Sanctuary of the Odd

Chapter 44: Welcome to Annesville

In a few days time was the day the train would make its first official trip up the mountain. I've been told there were many test runs before this, but this is the first time it'll actually accept passengers. Meanwhile, the day after tomorrow was the ceremony to make Annesville an official city under the Principality of Sanctuary. Of course, I will be in attendance for that to give my full blessing.

Foxman drove us down the hill two calendar days before the ceremony. From early morning, we were planning to drive all day, camp tonight and arrive there late afternoon tomorrow. It was just Raina, Panchi, Foxman, and I making the trip down the hill. Granny Sota has already been down there for days, planting some much needed trees and bushes. Auntie Lexine decided to walk down the mountain alone. She said it would be "nostalgic." How she walks a distance that we literally need to build a train line to traverse is beyond me. Though, admittedly it's faster downhill than uphill.

He drove us on a winding path that lead us down the mountain. Not far away we can see the train tracks. Eventually, we left the eye of the storm and we were inundated by cloud cover. I watched the trees go by. Eventually, I spotted something very familiar in the forest nearby.

"Ooh! Look over there!" I shouted.

Raina next to me looked around. "What did you see?"

Panchi looked around from her spot riding shotgun. Normally you wouldn't let someone 2 feet tall ride up in the front, but I'm pretty sure she can handle anything this car could dish out.

"That large crater over there! Do you see it?"

"Oh yeah, it looks like some trees got knocked over." Raina noted. "That must have been one heck of a meteor."

"That's where I landed!"

"What?"

I explained how I wound up on the Odd, how the dragons flung me from the veil, how I collided with the planet right over there, and how I scaled the mountain to find Langweilig.

"Woah, it all happened over there?" Exclaimed Raina.

"Yeah, took me a while to re-solidify after that." I laughed.

"Huh, we were all wondering about that large hole during construction. Mystery solved I guess." Foxman expressed from the driver's seat.

"Seriously, does anything kill you, noodle girl?" Panchi said exasperated.

I sighed nostalgically. "To think I was just messy girl with no name back then. A lot has changed..."

"To think I was toiling away in prison back then..." Raina said wistfully.

"To think I came here to escape my family, only to stick around when they move in." Panchi huffed. "Maybe you two should stop being so likeable so I can leg it."

"I'm sorry our charms made you want to stay." I jest.

"We'll try to be less lovable in the future." Raina joined in.

"I knew it!" Panchi jabbed a finger our direction. "You two are being cute on purpose! Stop it!"

Raina and I looked at each other. We then raised our fists into the air and shouted, "Never!"

We all laughed. Foxman just listened quietly from the driver's seat. He had a big glowing smile on his face. Glad our banter wasn't too annoying.

Eventually, our fox driver told us that it was close to "night" and parked off of the side of the road. He set up four camping chairs  and made a fire. Then he pulled out two packages of hotdogs. He was considerate enough to remember to bring the tofu dogs for my girlfriend and I.