The young girl sighed for the millionth time that evening. She wiped the sticky sweat from her brow as her faith began to slowly deplete. It had been a stressful day for her, something of which he managed to handle quite well for her age. But looks can be deceiving. Inside, she was beginning to grow childishly tense. She had been out on the gigantically risen hill since the wee hours of the morning, and yet she had barely heard a thing. It was highly irregular, even for her.
The grass below her sandals were tickling her toes gingerly, like a mother would her newborn. Various questions circled her mind incessantly, asking her things that she could not rightly answer. However, one of them stood out in her mind much more than the others have ever done.
Where was the wind?
The girl frowned, but refused to let it dampen her spirit. It was a gorgeous dusk, definitely one of the more awe-inspiring that she had witnessed. The hill overlooked the vast nothingness that was the water. Miles upon miles of pure water that would frequently crash down on the disjointed rocks that remained at the bottom of the sheer, hundred foot drop below her. The sun was a fair orange that shadowed everything in its line of sight with a boisterous hue, as well as the very few clouds. Whenever she took the time to look up even further, she could see the moon subtly begin to show itself.
“Where…?” she started, speaking for the first time within hours. Her voice was tender, like a slow-running river. Her words drifted aimlessly off of her wet tongue. “The wind… where did you go?” she asked. Expectedly, the only sound she received in response was that of the crushing waves.
The more the girl traveled, the less her beloved winds spoke to her. It was becoming almost alarming, and many times had the idea of returning back to her village crossed her mind. Although, she knew that she had to refuse the thoughts beckoning. Something was terribly wrong, and it was beginning to hurt.
“Please, come speak with me,” she begged, as a few speckled tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. The wind was the only thing she had, nowadays, that reminded her of her home. It was the only thing that managed to keep her whole. The winds would always speak with her, granting her the much-needed courage that would always urge her to keep going.
“Talim?” A voice asked from behind her, sweetly. She quickly wiped the building tears with her forearm, unsuccessfully, before deciding not to turn around at all. She kept her eyes in front of her, hardening them as she looked over the edge. She used the voice as a reason to not become weak in the winds eyes. She must always be strong, was what she was told by Sanput.
The young woman’s revealing, flowered skirt moved daintily as she wandered up the hill. Her dark-brown braided hair hung down idly behind her neck as she carefully made her way, carrying some sort of item in her hand that was wrapped in a small, white cloth..
Talim said absolutely nothing. She knew who the girl in question was behind her, but even still, she wished that she had not arrived. Her mind needed to stay set on getting in touch with the wind. Nothing else mattered at this point. She had nowhere to go without the winds direction. “Talim? It’s me,”
As the footsteps grew closer, and her heart quickly growing heavy, she opened her mouth to speak, but just barely. “How did you find me?” she asked. The world was large, and Talim doubted that it was honestly by chance. She made sure to double check that she had not been followed to her destination.
The woman behind her chuckled and smiled somewhat sheepishly. “Call it a hunch I’d find you somewhere near the ocean,” she said. The woman was being much more than truthful, and even though Talim was a good friend to her, she would never lie to such a young girl.
“Why are you here? I wish to be alone,” uttered Talim, wiping a few more tears that somehow managed to slide down her rosy cheeks. The woman was almost beginning to regret her decision to come and find the girl, as she could see that she had came at a wrong time. The woman, however, managed to keep an upbeat attitude, for the sake of her friend.
“You can sure stay still for a long time. I haven’t seen you take one step since this morning,” The words of which Talim heard caused her to perk up her head in surprise. Much to the woman’s amusement, Talim finally turned around to face her.
Talim stared at her much taller form. The woman was very athletically built, and at least six inches taller than her. Her bright green shirt shone in contrast to the light from the sun. As usual, it was cut off, showing off her toned stomach for all to see. Her knee-length green skirt bore colorful flowers that Talim had always loved to see. The various lilies and roses gave her a short burst of familiarity of her village, even though the woman was born a ways acrossed the sea from her. A few strands of hair came down from the top of her head that hung stylishly in front of her bright green and gold headband. Talim tried not to place her eyes upon the bright scarlet Zanbatou that clung to her back.
“Mi-na...you have been...w-watching me?” Talim’s throat was much more dry than she had remembered, so her words came out much slower and painful than she would have preferred at the moment.
“Well, yeah. You’ve been up here all day, I’m sure you’re starved,” said Mi-na, unravelling a large piece of bread from underneath the cloth. Talim placed a hand to her exposed stomach, listening to it growl for the first time that day. She wondered how she had actually not noticed how hungry she was. To Seong Mi-na’s dismay, Talim did not move.
“I-” Talim started, but Mi-na interrupted.
“I know. I heard what you said. I take it the winds have disappeared, right?” Mi-na guessed. Talim nodded. “I see,” Mi-na looked to the ground, thinking carefully about what she was about to say before something wrong flew out of her mouth.
“I am lost, Mi-na.” Talim stated, before turning her back to the woman. She kicked her bladed tonfa’s that had resided close her on the ground. “The winds guide me. They tell me what lie ahead in my travels. Without them, I am lost and…” Talim slowly began to choke over her own words, but miraculously she kept the tears back. “... and everything I know is not here with me.” she concluded, crossing her arms sadly as she stared into the distance. There was an stressful pause that rang out between the two girls, before the eldest spoke up after a brief minute of pondering.
“Maybe, the winds are resting,” Mi-na suggested, taking a few steps closer to Talim. Before she knew what was happening, Talim felt a cold hand place itself on her left shoulder. Mi-na looked over the edge at the beautiful sight of which Talim was watching all day. “After travelling the world all day, maybe they’re just tired, Talim. Maybe you are too.”
Talim looked back at the ground, and loudly sighed. Talim knew that Mi-na was incorrect, but she appreciated just what her friend was trying to accomplish. “T-Thank you. Maybe you are right.”
Seong Mi-na smiled, pleased with her false ability to cheer up the fifteen year old. “Don’t mention it. Now come on, you looked starved…”
***
The two girls ate their portions of bread in a stunning silence. Talim watched the ground, completely lost in thought as Seong Mi-na struggled to find the right words to say. She remembered the last time when she actually spoke with Talim, and she believed it to be roughly four months ago. They were forced to go their separate ways so long ago, and believe it or not, locating Talim was much more difficult than she had anticipated.
The sun had finally set, and it was time for the nocturnal animals to sing their dreadful song. The two girls were located just outside of some sort of forest, but even still, it took very little effort for their ears to tune into the sound.
Seong Mi-na finally opened her mouth, after a rough fifteen minutes passed between the two of them. “So...uh...what have you been up to, Talim?” she asked kindly. She always knew to be kind to the young girl, as anything but would result in hurt feelings and an unanswered question.
Talim finally jumped back into reality at the sound of Seong Mi-na’s voice, which seemed to echo in comparison to that of the crickets. “Nothing really,” she replied. Talim always knew that lying was a horrible thing to do, but no one ever said anything against being vague. Mi-na raised her left eyebrow in confusion.
“What do you mean? The last time we spoke you said you were going to look for that blue sword you saw in your dream that day,” Mi-na asked.
“True,” Talim stated. “and so were you. As you can see, I haven’t any luck.” Talim said, looking up at the night sky. The campfire that lied in front of the two evenly lit up the area, and the light appeared to dance across Talim’s innocent face. She absentmindedly played with one of her her light grey braids.
“I see,” was Mi-na’s reply. It was at this point that Talim knew that there was something amiss in all of this.
“Mi-na...why did you follow me? Why are you here?” Talim asked, looking back up at the young woman with no feeling to regret. She was a very meek girl, never one for raising her voice at all, so she managed to keep it down.
“Talim… I need your help,” Mi-na said, rather abruptly. She set down her piece of bread on her bare lap, as not to get crumbs on her skirt.
Before Seong Mi-na could explain further, Talim stood up. “Sorry, but I cannot help,” she said. In a blur, she quickly began to grab her things: a blanket, both of her tonfa’s, and a spare change of clothes, and proceeded to put them in her knapsack. Talim’s heart was, once again, heavy. She had a small tinge of lament as she did so, but she tried not to let it show. She did not like to upset others, but this time she really could not help it.
“Talim-”
“I am sorry, but I have my own duties to fulfill,” said the young girl, not even bothering to look up from her crouched position. Mi-na grunted, irritatedly. “You should have your own to tend to as well, Mi-na,”
“That’s what I need your help with!” Mi-na cleared her throat, as to completely disregard the fact that her voice had involuntarily risen. Talim could tell that Mi-na was full of, something. Talim was gifted with the ability to read people fairly well, and she knew that Mi-na was beyond worried. Talim could not tell if Mi-na was full of honesty, or paranoia, and she hoped it was the former.
Talim hesitated in her packing, to which Mi-na noticed. She quickly used this opportunity to her advantage. “I-I’ve heard rumors, about Yun-Seong,” Talim stopped herself completely, and stood up to match Mi-na’s gaze. She had heard about Mi-na, and her search for her kinsman, Hong Yun-Seong. Talim actually used to travel with him before Mi-na came along to try and bring him home.
Yun-Seong was always a hard-headed soul. His eyes constantly burned with emotion with every word he breathed. He believed that the horrible and corrupted power of Soul Edge would be enough to keep his homeland safe, but Talim could not believe how naive he was. That night, when Talim, Yun-Seong and Mi-na were all camping out, he grabbed his blade and took off, possibly fearing the fact of being taken home. Ever since then, Mi-na’s been out searching, or at least, that was what she thought happened.
“What about Yun-Seong?” Talim asked, slightly curious.
“I heard rumors about his whereabouts,” Mi-na said, rubbing her left arm passively as she looked towards Talim. “A woman in Athens told me she saw a young man with a white dao jumping on a ferry to somewhere in Rome. I...I don’t know how to navigate a boat, and I figured with your knowledge that you could help me,” Talim understood almost immediately. Mi-na needed her and her ability to read the wind to cross the seas.
“I… I cannot. The winds are gone, I cannot read them anymore,” Talim said, sighing loudly as she fell to her bare knees, kicking up just a little bit of dirt. “I do not understand why. Do not think any less of me when I say that I cannot help you,”
Mi-na frowned, and kneeled next to the frail girl. For the second time that evening, she placed a single hand on Talim’s left shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. “Talim, I know you can do this. You’ve told me you’ve done this all your life. Maybe you can just come with me? Perhaps once you join me in Athens that your abilities will come back?” Talim did not say a single word, keeping her mouth peacefully shut. “Please? You never know,” Mi-na begged.
“I…” Talim was somewhat torn, but eventually, her heart could not bare the feeling of letting down a friend anymore. “...alright.”
Mi-na grabbed Talim by the shoulders and brought her in for a great hug, almost knowing Talim’s priestess hat right off of her head. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” she repeated. For the first time in an extremely long time, even during the short period of time they spent all those months ago, Seong Mi-na bore a truthful smile.
***
The instant the sun poked its weary head over the sky that next morning, Talim and Seong Mi-na were already up. Talim already had her belongings packed, but it took Mi-na a little longer than usual, as she seemed to have had misplaced her headband.
Talim wore what she usually wore when she traveled, a turquoise vest that came up to her ribcage, as well as a short white garment to cover her small breasts. Much like Mi-na, her stomach was exposed. Her intention was not to be revealing, just to be faithful to her homeland back in the Village of the Wind Deity. She wore slightly transparent pants made out of specially woven banana silk. The pants were slightly see through, but it was genuinely impossible to see anything that one was not meant to look at. Her leather, open toed sandals completed the outfit. Talim admitted that walking around in sandals all day got tiresome rather quickly, but she never complained.
It did not take them very long at all to get to Athens. Talim did not know, but they were only a few miles outside of the city from where they camped. Talim made a mental note to put more consideration into gaining knowledge on where she resided for the night.
Athens was a city of pure glory, a building block to what civilization ultimately could have been. The city was built on various layers of soft rock. It bustled with workers and townsfolk carrying various items, such as wooden buckets filled with vegetables, ribbons, and even a weapon or two. Everywhere, pillars white as clouds rose into the sky, upon closer observation, a few of the pieces of marble came together to make buildings the size of which you young girl had never seen before. However, Talim assumed those to be courthouses, or other olympian style monuments to some sort of Gods, as she could see the houses here were simply made from clay. Talim was not entirely sure of the Greek religion in general.
The morning was fruitful, and almost everything smelled of daisies and wet soil. “Wow,” Talim exclaimed upon taking in the first few sights of the historical city. Talim’s homeland resided in a forest, surrounded by trees and a naturality that most certain could not be reciprocated anywhere else. This was an entirely new experience for her.
“I know right? First thing I said when I got here,” Mi-na commented, adjusting her sunny, loosely tied scarf around her neck. Both of the girls continued to walk in silence, each of them taking in the sights in their own individual ways. Every now and then, a slight breeze would simmer through the city, perking up Talim’s spirits, but dimming them soon after upon coming to the conclusion that the winds were too quiet to hear. It was like they were whispering to her, like they were telling each other a gentle secret. A few minutes later, when the winds have completely disappeared again, Talim’s mind began to wander.
“Uh, Mi-na?” Talim asked.
“Yes?”
“I know that you wanted to ferry to Rome, but where do you plan on getting a boat in the first place?”
Mi-na scoffed, a little offended that Talim would believe that she would not think that far ahead. “Hah, don’t worry about it. I spent a decent amount of money on a small boat that we could use,” Talim was about to inquire if the boat would be strong enough to sail from Athens to Rome in one piece, but she believed that Mi-na already had that figured out. Talim gave Mi-na a brief nod as the boating dock slowly began to show itself from yonder.
It was a few milliseconds later that another rough wind rode by her, like a jouster on a stoic steed. She stopped and looked around, her heartbeat slowed to a steady metronomic pound. It appeared that everyone was headed in the exact same direction, towards the middle of the city. Mi-na also seemed to take notice of this as well. It was not an angry mob, it was as if they were all racing somewhere.
“What’s going on?” Mi-na asked, literally seconds before Talim would have opened her mouth. Talim shrugged, her curiosity having completely gotten the best of her.
“I have no idea,” Talim said plainly.
“Well, let’s go check it out. As long as it doesn’t take forever…” Mi-na suggested, as she began to quickly follow the crowd of people. Believe it or not, but Talim could sense Mi-na’s resistance to investigate. Talim did not know why Mi-na would waste time going to check out what the fuss was about, rather than get to a boat to continue her search for Yun-Seong. It was something Talim did not understand, so without another word, she passively followed Mi-na through the endless waves of people.
After quite a bit of pushing, and more than enough shoving than one would like, eventually the crowd’s bustle began to dim, and Talim and Mi-na were surrounded by an over excited crowd, each and every person more than desperate to get to the front of the pack.
Talim was only 4’8, so it was an understatement to say that she almost got trampled a few times. However, Seong Mi-na was roughly 5’4. Talim figured that if she just kept an eye out for the taller, Korean girl wearing bright green and white, she would be fine. It would have been relatively easy to get lost in this crowd.
Talim grabbed Mi-na by the arm and begun to navigate their way through the crowd in a wonderful example of curiosity peeking out over priority. Talim was not used to be surrounded by so many people, and it slightly put her off as something that she did not want to experience again. The inability to breathe was slowly driving her to insanity, and she saw her vision blur a multitude of times. However, she grasped Mi-na’s arm tight, hardened her eyes, and continued for the sake of her friend, as well as herself.
The crowd was actually fairly smaller than the two girls had previously thought. In the matter of a few minutes, Talim could actually hear something over the obnoxious banter of the herd. “Come one, come all! Try your luck, and see if you are worthy to gain the chance at unruly and sacred treasure!” A playfully masculine voice piqued through the air. Talim furrowed her brow, as her and Seong Mi-na finally pushed past the last few remaining people to the front of the crowd.
When Talim’s eyes laid sight on what was in front of her, her jaw instantaneously dropped.
In the large clearing created by people, was some sort of oval, lavender hole. Black electricity shot like lightning around the oval, shining and reaching out crossly. It was upright, and it swirled like a whirlpool. Around and around, the various colors cackled and spun, as if it was trying to expand and reach out towards her. The oval was massive, and reached an impressive nine feet.
Talim felt goosebumps rain down on her as another breeze rolled passed her, shivering as she listen to the wind speak its first words to her in a long time:: “watch your step”. Something surged through her, a feeling of brute power that she had a faint remembrance of from all those years ago. It was bad, it hurt, and she did not wish for it to get any closer to her.
“Uh, Mi-na-”
Before Talim could explain her doubts, a gentlemen popped his head out from behind the purple, swirling mass. His light brown eyes glinted suspiciously, and slithered from person to person, like a water snake. “Step right up! Five pence to see if you, yes you,” the gentleman pointed randomly into the crowd for some sort of dramatic effect. “have what it takes!”
The man was truly a sight to behold. He world a golden vest that came up to his rib cage, lined with what appeared to be shining, rare gems. Underneath it, was a black and white striped jumpsuit that covered almost all of his body. The man had a smile of pure greed as he gleefully played with his exceedingly long mustache and adjust his prismatic top hat, which also seemed to be lined with gold. Talim could not tell if the gems and gold were real or fake from this distance, and also due to the fact that he tended to move from one place around the portal to another in rapid succession.
“What’s going on? What is that thing?” A voice from the audience asked.
“Did Soul Edge do this?”
“I heard they’re popping up all over the country!”
Talim raised an eyebrow, and turned back to Mi-na, remembering exactly what she was about to say just a second earlier. “Uh, Mi-na? I think-”
“Ah, an excellent question for Le Bello!” the gentleman said. Le Bello? Such a weird name, Talim thought. “And here’s the answers, this, people of Athens, is a portal to your wildest dreams!” A few people in the audience let out awestruck sighs upon hearing his words, while Talim and Mi-na simply shared a confused gaze.
“They have indeedy been popping up everywhere, but do you know why? Well, its simple! Only the world’s most talented warriors can go through the portal to get to the grand riches on the other side!” Riches? Talim was not entirely sure of that. She had a question that she wished to shout out, but Mi-na already beat her to it. Mi-na cupped her hands around her mouth as she shouted out so everyone could hear:
“How do you know what’s on the other side, then?” A few people in the audience laughed, while the ‘Le Bello’ tried desperately to hide the fact that his heart was aching. Talim groaned. She knew that it was not Mi-na intention to call the mustachioed man less than skillful, and she wished that Mi-na would have phrased her question better. Le Bello refused to let the insult persuade him.
“You dare to doubt Lord Geo Dampierre’s skills in combat? So be it, but this should prove otherwise!” Dampierre stated, as he reached into his jumpsuit pocket. After digging around for a minute, Dampierre let out a satisfied grin as he pulled out a baseball sized rock. He held it up to the sun, and listened to the clamoring voices of the townsfolk as it shined wondrously. It radiated a bright orange that blinded majority of the crowd for a split second. It was definitely something Talim had never seen before. It actually did appear to be treasure, in her eyes at least.
Talim raised her forearm to shield her eyes from the light, but it was only two seconds later when Dampierre shoved it back into his pocket, a genuinely fake smile on his face. “I had to fight some of the most terrifying beasts just to get this sampling! And you dare say that I’m not worthy!” She pointed at Mi-na, sticking out his bottom lip like a child.. Talim noticed that Mi-na was trying extremely hard to hold back a laugh. Mi-na had to literally clasp a hand over her mouth to keep from exploding.
“Anyways, this isn’t about me, it’s about you! For five pence, you can see if you have what it takes to try and go get some invaluable treasure on your own! Here, I’ll even do an example! Young man?” Dampierre cooed out to a young boy in the front of the crowd. His light blonde hair swung as he nervously shook his head in protest. “Please, step right up? I won’t even charge you!”
The young boy, now a little more enthused, waddled up to Dampierre, who grasped him roughly on the shoulders. “Now, little boy-”
The boy was not amused anymore, and Talim saw the corners of his mouth curve downwards.
“-I need you to try and stick your hand through that there portal, go ahead!” Dampierre ushered the boy closer and closer to the weird void. The boy turned around to face it, only gazing back at the crowd once with his eyes full of distaste.. Nervously, he raised his shaking hand, and attempted to put his palm through the unknown of the void. The boy reeled back, as if he was afraid of losing his hand altogether.
Clang.
The boys hand refused to go through the portal, and it simply lied on the outer edge, like it was touching glass. The boy was simply astounded as he felt the extremely ragged surface. Dampierre’s smile only grew larger as he wrapped his arms around the boy from behind, and proceeded to carry him back to his spot in the crowd. “Thank you for the wonderful example, my young man! Excellent work!” Finally, the young boy brought forth a smile. If anything, the little boy’s example only made Talim want to get out of there even more so.
“Mi-na...I have a bad feeling about this…” Talim whispered over to Mi-na, who had been idly watching along with her, her laughing fit now long gone. Mi-na shook her head in shock, as if she was surprised at the fact that she actually wasted that much time watching this ridiculous event unfold.
“Yeah, we should probably get going-” Mi-na started, but as both of the girls turned around, they came face to face with a subtly familiar mustache.
“Wait a minute!” Dampierre said, raising up a finger and closing his eyes, smugly. “Le Belle thinks that you think I am weak in your eyes,” Dampierre’s salesman-like charm was now gone, and replaced with extreme lax. It was the same look that Talim would get back in her village from her elders upon doing something incorrectly. Dampierre’s nose was a mile in the air.
Seong Mi-na rubbed the back of her neck, slightly embarrassed on being called out about what she had said just a few moments ago. “Uh, no. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that…”
“Fair enough! Well, don’t I have a great offer for you two, then!” Dampierre said, finally taking noticed of the younger girl that seemed to accompany Mi-na. “I’ll let you try your luck for absolutely free!” Talim felt another shiver of doubt at what Dampierre said. The closer Dampierre shoved them to the swirling void, the more uneasy and sick she actually became. Her head spun, and she felt a small migraine forming.
“I’m sorry, but we really don’t have the-” Dampierre instantly hushed Mi-na and whispered, serenely.
“Please, it’s just for the crowd?” he asked, sweetly. Mi-na took one look at Talim, who shook her head. No matter how much Dampierre begged, Talim did not want to take one more step closer to that void, or whatever it was. It was obviously Soul Edge’s doing, and she was sure it did not lead to anywhere worthwhile. Dampierre threw his hands into the air, a grand smile on his face. Before Mi-na could give any sort of conclusive answer, Dampierre physically shoved both of the girls out out from the crowd.
“Hey! Get your hands off me, please!” Talim shouted, holding her knapsack like she would a teddy bear.
“Looky here folks! These lucky ladies are going to try their hands! But are they worthy enough?” Dampierre took out ten pence, and began to count it, feigning to the crowd that Mi-na and Talim had actually paid. Talim was not sure if she was meant to notice this or not.
“Mi-na, I have a really bad feeling about this…” Talim said, uneasily. Mi-na looked down at Talim and frowned deeply. Resonating inside of Talim was the distinct feeling of danger, the feeling that explains that something bad and unsettling was about to occur.. There was a silent ambience between Dampierre, Mi-na, and Talim. Le Bello tapped his foot, until he eventually held his hands out in front of him .
“Hurry up!” Dampierre hollered, shoving Mi-na towards the portal. Mi-na screeched involuntarily, and unintentionally grabbed the nearest thing to her to keep her from falling into the void: Talim. Unfortunately for Dampierre, Talim had the exact same response. “What are you doing!?” he yelled.
All three of them, linked by arm, tumbled through the void as the crowd watched, amazed. The crowd was stunned, and everyone sat in complete silence as a generous breeze rang throughout the town. No one else could hear it, but the wind let out a bemused sigh.
The screams of the three travelers echoed as they fell through the strange portal, albeit it was excruciatingly quick. It was as if she fell into a different room. The air changed drastically, momentarily choking her, in fact. Talim let out a soft cry as she painfully landed on top of Mi-na, who emitted a pained holler. Talim had no time to move out of the way before she felt the weight of Dampierre slam onto her back, knocking every little inch of wind out of her tiny body.
Mi-na was quickly infuriated when Dampierre did not start clamoring off the pile as fast as she would have liked. “Get off me!” she shouted. At first, Talim thought the order was directed towards her, so she proceeded to hurriedly wiggle out from the human sandwich in which she was caught in.
A few moments later, Dampierre regained his composure and gingerly jumped off of the two girls. With a sneer, he absentmindedly patted the dirt off of his clothes. Somehow, Dampierre had refrained from losing his hat, or even getting a speck of dirt of his perfect mustache. When he ended up noticing both of these observations, he could not help but feel a little bit better.
Talim and Mi-na were not doing so good. Seconds after Dampierre scampered off of her, she stood up and proceeded to help Mi-na to her feet. “Mi-na, are you okay?” Talim asked her dear friend. However, Mi-na paid her no attention, as her mind was solely focused on Le Bello.
“What is your deal!? Why did you push us?” Mi-na asked, her voice uncontrollably rising. Talim was right about Mi-na: her and Yun-Seong were alike in more ways than she had originally thought.
“I did no such thing!” Dampierre admitted, pointing his nose up in the air as if he was offended by her words. “There must have been a freak wind. Le Bello is not too sure himself… how peculiar…” Dampierre said, resting a hand on the bottom of his skinny chin. Mi-na was quickly losing her patience. Talim knew that Dampierre was lying the instant he said that obvious word, however she chose not to call him out on it.
Mi-na began to reach behind her, an anger-driven grimace on her visage as one hand gripped her Zanbatou. Talim put a hand in front of her as a way to subtly tell her “it’s not worth it”. Now that Talim thought about it, she was lucky that she did not accidentally fall on the blade of Mi-na’s Zanbatou. It was also lucky that Dampierre did not land on the knapsack on Talim’s back, which still contained her bladed tonfa’s. With a small growl, Mi-na let go of her weapon, making sure it was gently returned to its original position on her back.
Talim took this moment to carefully look at her surroundings when a very small breeze passed by her. It was too quiet to hear, but Talim still used it as a reason to stay hopeful. The tree’s were a sparkling emerald, hesitantly dripping morning dew. The leaves were odd to her, as they jutted out like four leaf clovers. Under her feet was a soil-ridden trail that appeared to follow the sun way out into the distance. Talim could feel it, however, it was hidden from sight at that moment. Other than that, there were various shrubs and bushes that were strewn about the sides of the trail. There was only one thing about it that looked unnatural: the fact that there was a giant, purple, swirling portal in the middle of it.
“Where...are we?” Talim asked, breaking the ice before Mi-na’s anger had managed to rise. For the first time, Mi-na and Dampierre actually took note of their surroundings. Upon taking a single glance at Dampierre’s face, Talim knew her suspicions were correct. However, she still refused to call him out on it. She did not wish to add gasoline to that pile of hay.
“Well, Dampierre? Where are we?” Mi-na turned to Dampierre, who snapped to attention. Talim concluded that Mi-na also had her suspicions about the strange man who followed them. The man’s eye twitched, before he aptly raised a finger.
“I have no clue,” he said, plainly. Mi-na smacked her forehead, and Talim felt a little like sighing.
“I thought you said you went through the portal earlier?” Mi-na asked, more confused and weary than angry at this point. Both of them looked in his direction as he kicked the dirt.
“Have no fear! I have an explanation!” Mi-na rolled her eyes, as Talim kept her’s on Dampierre’s. “I did go through the portal. I’ve been here before. Le Bello just did not go through the one in Athens. They’ve been springing up all over the place. When I came through I was in a... mountain.” Talim squinted at him, very disbelieving of what he was preaching. Talim did decide that it makes a little bit of sense. If he went through a certain portal in her world, maybe he came out of another portal in this world? This was another world, correct? Talim was still trying to wrap her head around this, but in all seriousness, she had seen weirder.
“Yeah... well, come on, Talim. Let’s get out of here,” Mi-na stated, as she abruptly began to walk towards the portal.
“Right.”
Before another word could be said, a pained grunt rang out amongst the three of them, and Dampierre could not help but break out into a glorious riffe of laughter as Mi-na smacked head-on into the portal. It was as if it was glass. Talim did not find this to be the least bit funny. If anything, it made her entirely nervous, especially because another loud wind passed by her, gently ruffling her hair in the process.
“Ouch, what the…?” Mi-na called as she peeled her face off of the portal as Dampierre finally managed to catch his breathe. As the realization hit her, she began to pound on the glass, desperate for it to let them pass through. “No, no, no!”
“We are not worthy enough,” Talim said, repeating exactly what the wind had just told her. She admitted that it was even lucky that she could speak to it in a new place like this. “we must prove our worth before the portal will let us pass.”
Dampierre had subsequently stopped laughing, as Talim’s words had knocked the grim smile right off of his lips. “W-What!? That’s absurd!” A loud banging could be heard as Mi-na resorted to using her Zanbatou to try and break the portal. Talim did not understand Mi-na’s thinking. It may have looked and felt like glass, but she could tell that even Dampierre knew that it actually was not. “I... I came through last time without much difficulty, uh, honest!” Dampierre stuttered. Talim realized what their situation would entail, and how awkward that this must be for him. Without another thought about it, she turned to the mustachioed man. She pointed to Mi-na.
“I find it weird that we know your name, but you do not know ours. That is Seong Mi-na, and I am Talim. We must learn to work together, if we are ever going to genuinely get out of this.” Dampierre was slightly caught off guard by her kindness at first. He was not at all used to people talking like that towards him. As Talim reached out her hand, Le Bello firmly grasped it.
“Well, uh-”
“You!” Mi-na shouted. A mere millisecond later, Dampierre’s mouth curled back into a frightened, toothy frown. Mi-na held her Zanbatou’s blade just inches away from Dampierre’s adam’s apple. The blade was a shining silver, catching glimpses from the sun when it was positioned correctly. Dampierre held his hands up in the air, as if was just caught red-handed by the police. Talim noticed that he had some sort of green...boxes, on his wrists? Maybe they were some kind of bracelet. “You got us stuck here! You’re a liar! You’ve never been through that portal in your life! You’re just some kind of stupid con-artist, aren’t you?”
“Mi-na!”
“Uhm, excuse me? That is no way for a lady such as yourself to speak.” Mi-na gritted her teeth, so Le Bello decided to try another approach. “Look, I understand tensions are high, but I’m sure we can figure this out.”
“How? Dammit!” Mi-na turned to Talim, her eyes like stone as she pleaded towards the young girl. “Yun-Seong’s probably in Rome right now, and moving farther away as we speak. All because of this idiot!”
“Wait! Don’t hurt me! I have a wife and ki-”
“Mi-na stop this!” Talim shouted, interrupting Dampierre. Chances were he was not going to say anything worthwhile anyways. Something was off, she had never remembered Mi-na being this aggressive before. She was always determined, but they are both very different things. Yun-Seong being on her mind, maybe that could be enough flame, but Talim sincerely doubted it.
“Why should I? Look, Talim! We’re in some sort of new world, or whatever this is, and there’s no way out!” Mi-na actually stopped to think for a moment. “ By the time we prove our worth, Yun-Seong will be halfway across the country!”
“If we could just calm-” Dampierre started. Talim’s eyes widened as she looked over at Dampierre, a loud shink was heard as his face was contorted into that of pure malice. “-DOWN!” Talim saw three glints. One was in Dampierre’s eye, while the others game from that small baskets, which was apparently holsters, on both of his wrists. They both protruded two hand-length hidden blades. Talim did not even have time to warn Mi-na before he ducked Mi-na sitting blade and curled his right fist, letting the blade jut out as he swung at her. Talim also felt incredibly stupid after actually believing that the holsters were some kind of baskets.
Luckily, Mi-na had been paying close attention. With a swift step back, Dampierre’s blade came nowhere close to actually hitting her. With newfound adrenaline in Mi-na’s body, she got ready to swung her Zanbatou back at the con-artist, but Talim jumped infront of her, reluctantly. The last thing she wanted was to get hit by her weapon, it honestly seemed like it would hurt, obviously. Plus, she had seen some of her moves, and did not wish to be on the other end of them.
“Mi-na! Stop!” Upon seeing the new body in her line of sight, Mi-na stopped her swing, sticking the pointed end of her Zanbatou in the dirt.
“You saw that! He just attacked me!” She argued, crossing her arms childishly. Talim rolled her eyes. Deep inside she knew that the blame was to be shared equally between them all. After all, Talim could have stepped up a little sooner, or she could have been more assertive in her attempts to stop them.
“Are you serious? Le Bello is appalled! If I can remember correctly, you drew your blade first.” shrieked the con-man, literally pointing his scrawny finger at the woman. Talim let out a loud groan in frustration. This was not what she had wanted, nor what should be occurring right then.
“Please! Stop fighting!” Talim said, calmly. Almost immediately, Seong Mi-na let out a deep breathe. She had temporarily forgotten who else was with them. To be honest, she wanted to be a good role model for the young girl, whether she needed one or not. With a sigh, Mi-na picked up her Zanbatou and placed it back on her back.
“You’re right. Sorry, Dampierre.” Mi-na deadpanned. Talim shot her a dirty glare, causing the woman to rethink herself. “I am truly sorry.” Mi-na was wondering to herself why she was letting why a fifteen year old girl completely guilt trip her. In the end she decided that it was just for the best.
“Le Bello accepts this apology. It was not my wish for this to happen, you know.” Dampierre lifted off his top hat in order to dust it off, revealing shining, dark chestnut hair. He patted his hat a few times, frowning at the amount of dust he extracted from it before placing it back on the top of his head. Talim noticed that his blades had been removed, and slunk back into his holsters. Such a very weird and tricky weapon, Talim thought to herself, it fit him rather well.
At that very second, a crisp wind straddled through the three of them, prompting Mi-na to turn towards Talim. Dampierre followed her gaze, and raised an eyebrow. Talim looked at the ground, dejectedly.
“What? Why are we staring at the young miss here?” Dampierre asked. Talim was about to speak, but Mi-na spoke up instead.
“Talim can read the wind.” Mi-na explained. “She’s a priestess from the Village of the Wind Deity.” Mi-na was about to say more, but from Dampierre’s quizzical stare, she decided against it.
“Hm, I believe I’ve heard of that place. I’ve visited that area for one of my business trips. Such lovely scenery!” Le Bello admitted, giving Talim an amused grin. “What did the wind just say?”
The edges of Talim’s mouth turned downwards, and her eyes grew as soft as berries. “I...I cannot understand them. They are too quiet.”
“Oh.” Mi-na and Dampierre spoke simultaneously. Dampierre, however, was the one to raise a finger. “Well, how come?”
“How should she know? She can understand weather, not control it.” Talim was about to point out to Mi-na that that was incorrect. She actually could control the wind to a small degree, but not very much. It helped her out in battle, occasionally. Many people have commented stating how unusual her fighting style actually was, as well as her weapons. She actually named each of her bladed tonfa’s, Syi Salika and Loka Luha. She did not know why, but she felt it was necessary.
“I see...well, anyways, what should we do now?” Dampierre quickly changed the subject. “I propose that we head down the trail and see what we find.” Since nobody had already requested to be leader, Dampierre took this moment to step up. Mi-na, however, had other things on her mind.
“Are you kidding? Who knows what lives out here?”
“Well, what do you suppose we do?”
“Well, uh, I don’t know! Definitely not that!”
“Hah! Since Le Bello is the only one here with a plan, the decision is unanimous!”
Talim slunk her shoulders, excessively tired at the fact that they have only been together for a total of fifteen minutes, and already those two were mortal enemies.
She was scared. a little bit because of the situation that they were in. They only had a limited amount of food, and she knew that Dampierre had nothing on him besides the blingy clothes on his back. Not only that, but she had technically lied. She did not hear the wind, however, she did feel something else. It was exceedingly difficult to keep from physically showing it, but that feeling passed over he again. The very same feeling that she felt in her own world, the one that prompted her to start this journey in the first place. Every time she felt it, it was like a heated dagger piercing her heart, and she hated it. However, she managed to keep silent about it.
As she looked at the ground, something in her peripheral vision caught her attention. It was a slight rustling in the bushes. She jerked her head over to the area, only to see a flash of dull yellow scramble away, deeper into the forest. "We are being watched." Talim did not even hear it make a single sound. That was, until, it managed to trip. Whatever it was let out a shrill, yet soft, cry as it fell on a few sticks, creating just enough noise to catch the attention of Mi-na and Dampierre, who watched it writhe in pain on the floor.
"There's something there." She said, however, the rest of her team was already on it. They sombered away from the trail, deeper into the woods to catch a glimpse of whatever it was following them. Whatever it was was crawling, desperate to get away from Talim, Mi-na and Dampierre, but it was in vain.
A few feet later, the yellow blur was starting to take shape. It was some sort of pale yellow horse, gifted with magnificent wings that hugged its body tenderly. Its pink mane was strewn about, most likely from its recent fall, as Talim could tell from the inane amount of sticks and leaves caught inside of it. Talim looked into its teal eyes as it held up two hooves, unable to stand due to a visible cut on her back leg. "No! P-Please, don't hurt me! Just s-stay away, please!".
Talim was not at all surprised at the sight she was seeing, if anything, she was enthused. She did not lie when she said that she has seen, as well as fought, weirder. "Calm down, please! We are not going to hurt you!"
"What are you...?" Mi-na asked.