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Boones had taken the shock a bit harder. He was not used to being surprised like that, even less by an angry female voice booming out of nowhere
He straighten himself in the chair, wipping off the ale of his clothes with his wrinkled hand, but sadly the harm was done

"Hell with ya woman, are ye trying to give this old man a heart attack!?!"

He looked at her and then back at Alex with a suspicion in his eye. Yeah, there was something about her that was pretty similar to this man, but he didn't think they were related. By the way they talked or even looked at with each other, Boones was pretty sure they have never met before
But what about the color story? It was unlikely both had hit their heads and had the same same dream, or whatever it was

He got up from his chair and turned it towards her "Take my seat lass and tell us wha happened"

Well, this was interesting to see the villagers' reactions to the newly arrived lady, and as Alex listened, he slowly moved to sit back down in his seat. "No, I don't know her, but relax guys. Its cool." If the two folks at the table were thinking the lady's attitude was bad, well, that must mean she wasn't from around these parts either.

And the story she was telling about falling through colors and shapes only seemed to confirm that, at least to Alex. He motioned a hand towards the free chair at the table. "Take a seat", he suggested as he took a bite of some food. Swallowing the piece of food, he replied, "The answer to your question is yes though. Everything was fine and then I find myself in.. what was the name? Ironwood Forest? Yeah, thats it."

He leaned back some, running his fingers through his hair as he did. "I don't know what the colors were, but thats what I saw before I ended up in that forest. Your guess is as good as mine, and I'm taking a bet that you have no better guess than I do."

Ok, enough for her questions though, he had a few of his own. "Don't call me Pilot man though. The name's Alex. Alexander Barrett. And who are you and where are you from? You're obviously not local to here either."

Boones had to exercise a great deal of self control not to teach this girl some manners. Impertenance, if not disrespect, was one thing that always pushed the wrong buttons
But if he wanted to understand what was going on he'd had to keep a hold on his tongue. So instead of talking back he simply fetched and lighted his wooden pipe, taking in the flavoured taste of the smoke with breaths a bit deeper than usual

He listen intendly, nodding to Alex in confirmation of the name of the forest. What they were discussing didn't make the story and clearer. Actually it was even more puzzling how the strange words they kept mentioning to each other seemed to make perfect sense to them
And then there was the strange colors again, not to mention both arriving at the forest. He had heard his share of crazy stories about that place, most just to scare a few coins from their owners than real events, but this beat them all

"If ye don't mind me asking, what were the both of ye doing before ye got to the forest? Did ya upset someone or anything?"

Alex ate a bit of food in the small pause. He was still hungry from having had to eat what he'd left in his coat pockets. Sure, the half eaten candy bar he had eaten was ok, but seriously, no one should have to down a half a box of tic-taks in order to not feel like he was starving. Real food was available, and he was going to get what he could. No arguing that point.

He looked at Edward, not sure about this whole "going to church" thing either. But arguing about that wasn't worth it, since it might upset the locals if he voiced what Evangeline was saying. Another piece of food was chewed as he tried to figure out what to say, or even if there was much to say.

The pilot swallowed and nodded, "Ok Evangeline. Well, like I said, I was sitting in my..." He paused a second. "...flying machine." He hoped that would make more sense to the locals. "And then it happened. I was tired. I had a long day. Was trying to keep my business afloat. I was trying to relax. Next thing I know, I'm out in that forest after a huge display of lights and colors."

He shook his head, "I didn't upset anyone or anything. Well, maybe the bank. But something tells me that the bank doesn't kidnap people and toss them in a forest in the middle of a place I've never heard about." Alex rubbed his eyes a bit, "Oh man, I hope Chan can keep the business afloat while I'm here in... uh... Altha... Athlay-us? Err, don't mind me. I'm rambling."

He pointed a finger towards Evangeline, "Whoever did this though, did it to both of us. Just... not sure why. I mean, why kidnap a pilot and uh... what do you do anyways? Eh, needless to say, why kidnap two people with nothing in common and not take anything, and then leave us stranded out in some wacked out forest?" He shook his head.

"Doesn't make sense."

At the refusal of accepting the chair Boones took the seat again, but kept an eye open in case Evangeline shown any signs of wanting to sit. It was not polite to him having a woman fetch a chair for herself when he could very well offer his

"Now now Edward, saying she hasn't gone to the church for some time is not enough to be called that" he turned to Evangeline, taking a more serious tone "But ye shouldn't say that outloud nonetheless lass. Some people would be mighty eager the chase ye out of town just by the way ye look. And the same applies the ya lad"

Boones took a deep breath, considering the idea that was forming in his mind. He hadn't really believed someone might have done something to these people, if they didn't really know where they were, but it was still a better theory than the one he was about to suggest

"From all me years of experience, even before I started the sell stories for a business, I only heard of one story similar the yours. Anyone who paid attention to the history of the kingdom knows people came here from somewhere else"

He lifted his pipe and showed them to all three "This is proof of that. The man who gave it the me claimed his great-great-great uncle had come from another world a long time ago. And I know other people with similar stories like that, with an ancestor that wasn't originally from Athlaias"

"But I never heard of no colors in those stories, so I might be wrong" he said, sitting back and taking another smoke of his pipe

Sarcasm. Yes, Evangeline had to be from his home, Alex thought to himself. He'd met folks who used sarcasm like her, and not just in the United States. It was one of the advantages of being an international company, even if that company only served the south Asian seas.

Listening to Boones' story about people coming to Athlaias was interesting, but he didn't seem to know any more about the reason for the colors. Maybe the person who originally told the story left that part out. Maybe this was something different. Alex stopped eating, and rubbed his forehead slowly, trying to figure out this enigma wrapped in a puzzle.

"Colorado? Thats a long way from the Philippines." The pilot looked to Evangeline, and shook his head slowly. "Doesn't look that way. Not unless you know of a place on Earth called Athlaias that happens to have a giant floating island?"

Alex fidgetted as he leaned back in his seat. His head didn't feel so great either but he just ruled that off at the lack of caffeine. Finding a reason for all of this was more important. The pipe of Boones could have been from someplace else perhaps, but that didn't answer the important questions.

Why?, he thought to himself. "Maybe it'd be worth asking someone at this Church about this. None of us seem any closer to figuring this out."

Boones listened curiously as he kept smoking his pipe, only interrupting to answer Evangeline's question

"That's alright lass, ye just startled me that's all. And ye can call me uncle Bones, or just Bones. Either is fine"

The more he heard the 2 strangers talking, the more he was convienced his theory was correct and they were indeed from another world. There was too much detail and them mentioning the same things over and over to be a fake, in his opinion
Though because he wasn't in the same predicament as they were, he wasn't as conserned to figure out why that happened to them and how to get back. Mostly because he had accepted a long time ago to take things as they were and not to worry too much about the details. That and he always believed God had a reason for things to happen

"Earth? That's a bit of an unimaginative name fer a country" he couldn't help to chuckle at the thought

"And yes, it would be wise the go ask the church for answers. The mages there are used the deal with all sorts of strange troubles, so they're bound to know how to help ya. Though... maybe the lass should think on getting a new set of clothes. Men attire on a woman might offend someone"