Mountain of The Suns • Book 2

Prologue

I looked over to Jun as we descended down the stairs that would have otherwise led up towards the Temple which was now far behind us. It was out of sight but far from out of mind. I was worried about being without the temples protection but Jun had always been my main protector.

"It's weird to see you in Temporal clothing." I said acknowledging his very informal wear.

We typically wore robes all the time, but surely we'd draw attention to our appearance if we had kept them on. The last thing we wanted was to be drawing attention so we had to dress the part of Temporal's. Instead we wore casual clothing like most people wore in the village below. He was wearing a pair of dark grey pants and some casual shoes hardly meant for combat. On top of that he wore a plain sand color shirt with a brown flannel type jacket loosely hung open.

It was still a bit chilly out, but it was mid morning so things started to warm up as the sun came up. As we descended the steps down the mountain I had grown quite warm from the exercise and the weather was just overall warmer down here. Though, despite the sweat I was working up it wasn't warm enough to even think of taking off my jacket. I felt almost off being back in these kinds of clothes because I had just started to get used to the soft fabric of the robes and the airiness of them.

"It feels weird to be in them." Jun said almost reading my mind as he went down the steps keeping pace with me. "It's been a while since I left and had to wear them. Last time we left we traveled at night and in secret."

We got to the bottom of the stairs and I could see the outskirts of the town in front of us and it felt so odd to be back down here. It felt as if I had just stepped out of a whole other world and entered back into the real world which seemed to be untouched from my last time down here. I had honestly forgotten about the simple living everyone had down here after having to keep up with the chaos that ensued on the mountain above.

It was hard to think about everything that had happened up there and these people down here probably didn't have the slightest inkling about it. That was the 'blessing and curse of being a Temporal' as Chunami would like to phrase it. It was the bliss of ignorance in a way. They didn't have to worry themselves with what was going on ,but they also would fall victim to all of the outside forces. Their lives were in our hands so everything we chose to do would eventually trickle down the mountain to them one way or another.

"You mind if we take a detour before the train?" Jun asked as he looked over to me. "The train isn't due for another hour and I have someone I wanted to see."

"Got a secret girlfriend we don't know about?" I asked with a cheeky smile.

"Come on now." He said with a heavy sigh.

"...Boyfriend?" I asked unsure of if I was way off here.

"Really?" He asked glaring at me.

"You've never seemed interested in anyone that isn't made of leather and vellum." I said shrugging my shoulders. "How should I know?"

"You're funny." He said rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"Well?" I asked still wanting an answer.

"I like women." He said avoiding my eye contact as he looked forward at the village ahead. "But we're not visiting any secret lover of mine, nothing like that."

"Alright I suppose, where to then?" I asked walking alongside him hearing the gravel crunch under my feet.

"Uh, hard to explain. You'll see." He said trudging along and I didn't question it too much because I could hear his awkward tone. I had grilled him enough for the day so I left it be.