Going Home

I'm not doing separate chapters so here

     Jimena looked out at the river in front of her, she knew her parents didn't want her to get closer, they were just taking a quick break from their hike, but she stepped onto one of the smoothed-down rocks. The water foamed white over the tops of invisible rocks and orange leaves shone brightly as they flipped and tumbled downstream with the speed and grace of a gymnast. A small hand reached out for one of the leaves, the deaf girl liked to collect things that matched the color of her hair, but the rocks she perched on were slick and with another stretch, she tumbled into the river with the leaves around her.
Limbs flailed out and kicked at the unrelenting water as her head tried to find air. She opened her eyes but soon the murky water stung them into closed submission again, robbing her of another dominant sense. Jimena just felt now, she felt the panic raging inside of her and the cold water moving her along quickly and her heavy clothes sucking her down. She tasted dirty water and felt a burning in her throat and nose as her lungs couldn't hold any longer and tried to breathe the substance. Without warning, a hand wrapped tightly around her wrist and it felt like a ton of lead was weighing her down as she was lifted out of the water, dropping her as soon as its owner seemed to realize what she is. Her legs gave way and she dropped to the floor, hacking up water through her raw throat. With the water rubbed out of her eyes, she could finally look up at her rescuer. Jimena's eyes widened as she scrambled back, preferring her chances in the river. The dim light caused her brown irises to be swallowed up by pupils that scanned the creature in front of her. Looming at least seven feet over her, a dark-haired man with a broad chest covered in flexible black armor. The chest plate ended not to matching pants but dark fur going down thin but muscular legs fading into thick hooves. Looking further there was a matching pair of hooves and a horse's rear legs. The centaur surveyed what was dragged out of the river, his sneer growing deeper as they looked from red hair darkened by water down to small feet enveloped in miniature hiking boots.
     Jimena winced as she was pulled onto her feet once again and stumbled for a couple of steps to keep up as the black centaur walked her down the stone hallway. The end came with a large wooden door that he heaved open and walked her through past two more centaur guards. They stopped and the three humanoids seemed to be arguing, although Jimena couldn't interpret anything they were saying. The language on their lips entirely foreign to the English she was used to lip-reading and their hands gesticulating not American Sign Language but jabbing at each other. Eventually, the cowering girl was handed off to one of the guards at the door and her deliverer turned tail and went back to his post. Once again she was dragged off, further into what she had determined at this point to be a castle and into a dungeon being stalked by yet more imposing centaurs. Her captor deposited her in a stone cell fronted with iron bars. She could finally cover her nose against all of the attacking smells as she pushed herself into the furthest corner from sharp hooves and strange creatures.
    Jimena cowered back in her cell, watching with trepidation as guards did their rounds and other prisoners stewed in their cells. She could tell the scarred centaur in the cell across from hers was yelling at her and then when they charged forward she saw the door shake as if it were going to break. She whimpered and hid her face in her knees, trembling from head to toe with the chill from the river and her breaths coming fast and shallow. She could have sat like that for weeks or milliseconds but she practically jumped out of her skin when a hand touched her shoulder. She tried to scramble into the wall and ended up standing, peeling one eye open to look at who it was that touched her. Standing in front of her looking remorseful and worried was a teenaged centaur girl with bobbed black hair and tail, blue eyes and cinnamon-colored fur. She offered out a half sheet of parchment with something written on it. Jimena took it with a quivering hand, the centaur stepping back after she had, and the symbols morphed in front of her eyes to the English she was used to reading. My name is Ruthai. I'm going to help you, follow me but you have to be quiet. Don't eat any food offered to you either Do you understand? Jimena read the note and nodded, folding the note and idly messing with it as she watched Ruthai turn around and go to the front of the cell.  She looked right and left then started down the corridor. Jimena stood still where she was until the black-haired head peeked back around the wall, her brows drawn together and a frown on her face. Her lips moved and a hand beckoned Jimena towards her.
    Ruthai didn't seem to let Jimena ever get too close to her, shifting away whenever they stopped and the redhead gravitated towards her side and the protection of someone older and bigger, even if she had never met that someone before and they were half horse. Jimena followed Ruthai down to the servant and maid quarters, the rest of the journey going smoother after the centaur realized that Jimena was deaf and couldn't tell when she gave an auditory instruction, not that she could understand their language anyways.
     Jimena watched as Ruthai wrote another spelled note. This is as far as I can take you. The arrow at the bottom of this paper will always lead you home. Get to the river Ibai and jump in. There are a few portals to your world from this one, Aisling, and that's the next closest one. You'll never be able to go back through the one you came in, it's guarded constantly because things never seem to stop coming through and they could be dangerous. Go straight to the river, stay away from centaurs. Your kind has caused us sickness and destruction, you will either be killed or brought back here. Good luck. After Jimena had finished reading and tucked the note away safely, Ruthai led her outside to the woods and gave her a leather bag then disappeared back into the castle with a small smile.
     Putting the bag on her shoulder, Jimena fishes the note back out, folding it so that she can just see the arrow. She starts off quickly in the direction it is pointing, itching to get away from the unsafe castle. Flinching at every flicker of movement, she walks down wildlife paths until she struggles to see in the waning light. Her weary legs and sore feet sing when she finally stops and sits down on one side of a tree. Gnawing hunger finally gets a chance to make itself known and Jimena opens the satchel to see what Ruthai gave her. After finding a sweet roll and wolfing it down, she lays down and rests her head on the satchel. Despite the rock digging into her side and the unfamiliar smells and tastes, Jimena falls asleep the second she lays her head down.
The light of the morning that woke her up allows Jimena to look inside the satchel at what she was given. Mostly she finds more food and a flask of water but also a pair of boots made out of the same leathery material as the bag along with a simple tunic dress and pants made out of cloth. She thinks back to seeing an elf in the dungeon and figures that must be where they are from, nonetheless, she slips into the dry clothes and shoes quickly. Eating another two rolls, Jimena starts walking in the arrow's direction.
     When she stops again midday, she notes the foliage has shifted into the blue and purple range of colors and is the air sparkling? Hunger once again distracts Jimena and she pulls a red fruit out of the bag. Looking up again, Jimena jumps backward finding a pink muzzle in her face, nostrils flaring to take in the scent of the fruit. The head draws back just as quickly as the girl does. Her fear is forgotten quickly at the sight of an iridescent spiraled horn in the spot that a normal horse may have a white star. She looks in awe and adoration over the unicorn, its coat pure white and with a shimmer that mimicked the air surrounding them. When it extends its nose out towards the fruit again, she holds it out with an open hand, only pulling it back after the fruit was gently taken. She flinches back again when a voice resonates in her head. Thank you, it says to her and it's obvious the message came from the unicorn from the way it is looking at her, seeming to expect a response other than staring and a slight nod. Do you speak? It asks again and the unicorn receives a head shake and quick set of signs. Oh, you're deaf. What is a deaf human girl doing in the woods of Aisling all alone?... Yes, I understand sign language, I know all languages of the creatures in this realm. In this way, Jimena tells of how she came to be in Aisling and that she is trying to get home after being captured by the centaurs. So you are the reason the centaurs are searching through the forest. Then I must come with you, they are sure to find you and I doubt it will be pretty. My name is Ailbhe. Now we must go, you can eat on the way and ride on my back.
     Ailbhe's magic and ability to hear turns out to be imperative. The centaurs hunting Jimena turn out to be good trackers and the pair often has to escape with the help of a cloaking charm and plenty of forewarning. Centaurs are not quiet creatures so Ailbhe is able to change their path with enough warning to avoid them but also not stray too far from the path to the river. Jimena is leading the two of them, following her arrow when she startles at a sudden intrusion in her head Jimena stop, Ailbhe's voice reverberates with worry. Looking up from her enchanted arrow, Jimena sees why and shrinks back towards the protection of the unicorn. Standing on the bank of the river, there is a group of three centaur guards. Okay Jimena we're going to have to be careful. They know you're trying to get through. Follow my lead. She nods and gets behind him, holding onto his silky white tail.
     They walk to the river like that, the centaurs parting to allow Ailbhe to drink some water. He must have cast a cloaking charm on Jimena but she breaks it when she attempts to make a run for the river. She's shoved back roughly by a white flank as human-like arms swoop down to grab her, moving faster than any human with the aid of a horse's legs. As if they could teleport, all three centaurs are then on top of Jimena and her unicorn protector. She has to pull in hands and feet, skittering from side to side to avoid the deluge of hooves coming down around her. A hoof comes down on a lock of her long hair and her head is dragged down. She screams in fear and pain and the sound from the soundless girl shocks Ailbhe, he stumbles back into the centaur that had stepped on her hair and they fall to the ground together. Jimena sees her opportunity and scrambles onto her feet, wobbling like a newborn foal. She makes a dash for the river, a deep bay centaur running after her. They stretch an arm out to grab her dress but miss and give her a shove forwards instead, causing her to tumble and roll into the river. Once again Jimena finds herself fighting against the current, flailing about to find which way is up.
     Kicking against the bottom when a foot touches, Jimena manages to get her head above water, the current proving to be less flighty and rampant than when she first fell into the river that took her to Aisling, and paddles towards the bank. She stumbles as her foot hits the bottom but is able to walk the rest of the way out of the river. Her note with the arrow is still magically dry when she takes it out of her boot and she turns in the direction it instructs. As soon as she realizes where she is she takes off on a sprint down the well-worn trail studded with tree roots and rocks. Once out of the woods, she runs through her developing neighborhood back to her house. Twisting the door handle tells her it's locked so she knocks on the door several times quickly, bouncing in anticipation to see her mom and dad and tell her story. Jimena barrels forward and squeezes her mother around the waist not a second after she opens the door. Familiar hands wrap around her and lift her off the ground in order to squeeze their daughter against their chest then they're sitting on the ground with her father in an even bigger hug, all of them sniffling but not bothering to wipe away tears. After several minutes they finally separate, her mother's hands signing "I love you" while her father adds "we thought you had died in that river Jimena. How are you home?" Jimena flashes a bright smile at them and she signs back the response "I didn't die. I went on an adventure!"