Legend Reborn

Chapter 5: Departure

We don't get far before we run into our first problem.

"Everyone!" Feliciano calls from the back of the group. We all stop and wait for him to catch up since he walks so slowly. His spirit animal lopes next to him as he jogs. "Italy here asked a really good question," Feliciano says.

"Oh really," his twin says skeptically.

"Yes!" Feliciano insists. "He asked me where we're going."

The six of us look at each other with blank stares. We hadn't thought about that.

"Hmm, that is important," Kiku says thoughtfully.

"Maybe we should go to the Bears' territory first," I suggest.

"Why would we do that? I don't want to go anywhere near those Bear bastards' land," Lovino snarls.

"Hey! You got something against Bears?" Gilbert says angrily as he approaches the shorter Wolf.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Lovino wrinkles his nose. "Now get your ugly face away from mine."

"Oh, you did it now," Gilbert spits as he grabs the front of Lovino's shirt.

"Guys! Knock it off!" I shout before anything else happens. "Now isn't the time! We need to get moving." I notice the sun is starting to peek over the horizon. Looks like we had been awake all night preparing.

"I agree with Elizabeta," Ludwig says. He pulls his brother away from Lovino. "We need to move, and we need to go to the Bear Temple."

Gilbert's face immediately shifts to curiosity at the mention of the Temple. "Why there West?"

"Yeah, why there?" I ask. Ludwig must be on to something.

"If we're supposed to be recreating the journey the Great Mother went on, then we have to go to each territory in order from Bear, Wolf, and Eagle," he explains. He pauses to make sure we're following his logic. "Well, the legend doesn't specify what they do there, but it does say they get blessings from the goddesses."

I whip out my copy of the legend. "Matrisus and her companions visited the homes of each child to gain the blessings of the goddesses and the land," I read out loud.

"Yes, and where's the best place to get a goddess's blessing?" Ludwig asks with a raised eyebrow.

"The Bear Temple," Gilbert concludes with a big grin. "You're a genius West!"

"And I was trying to tell you the same thing the whole time," I mumble to myself, but I'm ignored, again.

We find which way is southwest, and begin walking again. The ceremonial grounds are a small circle of land in the very center of Elarium, and the territories of each clan surround it on three sides. The Bears to the southwest, the Wolves to the southeast, and the Eagles in the north.

I can see the mountains of the Bears as we reach the edge of the ceremonial land. The forest looms directly ahead, and we pause before entering. Everyone is exhausted from getting no sleep the night before, and the sun is already half way to its zenith.

"I can't take another step," Feliciano whines as he flops to the ground. His wolf gives his face a few licks.

"Yeah, I'm tired too," I say with a yawn. "Maybe we should stop here."

"We can't," Kiku says as he stops next to me. "We should keep walking while it's still light out." He has a map out and is plotting our course. Looks like he's our official guide on this journey, which is fine because he has a knack for that sort of thing.

"I agree with Kiku," Ludwig says in his deep voice. "We should keep moving."

We grudgingly continue, and trudge through our fatigue. We stop twice to eat, and once at a stream to fill our water pouches. Our group stops for the day as the sun begins to set, so we put up our tents and light a fire.