Morning came all to early for the residents of The Hole, Tiver woke each one in their little clan one by one, he woke Jesse last, and left Kyle to sleep. Kyle had awoke several times during the night and his dreams were haunted by a bad dream. "Maybe we should let him be for another hour or so" Tiver suggested. Jesse nodded, and handed Tiver a hand full of copper coins. Tiver began to pass out the coins to many of the kids that had not managed to secure any food or money the day before. Mostly it was the smaller boys, those that had not learned the art of grab and run, or those that just did not have the opportunity. Still, there was more than enough for Tiver to go and buy Jesse, Kyle, and himself something for breakfast. Soon the coins where doled out and Tiver nodded to Jesse, letting him know he would soon return.
The Hole was nearly empty now. Most of the kids had run off to find food, or a way to get money, some were finding a place to relieve themselves. Three small boys stayed at the other end of the Hole, they were members of a smaller clan, and watched over everyones things while they where out. Jesse sat with Kyle, he watched as the new kid stirred slowly and woke up. "It's not a dream, is it. It's all real" Kyle asked silently.
"Yeah, it's all real." Jesse added.
Kyle sat up, "What do you suppose they are doing....for me....back home" the words stuck in his throat, and nearly choked him.
"They are probably looking for you. Wondering what happened. It's odd, but I have never heard of one person out of a tight group being taken, and there not be others." Jesse pondered.
"Do you suppose they are here too?" Kyle seemed to liven up some at the thought that someone familiar might be here with him, in the strange place.
"It's possible, but lemme tell ya. This is just one of many different worlds the nexus leaves people. And even if all of y'all made it here. It could have scattered y'all all over the planet. And..." Jesse hesitated "and there are worst places on RyhDin to find yourself."
Kyles heart dropped, he looked at the ground, not saying anything for a few minutes as he pulled himself together again. It was bad enough to be abandon all by yourself on a distant world, it was just embarrassing to cry in front of other guys. "What about that other kid, Tiver?" Kyle asked, Jesse could hear a bit of confusion in his voice.
"What about him' He is my best friend. I met him here not long after I arrived. we were both new here, to the city anyway, Tiv is from RyhDin, well one of it's forest anyway."
"Yeah but his eyes, and ears, his eyebrows. And he sounds like a girl. He's not really a girl in disguise, is he?" Kyle had so many questions, but he was afraid of the answers, so he asked about something, safe.
Jesse laughed, "If you call him a girl, he'll kick your ass. He is really a he, I know, I've seen him, ya know nekkid" Jesse blushed at this a bit. Here in the Hole there was no room for modesty, but admitting this to an outsider was like admitting guilt to an unspoken crime. "He is an elf, a wood elf to be exact"
"An elf, like one of Santas little helpers" You've got to be kidding me" Kyle rolled his eyes, for a moment he felt better, he felt almost normal, sitting with another kid, talking about foolishness.
"No not like those elves" Jesse still grinned as he thought of Tiver making toys, "A real elf, like out of Dungeons and Dragons, or some book. His tribe was killed, he came here looking for refuge, all he found was me." Silence once again over took the two boys as they once again considered the lot they had been given. Their pondering did not have much of a chance though, as Tiver returned with three loaves of freshly baked bread, a small block of butter, some apples, and a large flagon of red wine. "The wine was free, think of it as a gift from the local vineyard, and a lesson for the delivery boy." Tiver quipped as he sat the small feast out. "Never leave the delivery wagon unattended" he laughed.
Kyles eyes were wide with unbelief, "Y'all drink Wine?"
"You can drink the water, but I warn against it, unless it has been boiled strained, and bottled. Otherwise, you could end up with a fever" Tiver said, sounding as sage like as he could. "Besides, why drink water, when there is wine?"
All three boys laughed, and once again for a few minutes Kyle forgot that he was lost, and never going home. For a few minutes he could laugh, and joke, and drink his first drink of wine, with a boy from Los Angeles, and an elf from the forest of RyhDin.