Chapter 12: Richard
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Two blocky figures appeared, and slowly resolved themselves into Gordon and Kushal. Ivy, Persia, and Fritz also appeared, frozen in midstep. Kellie and Da Seul were not in view.
Richard turned his head and saw Kellie and Da Seul standing a few meters away. They had been slightly ahead of the rest of the group, but they had stopped at the surprising sight before them. Richard felt the others come up behind him and tried to turn his head, but found that he couldn’t.
Instead he looked up at the sun streaming down into the clearing—a wide open grassy circle in the middle of the unexpected forest about a day’s journey into the Lee-Land. The forest was unexpected because it was so pastoral and nice. And vaguely tropical.
Richard’s point of view shifted downwards. The right side of the clearing was hidden from view by a tangle of trees and branches. But the left side had some kind of ancient stone walkway, with weathered columns extending from the overhanging rock every few meters. The stone pathway wrapped around the side of the clearing, and on the other side Richard could see…train tracks?
He turned his head involuntarily to look back at the rest of the group, and the narrow path between two parallel rock faces they had just emerged from. Kushal took two slow steps forward and stopped. Richard turned back to face forward, and felt himself regain control of his body.
“Were we just in a cutscene?” Gordon asked, disgusted. Richard shrugged without turning back around.
“So, guys. What do you think we should do now?” asked Persia.
“What do you mean?” asked Fritz.
“Well, we’ve been walking into the Lee-Land for a while now, but I don’t see how this is going to help us find Andrew.”
Kushal kicked at a pebble by his feet and missed. The pebble rolled slightly to the side. “On the contrary,” he said, a bit annoyed about the pebble, “Don’t you see that up there?”
“See what up where?” asked Ivy, who had obviously not been paying attention.
“The railroad tracks,” Fritz answered, turning his head in Ivy’s general direction.
“There are railroad tracks?” Persia exclaimed incredulously. She stepped forward and peered across the clearing.
“Look, railroad means civilization,” Kushal said, as if he had never been interrupted. “So there ought to be something up ahead.”
“Why don’t we split up?” Richard suggested, “A few of us can go on ahead while the rest of you guys stay here and, um…” He trailed off.
“Investigate and wait for us to Make Sure It’s Safe,” Kushal finished. He cast a significant look at Richard, who turned to Gordon and passed on the same look.
Gordon caught on quickly. “Right.” He turned to Richard. “Shouldn’t you do that saving thing first?”
“Oh yeah.” Richard tilted his head and froze.
Kellie and Da Seul looked at him weirdly. “What is he doing?” Da Seul asked, lost.
“Saving,” Gordon answered, grinning.
“We’ll explain later,” Kushal told her. “Ready, Richard?”
“Yeah,” replied Richard, coming out of his daze. “Gordon, Kushal. Let’s go.”
“What?” Kellie said incredulously, a bit put out.
“It’s like getting picked for softball at school,” Ivy said idly.
“We’ll be back in a bit!” Gordon called cheerfully as the three of them moved off into the covered stone walkway. Persia waved a mournful goodbye.
“Wow, this place is weird,” said Gordon, looking at the walls of the walkway. Richard glanced over as he walked and saw, or thought he saw, designs painted into the rock. One second it would look man-made, the next like a natural discoloration.
He stopped. He could have sworn that last stone said “hyphy”.
“Come on, Richard,” Kushal said, “Let’s go.”
The three of them stepped out onto a stone platform that had been concealed from view from the other side of the clearing. Only a few meters in front of them were the railroad tracks Richard had seen earlier. They were old and rusty, and vines grew in between the ties and even over some of the rails. But they were definitely tracks.
What was even more surprising, when Richard looked up, was that there was a train coming.
“Whoa!” said Gordon. He obviously saw it too.
The train came to a neat stop in front of them. Inexplicably it was made of metal and smooth plastic. It looked very out of place in the jungle they were in, a modern artifact in a place that felt ancient. OPP in the land of Oratory.
“Do we…should we get on?” Kushal asked uncertainly. Richard stared at the train and didn’t answer.
“Hey! There’s a train here; we’re gonna get on it!” Gordon called back along the path. Making the choice for them.
There was no reply. Either the stone swallowed more sound than it echoed or they had gone farther than they had thought. Or both.
Richard shrugged, and with only a twinge of uneasiness, stepped onto the train car. There were wooden bench seats, and both sides of the train were made of glass or something like it.
Gordon followed him into the car, and, with some trepidation, Kushal joined them. The train started to move, with the forest flashing past until it became a blur.
“So, uh, where are we going?” Richard said uneasily. He tried to think of Andrew.
Kushal shrugged. “Want to play Impromptu games until we get there?”
Gordon sighed, then jumped up. “Story game!”
“Oh, god, not this again.” Kushal rolled his eyes towards the ceiling.
“Hey, guys,” Richard said, trying to get their attention. “We’re here.”