Roses Adventure in a New World

Chapter 9

"I'm sure he got away! I didn't see him there."

Astra starts to cry and tries to run back. I grab her arm to try to stop her but she brushed=s me off. As she starts to run I quickly catch up to her and tackle her to the ground. Astrid starts to scream and tries to push me off her. 

"No stop I need to save him I can't let him die!" She says through tears. 

I continue to hold her and try to calm her down.

"Stop let me get back I need to save him."

"Astra stop he's safe. if you go back though you could get hurt!"

"I DON'T CARE IF I GET HURT I NEED TO MAKE SURE HE IS OK!" She screams at me while trying to get out from under me. 

How the heck can I spin this so that I don't have to tell her? I can't cast the spell while I'm holding her down. I can't let go of a shape change what if she gets too close and gets hurt. I have to tell her. Even if that means I have to lose her as a friend I have to tell her. 

Astra had been reduced to sobbing. She was not even really fighting me at this point. So I get off her and then sit on the ground she curls up into a ball tears streaming down her beautiful face. I then turn her around and place her head on my lap. She doesn't even notice really, and she just keeps crying. I start to run my hand through her luscious red hair.

"Shh hun it's ok" I gently whisper in her ear and then kiss her forehead. I then start to hum to calm her down. She stops crying and soon I hear the soft sound of her snoring.I guess she must have been thoroughly exhausted. I guess I'll just let her sleep and try and keep guard.

I woke up to see the bright blue sky above me and the sun already a good way into the sky. I guess I must have slept quite a while. I guess I was tired because I kept watch till sunrise. I get up off the ground feeling rather stiff because of the hard ground that I slept on.  I looked around to see where Astra was but I quickly realized that she is not there. I quickly realize she must be back where the troll camp was! I run there as fast as I can. When I finally get there I find Astra kneeling in the middle of the camp sobbing. I slowly approach her and start to rub her back. She slowly stops crying and eventually looks up at me. She wipes the tears from her eyes and then says"I'm sorry for causing you such an issue I just want to find my friend. I'm Astra. I guess I never really introduced myself"

"Astra I have to tell you something."

She looks up at me with her big beautiful eyes and says" What do you need to tell me?"

"Your friend Thomas is safe."

"I appreciate you being kind but you don't know that"

"Astra I do know this. I know Thomas is safe because..." I take a deep breath in."Its because I'm Thomas."

She looks at me and laughs "No your not silly, Thomas is not a girl"

I take another deep breath. "Yes, I am. I'll prove it to you!"

Astra looks at me quizzically but gestures for me to continue. I then perform the illusion spell making me once again look like Thomas. Astra mutter something about "Maybe Thomas is a girl." She then reaches up to the illusion's face, which is slightly misaligned from my face. I initially doge her hand but she reaches out and goes past the illusion touching my face. She then seems to think for a few minutes. She looks at me and then she talks.

"How do I know it's really you?"

"When we were in seventh grade my mom got me a skateboard. When we were practicing together I ended up tripping and falling. I hit my front teeth and had to go to the dentist for them to save my two front teeth. You thought it was so funny that you ended up calling me toothy for the rest of the year. Initially, I was self-conscious about it but ironically your nickname helped me feel better about it."

"What the heck? That is you isn't it Thomas?"

"It is!" She smiled at me and then pulled me into the biggest bear hug. 

"Ow stop your going to crush my bones!" I tell her, and that just makes her smile really big at me.

"So when did this happen?" She asks.

I explain to her again what happened to me when I first got here. This time though I made sure not to leave out any details. She listens intently and then at the end of the story she punches me in the arm.

"Hey what was that for?" I ask rubbing my now sore arm where she punched me.

"That was for not telling me!" She then punches me in the other arm.

"Oww now what was that one for?"

"That was for letting me think you were dead or kidnapped!"

"I'm sorry. I was just worried that you might think I'm so weirdo."

"Oh come on Thomas I already think you are a weirdo!"

I chuckle at her comment. I then go back back to rubbing my sore arm. Seriously she needs to be careful with her magically enhanced strength. 

After looking at me still rubbing my arm she says, "O quite that! What are you a girl?"

I swallow and quietly let out, "Yea I am."

She then looks down at the ground and says quietly to me, "I know I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" I ask her quietly staring down at the dirt.

"I'm sorry for punching you. My dad taught me to not hit girls. I'm a gentlelady like that.  I especially should not hit pretty girls like you!" 

"You think I'm pretty? I get out barely above a whisper.

Astra gently grabs my chin and has me look up at her. "Of course I think you're a pretty girl Thomas. I just wish you could have felt comfortable with me enough to share this with me sooner."

 "Rose, my name is Rose." I tell her still looking up at her eyes.

"Rose! That's such a pretty name for a pretty girl." She tells me giving me a huge smile.

I start to cry and she just pulls me into a hug. She rubs my back as I let out some sobs. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I just didn't want you to leave me all alone."

"Shhh, Hun I would never do that to you. I don't care that your really a girl Rose. Just never make me think I lost you again, ok?"

"Okay." I tell her finally stopping crying.

We stay there for a bit longer with me in her arms. Eventually, we realize that the sun Is only about two hours from setting. We then get up and search the camp. It looks like the troll had left this camp in search of us and could not pack it up before the sun rose. We searched the camp and found all of our supplies along with a few others packs as well. We also found several troll-sized nets and ropes. We then decided that the troll might come back to the sight tonight so we decided to set a trap for him. We wanted to make sure that this troll did not eat any more people and we knew that there was a high reward for troll hide. So we set up the net on the ground and then loosely covered it in the dirt to hide where it was. We then set up a tripwire and counterweight to hold up the net. The trap was not directly at the camp because we had to find a big and strong tree to hold the troll. So one of us had to be bait. we also had to set the counterweight to over a few tons to make sure the trap would lift the troll. It took until sunset and it was exhausting but we did it. If we didn't have magically bodies we would not have the speed or strength to pull the trap off. The sun had now fully set and we were ready for the troll.