The World is Round

Chapter Seven: Stuff I Gotta Do

"You know what?" Asked Maro.

"What?" replied Neren who was sitting upon Maro's shoulders as she walked up up the now grassy slight incline.

"When I retrieved my bag back in Haritz there were like another bunch of bags there next to it. I reckon they were all filled with silvers like mine, for some reason"

"You should have taken them too!" Said Neren as both girls gave a chuckle at this remark.

A cold breeze was the only thing to intervene with the days otherwise flawless weather. The sun rays beaming down along the grassy plains seemed to fail before they reached the cold travelers. A small hill with a single tree at the peak was the only thing that could be seen.

"Gosh those people were nice back there" said Maro thinking about about the small village they had just passed through on the way here. But at that moment Neren jumped over Maro and started running up the grassy incline.

"You'll never catch me!" Said Neren

"Why?! Sounds easy!" Exclaimed Maro as she started matching the younger girl's speed.

Neren giggled as she ran, started hugging the tree, and disappeared into the leaves as she climbed up.

"That's not gonna save you this time!" Said Maro as she herself reached the peak and started scaling the tree.

She put her hands high up in the air, jumped, grabbed a branch as it arched from her weight. The young lady pulled herself up quickly and used the momentum from said pull to grab the next branch above while swinging her legs over the previous branch. Each of her limbs were independent throughout this display of speed and agility.

As she reached the top of the tree, she gazed to the left where the sun was beginning to set up far away settlements that were endless snowfields away. The sight was truly spectacular, so much so that Maro had to wow aloud.

"Sure is pretty isn't it?"

"Ah!". Maro was quite startled by Neren's voice as she joined Maro grabbing the trunk gazing directly in the direction in which the girls had come from.

Maro slowly turned her head in the direction that Neren was facing. She was greeted with the sight of a huge city bound by snowfall, not that far off into the distance. An active port could be seen along with an endless ocean.

"Is... Is that..." Neren didn't leave time for Maro to finish what she was about to say.

"Yep, there it is. That's Namal. That's where I'm from!" Said the little one as she closed her eyes and smiled heavily as though she was reliving something great. It was at this point that Maro realised that she didn't know anything about Neren.She had even forgotten why Neren was even traveling with her and had a brief flashback of when they first met. A shiver went down Maro's back, even unrelated to the cold.

"Do you think Mother and Brother and still waiting for you?" Asked Maro as she turned to Neren with a smile.

"Well... There is only one way to find out!" Said Neren as she returned her own smile.

"Come now" Said Maro after some moments of peering off into the distance. It was dark now. "Let's set up camp on the hill here"

They both climbed back down the tree. Maro was greeted by something which she was neglected to notice on the way up; a long wooden bench sandwiched in between to equal length wooden benches. On the side of the hill facing Namal was short wooden fence protecting a short cliff that was about the same size as Maro. On the cliff lay a steel plaque with writings on it, but Maro didn't know how to read. Neren read it out loud: