26. Lost for Words

Brooke didn't want to wake up to this crap. Warning: minor swearing

             “Why are we going through here?” Brooke finally asked after hours of traveling. Meredith had not awoken and Yoko was still asleep. The night was young and darkened as it aged. Just Brooke’s luck for there not to be a moon to light the way. Every part of Brooke felt animate and alert, just in case they ran into something she’d have to fight. She restrained herself from falling asleep. She was too scared as well. She didn’t like it here in the Wilderness.

Athena stopped near a large oak tree. Brooke felt her heavy breathing and figured she was tired. She leaned against the bark and Brooke patted her neck. “This is the only way to go, Miss Brooklyn; the rural community will accept us.”

“Huh?” Every country had its urban side and rural side. Here, they must be divided by the Wilderness, unlike Alagracia who was divided randomly.

“The urban side hates elves; the rural side tolerates them,” informed Athena.

Brooke hopped off the tiger, lifting the princess onto the opposite shoulder that didn’t contain Yoko. She laid her gently on the grass and then Brooke plopped down. She remained alert; however, fearing someone would attack them all. They were vulnerable enough. Athena sat down and yawned, flexing her wide jaw. “Don’t worry; the darkness will hide us, Miss Brooklyn.”

Brooke nodded, and it wasn’t that she didn’t trust Athena, but she was incredibly scared. She stared into a pathway of complete darkness. The stars allowed little help. An owl hooted, sitting on a tree somewhere in this vast place of forestry. What things lurked in those shadows, Brooke wondered. She felt as if she were six again when Mom told her stories about Alagracia’s Wilderness, about her dangerous visits and strange creatures she encountered. She remembered having nightmares about them and Dad scolding Mom about her stories. She promised never to take Brooke there or talk about it. Brooke laughed to herself. Athena cocked her head to the side. Brooke decided she wanted to know. “So, have you always been a talking albino tiger or what?” Brooke sounded rude and the tone of words was mocking. She didn’t mean it that way, but she was curious.

“Not at all.” Athena’s tail wagged in the air as she lifted her head to the sky. “I was once a beautiful warrior on the fields of Astacia, have you heard of the kingdom?”

Brooke tried to think if she had. Brooke shook her head and hugged Yoko close to her. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“I was an upper class woman and one day I had mistreated my servant in a pit of anger after my husband died; in return she cursed me to this form.” Athena’s voice softened in sorrow and regret. “I lost everything that day.”

Brooke didn’t know what to say, so she nodded, trying to sympathize with losing everything.  What a consequence to bear, she thought. Athena said nothing more, laid her head down, and fell asleep. Brooke wasn’t sure how she did it, but she finally fell asleep.

 Brooke awoke when she heard Yoko crying. She looked down and saw he wasn’t in her arms. She began to panic and search frantically. Athena was still asleep, and Meredith…was up, rocking Yoko. She hushed him. Brooke saw the length of her hair brush against her dress, now dirty because of the ground. The treetops clouded the sun, but the path beyond the trees appeared light. Brooke was glad.

Meredith turned around and frowned at Brooke. “Where are we?” Her voice sounded urgent, demanding Brooke to answer her. “What happened to the circus? Why am I hear? And why with you?”

“Would you calm down?” Brooke shouted. The princess’s panic annoyed Brooke; she was antsy enough. She rubbed her temples and thought carefully about how to answer her questions. “We are in the Wilderness of Desdemonia.” Meredith looked around. “The circus was destroyed and why you are here is because I rescued you.”

“Rescued me?” scoffed Meredith. “That’s hard to believe.”

 “Of course, it was a ghost.”

“At least a ghost didn’t murder my sister.”

“Look, I didn’t murder anybody so pipe down.”

Meredith was baffled and gasped with her mouth agape. She stomped her foot and her cheeks turned red. “You murdered my sister, my only, and my best friend!” She shook her head and continued her irritating rambles. “Her blood was all over your body!” Tears spilled down her face and Brooke rolled her eyes. “I know your trickery, your little act to save Yoko and act all nice won’t make me distrust you any less. I loathe you; I can’t even bear to see your face!”

Brooke never felt so angry with anyone. Her own cheeks went red. “Shut up!” she screamed, clenching her fists. “You are a migraine; I can’t believe I spent eleven years working so hard to serve an annoying, snobby, exasperating person like you!” She didn’t mean these words. She was just looking for words. She really didn’t know Meredith enough to say what she said, but anger fueled everyone’s actions. No one thought as clearly as they should have.

“F**k you!” Brooke was taken back at the princess’s rage.

“Wow, isn’t it like disgraceful for a princess to swear?” Brooke snorted and stuck her middle finger at her. “You can take this and stick it up your stubborn a*s.”

Meredith slapped her. Brooke was surprised by the force. She didn’t think she could hit so hard. Brooke grabbed the handle of her sword. “Go ahead, kill me next,” Meredith cooed. She began walking away with Yoko. Brooke didn’t want to strike her because the action would just fuel the fire.

“Where are you going with Yoko?” Brooke asked. “Where are you going?”

“Away from you!” What about the Zexel pills in her system? She was too weak to go on her own. Then, Brooke felt an inner scold. Why should she care? Forget what Master Guardian Kirin said. She was gone anyways, but Brooke knew that wasn’t right. In addition, she cared about Yoko. She didn’t want to see him hurt because of Meredith’s foolishness.

“You’ll get Yoko and yourself killed going on your own; it’s not safe!”

“Like it’s safe with you!”

“Stop being an idiot!”

“She’s right,” said Athena as she awoke and rose from her laid down position. Meredith stared at the talking, albino tiger.

“I don’t even want to know,” she said shaking her head and storming off.

Brooke motioned to unsheathe her sword and Athena patted her shoulder with her nose. “Don’t.”

“But, Yoko and the princess, I have to protect them; I promised.”

“They will be fine, Miss Brooklyn.” Athena faced another pathway. “Forcing her to come will only cause more resentment.”

Athena was right, but she only wanted to save them. Why was this so difficult? She felt helpless again. Maybe with them gone, she could focus on returning home. Why should she return there? Where should she go? It just couldn’t be here, that’s for sure. Brooke hoped they could find a shore in the rural community. She could find a raft and sail off into unknown lands. She could venture onto new places, create a new name, start over no longer a convict. She hopped onto Athena. “Direct me to the rural areas.” 

Brooke rode the day away. This was a bigger kingdom than she thought. Athena had started to breathe heavy, and she knew the tiger had to take a rest. Suddenly, Athena stopped as her snout twitched, her whiskers seesawing on her face. Brooke climbed down Athena to see what the problem was. Her nose began to burn and her eyes widened at the sight she stood before. She released her gasp in a rush of vomit.

Author's Note

Dear Reader,

Yeah, tell me if the conflict is not fitting right please. I just wanted you to understand that Brooke and Meredith have warped senses of one another. Everyone is angry haha.

I chose that picture because it symbolizes Meredith's memory of her precious sister.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely JazzSoulKeke,

God bless