Ch 4 The group arrive at the hut that Fugo’s father built outside of the village. Treek runs up to the building first. “I thought you said your dad built a hut outside of the village. This is a fortress! How did your dad build this all on his own?” Fugo looks over the building in front of him. It’s broad and windowless walls are at least 12 ft tall and made completely of stone. The entrance was a double door at least 8 ft tall with a strange locking mechanism in the center of the doors. “Yeah, guess he was a bit of a handyman. Now let’s see about actually getting in.” Fugo pulls his father’s scabbard from his sword belt and walks closer to the door and inserts it into the locking mechanism before turning it. Suddenly the stone parts on the door push out and the door opens slightly. “Now then, let’s see what’s inside.” Fugo pulls the door open and ushers the rest inside closing the door after him. The group look around the room. There’s only one light on a nearby wall, not enough to lite the entire room. Treek takes off his pack and starts going threw it by touch only to be stopped by Alia. “It’s alright Treek, this room seems to be lit by an old form of magic. All we have to do is figure out how it works.” Fugo walks over to the light on the wall and reaches out to touch it. “It has some glass in front of it.” He then pushes his thumb against it, moving it and the flame behind it back. The flames climb a small opening in the wall and spread throughout the room. It takes a second for everyone eyes to adjust to the suddenly brightening room. Once everyone can see properly they take a second look around the room. The entire place was made of stone. It had few decorations other than a large tapestry against the opposite wall of the door. The tapestry was a simple red with the image of a black dragon in flight in the center. The rest of the room had a single round table in the center, with seating to accommodate six. There were five beds spread evenly throughout the room. One bed was larger than the others and could easily fit two people on it comfortably. A closer look at the table would show a large star lightly etched in the surface. Two chairs sit at the head, and one at each of the legs. Treek goes over to the nearest bed and sits down. “It’s soft. I am totally sleeping hear tonight.” He then starts removing his weapon straps and setting his gear at the side of the bed. Galio walks to the bed next to his, it having apothecary equipment set up next to the bed. “Wow, this stuff is state of the art.” He then begins removing ingredients from his pack and trying a few of the different grinding tools. Alia walks to the largest bed and looks up toward the tapestry hanging on the wall. “A dragon, why do these things keep showing up every were?” she then walks to the bed furthest from the tapestry and removes her cloak revealing the chain armor she was wearing beneath it and the custom folding spear folded and strapped against her back. Fugo walks over to the head of the table sliding his hand along the edge as he walks. Feeling the rough-cut stone edges, the cold of the table not causing the slightest of effect to his equally cold stare. Fugo stops at the two chairs, looking down to them a feeling of knowing washes over him. These chairs belonged to his parents. For what he did not know, but these chairs have importance to them. Fugo walks to the large bed next, sitting down at the foot of it he starts undoing the sword belt. Once he fully undoes the straps he sets it on the floor along with his bag and climbs up onto the bed and lays his head down. It was all clean almost fresh nothing but the scent of cloth came from the entire bed. Nothing of his parents as he had hoped. “Fugo what’s wrong?” Alia’s voice startling him from his daze. He quickly sits up and looks over toward her but not really at her. “It’s nothing. Why?” He asks but he already knows her response. Alia sits down on the bed next to him and looks into his eyes, he still trying to avoid eye contact. She was no longer wearing any armor, just her clothes. “You’ve been quiet since we started getting close to this place and you’ve barley said a word since we actually got hear. What’s wrong?” Fugo finally looks into Alia’s eyes, there beauty nearly forcing him to speak. “I’ve just been thinking about my parents.” Alia gives a weak smile. “Yeah, I know what you mean. My parents have been on my mind to.” Alia pushes up closer to Fugo, pushing her shoulder against his ribs. “What were your parents like?” Fugo looks down toward the odd gradient coloration on his knees that fades from the white of his foot-paw and shins to the black of his thighs barley visible at the end of his shorts. “I didn’t know my parents all that well, my father died before I was born so all I have of him is what Dwon and my mother told me. My mother died when I was five, she was very kind and beautiful. Her fur was a solid white, hence the coloration of my arms and legs.” Alia looks at the side of Fugo’s face his gaze still locked on his legs. “I didn’t know about that.” She reaches out with her paw and places it on his forearm. “Galio and Treek are already asleep, we should as well. How do we put out these flames?” Fugo turns and reaches over to one of the glass tiles on the wall that stuck out slightly. “It’s a kind of current magic. Cut the current and all the flames go out.” Alia looks at Fugo inquisitively. “I thought you said that you’ve never been inside hear before.” Fugo lays back down in the bed and rolls over facing away from Alia. “I haven’t but my mother has.” The fires go out and Fugo can feel movement on the other side of the bed. Alia had climbed into the bed behind him. Not a word is said between them and no motion is made once the two are settled. Sleep does not come easy for the two due to all that has happened but once it comes it is undisturbed. A whisper breaks the silence of the room. “Hay Galio, you awake.” Another whisper joins the first in the darkness. “Yeah, can’t seem to get the idea that we're going to be fighting something thought long dead, out of my head.” Movement can be heard as Treek adjusts himself. “I know what you mean, how are we supposed to kill that thing when even the chieftain had trouble fighting it.” “Well the chieftain couldn’t draw his Tamashioken, that’s why Fugo had it in the first place, he was trying to fix it.” “Tamashioken? What’s that?” Galio sits up and looks in the direction of Treek, the lighting making it so that he cannot look directly at him. “A Tamashioken is a sword that binds itself to ones heart. If you prove that your heart is strong and agrees with the views of the sword.” Treek sits up quickly staying quiet as to not awaken anyone. “What do you mean by ‘agrees with the views of the sword’?” “Well, these swords have there own ideals, there own beliefs, so to say.” “Wait, what, those swords can think for themselves.” “No, not really they share a mind with the one they choose to be their bearer.” “So your saying that they invade peoples minds and make them think in a certain way.” “No, they share there power with someone who’s heart is like what they were made for.” “So they make people who are strong stronger.” Galio turns back over, finally to annoyed to listen to Treek any longer. “Go to bed Treek.” Treek lies back down and puts his hands behind his head. “What I don’t understand is why the chieftain used to be able to draw his sword but can’t anymore.” Galio does not respond, he simply ignores the comment and tries to get to sleep. *** “And now two, for you, our names fall through.” the words without a voice ring in Fugo’s head again. Fugo opens his eyes to find no more light to greet them than while they were closed. He reaches up to his face to find a fluffy tail covering his face. He pushes the tail from his face and sits up to look around. No one else was awake but the room was slightly brighter than it was the night before. He looks back to Alia, at some point in the night she flipped herself still facing away from Fugo, she undisturbed by his movement. Fugo gets up and walks around to the foot of the bed were he had left his sword belt and bag and takes it all to the table. Sitting down in what he assumed to be his father’s chair, he sets his pack at his feet and puts the sword belt and swords onto the table. “Two huh, does this have anything to do with these swords.” Ideas begin to roll around in his thoughts, what if that’s exactly what it means, if not what does it mean, what names fall through. These thoughts and many others, all finding their way into his mind. Suddenly a paw grips Fugo’s shoulder breaking him from his train of thought. Alia had awoken while Fugo was thinking and snuck up on him. “You’re up early, what’cha thinkin about now?” Fugo looks at Alia, though her cloths and fur are ruffled from her deep sleep, she still holds her great beauty. “Hay Alia, I heard something when I woke up and it got me thinking.” Alia sits down next to Fugo in the other head chair at the table. “What did you hear? Where did it come from?” Fugo sits back in his chair and lays his head back. “Well I guess saying that I ‘heard’ something isn’t exactly right. It was more like I thought a statement but not with my mind. And saying that out loud makes me realize just how crazy it actually sounds.” Alia leans her arm on the arm of the chair and rests her head on her shoulder. “Well, not really, if the stories my dad used to tell me about his sword are really true, then the sword will connect to you and share it’s power. The name of the blade locks away it’s powers.” Fugo sits forward and pulls Alia’s father’s sword from the belt, the flame lighting once drawn. “A name.” Unable to think of a what the name may be, Fugo looks over to Alia, hoping that she may know more that would help but when he sees the cute way she looks in the dim lighting of the room he can’t seem to even speak. Alia notices him staring. Blushing slightly, she returns the stare in the darkness. After a few moments in silence, movement from Treek, snaps the two wolves back to reality. Fugo quickly gets up and puts the sword back in it’s scabbard. “We should probably start getting ready, we have quite a bit of a traveling to do.” Alia quickly gets up and moves across the room, blushing even more now, “I’ll wake them up then.” As she does this Fugo picks up the sword belt and his bag before walking back over to the head bed and lighting the room. The group starts getting there things together. Talking very little as they do so. As they leave they all notice that it is fairly early in the morning, the sun barley showing over the southern part of the eastern mountain range that Windloom rests so closely to. Fugo turns to face Galio and asks, “So Galio, you’re the one with the map, which way should we go?” Galio takes out the map and begins to explain the route he thinks would be the quickest, “Rather than going through the mountains, which would be the most direct rout, I think we should go through the darkwoods until we reach the break in the mountains then go through the break until we reach the unmapped mountains, and begin searching for which mountain the dragon took the chieftain to.” Fugo nods his head slightly in agreement, “That’s as sound a plan as we have for now, lets go.” Alia nods her agreement and quickly follows Fugo, while Treek waits for Galio to put the map back into his back before the two join the others and they begin working there way through the darkwoods.