DAY 90, Morning

[loyallygiven]

Ken stared up at his ceiling for a long while after waking. Something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. Well, his clothes were too big, but he couldn’t recall if they always had been or if this was a new thing. There was nothing else to wear, except a too-large pair of pants, so he had to assume the oversized shirt was all he had. He

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[bluealgesistone]

Again, she shrugged her shoulders and again carefully walked over to Gisela's bureau and wardrobe. She proceeded to delicately but purposefully look through Gisela's vestments for something she could use to either pin-up the bottom of the nightgown or use as a belt to hold up the nightgown, since she knew how clumsy she was in her adult body, and she remembered how much more cumbersome it was in a child's body even with the lower center of gravity. She found a long, wide strand of the most beautiful pink iridescent silk ribbon which she thought would perfectly match the white, frilly cotton nightgown that Gisela had so graciously loaned her as she had no clothes with her other than the outfit that she came there in which was thoroughly saturated with water. She took the ribbon, remembering to put everything back the way it was, and gleefully padded over to the mirror with a grin and a new-found sense of conquest. Unfortunately she forgot to lift the skirt as she briskly walked over to the mirror and proceeded to fall flat on her

[bluealgesistone]

She had a great big smile on her face when Ken mentioned eating outside. "Oh Absolument! I would love it if we could eagt outside. I love picnicking!" She almost couldn't contain her excitement at the prospect of eating outside, especially since the landscape looks so much like her homeland, from the rolling hills of verdant green to the waves of golden grain. She thought she could sense some sort of ulterior motive in Ken's voice, but she dismissed it in the mean time.

[loyallygiven]

He hoped she wouldn't disagree, and he didn't think she would. And he was glad he wouldn't have to explain his need to get away from the walls of the castle. Even if it was just to the garden. Or... His heart beat a little faster at the thought of going farther than that.

Oh, wait. Was this it? He jogged ahead to a door that didn't look much different from any other and shoved it open to look inside. "This is the kitchen!" he announced. He held the door open with his whole body leaning against it so Gise could enter. "There isn't anyone here, so I guess we have to make our own food."

There was fruit, vegetables and bread left on the countertops. The coldbox probably stored the meat the cheeses. He spied a basket by the pantry that would work for carrying anything they wanted outside. He gathered up a couple of purple apples and some rolls and tossed them in the basket, and slipped into the pantry and returned with a bundle of cookies.

[bluealgesistone]

Gise entered and opened the cold box. She found some cured meat and some cheeses and added them to the basket. She found a folded tablecloth and took that as well. "I think this should make for a wonderful picnic."

[loyallygiven]

He hummed his approval, and couldn't see anything else he wanted to bring. If he were home, he would want to bring juice boxes and fruit snacks, and maybe some raisens. Oh! And Fruit Roll-ups. He loved those! But he didn't see anything like that here. He hefted the basket up with two hands.

There was a second door that lead outside. The maids used it to haul in water and food and haul out the waste. It was more convenient than going through the castle. It was through this door that he went, to the outside. But outside was a courtyard that was, while somewhat pretty, mostly packed dirt and stone for the carriages to roll through and deposit people at the castle's main entrance. There were children chasing each other around, and a horse was roaming free.

"Is this okay?" he asked. "It might be nicer outside the gate," he hesitated to suggest. She might not want to walk that far. "I-if you want. We don't have to."

[bluealgesistone]

She looked out at the courtyard with delight. As she was taking it all in looking side to side, something caught her eye inside the kitchen. She saw a small basket full of what looked like dried apricots. Her eyes grew wide and she shouted, "Abricots! J'adore les abricots!" And she swiftly grabbed the basket and added it to their larger collection for the picnic. Then she finally noticed Ken waiting for her reply and responded, "Oh, let us find a more grassy place to sit and eat. I do not think you would like dust in your food and neither would I."

[loyallygiven]

He felt himself relax, unaware he had been so tense. Maybe it was just the walls. He didn't want to be stuck inside them. But even out here in the courtyard, and no doubt the garden as well, had high walls towering over them.

He nodded happily and started off across the dirt yard to the main gates, partly closed, but the space between the great doors was more than enough for two small children to walk right through. Outside those gates, everything opened up. The road twisted down into a sprawling village, and fields rolled out beyond that. The forest sprang up along the left, and crept close to the castle. Along the outer wall of the castle, the grass was thick and inviting. "This is good," he decided. Though his eyes strayed off to another monument in the distance. The temple.

[bluealgesistone]

Gise noticed Ken looking up grimly at the building in the distance, she thought it looked ominous, but she looked up at it too. She noticed the large palisades and ramparts on the roof, to her it looked more like a fortress from back in Europe, the kind designed to repel cannon fire. "What is that building? It looks grand." She said as she pointed at the ominous building.

[loyallygiven]

"Hm?" He blinked and tore his gaze away from the distant building to look at the girl at his side. "Oh. That's the temple. I have a friend there." His eyes drifted back to the temple. He frowned and looked down at his hands. His small hands. Something was wrong... Wasn't he supposed to be older before coming to this world?

He shook his head, dislodging those thoughts. He didn't want Gise to worry, or to think he was ignoring her. He set the basket down in the grass, though he had a hard time diverting his attention from the temple. Maybe Shinou had answers to his questions?

[bluealgesistone]

Gise took out the tablecloth, unfolded it and flew it out in the wind, holding two corners, and placed it on the grass so they could sit. She placed the basket on one of the corners and began to take out the food so that they could eat. "You said you have a friend there? Maybe we should go there after we eat, n'est-ce pas?" She then sat down very lady-like folding her legs to the side and fixed her skirt across her lap. She took out the bread, meat, and cheese and all of the fruit and began to break it up into bite-sized pieces. She offered Ken a piece of bread with some cheese and cured meat on it. She ate the same and said, "this is really good, this meat tastes like Genoa Salami," noting the speckling of fat evenly distributed through it, "...and the cheese tastes like Asiago, délicieux!" She then grabbed a piece of the dried "Apricot" and ate it, it tasted similar only salty. She crinkled her nose with the unexpected taste.

[loyallygiven]

Go to the temple. He should be comfortable with that idea. He probably belonged there more than here. There was a naggy kind of voice that told him he was too young to walk that distance alone - or with another child. But the other child said she was really an adult

[bluealgesistone]

She graciously took the apple from Ken, "What is this fruit? It is about the shape of a Quince." She took a bite from it, the skin was firm and crisp and the flesh was soft and had a honey-like taste to it, she noticed a drop of juice dripping down her chin and deftly wiped it up with a napkin. "This fruit is absolutely délicieux, it tastes just like the Quince mon père imported from angleterre!"

She continued to eat the fruit with gusto, devouring the whole thing down to the core. "I would like to meet your friend. I like it here, this place reminds me much of Belgium, my home."

[loyallygiven]

He could not dig up any reasons not to go to the temple. Though he also could not figure the source of his reluctance or why he was so nervous. He thought a bit as he finished off his apple, then took a deep breath and nodded.

"It's a long walk. We should start now if we don't want to get caught in the dark."

[bluealgesistone]

Gise was excited about meeting someone new and she could feel a strong energy emanating from the edifice above them. "Well then we should clean this all up so that we can get going, allons-y!"

She started to clean up the food and everything from their wonderful picnic and place it all in the basket. She started moving at a lightening speed that even surprised her and before she knew it, everything was folded and placed neatly in the basket. They ate more than she realized so there wasn't as much to put away as there was to take out before.

[loyallygiven]

Ken would have offered to help, but she seemed to have everything under control, and he probably would have got himself in the way. Once everything was packed away, he took up the basket (it seemed only fair, since she cleaned up). It was much lighter now, at least.

It was unfortunate that he had no shoes, but the path wasn't too rough, if he was careful to avoid any pointy rocks. He started off toward the temple with Gise, his apprehension growing with each step. But he was also hopeful, for there might be answers, and an old friend he hadn't seen in a very long time.