A Summer's Eve

five

"I think I made a huge mistake." Alora called out as she walked into her family home.

The slight patter of feet came around the corner as Ziva and Clara came racing into the living room. The nervous looks on their faces seemed to drop as they took in Alora and seeing no evidence of harm. Clara went and sat on the couch, patting the spot beside her for Alora.

"So what kind of mistake are we talking about here?" Ziva asked, hard hands fiddling in her lap.

"What do you guys know of the lady that owns the book store?" Alora asked tentatively. Clara and Ziva's faces turned ghostly white. The latter's jaw hung open slightly in worry.

"Why?" Clara asked sharply, a pointed look at Alora told her more than she wanted to know.

"Because, I am going to be working for her." She said, he voice quiet

"Al, you cannot work for that creep! She is terrifying!" Ziva exclaimed.

"Alora, its worse than that." Clara started. "No one knows where she came from. That store of hers was here when the first ship arrived. No one that was aboard recognizes her. Its like she was just here all along." Goosebumps rose up along Clara's arms and chest as she heaved a big sigh.

"There was something off about her, but she seems nice. A little creepy, but nice." Alora said, trying to convince herself more than anyone.

Her two sisters looked at each other warily before giving Alora the best smiles they could muster. Ziva tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she stood up and made her way into the kitchen.

Alora spent the rest of the day working on her room. There was plenty of extra materials from her furniture making, enough for Alora to create a large bookshelf. She took her materials outside to an area just outside of her bedroom window and began chipping away at the wood.

Just as she finished the arch of the top of the bookcase the sun began to set. Wiping the sweat off her face, Alora collected the chisel and mallet and covered the shelf with a large sheet before heading inside. The house was quiet and dark as she made her way into her room. It seemed after her day of woodworking she had missed everyone coming home and leaving again. Setting her tools down on her new nightstand, Alora looked around her room. It was no small feat to get all of this finished, she realized. In fact, she had essentially built her own home again in a way. Without any plans for the rest of the evening, Alora took to her armoire and changed from her loose jeans and tank top into a pair of shorts and a long sleeve. Grabbing a sinch sack before exiting her room, she went to the kitchen and added a few snacks and a bottle of water. A hike sounded nice after a long hard day, and without any running water yet, she needed to find some way to clear off the salt dried to her skin.

Alora ventured down some of the outer most paths of the developing city, mostly new homes being built down these paths as the innermost part of the city was already developed. Large trees bordered some of the yards of these properties. Areas of land that hadn't been demolished for the settlement. The gravel road became more and more sparse as she rounded the corner. About a half mile off it seemed to dissipate entirely on the crest of a hill before the trees swallowed the landscape. Looking at the sun, she figured she had about an hour or so left of daylight before darkness really settled in. With that she took her first step off of the gravel path and into the forest.

The forest was incredibly quiet. Much quieter than the small forest Alora's old home was nestled in. It felt odd, almost as if something had forced the creatures who lived here to remain out of sight and sound. Alora slowed her pace as she began to wander deeper into the forest. The further in she got, the brighter the trees seemed to become. About half a mile in she finally heard the first faint footsteps behind her along with the subtle cracking of twigs. Something small was skittering behind her, nothing to warrant too much fear, but just enough that Alora's senses were on alert.

It truly was as beautiful as she had imagined here. The trees allowed spots of light through to the brush every inch or so, lighting up the forest floor like a natural disco ball. Through the mess of trees and vines, Alora was slightly able to make out glimmers of light and the soft sound of rushing of water. Finally. Alora thought to herself. It wouldn't be too long now before she ran out of light, especially once she was able to clean herself up a bit. Picking up the pace she worked her way through the trees, the soft snapping of twigs still trailing behind her as she went. The sound of moving water intensified as she approached, drowning out the noises of whatever curious creature was following her.

The darkness of the forest broke as Alora caught her first glance at the cerulean blue waters of the lake. Setting down her cinch sack she wandered over to a large boulder a small leap from the pebbled shore. The rock was still warm to the touch, the sun's warmth radiating through the stones to her opened hands. Quickly she slipped off her shoes and socks, letting the heat warm her toes and feet before pulling off her top and shorts. The water was cool against her skin as she slipped in off the boulder. A slight current pulled slightly at her ankles toward the rushing water. The water here felt different, made her feel different. Happier? Stable? She couldn't quiet put her finger on it. Submerging her head under and soaking her hair Alora floated in the large body of water for a while. Once she finally felt fresh and clean, she made her way through the water towards the shore nearest the rushing water. Planting herself on another large boulder she stood, overlooking the tall waterfall produced by the lake. She hadn't realized how close she had stayed to the shore until now. The lake water plummeted down the edge of one of the seaside cliffs, roughly splattering to meet the sea beneath. It was magnificent and terrifying all the same.

Getting her bearings, Alora backed away from the death plunge and swam back to the opposite shore. Back behind the boulder she grabbed she clothes and shoes, dressing herself quickly before heading back to where she dropped her sack. Looking around there wasn't a sign of it anywhere. She could have sworn she left it on the shore here. As much as it peeved her, there was no use in sticking around looking for it. The sun had officially hit the horizon at this point, and she was losing valuable light every pace she made, and she had no intention of discovering if the tales of Zytheria were true. The monsters that lurked in the dark here. Monsters strong enough to take on entire search cavalries. No thank you! She thought to herself before following the path she created in the underbrush.

As she got closer to town the quiet crunch of twigs and leaves resumed once more. This time, louder. On edge enough as it was, Alora wiped around mid-stride. The small creatures eyes went wide as it darted off her path, dropping her cinch sack in the process.

"Hey!" Alora shouted, snatching her sack off the path quickly. "You know, I was looking for that you little-" A spoke squeak cut her off as the creature came back out in front of her, its eyes seeming to convey a type of annoyance.

"Oh really?" Alora started, "You were doing what? Bringing it back?" She teased the small creature. "What are you anyways," Her curiosity piqued as she studied the cute little thing. It couldn't have been more than 30 pounds, with long orange fur, doe like eyes, and a cat like tail. It definitely was not any creature she had ever seen before, and with the surplus of critters that made homes around her previous residence, it was not something she was used to. Not recognizing a critter like this. The creature peeped again as if in answer before trotting in front of Alora, as if leading the way.

"Well after you then," She chuckled as she followed.

As the daylight slowly died away, the edge of the forest came into view. Quickening her steps to clear the threshold Alora caught up to the creature. Suddenly she stumbled over the creature. It sat perfectly at the edge of the forest, not moving an inch.

"Hey!" Alora scolded, "What in the world was that for?" She demanded as the creature looked up at her expectantly. The jubilant expression on its face was now gone. It's eyes seemed heavy, an odd sadness weighing on its features.

"You can come with me you know? If you'd like?" She offered. As if in understanding the creature dropped its head and Alora could have sworn it shook it, as if declining.

"I'll come back tomorrow, okay? Bring you something to eat?" She asked. If someone saw me right now I might become the town crazy. She thought to herself. Scratching behind one of the creature's small antlers, she reached with her free hand into her bag and pulled out an apple in offering. The critter squeaked, a bit happier it seemed, before grabbing hold of the apple with its front paws and placing it in its mouth.

"I'll see you tomorrow little one," She cooed, stroking its spotted back, before stepping past the little guy and into the clear cut town.