Chapter 45: Day 44

Day 44,

If I’m right, then that floating island should pass over the route into town around noon today, give or take a couple hours.  Going to go out around that time to see if I’m right.

 

The floating island ended up returning in the earlier end of my estimated time frame.  I watched it for several minutes until an idea struck me.  With the general east-to-west direction it was drifting I might be able to get a decent view of it from Siren Overlook once it left this island and started going over the water.  Perhaps not the best view since the cliff mostly faces south and the floating island would probably be north of it, but still might be a view once it gets far enough west.  That’s all assuming it didn’t make any unexpected turns in its course, which was entirely possible.  Or I could either miss it or end up waiting around all day since its speed was a bit hard to judge given its size and distance.

Of course, those downsides to the plan were things I’d considered after I’d already started jogging off toward the western road out of the Village.

As it turns out, the floating island was going slightly faster than I’d originally gauged and it made a surprise southerly turn.  Well, less a turn and more a veering off.  The point being, by the time I reached Siren Overlook the hovering landmass was already there waiting.  And I do mean waiting.

At the end of the promontory the arch at the edge of the cliff was now lined up with a matching archway at the edge of the island with a cracked and overgrown stone pathway on the other side leading into the trees.  My excitement at witnessing this was enough to drown out whatever calming effect the siren song had as I ran toward it.

Up close, the floating island was even bigger than I’d realized; at least two or three times as wide across as the Overlook was long.  Even without the dense vegetation it would probably take a few minutes at a brisk pace for me to walk from one end of the other.  And now that I was nearly level with it I could tell that either there was a hill on the island or the trees got noticeably taller toward the center and far side.  Or perhaps both.  Even more interestingly, those trees were different from the ones I’d been surrounded by the past month and a half.  I’m no botanist, so I can’t say if they were a different species, or breed, or just a variation due to their… unique environment, but there were signs that something was different.  Slightly thinner and smoother trunks, broader and lighter green leaves, that sort of thing.

Still, enticing my curiosity beyond even that I could nearly swear that I caught a glimpse of a rooftop beyond the trees.  I very nearly tried to jump the one or two foot gap between the cliff and the island in my eagerness, but some rational part of my mind held me back.  Too many folk stories of witches in huts in secluded areas not taking kindly to intruders came to mind.  Or spirits and guardians of temples and shrines wishing to be left undisturbed.  Were such things really out of the realm of possibility here?  And, more mundanely, if it started moving again while I was still on it, I’d be stuck there for just over twelve days before it returned, with no guarantee that I’d have food and water during that time.  Twelve days on my own if I accidentally got hurt in some way.  Twelve days of me just disappearing without telling anyone where I went.  Although perhaps Cass and Lin could figure that part out with the bracelets.

And so, I held myself back and watched as a few minutes later the island resumed its journey south and west, picking up speed and elevation as it went.  Having stepped back from the metaphorical precipice of adventure I began doing so with the rather literal precipice beneath my feet.  As I did so, no longer paying quite as much attention to the island, I became aware that the siren song was quieter than usual, despite the fact that I was practically standing inside the archway.  It did come back though as the island continued to lazily move away so I moved down to the landward side of the overlook from where I continued to watch for the better part of an hour.  It looked like it would end up passing over one of the smaller non-floating islands, but between not wanting to fall asleep out here again and not wanting to have yet another day so soon of leaving the archive mostly unattended, I returned to the Village before I could be entirely sure.

Twelve days to figure out if I’m brave enough to attempt hitching a ride and then stockpile another twelve days’ worth of supplies if I am.

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