Questmyre

by HaaJar Johnson

  Robin quickly noticed that some parts of the streets however, were paved in gray cobbled stone. These gray patches made alternate pathways on the outer edges of the city. She could not help but wonder what their purpose was. Robin was about to interrupt Thister’s boring monologue with this question when she saw him follow her line of vision and nervously coughed before quickly saying, “Ah well, enough of my old stories. Let’s get these two back in the buggy and continue our wonderful bout of site seeing. Good day fine citizens and thank you for your time!” He shook each of their hands in turn. With uncharacteristic speed he then rounded Robin and Roami up and ushered them quickly into the waiting buggy.

  When they sat behind Thister in the cozy carriage and it began to move, Robin whispered to Roami at her side. “Did you see those gray pathways Roami?”

  He nodded. She continued, “Do you think maybe it’s some sort of game? Like a life-sized board game or something? I can’t imagine what else it could be…” She looked out the window and stared at the gray pathways they were currently passing.

  “Perhaps it has something to do with the riddle we must find...” Roami said softly.

  “Maybe we should just ask Thister.” Robin said.

  “No. They’re hiding something. I can tell from their body language. He saw you looking at the paths and then got nervous. This is something we should figure out on our own in time. Just be patient Robin...” Roami squeezed her hand to comfort her.

  Robin looked at his large blue hand covering her brown slender one. She looked up at him and he smiled reassuringly. He hoped his smile said the words he was too shy to say aloud. That he would always be there for her; and she was not alone in this strange and potentially dangerous new world. Robin nodded in response to his plea to be patient. She then turned to look out the window closest to her.

  In an instant she forgot all about their somber conversation. Robin screeched aloud in excitement. “Roami look! There are people running next to our carriage. Someone even has a home-made sign!”

  Robin moved closer to the window to make the words out, “How cool? It says ‘Welcome Sky-Ones. We Heart You!!’ Oh my god! I can’t believe this! They treat us like we’re celebrities!” Robin said in wonder while enthusiastically waving at the city people as they passed by. Her eyes glittered and it was apparent to Roami that she was not accustomed to such praise. He feared her inexperience would make her more prone to become drunk with power.

  Roami just nodded somberly in response, looking extremely uncomfortable with the attention. “In my village only the Motlings get this sort of attention. Robin, you and I have done nothing spectacular. We are not worthy of the adoration we get here. False fame feels like heaven for a while but always ends up badly. Just try and don’t let it get to your head, okay? Remember why we are here and how we must get back.” He said abruptly.

  Robin rolled her eyes. She set her jaw stubbornly and vowed to enjoy her new status despite Roami’s dower expression.

  Peering out the window as the buggy began to move forward, Robin whispered for Roami’s ears only, “You know something else I’ve noticed is that they have two different classes. They all look very similar but you see those people over there, they have four emerald earrings in their left ears and their skin is dark green. Now look over there at that group standing in front of the soup shop, they have only two emerald earrings in their left ear and they are lighter green, like the servants back at Thister’s home. I guess the ones with four earrings must be the upper class from the way the others treat them as if they are better than everyone else. See the light ones won’t even look the others in the eye when they pass. They even bow slightly right before they speak to them.” As Robin shared her findings with Roami, the light in her eyes seemed to fade slightly.

  Sighing with a hint of her old melancholy, Robin looked away from the glass window and her sight-seeing. She stared at Roami, “I guess some things are the same everywhere.” She returned her gaze to the passing crowds of green people with sadness in her eyes. Roami’s only response was to pat Robin’s hand soothingly.

  He was not sure why but he needed desperately at that moment to rejuvenate her spirits. Picking up on something she might like, he pointed to an area of the city where a large festival was underway. Streamers, flashing rainbow lights and neon signs could be seen.

  “Hey, Robin look! There’s a huge carnival or festival over there!” He said enticingly.

  Robin’s eyes lit with excitement as she leaned over Roami to look out of his window and see what had caught his attention.

  There was indeed a festival underway. Several in fact.

  “Wow! How cool! We have to check this out! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much happening in one place. It looks more interesting than even Time Square!” She whispered in awe.

  She could hear Thister’s soft chuckle from the driver’s seat as he listened to her go on and on about the festivities.

  “I think there’s a bunch of festivals happening all at once. And look; each festival area has a special name. See, look over there! That one has a sign that says “Coming of Age Festival” and the one across the way says “Friendship Festival.” Roami pointed at each one hoping to rev up Robin’s excitement. While her cockiness, just minutes before, had been annoying her sadness was absolutely unbearable to him.

  “Yes, yes Sky-Ones! I told you our city was a great place to be! We have festivals every day and for every occasion. I will be sure to bring you two back here another day. It would take more than a day for you to properly see each festival. Believe you me!” Thister said matter-of-factly then went back to whistling some tune he had been humming during most of the ride.

  Robin looked at each of the festivals they passed with excitement growing steadily in her eyes but by the fifth one she once again became disheartened.

  “They’re nice festivals, Roami… But look who attends them... only the upper class. None of the lower class are actually joining in on the festivities. Can’t you see they’re either serving the food or doing some other menial labor.” Roami had not noticed that. He sighed as he realized his efforts had not only failed to bring her happiness but seemed to have made her even more melancholy.

  All the while they spoke, Thister had bounced between humming happily to himself or screeching over the silver loudspeaker attached to the top of the roof. He held the microphone to his mouth and yelled out for all citizens to hear, “The Sky-Ones are coming through here to see our fair city on this fine day. Come out and see them and greet them! Please be on your best behavior my fellow Fitzians!”

  In between his boisterous dialogue on the loudspeaker he pointed out important monuments and buildings. Without a hitch he told Robin and Roami the history behind each in minute detail. “Now coming up next we see the fantastic Fitz City amusement park!” He said with pride.

  This woke Robin from her stupor. She sat on the edge of her seat trying to take in all the sights and sounds presented before her. The amusement park was huge and brimming with games and strange rides Robin could never have imagined. It seemed like a small city within itself.

  “Oh… my… goodness! We have to come back here and try out those rides Roami!” Robin screeched with excitement.

  “Did you see that?!” She could barely sit down and pressed her face against the glass trying to take in every single detail before the carriage left it all behind.

  While Robin could not see much she did see a few rides. There was one that spun people around in large spheres of orange water. Another one looked like a maze of mirrors; mirrors that appeared to allow one to walk straight through them and change clothes magically. Lastly, before the massive park was no longer viewable from the buggy she glimpsed a haunted house that nearly reverberated with horrified screams.

  Moments later, they left the amusement Park behind and it became no more than a myriad of small dots in the distance. Robin sat back in her seat with a sigh and a gleam of absolute joy in her eyes. Roami just stared at her wit
h a small smirk twitching at his mouth.

  She did not care what he thought of her actions, she was in pure rapture. Just thinking about the fun that could be had there made her heart skip a beat. Robin simply stared back at Roami, shook her head joyfully and mouthed the words, “I-Love-Amusement-Parks!”. She followed this off with a muffled scream to show her extreme excitement.

  Roami chuckled and shook his head but before he could respond, Thister’s voice boomed once again over the loudspeaker. “We’re at the outskirts of the city and are now nearing the village. This is where the common folk live and I daresay that if you don’t want to be so near the stinking lot of them we can just bypass Hartan Village altogether. It’s a rotten sewer if you ask me!” Thister grew very serious and slowly brought the buggy to a complete stop. He turned around and waited for their directive.

  Robin and Roami looked at him in astonishment, wondering why he had to broadcast such disparaging speech over the speaker. He could have simply turned around and asked them face to face.

  “No!” Robin and Roami said simultaneously.

  Thister looked confused by their outburst. “No, you don’t want to see it or…”

  “No, we would like to see Hartan Village now, please.” Roami clarified.

  Nodding, and with a quirk of his brow, Thister spurred the buggy forward. The path of concrete and cobbled stone was completely gray in this particular area of town. There were less trees, less flowers and not many stores to be found.

  All Robin and Roami could see on either side of them was red sand in the distance, orange sky above them and gray cement below them. When they drove up a slight hill, the two were able to finally see Hartan Village just at the base of the incline. It was very small, the roads narrow and overall, everything looked cold and drab.

  “Okay then. Well here it is; this cesspool of a place. Hartan Village. We do try to keep it clean and keep all the garbage out as best as can be expected… So you shouldn’t see anything worth upsetting you, if you know what I mean.” Thister turned back to glance at them with a wink then chuckled good-naturedly.

  Robin and Roami looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea what he meant by these cryptic words but decided to overlook his strange comment. The two were much too focused on staring at the raggedy and poorly made coral houses which made up the village. Each stood about four or more stories high.

  While the village looked despondent due to the cracks in the houses, the pale and patchy paint jobs on the coral houses and the very few plants, trees or shrubbery; it was still very quaint and clean. Nothing was out of place. In fact, they saw very few if any people walking about the small zigzag of gray cobbled stone streets that ran through the tiny village on the outskirts of Fitz City.

  “Well, that’s enough of this sludge bucket! I’ll be about returning you both to my home so that you can rest and clean yourself of the stench of Hartan Village.” He said while sniffing against an imaginary odor.

  Robin breathed in deeply to determine what smell Thister spoke of. “What stench?” Robin asked Roami in a whisper.

  Roami just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

  Speaking up, Robin said, “Um… Actually… We’d like to walk around here for a while if you don’t mind Thister.”

  Thister looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Well... I can’t imagine why you’d like to do that miss. Oh, wait... I get it! You want to go out to put your nose up at them. Ha ha! I understand perfectly little miss. I will just,” suddenly a bell sounded across the city and Thister looked up with a grin. “Ah! That’s my work calling me for sure. I’ll just get to my job and then return for you two in a bit if that is okay with you?” He asked quickly.

  “That’s fine.” Robin said with a bright but false smile.

  “Okay, so that is the plan then.” Thister said as they left the water buggy and shut the door behind them.

  He sped away as soon as his guests’ feet touched the ground. “Woa! He must really love his work…” Robin said as she stared at the blue water buggy flying down the road back towards the main city.

  “Apparently.” Roami said dryly while dusting off his clothes. Seeing his actions, Robin laughed hysterically.

  “What?” Roami asked.

  “Nothing.” Robin said while trying to keep her laughter inside. “It’s just that... you’re dusting yourself off… under water.” She pointed out. Roami thought about it for a second and then smirked despite his attempts to keep a gruff outward appearance.

  “Well anyway. Let’s go meet the locals.” Robin said then began to walk along the extremely narrow street ahead of them. The smooth cement they had rode on through most of the city ended near the village entryway. From that point on everything grew increasingly shoddy. Robin noticed there was no real difference between sidewalk and street as everything was made of the same sloppily constructed gray cobbled stone.

  The two quickly perused the village’s coral cottages. To their surprise they noted that while the homes were very skinny in width, they appeared to each be much taller than any of the other buildings in the city. Aside from Thister’s abode, of course. Furthermore, the exterior of each home was painted in dull shades of grays and white pastels. There was not a single drop of emerald to be found on any of the furnishings and décor.

  “Hey, there are no yaru bushes Roami. Do you see any?” Robin asked as she looked around for the magical bush.

  “No. You’re right. They seem to be missing. But if these people really are the peasant class I guess that is to be expected. The upper classes would not want them to have their wishes fulfilled. That’s what yaru bushes do after all…” Roami looked at Robin and noticed she had lost some of the silliness which had lit her up just moments before. She appeared sad once again. He sighed; knowing that pretty much everything they saw in Hartan Village would prevent her from smiling.

  The two friends walked side by side, through the tiny maze of streets. They had to stop every now and then as loose gray pebbles found their way into their sandals. For the most part it seemed as if they were in a ghost town. When they finally came across a few of the tall, lanky, light green villagers, with fuchsia hair, Robin and Roami grew increasingly uncomfortable. They did not fear for their safety but were not used to the overwhelming praise they received. The people would either bow so low they appeared to have lost their legs, or they fell to the ground deep in full prostration. Not one of them ever once looked the Sky-Ones directly in the eyes.

  Robin and Roami tried to get them to stop all their reverence but to no avail. While Robin had loved the celebrity attention in the city; here in the village, she felt more and more guilty with each bow.

  Finally they made it to the last home in the small village. It stood at the end of a dead end street which was blocked off by a protrusion of the grayish, uncut coral material the houses were all made of.

  Robin could smell the scent of what she now knew to be fresh ‘sea bread’ cooking somewhere nearby. She and Roami had heard all about it while visiting a bakery that sold it earlier that day. Sea bread was apparently a staple food for many of the people of Fitz for it was very cheap and easy to make. The royals, however, never ate it as it was considered the food of common folk. All this and more, Robin and Roami had learned during their day running around the city.

  “Mmm... I wish we could go in there and get some of that.” Robin said wistfully. She quickly determined the lovely smell was wafting from the last home in the village. They stood in front of it and she could not help but stare beseechingly at the open window.

  “Yes me too. I am quite hungry.” Roami said as his stomach growled in confirmation.

  All of a sudden a little pale green woman poked her flaming fuchsia covered head outside of the open glass window of the home.

  “Oh my! It’s the Sky-Ones!” She screamed and comically fell to her knees in prostration. Because she was inside the house it just appeared as if she disappeared altogether from Robin and Roami�
��s vantage point. All they could see now was her curly hair bobbing slightly near the window.

  Lifting her head up slightly, the woman screamed, “Boonie! Come outside with me to praise the Sky-Ones!” She raced from the front room of the house and out of her pale green colored front door to prostrate at their feet. She wore a simple gray dress with a white apron over it. Her feet were bare and the bottoms were stained red from the sand.

  An identical looking man raced from the house with his fork and spoon still in hand as he bowed before them as well. He wore the usual clothing of most of the servant class; a simple pair of woven gray trousers and a matching gray sleeveless shirt.

  At this point Robin and Roami were tired of all these unnecessary antics. Robin stepped up to finally do something about it.

  “Would you please just stop it!” Robin screamed.

  Boonie and his wife, Beenie froze in place. Shaking in fear; they glanced up at Robin.

  “I’m so sorry female Sky-One. Whatever we have done to anger you, we are so very sorry.” Boonie said with his mouth quivering. “We only ask that you not harm us since I am expecting a child and...” he let his words drift off not sure what to say next to plead their case.

  Realizing Robin may have scared them with her outburst, Roami quickly chimed in, “We have no intention of harming either of you. My companion and I, only ask that you stop being so submissive. We just want to come into your lovely house and share a meal with you if that is okay.” He spoke in a kindly manner, in an effort to show they came in peace.

  The husband and wife stared at Robin and Roami as if they had gone mad. “Yes. Yes, of course! If you will not be insulted by our lowly home, then… of course, you are most welcome to be our guests, Sky-Ones!” With that said, the couple stood up and motioned for Robin and Roami to follow them inside.

  Robin and Roami were directed up the short flight of cement stairs and through the front door. Their hosts led them directly to the kitchen where all the wonderful smells were originating. The first thing they noticed was that the interior furniture was very slender to accommodate the structure’s narrow width.