Grimm Reaction: A Price to Pay

Chapter 11: The blind see more

Shadow's P.O.V.

I scanned the trees as the cart slowly moved forward. A dull headache was beginning to form behind my left eye. I rubbed my temple to try to ease the pain.

At least Liz seemed to be adjusting well.

"What's your names? I don't think I've met you before." The man asked, not moving his unseeing eyes.

I looked at Liz. "My name is Samantha. Her name is Hanna. We're traveling to our aunt's house."

The old man stayed silent for a while, the horse jerked it's head.

"And my name is Cabbage. Don't lie to me kid. I can smell distention." He said.

Liz stiffened. I narrowed my eyes, contemplating whether or not what I had seen was correct. I tried again, this time watching the horse carefully.

"My name is Holly."

Once again the horse jerked it's head, and the man warned me to not lie a third time. I smirked.

"You're lying too. Your horse is the one who can tell if I'm being truthful. Not you." I said flatly. Liz's eyes widened. "And usually a person will introduce himself first, not ask the stranger their name right away."

The old man smiled, "You're very observant. Alright then, I'll tell you who I am.

"I go by the name of Joe. This fine horse is Jasper. We work together to transport goods from the Main kingdom of Tura to the small villages."

'The main kingdom, huh? Looks like we're on the right track.' I rested my head on my hand. "I'm...Shadow," I said, still uncomfortable with the name Liz had begun calling me.

"And I'm Tenshi." My friend spoke up. I gave her a confused look.

"Well now, those are some interesting names. Shadow and Tenshi. You folks sound pretty young, and I don't think the story about your aunt is true either. What are you two kids doing all the way out here by yourself?" Joe asked, scratching his beard.

I continued to stare at Liz, wondering why she hadn't told me about her sudden name change. She flashed me another one of her apologetic looks. I crossed my arms and leaned back, offering no answer to Joe's questions.

'Tenshi' quickly answered for me. "We're not exactly sure."

Joe frowned, "....hmm.... You know what? Never mind. From the way you just said that, and by way your sister just went silent, it sound like this is really personal to you two. Forget I ever asked."

Joe continued to chat with my friend as the cart rumbled on. My headache worsened.

I closed my eyes...

"Well hello again. Looks like you've been enjoying yourself."

My eyebrow twitched as the ever-present hollow voice greeted me. 'Go away.' I thought.

"Aw. Poor Shadow, feeling a little stressed are we?" Rage taunted.

I growled. 'Only because you won't shut up.'

"You could easily fix that."

'I'm not letting you out Rage. Not now, not ever.'

"Heh. Just keep telling yourself that Mutt. You will come to me eventually."

I reopened my eyes, my headache fading away with Rage's words. "Finally..." I said quietly, glad that she was gone. For the moment anyway.

"What was that?"

I looked up. Liz, no.. wait ,Tenshi was giving me an odd look. And though he wasn't facing me, I knew that Joe had also heard my short comment.

I stretched out my arms and sat up, "Nothing. Just finally got my back to pop." I looked out to the side. Noting to myself that the trees had thinned out. "How much further?" I asked.

"Well I can't see the gate yet, so it's probably getting close." The old man joked. My friend let out a short laugh, I smirked.

After another few minutes the gate Joe had spoken of came into view. It looked hand crafted and made out of wood. A stone wall that stood about ten feet high enclosed the area behind it.

'Everything looks old-fashioned.' I looked down at our clothes, 'We were fine with this blind guy, but I don't think we're going to blend in well in there.'

My modern-day black jacket and white T shirt would no doubt draw a lot of unneeded attention. As would Liz's red hoodie and jeans.

"Um... Joe?" I started carefully, trying to make my tone of voice sound sincere.

"Yes?" He sounded concerned. Good.

"Do you have some extra...uh, Shawls?" I asked. I saw my friend as realization crossed her face. "For the cold? We'll pay you back as soon as we can get the m-"

"Oh! Sure! I don't have any shawls, but I do have some old cloaks that no one would buy. Go ahead and take some, and don't worry about paying me back. I remember how hard it was to go on without a bit to my name." Joe said kindly.

I relaxed, cloaks would do great to cover up our clothes. "Thank you so much. We won't forget this."

"Don't you worry about it. They should be in the storage box behind me."

I quickly found two cloaks for Liz and I. Mine was black and long enough to just barely cover my pants, Liz's was a dark red and was shorter because of our height difference. She pointed out our shoes, and we both took them off.

By now we were close enough to the gate that the guard could see us. Strangely enough, the guard had no armor.

"Jasper! Joe! Great to see that you made it alright." The guard saw us, "Looks like you've brought company."

"Nice to see you too Barden." The old man answered, "This is Shadow and Tenshi, I picked them up around quarter pike."

Barden nodded, "That's fine. I hope you two will enjoy your stay. Welcome to the kingdom of Tura."