Right Where We Belong

Losing my sisters had me shocked, dazed, and confused.

I hated that fact.

I wasn't the kind of person who liked to admit weakness and I was faced with having to do more than just that. It was more than just antagonizing, it was also scary as hell. And to make things worse, I was absolutely certain (for the first and LAST time in my life) that was I was lost. I had several hints in that direction. For one thing, I was no longer surrounded by trees, but by rock tunnels. There came another problem with that. There were no tunnels like this near the trails and I had no explanation for how I had gotten there except for a blink.

One moment: sisters are fading into nothingness.

Blink.

Next moment: rocks, rocks, oh and more rocks.

And I hadn't even gotten to beat the hell out of the assholes who had stolen my sister's ring. My day had just gone from bad to shit storm.

So the whole basic conclusion had come down to a few facts I couldn't deny even though I really wanted to: I was very lost, I was very confused, and I was extremely annoyed by these things. The scowl that occupied it's usual place on my face as I walked through the tunnels deepened. I only had two choices in the matter and since I had promised myself when I was a child that I would never break down, I stuck to the second choice. I walked. It was the only thing I could do. Everyone always tells you that you're supposed to stay in one place. I couldn't. It would mean giving up and I would not do that. I had to keep pushing on. If I did that, maybe then I could find my sisters. Maybe then, I could figure out what was going on.

The tunnels that I passed through were varied in size, shape, and slope. I noticed this most when I came to an intersection and had to decide which path to take. There were four paths for me to choose from: The one on the far right was wide with stairs going down gradually. The one next to it was narrow and twisted upward sharply. Next to it came a short, but broad tunnel that led straight ahead. The one on the far left was wide like the one on the far right, but led upwards.

I looked at the four paths pointedly. Who the hell had thought it was a good idea to have so many tunnels with no directions? I really wanted to find them and strangle them. At least that would have made me feel better. Because of the lack of directions, there was a great possibility that I could be leading myself in a circle. Of course there was always the chance that even if I did know where I was going I would fall into a trap in this awkward place that had been set for someone else. I could get myself desperately lost. No that had to be scratched off the list. I was already desperately lost. The possibilities, beyond getting lost, were endless. No matter which way I went, there was the chance that I would never see the light of day again. There was the chance that I would never see my sisters again. I growled in frustration and kicked at a boulder that sat in the center of this crossroads.

The boulder sounded hollow as it shifted. I froze at the noise and movement, my eyes slowly drifting to stare very pointedly at what should have been a very solid rock. Boulders are not supposed to hollow. They should not be able to be moved by a kick from a sneaker-clad foot. They certainly should not be allowed to not hurt the owner of said foot. While I couldn't say that I was actually objected to the fact that it hadn't hurt, it still scared the hell out of me. I glared down at the boulder suspiciously and cataloged everything about it in my mind as we sisters had taught each other to do. It was large coming up to my hips making it probably around two and a half to three feet tall. It was wide as well. Looking at it, I would have said that it was almost chest shaped in appearance except, rougher and less well formed as if someone had started to create it and then had been forced to abandon the work. The stone was a paler grey than the other stones around it which, in the end, I couldn't really have said what that meant. In all, it looked ordinary if only a little out of place. But it wasn't. I knew it wasn't because it couldn't be.

So what was it!

I knelt down in front of the boulder and ran my fingers along the top. It was stone alright. There was no mistaking the rough feel. It couldn't be duplicated. I had seen enough attempts at replications during my time as a construction worker. This was real stone. I ran my fingers over every inch of it that I could reach memorizing all the bumps and curves and grooves. By the time I was done, I planned to be able to know this thing even if I was blinded or sleeping. I didn't get that far though. Instead, I heard something that made me pause. It was like the sound of a catch on a clasp coming undone or a lock springing. I opened my eyes to see that the top of the boulder had somehow…opened. I weighed my options yet again. Open. Don't open. No, it was more like: look inside, be a pansy and avoid it. When I put it to myself that way: what did I have to lose? The top came up just like a chest or trunk lid to reveal aged and moth bitten cloth. I pushed the cloth away to find something that took even my breath away as I tried to moan in something like ecstasy.

They were glorious in truth. On the top there was a blade that shone silver in the light. It was long and beautiful. The cross bar was decorated with an elaborate script and the hilt was twisted gold and silver. The long black scabbard lay next to it, the script matching as it danced around the leather embossed in the same colors as the hilt. I picked up the sword first. It was light which felt odd. I ran my fingers along the blade and hissed, pulling back to see blood pooling along a cut that ran across my three middle fingers. Now that was something I could appreciate. I placed the blade carefully within the scabbard and strapped it around my waist. That wasn't were it belonged I knew, but for now, it would have do. First, there was one other thing I had to take out. Chain mail sat at the bottom seemingly waiting just for me. It was a white gold or white silver with fine almost embroidery type of etching along the color and waist.

This was mine. I knew it without a doubt. Just as the sword was mine so was this mail shirt. And if they weren't...well they were now. A wicked smile danced across my lips. I very rarely smile. My sisters are scared when I do. Too bad for anyone nearby that they weren't there to see me smile. They might have known to run for cover. Pulling off my shirt, I tore a strip of clothe away and lay it on top of the rest of what was getting left behind before slipping the mail shirt on over my head. It was a bit big, but it was cool and comfortable. I would be able to move in it light as it was. I could only hope that if I needed it...

Why I was afraid I would even need a sword and chain mail, I honestly couldn't say. I didn't want to sell them, but I could have sworn there was almost this little voice in my head telling me to put them on anyway. And so I relocated the sword so that the scabbard hung from my shoulder and grabbed the strip of clothe from my shirt, pressing it to my fingers as I surveyed the tunnels again. My eyes caught on the one to the far right and I nodded.

Time to go down.