Ralph said, and for a minute Beth worried that he'd been broken. "Well, it looks like Charlie didn't go into Petals' forest after all."

"Wait, what?" Hannah blurted.

"Yeah," Ralph continued, sounding rather sheepish. "Apparently she was confronted by deer-kin here and roasted some of them and then was taken up to the bear-kin village."

Beth sighed. She hoped that meant Charlie was still safe. Although, it did mean they probably had a change of destination now, and with all the walking she'd done so far, she worried about what it might mean for them. She wasn't looking forward to climbing that slope, but she had a sinking suspicion that that's where they were heading.

"Looks like we're climbing this mountain slope," Ralph said. "Apparently the elder of the bear-kin would like to speak with us. I guess Charlie showed them not only about us, but about our world and all that."

"What do you mean by 'showed them?'" Tim asked.

"Uh, I think she used her magic to send them images or something," Ralph answered. "I'm not really sure myself, but we could ask her once we get up there."

"Should we bring all the pronghorn-kin?" Amelia asked. "I'm not sure they'll be safe if they just wait here for us to get back, and I don't know how long it'll take all of them to climb the slope."

"Uh, before we follow you," Ralph asked the bear-kin man before them. "We were wondering if all the pronghorn-kin should follow you up the slope?"

The man looked out over the pronghorn-kin group and seemed to think for a minute. Then, he turned back to Ralph and said something.

"He said they should if we didn't have a better alternative," Ralph said, sounding as tired of this whole ordeal as Beth as at the moment.

"Why don't you guys follow him and I'll show the pronghorn-kin the rest of the way to Arachii's world?" Beth suggested. "I'll start up once I'm sure everyone will make it there."

"How about we take care of that and once that's going, then we could follow this guy up the slope," Hannah suggested. "I mean, we could then ride raptors up the slope and not only save a lot of time, but give our poor feet a chance to rest."

Beth almost rolled her eyes at Hannah's statement. Hannah and Tim had been able to ride around on their raptors all day, so she knew that Hannah hadn't had to get her feet tired from walking herself, but at the same time, she knew her own feet would love a chance to rest. Even though they're weren't hurting, they were definitely wanting to take a long, long break.

"I like that idea," Beth said, as Tim and Amelia voiced their support.

Ralph smiled as he then turned back to the bear-kin man. "We thought that we could start moving the pronghorn-kin through Petals' forest and then we could start up the slope," he said. "That way we could get that moving and they wouldn't slow us down as much." Ralph paused for a moment as he glanced over towards the pronghorn-kin. "Besides, I think taking all of them up the slope would take well into the night to complete."

The man looked over the pronghorn-kin again and sighed. He said something else and Ralph grinned. Beth couldn't help but smiling as well. Even without Ralph translating for them, she was sure the man had just agreed to their suggestion.

So, Beth led the pronghorn-kin through Petals' forest and to Arachii's world. Then she helped them get a camp by the stream set up, to the side of the arachnoid's encampment. The pronghorn-kin seemed nervous about the arachnoids, but Beth did her best to calm them down. Although, she couldn't be sure how well she managed it.

She wished Ralph would have come to help translate and establish communications with them, but he still didn't want the arachnoids to know he could understand them. Beth couldn't fathom why he was that way, but nothing they said seemed to get him to budge on that point.

So, she had no choice but to hope out things would work out. Then on her way back to the world the pronghorn-kin came from, she realized something as she passed through by the sequoia in the center of the forest. That if they succeeded in finding the griffin canyon that the crystal had fallen into, they would return to this time and in essence, live parallel to themselves. Which meant if they came through the forest regularly during their travels, then they could easily run into themselves, potentially making a paradox or something.

Such as learning something that they weren't supposed to lern until later. Though, on the other hand, if they did learn something, then that probably would just make that knowledge circular in its origin. Which would merely make it less of a paradox and more of a point in their shared history.

As Beth thought about it, she felt a headache coming on. She really didn't want to deal with that and couldn't help but wonder if they should establish some ground rules in regards to going through Petals' forest. Especially since it could mean that they might run into themselves without expecting it.

At the very least, getting the pronghorn-kin through to safety was their primary goal right now, but once they had the base established around the entrance to Petals' forest, then they should have a base in which they could send word to Heathcliff if they needed something or to refresh supplies.

Although, that's assuming he's able to get communications with any of the people that he's met with. Which would mean the arachnoids at the moment, but at the same time, Beth wouldn't be surprised if he learned about the pronghorn-kin soon enough as well.

Then As Beth squeezed through the entrance to Petals' forest back at the pronghorn-kin's world, she noticed some of the children passing by. Briefly she wondered if they children would be able to become their first translators, since she had once read somewhere that children learned new languages fast until they turned about seven years-old.

"Okay, Ralph," Beth said as she approached her friends. "Let him know we're ready to go." Beth paused as she looked out over the pronghorn-kin waiting for their turn to go through Petals' roest. "I'm sure they'll be able to make it to Arachii's world without trouble."

"I'll let Emea know," Ralph replied.

"Emea?" Beth asked, a little confused.

"Oh, while you were gone, Ralph talked with the guy who let us know about Charlie going up the slope and apparently his name is 'Emea,'" Tim answered.

Beth sighed. "Well, at least we should get some mounts, right?"

Tim grinned wryly at Beth. "Of course. I should have enough strength left for that," he said. Then as he glanced at Emea, he added, amusement clear in his voice, "Though, I wonder what he'll think of it."

Beth couldn't help but chuckle herself. "Oh, before I forget, we'll need to talk about how often we should go through Petals' forest," she said.

"Why's that?" Wes asked.

"Think about it," Bet answered. "If we get done what we're setting out for with finding that griffin canyon, then we'll go back to the day we left, right?"

"I see," Amelia said. "The Terminator kind of time travel, right?"

"Uh, not quite," Beth said. "Its more like the Harry Potter kind of time travel. Where we might influence ourselves if we run into each other. Or maybe our future selves might think of us as a threat or something." Beth hadn't thought about the last part until that moment, but couldn't deny the potential. "After all, we can't say what we might encounter on this expedition that might affect our perspective on things like that."

"Good point," Hannah said. "Though, I think Ralph would still try to do that if we're not careful."

"Maybe, but let's get going," Tim said, creating seven raptors for them, each complete with a hackamore and saddle.

"Come on, Ralph," Amelia called out to Ralph, as she mounted her raptor and took the reins in her hands. "Let's get going!"

Ralph glanced at them a moment before turning back to Emea. "Ever ridden a raptor before?"

Emea looked confused and Beth really wished she could understand what he said in response. Especially with how uneasy his expression looked.

"It's okay," Ralph assured him. "It'll just get us up the slope faster. We can even take it slow if you'd like."

Beth settled in the saddle on her raptor and held the reins attached to the hackamore on her raptor. Ralph might be willing to go slow, but she was ready to get to their destination so she could just rest for a while.

Charlie couldn't help but be bored. The 'doctors' had treated her wound and she was grateful for that, but she couldn't say that she wasn't happy with how long it took for her shirt to get back to her.

She had admantly refused to leave until her shirt had finished getting mended. She didn't care to explain, only that until her shirt was returned, she was keeping the blanket. It was clear the bear-kin didn't understand why, but Charlie didn't really feel like explaining her reasons. Mostly because she just wanted to rest while she waited.

Though, that presented other problems, given she didn't have anything else to do. She was pretty sure that some books had been put in her pack, but with her pack being not with her, she couldn't even take one out to just peruse it, if nothing else.

When her shirt was finally returned, she couldn't help but smile at it, even with the stitching that could clearly be seen on the back. Partly because it was a pastel pink shirt and Charlie doubted they had the methods to dye the thread the same color.

"Thanks," Charlie told the bear-kin when they handed her back her shirt.

Then, without wasting any time, Charlie put the blanket completely over herself as she pulled her shirt over her head and pulled it down around herself.

When she was done, she willingly relinquished the blanket and calmly walked out of the tent. Only to see the man who had set her out alone against the deer-kin waiting for her.

"Is that shirt really that important to you?" he asked.

"It's important enough to me," Charlie replied, trying to sound casual, but couldn't help but feel a little worried that she sounded more defensive than she wanted to.

"So, what is it that is-" the man stopped when there was a very loud and very shrill whistle sound that could be heard from below them on the slope. "Something is coming up the slope. Fast."

Charlie couldn't help but wonder if it was her friends. If it was, then she'd at least have a story to tell them, but if it wasn't, then she couldn't help but be curious as to what it was. Especially since she didn't know much else about this world.

"It could be my friends," Charlie commented, mostly to keep the man from making any decisions that could be bad if it was her friends, as shrill whistles sounded out, one after another in rapid succession below them.

Although, as she thought about it, she realized she should ask him what his name was, but with how long she'd been around him, she felt weird asking him that now. After all, she'd had most of the day, including while she was under that blanket waiting for her shirt to get mended.

"It probably is your friends," the man said. "We've never known anything that moves that fast up the slopes. Maybe there is something that lives outside of these mountains, but if there is, it hasn't been brought to these mountains yet."

Charlie nodded, feeling a little relaxed about that, though the shrill whistles were getting on her nerves. Especially with how much louder they kept going, but to her that meant that her friends were getting closer.

She didn't have to wait long, though she knew she could have gone back into the bear-kin village and waited for them there, but she wanted to be there when her friends reached this point. Partly so she could learn how things went for them as well as to tell them everything that she'd had go on for her with the bear-kin.

She felt the excitement build up inside of her and it briefly occurred to her how much she'd changed through most of the past year. While technically it was still a few days away from the new year, she couldn't help but suddenly start to reflect on it, recalling how closed off she had been to others. Yet, now she was feeling excited to see others and tell them about what she'd been doing since she last saw them. At the last new years, she knew that she would have been already heading to her pack and not caring to learn what they'd had happen to them.

She couldn't help but feel a little stunned at the change. Not only that, but she knew that she cared about what happened to her friends. While before, she wouldn't have given much thought if they had gotten hurt. Largely because she was so focused on avoiding opening up to others.

Charlie shook her head as she saw her friends come into view. A big smile forming on her face as she saw them, all looking well. Although, she couldn't help but feel a little concerned when she saw the dried blood on Beth's face in the late afternoon light.

"Charlie!" she heard Beth call out to her. "What're you doing here? Weren't you supposed to go into Petals' forest and not a detour?"

"Well, I had some unexpected encounters along the way," Charlie called back as they rode their raptors up to them.

Charlie couldn't help but be amused at how green Emea's face looked as he nearly fell when he dismounted his raptor. Despite all that had happened, including having to be under that blanket to keep from walking around with her bra as a top, she felt like they weren't going to have any more troubles, at least on this world, That now that they were all together again, they'd be able to get things taken care of with the pronghorn-kin so they could get going on their expedition again.