Renhala (26 page)

“Kioto,
‘Fresh Cookies,’ ‘Sausage’ and ‘Metal,’” says Bu. 

“There was a metal one? What does metal smell like, and why would you buy that?”

“It smelled like Bu’s pliers.” He looks down at his feet.

“Oh, silly me. Of course! What a great find, Bu!” He smiles and goes back to rummaging through his bag. “Oh, Gunthreon, I forgot to ask why everything here is purple.”

“The founding father of this town insisted purple had a smell,” he explains, “and he was determined to prove it. Don’t you smell it?” Both Conner and I take the deepest breaths we can. Gunthreon turns to Lupa, and they both laugh.

I roll my eyes and frown. “Ha ha, joke
’s on us. You’re cruel.”

Bu s
niffs the air. “It smells like blue to Bu,” he says. We all laugh together.

Chapter 34

Cute

From the land of purple, we travel what seems to me like five miles or so, and my feet grow blisters by the second. It
’s also been the most boring time, because 1) Bu doesn’t hold conversation well, 2) the two lovebirds have been holding hands and chatting the whole time, and 3) Conner has been ignoring me, and I in turn, am ignoring him until tonight, supposedly.

We encounter several towns on our journey—some ravaged, just like Meadow
’s Edge, and some totally abandoned.

Now, Gunthreon leads us into a forest, and to a small open area
surrounded by thistle. The clouds above us rumble and brief shots of green lightning flash across the skies. “We are going to stop here for the night,” Gunthreon says. He throws down his bags and scopes out the area quickly. “Conner, how are you at scouting? Russell tells me you’re quite the camper.” I then notice nobody brought a tent.

“First place in the Summer Quadrant Games, two years in a row.” He puffs up and resembles shop man. I withhold the comment.
             

“Great!” yap
s Gunthreon.

“I
’ll do it,” Conner says, then looking at me, “I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.” He leaves his bag with us and walks off toward the setting sun.

I look around again, searching for a tent. “Gunthreon, um, where
’s the tents?”

“No need for tents here.” The sky lights up green and a loud boom has me jumping in place. I stand, staring
at Gunthreon as he lays down his sleeping bag—directly on the ground. 

“Bu and Kailey, tomorrow we reach Socola,” says Gunthreon. “I know I shouldn
’t have to repeat myself, but I feel the need. You must remember to at least stay in pairs. Many a person has been lost to the mooncats. They are a very slick race. Bu, you remember last time we were in Socola?”

He shivers slightly. “We lost Haren.”

“Who was Haren?” I ask. “How’d you
lose
him?” 

Gunthreon sighs. “He was a friend of ours who was travelling with us. The transformation was beyond anyone
’s control,” he says, giving me yet another ambiguous answer. “Let’s just stay on our path to finding Neda. The mooncats are quite resourceful when they choose to cooperate—which is never—but we are going to try our damndest.”

Bu starts rummaging through his bag of smells. “Can
Bu open one, Gunthreon?” he asks.

“Sure, Bu. Make sure you savor it!”

Bu takes out his “Fresh Cookies” jar. He pulls out his blanket, curls up on the ground next to me, opens the jar, and lays it right next to his nose. “Mmmm,” he says.

I lean over and sniff, and my mouth starts to salivate. “I think I
’ll wait to use mine,” I say. “I’ve had my share today.”

Conner trudges back from deeper in the forest. “All
’s well,” he says. “I found a few forest friends, but nothing dangerous.”

“
’Forest friends’ like raccoon-and-possum-level’? Or bear-and-wolves-level?” I ask. My eyes open wide. “Or Jason-level?” Having never been camping, all the camping movies I’ve ever seen reel through my head, creating a fear that increases with every scary forest sound. Ghastly green lightning then flashes its brightest throughout the sky, illuminating the forest around us. My eyebrows raise and I point to the sky while looking at Gunthreon.

“It never rains here, in this part of Renhala, at least,” he says. I look again to the sky.

“I’m just going to leave it at forest friends,” Conner responds. “Gunthreon sent me, and he knows what I mean.”

“Thanks,” I hiss
. “If something tries to eat me tonight, I’ll make sure and remind them there are more succulent pieces of meat at this campsite.” Bu shrieks under his blanket. I make sure I talk loud enough for him to hear: “And we all know greble doesn’t taste as good as human!”

Lupa sets up a nice, cozy, fire and pulls a set of pots out of nowhere. “I
’ll fix us a nighttime snack,” she says. “We’ve got a few minutes, so why don’t you two have your little chat?” She looks around like she’s lost something. “Where did that honey go? I just put it down.” She looks at Bu accusingly.

Damn this woman. “Fine! Conner, let
’s go.” We wander off far enough so nobody can hear us argue, but still close enough to see the firelight.

“Conner,” I say, then pause, thinking to myself it takes too much negative energy to be upset with him. “I
’m really sorry about what happened. I was enjoying myself—really enjoying myself—but this whole energy trick of mine confuses me. It was so rude of me, but I couldn’t control it. I’m attracted to you, really.” I blush in the dark.

“Yeah, but not exclusively,” says Conner. “Remember, I saw the kiss you shared with Ladimer, and he
’s got something for you—you know, the history of following you and all. And I don’t want to compete with someone who honestly scares the hell out of me.”

“But Ladimer told me to kiss him! And it saved Greer, didn
’t it?”

“And you just always do what people say? No. I don
’t think so. You’re not as weak as you think you are.”

I take in a deep breath. “Conner,
you’re exactly what I need, but—”

“
’Need’? I much rather hear ‘want.’”

I stand, not giving a reply, and then decide to just let it out: “I
’m not used to attention from men! There!” His eyebrows shoot up. “My whole life I’ve been hidden behind Amber—the one watching her back while all the men ogled.” My speech becomes shaky as I try to hold back from crying. “I want to be with someone. The fact that the two most intriguing men I’ve ever met happen to be travelers to another realm throws a little wrench in my plans.” I start crying as I continue talking. “I just don’t know what to do, especially with this talk of an informant. Doesn’t this make you feel a bit suspicious of everyone around you?” 

“Kailey, I
’ve never felt for someone like I do you, especially after only knowing you for so brief a time—granted, maybe you’re using your abilities to make me feel this way, but—” I attempt to talk but he places his hand on my mouth, causing me to jump from the static shock.

“What
’s up with that?” I ask.

“No idea, but it
’s a little annoying, ain’t it?” he says. I nod and he continues talking, brushing off the fact we keep shocking each other. “Please know I find you... enthralling.” He says the last word a bit quiet.

“Me? Enthralling?” Wiping my tears with my sleeve, I laugh, and his energy quivers. “Well, I can accept that,” I say, smiling at him, and then puff up my own chest, and pull myself
together. “And I also find you—” A rustling sound in the bushes interrupts my sentence and I jump, moving closer to him.

He smiles. “Find me what?” he says.

I think to myself that “a solid prospect with a hot body” are not the appropriate words, so I say, “Cute.”

“
Cute
? That’s all?” he twitters, annoyed.

There
’s a sudden growling noise from the forest and he says, “Just make sure you stay near the fire tonight.” With this he starts walking toward camp. I scurry behind him.

I smell baking smells. “Who opened up their jar?”

Bu sits next to Lupa like a dog waiting for scraps. “Lupa cooked!” he says.

She hands out to each of us a small foil packet. I open up mine, and discover it
’s some sort of fruit cobbler. “Lupa, I love you. Will you marry me?” Bu is staring at me with a disturbed look on his big face. He must not get it. “Bu, it’s a joke.”

“Oh. Kailey, you funny!”

“Yeah, you seem to tell me that all the time.” The fruit cobbler is to die for—nothing less than expected—and with full bellies, exhaustion takes over. An urge then comes over me. “Where do I go when I have to, uh, you know.”

“Just go into the forest, find a place, and squat. It
’s really quite simple.” Easy for Gunthreon to say.

“Is there, like, camping etiquette? I mean, do I try and go where someone won
’t step? But what if I sit in poison ivy and something like that?”

Lupa throws me some toilet paper.

“Abscondian?” I ask as I examine the quilted hearts and squares.

Lupa replie
s, “I do prefer some luxuries once in a while. I don’t think my butt will fall off using it.”

Bu giggles, most likely at the thought of someone
’s butt falling off.             

“Fine. But if you hear me scream, someone better come save me.” I wander off, find a secluded place, and as I watch a squirmy,
oozing bug crawl by my face, I decide I can perhaps wait a bit longer. I pull my pants up and figure this the perfect time to travel and check on my mom, when suddenly I feel a new energy approach.

“Hello?” I say, scan
ning the area. The energy feels... simply inquisitive. Just when I’m about to grasp the exact location of it, a small yellow animal with a very long  tail crawls out from behind a rock. It looks up at me with large eyes and “snuffs”—at least that’s the best way I can describe it—then turns around and scampers away. 

I then travel. I end up in my living room, with no lights on. “Hello? Mom?” I check out the place, but nobody
’s there. She must have already taken Kioto to her house. I try and call her house, but I get no answer. It’s around the time I usually walk Kioto, so I just leave things at that. I travel back to the bush I squatted near.

“Why don
’t you just soulsearch? I know you can,” says a female voice, somewhere near me. 

I twirl around where I stand. “Lupa?” My heart pounds as I hear giggling. “Who
’s there?”

“Booooo! A forest friend. Booooo!” Whoever it is is mocking me. I reach for my monk
’s spade and swing it around in front of me. “Ooh ...” And with that, I see a tiny little female thing standing in front of me. “I’ve never seen one of those. What is that?” she says, seemingly mesmerized by my weapon. She’s about five inches tall, dressed in what appears to be squirrel hide with matching boots. She has twigs all knotted up in her hair, and her neck is adorned with a necklace made of holly.

“Why did you tell me to soulsearch, and how did you know I can?” I
’m tempted to bend down to her like you would with a small child, but I really don’t know what this thing is capable of doing. She might rip my throat out.

“If I tell you, will you let me touch it?” She eyes my monk
’s spade feverishly.

“Ye
s, but only for a second,” I state. “First, you
must
tell me the truth.”

“But I don
’t have
that
power. Your boyfriend does,” she says. “You wouldn’t know if I was lying to you or not. Wait! You might. Energy reading.”

“He is
not
my boyfriend.”

“Sure.”

“Fine. I’m just going back to camp.” I turn to walk back.

“To go see that handsome man? He
’s quite pleasant on the eyes.” I start walking. “No, please don’t. I want to see your weapon and touch it, if I may.”

I turn around and walk back to her. 

“Come down so I don’t have to shout,” she pleads. “I won’t hurt you.”

I crouch, then sit Indian-style. She comes over and sits the same way next to me, very, very closely.

“I’m Jenna, woodsprite of the tribe Uriben.” She extends her tiny hand, and I shake it with two fingers.

“You gonna tell me how you know so much about me?” I say. 

“Well, besides the fact I just saw you appear out of nowhere, that’s what we woodsprites do. You don’t know this?”

No. I
’m kind of new to Renhala.” I twiddle my thumbs.

“You
’re from ‘there’?”

“Yes, from Abscondia.”

“It really does exist!” she shouts, wide-eyed. “Is it all dangerous and scary like the tales? Oh! Are there really soul-drainers who steal your life force by sucking it from your ears?”

I laugh, hard. I eventually calm down. “You mean you
’ve never met someone who travels from Abscondia?”

She shakes her head and says, “I don
’t make friends too easily,” she admits, kicking around dirt.

“You know, I don
’t have many friends either, so don’t feel bad! And as to your question, no, there are no ‘soul-drainers’ in Abscondia. Well, if you don’t count the government...or those crazy bible thumpers...or ear muffs,” I joke.

“Well, Neda gave us the power to see auras—yours is beautiful by the way—and know what powers one possesses,” says Jenna. “It comes in handy sometimes. If you
’re messing with a traveler and stealing her campsite food, you know whether you might get caught and what the consequences might be. That honey was delicious, by the way.”

“Oooh, if I let Lupa know
, she might strangle you.”