Jenn sighed as she looked at the gate that led to the mountains. She felt like she'd been in a daze the past few days as she made her way here, only stopping in the hidden village briefly to fill her advisors in on what had happened with the duchess, including the fact that she'd let it spill that they'd been slaves and what the duchess' reaction to that revelation had been.
While she hadn't been sure how they'd react, she was pleasantly surprised when no one had any major reactions. Although, she wasn't confident that it would last for too long. She hoped the worst reaction was past, but she wasn't going to hold her breath for it until she had reason to believe that it had passed.
Besides, she was now faced with another dilemma. She had originally planned on taking a look at these mountains now, but a problem came up as she thought about it: the fact that these were mountains. Winter weather often hit during the spring in the Rockies in her home state of Colorado, so she couldn't understand why she thought that these mountains would be different. Especially since they seemed to be at a higher elevation than the Rockies, or so she had been able to tell up to this point.
Then there was the fact that she didn't know really anything about these mountains anyway. Or at least nothing significant. As she didn't know what kind of weather to expect, the rate of avalanches in the area during the winter, or any of that. Maybe she would have if she had 'shared' with Derek the way that he'd wanted to, but she definitely wasn't going to regret her decision to avoid that sort of thing.
Regardless, even with Star's assurance that this was time for her to check on the settlement, she hoped that it would work out. As the sooner they got back to building it, the sooner they could get it ready for the next winter. Especially since she'd already worked at getting some food sources for them as well as other materials.
Besides, she still needed to show Tchisa the lands that she had in mind for her. Lands that included the gate to the tropical island. Jenn wasn't sure why, but she had known immediately that she needed to give that to Tchisa. Although, where the borders of her lands in the mountains extended, she'd yet to figure out. Although, she \hoped that Tchisa would be willing to work with her on that as well as being able to find someone who had decent skills, at the very least, in cartography.
That way they'd be able to look at not only knowing what they area surrounding them was like, but also figuring out where to build roads and all that. It didn't seem like it would be that difficult to Jenn, but she knew that many things that she thought would be rather simple and straightforward had turned out to be bigger headaches than she'd have expected in the first place.
Such as dealing with the wolf-kin and jackalope-kin. Maybe they'd be able to eventually get her in contact with the pronghorn-kin, but she wasn't holding her breath on that one. She was pretty sure that it might not be so simple as she'd like.
As she thought about everything and all that it entailed and indicated, she recognized she was procrastinating heading through the gate. She really didn't want to find out that the other side wasn't ready for them to return, but at the same time, she knew that she needed to take a look anyway. Even if it didn't show her what she wanted to see. That enough of spring had entered the mountains that they'd be able to start working on their settlement again. That they could return to what had become their home.
"Are you going to at least take a look or are you going to just stand there all day, staring at it?" one of the young women who had been sent to accompany Jenn asked, sounding a little bewildered.
Not that Jenn could complain. If she was waiting for someone else to do something and they were just staring at whatever it was they were supposed to do, she'd likely get a little impatient herself. Although, she couldn't say that the young woman was wrong for being impatient.
So, Jenn stepped towards the gate and just walked right through, half-expecting to encounter a wall of snow that would prevent her from walking through the gate. A wall of snow that would have built up, either from avalanches or from accumulated snowfall. Not that she really knew what the humidity levels of the mountain were in winter.
However, she encountered no obstacles, in fact she nearly fell down as she walked through the gate, finding herself in the cul-de-sac that felt rather familiar to her now. Even though it wasn't anything particularly special about it.
Jenn was vaguely aware that the others were walking through the gate as she looked around, feeling like there should be signs indicating what happened during the winter.
"You early," a familiar voice, feminine voice said. "Not like others, but early like spring early too."
It was the first ogre she'd encountered. The one she'd walked in while she was 'sharing' with Derek.
Jenn wasn't sure what the ogre was trying to say to her, but she had an idea what the gist of it was and how she fit into it.
"I came because of other reasons," she replied as the others with her came through. "Partly to see what the conditions of this world were like, even though we really couldn't expect the spring to have arrived early."
Jenn hoped her words were easy enough to be understood by the ogre in front of her. She knew that they were intelligent, but that didn't really mean much when she couldn't tell how much of what she said they actually understood.
Then there were those that had accompanied her. She hoped the fact that she was talking with the ogre would be enough for those who hadn't seen an ogre before to not attack out of hand. Though, she prepared herself mentally in the event she had to step in on any potential problem that could occur.
"Good you come. I assigned to guard you chief when she arrive," the right head of the ogre informed Jenn, nearly making her groan.
She really didn't need that sort of thing. She was fine without the additional complication of this. However, she knew that she couldn't refuse so easily.
Plus, she needed to first get things moving so they could get back to the others what information about the settlement they needed to. Such as the condition of any buildings still standing and the like.
"We're just here for a preliminary check, our chief will return later," Jenn said after she'd given directions to those with her. "But I'll be sure to let her know what you just told me."
The ogre nodded both of her heads. Jenn suddenly felt the urge to take a nap. Not because she was especially tired, but rather because she hoped that having this ogre here would just be a dream. A dream that would go away when she woke up from a nap. A nap that would also help take away the aggravation and annoyance she could feel start welling up inside of her.
She knew that reality wouldn't work out that way, but it was at least a fantasy that was so tempting to try out. As if nothing else, she'd likely have at least a little peace whiles she slept.
"Chief also want to speak with you chief," the left head said, breaking Jenn out of her thoughts.
Jenn sighed as she nodded. She hoped that she wouldn't walk in on him 'sharing' with anyone or that Derek wanted to 'share' with her again. While he had accepted 'sharing' through their magic, it was clear that he'd rather do it the way he was used to instead. Which for Jenn, wasn't a viable option.
Jenn was about to start heading out of the cul-de-sac when she noticed something about the ogre in front of her. Something that was almost imperceptible, but given the right angle, she couldn't help but wonder if she was just imagining things.
"Are you pregnant?" she asked, a little unsure if that would be considered rude among the ogres to ask.
How she could tell, she wasn't sure. It felt more like one of those things where she couldn't be sure, yet somehow was. Part of her hoped that she was wrong, even as she was confident she wasn't.
However, with how the ogre reacted, she saw she didn't need to worry about that. "Yes! I carrying Chief's child!" the right head declared happily, as the other head just grinned happily.
Jenn sighed. She just hoped that having a pregnant ogre as a guard for her stand-ins as the Blue Rose, especially if she had to take a turn at some point, wouldn't be a problem overall. She doubted it would, but she couldn't say that it wouldn't at least come with some complications. Complications that she was pretty sure were going to be a headache for her, if nothing else.
Jenn hoped this would be the biggest complication of this trip. It wasn't to take long, so that lessened the chance of more headaches popping up, but she wouldn't put it past whatever controlled these things to have added more to make her experience here that much more miserable.
_
Ralph wasn't sure if it was the thrill of being so high off the ground when there was only a wooden rail that came up to his waist, keeping him from falling off the side, or the thrill of moving so fast in the open wind without having to do anything himself. Kind of like a rollercoaster, except for the fact that it didn't have the sudden sharp movements in the track, nor did this ship follow the same path every time.
Even though they'd been up in the air for a few days, it somehow didn't lose its appeal.
The only problem had been convincing Heanith to take the ship to the marquis She was able to adjust the course of the ship, as well as to get it to rise or fall as she wanted. Which certainly was more than the rest of them had been able to figure out. Although, to be fair, Heanith did design it so it made sense that she'd know the intricacies of it better than they did.
As the sun rose, Ralph looked out over the top of the Forest of the Lost. He couldn't say why, but he was rather impressed by the majesty of the trees against the ever present mist.
Yet, as he looked out over, he suddenly saw something that attracted his attention of to the right of the ship, almost out of sight at this point. As Ralph looked, he could see what looked like something built on top of the trees. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a feeling that they should take a look. After they'd gotten Heanith to land this somewhere safe. Somewhere that it'd still be available when they needed it. If they needed it.
Which Ralph would say that they likely would. Although, he wondered about what would happen if they were able to build one of these ships on the world that connected this one with the world of the elves. It certainly would make getting back through the way they came to go a little faster. Though, he wasn't sure how long it'd take to build one on that world. Especially since they hadn't encountered any signs of anyone living there.
The structures on top of the trees were too distant for him to make out clearly, but he was confident that someone was building something there. He just wasn't sure where this part of the forest would be in comparison to the forest below the mist.
While Ralph was of the opinion that the ship could navigate through the trees, he doubted that it'd be a good idea. Largely because he didn't want to find out that it was too narrow by crashing into something and going down.
He imagined that this took a good long while for Heanith to build by herself and could only be repaired with a lot of effort and work. Effort Ralph really didn't care to engage in if he really didn't have to.
Turning away from the view, Ralph went to see if he could find Heanith. It'd been a while since they tried talking to her about where to go, and he hoped that she'd given what they'd said before some thought.
It wasn't like they could just float around forever, especially when they didn't have an unlimited supply of food. Nor was it likely that they'd really know where else they could go that was a good option, as if they didn't take the ship to Marquis Denshia, they couldn't know if whoever they took it to would treat Heanith as well as the marquis would.
While they'd said all that to their host, she hadn't seemed ready to budge with her 'keeping to herself' policy. While Ralph couldn't begrudge her that mentality, he could tell that it wasn't going to be a long-term solution for her. She might recognize it herself, but he couldn't be sure if that would be the case.
However, it had been a couple days and while they hadn't had any complaints about Heanith's cooking, Ralph was confident she had to be aware of how long the food she had would last. Even though she had been stockpiling it for years, she now had five additional mouths to feed. Mouths that were stuck with her whether she liked it or not at this point.
As Ralph entered the cabin, he couldn't help but yawn. He might have woken up on his own and climbed up to the deck from where he and his friends slept, but it was early still.
"Wow, two whole days," Heanith remarked as she stood over a map, clearly working out where she might want to go herself.
"Two whole days what?" Ralph asked, feeling like he was missing something.
"Two whole days since you and your friends tried talking me into going where you want me to go," she replied, with a knowing smirk on her face. "I was wondering when you'd try again. I might not have decided where to go, but I'm sure I'll come up with something soon enough."
"And in the meantime, you're visible for those who were on Stone Mountain and probably still are, you're visible from the ground when we get close enough to the edge of the Forest of the Lost, and you're also visible to those who are building structures above the mist in the trees of the Forest of the Lost," Ralph replied, not meaning to make a small speech out of it, but merely wanting to point out that this ship wasn't very subtle in and of itself. It stood out probably even more than Heanith would like.
Heanith shook her head, turning her attention back to the map in front of her. "It won't matter if they can see us. I've been thinking that if we head to the…" she trailed off and looked back to Ralph. "What was that about above the mist of the forest?"
Ralph shrugged. He hadn't gotten a good look at it, but he had been sure of what he did see. "Just that someone was building structures or something on the trees above the mist in the forest. I barely saw it this morning and I didn't get a good look at it with how fast we were moving."
Heanith nodded absently, her mind clearly somewhere else. Which Ralph hoped was a good thing. He wasn't sure what to expect overall, but he had a feeling that this might help tip the scales somewhat in where she might end up deciding where to go.
However, a moment later, she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I've come up with an idea of where to go. It's better than trying to meet with a noble of any of the countries around here. Instead, I'll head to the continent that you and your friends saw to the south. We're sure to be able to find a place we can grow food at, a place that we can remain stationary long enough to let the food grow on its own."
Ralph sighed. So many problems with what she'd said that he wasn't sure where to begin. He wasn't sure if it was because she had a point that he really didn't like or if there was a point she was missing entirely. All he could be certain of was the fact that something about her plan felt wrong. Wrong in a bad way. He just couldn't be sure which problem the sense of 'wrong' went with.
"You know, you can't be sure that the continent you're referring to is uninhabited," Hannah remarked from behind Ralph, nearly making him jump.
As Ralph turned to face Hannah, he put a hand to his heart, as if that would get it to slow down and return to its original pace. He wasn't sure having that happen was good for his health, although he was at least certain that Hannah hadn't meant to startle him like that.
"Why wouldn't it be unpopulated?" Heanith demanded, sounding rather defensive to Ralph.
"Simply because from the fact that you can't be sure someone else didn't already make it there and start a civilization of their own. Just because word hasn't arrived here about it, doesn't mean that someone didn't already get there first," Hannah answered, though Ralph suspected she wasn't going to be able to give an adequate answer if Heanith aske 'why.'
While he hoped she wouldn't he couldn't be sure what Heanith might think of herself or not. Especially with how intelligent she was herself. It was just that while she was intelligent, that didn't mean she'd think of what weaknesses Hannah's argument would have. He just hoped that Heanith wouldn't think of them and they could move on from there without any…