Chapter 6: A Train Ride Going Nowhere

I will tell you now dear reader, that the conspiracy of the Blue Suns is one that is still yet to be resolved. Just like how I previously stated that no magical portals to other realms exist in this story, no heroic missions of heist, time travel, spying, or otherwise extraordinary events exist in the story either. I am just an ordinary man, an ordinary writer who lived in Nothingtown. In fact, I contemplated leaving this bit about the Blue Suns out completely. Perhaps the only reason I have not is the same reason as Dandelion's father, my conscious, the innate human drive to tell the truth, to do what is good for other humans. If you see these strange men wearing suits with a blue sun crests, then my advice to you is the same as Dandelion's father's. Run, run as far as you can. In the real world corruption runs rampant and thus there is not always a hero that rises up to the challenge especially if they are just an ordinary man. This story isn't about that, this story is about the girl who sat across from me raised in the woods far away from society. Who cares what life her parents led?

With that said, these are absolutely only thoughts I had after looking at the situation in retrospect. If I had to objectively describe my emotions after finding out Dandelion's past, I will simply say that for the first time in approximately 21 years, I came dangerously close to wetting myself.

"This… this is a dream right?" I thought, "I… I didn't ask for this. What the hell do I do? Contact my parents? But that would only place them in danger too."

I felt powerless, that I was the most unfortunate man in the world for stumbling upon such a conspiracy. So alone, no one I could share this dangerous secret with… except for of course…

"It'll be okay,"

A gentle hand placed itself on my head. With all the intrusive thoughts and fears consuming my head, I did not notice I had curled myself up into a ball.

"It'll be okay," Dandelion repeated patting my head. In that moment I wanted to puke. I wanted to scream, to cry, to jump off the train though my twisted ankle likely would have prevented this. I wanted to do so many things, even lash out at Dandelion. Who the hell was she anyways? Why did she drag me into her life, into danger, into the unknown? But when I looked at her and saw her smile, a smile only there to cheer me up, a smile in spite of the fact her situation was much worse than mine, a brave smile, from an extraordinary girl, all those thoughts dissipated and my head cooled. I may be an ordinary man, but what right did I have to complain in that moment?

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The next few hours passed by peacefully as the two of us lied down on top of the hay stacks and looked up at the sky. The sky today filled with small clouds some of which covered the sunlight so it did not shine too brightly on our faces. In all honesty, it was one of the nicest days in terms of weather I had ever experienced. When I asked Dandelion how long she felt it appropriate we stay on the train, she simply stated:

"Until night."

Usually at this time of day if I had not eaten any food, I'd have been hungry beyond belief. But the overwhelming weight of it all meant food was the last thing on my mind. The clouds above my head looked so free, detached from all the worries of the world, going from place to place with no real home. If I really think about it, it was kind of like…

"Rabbit,"

My thoughts were interrupted by the soft voice next to me.

"Rabbit?"

I looked around to inspect the cart for any signs of critters.

"What are you talking about Dandelion? I don't see any Rabbits."

"Rabbit," Dandelion repeated. She pointed up at the sky and I understood.

"Hmm… yes rabbit." I said pointing to the same cloud Dandelion pointed at that happened to be in the shape of a rabbit.

"Duck," she said pointing to another cloud.

"Yes, quack quack," I responded pointing to the same cloud.

"Animals for mama and papa to see."

"In Narnia?"

"Yes… in Narnia."

"Say Dandelion, since we're on the topic," I said still looking at the clouds, "What exactly were your parents like?"

No response.

"They seemed to have led rather amazing lives. Do you remember at all when you were a kid what…"

Before I could finish my sentence however, I heard a small whimper next to me. As I turned to face Dandelion, I saw another expression on her face I had not seen until now. One that absolutely shattered my very average human heart as tears began to trickle down Dandelion's face.

"They were the best," she managed to blurt out before suddenly crying fully into my shirt. It was the ugly kind of intense crying; the crying a strong girl who had known struggle for too long does when the whole world crashes down onto her. And in that moment, I didn't have any words. They likely would have been drowned out by the girl's tears anyways. And so I just lay there quietly letting Dandelion cry ugly beautiful tears into my drenched shirt as I held her. And as countless ordinary people lived out their ordinary life stories on that very train we rod on, my story stood still, frozen in time.

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It was around 9PM when Dandelion and I were still lying awake in our train cart. By this point my ankle had healed quite a considerable amount and I felt if we needed to, I was in adequate condition to jump off the train. Whenever I asked Dandelion if we should however, she simply shook her head saying, "Not yet"

By this time the stars had already come out twinkling brilliantly above us. The clouds earlier that day had disappeared from our sight, and from Orion to the Ursa Major, every constellation could be seen.

"Beautiful," I whispered as I continued to look up.

"Dandelion, you think the sheep ended up eating the Rose in the end?" I asked pointing to one of the stars, "The Prince is somewhere out there you know."

"Kane,"

"Yes?"

"Kane"

"Well do you?"

"Kane"

"Yes, what is it Dandelion?"

"I'm hungry,"

And as she said that, we happened to enter into another train station. As if a switch flipped on in her mind, Dandelion stood up and climbed down to the bottom of the cart.

"Dandelion, what are you…"

"This way," she replied as we slid our way to the floor. There, as if Dandelion had wished it into existence, I saw a door on the side of the cart. And as if she had already known one existed there, Dandelion casually opened the door and jumped down onto the ground below.

"Well that's convenient," I thought following suit and jumping off the train myself. We walked towards the actual station the train's passenger carts had stopped at and when we arrived there, I saw what appeared to be a small town.

"Alright, let's check where we're at," I said pulling out my smart phone. My smart phone now completely drained of battery.

"Shit…" I whispered, "Alright first things first then, let's find a gas station Dandelion. My beep bop device is dead so I need to buy..."

"Tacos,"

"No no, not tacos, a charger so that…"

"Tacos!"

I turned to see that in the time it took to reach for my phone and attempt to turn it on; Dandelion had already wandered several yards away from me.

"Dandelion please," I said running to her, "we can't get lost before I obtain a charger."

"Tacos!" Dandelion repeated pointing in a direction further down the road.

"Tacos?"

As I turned my head to see where Dandelion pointed at, I noticed the rather hidden Mexican Restaurant behind some tress.

"You promised Tacos today," Dandelion said grabbing my arm and staring at me.

"Alright alright…" I said sighing, "We'll figure out what to do after we get some tacos,"

"Yay!" Dandelion said cheering with her arms as a smile appeared on her face again, a precious smile worth protecting.