CeeKay and Blade's Hazardous Trek

CeeKay is just your average sorceress who moved to Menewsha because of its interesting location. Her familiar, Fortuno, often travels with her and she enjoys the company of heartface foxes.

Blade is a mysterious figure who arrived on Menewsha by washing ashore. Pirates or smugglers were taking too keen an interest in him, so CeeKay used her magical powers to drive them off. Feeling indebted to CeeKay for this, according to the customs of his country, he serves CeeKay as her assistant, bodyguard, and general servant. CeeKay thinks this is hilarious.

Day One

After the fact, there was always some question about what the pair were doing sojourning in Franklin Point in the first place.

CeeKay insisted their mission was looking for a quiet sanctuary in which she could use to study spells away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city of Mene.

Blade insisted it was that she wanted to spy on other spell-casters as they did their 'hocus-pocus things' and to not think she was bamboozling him to think any different.

Whatever the reason they were there, they ended up taking a tour of a local farm on Halloween day. CeeKay wandered into a fenced in area because she thought she saw interestingly shaped potatoes. Blade grudgingly followed her in, a little confused as to why they were dressed in their costumes and touring a farm. To top it off, he even felt that the owner of the farm was more than a little crazy.

"I wonder what happened to her husband," he muttered.

"What was that noise?" CeeKay asked suddenly.

"Watch out!" With a springing leap, Blade tackled CeeKay out of the way of a charging animal.

"OMG! Was that a llama?"

"Did you seriously just say 'oh-em-gee'?"

"....No."

"Let's get into the forest. Hurry." Blade took CeeKay by the arm and half-shoved her towards the treeline. Since the creature pursuing them was still coming, he helped her up into a tree before climbing up after.

They sat in the tree looking down at what was either an angry llama or a cranky alpaca for a few minutes before CeeKay shrugged and pulled an apple out of the tree they were sitting in. "Lunch?"

Blade sighed and reached for the apple, fumbling the grab when the animal below kicked the tree. "Oh well, I've got another one," CeeKay said, offering another apple.

Eventually a squirrel came down to chitter angrily at them and since the angry beast had wandered off to look at the potatoes to make sure they were all right, they climbed down from the tree.

"Oh -" CeeKay said before turning back to the tree. "Mr. Squirrel, do you know the way back to Mene?"

Blade stared at CeeKay and the squirrel chittered some instructions before scampering back up the tree. "Well, this way then!" she said brightly, leading the way deeper into the forest.

"You just had a conversation. With a squirrel."

"I'd hardly call it a 'conversation'."

"Right."

Darkness ended up falling quite early because of the mountains, so they set up camp in the forest, Blade hollowing out a little area in a clearing to make a safe place for a fire.

"Conflagration," CeeKay said, pointing at the pile of brambles and sticks they gathered, and then another spell for the tents. They slept only when the fire had settled into a safe sort of fire that would leave good coals to keep them warm during the night. Blade stayed up a bit longer, wondering if the llama was part of the farm owner's trap.

Day Two

In the morning, CeeKay made sure to relight the fire while they had their breakfast (custard and granola).

It seemed that their fire acted as a beacon in the forest, because a little girl wearing a yellow dress and a pink scarf wandered into their campsite and asked, "Excuse me, could you tell me where I could find a pig, please?"

"A pig?" CeeKay and Blade asked together, one surprised by the appearance of the child and the other by the arbitrary nature of the question.

"Well, really I want a giraffe, but Grandpa said that giraffes don't make good pets."

"Their elongated necks would make it difficult for them to get into houses," CeeKay said, nodding her understanding.

"Are we really having this conversation?" Blade asked.

CeeKay rose to her feet. "All right - we'll help you find a pig, Cessy!"

"You know her?"

"Well, she lives in Mene. Have you been paying attention to our neighbors at all?"

Blade was startled by this information, but persisted. "If she lives in Mene, why is she here?"

"That is immaterial. If you knew anything about Cessy, you wouldn't be surprised at all. Well then - shall we?" CeeKay started digging through her basket for her spell books. "A spell to locate an animal... hmm... It was here a moment ago, I know it was!"

Cessy smiled and waited patiently.

Blade sighed, knowing this could take awhile, and walked into the forest to grab some berries he'd been eying since he woke up. He examined them for awhile, pushing stray plants out of the way so he could check the roots to verify that the berries were the ones he thought they were. The ground was porous around the roots so he was able to see them without any trouble. Certain they were safe to eat, he used his ninja hood as a bag to gather the treats.

Spotting a feather in the bush as he gathered, he tucked it behind his ear before rejoining the sorceress and Cessy. Deep in thought, he almost stepped in a hole that wasn't there when he left the campsite. "WOAH!" he said, stumbling as he caught his balance at the last moment. "Where did that hole come from?"

"That was close, Blade," CeeKay said, her tone completely disapproving.

"It wasn't there before!" He groused.

"Excuse me, Mr. Blade, but you're turning purple and spotty," Cessy said, tugging on his shirt, a small pig cradled in her arms.

Blade started to look at himself, but his vision started going fuzzy until it just went black. "Hmm... I appear to have gone blind," he said before passing out.

"Oh, of course he'd have an allergic reaction to something in the forest," CeeKay said. "I'd better take care of him. Do you know the way back to your grandpa?"

"Yep! He's just over there digging up a temple!"

"Enjoy your piggy!"

"Bye!" Cessy scampered off and CeeKay dealt with Blade's allergic reaction. She made note that Blade was allergic to poison ivy.

Day Three

Blade woke up the next day, finding he was grinding his teeth already. It already promised to be a terrible one. He groaned and rolled over.

"Oh, you're awake!" CeeKay said, poking her nose into the tent. "For the record, you're allergic to poison ivy. But the good news is that my charm for purification works on allergic reactions too."

"Oh, well thank you very much. I didn't know that," Blade mumbled.

"Well then - other things that you should know are poisonous: mushrooms, snakes -" Before Blade could snap that she didn't have to recite a list of everything in the world that is poisonous, a peal of thunder distracted them both.

"Do your tents repel water?" Blade asked.

"Uhm... No, I don't think so."

"Then we should get going."

They broke camp quickly and went looking for a place to shelter from the rain. It wasn't long before they came across a place that looked promising: a tall waterfall poured over a cliffside into a pool of water that (at least at first) looked like a pond. But further examination proved that the cliffside was riddled with holes and the suggestion of caves, so it was more likely that an underground river drained the pool of water.

"Let's go!" CeeKay said brightly. And took a step towards the cliffside. The ledge she was standing on collapsed under her feet, sending her tumbling into the pool of water with a strangled shriek. She surfaced quickly, though, the skirt of her costume ballooning out around her.

"Are you okay?" Blade asked, dashing down to the side of the pool to offer her his hand.

"Yeah - it just scared me a little, is all. But help me find my basket, will you?" She swam to the edge of the pool and was helped out.

"I see it - it's up on that ledge over there," he said, pointing once she was firmly on the ground. "How did that get up there? It's going to be difficult to reach..."

"I'm so sorry!" she said, wringing her costume as dry as was possible. "It sort of has a spell on it."

"Of course it does," Blade said with resignation. "Well, I suppose I'll climb up and get it." He then proceeded to do so, managing to get the basket and hook it to his belt fairly easily. But from this position he could see the inside of a cave. "I don't think we want to stay here tonight," he said.

"Why?"

"These aren't caves - they're catacombs."

"Oh, well, I have a magic ball of yarn, so it's not like we'll get lost!"

"That's not the problem. I just don't feel co-" and this time it was Blade who fell into the pool of water when the brittle ledge broke. He surfaced, annoyed to note a big bubble of magic around the basket which presumably was protecting it from getting wet. "I wonder what will happen if I poke this," he muttered as he swam to the edge of the pool.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," CeeKay started.

But it was too late - Blade poked it and there was a small explosion. "....Get that thing away from me!" he growled, taking it off his belt and offering it to CeeKay first before climbing out.

"Oh, look," CeeKay said, completely distracted. "It made the feather turn to gold!"

Blade took the now golden feather out from behind his ear to look at it. "Huh." He put it back and dripped for a moment before he said. "I guess it's not actually going to rain. Let's set up those tents again."

They dried off by a fire before falling into an early, exhausted sleep.

Day Four

It was only technically their fourth day going back to Mene when they woke. It was still very dark and the light of the fire only beat the darkness back for a few yards in the little hollow they had set up camp in. When CeeKay crawled out of her tent, Blade was already sitting by the fire, looking at a nearby hilltop that was roughly shaped like a hat.

"Challenge accepted," she said sleepily.

"What?" Blade asked, looking back suspiciously.

"We'll just keep going now, since we're both awake."

"Are you crazy? Haven't you learned anything from the last few days? We'll probably be attacked by a marauding goat or an explosive worm or something!"

"I don't think there are explosive worms on Menewsha. I think that's more Vile's thing, isn't it?"

"Close enough. They're probably migrating creatures," Blade grumped.

"I'm never going to trust your information on animals."

"There's nothing wrong with my information on animals!" he protested.

"Explosive worms don't migrate."

"Yeah, well, with the way this trip is going..."

"Not bad - you've managed to turn a few minor incidents into the end of the world," CeeKay sighed.

"Fine - fine. We'll go. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Everything went better than expected. Or, at least, better than Blade expected. They broke down camp, properly smothered the fire, and headed on their way. By breakfast, Blade was even humming to himself.

Everything was great until sometime after lunch. They started hearing the rumbling, rushing sound of a river. They expected it to be something easily crossed, but when they reached it, it was wider, deeper, and swifter than expected. They stood at the pebbly bank for about a minute looking at their obstacle before CeeKay said, "I can use my magic to weave a bridge out of this tree..."

"An arched bridge? We don't want to block water traffic..."

"I've never tried it before... we'll see."

CeeKay set to work, making a lot of gestures that indicated an arch as she worked. The tree grew taller, its branches sliding around the trunk, which was flattening, until it arched over the river to the other bank and set down roots on its other side. The bridge grew wide enough for two people to walk abreast with a railing of woven branches keeping them safely on the bridge.

"Aww yeaa!" CeeKay said, wobbling a bit from exhaustion. "Oh, I don't think I can do anything like that for awhile..."

Blade steadied her and helped her cross the bridge. He made her sit down while he set up camp. As he worked, he caught his hand in a clamp and broke the skin. "Ouch!"

"What? Come here and let me look at it." Blade reluctantly agreed and showed her his injury. "Oh, you just barely broke the skin, you big baby. I'll fix that."

"I didn't whine, I just said 'ow'," he protested, but let her take a little jar out of her basket and paint a magical ointment over his injury, which repaired itself.

They predictably squabbled until dinnertime, during dinner, and until they were snugly safe and warm in their tents.

Day Five

The fifth day brought a rainstorm. Thankfully they'd made progress on their journey before it started to rain. They were able to retreat to the covered porch of an empty cabin before the first drop fell.

A check inside the cabin showed that while the place didn't seem to be completely abandoned, it certainly had been awhile since anyone had been there. The pair consulted each other and while CeeKay wrote a letter of apology and explanation and counted out a pile of money to pay for what they took, Blade scoured the cabin for things.

He paused for a long time in front of a painting of a dwarf riding on the back of a wolf in front of what appeared to be a mine, the moon overhead lighting the fantasy scene. Blade had a sudden epiphany. This probably wasn't a 'fantasy' painting at all - but an illustration of life on one of the other islands. Milos, was it? He'd have to wrack his brains a bit.

"What are we having for lunch?" CeeKay asked, since he was meant to be looking for that.

"Oh - right. Well - I suppose we can have a meat pie with onion, since we have that steak still."

"Can you make it? I'm feeling very sleepy."

"Yeah, I'd rather do it. I can still remember the last time you tried cooking a meat pie. What was it you said? 'I hope this doesn't blow up'?" He snickered. "No, that's not right. It was, 'I think this is going to blow up.' And then it did."

CeeKay ignored him, instead going to the window to peer through the glass. "It's like a swamp out there."

"I guess that means we're stuck here for the rest of today, then. Did you want coffee in the morning?"

"I never drink coffee. You know that." But before a new argument could start she suddenly said, "Ah - it's a will'o'wisp! Hide!" They ducked and watched as the wisp passed by in front of the cabin. CeeKay watched for a few moments, "Just a little bit more... There, it's gone."

Blade sighed and resumed making the steak and onion meat pie and putting it in the oven to cook. "Do you have a timer?"

"It's been ages since I've seen that thing... But I'll look." CeeKay dug around in the basket, losing her whole arm for a moment into the small wicker object as she dug around its greater-than-its-actual-dimensions depths. After a few moments she said, "Ah! Found it!" And brought it triumphantly out.

Blade reached for it and was jolted by a zap of static electricity. "Ow! That stings! Why do your things hate me?"

"They don't hate you. You're just unlucky."

Blade grumbled and set the timer for the meat pie, stumbling and nearly falling over an uneven floorboard. They spent the rest of the day exploring the cabin, eating, and then sleeping. But before then, they somehow managed to lose the timer again, much to CeeKay's resignation.

Day Six

The day started normally enough. Blade woke to the sound of, "Damn! It's burned!" which heralded CeeKay's unsuccessful attempt to fry one of their eggs. Scrambled eggs she could make beautifully, but there was something about frying it she just never quite got the hang of.

He sighed and rescued breakfast, which was just as well, because CeeKay was getting angry and had already broken her crystal tea cup.

They left a bit before noon and even started to make progress until Blade made a stray comment. "It's probably a good thing it was us. There are some people who would find an unlocked cabin and take without paying for what they took."

"I hadn't thought of that," CeeKay said, stopping short. "Well, we'll just have to go back. I want to put a spell on that so only the people who are meant to be there can get inside."

"Please don't do that..."

"We have to. It's only right."

Blade argued, but CeeKay insisted and they lost a few hours of their time tending to that. The spell involved digging up roots to place around the building, so Blade was tired and quite as grumpy as usual by the time they wandered into a village.

"What a strange village," CeeKay murmured as they entered the town square, which smelled strongly of dung.

The buildings were all themed around vegetables. Most of them just were painted to look like them, but one farmer was very enterprising and made his stand into the shape of a turnip. His hat was even turnip-shaped.

"That's the oddest thing I ever saw," Blade said, staring at the turnip stand.

"If you think that's odd, look at the pub," CeeKay said, smiling. The building looked fairly normal until you saw the door was shaped like a wheel with each gap between spokes a pane of painted glass. The sign was of a white lion biting into a carrot.

"No. I still think the turnip stand is weirder. Every time I have my back to it, I feel like the turnip is glaring at me. It's creeping me out."

"The farmer, you mean?"

"No - the building... It has this wrinkle that looks like eyes..."

"Then let's go inside the pub and get directions to Mene."

"All right," Blade said and followed her inside.

A short discussion later proved fruitful. They were near the coast (which meant near a sea port) and also near a train station. There was even a good road pretty well straight to Mene from there. They agreed to rent rooms at the pub inn and stay the night to see what route seemed most feasible in the morning.

Day Seven

They woke in the morning feeling more refreshed after proper baths and proper, aired beds than they have felt since their misadventure began. They had a leisurely breakfast in the pub while discussing their options.

Blade was insistent: he wanted nothing of sailing (CeeKay said he must have an unreasonable prejudice against it) and walking home was out of the question. CeeKay suggested riding an animal, but Blade was firm - it was the train or nothing. And he also refused to live in this strange vegetable town, so it wasn't 'nothing' either.

"Yeah, sure...." CeeKay had never ridden on the Mene Express, so she was perfectly fine with it after she'd got her fill of tormenting Blade.

They headed the next town over to purchase their tickets and were told it would be quite a long trip. The rest of the day, in fact. They might not actually make it to Mene proper until after midnight if there were any delays on the track. That suited them well enough (though Blade muttered dire predictions of the track being blocked), so they waited at the station until the train arrived some hours later.

They boarded around the time lunch seemed to be attractive to them both. Unfortunately for them, CeeKay's magical basket was out of food, and the tickets for the train had eaten the last of their cash.

"We'll just talk to the conductor, then," Blade said. "Surely they'd allow us to pay them when we got to Mene. Or work for it."

It turned out that they did actually need some help - if they were able to withstand the feverish heat of the furnace? They both said they were, and so were brought front to the engine. It was, indeed, quite warm indeed. They were each offered a pair of gloves and then a shovel. "The phoenix in the furnace needs some coal. Feed him and we'll get you your lunch. Be careful with that," the conductor added as Blade reached for the door to the furnace.

Inside, on a bed of coals, a bright phoenix nested. Seeing two people with shovels, it cheeped and opened it's mouth. CeeKay and Blade gamely shoveled coals into its mouth until it once again ignored them.

"That's enough, you two! Good work! This way!"

"This is where we get shoved onto a wooden bench and handed a slice of bread and a sausage," Blade groused to CeeKay, not intending the conductor to hear.

"What do you take me for?" the conductor asked, smiling and apparently not very offended. He opened the door to a proper dining car where someone was playing a popular song on the piano and some of the other patrons were singing along. They thanked the conductor very sincerely before joining in the song and taking their seat.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Blade said as they sat.

They ate their meal and watched the scenery out the huge windows. CeeKay enjoyed when they passed by a beach with a blue, blue sea and a turtle crawling on the sand. Blade was fascinated by a rocky edifice they passed.

When they arrived in Mene, it looked like Blade would kiss the ground in relief. "Welcome to Menewsha!" a gentleman in a top hat said as they got off the train.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor!" CeeKay said immediately with a smile. "Has anything much happened this week?"

"Oh, just the Halloween event, of course. It's a shame you missed it. But I suppose you had an interesting journey?"

"No," Blade said, stalking off home. "We had a hazardous trek."