And then we were not

[Lothian]

Chad took arlandrias hand in his and pressed his forehead to hers for a moment, trying to offer some comfort before walking into the room to face this poor soul. He stood staring for a few moments before saying. "I need to bury him. Would you please find me a sheet? Id get one myself, but i dont want to leave him like this. Hes been alone long enough as it is." His voice was soft and deep as he asked her


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[Kaoru Asuna]

Arlandria wiped the tears from her cheeks.


"Okay. I think I saw a linen closet. I'm going to go check..." she trailed off, and went back to what did turn out to be a linen closet. Pulling out a few sheets, she walked into the room over to where Chad was standing close to the body. He took one out of her hands gently. She felt her eyes getting wet again at seeing the body, but she forced the tears to stay in her eyes.

 

[Lothian]

Chad took the sheet from her hand and looked deeply into her eyes. "Thank you" he said with a soft smile. Chad unfolded the sheet on the ground and gently pulled the remains of the man in the chair onto the middle of it. He then wrapped the sheet around the figure as a sort of make-shift shroud and lifted the package into his arms. He walked outside and asked arlandria to bring the shovel that was by the garden next to the tree. He made his way onto one of the islands fingers and set the shroud on the ground. When the shovel arrived, chad began digging. He dug untill the hole was about 4 feet deep. It was night time now and the sky was clear. The stars burned brightly in the sky and there were 2 moons in the sky, one red the other, the familiar grey though it was far larger than was normal. Chad gently placed the remains in the sheet at the bottom of the hole before climbing out. He bent down placing a knee on the grass and spoke "our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the power, the kingdom and the glory forever. We ask this night that you would write the name of this man in your book and welcome him i to your home so that he may know peace and happiness for all eternity as we would hope you would do for us on that appointed day. Amen." He spoke wih conviction, sadness and reverence. And as he rose to his feet, a single tear traced his cheek and glistened in the moonlight before falling into the grave."did you want to add anything?" He asked arlandria softly


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[Kaoru Asuna]

Arlandria had said the words with Chad, and when he asked if she wanted to add anything, she shook her head, tears spilling over, but she steped up to stand next to him, taking his hand.


"You said it better than I could. It was the perfect. As perfect is as possible on this earth. Or wherever we are now." She wiped the tear from Chad's cheek, then her's from her own.


"I'll bury him. You did more than your share already." Chad tried to take the shovel from her, but she just started scooping the dirt into it's previous place, covering the man. Once all of the dirt was in, she kneeled down and took the groups of grass and laying them over the bare dirt in the grave. Then she stood.

 

[Lothian]

<p>Chad wandered a short ways and lifted a large rock and brought it over to the grave with great effort and placed it at the head. Then he clasped arlandrias face in his hands and pulled himself close to her and said " thank you... For everything" his eyes welled up but he blinked away the tears and smiled. "Are you hungry?" He asked and with a chuckle said "i know i could use the serotonin" he let go of her face</p>


<p>


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[Kaoru Asuna]

"Yeah, I guess I am. But maybe we should look for something more healthy than cookies this time." She smiled, and let Chad lead the way on their search. After a few minutes of looking, they found a large bush sprouting cooked steaks, another with potatos, and a tree with green beans.


"I bet there'a kitchen on one of the lower floors. Let's go see." Arlandria walked next to Chad on their way back to the tree, their arms filled with enough food for each of them.


"Do you think there are more?" she asked him quietly.

 

[Lothian]

Chad let her question linger in the air for a moment. "Id hope whoever was here befor us had enough respect for the fallen to bury them as we did....but i dont know." He opened the door to the tree and noticed that there were enough torches and candles that had been lit to illuminate every space but wasnt sure as to how theyd been lit. He knew itd take hours to light them all and the were only outside for about one. He shrugged it off as a mystery for another day and started down a staircase to the left and after going down one level, sure enough, was a kitchen. It was large and had all theyd need to prepare a meal. The kitchen was primitive but itd work. He set the food in his arms on a quaint wooden table in the middle and walked over to a spice rack and pulled out a bottle with a cork in it that had a label saying pepper but as he did, the one next to it that said paprika Fell to the ground and the cork dislodged sending the spice spilling out onto the ground. The spice kept pouring out at an alarming rate and chad quickly scooped up the bottle and turned it back upright and put back the cork. He looked at the bottle and it was still full. "Never ending spices" he said placing the bottle back on the shelf. as he did, from behind a big cauldron came this little being only about a foot tall. The creature was human shaped and wore a sack for cloths. It had a large green beard and was quite thin. The being looked at them from one then to the other and then hurriedly swept up the spilled paprika before scurrying offagain behind the cauldron. Chad rushed over to the cauldron and looked behind and with a bewildered look and tone said to arlandria "its gone"


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[Kaoru Asuna]

"No way. It can't be gone! Where would it go?" She walked over and looked for herself, and sure enough, the space was empty. She stood there a second, thinking. Then she shrugged. She walked back to the black, pot-belly stove in the corner and lit a fire with the chopped wood laying next to it and a few matches from a drawer near by. That done, she took a pot to the sink by the kitchen door and filled it with water, and set it on the stove to boil.


"So, what do you think that thing was? And where do you think it went?" Arlandria asked him, starting to cut the potatos into small chunks, while Chad fiddled with the steaks.

 

[Lothian]

Chad cut the steaks into chunks and tossed them into the pot. "Stew sound good to you? Well," he said "when i was a teenager i got really into mythology and the occult. Practically all i did was research. So im hoping im right in assuming that thing is a kobold. Theyre house spirits. They clean and stuff but you need to leave food out for them on the hearth or else they get nasty. Or it could be a brownie they can be nice at first but turn real mean real quick. I dunno...."


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[Lothian]

The stew finished cooking and of couse, it was delicious as they ate at the table in the kitchen. Chad looked at arlandria and it occurred to him just how beautiful she really was. He thought to himself just how lucky he was. If he was the last man on earth and he may as well be at this point, he couldnt have picked a better person to accompany him. Though he didnt know how she felt on the matter so he decided to keep it to himself and try not to do or say anything creepy. " say, i dont really know anything about you" he said, "seeing how we're stuck here together we should get to know each other. If you dont mind talking that is. Things like where are you from, did you grow up there, do you play any instuments, what your favorite game is, whats your faith, do you have a boyfriend, you know, the basics"


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[Kaoru Asuna]

"Yeah, okay. Well, I'm from California. I grew up there, in a small house on the beach, with my two older brothers and my parents, and my Siberian Husky, Sophie. I'm learning to play the guitar--I've been taking a class from a neighbor who lives down the street from me. If you mean video games, my favourite is probably Splashdown, a jetski racing game. But if you meant board games, it's a tie between Monopoly and Clue. I'm a Christian. And no boyfriend."


She noticed Chad seemed almost...relieved? by the last words. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. But he was cute, especially when he was embarrassed. And he had a sweet smile.

 

[Lothian]

Chad was relieved to hear she didnt have a boyfriend to be heartbroken over. However, thats not all he was relieved over. He said " ya, im christian too. I became one about 2 years ago. I freaked out about all that end of the world, mayan calendar stuff so started doin my research and ended up coming to christ. I grew up in massachusetts in a small beach community. I didnt live on the water but i did live less than a 2 minute walk from it. I lived there with my mom, sister and siberian husky german shepard mix lucky. My dad was a truck driver and was almost never home and my parents finally divorced when i was 12 and we moved in with my aunt in rhode island." His voice saddened for briefly at drudging up the old memories but recovered quickly and went on. "favorite board game is probably chess... Though ive played probably 50 games and only won twice." He made a slightly embarassed smile while he rubbed the back of his neck. "But as far as my favorite video game...i dunno, its a tie prolly between a couple old playstation games, no ive decided, itd have to be jade cocoon. I dunno, it always had this mystical feel to it that i havent been able to replicate in any other game." Chad turned red in the face. "Oh my God, im totally rambling! Im sorry, anyway... Its getting late, we should probably get to bed...i mean our respective beds!" The shade of red in his face darkened "my lady, id be honored if youd allow me to see you to your room" he said with a chivalrous tone and a deep bow as he tried to recover from his prior awkwardness before realizing that she probably thought him even more awkward after that. He smiled at her, partly to keep the peace and partly at himself for his fumbled attempt at being gentlemanly


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[Kaoru Asuna]

"Of course, Sir. Knight," she adopted a goofy Medieval voice, and grinning, took Chad's offered hand.


"I forgot about chess when I was trying to think of my favourite game," Arlandria said as they climbed the stairs. "I play with my brothers a lot. We should play if we can find a board."


Once they made it to the top, Arlandria realised that as far as she knew, Chad hadn't chosen a room yet.


"Wait, you didn't pick a room yet, did you?"


Arlandria noticed she was still holding Chad's hand. She could feel her face turning red as she slipped her hand from his gently.

 

[Lothian]

Chad hadnt even noticed he was holding arlandrias hand until she took it back. It occurred to him that in this short time hed known her, hed grown quite comfortable with her. " we should do some more exploring tomorrow we still know next to nothing about this place. Speaking of, i decided earlier to hold off on sleeping for tonight cuz like i said, we dont know anything about this place, only 10 minutes ago we found out there are kobolds here and God knows what else. So im gonna stand guard outside your room tonight. Id hate for anything to happen in the night. Dont worry, im capable. I may act silly sometimes, but im a licensed security guard and a brown belt in krav maga. "


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[Kaoru Asuna]

Arlandria smiled at his chivalry, but shook her head.


"You don't have to do that. I can handle myself in a fight. I used to beat up bullies when I was in high school. Well, the sophmores who picked on the freshmen. But they were all guys and I won every fight. There were only three fights...but still. Either way, you don't need to sit outside my door like a guardian angel." But he didn't seem like he was going to listen, no matter what she said. She sighed.


"Well, good night then." She headed through the door, but just before she closed it, as an afterthought, she added,


"And you can call me Ria, if you want. And wake me up in a few hours, and I'll keep watch for you so you can sleep for a while." She shut the door.


I need some pajamas, she thought. She saw a wardrobe, and walked to it. Inside were tons of different kinds of nightwear: Nightgowns, full pajama sets, with pants and shirts, skimpy little nightclothes, all female, like whoever put them there knew a woman would sleep in this room. She picked a dark blue silk nightgown that, after striping down and slipping it over her head, reached to mid-thigh, with noodle straps and a three inch slit on each side at the bottom. She climbed into bed, and stared at the two moons and the stars.

 

[Lothian]

Chad listened to her objections and dismissed them outright. " i know i dont have to but id feel better if i did." He pulled up a chair and set it nest to her door and took a seat. He purposely took one that had no cushion so itd be less than comfortable. "Ria..." He said "i like it. Alright ria. Sleep well, and ill see you in a few hours." He gave her one last smile before the door closed and he sighed, sliding into the chair. He crossed his arms and tried to focus his thoughts. His mind was reeling from the day. It all still seemed a bit unreal to him. Hed been, from all evidence, magically transported to a fanciful place with some beautiful stranger, buried a man, and seen a creature that only existed in legend. He shuddered internally at the thought of what else this place held in store. Chad was not the type to be affraid of anything, but he liked to be prepared and everything thatd happened so far made mental preparation possible. But maybe that was the point. Expect the unexpected. This was like a war, a war against rationality, he somehow felt comfort from coming to this realization and listened intently for any disturbance in the night. He let arlandria sleep untill she was ready to wake up.


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[Kaoru Asuna]

For a while, she just lie there, thinking. Partly because she didn't feel tired. Partly because:


How could I sleep after what's happened today?! I woke up on some kind of mystical tree island, where Hambergers and Oreo cookies grow on trees. Not including the tiny, fictional creatures roaming around, and the fact that people have been here before us, one of whom died here. And that we had to bury him... She covered her eyes with her hands. That's enough thinking for one night. If I don't sleep, at least for a few hours, I'll be too tired to keep watch for Chad.


So, she turned onto her side, and, after a few mintues, fell asleep.


A few hours later she awoke. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, trying to get the blurry stuff out. I wonder how long I've been asleep? She looked around for a clock, but there wasn't one in the room. So she looked at the moon, the familiar one, to see how much it had moved. Probably a couple of hours, maybe more. Either way, I'll get up and go on night watch, so Chad can sleep for a while. She pulled her jeans on under the nightgown, and opened the door.


"Hey. Why don't you go in and sleep for a while? I'll sit out here and watch for goblins."

 

[Lothian]

Chad jumped up when he heard the latch on her door. Hed stayed awake the entire time thinking and in that time, hed forced himself to move on from the life he lived before. He knew that there was a possibility theyd never get off this floating island. Holding onto the past would make everything hard. Chad didnt really leave much behind though. He wasnt on good terms with his family, despite being so friendly, had few friends, had a job he didnt really like in a city he didnt care for, in a country he mourned for. In all reality chad didnt really care for society in general and he knew this. Hed often fantasized about just spending a couple grand on a canoe and supplies and going to live on the river away from it all. He had spent so much time thinking about it, it actually hurt to not do it. Chad came to terms with his current situation fairly easily. Arlandria came out of the room and told him to get some sleep. He stretched too and fro and noticed his tail bone hurt quite a bit. From slouching too long. "Okay" he said, "wanna come outside with me? Im gonna post up on the big hammock outside?" She didnt make too many objections, so the two made their way outside and chad crawled onto he hammock and put his uands behind his head and closed his eyes. Before falling soundly asleep he said, "Ria, youre welcome to join me on here if you want" then he drifted off before hearing her reply


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[Kaoru Asuna]

"Ria, you're welcome to join me on here if you want." She sat thinking about this for a few seconds.


Oh, hell, why not?


She climbed gently into the hammock, trying not to wake the already sleeping Chad. Even though the hammock was big, she could lay on her back, but she was stillo pressed against his side. The night was getting a little colder, minute by minute, and she was enjoying the warmth of being next to him.


I wonder if I can sleep? If that's what he ment? Maybe I'd better stay awake, for a while at least.


She gazed at the moons, looked for the constelations: The Big Dipper, Signes, Orion, smiling when she found them, and glad they were still there.


After a while, she started getting tired again.


No, I have to stay awake. No sleep for me, at least for a couple more hours...


She could already feel her eyes wanting to close. She turned on her side toward Chad, trying to stay alert. But that just made her sleepier. She leaned her head on the arm he had crossed behind his head.


I'll just close my eyes for a second...


And she fell into a deep sleep.

 

[Lothian]

A bead of sweat tickled its way across chads forhead and he awoke to the morning sun. He looked next to him to see the sleeping arlandria on his arm. He smiled to himself, but dared not move. Itd be a sin to disturb her, sleeping so soundly and beautifully. Shed been through so much and who knows how much shed go through today. Best to let her sleep. He smiled again as he looked up at the garish light coming through the leaves. There was a slight breeze and the day was nothing short of perfect. He inhaled deeply through his nose and held it for a moment before letting out slowly. "Am i crazy?" He thought to himself. He was actually excited for what today held. He looked back to arlandria and he felt his pulse quicken slightly. With his free hand he moved the hair from her face and put his hand back where it was and he laid there, soaking in the moment looking to the sky


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[Kaoru Asuna]

"Mmm..." Ria moved at Chad's touch, but she was still asleep. She gripped his shirt in his hand.


"...humfram...blum...." she mumbled, and it kind of sounded scared, or angry.


Then she rolled over, onto Chad, right before she woke up. She opened her eyes and looked around slowly, then realised thet she was lying on top of Chad.


"Oh, sorry," she said, face bright red, and climbed off of him.

 

[Lothian]

Chad turned red when he saw her turn red. He giggled and said. "Its okay. I dont mind whatsoever." He said playfully, before rolling out of the hammock with all the grace and finesse of a hippopotamus climbing a tree. He landed on all fours with a grunt and shot up to his feet before walking around the hammock and offering his hand to help her up so she didnt look as foolish as he did. " i think you were having a nightmare. If you wanna share i wont judge." He said tenderly. Then in an instant his tone changed to excited. "I dreamt i was in some sort of dungeon fortress thingy fighting monsters, totally epic. You were in it. I was trying to rescue you. It was the perfect guy dream" he smiled a big goofy smile.


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[Kaoru Asuna]

Ria giggled.


"Damn, why can't I have dreams like that? But I would save you instead, of course."


While she was listening to Chad tell his dream, she forgot her's, just for a second. But the second the story was over she remembered, and sobered.


"Hey. Let's go inside." She tugged on the edge of his shirt, and led them quietly back to the tree. They walked up to the top floor, Ria still sober. She went to the bed and sat down, and Chad sat next to her. She took a deep breath and began.


"When I was younger, my dad had an alcohol problem. I hated it when he drank. He doesn't have a problem anymore, but when he does take a drink, it still upsets me a lot. Anyway, recently, I started having these bad dreams where my dad would take my brothers and I to a bar, and he would drink. I'd ask him, even beg him not to, but in my dreams he doesn't care, and does it anyway. Sometimes in the dreams I cry, and then I wake up and cry. That's the kind of dream I just had." Ria took another breath. "And it feels really good to talk to someone about it, these dreams. Thank you for listening."

 

[Lothian]

(Im here just typing)


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[Lothian]

Chad scooped ria up in a heartfelt embrace. He sympathized with her entirely. "I remember my mom and dad fight and itd get physical sometimes. I remember my dad falling up the stairs p*ss *ss drunk. I had a paper route as a kid and id pay for groceries cuz my dad wouldnt send hime money. He was a truck driver and'd be home 4 days outta the month. But he made plenty and there should've been food. My mom used to lock herself in the downstairs bathroom and cry late at night." He smiled and said "but i think the more time goes by the more you start being affected by other stuff and the human heart only has so much room in it."


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