Tales of the Five Nations 1-Scarblade

Chapter 3-Through the Portal

Alban and Feris zoomed through the portal. It was like going through a giant slide that was extremely steep, and slick. The portal twisted and turned, Alban and Feris crossed and collided through the portal, but never letting go of each other's hand through the adventure. When it felt like it would never end, there was a bright flash of white light, and Alban and Feris were thrown six feet from the portal, face-first, into a grassy field. Feris stood up first, looking up at the cloudy sky, with dirt all over his face.

Alban sat up on her knees, holding her nose, which was bleeding so much it was surprising she had blood left. Feris looked back down to her, fell to his knees, and hugged Alban so tight, she might've puked if he'd squeezed her any tighter. When Feris finally let go, he realized that her nose was bleeding intensely, and he had gotten blood on his dark blue shirt.

He searched through his bag, and found his black handkerchief, handing it to Alban, offering, "Here, cover your nose with this."

"No, I can't...your mom gave it to you—"

"Take it anyway. I care about you more than a silly hankerchief."

Alban didn't continue her hesitation; Feris wasn't easy to argue with—and he would help her whenever she needed it. Alban took the hand Feris offered to help her up, and stood, brushed dust off of her black leggings, jean shorts, and red T-shirt—her favorite human clothing combination. After they were done brushing themselves off, they took a few seconds to appreciate the marvelous view ahead of them.

They were standing on a hill, and below them was a field of purple lilac, daffodils, and red roses. Above them, the clouds were moving with the spring breeze that smelled sweet with all the wonderful flowers with their pleasantness. There was nothing more beautiful than all of the flowers in the field, the petals in the breeze, and the night sky in front of Alban and Feris at this moment.

Alban broke the lovely silence by saying, "We need to find somewhere to camp for the night. It's going to get colder soon."

"Alright," Feris quietly replied, looking around for a spot to set up their tent.

So they headed down the steep hill and into the forest nearby. It was filled with beech and apple trees, with a creek running down the forest ground. Beech and apple trees wouldn't create a forest well, but in the Land of Five Nations, the dirt adapted to the plants relying on it. The creek had a few small but colorful fish racing through its flowing waters, and Feris found flat ground right beside the creek with a tall apple tree, and told Alban he'd caught a nice place to sleep. They set up the tiny, two-person tent that Alban had now regretted picking because it was so tiny. With two people in it, Feris and Alban were basically right next to each other—and a bit uncomfortable.

They had finally gotten to sleep at what felt like twelve o'clock at night, and neither slept well, for the tent was so cramped. Alban and Feris both had to curl up a bit to fit their bags in the tent with them, and their sleeping bags were touching, making for one of the Top 10 Worst Nights of Sleep Ever.

After a night of what seemed like only three hours of sleep, Feris woke up and listened to the sound of the creek flowing by. I don't want to wake Alban up quite yet, he thought, she must be exhausted. She never gets enough sleep, even at home. She keeps on getting the same dreams about her parents all the time, over and over. She never explains them in detail, but she never talks about her parents at all. Not since that one night she saw them for the last time...and I can't really blame her. Not after—

Feris' thoughts were interrupted by Alban sitting up in her sleeping bag, looking dazed. "'Morning," Feris said to Alban as she began to open the tent vestibule.

"'Morning," she grumbled. "Ready to start heading to your parent's house?"

"Been ready for seven years." Feris sat up straighter, glad to know that she wanted to be with them, too.