Chapter Three
Early the seguinte morning, River woke up first thing to the sun rising. He looked over to Chris, who was still out like a light. He rolled his eyes and threw his travesseiro at his roommate, making a perfect shot at his blond head.
"Chris, wake up. We've got some looking to do." he whispered.
Chris yawned and slowly sat up. "What?" he asked sleepily.
"Come on, if we don't start looking around outside now we'll never know exactly where we are." River responded as he started getting dressed.
Chris rubbed his eyes and glanced to the alarm clock. "Do you even know how early it is? It's still dark outside."
"Yes, I know." River answered. "and it only looks darker outside because our window is facing to the west."
"I know, I know." Chris sighed. "Certain as the sun rising in the east, tale as old as time..."
"I get the point." River said. "So we going or what?"
"Alright, alright, I'm getting up." Chris groaned as he started getting dressed. This boy was not a morning person. When Chris woke up this early he was groggy, cranky, and still sleepy. All that would stick with him until about breakfast time. River, on the other hand, was mais than used to waking up early. Numerous times he'd gotten up to sneak around and see what was new even though he wasn't supposed to.
"Come on." river repeated, going over to the door. He slowly opened it as to not make a sound and peaked around the hallway.
"Is the coast clear?" Chris yawned.
River nodded, seeing as the hallway was almost practically empty if not for a statue or two laying around. "Yup, all clear."
The boys quietly made their way out, tiptoing past all the other rooms and making their way downstairs. Chris gasped as he almost tripped and lost his balance. Luckily River got a hold of him, though put his finger to his lips telling Chris to keep it down. This was not the time to get caught.
Safely making their way to the first floor, River and Chris poked their heads around the corner. Still no one in sight. Everyone else must still be sleeping. They began to walk down the hall to the nearest door only to hear...
"Stop right there!"
The boys froze in their tracks. Both were thinking the same thing: Busted. But when they turned their heads around, it was merely to see Genie floating in the air sound asleep in his Micky rato pajamas cuddling a tiny teddy urso and talking in his sleep.
"I want my pizza back!" Genie gasped in his sleep.
Chris and River slowly exchanged glances. That had been such a close one. Not even caring anymore, the two just sped to the nearest door, which was somewhere down the hall. They made it outside and sighed with relief.
"That was so close." Chris said.
"I know." River nodded. "I can't believe a ten thousand ano old magical being is wearing a cartoon character that's over seventy years old."
"Can't argue with the classics, I guess." Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Besides would you rather have him sleeping like a caveman?"
"Uh, no thank you." River answered. "But at least we're outside now."
"Yeah, and wide awake too." Chris added. He took a few steps progressivo, para a frente and glanced around. Maybe from where they were standing there was a mile or so of hard, dry land, but all beyond that...it was just water. "You seeing this, River?"
He nodded and stepped forward. He tried to follow around to see if there was anything else, but even all he saw was water. They must have been somewhere in the middle of the ocean. No river or lake that River ever saw went completely beyond eyesight. He turned to his friend. "We should keep looking around. Maybe there's mais on one of the other sides."
Stepping across the rocky surface, the boys looked on land and across the ocean to see what else there may be. Since the castelo they were staying in was rather small, it didn't take them too long to reach the halway mark.
"Ok, I see absolutely nothing." Chris sighed. "We're in the middle of nowhere, we have no idea how far any of our homes are, and if we're caught out here we're probably gonna be in major trouble."
River merely scratched his chin and continued looking around. There had to be mais to explore than just this. He wasn't beliving it.
When Chris didn't hear a response, he quirked an eyebrow. "Riv?"
"There's gotta be mais around here than just dry land and salted water." he answered.
"How do you know it's salted?" Chris inquired.
"What else could it be?" River asked.
"I don't know...sea water?" he responded.
River snapped his fingers, "That's exactly why we need to go further."
"Come again?" he asked, confused.
"Don't you see? All there is out here is land and water. That's not all there ever is, especially not this little of it." River replied.
"Riv, if we're in a small castelo on land all surrounded por water, doesn't that put us on an island?" Chris guessed.
"Geographically speaking, yes." he nodded. "But how can we just sit here when there's mais to explore?"
"It's just water."
"But there's gotta be something beyond the water. And I'm going to find out what it is."
"Couldn't that be dangerous? And even if you do go out there somewhere, shouldn't you take someone with you? Like Genie or Sebastian?"
"Not a chance." River insisted. "I'm getting the feeling that they're not telling us something. We could be in mais trouble than we think and only they know about it. Everything our homes have gone through, those guys have been fully tuned in. But we haven't. If we tell them we're going out to sea or ocean or whatever to explore then we'll never be allowed out here again. We can't just sit without any answers."
"Maybe you can't, but I can." Chris stated. "The safety of others has to come first."
"What's that supposed to mean?" River wondered.
"Well, maybe you can swim but i can't." Chris answered. "If we go out there and there's a storm or waves or something you can swim back here safely but I'd be a goner."
"Point noted." River nodded. Still, that didn't mean he should just sit around like everyone else doing nothing. And their temporary residence could only be explored so much before there was no mais to find or it got boring. River was convinced that there had to be mais out there and he was going to find out what. "Alright then, new plan."
"Tell me." Chris said curiously.
"I'll look through the castelo for some transportation. There's bound to be a canoa or something laying around. Then we hide it out here, and on a dia when there's perfect sailing weather we go look around." he explained.
"Didn't I just say it'd be a bad idea if I went out to sea with you?" Chris asked as-a-matter-of-factly. "You also said I can't go out por myself." River pointed out.
"Then see if you can find someone else to go with you. Maybe Harmony or someone who's good with water." he suggested. "But I won't tell anyone. Not Genie or Jaq and Gus or anyone."
"Alright. I'll be counting on you." River said. "I guess we'd better go back inside and get breakfast then. It'll be kinda hard to look for anything on an empty stomach."
Chris looked up to the sky. In the distance he could see what he thought looked like some dark clouds. They were far away, but it still didn't look good. "It looks like there's a storm coming too, so we really should go in."
The boys made their way back around to the entrence, though ended up stopping short and ducking behind the castle. Around the corner they could see Ping doing some stretching. Or at least, that's what it looked like. He was moving his body in some strange positions, which almost looked like he could end up in a pretzel if he kept that up. Chris and River exchanged glances. It looked like they weren't the only ones who'd gotten up early with a secret to hide.
"What's Ping doing out here?"
Early the seguinte morning, River woke up first thing to the sun rising. He looked over to Chris, who was still out like a light. He rolled his eyes and threw his travesseiro at his roommate, making a perfect shot at his blond head.
"Chris, wake up. We've got some looking to do." he whispered.
Chris yawned and slowly sat up. "What?" he asked sleepily.
"Come on, if we don't start looking around outside now we'll never know exactly where we are." River responded as he started getting dressed.
Chris rubbed his eyes and glanced to the alarm clock. "Do you even know how early it is? It's still dark outside."
"Yes, I know." River answered. "and it only looks darker outside because our window is facing to the west."
"I know, I know." Chris sighed. "Certain as the sun rising in the east, tale as old as time..."
"I get the point." River said. "So we going or what?"
"Alright, alright, I'm getting up." Chris groaned as he started getting dressed. This boy was not a morning person. When Chris woke up this early he was groggy, cranky, and still sleepy. All that would stick with him until about breakfast time. River, on the other hand, was mais than used to waking up early. Numerous times he'd gotten up to sneak around and see what was new even though he wasn't supposed to.
"Come on." river repeated, going over to the door. He slowly opened it as to not make a sound and peaked around the hallway.
"Is the coast clear?" Chris yawned.
River nodded, seeing as the hallway was almost practically empty if not for a statue or two laying around. "Yup, all clear."
The boys quietly made their way out, tiptoing past all the other rooms and making their way downstairs. Chris gasped as he almost tripped and lost his balance. Luckily River got a hold of him, though put his finger to his lips telling Chris to keep it down. This was not the time to get caught.
Safely making their way to the first floor, River and Chris poked their heads around the corner. Still no one in sight. Everyone else must still be sleeping. They began to walk down the hall to the nearest door only to hear...
"Stop right there!"
The boys froze in their tracks. Both were thinking the same thing: Busted. But when they turned their heads around, it was merely to see Genie floating in the air sound asleep in his Micky rato pajamas cuddling a tiny teddy urso and talking in his sleep.
"I want my pizza back!" Genie gasped in his sleep.
Chris and River slowly exchanged glances. That had been such a close one. Not even caring anymore, the two just sped to the nearest door, which was somewhere down the hall. They made it outside and sighed with relief.
"That was so close." Chris said.
"I know." River nodded. "I can't believe a ten thousand ano old magical being is wearing a cartoon character that's over seventy years old."
"Can't argue with the classics, I guess." Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Besides would you rather have him sleeping like a caveman?"
"Uh, no thank you." River answered. "But at least we're outside now."
"Yeah, and wide awake too." Chris added. He took a few steps progressivo, para a frente and glanced around. Maybe from where they were standing there was a mile or so of hard, dry land, but all beyond that...it was just water. "You seeing this, River?"
He nodded and stepped forward. He tried to follow around to see if there was anything else, but even all he saw was water. They must have been somewhere in the middle of the ocean. No river or lake that River ever saw went completely beyond eyesight. He turned to his friend. "We should keep looking around. Maybe there's mais on one of the other sides."
Stepping across the rocky surface, the boys looked on land and across the ocean to see what else there may be. Since the castelo they were staying in was rather small, it didn't take them too long to reach the halway mark.
"Ok, I see absolutely nothing." Chris sighed. "We're in the middle of nowhere, we have no idea how far any of our homes are, and if we're caught out here we're probably gonna be in major trouble."
River merely scratched his chin and continued looking around. There had to be mais to explore than just this. He wasn't beliving it.
When Chris didn't hear a response, he quirked an eyebrow. "Riv?"
"There's gotta be mais around here than just dry land and salted water." he answered.
"How do you know it's salted?" Chris inquired.
"What else could it be?" River asked.
"I don't know...sea water?" he responded.
River snapped his fingers, "That's exactly why we need to go further."
"Come again?" he asked, confused.
"Don't you see? All there is out here is land and water. That's not all there ever is, especially not this little of it." River replied.
"Riv, if we're in a small castelo on land all surrounded por water, doesn't that put us on an island?" Chris guessed.
"Geographically speaking, yes." he nodded. "But how can we just sit here when there's mais to explore?"
"It's just water."
"But there's gotta be something beyond the water. And I'm going to find out what it is."
"Couldn't that be dangerous? And even if you do go out there somewhere, shouldn't you take someone with you? Like Genie or Sebastian?"
"Not a chance." River insisted. "I'm getting the feeling that they're not telling us something. We could be in mais trouble than we think and only they know about it. Everything our homes have gone through, those guys have been fully tuned in. But we haven't. If we tell them we're going out to sea or ocean or whatever to explore then we'll never be allowed out here again. We can't just sit without any answers."
"Maybe you can't, but I can." Chris stated. "The safety of others has to come first."
"What's that supposed to mean?" River wondered.
"Well, maybe you can swim but i can't." Chris answered. "If we go out there and there's a storm or waves or something you can swim back here safely but I'd be a goner."
"Point noted." River nodded. Still, that didn't mean he should just sit around like everyone else doing nothing. And their temporary residence could only be explored so much before there was no mais to find or it got boring. River was convinced that there had to be mais out there and he was going to find out what. "Alright then, new plan."
"Tell me." Chris said curiously.
"I'll look through the castelo for some transportation. There's bound to be a canoa or something laying around. Then we hide it out here, and on a dia when there's perfect sailing weather we go look around." he explained.
"Didn't I just say it'd be a bad idea if I went out to sea with you?" Chris asked as-a-matter-of-factly. "You also said I can't go out por myself." River pointed out.
"Then see if you can find someone else to go with you. Maybe Harmony or someone who's good with water." he suggested. "But I won't tell anyone. Not Genie or Jaq and Gus or anyone."
"Alright. I'll be counting on you." River said. "I guess we'd better go back inside and get breakfast then. It'll be kinda hard to look for anything on an empty stomach."
Chris looked up to the sky. In the distance he could see what he thought looked like some dark clouds. They were far away, but it still didn't look good. "It looks like there's a storm coming too, so we really should go in."
The boys made their way back around to the entrence, though ended up stopping short and ducking behind the castle. Around the corner they could see Ping doing some stretching. Or at least, that's what it looked like. He was moving his body in some strange positions, which almost looked like he could end up in a pretzel if he kept that up. Chris and River exchanged glances. It looked like they weren't the only ones who'd gotten up early with a secret to hide.
"What's Ping doing out here?"
