Druids of Novinha

Part 8 - A Threek in the Road

I walk towards the gap in the trees, knowing that Rei will follow me. I slow as we reach the path, then come to a stop just to the side of it. Rei glances at me, a question in her eyes, and I nod. We peer out, probably looking like a cheesy stock photo. There's a small, rustic style house settled in the middle of a clearing that mirrors the one we landed in. 

"What the heck?" Rei mutters under her breath. 

"Why is there just a single house in the middle of the woods?" The door to the house opens, and we jump back to keep out of sight. A young woman with vivid orange hair walks out, wearing a knee-length sky blue dress. She slips something in a purse hanging across her shoulder, then walks down a path leading into the forest. As she disappears, I sigh in relief.

We sit in silence, catching our breaths and calming down after that scare. "So," Rei says, turning to face me. "We have a couple of things that we can do from here on out." I nod for her to continue. "We can go up to the house and hope that they're friendly, we can go back in the clearing and try to find a way back home, or we can follow the road that girl did and hope for the best."

"Well, I doubt that trying to get back home the way we came is possible, so let's forget that."

"Okay, I agree with that," Rei says, nodding.

"And we have absolutely no idea where that road goes, so taking it would be chancy. However, those people could be extremely unfriendly towards strangers and refuse to help us." Rei nods again.

"I feel like the house is the better option. If we follow that path, we could wander off by accident, fall into holes, or get attacked by wild animals." That was a stretch, but I get the gist. "If we made it through, we still wouldn't know where we were. If we check out the house, well, we already know at least one person lives there. Judging by the fact that the girl looked like a teenager, I bet she lives with parents. They would probably help us." 

"Sounds like we're going to the house." I stand up and wipe some dirt off of my legs, and Rei follows my lead.

"Yep." We walk through the gap in the trees, towards the unknown.