How I Found It All: Part VI
That morning I woke up very early. The sun hadn't even risen yet. As I got up, I noticed that there wasn't any kind of noise neither inside nor outside. It was as if anything that was living had died that night. I went into the bedroom where Charley was sleeping to find the bed still occupied. I got a little closer to his nightstand, and noticed that he barely made a sound at all. Even his breathing was inaudible unless listened to from a few feet away. There was a faint smile on his face as he slept. I got an idea as to what or who he was dreaming about, although it was probably completely obvious that he was, in fact, dreaming about me. I got back up, as I was kneeling down, and with my soft, scaly barefeet I made my way silently out of the room. When I was in the doorway, a sigh could be heard coming from the sleeper's direction. I looked back to see the same faint smile on his face and to hear the same quiet breathing. I knew then that the day was going to be a good one.
Still barefoot, I went outside and headed towards the lake. By this time, the faint light of dawn was just making itself known. The gray light proceeded to grow over the course of my walk to the lake's beach. When I arrived, the light was still dim and gray, but there was a subtle shade of blue and green appearing over the horizon, which then reflected off of the water. I realized that this lake was the only connection to my home and time. For a moment, my hope was suppressed and I was overcome with a fear that I might never see my beloved sister again. I began to weep with regret for ever accepting this task. Just then, I noticed something metallic in the sand. I wiped away the tears so I could see it. I picked it up and brushed off the sand. It was the medallion that I found in the lake earlier. I noticed before that there was writing in Daedric dialect, but took it for granted. I realized then that this was one of the pieces that Marbles would wear. It was her dead eye medallion. I felt that it was still saturated with magicka, so saying that it was many millennia old would be false. The only explanation as to how this could have gotten here was that it was lost recently. "How could that be? If my sister is alive..." I was overpowered with relief knowing, or at least hoping, that Marbles was here. "Wow!" I put the medallion around my neck, since my sister most likely left it as a clue to her whereabouts.
I made it back to the house, and there was still no noise coming from it. There were more birds now, and their songs began to grow with time, reaching their peak within an hour. The sun finally was crawling over the sky, but still it was very low. The trees to the east blocked most of the direct sunlight. Rosa was on the back porch when I walked inside. She looked at me, then put her head back down between her front paws. It was absolutely silent inside. The only sounds I noticed were the hum of the refrigerator (as Charley called it) and my heartbeat and my breath. I walked into what I believed was the living room. This was the first time I was actually in this room without my moccasins, as I noticed that the carpet was very soft and felt good between my toes. I took a moment to massage them in its plush. "Okay, I think that is enough." I got back up and went through the rest of the house. I crept around silently, knowing that Charley was still asleep and didn't want to wake him.
After a quick tour around the house, I stood in the hall with the two bedrooms, pondering. I felt a hunger coming over me. I knew what I needed to do. I walked into Charley's room and sat down on the side of the bed. Charley opened his eyes and looked at me. "Good morning, Charley," I said.
"Good morning Jumps," he replied, yawning.
"Charley, I have to ask you something."
"What is it?" He stretched, then rubbed his eyes.
"I hunger for something more from us. Do you think you could help me?"
"Whoa!" All signs of tiredness left him upon hearing that.
"What?"
"Don't you think your coming too quickly?"
"No, it's the morning right now. Don't you eat breakfast here?" When I said that, his face scrunched up like a piece of parchment, then blushed a little. He laughed.
"Oh, well, if that's what you want, then I could arrange something." He got out of bed and went over to the closet, and dressed himself. I went down into the kitchen and walked over to what I assumed was the stove. I began sifting through the drawers until I found a pan, and I put it on the stove. I looked around a little more for some eggs, finding them in the refrigerator. I also found some cheese and milk. I saw Charley walking down the hallway, so I said "Do you mind if I started cooking a little?"
"Oh, not at all. Do you know how to use the stove?"
"Sort of--actually, I no idea what I'm doing."
"You just need to turn on the gas." He turned a knob on the front. "There we are. You're ready to cook."
"Is there anything else besides these eggs that we can make?"
"Well, there is a bit of venison left, if you would like that."
"I would." He went over to the refrigerator and got out a little parcel of meat.
"Do you want it in the eggs, or would you like it on the side?"
"How about a little of both?"
"That works." He took some of the meat and sliced it into thin strips, leaving the rest of it in filets. I took the sliced up venison and put it into the pan. Listening to it sizzle in the oil was almost as pleasant as the smell. "Do you want some spices for it?"
"Just salt and pepper is fine." I grabbed them and put some on it. The eggs themselves were in their own little container, set into two neat rows. After the venison was thoroughly browned, I added the eggs. The combination made my mouth water some. In another pan I put the filets into. Those didn't take very long to cook, since we both seemed to like medium-rare.
When it all had been completed, Charley and I sat down together at the table. We both talked and ate, making sure that the dog got a few pieces sometimes. "Mmm... where did you learn to cook like this?" he asked.
"I had a bit of experience where I am from. Given that there is no such thing as this 'technology,' we have much more time in the day to do simple things. One thing that I enjoyed doing was cooking."
"Well, I think that your experience has paid off. This is amazing."
"Thank you." We finished eating soon after. He got up and took my empty plate from me and put it in the sink.
"I'll be back in a bit." He went into his room and stayed in there for a few minutes. He came out in strange attire, carrying a device. "You want to learn how to hunt?"
"I all ready know how to."
"Would you like to learn how to hunt with this?" He showed me what was holding.
"What is this?"
"This is a 1895 Lee-Enfield mark III bolt-action rifle. It has an effective range of 500 metres, and a maximum range of 2,700 metres."
A blank expression appeared on my face. "But what is it?"
"It is a gun. It fires projectiles at a very high-velocity and can shoot very long distances."
"Okay, so this is like bow?"
"It's much more advanced than that, but it serves the same purpose. Would you like to learn how to use it?"
"That would be great! Can we go out now?"
"I don't see why not. I have a small firing range we can shoot it in."
"Shall we embark, then?"
"Sure! Let's go."
It was a little walk down to this 'range,' but it wasn't too bad. The path that led down to the pond branched into another path that winded down to the location Charley was talking about. When we got there, there was all ready a few targets setup. There was a large, flat, wooden board that looked like it would be quite an easy target. There was a smaller board, and yet an even smaller one. There were also a few metal cans scattered around on stone pedestals, and two small glass bottles. We set ourselves up at the firing location and Charley showed me the basics of holding the gun. He seemed a little surprised by how quickly I was able to learn it all. To show me how it fires, he got a round he called 'bullets' and proceeded to fire. There was an amazing bang that pierced through the air, and Charley lowered the gun. "See?" he said. "That is how you fire a rifle."
"What did you hit?" I asked.
"I got the smaller wooden board. You see it?"
"Yeah, I see. Could I try now?"
"Sure. Just remember to hold the butt of the rifle against your shoulder and brace yourself." He handed me the gun, and I held it like he showed me. The device was much more unusual than a bow and arrow. It required little physical strength to use it, and it was held in such a way different than anything I had used as a weapon.
"Will do," I reassured him with. I took aim, and I fired. There was a shattering down the field. "Got it!"
"You hit the bottle first time? No way. Let me see." He looked down the range with the scope and saw nothing left but broken green glass. "How did you do that? It took me at least three shots before I hit one the last time."
I noticed that I was still wearing Marbles' medallion. I felt its magicka surging through me, giving me eyes as keen as a falcon. I didn't tell Charley, of course. "I guess it's beginners luck."
"No, you had to have shot one before."
"There are no guns in Tamriel. I have never seen one before today."
"Uh-huh..." He looked at me suspiciously. I smiled back, with pride, exposing all of my teeth past my lips. We both started laughing. We laughed for a while, until there was no point in going any further. "So, would you like to have another go, or are you done?" he asked, still wiping the tears away.
"I think I still have a few more shots in me today. You said there are 10 rounds in a magazine?"
"Go on."
"Cool!" I took aim again and shot off a few more rounds at the metal cans. To his amazement I hit every one of them.
"Okay, you got me. How? You shot off the whole mag, and you hit something with every round."
"I guess I'm a natural." I brought my hand to my chest, touching the medallion. I guess he saw me do that, because he looked at me with a more satisfied expression.
"Well," he seemed to have been concluding, "I think we've had enough fun down here for one day. Plus, I can see a storm beginning to brew in the south, so we should head out anyway."
"Okay, but can we have a dip first? I'm going to overheat in the sun like this."
"Whatever makes you happy is fine by me. Let's go."
We went down to the lake and swam for a while. I spent more time in the water than Charley, since his skin was starting to prune up after the first hour. I got out to go sit on the beach next to him. "You know," he began "you like to go down here. I even saw you weeping down here one time."
"You saw that?"
"Yeah, I saw it. Is there something special about this place?"
"Back in my time, when this place was still Cyrodiil, I would go down and swim everyday. This was my favorite swimming spot. I remember the shape of the lake. I am amazed that it didn't change more than it had. The only thing different is there are less plants along the shore. When I realized that this was the lake I would swim at in Cyrodiil, I was bombarded with memories of all the things that happened here. My sister and I would always have a few other Argonians come down here to have a good time. Sometimes we would spend the whole day doing nothing but swimming, spending the night by the waters edge." I closed my eyes, trying to remember and imagine it all again.
"Those must have been good times. I would've enjoyed watching others like you having a good time."
"Well, that was the past, and now is the present, or the future, with then being the present. Argh! All of this time traveling is bugging me."
"Now is now," he said, "and there is no changing that, unless there is somehow another one of those 'portals' that you speak of."
"That is highly unlikely, next to impossible, really."
"I would like to think of the positive."
"I know. It's just that I don't feel assured completely, knowing that you haven't experienced what I have gone through. I know you mean the best by this, and I thank you."
"Hey, what are new friends for, if not for comfort?" He leaned over to me and gave a soft pat on my back.
"You make a good point." The sun by now had completely hidden itself behind the hills in the west, and we were still sitting next to each other, talking.
"It's getting late. Maybe we should head back."
"Could we stay here? I would love that."
"Whatever makes you happy. I have a few spare blankets back at the house." He got up and walked briskly back up the path, returning soon after. He spread them out on the sand then laid down on one of them. I spread the other right next to him, and I laid down, wrapping what I could of the blanket around me, putting my arm over his shoulder. I felt my hand being held by his. That was the last memory of the day before we both drifted off to sleep.
End of Part VI...