User blog:Watermelonoutburst/The Panda 🌸 Princess, part 4

The Panda Princess, part 4!

<9CEO75BF-FF97-4027-9920-D84AF4447B5B.jpeg> That’s supposed to be it’s name. Did I do it right?

Part 4 We ran hard out of the palace, I couldn’t look back. We crossed the lake on a bridge that opened up before us. The Panda charging in front of us. On the path the voice again rang in my ears to the side of the path. I turned sharply into the trees, the bambusoideae a welcome scent, leading us on. I ran prisicly, as though knowing the path well. The boy ran at my side, almost a step ahead of me and I wondered if the voice whispered in his ear or if he just knew this place already. Finally our charge through the forest slowed as a gateway, or a portal most people would call it opened before us. I’m sure we were both nervous but we strode through without missing a beat. Only on the other side did we talk. “What’s your name? How did you know mine?” I asked, though something tugged at me inside. A large bird flew overhead. We were walking through a forest now, the leaves dark and lush and the moss soft even though we walked on a dirt road. A sapphire butterfly flitted by. The panda still walked with us. I mentally named him Chai. He turned to look at me as though in agreement. Then I turned to the boy. “My name is Eiarle. I had to interrogate those girls’ mother. It’s not your real name you know.” He said in way of reply. “How did you know those girls weren’t my sisters? And how would you know that? Did the voice tell you?” I demanded. He didn’t answer ‘you don’t look like sisters’ like I expected, instead said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about but answer to your other questions are easy. I know you’re my sister.” (Dramatic 🌸 pause) I stared at him in shock. “Mother’s life could have been full of joy, but it was always dull. She said it would never be right until she had back her first daughter. I’ve been searching for you since then and finally managed to track down that witch that stole you, I made her tell me where you were and she just laughed cruelly and told me I’d never find you. Then she turned me into a wolf. I got injured by a hunting party but didn’t stop until I found you. As soon as I saw you I knew at once you had to be my sister. And your name is Deae, Bambusoideae.” I shook my head. I had just found out that I had been living with people who were not my family, and now this guy claimed to be my brother? The conflict now upon me only added to my mental pain. My head wanted to explode from the tidal wave of confusion and frustration. I wanted to run. But my body was numb. And gradually, I just sunk into complete numbness. After all I’d seen I felt I had no choice but to believe him. We walked on for a while, in silence; not knowing what to say. 🌸   We must’ve been walking for a few hours at least. My confusion powered me on, I felt like I’d never stop. but when Eiarle said we should stop I realized I was exhausted. We sat down in a small clearing next to the road. Chai nuzzling my legs. Suddenly my ears pricked and I tensed. I could hear a rustling moving towards us. I leapt to my feet, Eiarle right beside me. His hand went quickly to his side and then a girl charged out of the bushes. She had dark brown hair falling only to her shoulders, brown eyes that seemed to have an emerald twinkle when you looked deep into them and tanned skin. She wore a beige tunic tied with a rope, less fine than either my brothers or my own, and sturdy boots. She was scratched and looked like she’d been on a long journey. “Jenille!” My brother cried in surprise. I looked at him in confusion, he knew her? Of course he did. The girl smiled. “Eiarle. I was looking for you, thought I could help you.” She pulled a short sword from the side of her tunic. My brother pulled another sword from his tunic. “Thanks, I think we’re okay.” He smiled back at her. I suddenly felt very conceious of my self. I was with two strangers, one who claimed to be my brother, both armed while I was not. “You found your sister!” The girl smiled. “It seems you were better off than me.” She smiled sheepishly, looking over Eiarle’s outfit. “I don’t know what it’s about. It just happened.” “Yeah right, bird boy.” Jenille smirked. “Hey, it’s true! And I’m not the only one any more, Deae has a Panda!” “Stop calling me that!” I exclaimed. Eiarle looked hurt and suddenly my heart jerked, like I had just told a lie. 🌸 We had traveled most of the day and finally stopped as it was edging towards night. I leaned down next to my faithful panda. “Chai,” I whispered, “I don’t really trust these guys. I want to give them a test. Tonight, can you wander away like your trying to find berries and then get ‘hurt’ or ‘lost’?” Chai nodded and walked off into the woods. Eiarle gave her a slight glance as he lit a fire. Jenille passed around some bread and dried meat. We ate in silence. Jenille turned on her side to go to sleep. I stared into the fire. Eiarle said, “if you can, sleep is recommended.” And he turned on his side to. I stayed awake staring into the fire until they were asleep. Then I rolled on my side too, angling myself away from them. It wasn’t the cold, rocky dirt that kept me awake, as I settled down the emotions I had felt earlier finally reached me. Anger Pain Confusion I felt lost And then I began to cry. 🌸   I woke up the next morning with dried tears on my cheeks. My hair in it’s braid seemed to have maintained it’s perfect form, but my body had hardly fared as well. I sat up stiffly, wishing for my old bed. I remembered the past days’ events, even if it wasn’t my family that was my bed. My neck felt dislocated and all of my joints felt stuck in clay. I felt lumpy and awful. “Drink.” My brother commanded- as I had accepted him as that, mostly- as he handed me a wooden cup filled with brown liquid. Tea. Thank goodness. I lifted the cup to my lips and took a sip, then spewed it back out. That was not tea. I stared into the cup. “It’s lake water. I purified it by boiling out the germs, but it doesn’t lose it’s color.” My brother explained. For the second time during our adventure, Jenille crashed out of the underbrush. “I can’t find her.” She said, breathless. My brother handed her a cup of water. I looked around while at the same time pointing to myself. “Find who?” “You’re Panda. She went searching for food last night, Eiarle saw her go, but she didn’t come back. She’s gone!” “Chai’s missing?” I cried, jumping to my feet before remembering what I’d asked the little panda to do. “Yes!” Jenille cried, “we have to find her!” “Jen’s been searching for her all morning.” Eiarle said. He didn’t look concerned. This was going very different than I imagined. Jenille took a sip of the water without hesitation, then set it back down. “We need to go find her now! Dea’s awake so you can come look.” Eiarle looked like he wasn’t interested at all. “We have to? I mean, it’s a panda. We need to go home.” He said. Jenille put her hands on her hips and looked at the sky. “Flight-song, Eiarle says he’d like you to go away!” She yelled. I looked up, all I saw was a bird circling. It faltered in flight, then hovered for a bit. “That’s not what I meant! I’m sorry! We can go look for Dea’s panda!” He got up, did some hand gesture at the bird and walked into the woods. I walked in a bit, after a few minutes I said, “Chai, you can come on out now.” And Chai ambeled into sight. Jenille gasped and Eiarle’s face went red. “This was a trick? A joke?” Jenille put her hand on his shoulder. “Eiarle, she hasn’t really known us long. She wanted to know if we were loyal to her friend, proving friendship and loyalty to her also, or just kidnappers. Right?” I sucked my lip and nodded. Eiarle’s head drooped. He looked at the ground. “And I failed?” I nodded again. Jenille stretched her arm around him and gave him a hug. We stood that way for a while till Eiarle broke away from Jenille. He looked up at me. His eyes showed wishing for something impossible. “Since Chai’s Okay, can we.... go home? I mean, I guess, if that’s what you...” He stammered. I looked at him. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I didn’t feel right around him. “I can’t.” I saw his pained look. “I mean, I need to help my si- my friends.” I looked at the ground. I could feel him nodding, and as though he decided to make up for his mistake he asked, “where should we start?” I looked at him, his face portrayed his thoughts: worry and hurt and hoping he made the right decision, but full readiness to do what he had said. I looked at him with shining eyes, allowing a first smile. Then my smile faded. I had no idea. I listened for the voice, searched my mind for anything the voice had said, finally my gaze fell on Chai. With certainty I said, “Chai knows the way.”

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Waves of watermelon 🍉

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