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Post by biali on Sept 2, 2010 20:28:02 GMT -5
Finally I came around to translate the next chapter. This one is less confusing, I promise ^^
Chapter 29 – Behind the Ivy
Sophie looked at the surroundings from the back of the dog. They were on their way for about fifteen minutes now and left the small forest behind. First she had been afraid that her big new friend would bring her to a residential area. Fortunately, however, the way he used now, led past a field and no giant was in sight. Presumably they still were pretty close to the edge of town. After all, her home town Berlin was very similar to Runburg, and there it was quite usual to have farms in the outskirts oft the town. Even if she did not know exactly where all of this would lead her, but she was glad to be free at last. She enjoyed the fresh air and the space. Perhaps it would have been safer to stay with Thomas. But Sophie was pretty sure that she would not make any progress when she was with him. Patricio's example clearly showed that, even with the intensive support and acceptance of a giant, it was not possible to find a way back. She felt a little bad because she had broken a promise. But Sophie could not help it. She was not a pet, and if she had stayed with him, she would have accepted this role out of resignation sooner or later. But she was a person with her own life, with family and friends. And wanted to see them again. She would soon go to college, perhaps someday even start a family. All this was unthinkable here. There had to be a way back, and she would do everything to find it.
The girl was a little startled when the dog suddenly stopped and lay down. Sophie wondered at first what was going on, but then she saw what was right beside the road. It was a huge raspberry bush with huge ripe fruits hanging on its branches. At first she hesitated to dismount. If her friend suddenly decided, to go on without her, she would be pretty lost out here. But since she had no more food, and slowly got a certain feeling of hunger in her stomach, it was probably best to take advantage of this opportunity. Carefully, she climbed down on the the fur onto the path, and went forward to the head of the dog to scratch his ear. "Good boy. Thank you, that you have found food for me." ,she praised him, which he replied with a strong tail wagging. Sophie walked over to the raspberry bush, and used her knife to get a cut near the bottom of the hanging fruit. The raspberry was a little bigger than her head, and weighed almost as much as a watermelon. She took a hearty bite and was lucky: the berries were ripe and sweet. During her eating, she turned to the dog, who was still laying there, and looked at her with some curiosity. It was amazing that he knew that she could eat the raspberries, and had brought her here. Although it was not unusual that dogs accomplished extraordinary deeds, but still she was wondering about it. "You are a very clever fellow. What luck that I met you." ,Sophie said with a smile and took one last bite, which satisfied her hunger for now.
She cut off yet another berry and wrapped it in her makeshift bag of clothes. So she would have a ration for later. Then she climbed back on the back of her friend, who got up soon after and continued his way. Slowly, Sophie got the feeling that this could not be a normal dog ... why should he take care of her, although he just met her? Maybe they'd learn eventually what all of this was about.
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Tom had not been able to sleep well. Half the night he had been staring at the hammock chair, which he had made comfortable for Maya. He was worried about her. But mostly he really was mad at himself. Everything went wrong. He wanted to protect her, but not for her sake, but for his. He wanted to be the great champion and protector, and had made a fool of himself. It was so hard for him, to fit Maya into any category. Most of the time he thought she was his pet, that had to be educated and cared for. But then there were those moments when he communicated with her on such a high level. Then he thought that she was far too intelligent for an animal ... but what was she then? This strange buzzing in his head came up again when he tried to call her something else.
It was almost Saturday noon and he was still lying in bed and stared into thin air for almost an hour. He felt so terribly heavy. His gaze soon fell on a photo on his bedside table. It showed him and Melissa on their wedding holidays together at at sea. Her smiling eyes almost brought him to tears. She was gone forever. A few days after she died, he still had the hope that she would come back as a comforter. But she had not come, and so Tom had had serious doubts about his religion. This had always helped him to face his problems with serenity. Maybe he should really go to the temple today to be able to find this serenity again, and to dispel his doubts. Finally he roused himself, and rose from bed with a certain dizziness. Now he needed something which would make him awake.
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Sophie had become quite sleepy by the constant swings that the dog caused when walking, and soon dropped forward and fell asleep. Fortunately, her hands still clutched unconsciously to the thick fur, so that she could not fall.
A loud bark pulled her out of her slumber and let her jump a bit. Confused, she looked around and marvelled at the sight. Before her was a huge round building that was built entirely of dark wood. It had two floors and several windows with beautifully ornate frames. It stood on a plinth, so that one could reach the door only over a short flight of stairs. The roof could not be seen from their perspective, but it stood out a little over the walls of the building, protecting the entrance door from the rain. Left and right to the house were lush jasmine bushes, whose white flowers were partially withered. Sophie turned around and she could see a wide gravel path which led to the building and also past it. "Where are we, big one?" She asked the dog, but of course expected no answer. He started to move again, and trotted around the base of the house until he stopped and lay down. "Should I get off here?" She asked, and the dog only made a wheezing sound. She took this as a "yes" and climbed down. At first she could not see why he had just let her off here, but then she looked at the stone base of the building more closely. Behind the huge leaf of an ivy, which grew up on the side of the house, she saw a piece of wood. Curiously, she pushed the plant aside and could not believe what she found behind it. It was one door in her size! Puzzled, she looked around for the dog, who had meanwhile sat down on his hind legs and then wagged his tail. "You really are not a normal dog, right?" She asked. He cocked his head and was panting a little.
Sophie looked at the door again. It had a wooden bolt, which could be easily opened. What could be behind it? Could this be the door that would bring her back? Could it be that simple after all? A little trembling, she placed her hand on the wood and pushed the door open while holding her breath.
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Well... what would be behind that door?
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Post by MoonStarNinja4 on Sept 3, 2010 13:12:47 GMT -5
What's behind the door? Will it lead her home...or to something else? Something good? Something bad? The suspence is killing me!
LOL
This is a great chapter...with an evil cliffhanger. ^_^
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Post by Amayasama on Sept 3, 2010 18:01:00 GMT -5
o.o Oh. My. Jam. XD Damn you and your cliffhangers! *flails* I say the doggie is a spirit that's been helping her back...BUT it's never that easy so...XD I have no idea
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Post by Neon on Sept 10, 2010 0:02:25 GMT -5
I've been reading without logging in~ I love the dog. XD He seems very smart. I can't wait to see what's behind the door.
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Post by biali on Sept 13, 2010 15:21:51 GMT -5
So here is the answer to that question ^^
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Chapter 30 - A breakthrough
To their frustration,there was no portal that brought her back home behind that dooe. At least she thought that portals did not look like a cottage-style room with a cozy fireplace. For a few seconds she just stood in the doorway and stared at the place in which everything was in proportion to her body size. Only when she heard the dog getting up behind her and slowly trotted away. She ran a few steps after him and called him, but he did not react at all, but only walked further along the path. Now, Sophie was alone again. An anxious trembling went through her body. She had thought that this unusual dog would stick around with her for a while as a protector. But now she had to cope alone again. She went back to the little door. Perhaps he had brought her here for a reason. Again she took an uncertain glance into the room. "Hello? Is anyone here?" She asked, but there was no answer. Finally, she put one foot over the threshold and entered the room. The floor was made of thick wood floor and creaked a little under her feet. In the middle of the room stood a light table with two white-painted wooden chairs, of which the color was a bit chipped. On the wall, which was opposite the entrance, was a fireplace that looked as if it had actually been used before. There was still some ash and some burnt pieces of wood in it. Before the fireplace was a large ears jaw chair with a footstool. On the left to the wall was a large closet that matched to the dining table in color. It had two glass doors, which showed that there were some dishes in it. Everything looked very cozy and quaint, but Sophie knew that all these things were furniture from a doll's house. They were indeed worked very well, but in some places one could see that the connections between two parts were not made with no screws, but with hot glue. What did this mean? Here, a human her size had probably lived here , or still did. But how dis he or she get this furniture? Perhaps they had found it somewhere and brought it here. But that seemed unlikely. It was more likely that a giant had it brought here ... But why should a giant set up such an apartment for a Twimp? And why out here? Sophie decided to look for more hints. On the right side still were two more doors that could be opened without problems. When she opened the first, she saw that behind there was a kind of storehouse in which she could not find anything edible, but only a few pots and kettles. Apparently no one had been here a for long time. Sophie shut the door and went through the other one.She found a bedroom with a large bed in the middle and a wardrobe on the left. Only now she noticed something: none of the rooms had windows, but still all rooms are flooded with daylight. Searching, she looked around, and when her eyes went up, she saw that the very high ceiling was not completely closed. Some large gaps in the wood let in the light. But there was not sky above, at least she could not see it. It was more likely that a large room of the house was over her. Sophie walked back and forth between the rooms for a while, pondering what to do next. The owner or occupier of the place seems to have disappeared for some time and would probably not go back so soon. So she probably would not find out more about this place by asking him or her, so she would have to find out by herself. She could stay here, but that was not completely safe, after all, this place was closely associated with the dwelling of a giant, and she would not want to be caught by someone again. And she really wanted to find a way home. A stay here could restrict herr possible progress. On the other hand, this apartment would be a good base to explore the area for now. Here she would have a warm shelter, and did not have to be afraid of big animals.
Sophie decided to stay here for the time being. She put her things down on the table and sat down for a moment. After days, she finally had time to think quietly about herr situation. She was now free, but still quite helpless. Without the help of the dog, she would have needed days to get out of the forest, and presumably would have died of starvation. She was now aware that her flight had been completely unprepared and thus pretty stupid. It was pure luck that nothing worse had happened. But in the end she had the chance to search for a way back.
Now it was time to set up herr camp. She would need wood for the fireplace, and something to eat. She left her things on the table and went outside to find something edible and something to burn. She opened the door and stepped back outside. It was just nice to finally be free to choose where she went. Judging by the position of the sun it had to be about noon. So Sophie had plenty of time to take advantage of the daylight. Only a few meters before the door was the jasmine bush, and a little further behind a huge beech. Maybe she could find some dead branches for her fire in the vicinity of the tree.
Although she saw nobody, she hastened to search shelter among the leaves of the bush . She did not want to lose her freedom so quick again. She had to try not to breathe through the nose because the smell of jasmine flowers were quite intense, and the smell made her a little dizzy. It only took a few minutes until she reached the great beech, whose shade made sure that almost nothing grew on the ground below. That made it a lot easier to move, as there was nothing in her way. Fortunately for her, not too far from from her lay a dead branch on which there were a few thin branches that were easy to cut off with her knife. After a little while, she had cut a fairly large stack, and she would have to go back and forth about three times to get it back to her new hideout. She lifted a small amount on her arms and went back, but kept in the protection of the jasmine bush.
But before she left her cover, she heard footsteps on the gravel road, slowly coming closer. The slight vibrations that the steps caused, told her that a giant was approaching. And soon she could see him. It was a very old man with a neatly trimmed beard and a bald head with some age spots on it. He wore a strange, dark blue dress that almost resembled a toga. His shoes were flat suede shoes that looked pretty worn. Actually, his whole being looked very battered. His clothes had some patches and looked as if he had worn them for many years. He walked past the jasmine bush, without noticing Sophie and she almost let out a sigh of relief. But then he walked towards the large building and sat down on the steps outside the entrance with an audible groan. Even if he did not directly looked in her direction, Sophie was afraid that she would draw attention if she tried to reach the door of her new home now. So she stayed and waited for the giant to go away.
For nearly twenty minutes he did not move from the spot, but looked around every now and then, so she had to fear that he might discover her. And then she heard a loud barking. Curious, she turned her head in the direction from which it came, and soon the dog, who had brought her here appeared on the path. Involuntarily, she made two steps back out of fear that he would find her and reveal her position. But instead, he was wagging his tail and walked up to the old man, who greeted him joyfully. "Koro, there you are, good boy!" The man said with a surprisingly youthful-sounding voice, and stroked the dog thoroughly. "Well?" Have you been helping little souls today? "He asked, which Koro answered with a short bark. "Oh yes, you're a good boy." Come, I'll give you some treats, "He praised and got up to move away at last, accompanied by the dog. It was not until Sophie could not feel the tremors of their footsteps any more, that she ventured out of her hiding place and ran back to the small apartment to drop off her wood. On her way back to the beech, she wondered what the giant had probably meant when he asked the dog if he had helped little souls. Did he mean to little people like she was? Did he know about that she was here? Anyway, he had made no move to look for her. Perhaps he was just a confused old man. She kept on bringing all the wood back to her new place and tried not to think about it further..
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Tom had managed to finally get dressed and take a small breakfast. He was just about to go to the temple, just when when the doorbell rang at his door. He opened, and before him stood his sister, with a large cardboard box in his hand. "Oh. Hello sister. What's the matter?" He asked a bit surprised. Rina looked at him somewhat hesitantly, and then said: "I need your help ... or rather, Maya's help." Tom sighed as he heard this. "I'm sorry, but Maya is not here right now ... she is staying with a friend who also has a Twimp.", he said. To tell the whole truth, now would be far too cumbersome. "Why do you need her help?" Rina carefully opened the box, on which lay a lid with holes. "Be calm, she is still very anxious." She said before she removed the lid entirely. Tom peered into the tank and saw a very young Twimp crouched in a corner. She looked pretty unkempt and battered. "Where did you get her?" He asked, more concerned than reproached. "A man on the street has entrusted her to me. He had freed her and some other Twimps from a breeding station. I could not help but to take her in. But she is quite different than the Twimps I know. She is like … well... just like an animal. She tried to bite me and is also very scared. She also does not seem to understand what I say. I thought that Maya might understand .... or at least would have calming effect on her. "she said. Tom nodded and looked at the girl more closely. "Wait a minute ... she is wearing no collar?" He asked confused. "That's not really that important now. These things have no meaning after all." ,protested Rina. "I did not mean it like that ... I have never seen a Twimp without a collar before." ,replied Tom. Rina looked at him in surprise. "Now that you mention it, yes .... It might be common in the breeding stations, not to give them any collars." "Well, come in now and put down that box. Then we can talk further."
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She did not quite know what to do next. This strange giant creatures they had put her in these strange dark room, which moved constantly. She had just crouched in the corner, waiting to see what would happen. It took a long time, until more light came into the room. Now another big face looked down at her, that even had some facial hair. Until now these great creatures had done nothing to her, except transporting her to different rooms. She did not not particularly like to be touched by their huge hands, but it was not painful, so she did not protest that much this morning, when she had to endure that procedure. The two giants again made these weird noises, and she really wondered if they meant something. Then the room was moved again and shortly after finally kept steady. She got up as best she could, and moved her legs a little, which were almost bloodless from all that sitting. The creature who had given her some food yesterday and today, leaned in on her and made these noises. One of these sounds, it said many times: Tinka. Somehow she liked the sound. Perhaps she should also learn to say it. She moved her mouth and tried to find out with what movement she could manage to say Tinka.
- Rina was a little disappointed that she could not ask Maya to talk with Tinka. But she was also happy that the girl behaved a little calmer and less anxious than yesterday. Of course she was quite shy and it was easy to see that she did not like to be touched touch, as she always grunted, or recoiled when Rina tried to pick her up. Now she walked around the box with a bent back and supported herself with her hands after every few steps. Rina was surprised as she saw her moving her mouth, as if Tinka would mumble something. And then it happened: Tinka suddenly stopped and looked into her eyes. There was no fear in them but a somehow questioning look. Then the small Twimp opened her mouth. "Dingaah." The little voice was so weak that it could barely be heard, but Rina had heard it. And Tom's face proved that he too had noticed it. "What was that?" ,asked her brother and looked at the little creature in disbelief. "She has spoken .... She tried to tell her name." Rina was almost reverently whispered back. Then she looked at the Twimp again and said very slowly: "Tin-ka." The little girl smiled a little and then tried again: "Dinkaah, Dd-tinkaaah, Tinkaah."
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Tom stared open-mouthed at the little Twimp that just had done something what he had never thought was possible. She had spoken. Even if it was just a simple, two-syllable word, it nevertheless left proper impression on him. And it made him to think. If is this rather timid and neglected little girl could talk, couldn't it be possible that Maya could do it, too? After all, she seemed pretty intelligent. And if he really thought about it, she had often looked, as she would have tried to speak. But why did it not work? He looked at Tinka, who just munched happily on a piece of bread that Rina had given her. Maybe the collar was to blame? Previously, he had never seen a Twimp without one. But how was that possible? These little things were only made of plastic, which effect could such a thing have? "Do you think she can say more?", he asked his sister. "I don't know, but if she can say one word, they may be more soon. Hang on, I'll try something." she said and took another piece of bread in her hand and held it several inches away from Tinka. When she caught the attention of the little one, she said in a friendly tone: "Bread." Tinka looked at her a little questioningly, and Rina repeated the word a few times until the Twimp's face lit up and said with a low, almost timid voice: "Breaad." Then she stretched her hands out at it, and Tom's sister gave her the piece with a broad smile. "Very good, Tinka.," She confirmed the girl with a friendly voice.
Tom just sat there and shook his head. What if every Twimp would be able to do so? After all, Maya was able to understand everything he said, why should she not be able to talk, too? His head was filled with several thought that he could not categorize easily. He needed some advice, and he knew where he could find something like that. "Rina? Can I leave you alone here for a while? I have to go somewhere. " "Yes, but where are you going?" She asked, and Tinka now looked over at him. "I need to talk to my old teacher." He said briefly, stood up and grabbed keys and a jacket before he left the house.
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Post by giantblackcat on Sept 15, 2010 1:22:52 GMT -5
<3
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Post by Amayasama on Sept 15, 2010 16:15:34 GMT -5
o.o Oh my, Tom is finally going to get a brick of information slapped in his face XD *sigh* This guy, I'm just happy he's learning
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Post by biali on Oct 11, 2010 12:19:24 GMT -5
wow, I took almost a month to finally finish this chapter DX. Translating it was so tideous this time... I hope that I did not make that much mistakes though ^^; And here comes the information-brick for Tom! XD
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Chapter 31 Eberhard had an indifferent smile on his face while he walked behind his dog Koro. He was quite surprised that the rather elderly animal still showed so much energy yet. He seemed to feel fitter than Eberhard himself who would soon exceed the average life experience of people with his 49 years. But he was quite happy with the course of his life. After all, he had helped many young people and still had done so much more, future generations hopefully would benefit from . He was abbot of a small temple which was dedicated to the worship, of the 'soul comforters'. It was not always easy to keep up buissenes because it was repeatedly harassed by government, which often was under the intense influence of the 'community of salvation'. And they did not like to see other competing religions. But through the perseverance of Eberhard and his predecessor, the small community was able to survive. He was on his way back to the temple to be present at the meditation hour for the novices. He just turned on the narrow path that would lead him to the main gate, as Koro began to bark excitedly and suddenly ran ahead. Soon he saw with his already quite old and weak eyes, who the dog had discovered : it was Thomas Harmann, one of his former students and candidates for the post of abbot. The young man probably also had recognized his old teacher , because he directly walked up to him. Eberhard could already see that something was not right, because Thomas looked pretty upset. But first he was happy to see the boy after such a long time, as he rarely paid the temple a visit. The dog appeared to recognize Thomas as he was joyfully wagging his tail and ran around around the man and accepted a nice scratching behind his ear. It was only when Thomas turned back to the old abbot, Eberhard stretched his hand towards him invitingly and Thomas took it thankfully, giving it a shake. "Father Eberhard, how are you?" He asked politely, although it was clear that he wished to get something off his mind.. "Excellent, thank you. It's nice to see you again. How have you been?" He asked back, caringly patting him on the shoulder. "Oh, well, it does not work quite the way I would like it ... And because of this I was on my way to you. I would like to ask you some questions, if you have the time." ,said Thomas and really sounded like it would be very urgent. "I'm Just on my way to the meditation with the novices. Maybe you should also partake. This will surely help you to put your questions for me.", He suggested. But Thomas did not seem particularly enthusiastic. "Father Eberhard, I do not ...", he said. "Oh, I'm pretty sure it will help you." Said the abbot, and pushed him gently in the direction of the temple, while the dog had ran ahead already. - Tom gave in to his old teacher's demand only reluctantly. He wanted to get rid of his questions quickly and if possible, get good answers. He followed him through the large wooden arch that led to the temple grounds and looked at the broad way with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it reminded him of his very satisfied youth, he had spent here, but on the other hand also of the day that he walked next to the coffin of his beloved wife. Therefore, he had shunned the place in the last few months. He did not want to be reminded of that. But unexpectedly at this moment, the positive memories prevailed. He could see before his inner eye, how he came here as a boy of ten and began his temple service. At that time his mother had barely had time during the week to take care of him, because she was often away on business. So he had only lived at home on the weekends and otherwise spent the most time here. At first it was strange to do school exercises, meditation and religious instruction at the same time. But soon he found pleasure in it and had close friendships with the other young temple servants. Moreover, the faith that he conveyed here had encouraged him in many situations. After a short walk they reached the main building, which was a fairly simple house with three floors. The first floor consisted of a white, stone material, and formed a good support for the remaining floors that were made of dark wood. Left and right of the main building were each a two-story wing of the same materials. Otherwise, the building had no decorations. The only thing that seemed to be adorning this place, were the well-tended flower beds and shrubs in the forecourt, where some novices in their green robes and shaved heads were engaged in conversation or in play. Koro had joined them and happily chased after a little ball.. Tom felt a little strange when he saw the children. He knew that he also spent his free time just like this when he was young, but he felt very far away from it all. After nearly six years in which he lived with an ordinary office job, a wife and a house, he seemed not to belong here any more. Eberhard briefly clapped his hands, and much of the novices turned to them. "It is time. Gather in the hall after you have washed your hands." ,said the abbot, and the children followed the order by disappearing into the building. Tom was standing by him and did not move from the spot. "And what are you waiting for, Thomas?" ,asked the old man "Pardon?" ,said Tom confused. "I said, everyone should wash their hands. I've included you in that order.", Eberhard said calmly but somewhat strict. "But ..." "No buts. Same rights for everyone. So go and wash your hands." ,said the abbot, and pushed Tom to the temple. He did not dare to object to further and began to move. The interior of the building had changed little since his time here. The walls were still painted in an earthy light brown and wooden planks were shining in the sunlight. Like the outside, everything here was very plain. The only thing that gave it some decoration, were the vestibule bulbs with the papery screens in different colors which hung from the ceiling. Tom even knew exactly where the washroom was, but he simply would have to follow the echoing voices of the children. He entered the large tiled room only reluctantly, because he was the only adult and felt quite out of place. And the puzzled looks, which the novice threw at him, made it not much better. But they apparently had enough good manners and did not ask him any unpleasant questions. Like his old teacher had ordered it, he washed his hands thoroughly, while the others already were on the way to the room. A little tired, he looked into the mirror that hung over the sink. Only now occurred to him how exhausted he looked Although he had been in a pretty bad state since Melissa's death almost every day, but it had not been that bad for a long time. Apparently he was more worried more about Maya, then he wanted to admit. It was so strange. Why was he so upset about the loss of a pet, he just had for a few days, and who apparently did not even like him? Maybe there was something more to it ... and then there was Tinka... a Twimp that could speak. Eberhard would hopefully be able to resolve his confusion somewhat. Tom did not know exactly why, but he felt that his teacher could help him further in this. When Tom stood before the door to the great hall, he hesitated a moment to go inside. He remembered that he had always a feeling when he entered this room back then. It was not necessarily unpleasant, but he could not explain it. He looked a moment up to the light blue paper lantern which hung before the great door frame. Eberhard had often said before, that this was a very special lamp, other than rooms, it could brighten the spirit. Tom was still not sure what was meant by that, but at least it seemed to have any effect on him, for when he finally entered the great hall, he felt a slight tingling and his head and felt some relief. The hall was quite large and could accommodate about fifty people. However, there were not as many novices here. When he looked around, Tom saw about fifteen boys, who took thin mats out of a big closed and laid them on the floor. Eberhard sat on a special mat on the front side of the room and asked Tom to also take a mat . This time he followed the orders of his old teacher without objection and placed himself on the very edge. The abbot gave a brief wave of his hand and the last whispers in the hall faded away and all the novices and Tom lay down flat on their mats. Now Eberhard's voice sounded through the room: "We must open our mind and try to keep out what keeps us from hearing the voices of the souls. In recent years, our minds are more and more stressed and we became blind and deaf. Only when we rid ourselves of that disturbing sound, we will finally find comfort, life can be carefree for us." Tom had heard these words so often before, but now they had a very different meaning. He could not even explain exactly why, but they seemed to bring him closer to his answers. A few moments later, everyone in the hall started talking to a mantra: "Our ears are wide to the words of the souls. I listen to the souls." Soon the chorus made that Tom drifted off and soon he was lost in a strange trance, which was very pleasant. And finally this constant humming in his head disappeared. At least it was so weak that he hardly even noticed it. For some seconds, he enjoyed the silence, enjoyed that his thoughts for many weeks had come to a rest. Now he could look at everything a bit more relaxed: Melissa was gone. And there was nothing that made him sadder. But now came to him all the wonderful moments he experienced with her. The day of their wedding, how they built their own little home, the holidays at sea, the balmy evenings on which they have looked at the stars. All this was overlaid by his grief before. He could see how her beautiful brown hair blew in the wind and she smiled at him. But then something happened with this image: the long wavy locks took a red-brown color, and instead of dark brown eyes he looked into a pair of pale green eyes,. Tom was confused: that was not Melissa, but Maya. But was this possible? Melissa was a human and Maya ... What was Maya? - Sophie had finally managed to bring all the wood back to her little apartment. She let herself fall on the chair by the fireplace and took a deep breath. She looked around the room and sighed. Of course she was glad to have finally found a place to live where she could move around and was independed from any giant. But still it was far from being a home. She only had to open the door to see that this was not where she should be. That was not her world. In her world, she was just a young girl that spent her time with friends, and had a family. She had never had anything against it, to be away from time for a long time, she was not a person who got homesick easily. But she had otherwise always had the certainty that there was a way back. Who could know whether she would ever find the way? Yesterday she had been even more adamant that there was a way out. Even now she wanted to believe that there was a door, the exit from this world. But now that she had little rest, there were more and more doubts about that. Why should she make it, while a thousand other people were stuck here for years? She shook her head to shake off these negative thoughts. She could not give up and sink into melancholy now. First they had to recover and gain some strength. Then she would go on a big search. -- Tom was sitting on an old stone bench outside the temple and waiting for his old teacher. Although the meditation helped to clear his head, but it had intensified some of his questions as well. Eberhard soon came out of the main building and with a smile on his face, he walked to his former pupil. The abbot nodded and then sat down beside him. "You said you had some questions." He said with a friendly voice. "Yes, father Eberhard. In the recent days, a lot had happened, which confused me a lot." Tom replied. "Well, I'll try to help you with my advice." ,promised the old man, "And now shoot." Tom swallowed before he began to speak. "It's like this: a few days ago my mother made me a gift. It was a young Twimp, which I named Maya." Eberhard suddenly breathed slightly sharper and cleared his throat a little, but did not interrupt him. "Well, I've heard that it is not unusual that, at the beginning, Twimps are very anxious and may even react negatively to their owners. But I very soon had the feeling that Maya was not necessarily hostile to me as a person , but more to the fact that ... I don't know. "Tom suddenly was at a loss of words. "To the fact, that you treat her as a pet.", the abbot continued his sentence and Thomas nodded. "Yes ... It seemed like she just not wanted to accept ... It may sound strange that I say something like that about an animal, but ... but she has not even seen herself as an animal. Often she seemed almost as smart as ... as a ...", he paused again. Why couldn't he say it? It was even almost impossible, to think of this word. He looked at his old teacher for help, but the old man moved his head slightly to one side. "It is very common for these times that you can't speak of it, and often even can't think of it." He said with much regret in his voice. "You know what I think? Can you put it into words?" Tom said with some force. "I am very sure that you are very close to see the true nature of the so-called Twimps. But unfortunately it is neither possible for you nor for me to share our thoughts. The disturbing noise is too big." He explained, but it confused Tom even more. "What are those noises? You have mentioned them a lot, but I never really understood.", he asked further.. "Have you ever heard of the Golden Rules?" Asked Eberhard back . Tom was about to give a 'no' as an answer, but then he had a funny feeling when he thought about it. He could not remember to ever have heard something about that, but something in him told him, that he was familiar with these Rules. "This humming that you hear sometimes, it gets louder when you think too much about the 'Twimps', right?" Tom just looked at him and nodded. Now that he said that he was also aware of it. "Actually, what you hear, is not humming, but words that are repeated again and again. They burn into our subconscious and influence our thinking and action. And these words are the so-called golden rules.",said Eberhard. It sounded almost like a conspiracy theory, but Tom believed his old teacher, as in his eyes was nothing incendiary. It was morea deep regret, which resonated in his voice. Tom came slowly to ponder. He tried to arrange his thoughts, and then he said: "Wait a minute ... You always said that the voices of the souls were superimposed by these noises. And now you say that these noises are the Golden Rules that prevent us from understanding what the Twimps really are. So the Twimps are the souls, of which you are always talking? " Eberhard smiled wearily: "It's just another name, since I think to use the term Twimp is not very flattering. But perhaps the name 'soul' describes their actual status a bit better. I'm sorry for this cryptic expression, but the Rules prevent that I can be clear. They do not only hinder us from saying it, but also from hearing it. Even though I know the truth, you are unable to hear it from me. " "But ... how do you know the truth then?" ,Tom continued to ask. "What do you think, why animate all these young people to meditate ? The intrusion into one's own subconscious mind help to keep out the Golden Rules even a little bit. You probably also noticed that the hum was weaker, as you meditated." "Yes, that's right. But it was not possible for me, to hold on to my thoughts I had while I was in trance...", Tom responded. "You are out of practice for a very long time, and in your younger years you never cared about the little souls, at least you did not know who I meant by these souls. It was not possible for me to say it." "If all this is true, then all our religion is about to see just who or what these little creatures are?" Asked the young man now somewhat incredulously. "Basically, yes. It may sound unimportant, but when you think about it sometimes, this knowledge must be incredibly important. After all, someone put pretty big effort in it to prevent this, by creating these Golden Rules. A constant interference signal of this strength for so many decades is certainly quite expensive to maintain. And no one runs so much effort for something completely unimportant. ", said Eberhard. "This all sounds pretty reasonable. But from where does this ridiculous interference come? Who runs this whole effort?" "I do not know, unfortunately. Although I have tried to locate the signal, it is not possible ... at least not for me. So I try to mitigate the symptoms of the signal at least, by teaching other people to keep it out of their mind while in trance . Maybe it's a fight against windmills, but it is a fight. "said the abbot and clenched his fists a bit.
Tom sighed. He had learned all kinds of strange things and had to figure out just what an extent they had. He had treated Maya like an animal, ignored her intelligence. And that although she may, like all others of her kind, had an incredibly profound importance. He had to apologize, he had to find out what she really was. "Father Eberhard ... I thank you for your words. I would ask you to let me the temple more often, again. I think I still need some time here, looking for answers." ,begged Tom, and rose from the bench. "You are always welcome." ,said the abbot with a friendly smile. "I must now get rid of somethin. I have to apologize to someone.",he said, still politely and said goodbye to his teacher.
Tom closed the door to his house and heard the voice of his sister, who still sat at the table with Tinka. Meanwhile, the little girl was not in the box anymore, but walked around on the tabletop a bit. Only when he saw this, it occured to him, that he told father Eberhard nothing of Tinka's ability to speak. He would make up for this on his next visit. Even if he wanted to call Sven and ask for Maya, he went to his sister in the kitchen to see what was happening before. "What happened? Have you found your teacher?" She asked curiously before he could say something . "Yes, I was at the temple. I've learned a lot, but I do not exactly know how to put it into words . ... Certainly the Twimps... no, the little souls a lot more than it seems. .. At least I think this. Maybe I can explain this a bit better soon. " Rina looked at him a bit confused, but asked no further because he did not appear like he could make any claerer statements. She looked down at Tinka, who nibbled on the sleeve of her blouse playfully. Apparently she became a lot more trusting by now, but her strange wild behaviour to had not changed. She was very much different from Maya or Pato. But why? Why could she talk? -
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Post by MoonStarNinja4 on Oct 11, 2010 15:52:27 GMT -5
You literally just made my day by posting this chapter. Ugh... This chapter brings up so many questions... Can't wait for the next one. ^_^
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Post by Amayasama on Oct 11, 2010 18:18:43 GMT -5
o.o Oh wow what an explosive chapter! *flails* ^w^ I love it ;D And Tom's coming around! x3 Wonder if he'll find her on his own
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Post by biali on Oct 20, 2010 18:50:08 GMT -5
Oh my... forgot to post this here X3
Chapter 32 - The House of Silence
Eberhard scratched his chin thoughtfully. What he had heard from Thomas was just hard to believe. The Little Soul called Tinka seemed to be completely unaffected by the Golden Rules. It was just a pity that she could not speak much yet, since she was kept like an animal in this breeding station. First of all, it was a shame that someone has been treated this way, and second, they could therefore not learn very much about the little ones. He turned his student, who looked at the temple garden with an anxious face and rubbed his hands. The Abbot knew ho worried he must be. Only yesterday he had learned that Maya had disappeared and possibly was staying out there in the wilderness. Although Eberhard did not doubt the intelligence of the young little soul, this world held a lot of dangers for her. It was also pretty unlikely that they would find Maya. Her small size made it your not easy and besides, according to Thomas' explanations, she would not want to be found. Of course there was the small chance that Koro would find her. The clever dog often went on long peregrinations, and often he had found little souls and brought them to the temple. Some of them had wanted back to their old 'owners' and others found a new home at some of his older students, which treated them with more respect. "I hope so much that she's fine ... how could they let her go, how can she survive out there? I had promised her that I'd help her to go back to her world." ,said Thomas and buried his face in his hands. Eberhard looked at him and asked: "Her world, what do you mean?" "She had meant that she comes from another world and that she wants to go back there. I do not know if it's true, but she had been pretty eager to explain that to me." He said. "This ... this is remarkable." Eberhard said. "Why, what do you mean?" "I have tried many times already, to find out where the little souls come from. But none of them could give me an answer. They were all prevented by the Golden Rules." He replied. Thomas was silent for a moment and closed his eyes as he would think about what that meant exactly. "Okay, I'm getting more and more confused about this. Why do these stupid rules affect some people more than others?" ,he said somewhat snappish. "Exactly I do not know either, I can only guess. Maybe it's the meditation training that you had in your youth ... or maybe there's some connection between you and Maya. But I am almost certain that the former is the case. "answered the abbot. Thomas turned his gaze back to the garden. "Either way I must find her again. It is far too dangerous for her out there." -- Sophie was in trouble. The water swept her already up to her knees and her feet stuck deep in the mud. And it all had started just fine today She had now spent five nights in her new home and it worked out quite well for her. In the vicinity, she could find something to eat. Often, her food consisted of berries and herbs, which she could recognize, thanks to her very good knowledge of the plants. The flora was really exactly just the same as in her home world, just bigger. The only thing that really was a problem, was the lack of soap. Although she had the opportunity to wash, some dirt still needed more than just water to vanish. In addition, she had no clothes to change, as she had turned the things Pato had given her into a bag. So now she walked past a giant tree stump in her only knee-length shorts and sleeveless top, clutching her spear, which she made of a twig two days ago. She could not kill anything with it, but it was enough to keep some intrusive animals at bay. The sparrows in the area could be quite annoying, because they had no fear of people of her size. Sophie was on her way to a small blueberry bush, which she had discovered on her last exploration tour. It was a very long march to it, but the road was relatively free of obstacles. The weather looked promising: Not a cloud in the sky and the ground was dry and well accessible. After about an hour she was already near to her goal, as only a few meters in front of her, something huge slammed on the ground. Sophie drew back startled and took a few seconds to realize what it was. It was a giant hove that belonged to an equally huge wild boar that uttered a short grunt and then continued on his way, without taking notice of the girl. At first she was relieved, but then she saw where the boar was going and what it was doing there. It had found her blueberry bush and ate every single berry from it with a happy grunt. The whole thing lasted only about a minute and a moment later the boar disappeared into the forest again. Sophie was still at a loss for several minutes and stood before the rather tattered blue berry bushes and did not know whether she should scream or cry. She hated to always be in a disadvantage here. She had not run away from a giant to let a damn boar eat all her food! Frustrated, she went back on the path and looked left and right of the way for anything edible, but did not get her hopes too high. Soon they reached the next landmark: a moss-covered rock, with a very young beech growing next to it. From here it would still take a three-quarters of an hour until she would arrive at home again. The girl wondered whether she should make a small detour, on which she may could find some more food, or if she should stay on the known path. She decided for the detour and left the even path for stepping on a more difficult terrain. Everywhere dead branches lay around and it was kind a workout go climb over them, since she already was pretty hungry. And then she saw something she least expected it in the forest: meat. It was a pretty big piece, probably not the best of variety, but it was meat. The problem was that it was inside a huge trap, enough to catch a raccoon in giant size. The trap consisted of a large metal cage which probably would snap closed, if the victim crawled in far enough in order to get the bait. Sophie stepped cautiously closer, inspecting the thing. The meshes of the cage were too narrow to squeeze through. So just crawling in and out was not an option. But there had to be a possibility: This piece was almost as big as her and she could quite well use something other than berries to eat. Finally, She had a good idea. She looked for a long branch and pushed it through the bars. With a little fumbling, she managed to push the meat to the other wall of the cage. When that was done, Sophie took out her knife and cut some great pieces from their prey, which she could reach now easily. Only when her bag was filled, she was satisfied and quickly started on her way back, before a dangerous animal would get attracted to the bait in the trap. This successful raid made her proud. And she was looking forward, to roast her prey over the fire. But in her enthusiasm, she had forgotten to keep track of the weather. The sky was more cloudy now, and Sophie only noticed it when the wind freshened. "Do not worry, I'm only two kilometers away from safety, I will make it." She said to herself, and quickened her pace. The final section of the trail was not that dangerous, if one would refrain from the fact, that it was an open plain. Although it offered no obstacles, there also was no place to hide. But no giant ever used this path. After all, she had not seen any of them since she arrived here. She made a few tentative steps and looked around before she ducked and fell into a quicker pace. And then it happened. First it was only a small drop that hit her, but only two seconds later, it was followed by hundreds of big drops that drenched her completely and turned the path into a mud hole within seconds. Soon the ground was like pudding and it was more difficult for Sophie to lift her feet. She tried to reach a clump of grass that grew in the middle of the road. and when she reached it and clutched one of the straws, she could no longer move her feet. The water on the forest path had turned into a trickle, which was pretty much like a strong streaming river for Sophie. If it would not stop raining soon, she would be swept away and would eventually drown. She was in real trouble. If she just had to fight the stream, it would have been a whole lot easier. But the ever-increasing rain was beating down in big drops on her and drained her last strength. A big splash of water hit her head again as she lost her hold and her fingers slipped off the blade of grass. The raging current dragged her with it and pressed her under the surface of muddy water. Again and again she reached the surface and gasped for air, before she was pressed right back on the ground . At the third time, her right leg hit hard on a stone, and the pain that followed was, what robbed her consciousness.
The same pain was, what made her wake up again. Groaning, she tried to open the eyes to see to where she was. But she could not see much, as everything seemed very blurry. She could only feel that the rain lasted, even though it was not that strong any more. She felt around and could feel mud and some large blades of grass next to her. "I must get out of this rain." shot through her head and she tried to sit upright at least. But in her arms there was no strength left. She was still too exhausted from her struggle against the current. So she had to stay here a little to gather some strength. But now she began to tremble. Staying in the cold water had cooled her down a lot. If she could not get some warmth soon, her cycle would break down. The pain in her leg was the only thing that kept her awake now. But soon she would be powerless, and whether she would wake up again after that was uncertain. But then she suddenly felt no more rain, though she still could hear the drops splashing down to the ground. It sounded just kind of different. "Oh no. What has happened to you?", She heard a voice from above. It was loud, but sounded quite young. Sophie squinted and tried to see where the voice came from. But she only saw only a blue spot and than a huge blurry face that filled her vision. "No ... not another giant ...", she thought, and tried to shake her head. "Do not worry, I'll help you, little soul." said the young voice, and Sophie felt how a big, warm hand closed around her and picked her up. The body heat of the giant was pleasant and the feeling of despair of being in a giant's hand again, covered the pain in her leg a bit. She had to admit that he was very careful, because the shaking from his steps was quite bearable. Still she could only see blurry, which is why she relied on herr hearing, to know what was going. She heard the steps of the giants who made some strange squeaking noise from walking in the mud, had changed, and she felt that he overcame a few steps. This was followed by a metallic creaking and the loud creak of a door that closed shortly after. So she was again caught in one of these huge houses. As soon as she got better, she had to try to escape again. After some rustling, she was placed on a soft surface and covered with a thick piece of fabric. "What did you do out there, little soul?" Asked the giant, but he did not sound as if he expected an answer and put his large hand on her blanket, which increased the warmth. What did he mean by 'little soul'? Until now she only had been called Twimp by all giants. Slowly, she felt a little better if she refrained from her leg and soon she stopped shivering. Her eyesight was better, the more stable her circulation was. Now she could look around a little and realized that she was in a large, circular room with roughly plastered white walls. On the ceiling hung a blue paper lantern, which was not enlighted. Some windows let in light, but due to the rainy weather it was not particularly intense. Then the face of her rescuer appeared over her. There was a boy, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old with pale skin and light gray eyes. His head was shaved bald, but Sophie could see some blond stubble. He was a little thin, but his face was still friendly. "Oh good, now you have a bit more color. Are you hurt anywhere?" ,he asked caring. Although Sophie did not want to be cared of by a giant very much, she realized that she needed help to recover. Therefore, she nodded and raised her arm to point to her leg. Then he lifted the material with which she was covered to investigate. "That's all full of mud. I have to clean it up first, so I can see something. So don't be scared." ,he warned her with raised eyebrows and Sophie nodded reluctantly. She felt something wet on her leg, which he ran over her limb, and she flinched at the resulting pain. "It will be over fast. I'm sorry if it hurts." ,commented the boy and wiped twice on the leg until it was clean enough. "It's pretty blue and a little swollen. But there is no wound and it also has no strange position." ,he said, sounding as if he read it from a list. "It is good that we had our first aid course only two days ago. I can still remember everything quite well." He said, grinning a little proud, but Sophie was not in the mood to smile. She tried to sit up to take a look at the leg, too. From the ankle to the shin all swollen and shimmered from blue to purple. That was not good. Although nothing seemed to be broken, it would certainly take days or even weeks until she would be able to walk properly again. And that meant that she could not go on the search for food. Someone had to take care of her. She looked up at the young giant, who looked a little worried. Should she really go into the hands of a teenager? He had been very friendly and reasonable towards her, but perhaps the first impression was wrong. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. I will ask father Eberhard and he sure would allow that you can stay at the temple to recover." ,he said, trying to sound reassuring. But Sophie did not like it at all. She did not want to go to a place where she was surrounded by giants, and a temple sounded like such a place. She shook her head vehemently protest to express. "Hm? Want to your owners' about?" He asked and put the wrong head. The word 'owner', he stressed something derogatory, Sophie was a little surprised. She shook her head again.. The boy snorted a little and frowned. He seemed to think hard, what he should do now. "But ... but I must do something. Please think it over. The temple is really not a bad place. Everyone will be nice to you." He said almost pleadingly now and Sophie looked at him very surprised. It was the first time that one of these giants was really interested in what she wanted. He was able to take her anywhere, regardless of her opinion. Still, he tried to convince her. Maybe he really meant what he said. And why should he put any effort into lying, if he could just take her away without her consent.. "Maybe you want to eat first?" He said suddenly and began to rustle in something, probably his bag. Sophie used the moment to look around a bit more. Now that she was sitting up, she had a better view. The circular room where they were, was completely empty in the middle and only had a few bright, sanded wood boards as a floor. Along the wall was a wooden bench on which lay a few thin cushions. And on this very bank was her and the young giant sat cross-legged on the floor before her. "Man, you are lucky that I just come from shopping. Here." He said with a grin and held a head-sized piece of meat sausage before her nose. Sophie's eyes widened: finally meat again!She reached to take it and took a few bites. It felt so good to have something so nutritious between the teeth. Before she bit into it again, she gave the boy a grateful nod. "No problem, just eat while I look around.", he replied, standing up. Under the bench, there were several cabinets that he opened one by one and examined the contents. As far as the Sophie could see, there were only blankets in them. She really wondered what a strange place this was. Apparently the boy had seen her questioning face, for he said: "The room looks funny, right? We call it 'House of Silence'.Actually, it is only a small meditation room. It is on a small wooded lot, which also belongs to the temple, but a little further away. The room is hardly used, but we always have to see if everything still is allright. There are a few idiots who break in here and destroy things. Today was my turn to check here and buy the groceries. " Sophie listened intently as she kept eating. Slowly, she wondered what kind of religion was practiced here. The giant had not only short-cropped hair, but also a strange robe that looked almost like a toga ... almost like that old man who owned that dog. Then it hit her. She was in the large circular building in whose base was her small apartment! So this had dog belonged to the temple too ... perhaps it would be really not too bad to go there. At least, until she was feeling better. Then she would decide what would happen next. After the boy had checked all the cabinets he sat down on the floor in front of her smiled at her. "So, what do you think? Would you come?" Sophie paused briefly with the meal and thought again. It seemed a good solution, so she nodded carefully and tried a smile. "Great! You will really like it ... uh. Oh, I did not even asked for your name. I'm Joschi ... well, actually my name is Jochen, but that sounds stupid. So everyone calls me Joschi., "he said a bit excited. Sophie had to giggle about his sudden, but then wondered how she could tell him what was her name. She pointed to her mouth, hoping that maybe he could read from her lips. He looked at her attentively and tried to see, say what she wanted to mouth. "Suuu...no, Soooh ." He said, and she nodded. "So ... Sooppee Soofeee, no Sofie!." She nodded eagerly and her smile got wider. "So you are Sofie, huh?", He asked and she confirmed. "This is a really nice name." Joschi waited until she finished her meal and then said: "I really don't want to rush, but I have to return soon." Sophie nodded, hoping the way to the temple was not too uncomfortable. He put all that was necessary in his shoulder bag and then stood up. He was not as big as Thomas, but a man of such a size was still a quite frightening sight. He tugged a little on the fabric of his robe, that was wrapped around his upper body. "I have no pockets on this thing, but in here it will be almost like a hammock for you. I need my hands to carry the groceries, otherwise I would just hold you .... So if you're ready, we can go. " She was not quite as enthusiastic about this transportation option, but nodded anyway to show that she was ready. He scooped her up as gently as possible, so her leg would not be moved more than necessary. Sophie would probably never get used to be lifted by huge hands, and she really did not intend to. He laid her gently into a large fold of his robe, which, despite the rather coarse material was actually quite comfortable. She grasped two smaller folds of the fabric, as he began to start moving. It rocked a little more than the last time she sat in a pocket, but it was not necessarily unpleasant. She was not nearly as crammed and could push down the edge to look out without great problems. "Do not worry, it's not far Sofie. In a few minutes we are there. ",he said in a soothing voice, and was on his way. Somewhat curious she pressed the fabric down, and looked over the edge. Somehow she knew this surroundings, but from where? From a distance she could see another giant coming towards them. And soon she could see his face. It was Thomas! Hastily she hid behind the cloth, so, she would not be seen by him. She had been through way to much to get away from him. She did not want that to be useless. She hoped that he would walk past Joschi, but the luck was not on her side. He stopped suddenly and said: "Hi Thomas, will you be around for meditation tonight?" "Yes, I think so. On weekends it is always a little quieter." ,answered Tom and Sophie found that his voice sounded strange in some way. He seemed not quite as upset as before .However, she hoped that Joshi would not give her presence away. "Fine, see you later then. I need to bring back groceries now. " "Yes, until tonight then." ,answered Thomas and the footfalls told her that he went on. Only a few moments later Joschi said: "That was Thomas. He used to be a novice in the temple. Recently, he always comes back to meditation and talks to father Eberhard. " Sophie sunk back completely into the material and sighed. She had tried everything to get as far away from him as possible, and now she would go to a place that Thomas visited regularly. But Joschi seemed like a smart boy. Surely she could explain him that she did not want to be seen by that big log.
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seems like Sophie's got a special talent being found and brought back to Tom (or even a place where he visits often)...
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Post by Amayasama on Oct 20, 2010 20:34:54 GMT -5
XD That is her special power...her luck just draws her back to that lug >> ... Could it be fate/love?!
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Post by biali on Nov 29, 2010 15:03:52 GMT -5
HA! almost forgot to post my update here.... sorry that this took so long. I almost had five different versions of the two newest chapters. I hope I made the right decision ... anyway, enjoy!
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Chapter 33 – Blue light
Gently Joshi put the little Sofie down on the table next to his bed. At leat during the weekends it was very quiet in the temple. The other three boys who were also sleeping in this room were at home with their families and would come back the day after tomorrow. „I'll just go to the kitchen and stow away the groceries.“, he said and left the room with the heavy bags. He was used to do these daily duties for the temple, since he had a lot of tome to do so. In the fist two years there, he had hated the fact that he had no family to go to at the weekends. But now he almost enjoyed to have two days of the week just for his own and since he had more training, he was much more advanced in meditation.
After he had filled up the fridge, he walked over the main court back to the sleeping rooms. Near the main entrance father Eberhard came towards him, with a large pile of paper in his arms. „Good day father. I just came back. The house of silence was allright. Nothing was destroyed or stolen.“, he said politely. „Very well Joschi. Thanks for your help. But I have to ask you for something else now, which I want you to do as soon as you have time for it.“, answered the abbot and put the paper pile into the boy's arms. „If you could spread them in the neighbourhood, I would be very grateful.“ Joshi looked at the upper piece of paper and his eyes got wide. On it were big letters that said 'Twimp missing' and under it was a drawing that showed a red haired girl with freckles and a green collar around her neck. Under the picture was more text: „Young Twimp missing since last week. Listens to the name Maya. If you find her, call following number...“ This was Sofie. He was very sure about it. „Who is looking for this little soul?“, asked Joshi and tried ti sound as unsuspicious as possible. „Thomas is looking for her. The little one ran away a week ago. It is very important that we find her.“, the abbot answered. Unconsciously the boy bit his lower lip. Should he tell him that he found her? She had reacted so displeased when he had asked her if she wanted to return to her 'owner'. And above all that she had been running away. So everything showed that something went wrong. He decided to ask her about it first. That was just fair. „Allright,. I will spread them after lunch father.“, he finally said. „Thank you, my boy. I think I will take a little walk now.“, the old man answered and made his way over to the graveyard of the temple.
The boy moved the pile around a bit and was pondering. He thought about what kind of man this Thomas was. In Joschi's first year here, he also still was a novice. Back then he was a very helpful person, especially towards the youngest of them. Never he had been cruel or unfair. The boy could not imagine that he could have been mean to Sofie. But first he had to ask her about it. Joschi placed the posters in front of the door to his room and went back in. Sofie turned around to him immediately. She still looked quite fearful, but he could understand that. She must have gone through a lot out there. He sat down on his bed and looked at her. „You ran away, right?“, he asked very bluntly, but without a judging tone. She answered this with a surprised look first and then slowly nodded. „Were you treated badly?“, he asked further. He had to find out why she ran away, so he could know if he could just hand her back over to Thomas.
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Sophie was not entirely sure how to answer this question. As a human, Thomas really treated her most improperly. Just thinking of this leash or the cage made her feel enraged once again. But if she would have been an animal, which Thomas assumed that she was, she could not call the treatment badly but commonly. Although Joschi had treated her very respectful until now, she was not really sure what he saw in her. Obviously the boy could see that she did not know how to answer and put it differently: „Did anybody hurt you? Were you injured by a human?“ Sophie shook her head in a no. Even if Thomas had been quite clumsy in handling her, she had not been in any pain. „He has not shown respect, right?“, asked Joschi a bit more serious now. She looked at him a bit surprised. She had not expected a question, especially not from someone that young. „There are very much little souls who run away because of this. Father Eberhard has told me about this. A lot of people don't know that they should treat you with respect. And many don't understand if we tell them that they should... because it is not really easy to talk about it.“, he added. Sophie did not really know what he meant. And these words did not sound like they would come from himself. It seemed more like he would repeat something he had heard somewhere. Only now she nodded to answer his question. Thomas really did not treat her with any respect. „Maybe we could help you to change that.“, he said and smiled before looking her over. She was still covered with mud and dirt. „But first things first. We should make it as pleasant as possible for you now. I guess you would like to be clean again. We surely have some clothes for you in the storage. I can bring you to a place where you can clean yourself and change in privacy. Is that allright for you?“ Sophie smiled at him and nodded. He really was a polite and friendly boy. Again she was picked up and although she still had that throbbing pain in her leg, it was not as unpleasant as before.
Almost an hour later she leaned against the pillow on Joschi's bed, all clean and in fresh clothes. Her new attire was pretty comfortable. She wore wide cotton pants and a sweater of the same material which had a wide collar that left enough space to pull it over her necklace. The boy had already left the room to go to lunch and had said that he would be gone for a longer while. Since she could not walk anyway, it was not too bad that she was somehow trapped on the giant bed. Sophie leaned back with an exhausted sigh and closed her eyes. To rest a bit would not be wrong now. In the afternoon she would have to meet this father Eberhard. After all that her saviour had said about him, he was probably not a bad guy. As it seemed he dealt a lot with people her size. Maybe he could tell her something about how she ended up in this world in the first place. It was not a very pleasant thought to entrust herself to a giant again, but at the moment, she had not many other options.
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After lunch, Joschi grabbed the posters and pinned them to light posts and bus stops around the neighbourhood. He thought about what he should tell father Eberhard. Somehow he had to convince the abbot that he would not tell Thomas anything about it. It often was hard to earn the trust of a little soul and ifhe betrayed her, he would probably destroy the tiny bit of trust she already had in him. Even if he knew that it was not right, he got the thought of just keeping Sofie for himself. He always had to draw back. The other boys at the temple and at his school often got very much from their parents and as it was common for children, they showed off a lot. Joschi tried hard not to be envious or jealous, but it was never easy. And now he had a little soul in his room and until now, they got along pretty well. Sofie seemed to be very friendly and if he was honest, he also thought that she was very pretty... the boy shook his head. He could not keep her. He would have to hide her from the others the whole time. And this was almost impossible during the week and it would impose unnecessary stress onto her and himself. He hat to tell the abbot about her.
After no poster was left, the young novice returned to the temple and walked to his room to bring Sofie to father Eberhard. As he stepped into his room he tried to be as quiet as possible. Slowly he walked over to his bed and saw how the little one was slumbering, deeply sunken into his pillow. Her red locks framed her pale, freckled face and she looked so very innocent. He could not understand how anyone could be mean to her in any possible way. A bit shocked he noticed that his face got a bit hot. Joschi tried to calm down first and then said softly: „Sofie, please wake up. We have to get going.“ She moaned almost inaudible and reluctantly opened her eyes. Still a bit sleepy she sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked at him in a much more relaxed way than before. Obviously she had needed the rest. As soon as she seemed a bit more awake, he asked if she was ready and after she agreed, he placed her in the big fold of his shirt again. This seemed to be a safe place, since Thomas could show up at the temple any time and he would not be able to see her in there.
Slowly and cautiously he walked past the door to the great hall to the western part of the main building. In the corridor it smelled after cleaning supplies since the floor had just been mopped this morning. At the end of the hall was the abbots study whose dark wooden door did not differ from any other of the complex. „I'll knock now.“, he warned Sofie and knocked three times. From inside the room he could hear the command to enter and the boy opened the door. „Ah, it's you. Come in and sit down. And then tell me what's up.“, father Eberhard offered. A bit nervous, Joschi walked through the plain furnished room in which there was only a desk, two chairs and a dark dresser. Cautiously he sat down across to his teacher and looked at him, seaching for the right words. „You did spread the posters, right?“, the abbot asked to break the silence. „Yes I have. I just finished the task... and I have to tell you something important.“, Joschi answered and lifted his hand a bit to take out Sofie. „But first I beg you not to tell anyone about this. That's very important.“, he added. „If you wish that, everything you say will stay between the two of us.“, father Eberhard assured him. The abbot had never lied to him, so the boy trusted his words without hesitation. „Well... When I was at the House of Silence this morning, I found something... well actually I found someone.“ The old man raised his eyebrows up in curiosity „Someone?“ „Yes... a little soul. She got surprised by the rain and got hurt.“, the boy explained and now slowly lifted Sofie out of her hiding place by using both hands. „Father, I want you to meet Sofie. Sofie, this is Father Eberhard. He is the abbot of the temple.“, he introduced the two.
The Abbot was pretty amazed. For him it was not unusual to see a little soul, but he obviously recognized that she was Thomas' missing Maya. „Well, be very welcome Sofie. I see that Joschi took good care of you?“, he said friendly and respectful. Even sofie, who sat on his hand with stretched out legs, nodded at him politely and waved a bit at him. The boy noticed that she was ver nervous, since he could feel that she was shivering a bit. „You took a look at the posters?“, he asked Joschi, who nodded timidly. „And why didn't you inform me before you spread them?“ „I don't know father... I think I wanted to give Sofie some more time to recover before I introduce her to you.“, he stammered. The abbot did not dig deeper and took a paper out of his desks' drawer. He held it in front of Sofie. It was one of the posters. „Sofie, there is someone who is looking for you. Someone who calls you Maya.“, the old man said seriously. The little soul on his hand tensed up and shook her head. „Father, that's why I asked you not to tell anyone. I don't think she wants to go back to Thomas. Now the little one turned around to him and gave him an angry glance. She did not seem pleased about the fact that he did not tell her about the posters.
Father Eberhard sighed to turn their attention on him again. „Sofie... I just can tell you that I know Thomas for a very long time now. He is not a bad person. I can imagine that he did not treat you the way you would have wished he did. But he knows now that he did a lot of things wrong. That's why he turned to me again after a very long time.“, he started to explain but then paused. He looked at Joschi with a serious face. „My boy, I must ask you to let me speak alone with Sofie for a moment.“ Both of them looked at him with wide eyes. „I promised not to tell anything about this and I meant it. But I want to give her the chance to say what's on her mind. And that is impossible if you are around.“ „You mean you will talk to her.... like with the others?“, the novice asked. „Exactly. I want to give her the chance to state her opinion.“ Joshi noticed that the little one did not like the way this conversation was going. „Don't be scared. Father Eberhard is the last person in the whole world who would harm a little soul.“, the boy reassured her. „That's right. You have nothing to fear.“, the old man agreed and took another thing out of his drawer. It was a miniature armchair in which she could sit. As carefully as possible Joschi set her on it and said: „I'll be back very soon.“, and left the study.
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Sophie was more than nervous. She did not know what to think of this abbot. Joschi seemed to trust him and the boy really was very nice. But she did not really understand why he wanted to talk alone with her. She tried to shift into a more comfortable position for her leg as the room suddenly got darker and soon after a huge blue paper lantern lit up, putting everything in a cold light. „Please excuse the unusual ambient. But the light weakens the Golden Rules a bit. Maybe you should try to say something now.“, he advised smiling. Sophie did not how to react, but as he nodded at her reassuringly, she tried it: „L-like this?“ She was amazed. It worked! No word got stuck in her throat. She had spoken in the presence of a giant! „That's unbelievable. How does this work?“, she asked and looked at the old man before her. „Well, that's not very easy to explain. The material of this lantern is not paper, as some may would guess. It is a special fabric. If it gets in contact with a special color of light if exudes a special gass that disturbs sounds on a special frequency. And this frequency is the one on which the Golden Rules are transmitted. But the effect is not very strong. I practised a lot to weaken the frequency on my own. Someone who does not meditate as often would probably not hear you despite the lantern.“ Sophie tried to follow, but it was not easy. At least she understood that the light made it possible to speak with giants. „Well, as you know already, Thomas is looking for you...“, he started. „Yes, I got that. But I don't understand why. Does he want his little pet so badly?“, she interrupted him a bit sourly. „As far as I understood it, he wants to apologize to you.“ Sophie raised one eyebrow. „Apologize?“ „You experienced yourself that the Golden Rules have a certain effect on you, giving you a lot of limits.“, the abbot mentioned. „Yes. Not being able to speak is not very helpful if you want to point out that you are no animal.“, she admitted. „And on Thomas and all other humans they have a very strong effect, too. What may seem like ignorance, stupidity or disinterest to you is the influence of these Rules.“ „But he still is under the influence, isn't he?“, she asked. „Oh of course he is. Everyone is, But Thomas really tries his best to get away from it. He now sees that he did not treat you with respect. He is really worried about your well being.“, the old man assured her. Sophie leaned back in her armchair and pondered. Should she believe all this? Should she believe that Thomas made an 180's turn and now really showed interest in her feelings? How far could she trust a man she only knew for a few minutes? „I really don't know...“ „It's understandable that you...“ The abbot was interrupted harshly as the door was flung open ans somebody rushed in. Sophie almost fell from her chair in shock and was not very relieved as she saw who had just come into the office. „By the love of the souls, Thomas! I thought you would have enough manners to knock before entering.“, the old man scolded him with much anger in his voice. „Excuse me father. But it really is VERY important. There is a possibility...“ Thomas stopped as he was finally close enough to the desk to spot Sophie. His unshaved face showed a strange smile. „Maya?! You are here? Are you allright?“, he asked very nervously and reached out his hand at her as if he wanted to grab her. „If you touch me, I can't guarantee that you keep your fingers.“, she growled at him. And then it was silent in the room.
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FINALLY! I needed 33 chapters to finally let them talk with each other!!!
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Post by Amayasama on Nov 29, 2010 19:14:55 GMT -5
>D YEAH BITE 'IM SOPHIE! DO IT! DO IT! >> ...'Kay I'm done...xD Love the story darling~
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Post by biali on Nov 30, 2010 15:07:22 GMT -5
XD hehe... I bet she'd LOVE to do that! Thank you dear ^^
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Post by manynames on Nov 30, 2010 20:13:23 GMT -5
Finally, she can talk! How come I can't help but think that she's going to cuss up a storm to him?
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Post by biali on Feb 3, 2011 6:36:06 GMT -5
Ooookay... this took much too long XD I'm sorry for the delay, but I wanted to make the dialouge belivable and this took some time ^^; Any way, I hope you still enjoy this story ^^
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Chaptre 34
Did these words really leave her mouth? The stopping fo Thomas' hand and the puzzled faces of the two giants told her that they did. "This is highly unusual." Said the abbot, finally, which everone in the room thought was a considerable understatement. "The lantern actually works only if the conversation is limited to two participants ... and Thomas has not yet trained enough." He added. "But she has spoken ...?" Thomas wanted to assure.. "Yes, I have. Or did you think that I squeak like a hamster?" Sophie said with a sour voice, and was obviously sick of being talked over. Thomas looked at her only more confused. "N-no not that. I just did not expect it." He stammered and he finally withdrew his hand. Sophie thought feverishly, how she could make the best of this situation. Everything in her screamed to give him a talking-to. "And I did not expect that someone can be as thoughtless and stupid as you", it finally broke out of her. "W-what?" He stammered, and even backed away a little. This reaction only made her angrier and she clenched her fists. "What? WHAT?, I make a fool of myself in front of you, jump about in front of you and all the time I showed you that I understand every single word from you. And then you have the nerve to pout me on a damn LEASH, treat me like a stupid ANIMAL. Golden Rules or not. Not one giant, neither your sister nor Sven nor Joschi or father Eberhard has acted as ignorant and blind as you, "she thundered, and with each sentece she squinted her eyes more and bent forward. It was not easy to interpret Thomas' facial expressions. For a brief moment she had seen such a thing as anger in his eyes and almost regretted that she had yelled at him. After all, she was much at a physically disadvantage and could not even run away, if he would punish her for this outbreak. But she tried to not let know him that she has such fears and stared at him with a petrified expression.
The giant bit his lower lip now thoughtfully and thought well, what to say. "I am ignorant? All right, but at least I've at least tried to keep my promise." He said seriously, but also a little challenging. "Promise?" She asked a little puzzled. "Apparently you did not understand everything I said. I had promised you that I will help you to return to your home. But you've broken your promise, and did run away again. What do you think, how I should help you if you just, disappear in the wilderness with only the cloth you have on you? " Before she could say anything, he continued. "I know myself that I behaved far from adequate that evening. And for that I wanted to apologize as well. But for that your presence would have been necessary." He said, now somewhat calmer, but still a little irritated.
Sophie was speechless for a few moments. Despite his tone, he had just apologized to her. And even if she did not like admitting it: when it came to the promise, he was right. "It was a knee-jerk reaction. ... at this day a lot happed." She stammered. Only now, when he stood before her, she tried again to recall why she actually ran away. She had done it because Pato had explained to her that day that one can only talk to the giants, if one submits to them. It was still absolutely unacceptable for her, but now things looked very different. He was here and she could talk to him. Without having to give upto give up anything. That did not change the fact that he had acted wrongly in her eyes. But now they had the opportunity to draw everything in a different direction. Now she could make him understand that he must treat them differently. "It's okay ... I mean ... I'm glad you're alive. I was really afraid for you." He said, and now his face was more friendly. "Afraid for me? But ... but you hardly know me." She now said very softly and was frustrated inside that she could not stop to state a protest. "Yes, perhaps. But out there it's really not safe for ... for someone like you. After all, I bear the responsibility for you as your ow ..." Tom did not finish the sentence, since he realized that this would push the conversation into an unpleasant direction. "After all, you lived with me, which makes you part of the family. And I care a lot for my family." He finally said. Sophie looked at him with wide eyes. She had never expected such words from him. He saw her as a member of his family. For a brief moment she had the urge to give back a cheeky answer, but she gritted her teeth, took a deep breath and said: "I'm sorry that I broke my promise. I just thought I would have no choice .... that I otherwise would never find a way back." "A way back?" Tom asked in a curious tone and dug something out of his jacket pocket. It was the piece of paper on which she had scribbled pictures of her world a week ago. "Do you mean there?" He asked, pointing to the paper. Sophie was genuinely surprised that he had kept it and carried it around with him. "Yes. They are buildings of the city I come from." She replied, nodding. Even now the abbot leaned over to look at the drawing. He wrinkled his brow and looked at the girl with some regret. "I'm sorry, but there is not a city that has such structures. Anyway, I've never seen anything of that nature." Sophie gave him a mild smile in reply. "Of course there is not. These houses, my city, are in another world." "See?" I told you that they do not come from here. "Tom said to his teacher, waving a bit with the note. "This is the first time that a little soul could tell mel, where it came from." Said Father Eberhard, Sophie looked baffled and still interested. "It appears that you have something special to you. The very fact that you can talk to us both at the same time is extraordinary." "Well, why don't we use this opportunity to find out more?" Said Thomas, who was rather curious to know where the little one actually came from. "I mean, we can worry abpout the reasons later." This was quite in Sophie's sense. They had to take the chance. Worrying about the details would not bring them further.
"I think so, too. Maybe I'll just explain how I got here. But beware, it will certainly sound a little strange." She said, and told the two, how she wanted to get on the train and got into this strange tunnel. She also spoke about the rather inconvenient door, and that she had to go through it, since the other one was locked. "And then I was caught by this obnoxious guy and brought directly to the store where your mother bought me." She concluded her report. And the faces of the audience showed her that they had a hard time to believe the whole thing. "You're right. It sounded really odd." Thomas said. "But after what has taken place here lately, this is perhaps not that far-fetched." "What do you mean? What happened?" Sophie asked, curious. "Well ... that's why I rushed in here in the first place. My sister has a Twimp living with her, who got rescued from a breeding farm." Sophie swallowed hard and stared at him with wide eyes. They were breeding humans here? And judging by the word 'saved', it was certainly not pleasant to be therer. But instead asking further about that now, she listened. "The little one was really strange from the beginning. She did not behave like a Twimp, but more like a frightened rodent ... But a few days ago when I saw her the first time since she started ... to speak. "Thomas continued. "You mean she can talk just like that, without this blue-light-thingy?" She inquired and bent forward. "Well, she does not talk like you. Not at all. It looks more like she was learning to talk. I do not think she could before." Father Eberhard shook his head in disbelief. "How is that possible? It sounds almost like the golden rules would not apply to her. ... Was perhaps something else odd about her?" ,the abbot asked. "So, apart from the strange behaviour, I only noticed that she was not wearing a collar. Perhaps there is a connection between these things and the rules." He replied. "Maybe ... but. But I know someone who can speak with a collar around the neck." Interjected Sophie, but at that moment, she wondered if it was really wise to talk about it. After all, Sven had said that it could be dangerous if too many knew of it. "Really?" Who is it? "Asked Tom, who looked at her carefully. "It's ... No. I guess I was wrong. There was indeed a giant in the area, as we talked, but he probably did nor hear us ... otherwise he obviously would have reacted to it." , she stammered an tried not to show nervousness. She should rather not tell anyone without first talking to Sven and Pato. "So you can talk to each other when no one is present?" asked Thomas and she was glad that he changes the subject. "Yes. We can talk to each other, just like you. But even that, these rules try to hush up. It makes the giants think that we are not smart enough ... that we are like animals.But this Twimp from the breeding station is something special. Maybe I can talk to her when I'm alone with her. Maybe she speaks normally. " This girl was perhaps the solution. If she was truly independent of the rules, she could possibly say things that Sophie could not. "Yes, you have to take me to her," she said, and looked very determined and serious into the eyes of Thomas. He backed away imperceptibly, as if he felt uncomfortable with that look. But then a certain smile played around his lips. "Do not worry. I will ask Rina for a meeting ... but only if you promise not to suddenly run away again. In the coming days it will rain more often.", He said with a friendly face, but a serious tone. "Oh, you don't have to worry much about that." She said, pointing to her leg, that was still swollen and shone in all colors. "With that I probably do not even come to the edge of the table. But you must also promise that you do not act like a hysterical father again, like last week at Sven's home." Thomas looked at her with wide eyes. "What?" She asked a little confused. "Oh, sorry .... I was a little surprised that you compare me with a father." "Oh, don't be smug abo. ...", Sophie was interrupted when the lights of the blue lantern suddenly went out, and the room was much darker. She wanted to ask what was going on, but without the strange light, she could not talk anymore. In the semi-darkness she could see, that Thomas and the abbot were confused and looked around searching for a cause for the disorder. All flinched startled when the door was flung open.
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Post by MoonStarNinja4 on Feb 3, 2011 16:50:04 GMT -5
YES! AN UPDATE!! XD Man, and just when everything seemed like it was going to be all right, someone had to go and ruin it! >_< Darn, I wonder what happened. Great update!
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Post by Amayasama on Feb 3, 2011 18:09:07 GMT -5
o.o Wow that door likes to smash against the wall XD I wonder what the next important announcement is!
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Post by biali on Feb 3, 2011 22:05:41 GMT -5
Of course I had to make someone ruin that scene!
I guess Father Eberhard should start to lock the door behind him to keep people from bursting in XD
....
Allright, Here is another update to make up for the long wait ^^
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Chapter 35 – The Return
A man in his mid forties who wore an incredibly ugly khaki jacket walked into the office and looked over reading glasses across the scene before him. Behind him was a rather confused Joschi who looked anything but happy. "So this is the room of the abbot," asked the stranger, and a derogatory tone in his voice was not hard to hear. "Y- yes." Stammered the boy, who apparently had trouble to stop his voice from trembling.
Father Eberhard turned hastily to his desk lamp to bring back enough light to the room and stood up to face the unwanted visitor . "Don't mind me! What gives you the right to simply barge in here?", thundered the abbot. The bespectacled man did not respond to the question, but only said coldly: "I suppose you are the head of this...institution." "Yes, that I am. And that's why I would like an explanation for your unsolicited commitment." Eberhard said. "My name is Lohmeier. I am an agent of the building authorities, and I never announce my comings, so I am aware that you are probably quite surprised. But anyway: I'm here to inspect this... Temple. "he said, and now the derogatory tone could be heard clearly in his voice. "I told your colleague a week ago that all buildings have been investigated a year ago. The report is available at your authority." ,confirmed Father Eberhard. "And I will bring again the statement that the company that has made the inspection, does not meet quality requirements of the new Government. After all, you house c children in these walls, right? I do not think anyone has interest in the little ones get in danger due to faulty construction, don't you see it the same way? ", the official stated in a sharp voice.
Sophie did not quite understand what was going on. But she was pretty sure that this man did not bode well. The tone of the man seemed quite as if he blackmailed the abbot. And she did not like that at all. As far as she could tell, everyone here acted in her favor. She was only here for a few hours, but in this short time she had made to such great progress. She could talk and Thomas had finally started to listen to her. It frustrated her that she could not do anything at the moment. Nervously she shifted in her chair and listened as the conversation went on.
"In one week, an expert will stop by. In the meantime, I order you to close the temple. Until the carrying capacity of the wooden roof beams is not yet clarified, you can not accommodate any children. Keep yourself and your... pets here on at your own risk. ",Mr. Lohmeier said coldly and looked plenty disgusted at Sophie. "But ... but that is not possible. The parents of the children are dependent on the fact that their children can stay here during the week. And an orphan lives here. I can't just throw him out of here." Protested the abbot.
"This is not my area of responsibility. You will have to find a way to solve this problem. Otherwise, you have to expect severe penalties. I take my leave now. I have other appointments. All you need to know about the case, is on this information sheet." ,the official said coolly, throwing a piece of paper on the desk and turned on his heel before he left the room stiffly.
For a few seconds everyone was silent. Sophie was just forced to be. She wanted to know what was up now. What would happen to Joschi if he could not stay here? "The community brings out the heavy artillery. The last time they were in power, they had been more restrained. Something must be making them nervous." Eberhard said with great concern in his voice. Joschi stood a little lost at the door and did not quite know what to say. "What we do now?" The boy asked. "Also I hate saying this: I think we have to bow to the conditions. If we defend ourselves now, they will intensify their harassment against us and right now we have nothing we can oppose them with." ,said the old man. Sophie was still confused. What was actually said here? What was this community that they talked aboutt? "But we must not give in completely. They stop at nothing. After all, they are also responsible for making me lose my job. As long as they get involved in government, everything will be very difficult." Thomas said seriously.
Now she coughed twice as loud as she could, which worked, because fortunately all turned to her. She made a helpless face and hoped they would finally fill her in. "Oh yes ... you know nothing about this... Let's see how I best explain it.Well.. In our country there are many different religions, but there is one that has a very large number of followers and also a very considerable asset. They call themselves 'The community of salvation`. Normally they do not represent a real danger, because their beliefs are not aggressive in any way. And usually they have no power over the law. In this country, state and religion are seperated . But a week before a new parliament and a new head of government was chosen to which the community of salvation, it is very close, and this gives it a lot of power. No one speaks officially, but since the change of power, members of other religions are systematically harassed. Many have already lost their jobs and now they probably want to bring down this temple. " The girl listened attentively, nodding from time to time, to show that she understood this. Then she looked at the ground, pondering. The temple was really in trouble, and as it seemed, Joschi would lose his home. In addition, Tom was now unemployed. Suddenly she felt very uncomfortable. How could she expect, that they would have time to solve her problems while all this chaos was happening here? Lost in thought, she stared at the paper that the unfriendly official had left on the table. Of course, she could still not read the scripture, but there was something on the sheet, that drew the attention: a symbol in the letterhead. It was an octagon that was surrounded by a circle and in the center was a squiggly character. She knew it! Just this symbol had been on all the cabinets and on the door that she could not open when she was in this strange transition between worlds. She quickly turned her gaze to Tom and then quickly pointed to the sign, as best as she could from her current position. Curious, he bent down to follow her pointing hand, and she had to pull herself together again to remain calm. It was still unpleasant to see how someone that huge moved close to you.
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Although Tom had actually plenty of other problems, he had promised to help Sophie, so he responded without hesitation to her nervous gesture. He looked at the location on the paper on which she pointed. In spite of her obvious intelligence he did not suspect that she could read, he quickly realized that she was referring to the symbol. "That one? This is the seal of the high priest of the community of salvation ... Well, that shows even more that the community is meddling in this case." He said. But then the little girl gestured very impatiently at the blue lamp on the ceiling. "You want to say something, right?" Sophie nodded vigorously. "Father can we turn on the lamp again?" "I only had quickly turned it off from the outside, before the man from the authority came in ... I thought it would be safer." Joschi said then. "This was a clever move of you, my boy ... Now maybe we should take care of calling the parents of the children and to describe the situation. And for you we also find a solution Joschi. Let the two alone for now. "said the abbot, and led the boy outside, where he operated a hidden switch that could flare up the blue light again. When the door had closed, it burst out from Sophie: "This character, I know it!" "Well, would not be surprising, as it appears on posters and all sorts of things." Tom said a little dryly. "No, no not there. But I just told how I got here, and that one door was locked." "Yes? So? " "This sign was burned in all the things I could not open. But it was missing on the old door there, and that led me straight into the hands of this catcher." The young man let sink in, what she had just said. If that was true, it was very likely that the community had a large share in the fate of Twimps here. "And I'm sure that this guy had been waiting for me. As if he had known that I was appearing there .. And he took me immediately to this shop. Perhaps the other from my world experienced the same ... and if so ... " "... Then the community of salvation makes sure that you all will be sold as pets ...", Tom continued the sentence. "And maybe they've also set up certain rules, so you see us as such." She added. Tom had to sit down now. "This is not good, that's really not good." He stammered. "What, what do you mean?" "Think about it. If the responsibles for the golden rules are so powerful and now a government-sponsored organization ... then it's almost impossible for us to take action against them," he said bitterly. Sophie looked at him a little shocked at first, and probably wanted to say something. But then she suddenly hung her shoulders and turned her gaze. "Yes ... maybe you're right. Now is almost certainly the worst time to align anything against them ... at the moment there are indeed more important things. We should rather help Father Eberhard, to preserve the temple." she said sadly, but tried a little smile. It was really not nice to see her that way. Now that he had talked with her, he knew how eagerly she wished to return home. And it was more than understandable for him. He would also feel horrible in a land of giants, without being able to talk at all. But he was also pleasantly surprised that she now put her own needs behind those of the temple. "Hey, I did not say that we will not try anything, after all, I made a promise to you. And I'm not going to break it.. Maybe the rescue of the temple indeed a step in the direction that leads to your return. And who knows? Perhaps you speaking with Rinas little friend could help you as welll. "he tried to cheer her up. She said nothing at first, but gave him a grateful, sensible nod.
Father Eberhard had spent the rest of the day to inform the parents of his novices about the fact that the temple would be closed for now. He was not in too much hope that they could defend themselves against the community of salvation. He had sought for years after the cause of the golden rules, but now that Sophie and Tom had found their very probable origin, the courage had left him. The community was a very powerful institution. Even if they had less influence on the government, its influence reached into almost all areas of Tuskland. For years they had repeatedly tried to suppress other religions and their places of worship. But only now they used their full powers. He could never understand this. The cult of the souls that has been practiced here in the temple, had never had very many followers. So the little cult was no competition at all. What plans did they have? And why do they run such an effort to conceal the true nature of the little souls? When the abbot had finished the last phone call, he decided to do some research. Now that he had new information, he would perhaps encounter useful things in the writings of the ancient temple. A little breathless, he rose from the chair by the telephone table in the hallway and went into the cellar under the main building.
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The day was slowly but surely to a close and Sophie, Thomas and Joschi sat together in the common room of the residential tract. Joschi sipped a cup of hot cocoa and looked anything but happy. "They can not kick me out of my home. I won't leave." ,the boy said defiantly. "I can understand you. The temple for me also was a place of refuge for a long time. But if you stay here, the father gets very big trouble. I hate to be blackmailed either, but for now we should play it safe . If we now go to the barricades, they may be suspicious and found out that we know about the origin of the golden rules. ", Thomas tried to appease him. Sophie was sitting on a nice soft pillow that was on a rather worn brown leather chair. She had a good look at the two giants, who were sitting opposite each other on two small sofas. "Maybe I can sleep in the house of silence, until everything is in order. Then I can at least take good care that no one damages it." Joschi said, sipping on his cocoa with a serious look. "That's totally out of the question. The house is not heated, and it is not intended as an emergency shelter. You're welcome to stay with me. My house is not far from here, so you'll have to make no long way to school." protested Thomas. "Honestly? I can stay with you? I really don't want to be a burden ..." “You won't be. The house is large enough. If you like, you can pack up your things and we're on our way. "Thank you Thomas. Thank you." Joschi said excitedly, getting up to prepare his things.
When the boy had left the room, Thomas turned to Sophie. "If you want to, you can come too, of course." The girl looked away. That was all so fast. Even to this morning she had lived all on her own and had not done a bad job in it. If the rain wouldn't have come, she would have certainly made it much longer. But on the other hand, alone and without the help of the temple, she would have never gotten that far. And the conversation with Thomas had given her confidence that he would treat her a lot better in the future.. Obviously, he noticed concerns and added: "Of course you would stay as a family member, not as a pet." After a sigh, she nodded in agreement. Remaining alone would not get her far and Joschi would also be around. Even if she knew the boy shortly, she suspected that he would protect her in case of an emergency. She would have expected that Thomas would now show a spirited response, but he stayed calm and said: "Thank you for your trust Sophie. We will soon find out what the community is up to. And then we are likely to find a path that brings you back home." She smiled at him very gratefully. Finally she had the feeling that he was really serious . She still was not quite clear how much she wanted to confide in Thomas. If he would act just as respectful as now, she could imagine to trust him at last. But should it work out as before, she would have to refer to someone else. All alone she would not move forward, but now she realized that there were many people that were willing to help. After a few minutes Joschi went back to them with a big backpack on his shoulder. "I have informed father Eberhard. He looks through some old documents for clues and will contact you as soon as he found out something." ,said the boy. "Good, then we can get moving. All of this was enough excitement for one day already. Is it okay if I carry you, Sophie?" He asked and she nodded, very happy that he previously asked. Nevertheless, she was a bit nervous as his hands moved towards her. She had a little concern that he would act clumsy again and would touch her injured leg more then necessary . "I'll be careful, I promise." He tried to calm her down and picked the girl up very gently, without moving her leg much. He carefully held his hands against his chest so she would not drop and almost unconsciously she sought support in the fabric of his sweater. "It's not far away, just four minutes to walk.", He added quietly, nodding to Joschi that they were ready to go. The boy followed him and kept looking back to the temple a little worried. Sure, he was much concerned about his home.
When they entered Thomas' housed, Sophie was surprised, in a positive way. On the sideboard in the living room was no sign of the plastic cage to see where she had to eke out her first days here. "Joschi, I can unfortunately only offer you the sofa to sleep, but it is quite large and comfortable." He said to the boy who put his backback in a corner with an insecure look."And now I'll sho you your place to sleep, Sophie, and then we'll eat something.", He added, and carefully carried her to his bedroom. At first she had thought he would out her back in the hammock chair, but she had been mistaken. Next to the large glass door to the garden was a folded blanket with a pillow and a soft cloth on it. Right next to it was an old acquaintance: the washing chamber with the toilet from her former cage. It was only when Thomas knelt carefully, she saw something that made her eyes light up: her backpack! She never would have believed that she would see it again once more. She wanted to throw Thomas a grateful look, but something caught her eye first: The glass door was open. "Maybe it sounds a little weird ... but I have all along hoped that you come back ... and I thought, I'll leave the door open for you." he said a bit embarrassed. Though she had never intended to return to him on her own, she found that it was a friendly gesture. Apparently he had really been hoping for her return ... Slowly, he blossomed into a very decent person. "I hope it does not bother you to sleep here with me. But at the moment there are no more free rooms." He said, and she just waved. She was quite happy with her sleeping place. She could not fall down and was not imprisoned. So Sophie had little reason to complain. "Good. Then you can have a little rest while Joschi and I prepare the food." He finally said, and placed her carefully on the pillow. "I'll pick you up when we're done." He left the room and let her alone. Sighing, she slumped a bit. Now she was back here, but circumstances had turned to herr advantage. Who would have thought that this would happen? She sank into the pillow and closed her eyes for a moment. Somehow it was now very warm, almost too warm. And she was very tired. Today, far too much had happened. Maybe she should sleep a little until it was dinner time. A few seconds later, she had dozed off.
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