The Maynhard Twins

Twenty Seven

Fiuuh... Okay, this is the next chapter.

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Arka felt a gentle bump when the ship docked. He and everyone on the ship felt it.
The people started gathering their belongings. In his spot, Arka leaned on the banister of the ship, stared the land in front of him. The thin fog filled the air but when the wind blew, it wiped them away and Arka could see better. The land in front of him was not like the one he imagined. It actually just a small island.

He turned to Yatha who stood behind him.
"I thought Nuadha is bigger." Arka said.

Yatha chuckled. "Of course it is. It's a kingdom after all and this is not Nuadha, just a small island belongs to Nuadha but we have to get down here and continue with a smaller boat."

Arka raised his eyebrow. He took the rucksack from Yatha and swung it to his shoulder. There's no way he let the old man brought the thing for him.
"And why is that?" Arka finally asked.

Yatha led the way and Arka followed him. "Well, you see these fog, right? This is nothing compared the one you will get later. These white fog cover Nuadha like a dome. But the thickest is at the forest. That's why we can't use the ship. The captain won't be able to see the dock and will be crushed. By the boat, we can reach the dock safely."

Arka widened his eyes. "Wait, wait! There's a forest in Nuadha?"

Yatha rolled his eyes. "What are you doing for nineteen years of your life, boy? Have you ever know about the other kingdom?"

"Of course I have. But only a little. It's Gemma who--"

Gemma.
His twins.
Her name brought Arka to reality that he just left his sister in Tara.
He just broke their promise to stay together.
She's the only family he had and he betrayed her.

Yatha caught Arka's expression and stared at him sadly. A few hours before they landed here, Arka was sleeping with Gemma's name passed his lips. He must be worried about her but he refused to talk about it.

"By the way,"  Yatha suddenly spoke. "Nuadha only has one forest and it surrounds the kingdom in circle. There's a high wall separate the city from the forest. It also used to prevent any wild animals to come in. They just have one gate, one way in, one way out. No other way. And if you wonder about what we're going to do in there, we're going to visit my old friend." Yatha said.
"It's been a while since the last time I saw him. So I hope his eyes are fine and he can recognize me."

Arka gave Yatha a small smile, responded his words. He knew Yatha talked just to move his attention from Gemma to something else. It worked though, even for just a bit.

They finally walked out from the ship.
At first, Arka was having difficulty to balance himself. His body was getting used to movement on the ship and he clearly thought the land was moving like the sea. So Arka kneeled for a moment, blinked his eyes before he sighed in relieve and stood up.

Yatha smirked, knew what Arka did.
"You're doing pretty good remembering that was your first time to sail. I'm surprised you didn't get seasick during the trip."

Arka fixed the rucksack on his shoulder. "I surprised myself too you know."

Chuckled a bit, Yatha led their way again to a wooden path, directed them to a small boat.
After helping Yatha to get in, Arka joined him.
They sat quietly on it while another passenger, a person knew the place very well, paddled the boat. He had big muscles and Arka knew he wouldn't need any help to work on the boat.

So Arka poured his attention wholly to his surrounding and realized that the fog was getting thicker. Just like Yatha told him.
He's getting annoyed. The fog made him unable to see far. The only thing he could see clearly was the people on the boat. Beside, the fog was cold and soggy. But the man paddling the boat seemed didn't care.