Editing The Toe Chronicles (section)

=== Nathan ===
Nathan tried to stay still while looking around, trying to not alert whatever was near them that he was living. For a fleeting moment, he hoped that it was his toe coming back to him, but all logic in his brain put that idea to rest. Bob looked terrified, but he had his trusty pole with him, so he would be fine. Nathan, however, had only two hands, a backpack, and two feet with nine toes. He looked around for a weapon to use, but all he could find was a burned piece of wood. He slowly scooted towards the campfire, hoping to stay quiet. An outlying twig had other ideas, and made a loud snap when Nathan put his hand on it. The bushes rustled with increased speed, and out appeared a small, fleshy looking object. Nathan almost called out to it, thinking it was his toe, but then he saw more and more of those toe-looking objects emerge from the bushes. He almost laughed at them, but some of them held sharp looking objects. Nathan looked again. They didn’t hold the spears, the spears levitated in position with the toes. Either way, they looked tough, and there were lots of them. 

The weird fleshy things also had tiny little faces which Nathan found quite interesting, they all had two eyes which could look in different directions like a chameleon and they seemed to hop around everywhere, because as far as he could see they had no visible limbs. A quick glance at Bob and a nod showed that they both had the same idea, they needed to get out of there right away. They both easily rushed the front lines of the tiny fleshy things and jumped over them, and then they both ran like horses being chased by a pack of rabid hyenas. They ran for around a quarter of a legion when they couldn’t see or hear any sign of the weird little creatures. As soon as they slowed down, they realized they had left half of their supplies at their previous camping spot, and now only had Bob’s fishing pool and some of the food that Nathan quickly grabbed before the dash, and thankfully the money that they had brough on the trip. They sat down and talked for a little about whether to continue or not. They decided there was no point on going back and it would just be best to go to Liverriver like they had planned. 

With a day of traveling ahead of them they ate a quick meal with what food they had left, then they trudged on with empty stomachs and sad hearts. At around noon, they stopped near a river to let Bob try to catch a fish for them. Nathan sat on the side, wondering what those fleshy things were, and if they were related to his missing toe. Nathan was deep in thought when he heard Bob yell out. Nathan jumped up and looked for a weapon. After grabbing an empty water canteen that some litterer had left on the trail, Nathan looked for Bob. He found Bob pulling the biggest fish either of them had ever seen onto land. Nathan dropped his newfound weapon and rushed to help Bob pull the fish up farther onto land. They cooked then ate as much of the fish as they could, and tried to bring the rest with them, but realized that they would get tired out from that. And so, they threw the rest of the fish into the river from which it came and continued.     

When there was little less than an hour till moonset, they rounded a bend and they both sighed relieving as they saw that Liverriver was less than a legion away. It was much larger than their home of Willow Creek, and they were both a little in awe of how big it looked even from a decent distance away. As they drew closer, they noticed there were a lot of people wandering in and out of the town, and they both thought that this might be due to the market that the town was known for. As they entered the town, they remembered the youngling that they were looking for and tried to think of how they might find him in this large place. They decided they could ask a shopkeeper to find the whereabouts of this wise youngling. As they were both discussing this plan, they randomly strode in front of a small shop that was about the size of two wagons (one twentieth the size of a Walmart). They both looked at each other with a nod and decided that this was as good a place as any to ask around. 

When they entered the shop, the nastiest smell they had ever smelled hit their noses, making them almost throw up. Nathan looked around for someone to ask questions to, and then turned to Bob to ask for help. Of course, Bob wasn’t there. Nathan looked through the window and saw Bob gasping for breath outside. Nathan decided that Bob would be no help, and so, he turned around to continue his search. He noticed an old man staring at him with searching eyes. Nathan was slightly weirded out, but since he didn’t see anyone else in the shop, he walked over to the man. “You look like you have traveled a long way to get here” the old man observed. “Yes. Yes, I have.” Nathan replied, “I was wondering if you could tell me where the wise youngling lives?” “Can I, yes. Will I, no.” The man answered. “But it’s important! I need him to tell me how to get my toe back!” Nathan lifted his foot, showing the missing toe. The man stared at it for a few seconds, and then said, “That’s a mighty fine predicament you are in, but I still won’t help you.” 

As Nathan assessed the man, he noticed how big his muscles were with his arms being the size of a tree trunk, there was no way that he was going to be able to take the man on physically to get the information. So, he decided to go out to Bob to find a different way to get to the youngling. He wandered out of the store to see Bob chatting on and on with a normal-looking townish-like person. He was a little shorter than normal though, but looking into his eyes there was something there that showed that he had great wisdom. He wondered, could it be? Was this the youngling that they had been looking for? As he approached Bob and the other guy, they both quickly looked up at him as he drew closer. Bob was quick to introduce the kid which he himself had just met, Nathan shook hands with the kid, and the kid introduced himself as Charles. Nathan and Bob now wasted no time in explaining their predicament. Charles looked like he understood the situation and nodded as if to himself after they finished telling their story to him. There was a brief silence as Charles thought, and soon after he opened his mouth to tell them what they would need to do. 

“You see that mountain?” Charles said, pointing. “That is where you must go. Locals call it Limb Mountain.” “Why do they call it that?” Nathan asked. “They just do, don’t interrupt me.” Charles replied, annoyed. “When you reach that big cave in the middle of the mountain, enter it. You will then have to go through some puzzles. After you complete the puzzles, you will meet the wise youngling. He will show you where to find the Pool of Phalanges, where your toe will return to you.” 

As they were still looking at the mountain Charles suddenly walked away and as soon as they stopped looking at the mountain then they saw that he was now nowhere in sight. They both looked at each other for a little while thinking about what to do next. They talked a little then decided to get some supplies while they were still in Liverriver then the next morning when the moon rose, they would set off on the couple day journey to the middle of the mountain. They hurriedly bought some supplies and then found a good place to lay down for the night just a little way from town. They both laid down, but both fell asleep with ease, because of the drowsiness and exhaustion from the previous couple day’s journey. Tomorrow, they started the journey to the middle of the mountain, and they now had good hope. Possibly, in a couple days' time, Nathan might have his toe back. 

The climb was grueling, but the thought of getting his toe back motivated Nathan to continue. Bob was a little less motivated, having only the hope of getting his friend’s toe back. At about midday, they found a jut in the mountain to rest and eat. They laid there for about an hour, though it didn’t feel like that because they took a nap. Nathan woke up first, and after spending five minutes waking up Bob, they recommended the climb. They had almost made it to the cave when night came, and both were worn slap-out. Bob wanted to find a place to rest, but Nathan wanted to continue. It took Bob quite a while to convince Nathan that it would be better to sleep and face the cave’s challenges tomorrow, but he finally did. And so, they both went to sleep, one dreaming of getting his toe back, while the other dreamed of fishing.

They both woke up around two hours past the rising moon which was a little later than they intended. However, this didn’t keep them from continuing towards their goal, hope was in sight and Nathan’s toe had never felt closer. Except for when he had it on his foot however, but just the hope that he would soon have it back got him excited. They hiked on for a couple hours and then came across the entrance to the inside of the mountain. It looked like any normal cave with about two flabits length wide and one and a half flabit lengths long. The entrance to the cave looked like an interesting blue shade of limestone while the inside looked a more yellow shade of the same material. They both slowly entered not knowing what was inside the damp dark cave. They were both ten paces into the cave when suddenly something unexpected happened.