The Village: Part Two

Leo laid back on the bed after he had eaten to his fill. His belly now protruding through his torn shirt. The food was not as delicious as the one back on Earth, but it was good enough for Leo.

"Ahhh. I couldn't eat another bite."

The cloth covering the entrance was shifted aside by a girl. Leo raised his head to take a look at her. She was wearing a dress that looked ragged, maybe because she wore it often.

'Why does she look soo poor. Kiva was far better dressed than this. But come to think of it, almost everyone that I've seen looked wretched.'

That was when Leo realized that he did not look any better than the rest of them.

[Chuckle]

Leo chuckled at the thought and concluded that they all may have appeared here just like him and with no extra luggage.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but I came to find out if you were done with your meal."

Leo instantly became puzzled at the way she addressed him. She talked to him in the same manner that a slave would talk to his/her master.

"Hi. My name is Leo. What's yours?"

She bowed her head as she replied in a shaky voice.

"My name is Gwendolen."

'Why is she acting soo formal. It's almost as if she's scared of me.'

"Can I call you Gwen?"

"Yes you can sir."

"I enjoyed the meal Gwen, and I feel much stronger now."

"That's good to hear. I shall inform Kiva of your current status."

Leo smiled at her, but his face became hardened as he brought himself to ask her the same question that he asked Kiva.

"Hey, Gwen. I need answers about what this world is and how exactly I appeared here? Did you people appear here just like me or were you always here? And more importantly, is there a way back?"

Gwen kept mute even after Leo was done with his questions. Leo watched her closely as she vibrated nervously.

"Why are you scared?"

Her eyes widened as if she realized that she was messing up.

"I'm not scared, sir. I just don't think that I'm the right one to give you the answers you seek."

Leo was utterly confused by this response, his jaw slightly dropping and closing backup once he grasped the situation.

'This doesn't make any sense, but at least, the answers do exist.'

"Ok, I understand."

"Thank you, sir."

She hurriedly picked up the remains of Leo's meal and left the room.

"Why are they keeping me in the dark?"

Leo suddenly realized that the pain in his body at this point was completely gone. He tried standing again, and although he stumbled quite a bit, he eventually regained his balance and could move around freely and normally.

"Finally. I feel like my body is at one hundred percent now."

He stretched his body and was amazed at how light his body had become. He could hear the sounds and voices of different people coming from all around him and this peaked his curiosity. He then proceeded to move outside to see what his new environment looked like.

"What the…"

Leo was amazed and short of words by the sight of the village and its inhabitants. All the houses were built just like the one he was in. There were weird bird-like creatures that had the same features as the birds on Earth, only that these birds had four wings with claws at the end of each of the wings. They also had a tail with feathers. They were beautiful and could be seen in large numbers all around the village. But in addition to their ability to fly, they were also extremely fast when running on all four of their limbs. Their wings would coil up around their limbs and give them the form of dogs with bird heads. Their size was also outstanding because when they got down on all fours, they definitely looked big enough to tower over a small kid.

"Incredible. This would have been scary for me if I hadn't already met the more dangerous beasts in the jungle."

He felt relaxed and in control, because the people did not seem bothered by the bird-like creatures.

[ROAR]

He was staring up at the majestic creatures when a loud roar from his side scared the hell out of him.

"Jesus Christ!"

He turned in the direction of the roar while taking evasive actions. Facing him from the side was a creature that was as big as a horse, but had the body and facial features of a cheetah. But unlike the tiger monsters in the jungle, this one had fur and not scales. There were a few ropes that ran across its body and were attached to a wagon. Leo stared at the creature with fear and was angry at himself for being careless and for letting his guard down. The creature maintained its position and stared back at Leo.

"Hey, you! Are you having a staring contest with my horse?"

Leo's attention immediately shifted to the rider on the wagon. He remained motionless for a while. A smile gently formed on his face as he realized that this creature was tame and used as a means of transportation. He then let out a sheepish chuckle.

"Get out of the way before I run you over."

He snapped out of it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was my mistake"

He stepped aside for the man and the creature to pass.

"Pay close attention to your surroundings boy, the world is a dangerous place."

"Thank you"

Leo watched as the man went off and pondered on how the man's demeanor was far different from that of Gwen. After the man had gone some distance away from him, he turned around and realized that the cheetah creature was everywhere and some were just tied to wooden beam and given some grass to eat.

"It seems like this world is just full of surprises"

He also noticed the kids he saw earlier. They were running around and playing a game of tag with the boy chasing the girl. When the boy was about to touch the girl, she jumped. She jumped soo high that she was able to land on the roofs of one of the houses.

"No fair, we agreed not to use our gates while playing"

The boy turned around and left the girl and stated that she was a cheater.

Leo witnessed the whole thing and was flabbergasted. He thought to himself.

'How the hell did she do that…and that boy. He said something about gates. What did he mean by that?'

"Mister Leo"

Leo turned back and his gaze was met with Kiva and a tall and strong-looking guy. He looked down and saw an elderly man with a dark complexion standing in front of them.

"Leo. this is Chief Mbaku. He is the Leader of this village."

Kiva spoke with authority as the tall guy studied Leo with a look of disappointment.

"It's nice to finally meet you, my daughter tells me that you have a lot of questions and I am here to answer them"

Leo had set aside the fact that a little girl just jumped about 10 feet into the air and put all his attention on the answers he was about to receive.

"Let's go inside. We have a lot to discuss."