Anduik: Jennifer and Linden

Chapter 2: Jennifer

 Well, I believe I've caught up to myself now. After driving to a remote mountain, mom spoke some sort of secret password in a language that sounded like gibberish and a door opened in the mountainside. So here I am, walking down a long tunnel that no human knows existed, to meet a council of rulers of a race I didn't know I was part of, that will then send me away to study like crazy for five weeks. At least, that's what my mom says will happen, and she seems to know a lot.

The tunnel is dark and drippy and I stick close to my mom, half afraid some mysterious creature will come rushing out of the dark at us. And, to be honest, I really hate spiders. . . 

FINALLY -- after like two or three HOURS of walking --  we reach the end of the road and walk into this huge chamber. It's so big I can't see the ceiling, and it's at least a football field wide. On the walls are etched numerous pictures and words in new languages I have yet to learn. The walls are completely smooth, not even a small crevice to be found. This looks like the main chamber of some kind of church. On the far end of the room, i see ten chairs arranged around a diamond-shaped table, each one unique and beautiful in its own way. Some have sculpted jewels,  others are shaped weirdly, and one of them even has velvet and jean and all types of fabric stitched onto it, like a patchwork quilt, but shaped like a chair.

Sitting in the chairs themselves are people, extraordinary people. They definitely match their seats.A few have strangely colored skin or hair or eyes, and all of them look to be very wise beyond the 30 or so years their appearance shows. The one in the quilt chair has sparkly eyes with a seam running across her face.... I wonder where that came from.....

In a little group all to themselves there are also three others who look to be about my age. I guess they're the ones going on the quest with me. " Welcome, Jennifer and Marita Olarin. We have been eagerly anticipating your arrival and have prepared everything you may need." Startled, I look back at the people in the chairs. A lady with purple skin and neat mousy brown hair has spoken. She looks like the youngest of the seated, and judging from what she just said(and the professional, buisness -- sounding way she talked), I'd guess she's the equivalent of an ambassador or something like that.         " Please join the three to your right." I walk over swiftly, not wanting to be the object of everyone's attention for long.you know what I mean, right? Like when the teacher asks you a question in front of the whole class and you don't know the answer?

I decide to focus on the people in front of me instead of getting nervous. The one that catches my eye first is a younger girl who looks to be about 2 or 3 years younger than me. The reason I see her first is because of her eyes. They're an electric blue, and so bright it almost looks as if there are sparks in the air in front of them. She glances at me with a steely gaze and walks farther away, to the other side of the group. Guess shes more the serious type.

The next person I see is a guy. The reason I see him is that he pretty much just came right up to me and said hello. Completely the opposite of Miss Electric Eyes over there... He looked to be about my age. You could tell by the way he acted that he was one of those kids that had a lot of charisma and a lot of friends. "Hi. I'm Linden." he said, all confident and friendly - like. He then proceeded to introduce the other two, commenting when the girl stared, " Don't mind her. She just happens to be in a grumpy mood today. And yesterday. And . . . pretty much every day." He grinned, his raven black hair almost falling covering his eyes. His face is. . . nice looking. Not cute, exactly, but nice(which is better than cute) . He's got that type of face elves are supposed to have, with high cheekbones, slender. His eyes are a perfect spring leaf green, closer to pastel than a darker color. He's also got a splash of freckles across his cheeks. In case you aren't, I'm partial to freckles. Not that I already like him, but I do like the freckles.