The Three of Us

Chapter 3: Exploring

"Onward!" Kengo shouted as he pointed in a seemingly random direction inland.

"How do you know to go that way?" Ireen said as she looked confused

"I can feel it in my glorious mustache" Kengo spoke as he lifted his helmet ever slightly to the point his mustache poked out. He then shifted the helmet back into place.

"But how does that... you know what, I'm not even going to question it"

The three of them then began their long walk. They waved through the grass and over the plains until they were met with a small dirt road cutting through the vast emptiness.

"Let's go... that way! Kengo said as he pointed down the road to the left. Ferdell looked at Kengo.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? I fit in" Kengo said standing tall

"You do the voice and walk funny. And who are you fitting in with, the grass?!" Ferdell said, giving a gesture to the fact that there was no one around.

"Well it's good to practice" Kengo turned and started marching again"

"Well, he has a point" Ferdell started walking again, trailing behind Kengo as he marched onward.

After a bit of walking, they had made a great amount of distance from when they were at the beach. It had started getting dark by the time they saw the first sign of civilization, a small cottage in the middle of a field of crops.

"Ahh finally some civilization," Ireen said as he was now trudging along the road from over-exhaustion.

They were all super tired from walking so far and long that they were barely able to keep themselves from falling over. They dragged themselves down a small pathway that led up to the house. They were surrounded by decent-sized farmland, no more than a few acres of land. Kengo stepped up onto the delicate porch and knocked a couple of times on the door, then stopped and waited. After a couple of moments a woman in her mid-thirties stepped out of the house. She had Twinkling blue eyes and shimmering long blonde hair with not even the slightest touch of gray. She looked up with gentle eyes and was startled for a moment by Kengo, who was roughly 7 feet tall. The lady finally spoke in a soft and soothing voice

"Hello, what are you guys doing here so late, here in the middle of nowhere?" The lady waited a moment for a reply until finally, Kengo spoke

"Excuse our intrusion ma'am but could we possibly stay here a night? We have become terribly lost and can't seem to find a way to the nearest city"

The woman stepped back into the house for a moment. A bit later she came back out with what seemed to be her husband. The husband had short black hair with green eyes. The husband stuck his hand out and shook hands with the three visitors and after a pause the lady said

"Yes, you may but under one condition"

"We'll do anything" Kengo replied waiting to hear what they had to do

The husband said "Good, you may sleep in the barn tonight and before you go tomorrow You can help us with a small problem, nothing major, just a little inconvenience on our end. That should make us even"

"Ok, we will get right on it in the morning," Ferdell said in a reassuring tone

"Alrighty then, let's get you folks to the barn," The man said as he grabbed an oil lamp from inside the house and led the three of them back into the farm and out to the barn. The lady walked out not long after with some blankets.

"Here, these should keep you warm tonight, the hay is fresh and there aren't many disturbances at night here," the lady gently said as she handed the blankets over to Kengo, Ferdell, and Ireen.

"Thank you, Ma'am, your kindness will not go unnoticed," Ireen said with a bow

"My name is Elsia but please call me Mrs. Dobte" The lady spoke as the moonlight perfectly lit up her hair.

"And call me Mr. Dobte, I'm her husband. What might your name be" The man said as he looked back at his wife

"Alright Mr and Mrs Dobte, Well my name is Kengo, that's Ferdell" Kengo said pointing over to Ferdell beside him. Ferdell gave a light wave "And that's Ireen" Kengo gestured to the other side where he was standing. Ireen gave a subtle bow.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Kengo, Ferdell, and Ireen. You are quite the nice bunch compared to some of the others that come down the road. Well well, let you guys get your rest, I'm sure you have a big journey ahead of you tomorrow. Make sure to assist us with that task we told you about and grab a map before you leave" Mr. Dobte said giving a thumbs up as he handed the oil lamp over to Kengo which Kengo passed back to Ireen to hold.

All three of them then responded with thumbs up and just before Mr. and Mrs Dobte walked away Kengo caught a glimpse of Mrs. Dobte's ears... they were pointy and almost elf-like.

"Wait" Kengo shouted before they walked away "Are you guys possibly elves" Kengo said curiously

Mrs. Dobte turned back "Yes, why?"

Kengo quickly stuttered "Oh it is not a bad thing, it's nothing, We've just never seen an elf in person before"

"Really, well there are a lot more of us around, although the human-elf relationship ship isn't too sturdy right now so I would be careful where you poke your heads at OK?" The lady said with a little more gloom in her voice than usual.

"Got it," Ferdell said with a thumbs-up

"Alright, you folks have a good night," Mr. Dobte said with a wave as he walked back up to the house.

The trio sunk back into the darkness of the barn and shut the doors behind them. They all took their blankets and found themselves piles of hay to sleep on.

"Well, today was a pretty interesting day wasn't it?" Kengo said as he flopped onto his pile of hay and yanked the blanket over himself.

"Well if being transported to another world isn't considered "interesting" then I don't know what is," Ireen said with a chuckle

"Indeed" Ferdell replied while adjusting the hay beneath him

"Well let's try to get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us and we should rest as much as possible," Kengo said as he grabbed the oil lamp and blew it out.

"Good night everyone," Ferdell said while yawning

Ferdell and Ireen drifted off into a deep sleep softly after. Kengo went to sleep feeling the warmth of the blanket, the slight chill of the night, and the sound of animals rustling around in the empty darkness.