Thieves Alike

     -*- Outcasts -*-

     The initial charm of their spontaneous adventure was a successful distraction to help take Zena’s mind off of everything that was weighing her down. She didn't even mind the Moquots buzzing around her head, taking the odd nip at her neck. She just brushed them away and carried on. She did, however, take every chance she could to catch a glimpse of the village they were leaving. She was going to miss Silver Hills. Even more so, her brother Hector. But now all that remained in the village were her memories. She noticed how Nathan never looked back once, which surprised her a bit. But he was also proud of his natural scouting abilities and continued to march onwards.

     The early evening brought about an abundance of wildlife, much of which Zena had never seen before in the wild. A playful young Jumba hopped around in a nearby field, chasing what looked to be a butterfly. A heat-seeking Gikerot flew down from a tree to take in the last of the day’s sunrays on a nearby rock. Zena had also encountered numerous species of birds, one of which was an annoyed Sundan, which gave them a hard time after they crossed its territory. Nathan amused himself by casting a small spark towards it and spooking it out of sight.

     Zena was most impressed by a large, red Pandaphant that was resting under a large maple tree. The tree’s large red leaves crowned down over the Petpet, blocking any light from passing through and making the Pandaphant nearly impossible to see. Zena was overjoyed when she spotted the Petpet, since finding one in the wild was believed to bring good luck. She asked Nathan later if he had seen it, but he failed to notice. He was more focussed on not straying too far away from the river.

     The two exhausted travellers stopped for the night when the sky began to darken and the melodies of frogs and Ditreys filled the evening air. Nathan picked a small clearing outside of a thick coniferous forest. A deep creek ran along the edge of the dense forest which eventually fed the main river. Zena marvelled over the scattered pink clouds floating through the orange hemisphere. Daphlies hovered over a pool of water that branched out from the creek, inviting the occasional fish to ripple the water’s surface. The spot Nathan picked was ideal for camping, and if Nathan had already known about that spot, he never let on like he did.

     “What's making all of that noise?” Zena wondered aloud.

     “You mean the frogs? Annoying, aren’t they, but we need to stop now to set up camp before it gets too dark,” Nathan answered.

     “I think it sounds peaceful. I don’t know if I ever heard them sing like this before," Zena said as she observed her surroundings.

     “What do you mean? There are literally hundreds of them down by McCormick’s pond. At night you can even hear them in town," Nathan said, furrowing his brow. He remembered numerous times slamming his bedroom window shut from the noise. Especially on calm evenings when they chirped their loudest.

     “I guess I never really noticed,” Zena said, feeling slightly embarrassed. Granted, she lived further away from the pond than Nathan, and she was usually too distracted with her thoughts or in deep conversation with a friend to notice the noises around her when she was outdoors in the evenings.

     “Have you been drinking enough water? You’ve been kinda out of it today,” Nathan said, sounding more annoyed than concerned. Though initially annoyed herself, Zena felt it was a fair assessment of her behaviour. Her last conversation with Hector had really resonated with her. She was normally very chatty, but since that conversation she found herself trying to appreciate everything around her and less time talking.

     “I’ve had plenty of water. I guess I’m just feeling a bit tired,” the Green Ixi said, hiding her true feelings.

     “Maybe you should find somewhere to relax while I set up camp,” the Brown Lutari said as he kicked the ground to clear away any loose sticks, stones or pinecones.

     “I’ll help,” Zena said, shaking out of her trance. The two set up their tent on a level section of land underneath a large solitary pine tree. Once the tent was ready, Nathan started to rummage through his bag for a fishing pole. He was going to catch their dinner.

     “Didn’t you remember to pack food?” Zena asked. “I brought some, but it's not much.” Zena pulled her beige backpack over and started to open it up. Nathan looked up at her in disbelief.

     “Are you serious? Of course I brought food, but why use it if I can catch our meal? Who knows when we'll come across food again,” Nathan said. He grabbed hold of his fishing rod and as he pulled it out, the corner of a book revealed itself. Zena tensed up and instantly felt short of breath.

     "Nathan, is that..." She found it hard to complete her sentence. Nathan quickly shoved it back into his backpack.

     "Yes. I brought it with me,” Nathan said trying to normalize it. Zena was trying hard to not think about the havoc they unleashed the previous day. Seeing the book was the last thing she needed.

     "Why?!" She snapped. She could feel the muscles in the back of her neck tense up. Her hands were still frozen to her backpack.

     "I couldn't just leave it behind,” Nathan said in a rather dismissive tone.

     "You could've taken it back to the antique shop!" Zena said.

     "Really?! That guy has been on my case for a while. He knows I took the book, but he can't say anything or he'll get in trouble for possessing it."

     "That book makes me feel uneasy. Lets just throw it in the river and get rid of it,” Zena urged.

     "No!" Nathan snapped harshly. He calmed himself down after seeing Zena's startled expression. "No. I don't think that's a good idea."

     "Are you sure you're okay?" Zena asked, wondering now if she had made a mistake leaving home. She closed up her backpack and threw it back into the tent.

     "Yes. I just think this book could prove to be useful. They're not all dark spells. I've spent some time looking through it and there's a lot of good spells too. Like making yourself appear younger. If that's true, we might actually be able to find a way to make people younger."

     "I don't think that's a good spell. It sounds deceiving. Besides, you saw how out of control that last spell got."

     "I know. I was careless not to decipher the chicken scratch in the margins. That probably refines the spell so it's not so aggressive."

     "This is Morguss we are talking about. Do you seriously believe what you are saying? I don't think we should chance it."

     "Or maybe it wasn't Morguss who wrote the chicken scratch. I want to see if I can figure out what's written in the margins. Maybe someone in Neopia Central would know." Zena shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

     "I guess," she said. She felt too mentally exhausted to carry on with the argument. "But be careful and don't test out anymore of those spells unless you are certain you know what you're doing."

     "I will be more careful,” Nathan said as he assembled his two-piece fishing rod and headed to the pool. Zena didn't join, but gathered together some wood for a fire.

     Nathan's exceptional fishing skills yielded three fish, which he cooked over the open flames. The conversation that evening was minimal, but they ate well.

     ***********

     It wasn't long before they were both asleep, and even though it came quickly, Zena tossed and turned frequently in her sleep. Strange images and recurrences from the storm haunted her dreams. Images of Nathan's vacant expression, the flashes of lightning and the angry mob of people gathering around the residence. A maniacal screech and laughter followed, startling Zena out of her dream. Her heart palpitated and cold sweat beaded her forehead. She took a moment to calm her heart rate and breathing down. She looked around, but Nathan wasn't in the tent. She found him outside stoking a fire. She crawled out of the tent.

     "Why're you up?" Nathan asked.

     "I had a bad dream and heard some strange noises," Zena said.

     "You can relax. That's only a Naleap singing. It woke me up too."

     "That's a song?! Not very pleasant is it?" Zena joked. Nathan chuckled a bit.

     "No, not really." Nathan looked up in the sky and saw the stars slowly disappearing. The temperature dropped a few degrees and the wind picked up slightly. "I think we're about to get some rain. Let's set up the tarp." Zena helped Nathan pull out the tarp and stake it down. Then they put out the fire and went back into the tent before the rain started to fall.

     "I know what you're thinking, Zena,” Nathan started. "But I assure you that things are okay now. That storm is behind us."

     "I know," Zena said, but even as the rain picked up she felt a bit nervous.

     "What can I do to make things better?"

     "Just give me time. I'm pretty resilient when I need to be," Zena said.

     "Thanks for being understanding,” Nathan said and rolled over to sleep. Zena listened to the rain and it dawned on her at that moment how hard things must have been for Nathan. She had only thought about herself but realized that Nathan was feeling very upset too and was probably better at masking his feelings. The rain started to sound more peaceful again as Zena drifted back to sleep.

     The two exhausted friends remained in a heavy sleep throughout the night; the white noise of the rain pattering on the tarp drowned out the calls and cries of the night-time fauna. By the time Zena and Nathan awoke, the sun had already been up long enough to increase the humidity to a nearly intolerable level.

     Zena stumbled over to the creek to splash her face with some of its cold water before she helped Nathan take down the tarp and tent, which they sprawled out over the tree's long lower branches to dry out. The giant pine tree cast a large shadow for shade, which Zena took advantage of while Nathan showed off his fishing skills again. Zena felt like the Pandaphant she saw the day before, but not as majestic; her fur was completely ratty and in dire need of a good grooming.

     Nathan caught two Blandfish, which was sufficient for breakfast. He stopped short of the fire pit when he suddenly broke down in laughter. In an effort to cool herself off, Zena had wrapped some weeds she fished out of the creek around her forehead and was fanning herself with a sprig of large maple leaves from a neighbouring tree.

     "This is not the time to be beautifying your face!" Nathan teased.

     "It's unbearably hot!" Zena said, barely moving her face to look over.

     "You realize you will only make yourself warmer by fanning yourself like that."

     "But for the time being, it's doing the job. Do you have a better idea?" Zena mocked.

     "Allow me," Nathan said, raising his finger towards Zena. "Freeze!" The maple sprig froze instantly, releasing ice-covered leaves onto Zena's face. A bonus that Nathan did not intend. "That should be enough to cool yourself off." Nathan snickered, turning around to set up the fire.

     "I think you need to cool off," Zena muttered back before shouting out the same command his way. She knew why he chose that spell. Too soon! Ice began to form along Nathan's tail and part-way up his back.

     "Aiee!" Nathan yelped, standing back up and arching his arms backwards. He tried frantically to reverse the spell, but couldn't reach the affected area with a counter spell.

     "Don't worry. It shouldn't take too long to thaw out under this sun,” Zena said, wiping away tears. She certainly wasn't going to use a counterspell herself. And it felt good to laugh. It made her forget for a moment that they were on the run. As for Nathan, he was no longer in the mood to cook up the Blandfish. He shuffled through his bag for some packed food and shoved a biscuit and some dried meat at Zena.

     "We should probably eat while we walk,” Nathan grumbled. "It's only going to get hotter as the day goes on." Nathan grabbed some weeds out of the pool and wrapped them around the cleaned fish before wrapping the fish again with a towel. It was enough to keep the fish fresh enough until they stopped for lunch. The two travellers packed up their things and continued on their adventure.

     It didn't take long for Nathan's tail to thaw out, and a little longer for the annoyed expression on his face to relax. The forest that they were now venturing through was dense with alder thickets, clustered under tightly growing trees, allowing very little light to pierce through its canopy. The thick underbrush was still wet from the rain, making the rain gear they put on earlier worthwhile, yet the mix of heat and humidity made their walk uncomfortable.

     They walked slowly for what seemed like hours through the thick underbrush, up and down steep inclines. Open spots in the canopy where trees had fallen allowed some sunlight through. The moisture after a while began seeping through their rain gear and Zena found herself wishing for a break so they could dry themselves off in the sun. By this point, she was certain they were lost. She hadn't heard the river in the background in a long time. Nathan, however, insisted he knew where they were going. She had no choice but to follow. Too late to turn back now. She would definitely get lost.

     The day was much different than the day prior. Zena didn't recall any wildlife, yet wasn't really looking either. Their spirits were dampened deeper than their clothes. The few hours they spent climbing over and through obstacles felt like days.

     Zena was on the verge of giving a mouthful to Nathan for not knowing where he was going when he suddenly stopped and held his arm out in front of Zena as if to stop her from continuing.

     "We're here. This is what I was looking for,” Nathan spoke softly. Zena looked ahead and saw a small stone cabin in a clearing. It was very rustic and covered in lush vines.

     "What's this doing in the middle of nowhere?" Zena asked.

     "I think an old man lives here. My dad and I stumbled across it once, but no one was home. I think he's some sort of wizard. My dad knew who he was. He used to live in Silver Hills before the war."

     "Wait. So you trekked through these woods before?" Zena asked.

     "No. We walked along the path by the river. It leads all the way to town. It's the same path we were on before camping for the night. In fact, we've never been more than twenty metres away from the path this whole time. That's how I knew we weren't lost,” Nathan smirked. He could see Zena getting more and more worked up by the second.

     "What?! And you made us walk through the woods?!" Zena shrieked.

     "Yep and there's that Kaddy voice again. I guess it’s a bit of payback for earlier," Nathan said with a wide smirk.

     "You were just as miserable as me. I saw your expression,” Zena said. She ignored his insult.

     "It was worth it. Small sacrifices,” Nathan said, not holding back his smirk as Zena smacked him on his shoulder.

     The cabin looked as though it had been built over a century earlier, consisting of logs and mortared with mud. Lush vines covered the entire building, blending it in well with its surroundings. Zena and Nathan walked up to what they assumed was the front door.

     The reddish paint on the wooden slab was flaking away and it appeared to be held together by a labyrinth of moss-infused cracks. Zena hesitated to knock, fearing the door would crumble into bits. Nathan didn't hesitate. He pounded on the door, but there was no answer.

     "Are you sure someone lives here?" Zena asked.

     "Pretty sure. My dad said he moved out here to live the life of a hermit, or off the land. I don't remember how he phrased it."

     "Why does it look so old?" She asked.

     "Must have already existed,” Nathan said. Zena checked the doorknob. It was locked.

     "Who would lock their door out here? I can't imagine that there's much traffic," Zena said. Nathan walked around the house to peer through the windows. The thick, leafy vines lined the perimeter of the windows as if trained to grow around them. Nathan peered in one of the back windows that was positioned a few feet above ground level. The cabin looked abandoned inside with numerous spider webs in every corner, but it appeared otherwise well-maintained. Nathan tried to open the window.

     "Locked,” Nathan said, annoyed. "I guess we are breaking in. 'Open!'" Nathan chanted. The window made a soft click before opening slowly. "Ladies first," he winked, holding his hands together to hoist Zena up.

     "Why not use the front door?" Zena asked with a crook eye.

     "Old habit, I guess,” Nathan smirked. Nathan hoisted her up to the window. She was halfway into the window when she was startled by a loud voice.

     "HALT!" A deep voice boomed from the distance, sending forth a blinding light. Zena fell back as she and Nathan covered their eyes. For a few seconds, Zena couldn't see anything but could hear Nathan running back towards the tree line. She got up quickly to do the same, but something thin wrapped around her ankle and began to pull her back.

     Zena let out a shriek as she fell swiftly to the ground. Looking down at her feet, a vine started to wrap itself around her ankle. She tried desperately to break free, and even though she came close to wiggling her foot out of her hiking boot, the vine had already started up her leg and a second vine grabbed her other leg. It didn't take long before her entire body was entangled with vines. She looked desperately towards the tree line where she and Nathan emerged from and saw Nathan slip back into the woods. The vines thickened and made it impossible for her to move. She lay there looking into the sky. An old Gelert entered her field of view, shaking his head.

     Nathan watched from the tree line as the old man exchanged words with Zena for a while before cutting her free and guiding her into his house.

To be continued…