Travelers

Chapter 46 - The Gate Home

Jacob followed Mal beyond the line of trees and into Mirkwood, Cat close behind both of them. How it was that Mal had tracked Vince and Calen here, he had no clue, but she had managed it. She clarified that she had done a small amount of guesswork and it hadn't been easy keeping their trail every once in a while, but Jacob was impressed none the same. They journeyed deeper into the wood, following no clear path but the one that Mal lead them on. They pushed onward until Mal suddenly called for them to stop.

"They met the others here," she clarified. "Something is happening with the wanderers, and I don't like it." Jacob nodded his agreement, sure Cat felt the same when it came to at least that.

"You're right. I have a bad feeling about this," Jacob commented, suddenly smiling. Being a nerd has its own set of jokes that come out in the form of really terrible reference puns. "We should most definitely not split up for any reason at this point, right guys?"

"Well..." Mal dragged, "we might have to. Ya see, these are their four sets of prints, going in the same direction. Now here is where they separate into three." Mal stood where they could clearly see which of the obvious paths out of the clearing the wanderers took. Calen and Richard down one, Rose down another, and Vince splitting off by himself.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Jacob groaned. "I guess I'm going after Vince. Cat, you take Rose, and Mal go deal with your brother and Richard."

"Jacob, while your suggestion is valid, don't order us around. We are all friends here," Mal responded, sounding a little hurt.

"Sorry, guys. I'm just tired of chasing after Vince after the past year. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Jacob slumped against the nearest tree and stared at the ground. He thought for a minute before he stood again. This wasn't the time to mope around. He turned to follow the clear prints left by Vince's sneakers. He walked in silence, the hurt look that Mal and Cat had given him still burned into his mind. The sounds of the forest were drowned out as he listened to his thoughts and the swirling notions in his brain. Of course, while one is tracking your ex-best friend turned arch-nemesis, spacing out to think isn't the best idea. He didn't even notice the trip wire strung across the faint path before he was sprawled out on the ground.

"Something on your mind?" a familiar voice taunted from behind Jacob. In a swift roll, Jacob was on one knee with his bow drawn and an arrow nocked.

"What are you planning this time?" Jacob answered, his spite for the dark lord side of Vince evident. Jacob knew he wouldn't win in a fight, but Vince suffered from the stereotypical villain tropes too.

"Well, it isn't exactly my plan this time you know. It's all the wanderers' plot, and you don't need to know what it is. You'll already be gone if it succeeds. Now shall we-" Vince would have kept monologuing if Jacob had turned and ran as fast as he could.

"Well that's just rude," Vince commented before giving chase. It took longer for him to catch up to Jacob than either of them expected, and the two met in a strange clearing in the trees. Surrounding them were massive stones, seeming somewhat like Stonehenge from their world. Only one group of stones stood out, thanks to the runes carved into the stone doorway.

"Where the heck is this?" Jacob inquired of nobody in particular.

"It's a world gate," Vince helpfully chimed in, "Not that you'll remember it in an hour."

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Cat stepped into the clearing only seconds after Rose, since she was chasing her through the woods. She caught sight of the others entering the mess of stones in her peripheral vision as well. It wasn't long at all before the group all stopped in the center of the ruined gates. Cat had her sword and shield at the ready, Mal had her spear, and Jacob's bow was drawn. They were ready for a fight. Calen's hand twitched towards his broadsword, Richard's staff was in his hand and his eyes were closed, and Rose seemed ready in her black cloak. It seemed that Vince was, surprisingly, the only one who wasn't itching to fight.

"Shall we explain to the dear little travelers what this place is?" Vince said to the wanderers, a confident smirk on his face. Cat was sure he would have gone on to explain precisely what the place was, but Jacob's impatience got the better of him. An arrow whizzed toward Vince, who casually side stepped. In the moment of chaos, Cat wasn't precisely certain what happened, but in the next few seconds Jacob's bow was in ashes and he was drawing his blade and charging for Vince. In a single fluid motion, Vince drew his combat staff and deflected Jacob's clumsy slice into the ground. A slam from the end of the staff mixed with the power of Vince's had Jacob staggering back, and he slipped through the space in the rune covered stones. Then he was gone. No sign of him ever being there other than the scuffs from his steps and the burnt pieces of his bow.

"What was that?" Cat asked after a moment of staring at the empty doorway. It was barely audible, for though she meant to sound strong and confident, her voice simply couldn't find its way out of her throat. The question was bitter on her tongue and hung in the still air. Vince was, of course, the one to answer.

"Well, I already told him it was a world gate. He just didn't think about what that could mean," he sneered. "If he wanted to stay here a little longer then he shouldn't have attacked so soon"

"Wait, are you telling me this is a way home?" Mal asked, suddenly curious.

"Yep, you got it," Calen chimed in. His speech patterns still hadn't adjusted to Middle Earth like most of them had by now.

"Then why aren't we all walking through it right now?" Cat asked, knowing there was undoubtedly a catch.

"Well, you see, there wouldn't be any way back without a good deal of work," Vince answered. "Using a world gate to return to your own world will erase all memory of your time in any world but your own." Samuel's words came back to her quickly when Vince said those words.

"The other way is to lose your memory of your previous adventures."

This must have been the way that he had been talking about, this world gate. Cat wondered how long the wanderers had known about the strange gate, and she wouldn't have to wait long with Vince being the chatterbox villain that he was.

"We've been planning this since we compiled the pieces of the vision that we were given," Vince bragged. "You would have no idea how hard it is to get the four of us in one place, and all of us working together long enough to deal with you."

"I seem to remember somebody being the actual difficulty," Richard grunted.

"Oh, be quiet, magician," Vince snapped back. "Anyway, I guess this goodbye."

"Oh, it is goodbye, but not because we'll be going," Mal defended. Vince took the threat just as both of them expected. Vince attacked.

"See ya wanderers!" Cat shouted to the three that were standing back. Then, together Mal and Cat faced Vince. He dove for them, and they dodged. Each wrapping an arm around one of his shoulders, they followed his attacks momentum. The three of them fell back and through the doorway. Together, they vanished into thin air.

Going through the world gate was a strange sensation indeed, but it wasn't one they hadn't felt before. It felt like falling. It felt like falling in an endless darkness as your mind washes away. It felt like the wind blowing in their face. Yes, it was the same sensation they had felt when they first entered the world of stories, travelers, the quilt of worlds, and wanderers. It would end just as it began. Cat opened her eyes, and she felt as though something was missing. She felt a sensation had just ended. She stepped into the sun, and it felt familiar. She felt the grass on her feet, and it was the same stuff she had always known. She felt the wind on her face, and something strange crawled up in her mind. That was what she had felt. Wind.