Stranger Spirits

The Scholar [Chapter Four Part Seven]

Rosita cleared her throat. "We need to head to the town hall. The Scholar tends to be very busy but if we catch them early they may be able to squeeze some time for us!" We all nodded in agreement and Bruno went back to lead us towards the town hall.

We finally reached the large wooden building. On the wooden door was an inscription that had been etched with fire. The fire had eaten into the door but not enough for us to see through. I was not familiar with the inscription but I felt compelled to touch it.

I was snapped back into reality when Bruno knocked on the door. You could hear a light shuffling from behind and plenty of cursing to back it up. The door swung open and a woman who looked to be a couple years younger than Bruno and Tita opened the door.

She was simply gorgeous. Her skin was dark like onyx and her piercing irises were only slightly larger than her pupils. She had full lips that were painted to look a deep red, almost like blood. She wore a bandana that wrapped around her forehead and tied itself into a knot at the front. What I found most peculiar was that her head was clean-shaven. She had no hair yet she still looked feminine. In my village, the shortest a woman would cut her hair was shoulder length so it was interesting to see a woman with less hair. She wore gold hoop earrings and a necklace that wrapped around her neck that was painted different hues or orange, red, and white. She wore a strapless yellow dress that only fit tightly across her breasts.

"Who dares interrupt my medi-" She stopped in her tracks when she saw Bruno and Tita. "Rosita, Bruno, it's so good to see you both! Come in! I'll make us all some tea! I already have the kettle heating up!"

"Thank you!" Tita lead us into the town hall. We all sat on the pillow cushions dispersed around a low risen table in the middle of the room. Atop of the table was a layer of white cross-stitched yarn that was fitted to be a table cover. The woman moved around the room gathering some extra cups and set them on a small stool next to the chimney fire. I didn't notice until now but the woman who brought us in wore only bangles at her ankles and had gold ink painted on her feet in an intricate design. Even though she was barefooted she walked with grace leaving around the occasional clang of her bangles. Rosita sat on one end of the table with Bruno sitting to her left. Atticus and I sat across from Bruno with myself closer to the empty head of the table.

The woman finally sat at the end of the table and gazed at Atticus and me for an idle moment.

"Ah yes, boys this is Kahina. She is the person that runs town hall and she will be able to help us today."

"Hello my dear fledglings, my name is Kahina. You may either call me by my name or by my title 'Scholar'."

"Thank you for allowing us into your domain Kahina." I smiled.

Atticus bowed his head in respect. "We are honored to make your acquaintance, Scholar."

She kindly nodded at us and brought her hands out in a warm manner and directed the conversation back towards Tita. "Now darling, how have you been and who are these strangers sitting at my table?"

"I'm doing great, I've learned a lot over this past week; I still have that youthful spark!"

"Of course, honey!" She gave a throaty laugh. "What you realized is that it never left you. It just fell asleep and was waiting for you to wake it up!"

"Well," Tita rested her hand on her cheek and then gestured towards Atticus and me. "This is Vaughn and Atticus. You remember me telling you about Mina and Kurt and how I wanted them to get together?"

"Yes!"

"Well, they did couple off and have two children! The one with the brown hair, Vaughn, is their son. He looks just like his father!"

"That's so interesting!" She smiled and quickly looked at Bruno for a moment.

"The young man sitting beside him is his friend Atticus, they've been traveling together for some time now. It's interesting, in their village every year the gods select someone to help them here in the physical realm and he was chosen."

She took a moment and just analyzed Atticus. "I do know those customs from firsthand experience."

"Really now?" Bruno cocked his head sideways.

"Yes," The woman rested her hands on her legs for a moment and took a quick breath to steady herself. "I know of the Quidel customs because I once met a chosen one in my travels before I came here. I was but a youth then. The ripe young age at the cusp between the end of my second decade and the third beginning."

"You never told me about this!" Rosita gasped.

"Well, you never brought it up, dear." She then looked back at Atticus. "Why I would say that Atticus is a chip off the old block. He looks just like his father, who was a previous chosen one."

"Excuse me?" Atticus was clearly thrown off guard.

The woman nodded her head. "Yes, I have met your father in his travels and accompanied him for some time...but unfortunately, I did not stay with him to see what the Gods had in store for him. We branched off before he found out about his task."

"Wow." Was all Atticus could say; meanwhile, the rest of us were silently waiting to hear more from this woman.

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Stranger Spirits Spring Break Day Two

Have fun and be safe! -Ryan