Escaping Death

It had taken them around two hours to reach the Ossa Trail. They kept heading in the wrong direction, but they eventually made it over the Trail, fighting flowery monsters and bears all the while. But only afterthey had stopped at a House of Salvation to ask directions, every now and then glancing behind them to check that nobody was following them.

It was the late afternoon now. And if they didn't hurry, they would miss their ship, and would have to wait until the next day, by which time Kvar would have caught up with them. They ran through the little village of Izoold, passing the cosy houses and the beach, where the sun's reflection on the sea turned it a beautiful shade of blue, as the gentle breeze blew through their hair making them shiver slightly as they neared the sea.

Lloyd stopped when he realized that Anna wasn't with him.

"Mom?" He glanced over his shoulder. A panicked expression had crept onto his face.

He caught sight of Anna playing with dog that had caught her attention.

"Mom! C'mon!" He grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the port, the dog trailing after them. They were exhausted by now and would be glad to rest on the boat.

"Can you…do you think…that you could…maybe just take us…to Palmacosta…please?" Anna panted.

"Yer just in time. Another five minutes and you'd 'av been to late."

He signalled for them to get on and they relaxed a bit. They went into a miniature wooden cabin and lay on the beds, ready to get some sleep.

The boat set off, and they left the poor little dog howling on the port, because it had nobody to play with.

It was early morning when Anna awoke. She glanced over at her son. His brown hair was all over the place. She wondered if it was styled this way every morning before he got up.

Thinking him still asleep, she tiptoed silently out of the room.

She walked over to the side of the boat and gazed up at the sky.

Unlike yesterday, it was the colour of an orange with pink streaks running through it, mixing the two colours together to make a glorious colour, painting the sea that way too. Or almost that colour, anyway. Point was, It was beautiful-probably the only thing down here that was. 'The sky must be the same because it can't die or be destroyed like other things, so it must be the only thing that is the same as what it represents from the land above.' Anna thought.

She sighed and looked down at the sea, reflecting the rising sun.

"(Yawn…)" She heard someone come up behind her noisily.

"Mornin' mom." He muttered, stifling another yawn.

Anna looked at him and smiled, then they both looked out over the sea again, both taking in the amazing sight.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Anna spoke, her long brown hair billowing out behind her.

Lloyd nodded. They stayed there together for a while longer until Lloyd retreated inside to get something to eat, just for the sake of it, and, according to Lloyd, it might help him forget about the sick feeling in his stomach.

Soon after, Anna followed suit, and went into the little cabin too.

They sat on their beds talking, when they heard a knock at the door to their room.

It opened and the captain's head popped around the door.

"We've arrived now, ye can get goin." He disappeared again and mother and son followed.

"Thanks." They said in unison as they stepped off the boat. They looked around. There were little stalls everywhere, handing out unnecessary items, and dogs wandering about between them.

"Hmm…" Lloyd stared at a white dog with brown patches on him. "I swear I've seen that dog before…oh! It might be that one Colette named Patch when we were on our journey! Maybe it's owner killed it…"

"Lloyd! That's not very nice! Aww," Anna turned to face Patch, "who's a cute wittle doggy? You is, isn't you Patchy Watchy!"

"Patchy Watchy…? (Sigh)." Lloyd put his hand to his head. "What is it with her and dogs?"

Anyway, after Lloyd had forced Anna away from the dog and pulled her into the heart of the city, they looked around for a bit, then headed into the field, remembering why they were in a hurry in the first place. To get away from Kvar and make it to the Great Tree. And after they had come all this way, they didn't want to get caught now...