Teddi's Isle - Part II

I made it back home from Teddi's Isle. The kids were already awake and playing in the alleyway near the main street. Many of the women at the camp made breakfast. The few men who lived here helped provide food for the women and children. I usually stayed out of the way and played with the younger kids.

Halls Street has lots of middle-class shops. They're less policed than the higher or lower-class shopping districts. It's easier to stay out of view here, especially since many of the shop owners don't know that we're here.

"Where have you been?" The woman behind me was like a school teacher for all the kids. She watched me grow up here. She was the closest thing I had to a parent.

"I'm not sure." I shrugged and tried to walk off.

"Where are you going? I'm not done talking to you. Do you know how worried I was about you?" She grabbed my shoulder to stop me. "huh? Anything? I thought you had been caught. You know what they would do to you without any registration." I turned to face her. I can't tell her about Teddi's Isle. "Say something, Olive."

I sighed, "I'm sorry I made you worry." I looked down at my feet, unable to face her. "I didn't mean to do that. I was being chased, and I wasn't sure if I lost them. I didn't want to risk bringing them back here." I lied.

"Olive." Her voice got soft, and I could feel her eyes looking at me in a sorrowful way. Please stop. "I just don't want you to end up in Bunzer's ring," Anita emphasized her word, just, knowing there are other terrible fates, but none worse than Bunzer the Rabit. "You're almost old enough to register with a guild without a referral. You can get papers and leave this camp." She continued trying to turn this into something positive.

"I know, but I don't want to be someone's bag carrier. They get treated like shit, and who knows what my giftings are. What if I don't have anything useful. Then I'll be stuck in the guild, doomed to be a bag boy. Then what? What am I supposed to do then?"

Anita reached her hand to place it on my face and gave me her gentle smile, which was always filled with optimism. I smiled back at her, placing my hand over hers to hold it in mine. "I know you want what's best for me. I really am sorry for making you worry."

My room was constructed of old discarded wood and fabric. Not much for a house, but it's home to me. I slept on and off throughout the day, waiting for nightfall before slipping out to look for Teddi's Isle again.

I went to Sigi's Tavern. Tess, one of the waitresses, was outback taking the trash out. "Oliver!" She dropped the bag and ran up to me. "I'm glad you're okay. I saw the guards chasing you the other day. I was worried. Wait here." The girl ran back inside and presented me with some bread. "It's the only leftover bread we have from tonight, but at least it's something."

I smiled at her and took the bread in both hands. Most of the people at Sigi's are kind. On nights when there's extra food, they'll give me as much of it to bring back to give to the other kids. One of them even "accidentally" tripped a guard while I was being chased. They're not bad people, but their help is limited.

I thanked her and left down the alleyway. Left, left, right, and another left, and you'll come to the stone staircase. Except, someone was following me. Do they have a stealth skill? Whoever it was had trained hard. I only noticed because of a slight shadow that was cast from the lantern on the corner. They were hiding behind a barrel.

I found the staircase still broken. What happened to break a stone staircase anyway? Whoever was nearby had to be following me. I sat down at the corner where the dead end leading to Teddi's Isle stood and looked around before pulling out the bread from Sigi's. Let's see what this bastard is after.

I slowly ate my bread while constantly looking around at my surroundings. I could sense whoever it was was still lurking. What do they want? If it was to capture me, they could have done it already. Time to get bold. I finished my bread and looked in all directions before taking off into a sudden sprint toward where I had just come from. This should throw whoever it is off. I ran back to where Sigi's Tavern was, but I didn't leave the alleyway.

Whoever it was took off. I can't sense any presence now. I headed back to Teddi's Isle, but instead of turning down that alleyway, I went straight and took the next left. I walked to the end of the alleyway to find another brick wall dead end. "Who's following me? Come out." I couldn't sense anyone there, but it seemed more unusual for someone to stop whatever mission they were on.

I stood at the dead end, placed my hand on the brick wall, and immediately was sucked into the portal. I came out on the other side of Teddi's Isle. All the lights were up and giving off a festival vibe.

"Welcome back." A familiar old woman's voice said, drawing my attention. She was at her potion stand with a slight smile on her face. "I see you didn't bring any friends with you." She pointed her spoon at me. "Come help again." I guess there's more than one way to get to Teddi's Isle.

A calming sensation came over me. It was a strange feeling. Shit. I spun around to make sure no one was causing this calming feeling to catch me off guard.

The old woman started laughing. She wasn't even looking in my direction. "You're not any different than any other newbie." She was mixing her cauldron.

I smiled as I approached her stand. "What are we making today?" She has quickly become someone I trusted. I felt at ease around her. Is this how it feels to have a grandparent?

"A potion." She responded as if that wasn't obvious. I smiled at her and went to pull out the potion bottles she had under the table next to her. After I placed the bottles on the table, I went to reach for the corks. A rustling sound on the other side of the boxes caught my attention. I looked at the old woman, but she seemed unfazed.

I cautiously walked around the table and boxes. To my surprise, there was a girl. She couldn't have been older than 10 years old. She was curled up. "Hey, granny. Do you have a blanket of some sort?"

The woman remained unfazed as if I hadn't said anything at all. I walked back to her storage bottles and saw some change on the table next to the bottles that weren't there before. "Hey, granny. You shouldn't leave your money out like that." Again, she pretended as if I didn't exist. Completely unfazed, she stirred her pot. I continued pulling out everything needed to bottle the potions.

I picked up the money from the table and looked down the street to see if there was a vendor selling blankets. I wandered further down the street. There weren't many options. I found a rug vendor and a seamstress. Rugs might be outside of this budget. I went to the seamstress to see if she'd sell me some fabric so I could use it as a blanket. Thankfully, she agreed, but it cost me all the change the old woman had left on the table.

I went back and placed the blanket over the girl. I thanked the woman while she finished bottling the last of her potions. She tried to pretend I wasn't there, but I saw her slight smile. I decided it was time to explore more of Teddi's Isle and see what else the place has to offer.