Hiraeth

V

   When the girls walked into the castle's halls, they gazed at their surroundings. The walls were made of a sort of stone that was unexpectedly smooth. Hanging from these walls were huge tapestries that depicted some sort of war. Other tapestries had pictures of what appeared to be members of the royal family. The halls were elongated, yet nicely spaced.

"This place is really huge." said Mirana.

"Yes, it is...but Mirana," Ana started. "I can't help but notice you seem to be enjoying this..."
Mirana turned to look at her friend. She felt hurt that Ana would say such things, although she could not lie that a tiny part of her was in fact, enjoying this. "Ana. I want to go back home just as much as you do. This whole situation is very scary, and I honestly don't know how all this stuff is happening...but I can't lie that some of this stuff is...it's mesmerizing."
Ana sighed and reluctantly agreed with her. "I...I just really wanna go home..." she said.
Mirana grabbed her friend by the shoulder and they began to walk, looking for their rooms.

Conner's practice area was far from the girls' quarters. It was almost entirely a new place. He had to second-guess himself as to if this was actually the same castle.
"This is where you will train to be a better swordsman to protect His Highness," Vaseini explained. "You will practice everyday and every night, and you will start to accompany His Highness next week." Conner's mouth dropped and he questioned the little man's expectations.

"I've never held a sword in my life! How do you expect me to suddenly be a pro?? In a week??"

"You will find our training regiment quite..." Vaseini looked him up and down. "Rigorous."
   "Well off you go!" Vaseini waved Conner off and walked away to do whatever it is he does.
Conner turned to look at the other men training and the whole setup of the fort. He started to feel a sense of familiarity with the place, but couldn't quite place why he felt like this. He walked into the training area and was soon blocked by a big buff man. He looked up to see who it was, and when he did, he couldn't believe his eyes. All of a sudden, he knew where he'd seen this setup before.
"G-Geralt?? From The Witcher??" he exclaimed. "How the heck are you here?"
The stocky man smirked a little before responding to his apprentice. "You know my name. Good. That will get you far."
Conner, still freaking out, thought that this all had to be an elaborate prank. "There ain't no way, there just ain't no way..."
"I assure you, I am Geralt of Rivia."
"But...you're real?"
"Why wouldn't I be? I am assuming I am not from where you're from...?"
"No, you aren't." Conner said, still amazed.
"That explains a lot," Geralt responded. "Well, kid. You know that you will be training with me, correct?"
   Conner nodded unawarely, then realized what he said. "Wait, I'm gonna be training with you? A Witcher?"
"Considering I am not real from where you're from, you sure know a whole lot about who I am." Geralt mentioned. Conner explained how Geralt does exist where he comes from, but not in an actual sense per se. Geralt's mind was fried from trying to understand, so he just waved him off. He took Conner inside the bothy and showed him the different supplies and weapons. He took him to where he would be sleeping, and Conner was disgusted at how musty his room was. Geralt assured him that he would get used to the grime, and that his sleeping area should be the least of his worries. Conner asked how long until he could meet up with his friends again, and Geralt said that he did not have an answer to that, and that Conner would have to ask Vaseini. Conner sighed at this, for he hated that man's voice and face already. Geralt told him that after he got done with settling in, he should come out for practice. Conner acknowledged him and sat on his bed for a little, trying to accept his reality, which seemed to be too surreal for him to accept. However, this was his world—his place, now. And he would have to come to terms with it.

   Mirana sat on her big, soft bed and removed her shoes, which used to be tennis shoes, but got transformed along with her outfit into some sort of flats. She took a long look around her room, thinking about her family back home. She, too, was worried about how things were going back there. They were all suddenly kidnapped from class, what would happen to the school? What if it has to shut down? Where would all of those kids go if that were to happen? Mirana felt horrible that a part of her was enjoying this even though she shouldn't be.
   She got up from her bed and walked towards and standing mirror. She looked at her new body, feeling denial that she actually looks like this. She traced her sides with her hands, feeling her waist. Then she felt around her chest area, kind of bummed that her size shrunk a little. Then she took a look at her hair. Her long, thick, floor-length hair. Her hair was still curly, its length had just changed. She slowly undid it from its braid and let her hair fall to her feet. She twirled in the mirror to see how flowing it was. Then a thought came to her mind. How in the heck was she supposed to manage all of this hair? She could barely keep up with the hair she previously had. She thought about cutting her hair, but decided not to, as she adored the look. She always imagined what it'd be like to have such long locks. She tried to put her hair back into a braid, but since her hair was so thick and long, it was very tiring. She ended up stopping midway and went over to her painting supplies.
She looked at all the different types of paints she had: oil, acrylic, gouache, and even watercolor. She also had different types of brushes, pens, markers, chalks, charcoals, and oil pastels. She had tools for sculpting and clay for molding. Plenty of canvases were stacked along her walls, with one easel for her to paint on. This was an artist's dream, she thought. Half of the items in her room were items she never thought she'd be using. Grabbing one of the canvases, she placed it on the easel and began to select her paints. She decided to do a monochromatic color scheme with a purple hue. She did not know which type of paint she wanted to use, though. In the end, she chose to use acrylic, as she is most experienced with this type.
When Mirana finished the painting, she was amazed at how high quality the brushes were. They made amazing strokes and carried the paint really well. She left it out to dry, then decided to go see out the balcony. When she got outside, she looked at the gorgeous view. There were a variety of colors in this world that seemed to outmatch those of her own. She saw lots of birds flying around in the starry, day-lit sky. She sighed as she felt a zephyr blow across her cheeks, her head filled with a million thoughts.

.........