Trial 14, Arc 717
"That's the Ywyngyll forest there off in the distance," Arlo told Vega and pointed straight ahead of them, not long after they'd left their camp outside the gates on foot. After reassuring her half a dozen times that his mother wouldn't try to make a match between them or attempt to domesticate her, he'd finally convinced her to come along. It was only for a couple breaks after all and he'd have plenty more opportunities to see his parents before wandering off again. "It's the forest I told you about," he added with a grin while adjusting his rucksack across his shoulder.
"You know, the one I spent a few trials in alone when I was little," he reminded her. "The house isn't far from there." But it wasn't an ordinary forest, Arlo went on to tell Vega as they walked. It was alive in a way that other forests weren't. Something called the Unabor controlled and protected all of it. From the trees and plants to the streams and animals.
"It's no wonder I got lost in it then," Arlo admitted and laughed. "The trees, the stones, all of it can drift or up and move in a flash to protect itself. All of a sudden everything around me had up and moved and I wasn't where I thought I'd been before." He'd been very small, but uncommonly bold for his age and a traveler already. He might have panicked or sat down and despaired of ever finding his way out again.
"That's it," he said, pointing at a small farm house ahead of them. Nestled in a small copse of trees surrounded by a patchwork of grassy and dirt fields was a wooden farmhouse that looked quite old but in very good repair. It had a tin roof and a round pipe chimney on top with curls of white smoke drifting into the air. A small flock of sheep grazed nearby and chickens dotted the yard round the house.
That was his mom, Arlo said and pointed to a woman who appeared to be working out in the garden, though it was hard to tell much about her from a distance. "Her name is Nella." But as they walked closer, she seemed to spot the pair of them and straightened up, looking their way. She was a small woman who couldn't have been much more than five feet tall, and thin enough that a stiff wind might've picked her up and carried her away.
Her auburn hair was tied at the nape of her neck and draped over one shoulder. She wore baggy trousers and boots, an over-sized white shirt open at the collar, and a wide brimmed straw hat on her head. She looked, but it was only when Arlo grinned and raised a hand that she appeared to recognize him. "Arlo!" Nella dropped the basket she'd had in her hands and came down the path at a good clip to meet them. The difference in height between mother and son became all the more apparent, the closer she got.
She launched herself at him, and wrapping his arms round her waist, Arlo laughed and lifted her several inches off the ground. "Put me down and let me look at you." With a glance at Vega, he smiled and obliged her. She immediately reached up and cupped his cheeks between her open palms and appeared to drink in every detail before letting him go. Her eyes were a grayish blue, and swam with un-shed tears. "Look at how tall you've gotten," she said, and used her thumb to wipe a smudge from his cheek. Some things never changed.
But then she turned stormy and snatched the hat from his head and smacked him with it. "And why didn't you write, let me know you were alright? I've been worried about you." Arlo snatched the hat back. "Not the hat ma, I got it from Cassion." To say she looked skeptical was every bit accurate. "You didn't." He did, he tried to say but she'd already turned her gaze on Vega. "Are you going to introduce your friend or just leave her standing there?"
Arlo grinned and shrugged. After all she hadn't given him a chance till now. "This is Vega. We met in Desnind and we've been traveling together." It was then that Nella gave Vega a good looking over. An observant woman no denying but she smiled and offered both her hands to take Vega's "Welcome to our home Vega. I'm Nella. You haven't been getting her in trouble have you?" she added, looking to Vega. Arlo frowned. "Not that kind of friend ma."
"It's not what I meant and I'm sure she knows it," the woman added and smiled knowingly. After all, she'd raised the boy who'd gotten himself and others into more trouble than most boys found in their lifetime. "Come inside, both of you," she commanded and started off towards the house. "The two of you must be starving. Jonas, my husband is away for a few trials, gone to market. But I've made a nice cherry pie and it's still warm from the oven," she said as she showed them up on the porch.
"Mind your teeth," Arlo whispered before they walked through the door. "Sometimes she misses a few of the pits." But whether it was pie or a full meal, this was a woman who needed to feed anyone who happened to cross her threshold. Never mind she was only marginally good at it. But the small parlor they stepped into from the outdoors was simply furnished, but tidy and welcoming with a bright red rug on the floor. "Would you like a cup of tea Vega," Nella asked. "While I'm heating the kettle you can tell me about yourself."
