Chapter Three: Beginning the Journey

Dante and Arthas set off on there journey, with one extra

    The morning was warm, the sun had just barely risen, and the dew was still on the grass and trees. The birds were awake and flying, and the hanging feeling of dread and depression ruined what would be a perfect morning. Dante tried to go to bed early so when he woke up he would be in a perfect mood, but he had gotten no sleep. He heard Arthas come in many hours after the sun had set. He could tell, from the sounds that Arthas made, that he couldn’t get any sleep either. The anxiety of the upcoming day was too much, and when morning came, they quietly got packed and went to the dining hall for their last breakfast at home. There was no one there; they must have still been sleeping. The two boys got their breakfast ready, some sausage and bread, and sat down quietly to eat, not saying a word. It wasn’t long until their parents came from their room. They got their breakfasts and sat down next to their two boys. Even though both the children and parents wanted to speak to each other with what very well may be their last conversations, they didn’t. They finished their meals, grabbed their bags and started to walk outside.

    “Wait.” Zachariah stopped them. “Before you go I just wanted to let you both know how proud we are. And…” He stopped. He was choking up Dante and Arthas went to hug their mother and father.

    “We know dad… we know…” They stayed in each other’s embrace for a while. When they broke off however, they grabbed their bags and went out without another word.

    As the two left their house feeling sad and anxious, they heard a noise. Outside their door was everyone who was at the party, and others, waving banners, playing noisemakers, and cheering as they walked from the house. The banners had their names on it, along with variations of “good luck heroes of Stonebridge.” They blew in their horns and banged their noisemakers, and suddenly the sadness left. Arthas and Dante were speechless again, but in a good way, they smiled. The massive crowd was split into two long groups, holding long banners over the space in between, making a path for the two to walk through. They put on their packs and walked up the path. When they neared the end, there were two magnificent horses waiting for them; a brown Palomino and a massive white Clydesdale. Their parents came up from behind, Helena saying: “Consider this our final parting gift.” The boy’s jaws dropped, and ran up to the two horses. There were already nice leather saddles upon them, hooks coming from the back. They through their packs over and attached them to the hooks, and they hung in place. Arthas took the Clydesdale, for the horse, admittedly, was too large for someone as small as Dante to handle. However, the Palomino was perfect; it was small and quick, much like Dante.  Both the boys jumped up on the horses and looked at the crowd.

    “Go on sons. Go make us proud.” Zachariah told them, tears in his eyes, smiling and holding his wife. The two boys nodded, tears coming from their eyes.

    “Come on little brother, let’s go make them proud.” Arthas said. They both kicked off and the horses ran off, heading to the bridge to Gredia Vu. The cheers were erupting now, but even so, with the speed of the horses, they seemed to slowly fade away. This was it; this is what they had been waiting for it. Just like the cheers, so did their old life begin to fade away.

    The two boys arrived at the bridge in little less than a half an hour. The long, wide stone bridge spanned from the little island all the way to Gredia Vu mainland, almost two and a half miles in length. They sat there on their horses for a second, after crossing this bridge, they would have made the commitment and there would be no turning back.

    “You ready little brother?” Arthas asked, not breaking his gaze with the bridge. Dante simply smiled at him.

    “I was born ready.” He winked, and they both chuckled. However, the nervousness and anxiousness did not go away.

     “Well, let’s do this then.” They both kicked off and the horses start to trot across the bridge.

    “Wait!” A voice shouted from behind. The two stopped abruptly, and turned around. Behind them was a man on a horse of his own, trotting up towards them. The horse was a black mustang, saddle bags thrown across its back. On top of the horse rode a scruffily man in a red coat riding towards them, smiling happily at the two boys.

    “Gin!” Shouted Dante. What was he doing here?

    “Hello bard, what brings you here all packed up?” Arthas asked, suspicious. Gin simply chuckled and turned towards Dante.

    “I decided to take you up on that offer, Dante. I wish to come with you two on your journey, if you will have me.” Dante simply turned towards Arthas, and smiled. Arthas, of course, didn’t mind at all. A person who knew the route and could help lighten the load. The more the merrier right? However, Arthas was still spectacle.

    “Of course you can come, bard. However, if we were jumped by bandits, how do you expect to defend yourself with no sword?” It was a reasonable question; Dante hadn’t noticed that Gin was unarmed. Gin let out a loud laugh.

    “Don’t worry, my boy. I think I will be just fine.” Gin in a blink of an eye, reached for two holders tied on his horses flanks. Out he pulled two compactable crossbows, fully loaded. As he did this his coat opened revealing multiple knives and throwing stars strapped to his chest and hips. Arthas simply smirked.

     “Fine, but good luck defending yourself against a broadsword with your little kitchen utensils…” Arthas said, turning away and trotting onto the bridge. Dante could feel a little tension from Arthas against Gin, but had no idea why. Perhaps it was because Gin always favored Dante and not Arthas? Who knew?

    “Alright then, let’s go.” Gin said, both him and Dante setting off across the bridge.

    The time it took to cross the bridge was longer than previously thought, and at first it was awkward. No one talked for what seemed like a mile, and there was still more to go. Gin must have decided it was awkward as well, and decided to break the silence.

    “Those are some nice stallions you boys have there. Have you decided on names?” Gin asked. To be honest, neither Arthas nor Dante had even thought about it. They both thought for a bit. Dante looked at his brown palomino. It was a beautiful horse, large muscles despite its small size, and even after a mile of a quick pace trot, it showed no sign of slowing down.

    “Well I haven’t really thought of it but… It seems like an Altair to me.” Dante didn’t have an exact reason, the horse really did just seem like an Altair to him. He didn’t even know where the name came from, but he thought he heard of it before.

    “Altair eh? An interesting name seeing as it means ‘Flying Eagle’. I think it suits your horse very well.” Now it was Arthas’ turn to name his horse. Both Gin and Dante turned toward him.

    “Well, it’s not very fair to ask me to name my horse on the spot but… I suppose I’ll name him Alonzo, it means ‘Eager for Battle’” He patted the horses enormous neck, and it whinnied in reply. It seemed almost to approve of the name Arthas had given it. “Well, what about your horse, Gin? What’s his name?” Arthas asked him. Gin chuckled for a bit.

    “Her name, Arthas, is Zora. It doesn’t have a particular meaning, but it was the name she had when I got her, and she is very dear me.” Gin replied, looking down at the mustang, his eyes comforting and warm from his usual hardened look. The silence was soon broken however when they came to the first rest spot on the bridge. As they approached they heard the bustle of the small camp. There were people in tents with small tables set up outside, and selling all kinds of wares, from food to wooden figurines to animals to weapons. There were many people walking around buying all kinds of the merchandise. Dante was a little spectacle at this because there were so many people in this little camp, but on the way, they saw no other travelers beside themselves. Gin must have anticipated this, because before Dante could ask, he stated:

    “This small camp you see here is actually considered by many a small town. It doesn’t have a name or mayor; it is simply a hot spot for buyers from Gredia Vu. Actually, many traders set up here. Would you like to take a look?” Dante and Arthas looked at each other and agreed it would be fun to look around for a bit. They steered the horses to the camp, and demounted them.

    “You two go ahead, I’ll watch the horses. Do you both have money?” Gin asked. Dante and Arthas both shook their heads yes, but they both knew they weren’t going to buy anything. It may be awhile until they arrive at the Gredia Vu military base, and they would need that money for food or repair.

    They started into the bustling crowd of merchants, traders and commoners. It was easier for Arthas to maneuver around, his size working towards his advantage as usual, but for Dante it was a little more difficult. Besides the fact he short, he was also very light in weight, and made him an easy target to be pushed aside by some fat, greedy merchants and buyers.

    The market was extraordinary and had many things Dante hadn’t ever seen before, or ever even thought of. There were the normal things, stands with people auctioning off supposed “rare” goods that may have been owned by the Old Kings or something of that equivalent. There were the normal shops selling mediocre weapons and armor, and some that sold clothing of higher quality than usual. They were very well stitched and with a fabric that was soft to touch. It was amazing, but as soon as Dante saw the price, he realized why it was so nice.

    He also looked around at the food shops, chunks of premium cut meat, freshly grown crops, and milks from multiple kinds of animal: cows, goats, yak, camel, and even as weird as water buffalo milk. There were eggs from chickens, and then there were larger, more exotic eggs. Some were even claimed to have been from prehistoric lizards.

    Generally, all these items could be found in a normal market, perhaps with the exception of the eggs and weird milks.  But as Dante and Arthas got farther into the market, they noticed a sudden change is goods and people.

    They stumbled into groups of oddly dressed people, dressed in either magnificent attire, such as robes with large mantles and colored gems. They wore odd hats, large brims all around the side, and a large point on the top. There were some also dressed in robes with similar hats, but some weren’t as colorful and some wore cowls or hoods instead of the hats. Some carried around large staves with odd designs carved into them, and some carried nothing but a longs stick stuck into their sash. The people seemed generally friendly, but more hurried then anything, and could possibly be considered normal, in a broad sense.

    The goods that were being sold were a different matter entirely. The very first stand that Dante passed had animals hanging down from a post behind the sellers. At first glance they were simply rabbits, but as one took a second look, they would see a feature that is almost impossible to miss. The rabbits had growing out of their heads long antlers, much like a deer’s would. They branched in many different directions, and uncontrollably it seemed. Some of the points sticking out curved where they would wrap around of each other, making a jumbled mess above the rabbits head where nothing but its long ears should have been. The long antlers were about the size of the rabbit’s body fully extended, and they did not branch out far, so they were still rather skinny.

    “What are those things?” Arthas asked the shopkeeper. She was dressed like all the others, her robes were a dark purple and wore a pointy hat like the others had. The shopkeeper turned to look behind her, pointed at the creature and turned back to him.

    “You boys haven’t ever seen a Jackalope before?” The voice didn’t change pitch, but they could still tell there was shock in her voice. They only shrugged. “Where you boys from, anyways?” The female shopkeeper asked. Dante didn’t say anything, not sure if he should even answer, but Arthas did.

    “We hail from Stonebridge, not as far as you thought eh?” Arthas was still shocked at the creatures before him. “What are they for, eating?” he asked. The old lady just chuckled, and grabbed one of the Jackalopes down from the rack, and pulled back the ears and got a firm grip on the antlers.

    “These are rare creatures, boys, and by all other means, taste the exact same as a normal rabbit would, and therefore, would be a waste. Basically, a Jackalope’s body had many uses. If people consider a normal rabbits foot lucky, than imagine how lucky a Jackalopes foot would be? You see where I’m getting at?” The boys nodded. The whole business was just a scam. “But that’s only partially what they could be sold for. What you really want are the antlers. Jackalopes antlers are used by wytches for rituals and some even make the antlers into wands. They do hold some magic, but I would prefer a wand made of something more… practical than a Jackalope antler.” Wytches?! Did she really just mention wytches?

    “Wytches? Come now, there is no such thing as wytches or magic, you crazed old lady.” Arthas said, obviously no longer impressed at the mysteriousness of the creatures and more annoyed that the lady had wasted his time.

    “No such thing as magyk?” she questioned, sincerely wondering why someone would even say such a thing. She pointed a finger at Dante and continued: “If you lived under a rock your whole life I would understand, but how can you say that magyk when you’re travelling with-” before she could answer, Gin came in out of nowhere.

    “Excuse me guys, I need to talk to this shopkeeper for a minute, could you two go?” Gin said, face stern, a little sweaty, as if he ran over here.

    “Why should we?” Arthas demanded.

    “Just go, I’ll be ready in a second!” Gin actually yelled at Arthas. This whole time he had been putting up with Arthas’ enormous ego, but now he just snapped at him. Arthas sneered, and turned on his heels and started walking away. Dante followed, his mind throwing around ideas of why Gin did that, trying to find something to satisfy his curiosity. Nothing did. Arthas put his hand in his pocket, and with the scowl he hadn’t warn since he was a kid, walked around the market place looking at the rest of the goods. There were places that were selling jars filled with lizard eyes, bat wings, newt tails, odd hairs, pickled salamander eggs, the works. There were certain carts selling staves and sticks that they referred to as wands. There were some carts that sold sheep and other animals that were advertised as “Prime for sacrificing for all of your most intricate rituals!!” The more they walked around, the more apparent it became that everyone in this section of the market believed in magyk which only pissed Arthas off even more. He still refused that something as wild and unexplainable as magyk exists.

    “Gods, all these people act as if they are warlocks or something, but none of them actually do any magyk, do they?” Arthas pointed out. He was right. The whole time they were there they had not seen one simple display of magyk, and it kind of disappointed Dante. “And what do you think that crazy shopkeeper meant?” Arthas asked.

    “What do you mean?” Dante questioned.

    “Well, when I said I didn’t believe in magyk, she was saying something along the lines of ‘how can you say that with him’ and was pointing at you.” Arthas pointed out. Dante thought about it for a second. He hadn’t even noticed until Arthas had pointed it out, but now that he did, he wondered about it himself.

    “Oh yea, I didn’t even think about that… I don’t know, maybe something about me just screams magycian.” Dante laughed, and Arthas gave him a sarcastic laugh.

    “Yea, it’s your freakish ugliness.” Dante jabbed him in the shoulder, and they both just laughed.

    “Excuse me.” A soft voice came from behind Dante. He whipped around to come face to face with a beautiful young woman. Her face was white and smooth, and had magnificent features. Her eyes were a light sky blue; Dante felt himself staring into them, longing. Her skin was a pale white, but with such smooth skin it looked beautiful on her. She had long, brown hair that fell down her back all the way to her waist. It was smooth and well kept, not a single hair was out of place. Her lips were small and soft, those of a girl who doesn’t over use them. She wore a brilliant green dress that fell down to her feet and it was laced with gold and silver rope.

    In all his years, Dante had never seen a woman so beautiful in his entire life. She held her hands in front of her dress, folded, looking to innocent for Dante to stand; he couldn’t keep his jaw from dropping.

    “Oh, hello there” Arthas said, turning suddenly on his heels. His eyes widened as he recognized the extent of her beauty.

    “Hello, my name is Aeoa. I’m trying to find my way out, but I can’t seem to get by everyone, I keep getting pushed back here.” She laughed. If Dante’s jaw could fall anymore, it would have. She had the cutest laugh, he felt like he could melt. Where has this girl been all my life?

    “Of course we can help you, we were just leaving anyway. My name is Arthas and this scrawny young lad is my brother Dante.” Arthas said. He looked over to Dante and smirked at his expression. “Ok, I’ll lead us through, and Dante, you keep close to her and lead her behind me.” Dante shot him another “I’m going to kill you” look. Aeoa hooked her elbow into Dante without a second thought, sending shivers from his arm up his spine and throughout his whole body. She quickly pulled him along behind Arthas. Arthas only chuckled before starting into the large crowd.

    Dante looked at her face. She was so beautiful; he couldn’t help himself but to just stare at her. He had to say something to her.

    “How… Uh… are you?” Her eyes jumped, and she looked over and stared at his eyes. Gods she was pretty.

    “Oh, I’m fine now, thanks to you two. It’s very easy to get lost in this market.” She giggled again. He stiffened. What was wrong with him? This is a girl he just met, why was he acting like this? He was just helping a girl out of a busy market, that’s all. He couldn’t be falling for a girl he just met. He didn’t even know her!

    “So, what were you doing in the market?” He asked her. He turned his head to look forward, and not at her. Out of the corner of her eyes, he could have sworn he had seen her frown.

    “Oh, I was just passing by, and I figure I’d stop and take a look at the stuff they were selling here. I got in pretty deep and I got into the wytches area. Amazing stuff, magyk” She explained to him. Dante could have sworn he heard Arthas huff in front of them. “Are we almost there?” she asked them.

    “Yea, I don’t think it’s much farther.” Arthas yelled. It was really busy in this little camp. Dante didn’t even know it was there, and he didn’t remember it from when he went to Mushings with Gin when he was younger. It kind of made him wonder why they made this camp and how it got so busy so fast.

    “This camp is really something huh? It used to just be an annual thing, you know? Like one week a year they would make a small market of rare goods and what not on this bridge so people from both countries could come and buy stuff normal markets may not sell, but it got so busy and packed, they decided to make it a permanent market, not more than a year ago.” Aeoa explained. Gods, could this girl read his mind?

    It’s a good thing Arthas was so large; they probably wouldn’t have made it out of the market. There was literally not even an inch of space between people. Dante couldn’t believe a market in the middle of a bridge was this busy.

    “We are just about there, I can see the bridge.” Arthas announced. They pushed by a couple more people, and they arrived at the bridge once again.

    “Oh goodness, we are finally out of that jumbled mess. Thank you both so much,” She leaned closer to Dante and said “Especially you for protecting me”. She kissed him on the cheek, released his arm, and walked off. Dante’s knees buckled and he almost fell, but Arthas quickly caught him, and laughed. They watched as she walked over to her horse, a tan palomino, hopped on a galloped away.

    “First you were defeated by large crowds, now you are being slain by the women? What am I going to do with you?” He asked. Dante regained his footing and elbowed him in his ribs.

    “It’s not my fault! Did you see her face? She was absolutely gorgeous!” Dante exclaimed. Arthas shrugged.

    “I suppose so, but you could have been a little more suave.”

    “Well sorry I’m not the god of love!”

    “Don’t worry, we don’t need two of us” Arthas stuck out his tongue at Dante. Dante punched him in the shoulder and laughed along with him.

    “Well good to see you two are having fun” Said Gin as he emerged from the crowds. He simply smiled and hopped on his horse. “Ready to go?” Gin asked. The two boys nodded their heads and hopped on their horses.

    “So Gin, what were you talking to that crazy shop lady about?” Arthas asked trying his best to hide a scowl. Gin waited awhile before replying.

    “I was telling her not go trying to sell fake Jackalope’s. The antlers were clearly glued on with tar or something.” Gin said. Something told Dante that that statement was false.

    “Oh really? Well then I suppose I can forgive you for snapping at me so rudely. Besides, if you hadn’t sent us away we never would have run into Dante’s dream woman.” Arthas said as he winked at Dante. Dante’s head drooped.

    “Dream woman? Can I leave you two alone without having you guys get into some sort of misadventure?” Gin asked, massaging his forehead with the palm of his head, and shaking in disapproval. Arthas simply laughed, and Dante chuckled along with him. Gin removed his hand and laughed with them both. It was in this moment that Dante knew that this would be an event to remember.