Chapter 43 part 4

They were in pull plate armor, the one in the lead had a tabard on, each had a sword in their hands, although at the moment it looked like they were in a standoff. Neither side making a move, apparently waiting to see what the other side did.

Ralph was certain that it was probably going to take a while. Especially since they'd probably already issued their demands and the responses had been given, so he couldn't see what more they'd be able to learn just by watching them.

–Hey, over there.– Ralph heard Amelia say, an image of one of the wagons coming to mind.

–What about it?– Tim asked as they all turned to look at it.

–I can't be sure, but I think that's a cage in that wagon.– Amelia replied.

–Why would they make it look like it doesn't have a cage on it, if it's one of those wagons the bandits had?– Ralph asked dismissively, not really caring if his friends got annoyed with him.

–Exactly.– Amelia replied, as if Ralph highlighted the point she was trying to make. –I get the feeling we should take a closer look. Especially while everyone there is focused on what's going on in that standoff.–

–Good idea.– Wes said, as Ralph sighed as quietly as he could.

He wished that he'd be able to just leave at this point, but he was certain that his friends wouldn't let him go so easily. Aside from which, he couldn't deny that he was curious as to what was in that wagon as well.

Not that he would admit that to his friends.

As they started walking towards the wagon Amelia indicated, rain started falling down. Not a light rain, either. This rain came down, almost like the trees weren't even there. Which made Ralph wonder just how hard it would be coming down on them if they weren't sheltered by the trees.

Although, he was still annoyed about having to move through the rain. It wasn't like they'd expected it, and he doubted that he'd be able to dry off quickly once they got back and he could ge back to bed again.

–Any idea what might be in there?– Wes asked cheerfully.

–My guess would be a person, but who knows. Maybe it's a special animal or something.– Amelia remarked.

–What kind of animal would be special around here?– Ralph asked.

–How would I know?– Ameila retorted. –As far as we know, there are animals here that are considered sacred. Just like in India, cows are considered sacred.–

Ralph merely shook his head. He already knew that about India, but he hadn't even heard about anything like that on this world, and he'd have expected that something like that would have been mentioned at least once by someone.

It didn't take long before they reached the wagon, and Ralph couldn't help but at least feel a little appreciation towards the rain, as it did make it harder to see around them. Which meant that whoever was facing those armed people on the horses, wouldn't be able to see them clearly if they happened to look their way.

As they reached the wagon, Ralph was a little surprised to see a door on the back of the wagon. Though, before he could complain about what they were doing, Wes had already opened the door and stepped inside. Followed quickly by Tim and Amelia with the door closing most of the way behind them.

Left alone outside, Ralph felt like he was the one keeping watch for his friends as the 'lookout' from a heist scene or something. Whatever it was, he was more than done with it already.

–Ralph get in here.– Amelia said with her magic moments after they'd left Ralph outside.

–What is it now?– Ralph groused as he opened the door to enter the wagon. –Is there something weird about the sacred animal?–

As he shut the door, he wasn't able to see much in the wagon because of how dark it was, and his eyes hadn't adjusted back from looking at the lanterns they had outside.

"Who are you?" a trembling, scared voice asked, startling Ralph. It sounded like it was a little kid asking. Like maybe a five or six year-old. "Where're the others?"

"What happened?" Amelia asked quietly, surprised. "How'd you end up like this?"

"Mother?" the voice said, almost too quiet to be heard.

Ralph noticed what the kid had said, but he didn't think the others had. He wasn't sure what that was about, but he couldn't say he didn't find it unamusing at the very least.

"Mind if I make some light in here?" Ralph asked, just as quietly as Amelia, getting more annoyed by the darkness in the wagon.

"Don't, Ralph," Tim said flatly, apparently taking the cue from Amelia and Ralph about what his volume should be. "If someone looks, they'll see that there's a light on in this wagon that shouldn't have one on. Which means they'll be looking in here sooner rather than later if they see it."

Ralph let out his breath at that, feeling more than a little annoyed. It wasn't like he didn't have a plan to stop that from happening, but he doubted that his friends would want to hear that as they probably would be thinking he was up to some prank or other.

Maybe he should cut back on those pranks, Ralph couldn't help but wonder.

"Tell us, do want us to help you get out of here?" Tim said, sounding a little more urgent, apparently feeling the pressure of the fact they were in someone else's wagon, not sure if those people be happy that they were there in the first place.

"But who are you?" the voice asked again. "Did my father send you?"

"Let's just say we were passing by and we have no idea what's going on in the first place," Ralph said before anyone else could. "If you want to stay here, that's fine with us, but if you want to leave, let us know and we can get you out of here lickety split."

"Licke- what?" the voice asked, sounding rather confused.

"Don't worry about it," Tim said. "Just tell us if you want us to help get you out of there or not. It's your choice."

Whatever the kid was thinking, Ralph was starting to think that they were going to refuse their offer, since the kid wasn't saying anything for a few minutes. Each second making Ralph feel like they were about to be discovered in some way while they waited for the kid to make up their mind.

However, as Ralph was about to say that they should go, the kid spoke up. "Please, take me back to my father," the kid said, their voice trembling, making Ralph certain that the kid was crying. Which only made this feel more uncomfortable for him.

"Alright, but when we leave the wagon, don't say anything, okay?" Amelia said as Wes worked his magic on the cage, which Ralph still couldn't see very well.

Though, it didn't take more than a minute before Wes pulled a section of the bars of the cage away and Amelia reached in and pulled out the shadowy form that Ralph could tell was the kid.

"Let's head back to our camp," Tim said. "I get the feeling we'll need to have Beth and Hannah start packing up our camp. Otherwise I think these people will start searching for us once whatever confrontation they're having right now is over."

"Got it," Wes said, as he reached the door.

"Hold on tight," Amelia instructed the kid. "We'll let you know when it's safe to talk, okay?"

The kid nodded, and that was good enough for Ralph. The only problem that he had with their situation was the fact that they were having Beth and Hannah pack up everything. Which meant that he wouldn't be able to get back to bed now. At least not for however long they felt that all of them should continue walking to keep any pursuit from following them.

As they left the wagon, Ralph could see the kid in the lamplight holding tightly to Amelia, and although he couldn't be sure, he suspected that the kid was a girl, simply based on the fact that the kid had a tunic on and leggings. Which from what he'd seen so far, is only what the girls on this world wore.

Then almost as soon as they had left the wagon, they were off into the darkness, heading towards where their camp was. While he didn't hear anyone telling Beth or Hannah to start packing things up, he didn't doubt that the message had been passed on. As it wasn't like they were all talking together on the subject, trying to coordinate anything.

While they still had the light from the lanterns on the wagons to help give them some light to work with, it didn't seem as helpful as when they had been approaching the wagons.

All it seemed to do for Ralph was create more shadows as they carefully moved along as fast as they could without making any real noise.

While it didn't likely take much longer for them to get back as it had for them to reach the wagons in the first place, Ralph couldn't help but feel like it took twice as long. With the sensation that any moment the people who were in that standoff would notice them and either one side or the other would chase after them, if not both sides.

When they reached their camp, Ralph couldn't help but feel a little surprised at how Beth and Hannah had already gotten everything packed up and put away. Even Cinder, Feon, and Hesha were sort of awake and ready to go.

"I don't suppose anyone knows where to go from here," Ralph said quietly, half afraid even that was too loud and would carry to the standoff despite the continuing rain.

"We should go that way," the girl they'd just saved said.

Ralph sighed in annoyance. Saying 'that way' in the dark was as helpful as saying they had an idea and not saying anything more.

"Sorry, but I can't see which way you mean," Beth said, sounding more diplomatic than Ralph felt at the moment. "Which way are you referring to?"

"Ummm," the girl said, clearly unsure how to explain what she was thinking.

Or that she wasn't sure how else to indicate where they should go, Ralph added to himself.

"If we keep going in the same direction from where you were taking me from, we should come to a stream," the girl finally said, after what felt like an hour to Ralph.

"Any other thoughts?" Ralph asked, not sure he really wanted to trust this girl's sense of direction, since he couldn't think of how she could possibly know any of this. Especially in the dark.

"Well, any direction is as good as another," Tim remarked.

"Sounds good to me too," Hannah said, much to Ralph's continued annoyance.

What he couldn't understand was why they were all so eager to continue on when the didn't know anything else about this world. Or even if where they were heading had any dangers that could be avoided if they had any light.

While he'd much rather wait for the dawn, he also couldn't dismiss the very real threat of the people in the wagons. No matter what, that standoff would have to end at some point. When that happened, someone would likely become aware that the girl wasn't in that cage anymore and would probably send someone to look for her.

So, if they stayed where they were, they would be in that much more danger of getting discovered by one of the sides in that confrontation, and Ralph didn't think that he'd like to have the attention of either of those two groups.

Still, as they started walking in the direction that the girl had indicated, and Ralph could only trust that his friends knew which direction that was, he made it a point to keep his mouth shut on any of his complaints. Speaking to them about it wouldn't do any good and he was confident that all it would do is get his friends annoyed with him, at the very least. Which would just make things more difficult for him.

Not something he'd like to do when he could barely see where they were going and it was clear that they weren't going to be stopping soon.

Ralph allowed himself to let his mind go blank and numb as they walked, the fatigue of the day pulling at him, sapping his strength. He certainly wasn't used to a forced march like this, especially since he'd only had a few hours of sleep, at most, and doubted he'd be able to get much more before dawn.

He didn't even bother to ask if they were going to stop at some point during the night. Maybe he would have if he'd managed to stay behind with Beth and Hannah, but since he hadn't, he didn't bother trying to reason with his friends. He just kept moving, trying to keep from becoming a burden to them during this period.

At some point, the rain had stopped, though Ralph only realized it when he started to become aware his clothing was dry again. Though, they kept walking into the night.

He wasn't sure how long they'd been walking when he found the stream. Not that he was aware they'd reached it, until he fell into it.

It wasn't deep, but it did run along a depression in the ground that was maybe a foot or two down from where they'd been walking. Which meant he pretty much fell face first into the water, soaking him and his pack almost completely through.

"Found the stream," he called out when he was able to stand up again, not caring to keep his voice quiet.

The stream was about a foot deep, and he got the impression that was probably about five feet wide. Though, he wasn't exactly sure about his estimate in the nearly non-existent lighting.

"So, where to now?" Beth asked.

Ralph waited for the girl to say something, but time started to drag on when the girl didn't say anything. Though, after a minute, he started trying to figure out where the best place to climb out of the stream would be. He certainly didn't want the bank to collapse into the stream, immersing him in the water again.

"I think she fell asleep," Amelia said, sounding a little surprised.

"How'd she do that?" Wes asked, sounding rather surprised. "Even Feon is still awake and she's the youngest aside from the infant."

"Well, I was carrying her by giving her a piggy back ride and I think she's maybe a year younger than Feon at the oldest," Amelia replied.

"Well, if she's asleep, we might as well try to get some rest ourselves," Tim said, before Ralph could, which made him let out a breath of relief.

Not only was he not the one who suggested it, but it was from Tim. The previous default leader of their group of friends before Charlie joined. He wasn't exactly sure why that was, just that's how it seemed to work out somehow.

"So, it's Wes' turn to keep watch, right?" Amelia asked, as Ralph managed to finally climb out of the stream.

"Yeah, it is," Wes agreed. "Which means it'll be Ralph after me, then you."

"Sounds good," Amelia said, yawning. "Though, I think we shouldn't bother with our tents. Not only is it just too dark, but I don't think most of us have the energy for that."

"Sounds good to me," Beth commented, already a little distance away from them.

"We're not walking any more?" Cinder asked, his voice full of fatigue.

Ralph held back the comment that came to mind about Cinder taking so long to realize that they were planning on stopping as his friends spoke to the boy. Not only was he sure that it wouldn't come out right anyway, but he had a feeling his friends would get on his case about it not being the time for jokes or something.

Plus there was also the point that he'd acknowledged to himself earlier that he might really have been going overboard with his jokes and pranks. He didn't plan on letting the others know about that since he was confident they wouldn't understand his reasoning. Not that it mattered much to him. There was too many other thing going on for them to wonder if that decision itself was another joke or prank of his.

When Ralph started looking for a tree to rest against, he suddenly realized that leaving his clothing wet might not be a good idea, as he started to feel a cool breeze go right through his clothing, making him feel like he was getting ready to nap in a freezer.

So, he used his magic to pull all of the water our of his clothing, which he recalled could be dangerous. If he wasn't careful, he could pull out the water from his body and do some real damage, if not kill himself.

Although, he was confident that he'd only be in danger of doing that if he was completely worn out and tried it then. Right now he was just tired and wanted to go to bed. So, he didn't think much about it, but he couldn't help but feel like his right ankle had suddenly started to itch quite a bit. So, he quickly went to scratch it as he sat against a tree, reclining a little as he closed his eyes.

He was surprised at how long it took for him to relieve the itch, but when it was over, he felt more relaxed and was able to drift off to sleep. Much more quickly than he'd have expected as well.

This time he also didn't have dreams about that fire. Instead, it was about running through the dark. Running from an unseen enemy.

Naturally, he didn't get much rest with those kinds of dreams.