Ignei looked back at the golden eyed boy as he struggled to catch up to him. Ahu was wheezing, trying to catch his breath. Ignei wanted to gloat at him. Not long ago he could run at a nice pace for a long time (the encounter with the trolls the other day only proves his point) and yet couldn’t be able to walk across a dryland in four hours.

“Hold up man! I’m dying here! I can’t survive this long without water!” Ignei furrowed his eyebrows. Ahu had already drank the rest of the water about thirty minutes ago. The young boy couldn’t imagine how he managed to survive if most of the forest seemed dry enough (There wasn’t a river for miles after the troll hunt) and he also seemed to live there all his life.

Ignei scoffed at his pathetic state, his fiery hair swaying as he walked in his steady pace. “If you can’t survive thirty minutes without water, how did you manage to survive living in the forest for so long?”

Ahu whined, “I need water!” He fell on the sand. “I’m going to die without my dose!” Ignei rolled his eyes as his companion collapsed on the floor, crawling on the sand to create some kind of dramatic effect. It only seemed ridiculous.

“We’re almost there. When we get to the city, then we can go ask for a drink of water.”

“Do you know how much a glass costs?!” Ahu asked. “Does it look like I have a stash of Ps in my pocket?”

Ignei realized that he had a good point. How in the world can they afford anything from the city? He forgot that everything had a price, and he knew that he didn’t have any money on him. He groaned at the thought. They would drop dead the first day they were there.

“I know how we can some money,” Ahu suddenly blurted out. He was now standing up, being a little serious about this.

“What?”

“We beg.”

“We’re not going to do that.”

“Then what?! I’m not going to thirst to death working at a job that pays little money!”

The two began to bicker about how they would earn their share of money, they arrived at the giant wall. The two looked up to see the wall that towered way above them. The boys gasped. Ignei turned to see him smiling. The view was spectacular. And terrifying at the same time.

Ignei spotted the security that blocked the entrance. For a small door to a huge wall, there was quite the amount of soldiers guarding the place. He turned to his strange companion, who looked just as puzzled as he is.

“Hmm, I wondered what happened here?” he asked. “Or could it be…”

Ignei quickly glanced at Ahu, his eyebrows arched in confusion. “What? You know something?” he asked him.

“Well… what I heard before when people used to roam around the forest, there was some kind of ongoing violent uprising against the Royals,” Ahu explained. “I don’t know much of the details though. I don’t get out much.”

As the two came closer to the entrance, the soldiers spotted them and stood upright, taking hold of their weapons but not completely wielding them out. One of the soldiers with a big badge plastered on their uniform looked at them with a suspicious, gleaming eye. He marched in front of them, blocking the way from entering the city.

“You, young sir. Show me your identification,” the soldier ordered. The soldiers faced forward towards the two boys, and slightly took their weapons they were holding. The two looked at each other not knowing what to do.

“Uh…” Ignei spoke up. “I… uh… I lost my ID while I traveled here, and uh… I needed to pick something up in there! You see…”

The soldier’s eyebrow shifted upwards in question. He tapped his foot in the sand, waiting for them to show some sort of identification. Ignei continued anyway, trying to persuade the guy to getting inside. “My dad is sick. He needed medicine, and the guy would give me the stuff inside the city. So if you could just let me through—”

The man in uniform laughed. “Heh! I know that trick. You think that you can get yourselves in. I’m not letting any spies coming in under my watch.”

“Spies?” Ignei asked, turning his head towards Ahu.

“Now, I’m not letting anyone in unless they have some sort of identification. Now sir, please step aside.” He ushered the boys away from him as they heard something in the distance. Ignei and Ahu turned around, and there they could see a white wagon of some sort travelling towards the gate. “Right on schedule, may I add.”

Ahu and Ignei turned to look at each other once again. Then, with frustration, Ignei stomped right passed his companion and fell onto the sand, sitting down. He looked at Ahu, who seemed to be staring at the wagon.

The wagon, pulled by horses, had a white cover on top of it. Two other horses accompanied it, one on each side, each horse with a rider. They all came towards the gate in a steady pace, each step getting closer, and the soldiers positioned themselves to greet them. Around a half an hour, they arrived.

“Identification,” the soldier said with a yawn.

Ignei could now see the wagon up close. It was made out of some sort of wood, in which was covered by a large white cloth. The wheels, although slightly uneven, were rounded and carefully placed underneath. The roof of the wagon was tunnel shaped, the white cloth draped over it, and were carefully fashioned to the wagon’s sides.

One of the horsemen that accompanied the wagon slid down from his horse and approached the soldier. With a few big steps, he held up a rolled up paper in his hand and thrust it upon the soldier’s face. Ignei saw him take the parchment and read it, and his expression changed. He seemed a little more solemn, and serious. “I see…” he said quietly.

Ahu crept up to the vehicle, and Ignei, not knowing what he was up to, followed him to the back of the said wagon, where there was a large opening at the other side. There, he saw an orange-haired girl looking down at the floor, her face turned away from them. She was accompanied by an older woman, who noticed the two boys and gave them a nasty look.

“What are you boys doing? Sneaking up on the princess like that? Don’t you have any shame?” Ignei blinked at the sudden harsh words thrown at him, and Ahu began to glare at the elderly woman. She looked at them with distaste. “Well what are you doing still standing around here for? GO back to where you belong!”

“I’m sorry, but I just wanted to double check that you weren’t planning on sneaking anything in,” Ahu said calmly.

“And who gave you the authority?” she asked him.

“I don’t ma’am, because I’m not doing anything to you ma’am. I am just standing behind the vehicle ma’am. And I see that nothing suspicious is inside this vehicle,” Ahu continued.

“What are you doing?” Ignei asked. “Please, shut up!”

“You little—”

A hushed voice spoke. “Now, that’s enough.”

Ignei suddenly saw a small hand being softly placed on the woman’s shoulder. The girl turned her head around, and he could see that there were dots on her cheeks, hard, dark dots. Her nose was slightly pointed, and her eyelashes were prominent. She hushed the elder in a quiet yet authoritative way. The woman took in a deep breath, and the young girl turned to face the two boys. Her eyes were closed. “You… need to go inside?”

Ahu nodded, and Ignei answered quietly, “I wanted to see the city, but uh, we don’t have an ID.”

The young girl slightly nodded, and then patted a seat next to her. “I have enough room. If you want, I can bring you inside. This carriage will not be checked, I can promise you that.”

When the words flowed from her mouth, the elderly woman widened her eyes in disagreement, and Ignei knew this. He can see her shake violently at the girl’s decision. “But, milady, what if they’re—” she began, only to be silenced by the girl with the tip of her finger.

“They are trustworthy. I believe that they will do this kingdom no harm.” She patted the seat again. Ahu turned to Ignei in glee and happily jumped inside the wagon, his jump somehow resembling like a float of some sort. He slipped inside the wagon and seated himself next to the girl, and then looked at Ignei.

“Well?” he whispered-yelled. “Come on! This might be our only chance into the city!” He stood up from his seat and extended a hand towards him. “Take my hand!”

Ignei, after a second of thinking, reluctantly reached out and grabbed his wrist. By then though, the wagon began to move. Ignei began to pace himself and tried to get inside the wagon before the guards would catch him. Ahu desperately pulled him inside in the nick of time. Ignei landed on his hand with a thump, which could be easily heard within the wagon. It stopped for a second, causing the soldiers to knock on the wagon. “Is everything okay?”

The girl immediately responded, “Of course, something just fell. Nothing happened sir,” in a calm manner. The wagon then continued to move into the entrance. The gate opened slowly, and the wagon proceeded to enter the city.

The boys lay low until they felt the wagon come to a complete stop. There, they peeked out of the hole, and the girl prepared to stretch out her legs. The old woman slouched, crossing her arms and grumbling something under her breath. The girl turned to the two boys and smiled. “Well, are you coming out or what?”

Of course, Ignei carefully watched the streets before slowly sliding down the exit. Ahu on the other hand, jumped down recklessly. The two looked at the girl, who gave them a small smile. However, Ignei was slightly confused.

“Why did you help us out?” he asked her. She shrugged sheepishly. “We could’ve been robbers or something.”

She chuckled. “I know this city and its security. I guess, I knew that you were good people.”

“Name?” Ahu asked, returning the girl’s smile. She gleamed.

“Rebecca,” she said finally before returning to her little wagon. “Bless you!” she said finally, entering the wagon. The vehicle began to move once again, leaving the two to their own devices.

Ahu turned to Ignei, who was still admiring the city. “Hey, man, thanks for letting me tag along with you. Sorry about the whole uh…”

Ignei laughed. “Well, just don’t get yourself into any more trouble.” Ahu made his way into the city, running towards it before disappearing into the crowd. Ignei watched as the weird psycho left him. He chuckled before deciding to explore the city himself.