Doors

“I don’t think you understand the situation we’re in. You open the doors you let the enemies in.”

A small and uncaring laugh escaped her throat at her traveling partner’s worry. She had been traveling for a while now. Over her time traveling she learned how to get around. This was no laughing matter to him. He had always lived safely and easily. He agreed to travel with her for a small amount of time, but after being accused of a crime he was unable to return home.

The two both knew what had happened. Since both of them were in the room at the time of the crime, they were accused. From that they were chased down by people trying to collect their bounty. A large reward was all bounty hunters seemed to care about. They had been chased down multiple times over the week. It had usually been by one person.

This time they had a group after them. “Maybe I can talk to them,” she said as the boy pressed his back against the large doors in a sad attempt to keep the soldiers from barging through the doors.

“Tamaka, I don’t really think they want to talk to you at the moment. We both have a large bounty on our heads. I wouldn’t necessarily say that they will want to ‘talk’ to us.”

She shrugged, and stood up. “Ready to run yet?”

She took out a map, and placed it on the ground. He managed to keep the doors shut for a good amount of time, but they wouldn’t hold up much longer. *Clue two in the scavenger hunt: look near a place where lost things are found, the shelf farthest from the ground.* “Now isn’t the time to be mapping out the way to the next town!”

She let out a sigh, and gave him a look. “Stop being so melodramatic. We won’t get anywhere without a route. If you have any more complaints I can find the longest route there.”

He only shook his head in disappointment as he heard shouts from the other side. How could she be so calm?

She casually picked up her compass, and folded the map.

“Catch and run,” she said with another uncaring tone. The third of time of the day. She tossed the map at him, and he ran as the soldiers behind him chased after him. She laughed at his expression, and pulled him into a hallway as they ran.

He was about to yell something, but she shushed him.

“You’re the one so worried about being caught. Be quiet for one second will you?”

He checked the map to see a path straight through the ruins. She didn’t have a reason to be in the ruins, but he had been so interested in them that she couldn’t say anything about it.

They made their way through the hallways. Navigating was her specialty. She wanted to map the unknown. That was her reason for traveling in the first place.

When they finally made it to the village, she sat down on a tree stump.

“That was another bet on luck.”

He huffed. It was meant to sound sharp, but it came out as a small gasp for air.

“You have to bet on luck every now and then.”

He gave a harsh laugh.

“We can’t bet on luck forever.”

She smiled brightly.

“Luck’s been on my side for a while. Things will sort themselves out.”

By Kali Herbst