1183 The Strange Girl And Old Lady
"Where are we going?" Dilinia asked for the tenth time since they started flying.
"Dilina, ask again, and I will sink you to the bottom of the ocean." Kana now understood what it meant to have a backseat driver. "But we have been flying for days!" Dilinia complained. She was truly like a child since she was stomping her feet in the air.
"Just get over it. In another day or two, we will see land." Kana explained as she continued to fly forward. The so-called plague behind her pouted and followed after her.
Just as Kana had said, almost two days later, they could see land off in the distance. A high cliff rose up out of the sea. Beyond that seemed to be an open meadow with many different kinds of flowers. Kana and Dilinia slowly landed on the cliff"s edge and looked around. "Not bad." "It"s very pretty. Are you going to let your family out here?" Dilinia asked.
"Mmm… I will only let Nia out for now since she is from here." Kana opened a portal and stuck her head through. "Nia, can you come out for a bit? We reached land."
"Okay!" Nia nodded and quickly pa.s.sed through the portal. When she saw the colorful meadow in front of her, her eyes lit up. "So pretty! Mama, you have to let the others take a look, too."
"Will it be safe?" Kana asked. This was her main worry.
"Don"t worry. This area seems to have a weaker air about it. The energy here is pretty low. You probably would not even find a town around here for quite a ways." Nia explained.
"So you are saying this is free property?" Kana"s eyes lit up.
"I am not sure if free is the correct word, but you can say that it is highly doubtful that anyone would come here for any reason….." Nia cut herself off as she watched as a little girl walked out of the treeline and started picking flowers. "Why is there a little girl?"
"We can only ask." Kana smiled as she flew over towards the little girl. But as she got closer, Kana realized that something seemed off about her. The little girl"s eyes were covered, and her mouth seemed to be sewn shut. "Why?"
"h.e.l.lo?" The little girl suddenly stood up and looked towards Kana. She spoke, but her lips were unable to move. It was more of a telepathic message than speaking.
"Umm…. Sorry if I startled you, but are you okay?" Kana asked as she landed in front of the little girl. Her heart ached to see the little girl in such a state.
"I think so?" The little girl tilted her head to the side. She seemed puzzled as to why Kana would ask such a thing.
"But your eyes and mouth…" Kana bit her lip. She really did not know what to say.
"Oh…. It"s okay. I learned how to live with it. I can still see and speak, so it is fine." The little girl replied, her sewn lips arcing up into a smile.
"I see…." Kana took a deep breath and decided not to pry anymore. "Can I ask if there is a town near here? Or do you live in this place alone?"
"I live in the forest. No towns. Just Grandma.." The little girl replied.
"I see…. Can I meet your Grandmother? I want to ask her a few things." Kana decided to talk with the little girl"s grandmother first. This way, she could get more information out of her.
"Okay. Follow me. Grandma will be happy to have company. We hardly ever see anyone come out this way. Only a few adventurers will come to this place. Are you an adventurer?" The little girl asked.
"You can say that. My name is Kana, what"s your name?" Kana asked while turning and waving the other two to follow.
"My name is Rinrin. Grandma calls me Little Rin. You can call me that, too." Rinrin seemed to be happy to have someone else to talk to.
"It"s a pleasure to meet you, Rinrin; next to me are my friend Dilinia and my daughter Nia; we just came here on a long trip from across the ocean." Kana watched as the little girl skipped at her side with a smile. She really wondered how this little girl was able to see when her eyes were completely covered.
The group made their way down a small path that seemed to be used quite a bit before coming upon a gra.s.s hut deep in the forest. The walk itself took almost an hour, but when they arrived, they saw an old woman stirring a large pot out in the front yard.
The gra.s.s hut was well maintained. It even had two floors to it. The yard which surrounded it was kept tidy and even had a wooden fence. It looked more like a cottage retreat than anything else.
"You came. Food will be ready soon." The old woman seemed to have known that Kana was coming. "You knew we would come?" Kana questioned. She was even more curious about these two now. "Mmm… You can say that I have known for a very long time that you would come. That is why I sent Little Rin out to pick flowers." The old woman replied. "You must have many questions. Sit and eat something. You can also call the rest of your family. This stew will be beneficial to them all."
Kana raised an eyebrow. It seemed this old woman was really not simple at all. While she was a bit on guard, Kana still did as the old woman asked and summoned her entire family. "Mama!" Both Mei and Bi Ling jumped on Kana once they saw her.
"Kana, this place is?" Creige asked. He looked around and tried to detect any dangers, but he did not feel anything off.
"It is just as it looks at the moment. For now, eat something. I will taste it first; if nothing happens, everyone else can dig in."