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Jordan blinked. He was sure the hay pile had just shifted. Was there a rat under there? But that wasn't right, the whole pile had moved, not a small section of it. Maybe a big dog? He was about to step closer and start digging through it to see what was underneath, when something burst out of the pile. Well, maybe it didn't really 'burst' out, more like emerged, but it shocked Jordan so much that any word would work. He stumbled backward and tripped in his surprise, sprawling onto the floor. He would have cried out in pain from landing on the packed dirt on his back, but he was still in shock from having something jump out at him like that. . Jordan looked up and saw that the thing had emerged from the pile was a person. A girl, in fact. Though she looked like no girl he'd ever seen. She wasn't wearing a peasant dress or even men's clothes. She wore bright red, loose-fitting clothes, the like of he had never seen before. Then she spoke, and that snapped him out of his shocked trance. Jordan scrambled to his feet and brushed the dirt off his tunic. He had never been warned not to speak to strangers, since he already knew everyone in town and everyone he had met was friendly. "Hello, Hazel. Sorry for reacting like that, I wasn't expecting a person to be in there." He spoke in a neighborly, polite way, but with a hint of wariness as well. He offered his hand to help her step out of the hay. "So I take it you're not from here?" He eyed her clothing again, but also her bare feet and shiny brown hair. It was the neatest hair he'd seen on a girl, aside from the few pieces of straw. He forced himself to look at her face again when he spoke. "But I don't understand why you would sleep in a stable?" He was going to continue, but decided that he'd said enough for now and let her explain. . It was just as easy to knock on someone's door and ask for lodging for the night, wasn't it? Everyone in this town would be kind to a stranger, he knew. And most people around here knew that as well. So why didn't she? Jordan shook his head a little to clear those distracting thoughts and waited for the girl, Hazel, to talk. . (Sorry that one got a little short) |
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(Nah your good. I've always found conversations shorter.) •~• Oh dear, Hazel didn't mean to scare the boy... But seeing how he got back up she figured he wasn't that hurt. Hopefully, she didn't wanna be responsible for hurting someone already. When he offered his hand, she stared at it for a moment before looking back at him, then back. There wasn't stranger danger when she was the one that was unexpected, right? So after that moment of hesitation she took his hand and climbed out of the hay. It would probably be easier to speak to someone not halfway in a pile of hay. Once free she released his hand quickly, before she studied him. His hair was messy, and he wore clothes she'd never seen someone actively wear outside of renaissance fairs and that kind of stuff. She caught herself after a moment and looked him in the eyes, which she was honestly was relived to see where a normal, if not darker, brown. She snapped back to focus when the strange boy started asking things. •~• "Yeah I'm not from around here. I think." Would he know London? Or even better, the way to it? Maybe she could finally get some answers! She jush needed to make sure she didn't come of as crazy or something... Which shouldn't be to hard. "Well the stable was kinda the first place I found that looked like I could sleep in. I didn't know of anywhere else and I didn't want to disturb people. It was pretty late." Correction, Hazel didn't want to deal with more problems upon her mountain of problems and she didn't want to figure out how people would react to a very, very confused girl showing up on their doorstep. But she kept that to herself of course. •~• "So what's your name? Oh, and do you have any idea which way um... London is?" `Nice job Hazel. Very discreet.` •~• |
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(I find that common as well.) . Jordan almost laughed when she said she didn't think she was from around here. What a strange thing to say. How could she not know? Then he remembered stories he'd heard of people who lost their memories and couldn't remember anything from their past. He grew more serious as he realized that Hazel could totally have gotten a head injury and forgetten everything about herself. But she did remember her name... So maybe not? He was so confused. So confused and curious that he completely forgot about his invention idea that he had been so keen on brainstorming about the night before. . Then Hazel mentioned some place called London, and he figured she probably hadn't lost her memory, and was just a little mixed up. Of course, she looked normal, apart from the strange clothing, but what people wore could be forgiven. Jordan gave her kind of half a smile and said, "I'm Jordan. And I've never heard of London before. There is a town called Bondan about three days' ride northeast, but no London." He tilted his head at her, trying to figure out if she'd been joking or was talking about a person instead of a place. But the way she'd asked him made it sound like she meant a place. . Jordan was honestly so confused. He had woken up that day ready to think about his timekeeping device and sculpt with Drew. Instead, he had been asked to take care of Henry's horses, and then this girl had popped up and now she was talking about some imaginary land? 'This is not how I wanted today to go,' he thought, though not regretfully. It had made his otherwise regular life more interesting, and now he had someone new to talk to, not just the other boys who teased him and adults who barely noticed him. 'Not like I enjoy talking to other people. Though, so far this conversation has been the most interesting I've ever taken part in.' |
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Jordan? Least that was a normal name. Wait hold on- He had no idea what London is? And what the hell is Bondan? She's heard plenty of cities and towns names in her travels, but never a Bondan. Maybe it was just a smaller town she's never came across... Great now she's having a harder time convincing herself that this was all definitely not what she was thinking. She couldn't be- It wasn't possible. But now every question that passed had her thoughts twisting changing with each answer. •~• "Nice to meet you Jordan. And Bondan? Huh..." •~• Hazel put one hand to her head for a moment with a small sigh. His clothes, the buildings from what she could see last night, that feeling before she showed up in the forest... And now the look he was giving her when she mentioned London. She didn't want to admit it to herself but now she had no other choice. Alright, time to make up some sort of lie so she didn't seem anymore crazy then she already did. Hopefully it'll get her past this interaction without to much trouble, and then she could start thinking up ways to somehow get back. •~• "I uh... Come from another town a lot further south. My... Grandmother always mentioned a town called London. She must've... Um... Meant Bondan. I wanted to head to it myself, but I didn't know there was another town on the way." •~• Great, one lie down. The clothes? Maybe she could try and pass as a newbie seamstress or something who likes doing her own thing. Then it clicked. How did she not think to ask this already?! She just needs to asks without seeming to give it to much thought. •~• "What's the date? Just wanna know how long I've been... Traveling." •~• |
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Jordan really didn't know what to do. Here he was, supposed to be taking care of the stable for Henry, and he had found a girl in the hay pile who was asking for directions to someplace he'd never heard of called London. Things like this never happened to him. Mostly he just minded his own business, fufilled orders for Drew, and invented things that failed more than half of the time. Speaking of time and inventions, he really wanted to get back to his sketchbook and brainstorm ideas for the timekeeping device. He'd had two more thoughts light up in his brain just during this conversation. . "Oh, it's Monday. Farther south, huh? Like near Duskendale?" Jordan mused, remembering the few lessons on geography Drew had taught him. "Or maybe Mistwood? I know it's supposedly a super unfriendly village but that could be stereotyped. I've heard it's not foggy there at all. Anyway," He pulled away from his rambling, which was a rare thing. He guessed it was because Hazel was new and had an interesting story. Again remembering his timekeeping device, he continued. "Listen, Hazel, I'd love to talk more, but I have some really important business to do. So I'd really appreciate it if you let me get to it." He winced at how forceful that had sounded, and quickly found a way to say something else to draw away from that fact. "Unless you need provisions? Or new clothes..." He looked again at her red outfit, now kind of annoyed by it. "I'm sure we have some extra supplies somewhere that we can give you." . (Forgive me for the short and strange post, it's late and my mind is slowing down :P) |
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(Your good, makes sense:)) Hazel felt like her head was going to exploded from the sudden flood of information. Mistwood? Duskendale? Yet even more places she hadn't heard of. Wait, Monday? If she could remember correctly. It was Friday night when she went into the library. Either she was asleep for longer then she thought... Or she went backwards. In time. She still didn't want to believe it, but what she wanted to think wouldn't change reality. Somehow, she had been tossed back in time to a era and place she had no idea what to do in. How was she gonna get back? •~• "Important business? Okay, um... Yeah you probably were doing things before I showed up." •~• Made sense, he was the one Hazel heard moving around the stable and she's mostly certain she probably intrupted what he was doing. Popping out of hay piles and all that. Plus she probably should get a move on trying to figure out how to get home. Oh but she was gonna need money... Maybe she'd hang around the town a bit. Find a few odd jobs and trying and figure out how she'd need to act to fit in. `Yeah, alright. Least I somewhat got a plan now!.. Geez this is stressful...` •~• "My clothes?" •~• Hazel was confused for a moment before looking down at herself. Oh that's right, she'd forgotten about that... They probably don't wear this type of stuff, and giving another glance at what he was wearing confirmed it for her. A change of clothes would be helpful, she definitely did not want to stand out even more. So she should take what she could get. •~• "Just a change of clothes would be helpful. I'll probably stick around town for a bit." •~• |
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(Oh good 😅) . Jordan really didn't get this girl. When he mentioned other towns he was sure anyone from down south would have heard of, her face scrunched up in confusion. Surely she should know at least a few town names, right? Or maybe his hypothesis from before was correct. The one about her losing her memories. He decided to keep getting facts until he decided for sure. . "Just some clothes? Okay, sure. You can stay here with the horses or come to the house with me, it's about a ten minute walk each way." . He still had things to do in the barn, but not that much, and it could wait. The horses were well fed and taken care of, they wouldn't starve without him. Though it he was caught with a girl neglecting his duties that could be bad. But he knew Drew would understand once it was explained. . Jordan dusted the final straw bits from his hair, left when he had fallen over, and walked to the front of the barn. As he passed the stalls, he made sure each was latched so the horses couldn't escape while they were away. Once he was at the entrance, he turned to see if Hazel would follow him or stay in the barn and wait. . He figured she would come with him because staying in a barn for a long time with clothes like hers and being new to this place could get weird quickly if someone from town walked by. The stable was a short walk from the road, but Jordan knew boarders came pretty often to ride or check on their mounts. But, of course, she could do whatever she wanted to. |
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Stay or go? It shouldn't have been that hard of a choice. And yet Hazel found herself hesitating to make one. On one hand staying here in the barn would mean she'd be alone again, and would be able to think more about her current situation. But what if someone else walked in? She could try hiding in the hay again... She really didn't want to try and explain herself again to yet another stranger. ~.~ But if she went with him she'd be out there, and she didn't doubt some other people would be awake this early too. It might be only a ten minute walk... But in these clothes? And her feet while not as bad, still hurt slightly from the other night. But it would give her a chance to actually see where she was! Why did everything have to become complicated? ~.~ When Jordan turned to look at her, she finally walked over to him. Might as well see where she was, and maybe it'd help to know the path atleast if nothing else. Though it was definitely gonna hurt later. Plus atleast having new clothes either way didn't make it so bad. ~.~ "Alright then, I'll follow."
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Jordan had to admit he was glad that she was coming. Just leaving her in the barn seemed so strange and almost rude. He nodded and gave a slight smile, then turned and began the walk to the house. It was on the edge of town, but still close enough to the village square that they got good business. Speaking of business, he was starting to get worried about Drew fulfilling orders at the workshop alone. Monday was the busiest day since after Sunday, the day off work for everyone, people always needed wagon wheels fixed or new table legs made. . They made it to the house and Jordan opened the rickety wooden door and waved Hazel inside the dark and musty interior. He motioned for her to sit on a chair Drew had made himself, before heading out a side door and into the workshop. Drew was sitting on his workbench, carefully smoothing a table surface with sandpaper. He looked up when Jordan came in. "Finished at the barn already?" He asked, surprise in his voice. Jordan suddenly realized he had no idea how to explain Hazel to Drew. So he did his best on the fly. . "So, a girl was sleeping in the barn and she's a little confused. She needs to get to Bondan and I'm gonna give her some extra clothes and provisions. Is that all right with you?" . Drew considered for a moment before grunting and nodding. "Go ahead. Just don't give her all our beef." Jordan smirked. Drew was very fond of any meat, and they had just gotten a gourmet package from the butcher a few days ago. Drew had been rationing it out like it was water in a desert. . Jordan went back through the door and into the house, heading towards the cellar where food was kept cool. He knew Hazel had said she just wanted clothes, but she had looked hungry, and no one could resist the baker, Ms. Alice's seasoned breads. . He emerged holding a basket of two loaves of bread, three apples, and a small bit of beef that had been left over from last night's supper. He set the basket down next to Hazel and said, "I'll be right back," before heading into the closet where they kept old clothes. He dug through the small pile of tunics and rotting sandals before selecting a clean pair of clothes and least-used sandals of the bunch. He carried them back out to Hazel, handed them to her, and said, "You can change in my room. Through that door right there. Careful, there could be rats." He waited for her to get changed, thinking about why she was here and where she was going. |
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While walking to the house, Hazel had her gaze on everything and anything around her. The other buildings, wagons, stalls, anything that she could see. Yup no denying it now, she was in the past. When Jordan stopped and opened the door, motioning for her to go in, she'd admit she was a little curious now. Did he live here alone? When he left through a side door she went and sat down in the chair. She wanted to look around of course, but she figured it might be odd and to some people rude to rummage around their home. So she settled for waiting for Jordan to show up, while looking at what what she could from the chair and thinking on what to do after she is good to go. ~.~ When Jordan returned with a basket she was confused for a moment until he sat it down and she realized food was in it. But before she could say anything he was gone again. She looked back at the basket before picking it up and examining what all was in it. Apples, beef, bread... Okay, the bread did smell good. Hey she might've not asked for it but she wasn't a idiot to turn down free food. If she was careful with how much she ate of it she should be able to get it to last until she can get herself enough money to atleast get her own food. She looked up when he returned once again, setting the basket back down and taking the clothes he offered. She stood up from the chair and headed for the door he had pointed out. ~.~ "Thank you." ~.~ She called over her shoulder before heading into the room, closing the door behind her. She couldn't help but take a moment to look around the room, relieved to see it looked some what normal, minus the straw bed and such. She began to hurry and change, not wanting to take to long. Once changed she looked down at herself once more. It was different, but not uncomfortable and looked more in place then her pajamas did. The tunic and pants wasn't to big, and the less bright color helped. And while she didn't often wear sandals she was glad for them when she put them on. No more walking barefoot, that's a win. She took a few extra minutes to run her fingers through her hair and get the rest of the straw out of it, and somewhat fix it. She then headed back to the door and out of the room ~.~ "Thank you again, this helps a lot. I'll probably stick around town for a bit though. But I should probably get going, you said you have things to do and I've taken up enough of your time." ~.~ |
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Snow and Sleet Mix, Clearing at Night
