blue bird

9 - Strange Lands

Keiva, Hunter, Wiki and I wandered around the woods looking for food, water and some shelter. For the most part, I followed Wiki and wherever she guided us. We flinched at any sudden noises or movements, not wanting to be found, at least not by the wrong people or the wrong things...who knows what lives here.

We were deep in the forest when I heard noise, I stopped in my tracks and Keiva looked back at me with a confused expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked. I held up my pointer finger and focused my ears on the sound. Keiva picked up on what I was trying to do and we stood in silence, listening to the sounds of nature.

"Water." I stated, quietly. We followed the direction of the sound and it gradually grew as we got closer. As we got closer, I began to smell fresh water.

We came to a small opening in the forest and found a small waterfall with crystal blue water. Keiva and I walked over to the water that laid underneath the waterfall and fell to our knees while bent over the body of water. I cupped my hands and brought the cool and refreshing water to my mouth, swallowing it and feeling it run down my dry throat. I splashed some water on my face and stood up to see if we could set up a camp somewhere close. I happened to notice a cave entrance right next to the waterfall, and half of it was hidden behind the water.

"We could spend the night in that cave there." I said to Keiva while pointing at the cave.

"As long as no other living thing has claimed it as its territory, that's a perfect spot." She said. I looked up and noticed the sun was just past noon; a little trick my mom taught me was how to tell time by looking at the sun. Since the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, we can use the sky like a clock. She also taught me how to tell the time at night by using the stars; her ancestors used to use the stars as their compass and clock when they voyaged across the Pacific Ocean travelling from island to island. I never thought I would have to actually use that knowledge but I sure was grateful for it.

I stared at the sky, trying to understand what was going on, we had no idea where we were nor why we were here. I was conflicted with what feeling this strange land beheld; everything looked magical and beautiful however I felt that there was far more beyond its looks. It was like there was something missing, or something hiding...like a secret and my curious mind only got more impatient and interested.

We slowly walked towards the cave and threw a few pebbles to make sure it was safe and unclaimed. Wiki went in and came back out while giving me a nod, meaning it was okay for us to enter.

We walked in and looked around, to our surprise there was a small chest of supplies in the back of the cave. It was filled with blankets, cloths, onions, cabbages, salt, a large bottle of alcohol and a smaller wooden box at the bottom. In the box, were a few glass vials of yellow and white liquid, bandages, a box of matches and a small parchment booklet with messy handwriting. I opened the booklet with Keiva next to me and it read:

Protection - put salt around the door and a drop of protection spell on the inside of the door (yellow liquid) repeat the words "I defend this territory from those who seek harm and grant safety to those within the barrier."

Salubrious - light a fire and burn sage and eucalyptus leaves, breathe in the fumes, drink the healing spell (white liquid) and ask for healing from the universe.

The cave was cozy but the air was cool due to the water and cold rock. It was perfect for the day since it was shaded from the sun but that meant that by night, it would be too cold and we needed to prepare.

"We should go hunt for some food and gather wood to start a fire." I suggested.

"Yeah, good idea." Keiva agreed.

There was one problem though, we had nothing to hunt with. We needed a weapon.