Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Chapter One

-----.It was a morning like most others in the modern world. The wind was blowing, the sun was out and there was coffee brewing in the kitchen. However, Katrina wasn't too concerned about the coffee. She was in her room, laying on her belly and reading a book. This particular book, she has read well over a hundred times. Its pages were starting to look a little worn and had certainly seen better days. Katrina didn't mind the softened edges. It gave the book character.
-----.She had a smile plastered on her face, her legs moved back and forth as she flipped to the first page. It was an odd vine. Dusky variegated leaves hunkered...Oh, it would be so cool if I could just be in the story. I would just love to go on an adventure. Death haunting every corner, danger around the turn when you don't expect it and blood-pumping action. Before Katrina could finish reading the first paragraph, the book pulled her in. When she blinked, her eyes met the vine strangling the life out of the balsam fir. It smelled horrid. She took a step back and the crack of a small branch under her foot gave her pause.
-----."Who's there?" Came a male's voice. A smile spread across her face, knowing who the voice belonged to. She thought better of it and decided to play stranger for the time being. Then she thought about how he will question her and she didn't want to lie to him. Did she look appropriate? She glanced down at herself. At least her clothes matched the age she was in. Her head had thoughts flooding in all at once.
-----.Katrina shook her head, as if the action physically shook the thoughts loose from her brain. She walked around the tree, meeting the man halfway. "Um, hello," she said, smoothing her dress down. The fabric felt surprisingly nice.
-----.The man stared at her. "Who are you? Where are you from?" Katrina gave him a sideways smile and furrowed her brows. "I'm Katrina. I'm...not from around here."
-----.The man sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. "Where did you come from? You weren't here before."
-----."It's not exactly something that I can explain easily, nor will it be an answer that you'll accept, but know that it's the truth, okay?" Katrina paused. The man nodded to her. Katrina took a breath as she reconnected eye-contact with the man. "I was at home, reading a book that I hold dear to my heart when I decided to make a wish to become a part of that story, that adventure. Richard, I'm not from here. I'm from another world."
-----.Richard's eyes went wide. "How did you know my name? I didn't tell you my name."
-----."I know because you're a character in the book I was reading. I cherish these books and know them cover to cover," Katrina said, trying to ease the situation. Richard ran his fingers through his hair again before spreading his feet and giving a good tug to the vine that was strangling the tree. His powerful arms ripped several tendrils away from the tree.
-----.That's when the vine bit him.
-----.Richard backed away. The pod head of the vine looked like it was staring at him. Richard looked down and inspected his left hand. It looked like a thorn was stuck in the gash that the vine had left. He turned around and patted his side for his knife. He had left it at home today with his pack and his father's necklace. He was furious at himself for leaving something so important behind in his depression. This settled it. The vine was trouble. He began to use his fingernails to try to dig the thorn out, but it only seemed to go deeper. He stopped when he started getting woozy.
-----.While he was messing with the vine, Katrina had wandered off to the nannyberry tree, where she had located in the crook of its roots, an aum plant. She had tenderly snapped off one of the stems at its base and brought it to Richard. He gave her a confused glare, but went ahead and squeezed some of the liquid from the stem over his wound, glad that the plant had healing properties. It had numbed the pain, but all of the blood didn't make him feel any better. Richard went ahead and buried the stem, hoping it would re-root and make a new plant. Then, he turned to Katrina.
-----.Before he could open his mouth, a large shadow swooped across the ground. Whatever it was, it was large enough to rustle the canopies of the trees and send birds scattering, carrying calls of alarm. He had looked up. In that instant, he thought he could make out something big. Big and red. He faced Katrina again. "So, if you know this story cover to cover, can you tell me what that was?"
-----.Katrina nodded. "You need to find out later and not from me. How about, instead of trying to get all the answers from me, you find out which direction it went?" Richard huffed and took off, running in the direction the shadow had gone. Katrina ran with him. Branches that hung in the path slapped at their arms and legs as they ran by. Sweat dripped down from their hairlines and the air felt cool against their faces. Richard carelessly took off down a hillside. Katrina knew that from the book, there was a trail at the bottom of the hill that overlooked Trunt Lake.
-----.Once they got to the trail, they had to stop. The open blue sky could only show the dot of the figure that had flown overhead before. Richard couldn't even tell if it was red. He plopped down next to a boulder to recover. Katrina knelt near him, inspecting his hand. "We should at least get that wrapped up before the third child shows up," she said, tearing a strip of fabric from the bottom of her dress and attempting to help Richard out with his wound.
-----."Trouble comes in threes, not fours," Richard said, clearly stating that Katrina was trouble. Her shoulders slumped. "I'm not trouble, Richard. I'm a friend."
-----."Prove it. What was that? Why won't you tell me?" He kept his hand away from her until she gave him the answers he wanted.
-----."I won't tell you because it's a learning experience for you. Would you deny yourself knowledge through experience? I just can't tell you. That's the toasted toads truth." She scowled at him, knowing he knew that last phrase she said would have some effect on him. His face lightened up.
-----."You know him. You're friends with him." Richard said, holding his hand out for her to wrap.
-----."In a sense. Zedd is another character that I care for. I wouldn't know what to tell you if I didn't know him," she said, wrapping his hand carefully. "The old man is more than you know, but he is a wonderful person." She finished the knot on the fabric. "There. That won't do much, but it'll hold for a while yet." Richard nodded, then looked down at the lake. He thought he saw movement, so he looked harder. He saw something white, a dress, hastening down the path on the other side of the lake. Behind it, he saw four other figures following it. Katrina patted his shoulder before offering a hand to help him up.
-----."That's the third child, isn't it." Richard said blankly. Katrina nodded. "Let's go help her."



This is not an original story. This is a fan-fiction based off of the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. I do not own any of the characters or places or anything part of the series. Katrina is my character.