Into the Darkness (OCXOBI)

Part 2

(what you wear at the top)

"Are you sure it's okay for me to come back with you guys? I don't want to cause any trouble for you two." I asked in a low voice as we approached a small village.

From a distance I could see people were walking around carrying baskets of food and chatting with each other causually.

It was amazing to me just watching how everyone seemed so familiar with one another.

"Yeah, I'm sure they won't mind. They are all good people, and I'm sure they will be excited to have a guest for tonight." Shirayuki said smiling brightly.

"You actually picked a great night to come with us, Ruby because they are having a feast in honor of The Miss coming to visit. Her father, Mister Mukaze, is the leader of the Lions of the Mountain so there shouldn't be a problem with you tagging along for the night." Obi stated in a confident manner while lazily shoving his hands in his pockets.

Why would he call me Ruby? That's so strange and come to think of it I haven't heard him call Shirayuki by her name either. Does he do this to everyone?

We entered the village and it scared me. There were so many poeple here, I have never been around this many people before in my life. My heart started beating against my ribs when I looked over the crowd.

Shirayuki somehow notice my shift in my emotions. Slowly putting a hand on my shoulder to let me know not to be afraid,as her emerald green eyes almost instantly calmed me.

She really is kind. Maybe this would be fun spending time with people and getting to know them after all.

The two managed to lead me through the crowd to a house that rested in the center of the village and knocked on the door. A voice boomed from inside that sounded almost familiar. I wonder why?

"Come in!" As Shirayuki opened the door, there sat a man with mahogany hair and basil colored eyes. "There you two are, I was about to send Kazuki looking for you!" He spoke loudly as if he were worried.

"Sorry! We kind of lost track of time, but we made a new friend along the way and invited her to stay the night. I was worried about her getting home alone in the dark." Shirayuki spoke rubbing the back of her head.

"Any friend of yours is a friend of ours, so where is your new friend at anyway? I can't really see her." The man cheered. I would assume that he is Shirayuki's father.

I stepped out from behind my new friends for the man to see me. "Hello, my name is Arisa. It's very kind of you to allow me to stay here." I quietly spoke with my head bowed low.

He looked at me as I rasied my eyes to meet his. His face looked like he was completely shocked for only a second then turned his expression back to a cheerful smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mukaze and it's no problem at all. It's refreshing to have a new face around this place." His voice was still as happy as it was before he saw me. "I hope you're comfortable here, we have a large spread of food and wine tonight. So help yourself to anything you like and make yourself comfortable."

That voice. I've heard it somewhere before but I can't place it.

"Now that that is settled, let's go get some food!" the red haired girl beemed rasing her fist in the air while Obi just smiled widely at me.

We soon arrived to the area where everyone was gathered laughing and enjoying each others company.

I took a seat at the table with my two friends, Mukaze, and a two other people. I believe their names were Kazuki and Itoya.

Unsure of what to do I waited for the others to start up a conversation. For a while, I just listened to everyone else telling stories about their amazing adventures.

It really made me think of my life and the loneliness that I always felt. It made me a little sad.

Obi, who was sitting next to me, handed me a plate filled with a food that I had been smelling since we arrive in the village.

It was amazing.

"What is that delicious smell?! I've never smelled anything so good before in my life!" I whispered to Mukaze who then gave a soft smile at my reaction.

"That would be the sweet dumplings you smell. We make them here quite often. " He procided to hand me a cup filled with a strange smelling liquid. "Here ya go, have some wine with them too. They are really good!" He grinned then taking a drink of his own cup. "I haven't heard you talking much tonight, is something wrong?"

"No. Not really... I just don't have any exciting stories to share. I've never left these mountains before." I said staring down into the cup with a sad smile. "This is the first time I've ever been around so many people, so I'm not really sure what to say."

"Wait. So you've never left these mountains at all? Have you ever even been to the town near the castle in Tanbarun before?" Shirayuki spoke sounding extremely suprised.

"No I haven't." I looked away from her.

"Well, we are going to town in the morning if you would like to come. I could show you around and I can take you to the best place in the entire kingdom to eat!" She beemed with pure excitement at the idea.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the offer and felt very unsure of what to say to her because there was a part of me that longed to go and see the world but then there was the other part.

The part that was terrified of what could happen to me. An image flashed in my mind of my mother being taken away from our home just because she was different.

I couldn't take that chance, the risk was too great.

"Hey. Hey! Arisa, can you hear me?" Waving a hand in front of my face, she snapped me out of my trance like state. "I really didn't mean to push you, if you aren't comfortable with going into town yet then it's okay."

I saw Obi give me a worried look out the corner of my eye. I did want to go so badly, but the fear of not knowing what could happen was stopping my voice from giving an her an answer.

"Miss Ruby, you shouldn't worry so much. I'm sure everything will be fine, I will make sure of it." Obi glanced over at me with a gentle look in his eyes. "We can take you back home afterwords."

While thinking it over in my head Mukaze put a hand on my shoulder as if he were agreeing with Obi.

These people were kind hearted and I was starting to feel very comfortable around them. Almost like I had known them all my life.

"Do you have anyone at home who would worry if you were didn't return home by morning? If you do we can stop in to let them know where you are when we had out to check the animal traps tomorrow morning, if you decide to come that is." Mukaze said in a quzzical voice.

"No, I've lived alone for quite a while now. My mother passed years back, so it's just me." I said looking up at him.