chapter 4

Just outside The Forest of Ibarra, Eleanor Navarro and Salvador Cymont appeared in a haze of smoke like fog. Both held their heads in their hands, no matter how many times they had used the teleport tubes; it always gave them headaches and a queasy feeling. Or in Salvador's case actually being sick, behind a tree, trying not to attract Eleanor's attention. However, she noticed his absence the moment she recovered from the dizzy spell the teleport had given her.

''Vador, you ok,'' Eleanor called raising her voice slightly, so she could be heard above the rustling of the tress.

''Yep,'' Salvador replied jumping, rapidly out from behind the tree, where a fresh patch of sick lay on the ground.

''What were you doing behind the tree?'' Eleanor asked, because she was sure that when they'd landed he had been right next to her.

''I er... landed behind the tree,'' He stuttered rubbing the back of his neck. He sighed; knowing dam well Eleanor wasn't going to fall for his badly constructed lie.

''You were throwing up, weren't you?'' Eleanor asked when all he answered with was a nod of his head.

''Ok, stop laughing now, it's not funny, can we please move on and maybe go meet your parents,'' Salvador pleaded as his friend continued to laugh. Obviously he didn't find the thought of throwing up at least as funny as Eleanor did.

''Alright. Alright. Sorry. Let's go find my parents,'' After recovering from her laughing fit, Eleanor begun to walk to the opening of a forest that loomed above them. However, she suddenly stopped, causing Salvador to give her a quizzical look.

''Are you ok?'' Salvador asked concerned about the way she was acting.

''We have to leave all our technology here,'' She replied, however the response only made Salvador even more confused than he had been before.

''Why?'' He asked, while watching Eleanor taking various electrical objects out of her bag.

''It's their culture and way of living Vador, we need to respect that. So no tech or anything electrical allowed within a two mile radius,'' As she explained, Salvador begun searching through his belongings, taking out anything that was electrical as well.

The people, who lived in The Forest of Ibarra, preferred a more traditional way of living as it were. Part of their traditional life style meant that all forms of technology and modern inventions (including newspapers) were not used. The people of Ibarra, which was mainly Drei Occhi and a few Ijoba, believed that living without technology was more effective for them.

However, if you were like Eleanor and had joined the army or moved to a city, the lack of knowing about technology was a problem. Even though this may be the case, Eleanor mastered technology very quickly.

''Ok we've taken all our tech out, but where do we put it?'' Salvador asked as he stared down at the assortment of electrical objects that he hadn't realized how important they were to him until that moment.

''There should be a wooden door somewhere, but it's pretty well hidden so we better start looking,'' Eleanor replied, proceeding to jump and tap the ground beneath her, in order to find the trapdoor.

''Wait you don't know where it is?'' Vador asked.

''Nope, why?''Eleanor spoke while continuing to find the hidden door, which knowing her luck was buried underneath tonnes of crispy brown leaves.

The Forest of Ibarra had only just entered the beginning of autumn, whereas other parts of the planet; such as the army compound, were in the middle of summer. It being autumn in the forest was probably the whole reason why Salvador felt colder than usual. Since, he had been used to scorching temperatures for the past couple of months. Although wearing only a vest and camouflaged jacket on top wasn't exactly helping either.

''Are you just going to stand there, looking like an idiot, or are you going to help me find the trapdoor. So we can hide our stuff,'' Eleanor was slowly growing impatient, because the more time they waste, the more Charlene will have to possibly destroy the planet; of course Eleanor doubted her sister would just destroy the planet; Charlene would wish to rule it.

''Alright, keep your hair on, I doubt I'll find it, but...'' Salvador stopped mid sentence, as when he went to step forward, his foot seemed to hit a surface that didn't sound like leaves or the ground. It sounded like wood.

''You have got to be kidding me,'' Eleanor huffed in annoyance, before walking over to Salvador and helping him brush a mixture of dead leaves, as well as dry patches of mud and moss.

Once they'd uncovered the door, (which was indeed wooden) the only thing that they needed was to unlock it. Salvador noticed the keyhole and hoped Eleanor had the key to open it because if not they were screwed; seeing as there was no way he was leaving his rather expensive kit on the edge of a forest. He heaved a small sigh of relief, (Eleanor didn't notice) as his friend dug into her trouser pocket, pulling out a very old looking key. It may have been old, but it was surprisingly elegant in its look. The handle of the key was carved in the shape of a flower, with markings on each petal. Salvador concluded that they were in the language of the Ibarra forest. However, it wasn't just that, that drew Salvador's attention, it was the shaft of the key, which was created using vines wrapping around each other as inspiration. If you looked close enough then you would even notice the small leaves as added detail.

''Where did you get the key from?'' Salvador asked.

''It was given to me, before I left for the army. I didn't know what it was for, until I found this door and well it opened it,'' Eleanor explained unsure as to why Salvador asked about the key.

''So you just stumbled across a door in the ground and thought, hey I have this key I'll see if it fits,'' Vador said as he helped Eleanor open the door, which was a lot heavier then he'd expected.

''What are you saying Vador?''Eleanor was confused over his sudden outburst. She was going to ignore it, but she wanted to know what he meant; even if it wasn't anything important.

''Well have you tried it on any other door?'' She just looked at Salvador as if he had just lost his mind. She had told him moments ago it opened the wooden door, why would he ask if it opened anything else.

''Why would I use it on something else, when I know it opens this,'' Eleanor stated picking up all her tech and carefully setting it down in the hole the door had revealed when unlocked.

''How do you know it just opens that if you've never attempted to use it on something else?''

''Salvador, it's not one of those keys that opens everything,'' Eleanor snapped wanting him to drop the subject.

''You don't know that,'' Vador muttered hoping she wouldn't hear him, but of course she did, Eleanor almost always heard him.

''I do because it's impossible, a key like that doesn't exist. So stop talking about it, please,'' Eleanor ended the conversation by slamming the door shut and locking it.

''Now let's go,'' She finished, smiling sweetly before then proceeding to walk into the forest. Salvador followed, trailing behind; he'd seen the key before, well a very similar one.


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