To Wish On A Star

Chapter 3

"Where is he!?! You told him where to go, right? He can't have already gotten lost!"

"Shut it you old hag. My son is a very trust worthy young man, he won't disappoint."

"How do you know? He could be off having the time of his life with that creature you sent him after right now."

The man whirled around, a fire dancing in his eyes as he smacked the woman.

"Do not ever insult me, or my son, like that again, understood?"

"Y-yes sir..."

~~~.*.*.*.*.*.~~~

"How do you know this is North?"

" Because I paid attention in science.'"

"So did I! The class just helped me catch up on my sleep half the time."

"Then you weren't paying attention."

I could hear his disgruntled grumbling as we hiked through the undergrowth. He never stopped running his mouth, it was ridiculous. The good new was it was almost noon, and I could hear a river up ahead.

He stopped. Not a normal stop to look around at the beauty, but a stop of pure terror, or realization.

"What are you doing?" I inquired. This wasn't the first time he's done this.

"What if your parents send out search party?"

I laugh, he is so clueless. " Have you ever seen me with someone of any relation? Ever see me at a parent conference or meeting? No. My folks don't care about me as much as you'd like to think."

"What do you mean? They are your parents, right?"

"Of course they are idiot! They just don't care about me..."

"Oh, I'm sorry about them.."

"Why? It's not your fault."

"I just think you should have better parents. How they treat you is horrible, and I feel like I should apologize on their behalf, is that complicated to you?"

" No, it's just weird that you apologize for them."

I walk away, ending the discussion and making my way to the river.

~~~.*.*.*.*.*.~~~

" He is being stupid," the man growled, "Why is it so hard for him to understand the concept of 'Earn her trust'?"

"Well sir, maybe if you had actually taught him how to deal with her species, he wouldn't be having such a hard time."

The smoky image flickered for a second, before regaining focus on the two adventurers.

"Maybe if he wasn't so thick-headed, he could grasp the simple idea."

"He takes after you well then, sir."

The man waved his arm through the image of his son and the strange girl, sighing in defeat, "Go get some rest Esmeralda. We'll take another look later."

"What about you, sir? Will you go get some rest as well."

"No, I'm going to have a little chat with someone."

Night had fallen in the forest. I left Ise back at camp to go send a report to my dad. He never was able to keep tabs on me, so I always helped out with that. As soon as I set down the Portable Communication unit, or PC, it lit up and brought up my dad's contact information. Before I could hit any buttons, I heard a twig snap behind me. Kicking away the PC, I called out quietly to the mystery person,

"Who's there?"

"Why, it's your old man deice! I thought you'd recognize me." The tall man who called himself a father stepped out of the shadows.

"What do you want," I growled. "You have no right to be here."

"But weren't you just going to send me a report?" He pouted, trying to seem innocent.

"I was, but that doesn't mean I want to see you."

He clutched his chest, wincing. "You break my heart son."

"Stop joking around and answer my question."

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"The girl. You aren't earning her trust."

"She isn't really one to give trust out to the popular kid."

"Then make her one. If you can't gain her trust in two days, I'll take care of things," he smirked menacingly. "You don't want your little 'Space Cadet' hurt, do you?"

"You dare lay a hand on her, and I will cause you so much misery that you will never forget the day that you crossed me, dad."

"Oh look at the little puppy barking at the bull-dog, so cute!" He laughed, and stepped away into the shadows. A whisper extended from the darkness with a farewell message, "Two days, son."

Dragging my hand down my face I turned to go back to camp, hoping that everything hadn't burned down.

"Hey, everything okay? You were gone quite a while..." her voice broke the silence welcomingly.

" Yeah, sorry about that. I met a squirrel, and we traveled the world, got married, won a war we started."

"Sounds like quite an adventure, how does your wife feel about kidnapping?"

" She hates it."

"Then you should quit the habit." she spit in a tone I couldn't decipher.

"Sarcasm?"

"Look at you so intelligent!"

Rolling my eyes I sat beside her. "Still hate me for dragging you all the way out here?"

"What makes you say that?" sarcasm again, why does she always use that tone?

"So you are still mad, good to know, Space cadet." I smirked, trying to win her over.

I don't think it will work, but it's worth a shot.