Alasla: The New Age

Chapter Eight- The New Journey

Ralph looked around and tried to see if Eve was anywhere, perhaps trying to hide somewhere?

"She's not here," Kanitha smiled. "You're all alone."

"What have you done?" Ralph demanded, glaring at her. His fingers twitching, getting ready to attack anytime he needs to. What does she want?

"I sent her to the shore and hurried back to prevent a particularly slow snail from being shut into the prison," She mocked, "who else did you think broke the prison's electrical systems and stopped the door from closing? Also, the Stone of Plague is the main attack stone. Don't expect it to heal something such as a broken bone for you that well and that fast."

Ralph squinted in suspicion. He sees logic in her sentence, but he couldn't exactly see the reason why Kanitha is helping them. He plans on interrogating her about attacking him in the prison, but he'll leave that for later.

"What do you want?" He questioned, watching Kanitha uncomfortably as her legs liquefied and coiled themselves around the tree.

"A trade," she said. "I will heal your leg and help you escape. In exchange, escort me to Garavia."

Ralph frowned. That was a weird offer. What does she want from that place? But he didn't quite have a choice now. "Fine," he grumbled. "I accept."

Kanitha formed a wicked smile that made Ralph really want to roll his eyes. She held out her hand and a little bead slowly formed on top, She opened her palm and the droplet shot for Ralph's leg.

In a wave of cool, wavering ripples, the pain on his shin vanished. When he stepped, the leg worked perfectly and did not bend or contort in any way. He looked up and saw Kanitha melting away, then she collapsed into a puddle of water again, rushing through the forest floor.

"What a queer Stone," he muttered to himself as he follows her just as the soldiers behind spotted him. He picked up his speed and jumped through clusters of undergrowth until he reached the cliffside.

He's heard about the rumor. The reason that Flow Jungle remains pristine is that the whole continent it sits on doesn't have a single beach. The whole place is surrounded by towering cliffs. How're they supposed to get off? And where is Kanitha?

There was an ear-splitting bang that rang behind and he flinched a little.

Guns. He realized, glancing back. His mind flashed back to Forrest's dead body. They're really aiming to kill us.

But Kanitha suddenly leaped out, shielding him behind her, and the bullet shot right into her body. However, she didn't bleed. Her expression was blank. She reached inside her chest and fumbled until her hand came back out with three black balls. She then threw them back towards the crowd of stunned soldiers. Ignoring the small explosions and screams, she grabbed Ralph's hand and tossed him over the cliff.

Ralph screamed for a short moment, thinking that she finally decided to stop pretending and kill him anyway. But she jumped after him and, as if reading his mind, wrapped him in her arms. "I don't want you dead yet," she whispered into his ear and her liquefied arm enveloped his body, so when they hit the rocks beneath, it felt more like falling into a puddle of water.

Kanitha's puddle washed off him and plopped onto the rocks and vanished out of sight. But in a twinkling, water droplets platters off the rock surface and swirled around each other until they took the form of a human shape and solidified, then she was standing there, unharmed.

"Ralph!"

He searched for the source of Eve's voice and found him standing on a small ship by the rocks. "Over here!"

"Come on," Ralph held out his hand to Kanitha, who raised her brow, astonished. But after a second of hesitation, she still took his hand. And they raced towards the boat.

An outburst of the explosion blasted beside them. The Flow Jungle still haven't given up its pursuit. They dodged the flying rock shards and clambered over another giant rock, then trotted onto the boat Eve's waiting on.

When the smell of burning fuel reached Ralph, he instinctively looked up to see if anything is burnt, but seconds later a low rumbling emitted from the engine, with Eve pulling free the rope that was tied to a boulder. She then rushed back into the control room and the boat slowly moved out, bumping around a little as they passed the shallow water. After the boat arrived in the open sea, Eve pulled up the mainsail and let down the smaller one, edging it towards the wind. A few more bombs were fired at them, but as the boat moved across the burning sea towards the flaming sunset, the firings died away, and they've at last escaped from the traps and prison.

"Wow," Eve breathed in awe, she walked onto the deck, submerging herself in the sunlight. "This feels awesome."

Ralph walked up to her.

"Is your wounds alright?" He asks. He didn't have a chance to ask her this question since they departed from the Bread.

"Uh, it hurts, but it should be fine."

"Let me see," Kanitha bents down and examined the slash across Eve's chest. She produced a little water droplet from her hand and merged it onto Eve's skin. It rippled across her body, and every wound that it passes by was healed.

"Thank you," Eve touched her healed skin, saying.

"What kind of things does your Stone actually do?" Ralph queried.

"Oh, there's many," Kanitha shook out her hair with a smile. "Why don't you wait and see for it yourself?"

It was only now that Ralph noticed a thin, delicate gold bracelet Kanitha had around her wrist. The way Kanitha's smiling matched her bracelet, both shimmering at him smugly.

Ralph sighed and sat down beside the railing. His gaze fixed on the horizon.

So what should he do now? His original plan is to seek the truth about Forrest's death, but he doesn't know where to start, or how.

Actually, he believes that he is already partially on the way to his goal. With two Targets, people that are related to the secret of the Government or have the power to reveal them, according to Eve, by his side. But first of all, he'll escort Kanitha to Garavia, as he had promised.

So, again, who is him? What is he doing?

No... He still doesn't care about those questions. But by now he could tell a tiny bit of his own feeling. Maybe it's not that he doesn't care. It's more like... He's too scared to care.