Chapter 42 part 4

"Well, first, there was an attack on the village, you were supposed to help protect Cinder's family, but then I guess you went ahead of them as they evacuated their home where you got hit in the back of your head somehow and knocked out. So, later when Tim brought Beth to where you were, Beth healed you, and she was out of commission after that. I guess she used more magic to save you than she realized."

"Yeah, fine. Alright," Amelia said impatiently. "How long was I out?"

"Uh, let me think," Ralph said, trying to recall exactly how long it'd been. "Uh, I guess maybe a day and a half or so?"

He wasn't really sure, since he couldn't say when Beth healed Amelia or when she'd gotten hit. All he knew was that it was the day before yesterday when the attack had happened.

"Ugh, that doesn't really tell me what attack you're talking about," she growled. "I get what I said I'd do and all that, but that doesn't tell me anything about the attack."

Ralph sighed and did his best to explain what had happened. He expected Amelia to interrupt him her and their with questions or requests for clarifications, but she listened quietly. He wasn't sure if that was because she didn't have any questions or parts where she was a little fuzzy on, or if it was because telling the children the gender-swapped Cinderella story was still bothering him, given it wasn't as simple as telling them the story, from the beginning to the end.

Amelia sighed when Ralph finished. "Yeah, that's a lot to happen," she merely said, but didn't elaborate on it.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked, wondering if there was something that he might be able to get out of her that might explain what it was that she had been doing where she'd been attacked.

Amelia shook her head. "Not really. The last thing I remember was when we were separating for the morning. When Beth tried explaining why that punching contest thing was such a good idea over letting Embris get in a fight with the other girls."

"Yeah, the attack happened later that day," Ralph said.

"No duh," Amelia retorted. "I might not be the smartest one here, but I'm not stupid, okay?"

"In that case, I'll just let you be then," Ralph replied, not wanting to deal with Amelia when she got like this.

"Well, tell me. Has anything been planned for what we're going to do when we're done here?" Amelia asked as Ralph started to walk away.

"Not really. We were partly waiting for you to wake up and waiting for Beth and Hannah to recover," he said.

"Wait, what happened to Hannah?" Amelia demanded, standing up.

"During the start of the attack, she'd gotten injured and used most of her magic saving herself, but then she broke an arm and leg, so she's pretty much a talking paperweight at the moment," Ralph explained succinctly as he continued to walk away.

"You're a walking paperweight, Ralph. You know that right?" Amelia said dryly.

"Maybe, but at least I can still use my magic. I only wore myself out with all I did. I didn't overextend myself like Beth did."

"From what you told me, she overextended herself because she was saving my life, so I'd say she's more than justified in being able to take it easy," Amelia informed Ralph.

"Whatever," Ralph replied, shrugging. He certainly didn't care to carry on this conversation if he could help it. Especially since Amelia was clearly not in a good mood.

Although, to be fair, which Ralph didn't really care to be that most of the time, Amelia did wake up to learn that she'd been asleep for about a day and a half and her best friend had a broken arm and leg, while the person who had saved her had been laid up since then. It wasn't surprising to find that she wasn't in a good mood, though Ralph didn't really care to have to be the one to deal with it. Especially when he was just wanting to find a place where he could relax and not have anything expected of him for a time.

Besides, while he could use his magic, he didn't care to try to use too much. Just in case he'd come close to overextending himself as well. While he didn't care to think about it, he couldn't deny that it was a possibility. Which was part of the reason he wanted to find a place to take it easy.

However, the villagers didn't seem to care about that. The fact that he wasn't injured or otherwise unable to work, in some manner, meant that he needed to do something to help. Despite the fact that he didn't give a crap about this village or what would happen to it.

He'd only joined in the fight to save the village simply because he felt that it was the right thing to do. After all, it wasn't like the villagers had asked for the bandits to attack them. It wasn't like they had wanted to be massacred like they had been. Nor was it right for so many to have been put in those caged wagons.

Although, he wished that he could have done more than what he had. If so, then maybe there wouldn't have been so many people killed. Maybe the grave that they were still working on digging wouldn't have to be so big.

Part of him wanted to know why the bandits attacked the village. Maybe then he might have some answers that would let his mind put the matter to rest. Regardless of whether or not he thought the bandits had a 'good reason' to have attacked the village. Even though he doubted they did, he couldn't push the thought out of his mind that he just might not know enough of what was going on in this world to have an accurate assessment about what the attack had been about.

All he could really be certain about was the fact that the fear in the eyes of those who had been put in those cages was real. He wasn't going to let that go. Even if the bandits, or what he assumed were bandits, had a valid reason for what they did, they went to far involving those who couldn't possibly have been at fault.

That's also aside from the fact that they'd attacked his friends without even giving them a chance to explain what they were doing here, so it wasn't like the bandits would have let him go anyway. Or that they wouldn't have held him responsible for whatever reason or excuse they had for making the attack.

As Ralph walked through the village, he wasn't sure what he was walking towards, it felt more like wandering aimlessly, but one thing he was certain of was the fact that he wasn't going to let this world eat him alive, like it seemed to be threatening to do to his friends. Like how it seemed to have eaten Charlie up already.

_

"So what's this about?" Wes asked as he entered the house that was one of the few left mostly undamaged. The house that used to be where Hesha's family lived.

"This was the best place where we could figure out our next move," Hannah said.

"Wait, weren't you still injured?" Wes asked, clearly surprised, not that Beth blamed him.

"Amelia woke up and healed me earlier," Hannah said.

Wes looked around and a smile broke out on his face as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and noticed Amelia.

"Anyone else left to show up?" he asked, looking around, clearly taking note of Tim and Beth also being present.

"Ralph and a couple others," Tim said. "The others are looking for Ralph, but we were thinking of letting them accompany us."

"Where to? I thought this place made a pretty good base of operations," Wes said. "Aside from that attack, of course."

"It wouldn't be bad, but we would need to have a place where we could let the others know what we learn about where the griffin canyon is or isn't," Amelia replied.

"Then there's the issue about resupplying when we try to meet back up here," Beth added. "We can't say how central this place is, so unless stick together or that we can be sure that we'll all arrive at about the same time, we can't be sure that we'd be able to pass the information we may or may not learn as quickly as we'd like."

"So, what're you suggesting now?" Ralph asked as he walked in, followed by Hesha.

"Well, first, we were thinking of trying to meet with the marquis," Tim said.

"Wait, didn't Amelia say-" Wes started to say but was quickly interrupted by Amelia, clearly noticing the point Beth had noticed when she'd learned of the marquis earlier.

"I know what I said. Keep in mind I didn't say anything about the culture of this world or how things were run. All I can say for sure is what I already said about the biology of the people from this world. Nothing more."

Beth glanced at Amelia out of the corner of her eye. She seemed rather defensive about the subject, so Beth couldn't help but wonder if there was something behind that outburst or if maybe she was just reading too much into it.

"What's she talking about?" Hesha whispered to Beth, startling her. She hadn't realized that Hesha had made her way over next to Beth.

"Uh…" Beth wasn't quite sure how to explain it, so she did the next best thing. She put it off. "I'll explain it to you later, okay?"

Hesha nodded, letting Beth take a quiet sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how well the explanation was going to go, but she didn't want to worry about it right then, so she pushed it out of her mind.

"Anyway, getting back on point," Ralph said, looking like he'd rather be elsewhere, which made sense to Beth why he'd want to stay on topic: The sooner they finished with what they were discussing, the sooner he could leave.

"So, what is it about this marquis that you feel it was important enough to mention him here?" Wes asked, suddenly sounding more tired than annoyed to Beth, which is what she had originally thought he was.

"Well, regardless of the culture or anything, that still doesn't explain what marquis you're talking about," Wes said. "All I know is you mentioned about meeting with this marquis without anything telling me who this marquis is or why they'd even give us the time of day."

"He does have a point," Ralph said. "I don't even know what 'marquis' you're talking about myself. So, would you care to at least explain that much?"

The exaggerated patience in Ralph's tone made Beth want to smack him upside the head, but aside from him being across the room from her, she had a feeling that it would only make him worse if she did that. So, she gritted her teeth and let someone else explain it. If she did, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep from picking a verbal fight with Ralph.

"Well, apparently Hesha's mother was a guard for the marquis and we think her mother left her a ring that might have the marquis' insignia. So Hesha could go there to try and find help if something happened to her mother," Amelia replied. "And since her entire family has either been killed or taken captive, she clearly needs help. So, if we accompany her, we might be able to speak with the Marquis about our problem and see if he'd be willing to help us."

Ralph nodded, though Wes looked bored. Which Beth didn't really find surprising, but she was a little annoyed by it for some reason. Not that she could explain why.

"So, how far away is this marquis?" Ralph asked. "I mean, it shouldn't be that far, right? How big can this country be?"

"Uh, from what I gathered, it might have taken us… maybe three days walking at our usual pace, but since we'll be taking Hesha, Cinder, Feon, and Lyshean we'll probably need around a week or so," Tim estimated. "I mean, they're clearly not used to hiking like we are, nor would they have the same stamina as we would."

Wes sighed, looking like he was ready for this meeting to be done with. "So, is that all? Can we vote on what to do yet?" Wes asked,

"If you're willing to let me cast your vote, I wouldn't complain if you left," Hannah remarked, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Like I'd trust you with that," Wes retorted.

"Well, you can always take your time and actually listens patiently to what we're talking about. You don't have to complain," Hannah returned.

Wes didn't respond to that, he merely closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"So, is that it?" Ralph asked. "We'd be able to get what supplies we'd need for that trip before we leave?"

"Yeah, about that," Tim said, looking like he wasn't sure how to explain.

"We can ask the people in charge if they'd be willing to spare some supplies, like food, but we don't think it'd be likely for them to spare anything, even for Hesha, Cinder, Feon, and Lyshean. So we'd have to figure out how to supply ourselves on the trip," Beth said for Tim.

She didn't feel like letting things drag on, so she figured she'd move it along by putting the explanation out quickly for them. Which she was certain would happen if she let Tim figure out how to phrase it himself.

"So, what exactly are we going to do about it?" Ralph asked. "It's not like we brought anything to try to sell for some local currency. Did we?"

"Well, I believe Heathcliff sent us some cheap plastic rings or something, but I can't think of why he did that, so until I figure that out, I'd say all we have are the rocks that we found on the last world that we know can restore a person's magic," Tim answered, then looked at Beth. "Just like it did for Beth. Or at least to some extent."

Amelia looked at Beth questioningly, making Beth groan inwardly. She didn't want to deal with this, but she knew that she'd need to figure it out sooner or later, so it wasn't like she was trying to hide it from her. Which she was confident that Amelia was probably feeling at the moment.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" she asked quietly, hoping it would be enough for Amelia's curiosity as the others discussed what could be done about acquiring food.

Amelia nodded her agreement, which Beth felt took a small load off her mind. Not that she was especially worried about it. It was more that the less she had to deal with at the moment, the better, since the issue of getting food was definitely something that they needed to figure out quickly.

"I have ten ziks that I can use to help get some food," Hesha offered.

While Beth had heard Hesha's offer, she doubted anyone else around them had. She was certain that she heard Hesha partly because she was right next to the girl and knew what a 'zik' was.

Yet, when no one seemed to have heard Hesha's offer, or at least didn't respond to it in any manner, the girl looked like it had been rejected in the worst way.

"Hey guys," Beth said, stopping their discussions. "Hesha said she has ten coins of the local currency she's willing to use to help us."

"Wait, what kind of coins?" Tim asked dubiously. "I thought all metals here ware practically worthless."

"Doesn't matter," Beth said, not wanting to get into the matter, since she didn't really know herself. "Though, as I think about it, Cinder's family had some goats, right? What if we bring those goats along with us and use them to help with either trade to get food or use them for food ourselves."

"Not to be a downer on that, but have you ever gutted an animal before?" Ralph asked. "I'm not sure we have the tools we'd need for that, even if you wanted to take the time to do that at any point."

Beth shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I'm just putting out possibilities," she answered.

"Well, lets discuss this later then," Tim said. "We'll have to talk to Cinder about the goats, since technically, they are his family's. Though, the goats aren't a bad idea, since I'm sure they have at least some value that will be easy enough to being along with us."

"Sounds good to me," Wes said, getting up and starting to leave before anyone could say anything else.

"Well, I guess that's it for now then," Ralph added, as he started to stand up.

"I guess that's as good as we could have expected," Hannah remarked. "I was so sure Ralph would be the biggest pain with that meeting."

Beth got up herself. She was confident that they'd be able to figure out something to find food for their journey. Even if they had to forage a little to get enough to start with. Especially since she doubted that those in charge of the villager here would be as willing to trade or anything in regards to the food they had.

Which meant they'd probably be better finding another village or town in which to try and trade something. Or even use Hesha's money. She figured that if she offered to teach Hesha how to use her magic, she could consider it a fair trade.

As it is, as she walked out of what used to be Hesha's house, she couldn't help but be aware of Hesha following her. She wasn't sure why the girl had taken a liking to her, when she had been rather hostile towards her a few days ago, but she wasn't going to try and push the girl away. Especially with what the girl had had to deal with lately. Besides, it wasn't like the girl got one Beth's nerves.

If nothing else, she made Beth feel like she was dealing with one of her younger sisters. Which also made her feel a little homesick.