Unending Trails

A long silence came to both sides of the door it seemed. Though I felt anxious, I couldn’t help but stare at the door and wonder what was behind it. It was made out of the same wood the house was made of, though it looked discolored and remotely old. Black metal brackets stretched horizontally across the vertically stood wooden planks, one-third from the very top and one in a similar spot at the bottom. Though from getting too into analyzing the door, a muffled voice came from within the house.

“Alton?”

“Aye,” he responded back with sudden and loud words. He turned to me again, smirking in what seemed to be amazement, and gently uttered, “Damn fool still remembers it.” A couple of short bursts of laughter came through as he looked back down to the ground.

It was then that I heard faint footsteps growing louder as they approached the door. It shook and moved as little clacks and clinks could be heard from whoever was fidgeting with it on the other side. The door jolted open to reveal a tall, muscular, burly man. He stood there, allowing me to quickly analyze his physique. His upper body was physically fit, as if he trained his body well over the years. He had a full head of dark-brown hair that was combed back neatly, and an almost perfect-shaped trimmed beard.

A deep, hearty giggle emanated from the man, as his chest heaved and contorted to show it, all before he reached out to pull Alton into a firm handshake, placing his other hand on Alton’s arm.

“Well look who Terra brought,“ he said as he laughed, smiling and eyeing Alton up and down, “glad to see you alive and well, friend.”

“Likewise Del. You’re as lively as ever.”

He turned his sights to me, giving a half-grin, “Weeell, I see you’ve finally found another unfortunate soul. Still the same, eh Al?”

“Can’t seem to change it seems like,” Alton said, agreeing with the man.

He reached out his large right arm, and extended a hand, “It’s nice to meet ya, son. Delatorre.”

I took it with my own as I smiled back at him in politeness, muttering only one word: “Liamae.”

Truth be told I felt overly small compared to the man, as his hand was noticeably larger than my own, with a strong grip to compliment it. Though unexpectedly, he leaned over to one side of me and kept our hands locked, lowering his voice —but still keeping it at a level to where he wasn’t trying to hide it.

“Word of advice, watch what he does. Never know what he could do with those ‘studies’ n’ experiments.”

I’d felt uncomfortable with what he said —and the sudden closure we had between us, as I looked over at Alton who was rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“He does this to everyone. Don’t listen to him.”

He let go of my hand, smiling as if he wanted a better reaction from me.

“Ahhh, I’m jokin’ boyo,” he said as he patted my back, heaving with another playful laughter. He turned and walked back towards the door, waving his hand to gesture for us to follow. “Come on in.”

Alton followed first, then I. A soft change of smell —mostly consisting of stale wood came before me. It was almost unnoticeable and as stealthy as an assassin, though my senses were heightened by my anxiety. The room was almost as fancy as Alton’s cabin was, only with less trinkets and more… subtle and furnished living conditions. Pots, vases, shelves, cabinets, tables, and pretty much anything and everything you’d expect to have when you’d think of a healthy living space were all present. Though what was different about this house, was that there had been more chairs and places to actually sit or rest than compared to Alton’s.

Upon entering, I’d notice a woman to the left of the doorway dressed in a patterned cloth shirt —sleeves rolled up with an amber-brown bandana stretching around the length of her hair and covering the top half of her head. She had long and flowing dirty-blonde hair that protruded out from the top of the bandana, while the rest flowed out over her shoulders and over her back. A long, half-wall separated what seemed like the living area and the kitchen, blocking my view from her hips down.

She had faced the wall, where she was chopping what seemed to be vegetables, before looking over her shoulder and smiling.

“Alton!” she gleefully cheered, “Never would’ve thought today was the day.”

Alton chuckled, and stopped in the middle of the room, looking over his shoulder towards her, “It’s good to see you’re well, Rhodeia.”

Standing a bit from Alton’s right side, I turned my eyes back towards the man, who navigated around the center of the room’s furnishings. Each step he took, felt as if a mountain moved, for a loud thum could be heard, followed by the creaks of the wooden floorboards.

Upon entering the house, a large, living room-like space had made up almost the entirety of the building. A large, brown fur-rug stretched across the length of the large space, where further at the corner of the building housed two rectangular tables placed against the wall, and a large round one placed out from the center of the corner. Three wooden chairs accompanied it, signaling that this was where most of the activities took place within this household.

“So,” the man abruptly said, sighing as his large body bent to sit at the one further into the corner, “what brings the traveler here?”

Alton walked over to the circular table, where he sat with his back towards the woman, leaving me with the seat where my back faced the wall at an angle.

“Came in hopes to see if you’d know if Elyse was still selling?”

On the table, there had been empty plates stacked on top of one another, small vases placed at the center, and empty metal cups. He reached to one of the cups closest to him, his hand still expressing a surprising size over it, and turned to his left and reached for a large intricate colored pitcher.

He muttered a low hum as if he guessed right of why we’d come, pouring out water into the cup. Before placing the pitcher, he pointed to it and tensed himself realizing he’d guests over, and that his forgetfulness over-rid his manners.

“Water?” he asked, his eyes bouncing back and forth from me to Alton.

“Yes, thank you,” Alton responded quickly, looking down for a cup that was closest to him.

I shook my head, “I’m fine, thank you.”

Before Alton could make a decision for himself, Del had already had a cup chosen —which was already in his hands, angled to receive water from the pitcher.

“It depends,” Del said, the sound of water being poured coming to silence, “...are you willing to wait?”

Alton furrowed his brows and tilted his head, “ 'Wait?' ”

Nodding to Alton’s question, Del answered, “Mmm hm. Ole’ fellow comes rarely —if ever it seems like.”

He handed the cup to Alton —who grabbed it and placed it in front of him— and lifted his own to take a sip.

“Goes back and forth from Durnatel’s territory and up north.”

The thought of up north made me assume that he’d been to my home before. It was unlikely, but it was a nice thought to think about. Alton, who had his eyes on the table, lifted his cup to take a sip, softly nodding. He set it down, swallowed what he took in, and spoke again, keeping his eyes on the patterned wood.

“And what time does he get here?”

“Quintilis.”

Alton furrowed his brows, and calmly looked back towards Del, signifying that he didn’t like what he was hearing.

“Interesting…” he said softly, placing on hand over the bottom of his face, while the other still held the cup.

Like it always had been, I had no clue of what time exactly ‘Quintilis’ is. I knew for sure it was one of the Latin months, but I was hopeless if I was going to try and guess exactly which one it was in the calendar I was raised with.

Del, who briefly looked at me, gave a smirk to Alton, “So, I’m gonna guess your trip to the ruined ‘Daviid was a success?”

“Well, one part of it is at least…”

“How is it? Been a long time since I’ve heard from it.”

“It’s healing. Slowly but surely, it’s healing…”

Del took a sip from his cup, his swallowing being audible from where I was sitting. He let out a brief huff through his nose, setting the cup back down and letting himself fall back into the chair and away from the table.

“Well that’s good to hear. A shame that we folk here couldn’t do anything ‘bout it. I sure would’ve liked to. Maybe could’ve gotten payment to help out.” He grunted in a short burst of a laugh before sighing a deep sigh, placing one hand on his lap, while the other rhythmically tapped on the table. “Weeell what can ya do, eh? Not like we’re much better.”

“The same ole’?” Alton asked in response.

Del nodded, and stopped his hand from tapping, which promptly brought back the silence, “Damn vermin are as annoyin’ as ever. Can’t seem to go two months without hearin’ somethin’ about ‘em.”

“Really?” Alton asked in a surprised tone, “And what of those white coats? Aren’t they doing something about it?”

Del shrugged, jutting out his bottom lip.

“Wish I could answer that. I’d like to think so, buuuut…” Del stopped, turning his head in disappointment before continuing on, “It’s surely not lookin’ like it.”

Alton gave a low hum, signaling that he understood well and clear what he meant. It was then a brief silence fell over the table, feeding into me a very awkward mood that I’m sure the other two felt. From afar on the other side of the house, the woman who I had seen earlier stopped what she was doing. Surprisingly, she had been at it the whole time, though the rhythmic routine of the knife cutting through the vegetables made it seem as if it was just ambience —and only now did I notice a clear shift from what I thought to be peace was now more silent.

“And how is it with you?”

“What?”

“Are you and Rhodeia fine?”

Del took another sip from his cup, nodding before swallowing what he took in.

“Oh yeah. We scrape by what we can. Granted, the wolves will still take, but I guess they’re more afraid of people that stand a chance then the helpless.”

Wolves?

He grinned a sarcastic tone over his face, patting his belly comfortably while he continued on, “And if they have the nerve to take more, then it’ll help with keepin’ me in shape.”

It unnerved me like a helpless child that a majority of the conversation being said was beyond me —and at this point, I was at the peak of my confusion.

I KNEW it! There are wolves in these parts…

Wait, since when did wolves take though? I’ve never heard of that.

Werewolves? Or somethin’ that could stand?

I furrowed my brow, unsatisfied with my lack of knowledge here.

“You’re not that big, Del,” Alton said, smirking and eyeing him up and down.

“Don’t let him fool ya, the damn cad eats more than anyone else here. More than the Regis I’d say,” the woman said loudly, smirking —while she too eyed Del.

Alton chuckled, shaking his head before gulping down whatever was left from the cup. Before speaking, he wiped the side of his mouth with his hand, setting the cup down which made a loud clanking sound.

“Well I’m glad to see you still strong, friend,” Alton said, sliding the cup back to where it originally had been. “Well,” he paused, sitting back on his chair in almost the same way Del was, “I think we’d better head out for now.”

“So soon?” Del said in a surprising tone.

Alton nodded, “Mmm hm, gotta check up with other folks here.”

Alton slid back the chair, making a scrape-like humming effect, distracting my attention to it.

“You know how it is,” he said, stretching out his arms behind his head, “these studies of mine are important.”

Del let out a short —but loud— booming chuckle, smiling as he kept his stillness, “Right…”

I took Alton’s rustling as a cue for me to do the same, though I didn’t feel the need to stretch.

“Weeell, it’s good to know you’re still at it,” Del said, scooching back his chair with almost the same humming effect. He stood upright, again reminding me of how burly he was.

Alton turned his head towards me, and raised one eyebrow, “Shall we leave?”

“Mmm hm,” I hummed, nodding my head to tell him I was ready.

Alton looked back at Del, “Thank you for the drink, friend. Now if you’ll excuse us.”

Alton first, then I second, we made our way back towards the entrance of the house, allowing me to again see the decorations and peacefulness, though this time at a different perspective. Behind me, I could hear the loud thums of the man’s footsteps. Before exiting through the door, Alton looked towards the woman and waved with one hand.

“Pleasure seeing you again, Rhodeia.”

She nodded, and waved back, “Absolutely. Be sure to come back soon, dear.” She turned her head towards me, which gave me a little shiver as this was probably the first time she acknowledged me, “And make sure he takes good care of you, child. If he doesn’t,” she paused, looking back to Alton in almost a perfect motherly glare of expectation, “...come hear and tell us.”

From behind me, I heard Del heave with a brief chuckle.

“Aye, I’ve been wanting to give him a good beating for a while now.”

Again, I turned my eyes back to Alton, who was already outside —shaking his head in amusement and uttering in a soft tone, “What would I do without the both of you?”

Following after him, I made my way through the doorway, feeling the warm heat from the sun and smelling the fresh air. Behind me, the footsteps of Del stopped at the doorway, where he stood, still in the shade.

Alton, who was now next to Sorrel, placed his hand on him, gently petting him. Though as I went around the cart to get on it, he was just fidgeting with Sorrel’s harness.

“Weeell, if ya need anythin’ else, you know where to come. Tell Phillip I said hey, if you pass by him.”

Alton smiled and nodded, walking around towards Dahlia and fidgeting with her harness, “Most definitely.” He seemed to be satisfied with the harness and walked over to the seat where the cart allowed control over the two horses. The cart swayed with the weight coming aboard, similar to me, as he took hold of the reigns.

Alton nodded a respectful nod, commanding the cart to move slowly. He turned his head to Del, who was now trying to analyze the weather, and what it could turn into later today.

“Best wishes to the both of you,” Alton said, with Del nodding in return. Alton raised his voice and grinned a little from my point of view, “And for god sakes, don’t eat everything today.”

Del shook his head as he too smiled, seemingly annoyed with himself that he knew Alton would say that right before departure. He turned his body and grasped the doorknob, letting it follow him, but before it completely closed, faint laughter could be heard from Rhodeia inside.

Alton sighed, as he picked up the pace of the cart a little, “Aaand, on towards the next.”

Though this time I wasn’t curious as to who else we’d be seeing, I was more curious with the way Alton articulated his conversation flow.

“Say, Alton,” I paused, as he turned his head and hummed in response, “Sorry if this might seem rude, but I thought he was gonna be the fellow you’d ask for food and the other things we might need.”

Alton stayed quiet for a moment, before finally giving his answer.

“Well, Liam, I can get all my answers without even having to ask them.”

Taking his words into consideration, I sat there in awe, as yet again he sounded just like my father.

“Is that from being a traveler?”

He chuckled, and from behind him, I could see his head shake, “No. Anyone can do it. One day, it’ll click for you… if it hasn’t already.”

I furrowed my brow, already impatient that I probably wasn’t that advanced in conversation. Though, I couldn’t be for too long as my frustration shifted to the conversation with Del.

“Also, one more thing.”

Alton turned his head to the left slightly, allowing me to see a little bit of his face.

“What month is Quintilis?”

Staying still in his position, I could see Alton’s demeanor changed. His raised eyebrow that I could see changed into a more concentrated look, as if he was dumbfounded by my question.

“Ahh, forgive me. Sometimes I forget that Del is as old fashioned as he is.” He paused briefly, “It’s July.”

“And what month is it as of now?”

“Apeire. April.”