E X P E D I T I O N . . . The next morning, the rest of the group would rise and wake for the new day. The remainder of the long night had gone pretty much according to plan, the watches switched without incident, and nobody near the campsite in the small forest clearing. Katie and Allison woke up with some pounding headaches, but at least the longer night had allowed them to get a full night's sleep even with their adventure the night before.
Jaxon had told the Grid Corps boys to keep their escapades of the previous night a secret. Something like that was unlikely to go over well with the other members. Surely it wouldn't come back to bite them, but the coming part of their journey was already enough of a stressor. Especially for Nicole, who felt most responsible for this entire mess. Jaxon especially didn't want her to freak out.
"So, what do you think?" Nicole asked Jaxon, consulting her notebook as the rest of the group finished packing up camp. "Should we stop at this city next to us and pick up some supplies?"
"Eh, I don't know about that." Jaxon tried his hardest to avoid glancing at Katie or Allison. "There's another town further down that I think we should spend the night in, and we only have enough time to explore one city if we're going to travel all that way."
"Last night I thought you said you wanted to look through this city today since it's larger, and more likely to have more supplies." Nicole looked back down at her notebook.
"I've changed my mind." Jaxon looked at the notebook as well, pointing on the sketched map. "I believe the next city on this main road is a little smaller and less likely to have prying eyes."
"If you say so." Nicole sighed and put the book back on her bag. "Let's just get the group moving then."
By then the group of eleven had just finished stuffing supplied into their bags and pulling on their timely cloaks. Somebody remarked on the whole situation feeling like getting into costume.
Regardless, they all set out, staying off the main path and taking a longer route around the town. Nicole was still confused as to why they weren't just cutting through the place, but Jaxon made enough excuses to set her mind relatively at ease.
After three day's worth of talking among themselves, each member of the group found themselves branching out and having conversations with someone new. The previous days, everybody seemed content to talk among their little sub-cliques of friends they had before this adventure. Today was just a little bit different.
Inevitably, Jack Hoy and Leo Cross ended up walking next to Katie Madison and Allison Summer. They were towards the back of the group, lagging behind a little. Nobody could really hear their conversation, not that anybody would be snooping on it anyway.
"So ... you guys feeling alright?" Jack asked, with a little hint of humor in his voice.
"My migraine's gone away, so I think I'm doing better now." Allison rubbed her forehead for effect.
"I just had a tiny little headache that was gone before we'd even left camp. I'm fine." Katie tried her best to seem stoic about it.
"You're visibly walking with a slight limp," Leo pointed out. "Did you tweak an ankle last night?"
"No!" Katie replied quickly. "I'm just a little stiff because I wasn't expecting to have to full sprint for over a mile last night."
"What did you expect, after not paying your tab?" Jack jabbed Katie in the ribs. "Did you even have money?"
"There was this guy there that said he'd pay for our drinks!" Allison insisted. "We didn't expect to be abruptly pulled out of the place."
"Were you expecting him to pay for your apparently large tab and then leave without him?" Leo asked.
"Not necessarily. We had several plans in place." Katie avoided eye contact with any of them.
"Risky plans, it seems," Jack pointed out. "You're lucky we came to the rescue. You could be stuck in some creepy local guy's house right now if it weren't for our heroic deeds."
"You're the only person I know who's ego is somehow bigger than mine," Katie scoffed.
"I think he's right," Allison muttered to herself. "We could've gotten into serious trouble."
"That's the spirit!" Jack heard the offhand comment. "And because I like you two so much, I won't even charge you with a life debt this time. Next time I save your ass though, you're going to have to return the favor."
"Lovely," Katie rolled her eyes. The four athletes continued to walk together though, and a few minutes later they launched into some more pleasant conversations.
Meanwhile, Sarah Arrowsword had found her way to the side of her half-brother, Andrew, and his boyfriend Liam. The brother and sister had grown into a bit of an awkward sibling relationship. They had barely even known of each other's existence, much less met, for the first two decades of each other's lives. With Drawkland really starting to bloom in the NS Sports realm, Sarah had been spending more time in Ceni, and eventually met Andrew by chance on a train in Ceni (or more the other way around, Andrew recognized her first).
This came right before Drawkland and Ceni were awarded hosting rights to World Cup 79, and as a publicity move to celebrate the successful bid and eventual hosting, Andrew was invited by his absentee father and half-sister to tour the land of half his ancestors, which he had never been to before. There was some tension between the half-siblings and their aloof but supposedly well-meaning father, but eventually they got past the awkwardness at the beginning of the trip. Once it was over and Andrew headed back to Ceni, they had molded a real sort of sibling bond.
Sarah and Andrew had met a couple times afterwards in Ceni, but the business of being a high-level athlete takes up a lot of time. This trip was the first time the two had spent more than a day together in years.
"You know, it's funny." Andrew chuckled a bit and motioned at the strange scenery of TiSoFaH's wastelands. "When I went to Drawkland and looked through all these museums, all the stuff still sounded like myth or fantasy. Even though it was presented as fact, it still had the feeling of a children's novel. Meeting Iarocav in person was one thing, but for the most part he just seemed like a normal government leader, even with all the things he talked about."
"You should meet Ellzidan sometime," Sarah laughed. "She takes all the slight eccentricity of Iarocav and it's amped to 11."
"Speaking of Iarocav," Andrew cracked a mischievous grin as he suddenly remembered something from their trip years ago, "Did you ever do anything about that crush on Iarocav you had?"
"W-what?" Sarah puffed. "I don't know what you're talking about. When was that a thing?"
"Oh, I'm not sure ..." Andrew rubbed his chin in mock wistfulness. "I seem to remember glistening eyes, a little bit of drooling-"
"Not true!" Sarah shoved Andrew to stop him midsentence. "You've just been spending too much time in the sun. Your brain is melting."
"Okay, fine, I'll stop teasing." Andrew laughed a little bit, and gave Liam a little squeeze on the hand. "Anyway, what I meant to say earlier was, it's still so surreal to be here. I thought the culture shock was bad the first time I went to Drawkland, but this is something else entirely. Drawkland's still almost mythical, but this-"
"-is like it's amped to 11?" Sarah asked, giving a bit of a smile.
"Yeah, that." Andrew stopped talking for a few minutes, and the trio walked silently alongside the rest of the group.
"Did we make the right decision, doing this?" Andrew asked to nobody in particular.
"What do you mean?" Liam asked, giving a concerned look.
"This is all just ... so strange." Andrew continued to look out at the dusty landscape. "It's weird to think that we could be something other than mortal. This is real life, not some fairy tale. Even worse, it's weird to think that these could be some of our last days. Oh, was this all a mistake?"
"No, come on, you're fine." Sarah put her hand on Andrew's shoulder to comfort him. "You have a good heart, Andrew. And I assume you do as well, Liam, since Andrew is so fond of you. Seriously, I don't know what exactly is in store for us, but I know that you have the ability and the will to do this. We all do."
"This felt so last-minute, really." Andrew said, calming down a little bit. "I don't think we did enough planning. We should've thought this through more before doing all this." He looked back to Liam, who met his gaze with a sympathetic look.
"Listen. I wasn't planning or expecting you guys to come along. The fact that you learned about this at all is a drunken mistake on my part." Sarah looked down to make eye contact with Andrew. "Believe me, though. When you said you wanted to do this Quest, I could've told you no. It would've been easy to leave you out of the plans and let you just live the rest of your life as normal. But when you asked to come along with me, I got this feeling. If you really wanted to do this, you could do it."
"Do you believe in destiny?" Andrew asked.
"I don't know what I believe in. I'm just here to help my friends." Sarah looked back at Andrew. "And my family."
Once again, the actual travel between cities was pretty uneventful. Once they'd gotten a sufficient distance from last night's city, they came back on the main road. They'd crossed paths with a few local traders and travelers, a few carts and weird-looking horses they had to walk around. Overall they had no interactions with the locals, who seemed content to mind their own business.
It wasn't yet evening, but it was getting late in the afternoon when the group could see a small town in the distance. It was on the edge of a scraggly, brown forest, which started to stretch into the horizon. For the entirety of the journey, the group had been walking alongside a long mountain range, but staying out near the foothills.
"Tonight, we'll spend the night in town." Jaxon pointed at the approaching settlement. "After this, we'll be straying off the beaten path. Last chance to sleep in a somewhat comfy bed. Tomorrow, we'll be hiking into that ugly-looking forest."
As they approached the edge of the town, which had minimal wooden walls around the outside, Jaxon turned and stopped the group, beckoning them to come closer.
"Alright, we'll need to split up to get some more supplies. Just like the town before us, but this time it'll be more like making business transaction than looting abandoned stores." Jaxon reached into his bag and pulled out a small sack of coins.
"I found this in the abandoned town. I'm sure a couple of you guys found some yourselves, whatever." Jaxon started doling out a few of the coins to every person in the group.
"What are we supposed to get?" Jack asked, rubbing the precious metal between his fingers.
"Let's see, we'll need a little more food, some extra clothes, and somebody to find a place for all of us to sleep. Also, if you feel lacking in the defense department, weaponry, armor, whatever ... this is your last chance to get some. Split into groups yourself, and let's get going. We can meet at the city center, say, when the sun gets around the horizon?"
"We can get the clothes," Andrew said quickly, looking at Liam.
"I'll go with you guys," Sarah walked back over to her half-brother.
"We'll grab the grub." Jack pointed at Katie and Allison. "You interested?"
"Fine," Katie begrudgingly accepted.
"How about we go with your cousin to find a place to stay the night?" Nicole asked Cam, pointing at Leo and Riley.
"Sounds good," Cam and Leo said at the same time.
With that, the new little groups huddled among themselves and started wandering into town, trying to not look too out of place.
"I guess that leaves me on my own." Jaxon chuckled as the last group started off.
"Wait!" Cam said, hearing Jaxon and turning to look at him. "I could go with you real quick."
"But-" Nicole started to protest. She barely knew the two Grid Corps stars, and Cam was her only pseudo-connection to them.
"You'll be fine! They're cool!" Cam insisted, and she trotted over to Jaxon's side. Nicole scrunched her face in disdain and rolled her eyes, but she relented and started walking with the two guys.
"You seem eager," Jaxon cocked an eyebrow at Cam and smiled.
"Well, I just don't want you to be alone." Cam not-so-inconspicuously avoided eye contact. "Just like we said in the meeting before we set out. Buddy system and all that. Nobody sets out by themselves."
"Fair enough," Jaxon shrugged and started walking into town.
"So, if everybody else is gathering the materials, what should we do?" Cam asked, catching up to Jaxon.
"I don't know. I think I'll just wander through the market area and see if anything catches my eye."
"Are you about to go window shopping in an authentic medieval village?" Cam asked, incredulous.
"Well, I see it like this." Jaxon pulled out his bag of local coins. "Once we leave this town, this becomes useless dead weight. It would be better to find something neat or useful than to let this go to waste. Plus, it's not every day you're in TiSoFaH. Trust me, if you leave here alive, you're not going to want to come back any time soon."
"Of course, of course," Cam nodded along. The pair walked down the avenue, seeing Liam and the Arrowswords walking into some sort of cobbler's shop. "When was the last time you've traveled to this world? Just curious."
"I've only been here once before." Jaxon's smile slowly transitioned to a bit of a grimace. "The way that trip ended ... it wasn't very good. You know the story. Well, most of it, anyway."
"Only most of it?" Cam narrowed her eyes. "I thought you guys had told us everything about your experiences here."
"Trust me, there's a whole other side to the story you don't know. I really don't want to bring it up, though."
"I've heard all about the horrors, physical and psychological, you all experienced. What could be worse than that hellish stuff?"
"Here, I'll make you a deal." Jaxon turned to Cam. "You make it out of this thing alive, I'll tell you everything. The whole truth, and nothing but. You gotta promise you make it out of the maze alive, though. Got it?"
"Yes sir!" Cam gave a mocking salute, then noticed that Jaxon had extended his hand for a shake. She obliged, but a little bit of anxiety had started to set in on her soul. Jaxon seemed to pick up on this. When he saw a shop with some tapestries and other weaves out front, Jaxon turned towards it and pulled Cam along with him.
"Where are we going?" Cam asked.
"I just want to check out this little weaving place. Some of these tapestries look cool. And who knows, maybe it's made of some weird material unknown to our planet."
"Didn't you just say you want to limit dead weight? This stuff won't help us in the maze, will it?"
"Maybe not," Jaxon shrugged. "But again, this is stuff you can't find anywhere else. Real period pieces, too."
There was nobody inside the little shop when they first walked in, but there were noises coming from deeper inside the building. It wasn't empty, but they were alone for a moment to peruse the wares without interruption.
"Nothing's catching my eye," Jaxon sighed. "I guess this place is a bust."
"Yeah, I agree." Cam said, starting to walk towards the door. She stopped suddenly, looking at a rack with small scarves. They were single colors, with various simple seals stitched in the middle. "Wait, look at this!"
"What is it?" Jaxon came up and looked over Cam's shoulder.
"Look, it's a lightning bolt." Cam held up the scarf. "And it's purple. It's just like a Jaffro Storm fan scarf, but old-timey!"
"Oh yeah, that's your team." Jaxon recalled the many pictures of Cam playing in purple and gold. "What are the odds of that? The right color and a bolt insignia, to boot."
"I dunno!" Cam sighed, and put the scarf back on the rack. "We should leave it be, though. It'd be a waste of space."
"No way," Jaxon started pulling out his sack of coins. "You'll regret it so much if you don't get this thing. It's just too cool of a coincidence."
"You don't have to do that," Cam blushed, putting her hand on top of the scarf so Jaxon couldn't get it.
"It's my money, anyway. I'm gonna buy it and give it to you." Jaxon grabbed Cam's wrist and lifted her hand so he could grab the scarf with his other hand.
"Seriously, Jaxon, don't!" Cam gave him a light shove to the chest.
"You can't stop me from buying this," Jaxon started, and suddenly the owner walked out of the back room and came to the counter.
"Can I help ye?" The woman asked, with some sewing needles clutched in one hand.
"Yes, please. I would like to purchase this scarf." Jaxon brought the long weave of fabric over, and dropped his bag of coins on the small counter, despite Cam's quiet protests. A minute later, he was walking out of the place with the scarf neatly folded in his hands.
"Here you go!" Jaxon held the scarf out for Cam to take.
"You're so stupid." Cam kept her arms folded for a second, but she eventually relented and took it from his hands.
"You can keep it if your pack if you don't want to wear it. It won't take up much room." Jaxon smiled. "It'll probably be harder to lose it that way, too."
"I think I'll do that later." Cam unfolded the scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "How do I look?"
"Really good." Jaxon couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"Thank you," Cam said quietly as they walked back towards the little town square.
"Don't mention it."
The sun sank lower in the sky, and the group of eleven met accordingly in the little town square. There weren't many people there, but there were enough that they didn't stand out that much.
"Alright, we picked up some more dried meats and flatbreads." Jack patted a burlap sack which seemed to be brimming with food. "And we got a wheel of what I'm assuming is cheese, and pray isn't filled with a bacteria that will instantly kill me."
"We got a couple extra boots in case anybody wants to change before we go in to the maze." Liam had them tucked under his arm. "Also a few extra cloaks and tunics and trousers, just in case."
"And a ridiculous hat, apparently?" Nicole pointed out the wide-brimmed, almost cowboy-like hat on Andrew's head.
"Hey, I like this hat!" Andrew protested. "Plus, it'll keep the sun out of my eyes."
"If you say so," Nicole chuckled, then dangled a couple keys from her fingers. "The only place I could find with available rooms only had three left, so we're going to have to cram a little bit. Some people will have to sleep on the floor in their sleeping bags."
"Better than nothing." Jaxon poked at Cam's pack. "We picked up a couple cheap knives in case anybody still needs one. Looks like everything was taken care of, and with no incidents. That's what I like to see."
"Let's get to that inn." Nicole beckoned the others to follow her. "We have some big days ahead of us."