(The picture is from the real Santa Claus' city in Rovaniemi, Finland. It's a really cool place.)
The forest continued to every direction for kilometres. Tommy was really hoping that Hyria was allowing them to walk through the forest, because they had already been moving for almost half an hour. The good thing about the forest was the fact that it was full of shadows that covered him like friends.
"We have walked past that flower for twenty-eight times now", Katelyn groaned and pointed at a Lily of the valley that was on the ground.
"No, we have not. You keep saying that about every single Lily of the valley we walk past. We haven't been sent back even once", Aphmau sighed and glanced at Katelyn. She swore to Irene that she loved the woman, but sometimes she got just way too annoying.
"How long can it take to get out of one huge forest? We're never getting to O'Khasis in time if we can't get out of this forest soon!" Garroth exclaimed. While Katelyn was getting on Aphmau's nerves, Garroth was getting on Tommy's.
"Would you have preferred a boat that would have gotten caught by the Tu'la guards?" the younger blonde asked, glaring at the older.
"I would have preferred making it through this forest more quickly", Garroth snapped. His worry was staring to be a problem.
"If you don't shut up about that, we're not going to O'Khasis", Tommy warned the guard. "You can't decide that", Garroth reminded.
"Well, he's my son. If he wants something, I'll listen to him with no hesitation. You better watch your mouth Garroth, we're trying to get there as fast as we can", Aphmau jumped in with a commanding tone in her sweet voice.
Garroth hesitated, but actually shut his mouth. He didn't say anything for the rest of the journey through the forest.
"So, what's the plan now? We can't just walk in through the gates of O'Khasis like we're some welcomed guests", Katelyn rolled her eyes and turned to look at Aphmau.
"There's this one place I know. I'm pretty sure if they're still here, they will have some really useful information that will get us into O'Khasis", Aphmau answered and turned to look at little hill next to them. "Is it what you mentioned?" Tommy asked.
Aphmau nodded. "It's exactly what I mentioned to you."
"So the child knows something we don't know, perfect", Katelyn groaned and looked at Aphmau.
"The one, who you're calling a child, is my adult son. I thought he should know before he decided if he came with us. Now ignore that and let's go see if there's some life in this place", Aphmau turned her back on everyone else and began walking towards the wall that she was familiar with.
Making their way to O'Khasis was a bit easier with the help of Amber from the thieves guild. She helped them inside the walls, but the disappeared back to her boss.
"We're inside the walls. Has someone got a plan for what do we do next?" Tommy taunted, looking at Garroth. At this point he wouldn't even be surprised if the older guard didn't have a plan.
"I actually do have a plan", Garroth snapped back, glaring at Tommy, who scowled. He was getting fed up with Garroth's attitude.
"Well, what is it?" he taunted. Garroth gritted his teeth at the younger's taunting. He was feeling disrespected and it didn't help the situation at all.
"We can't do anything in this daylight. I hope you have realised that", Katelyn jumped in, giving Garroth a glare. The situation was 2 vs 1. Tommy and Katelyn vs Garroth. Aphmau hasn't picked a side yet.
"There's an abandoned house that we can stay in. No one has lived there in years", Garroth answered.
"Watch that house be someone's home", Tommy snorted sarcastically. Katelyn tried to hold back a snort.
"Let's go there", Aphmau answered. She kept her voice calm, ignoring the fight between the three others. "It's not like we have any better opinions now."
Making it to the house was a bit hard since the Tu'la guards were everywhere, but they managed to get there. Katelyn broke a window, even if there apparently had been a key too.
The sound of glass shattering had probably caught some unwanted attention, so they sneaked into the house quickly. It looked as abandoned as Garroth had said.
Garroth had a smug-ish smile on his lips as they looked around the house. "See! I told it would be empty!" he pointed out.
"This is the easy part of this mission. I bet your plan won't work further from this", Tommy said, rolling his eyes. Katelyn hummed in an agreement.
Aphmau sighed. "Tommy, Katelyn, stop annoying Garroth. Garroth, remember that we're in an enemy's territory", she spoke, letting her eyes run over everyone.
The night settled faster than Tommy would have wanted. There was something off about the moon. He could feel it basically reaching for him from the sky hight.
"Tommy? Are you already awake?" Aphmau's whispered voice travelled through the room. He turned around to see her standing by the staircase, looking kinda off too.
"I've been awake for a while. A guard can't sleep when there's danger roaming outside", Tommy answered and looked out of a window to see a group of Tu'la guards walking by.
"I'm sorry that we're here right now. Maybe we should have just stayed in Phoenix Drop", Aphmau sighed and sat down next to Tommy.
"It doesn't bother me. We're on a mission", Tommy hummed. He had gotten used to all the dangers already as a child. A child soldier he was. He had grown up living in fear of death. He was no longer afraid of it, but that still didn't mean that he wanted it.
"Is there any food anywhere?" Katelyn groaned as she walked down the stairs.
"Haven't found anything", Tommy answered shaking his head. "Not very great", he added.
"Can we leave already? I want to go get something to eat!" Katelyn complained. "I'm all up for leaving Garroth behind."
"Where are you planning on finding food in a town filled with well trained guards?" Aphmau asked, raising her eyebrows. Katelyn frowned knowing Aphmau had a good point.
"I could sneak out to get some food", Tommy suggested. Aphmau and Katelyn turned to look at him. They both wore an expression that told him his idea was shit.
"I won't get caught. Plus, we need food", Tommy continued.
"No, absolutely no", Aphmau protested immediately. "We're not putting your life in risk!" she stated strongly.
"I'll be back soon", Tommy smirked and jumped out of the window, disappearing to the shadows. He knew Aphmau and Katelyn couldn't do anything about it.
The shadows of the night hid him with no hesitation. O'Khasis was full of buildings that casted their beautiful shadows everywhere. Tommy was able to walk right in front of a Tu'la guard without getting caught, as long as he didn't step straight into the moonlight. The shadows made him invisible for the rest of the world.
He made his way to a stand with different foods in it. He grabbed as many as he could fit with him and lurked back to the shadows. He was feeling like a fucking ninja!
He ran faster than the light and jumped back in through the window. Aphmau, Katelyn and Garroth immediately spun around with their weapons in hands.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Aphmau exclaimed in whispers. "I thought you were getting caught by the Tu'la!"
"I got us food", Tommy offered the food towards the other three. "I didn't get seen even once", he added.
"I'll forgive you for that, this time. Don't you dare to pull that trick ever again", Aphmau sighed and took a piece of bread from him.
They managed to sneak to Zane's office way too easily. Garroth's succeeding made Tommy and Katelyn annoyed, but they both tried to hide it.
"This place looks pretty shitty", Tommy said as he looked around in the room.
"We aren't here to judge the place. We're here for information", Aphmau reminded and picked up a book from the table.
Tommy groaned and glanced at the bookcase. There were too many books and the guards could walk in any second now. He had a pretty bad feeling about this part of the mission.
At some point he noticed Aphmau and Katelyn talking about a weapon in the corner, but didn't pay much attention to it. His attention had been stolen by Garroth, who was currently escaping through the window.
"Mum, Katelyn", he called out after the man had already jumped down. "What?" Aphmau called out.
"Garroth just booked it and jumped out of the window. That didn't look graceful at all though. He looked like an idiot basically falling out of the window. I wouldn't be surprised if he got caught", Tommy ranted as Aphmau and Katelyn ran to the room.
"We have to go after him!" Aphmau stated and hurried to the open window.
They found Garroth by some sketchy alley. He was talking to someone, so the two of them hid in the shadows. Katelyn had kinda disappeared somewhere. Tommy had to hold back a lot so he wouldn't melt into the shadows. It was more work than he had expected to.
"Who's he talking to?" Tommy whispered to Aphmau.
"I don't know", Aphmau whispered back to him.
"Mother", Garroth said, making Aphmau and Tommy immediately look at each other. Looked like they had found who they were looking for.
"Garroth", Aphmau called out, making the male jump and spin around to look at the two others.
"Aphmau! I found mother. We have to save her!" Garroth spoke and turned to look back to the cell next to them.
"No GarGar! There's guards everywhere! You can't take the risk!" his mother, Zianna, whispered back. Her expression was panicked over her son's safety.
"Garroth, we have to start leaving. The guards will discover us any minute now!" Aphmau hissed, taking a step closer to him.
"I'm not leaving without mother", Garroth growled.
Footsteps echoed through the alleys and Katelyn bursted to them. "We have to go now!" she almost yelled. "The guards are almost there!"
Aphmau grabbed Garroth's hand as they sprinted out of the alleyway, making their way towards the exit. There was no time to hesitate. They had to get out as soon as possible.
As Tommy looked behind them, he immediately saw guards that were chasing them. He really hoped they could get out before getting caught.
Well, at least Garroth had messed up his own plan and Tommy would get a change to taunt him about that once they got to safety first.
Words: 1806
(This story is back from a break I didn't even notice- Anyways, merry Christmas! If you celebrate it. If you don't, then happy winter break.)
(I celebrate Christmas, but in our family we don't think of it as a religious holiday. Many of my relatives have left the church. I'm about to do that too once I become 18.)
(Anyways, I'm trying to bring this story back soon!)
(I'm also going to Lapland in a few days. It's a really nice place.)