Trip's Adventure

Starting on the way

"What!" she exclaimed picking him up again though not with nearly as much concern as before.
"You don't know the way there, I do. I have lived freely for over three years."
Trip wanted to protest, to tell him that by coming along he was putting his life at risk, but truthfully she would be glad of the company, especially one that she could ask questions. Trip looked over her attire for some place to put the bright gecko. She had no pockets, typical of a slave.
"Tighten your belt," J said seemingly observing her dilemma.
"I don't have a belt."
"I mean the rope around your waist."
Trip wasn't sure how this would help but when he repeated his request she complied. She grabbed hold of both ends of the rope and pulled until she could feel the rope on her skin through her shirt and tunic. She was about to ask how this helped them when J masterfully scuttled along her shirt front and into a small rip in her tunic.
"Why didn't I think of that," she muttered to herself as she resumed her journey. She decided not to go toward the road at the risk of being seen and so continued on through the forest. Croden trees towered over her head creating a green canopy that shielded its guests from the sun. The air was close and refreshing. The ground, instead of being covered by grass, was engulfed by bright flowering maryn moss that cushioned her bare feet."When I am free I will live in or near a forest just like this one."
Almost as if summoned by her words, J pocked his head out of his make-shift pocket. "Why would you want that?"He asked plainly.
Trip looked down at him and slowed her stride “There is so much beauty in nature it almost feels like there is no murder, no slavery, and no evil."
"Hmm, that is the only problem with beauty. It deceives and tricks you into a world that does not exist," J paused and let Trip continue in silence for a few seconds then continued," When they come out of this world of lies, people often refuse to see what true beauty and magic are in the world."
"How do you tell the difference between a world of fake beauty and a world of real magic?" Trip asked as she climbed over a large croden root. J smiled at her again.
"You choose to see the real beauty and magic and refuse to see what is untrue. You should take a left here," J said drastically changing the subject. Trip stopped short in her tracks. J, sensing her want for an explanation, added, "The road takes an abrupt left around here, so if you don't want to walk right onto it I suggest you turn as well."
Trip took his suggestion and altered her course accordingly. Her talk with J was starting to make her unsure of what world she lived in, a true world or a world of disappointment.
"Can you swim?" J asked out of the blue.
"I'm not sure," Trip replied not knowing what to make of his question, “Why would I need to know how to swim?"
"There is a stream about a milo from here it leads out of the forest to a larger river, one that we can follow to Mt. Trocep," J informed her.
"I still don't see how that helps me," Trip said shaking her head.
"Because," J said showing a great deal of patience, “the gentle current of the stream will help you move faster without getting tired so easily."
"Meaning I can get to Mt. Trocep faster. No, it won't. I can't swim so it would be more of a hindrance than a help."
"I'll teach you," J reassured her. Trip decided that this could turn out well and quickened her pace, entranced by the idea of learning something new and being able to get her freedom faster. That was when a though came to her; she didn't have her chain, she had Kess'.
"J."
"Yes, what is it?"
"I was just thinking."
"Dangerous past time," the gecko injected as though he could hear the question in her voice and was trying to cheer her up. It worked a little and J's efforts were rewarded by Trip's chuckle.
"Why didn't Kess give me my chain? I mean, then I could free myself," Trip inquired hoping he knew the answer.
"Do you know how chains work?" J returned though Trip hadn't really expected another question.
"Well, no," Trip admitted timidly, ashamed to give rise to her stupidity when it came to the ways of the world.
"The person that owns the chain owns you. If they give the chain to someone else, they also give you. The authority of the chain controls you. Since slave owners don't generally want their slaves to escape, they put the condition on it that makes it so you can't leave their property."
"But I escaped," Trip frantically interrupted trying to get the solution to the argument in her mind. J looked away from her and shock his head."I'm sorry," she said remembering what it is like to be interrupted.
"It's alright, just try to remember that it isn't a good idea to judge anything before you know what is behind it," Trip nodded, he was right and she had a lot to learn about manners."In answer to your question, Kess more than likely took your chain and told it that she wanted you to be able to go past the boundaries your master set up for you."
"She told it?" Trip queried in a confused but controlled tone.
"Yes, how else do you think slave masters could set a boundary that you wouldn't be able to cross."
"When did that happen?"
"Ever since chains were in existence and used for slavery," J simply replied before continuing, "when you throw Kess' chain into the volcano her chain mark will disappear and she will be free. She will then take your chain and do the same for you."
"What will happen if they take my chain back?" Trip asked though wary of the answer.
"If they get it back they can order it to bring you back."
"Why didn't Kess tell me all this?" Trip asked with a slight tone of despair in her voice.
"She probably had her reason. What that would be I don't know, but that's Kess for you," Trip was sure she could see a smirk on the little geckos face."There is the stream," J said pointing to her left. Trip jumped over a log that stood in her way and approached the crystal stream.
She gave J a cynical look," I could wade in there."
J immediately started laughing," you will find that in the world there are few things without some form of enchantment or other, from the Unicorn Forest to Mt. Trocep right to clouds and even this small stream, they all are mystical in their own way," he said between chuckles.
Trip felt truly put down and stupid. How could she be so ignorant! But the better question was why hadn't Kess told her any of this. Trip suddenly became aware of J scuttling down her leg.
"Now have you ever been in the water before?" he queried coming to rest on a rock.
"I fell into the cows trough once but that is about it," A fresh flush of embarrassment washed over her. She had just told a gecko about one of the most inconvenient moments in her whole life.
"It is a good thing Bredes take naturally to the water," J said in place of the laugh Trip expected, “now, Brede, you should...”
"Oh I never told you my name," Trip interrupted without thinking about how it feels to be rudely cut off. J looked at her. At first he seemed to be a little upset with this evidence that she wasn't paying any attention, but then he sighed and his expression lightened.
"I guess not," he said as she squatted beside him.
"I'm Trip," She chirped happily convinced that she now had a friend.
"It is nice to meet you, as I was saying before...”
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you before," Trip injected truly sorry for hurting his feelings. J couldn't keep himself from laughing. “What is so funny?" Trip asked failing to see the joke.
"You interrupted me to apologize for interrupting me before," J managed to say between chuckles. Trip crossed her arms and glared at him as he reeled around while laughing in the grass. She understood the joke, but was too embarrassed to laugh; in fact she felt more like crying. J couldn't stop laughing for almost a minute, and it was a long time before he didn't chuckle whenever he thought of the incident. "You should eat something, Trip, learning to swim takes a lot of energy," he said at length though not without the remnants of laughter in his voice.
Trip hadn't been paying much attention to her hunger and only now realized how starved she was. She sat down by J's rock and got out the bun that Kess had given her. After taking a bite she remembered J and asked him if he wanted some.
J sniffed at it, for a moment it seemed like he was trying to remember something but he gave up on it, "No thank-you, Trip, I prefer bugs and worms to baked cicery buns," he said with a smile. Trip giggled and continued eating. She soon discovered that it was difficult to eat while laughing. This came about as a result of J's actions. He would creep up on a bug of some description much like a cat to a bird and would then pounce on it. Despite the amount of noise Trip was making a great deal of J's "hunts" were successful, and often ended in him crunching down a beetle or slurping up a worm. Most of the beetles he caught were the size of his head so he would have to turn his head in eight different directions in order to eat it."Would you like some?" J jested one time after killing an especially large worm. Trip had to laugh when she realized his meaning; he was offering her something a Brede would never eat just as she had offered his something geckos don't eat.
"Is that all you ever eat?" Trip couldn't help asking.
J smiled at her," No, at one point in time I ate vegetables and fruit," Trip had to put a little more effort into laughing this time. Surely he must have been joking since no gecko eats that sort of thing and yet something in his voice made it almost seem like he was telling the truth.
Trip looked around the small pocket clearing surrounding the stream while she finished the last of her bread. Only a morrinaca bird showed any interest in the forest's guest, and seemed rather displeased for there to be anyone around.
"Why is she so angry?" she asked J indicating the bird's direction with a swing of her head.
J looked up from his worm to see the bird, looked around for himself then returned to his meal. Trip was beginning to wonder if he was going to give her answer or not when he said, "It wants us out of here so he can raid that yellow-breasted bick's nest,"
Trip gasped and looked at the small bird's nest. Embedded in a small shate bush it looks to lovely to be in any danger."Why would a morrinaca want to hurt a bick?"
"Why would a murderer want to hurt people?" J returned through a mouthful of worm.