A Hole in Time

E

Elflady

Guest
Original poster
"Then maybe you should get yourself a new girlfriend," Natalie snapped furiously, turning on one heel and storming out of the apartment slamming the door behind her, cutting off Shaun's reply, could this day possibly get any worse? First she finds out there is going to be a downsizing at her job and it isn't certain if she, the newest employee, can stay then she comes home to her parents arguing and when she went over to her boyfriend for some peace and it ended in a fight, again. Seriously, today the world was out to get her. Angrily she kicked a rock out of her way, stroking back her dark brown hair out of her eyes, normally a warm brown but now they were black with anger and pain.

She knew that half of the blame for the fights between her and Shaun could be placed on her and her damn temper but he could be infuriating sometimes. Already Natalie's stomach turned to a knot, she hated fighting, especially with Shaun and she really hated when it ended in a fight between them and this feeling would stay until they made up again. At times she wondered if their past on and off relationship had been better, Natalie couldn't remember any serious fights between them from school, she feared what would happen if they actually moved in together.

Sighing she pulled out her smart phone from her jeans pocket, no new messages, biting her lip she hesitated with her finger on the speed dial but then she shoved the phone back down the pocket. This time it could be his turn to make the first move for a reunion. Would it always be like this, she thought, small arguments or awkward comments that escalated into full scale fights between two stubborn and temperamental people?

Tired of feeling upset and angry Natalie was happy to see green mix in with the grey asphalt, trees spread out around her reaching for the sun and ahead she could see the smooth surface of a clear pond, birds chirped and the city noise was almost drowned out. This was her special place, she always came here when upset, sad or angry and the place always made her feel better, refreshed and ready to take on whatever bothered her at the moment.

Not many knew she often came here and it was pretty much never visited by others either, at least Natalie had never encountered anyone here. Taking a deep breath of the air, since the rain yesterday the scent of earth and nature was noticeable and just as always she started to calm down. Kneeling down at the edge of the pond Natalie dragged a hand through the cool water watching the ripples slowly vanish after disrupting the surface, taking it as a visual of her troubles going away.

Once more she pulled out her phone, despite it having been silent she searched the empty screen for a message, finding none of course, frustration started to fill her again but then she looked at the pond again, the smooth surface was once again disturbed by ripples. Confused Natalie looked closer wondering what caused those ripples, but the pond was empty only her reflection looked back at her with an confounded expression. As she stared into the water Natalie slowly started following the never ending ripples with her eyes, her body starting to feel odd as if in a dream, without noticing it her phone dropped from her limp fingers to the ground.

Colour drained from her face, although it was not that noticeable on her olive skin, and nausea poured over her in waves as her head spun as the world seemed to blur and quiet down as if her ears were stuffed with wool. Then just as suddenly as it began everything returned to normal, Natalie heard birds singing and crickets chirping but the city sounds had entirely vanished and the air felt unusually fresh, drawing a hand threw her dark hair Natalie stood up and scanned her surroundings, having totally forgotten her phone lying in the grass.
 
Over the pond stood two figures, watching the young woman. "She will be the one to change everything."

"Yes, yes she will."

~~
Lord Ailred had been riding a horse. A peaceful enough venture. After all. What could possibly go wrong with a horse ride? The forest he had ridden into was peaceful, on his father's land which would, in the end, protect him from any miscrents that might attack if there were such things in his father's woods. If the fact he was the young lord of the land they were standing upon did not save him then he always had his sword to help him.

Ailred was having a good day. Everything was going according to plan. His oldest brother would inherit the title. He would get a chunk of land to call his own if he desired when he got a wife. Everything would be good. He couldn't help but keep a happy smile on his face as he waited for everything to fall into place, letting his horse find it's way leisurely through the thicket. He knew where the horse was going after all. There was one pond in particular the the finicky horse liked most of all in all of the forest that his father owned. Tear Drop Pond.

He had always found the name of the pond confusing since it was in no way, shape or form that of a tear drop that he had ever seen and he had after all climbed all the trees at one point or another to look down at the pond to see if it was really that of a tear drop. He liked it. He could rest there for hours with no interruption and just dream if he wished.

Stretching, he cast his pale blue eyes towards the entrance to the clearing with the pond and grinned brightly. A wind swept past him, as if ushering him towards the pond, ruffling his rich brown hair. As he entered it though his day turned upside down. His clothes, while made of rich material, were simple--a plain, white cotton tunic and a pair of trousers in his families colors of gold and dark blue with a pair of well fitted knee high boots that they were tucked into.

At first he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He patted his horse on the neck and was in the middle of getting down when his gaze caught on the woman that was standing there. Exotic was the only word that came to his mind when he caught sight of her and lowered himself the rest of the way down from the horse and rounded the horse, letting the reigns trail the ground so the horse could go about what it wanted while he dealt with the intruder.

"Good day to you miss. Might I ask what you are doing here in the Forest of the Lord of Tyril?" he asked, an accent thickening his tone a bit, before he considered her outfit. "And, why in all the lands are you, Miss, wearing men's pants?" Could it be that she was some kind of immigrant lost from her group or family?
 
Victoria Justice 2.jpg Though with darker skin, like Zoe Saldana perhaps.


Natalie stood confused by the pond for a few beats not sure what just happened, it had felt a bit odd for just being a sudden wave of stress caused nausea but what else could it be? Looking around the are looked a bit off, there was a lot more trees than she remembered the large park had ever had and it was a bit odd that the city noise was suddenly so muted, sure it was a bit of distance to the road but the trees had never been been able to completely silence the traffic.

Showing her hands in her short jacket Natalie looked up as she heard the familiar sound of hooves, the sound was muted on the grass but she knew the sound all too well to not notice. Surprised she looked towards the sound wondering who was riding in the park it was allowed but she had never seen many riders here. When a man came out of the trees mounted on a stunning horse Natalie stared at him, wondering why everything went wrong today, why did she have to deal with one of those medieval cosplayers now of all days.

Well she had to admit this guy had done his research and actually had a pretty well done costume of simple white tunic and gold and blue trousers with knee high boots, but no matter she had neither energy nor interest to deal with this now. But as the man jumped off the horse and let it wander as it pleased she was yet again thrown off by his speech, it was so old fashioned that it wasn't even funny. "Look here," she said a slight hint of annoyance in her tone."Do you really have to keep up your cosplay role all the time, this isn't a convention as far as I know. Anyway I'm not in the mood for any antics today."

Seriously had the guy never seen jeans before or was he just very caught up in his role, either way was weird and Natalie wasn't up for weird today, she admired his horse though it was very beautiful and looked perfect with the medieval styled tack. Out of the blue she remembered her phone, she must have dropped it by the pond, ignoring the man she knelt down where she had been earlier but the phone was no where to be found and she was certain it had not fallen into the water, surely she would have noticed to splash. Searching her pockets Natalie started to get worried, not only was a phone expensive but Shaun could call or it could come news about her job, she couldn't afford to loose it.
 
Ailred blinked a few times, taken aback by her accent and the annoyance he could clearly hear. What had he done to annoy such a beauty? He had simply asked why she was wearing trousers? Most women he knew would never be caught dead in them. And her language was not of the day as well. "Cos-play?" he asked curiously, half to himself. Whatever that was he could figure it out later, right now she seemed intent on finding something on the ground and in no mood for his flattery.

Stepping over he knelt next to her and ran his hands through the grass. "If you tell me, miss, what you are looking for, perhaps I might be able to assist you and in exchange you could tell me what you were doing in my father's woods?" he asked, fingers looking for some kind of jewelry or ear droplet as what else would a woman kneel to find in a place such as this.
 
"I dropped my phone earlier," she said, pondering over the man while searching, his manners, speech and appearance was so strange. A normal person would probably not behave this way even if they were dressed up but there could be no other explanation for it surely, but where was her phone then, if she was sure it hadn't fallen into the pond then were was it? Giving up she looked at him once more. "What are you talking about? Your father's woods, this is Ashland, more specifically a park in Ashland. It's owned by the government not a single man." This just became stranger by the minute and Natalie wasn't sure what to make of it, she wasn't driven by logic but her first instinct wasn't to turn to a supernatural explanation exactly. This was just like in those fantasy styled books she had skimmed through when she had a moment over at her job in the library, but that was just books and stories, nothing could actually pull people through time it was impossible.

Maybe this guy was very into his role or he was working with a show that played pranks on people and showed it on tV, she had watched such shos herself and they came up with very creative ways to screw with people, maybe her brother had put her up for that, but this didn't really seem like a thing people would get a laugh out of. "You don't have to keep up this joke, the city is just behind those trees anyway," she waved with a dark olive hand behind here from where she had came earlier.
 
Ailred's eyebrows knitted together as he considered the strange word 'phone' and then her information on the woods. He sat back on his heels and considered her carefully as she pointed behind her. "Did someone strike your head, miss? Or did you slip and fall? The only village worthy the title of a city is a five days journey from here and that is the capitol. This is the land that my father was given by the king for loyal service almost fifty years ago. Before that it was owned by the king and ruled by his younger brother who died before my father received the land. The government of the King does not own these lands any more," he explained slowly, as if speaking to someone that was sick or ill. What kind of girl was this that thought that they were in a city and had a 'phone'--whatever that was.
 
"I did not hit my head," she retorted, what did he think she was, delusional? If someone had the facts wrong it was him. As all his words sunk in about the land Natalie stared at him, this couldn't be happening for real, things like this didn't happen in reality only in fiction but this man wasn't behaving like it was a joke of some kind. She rose abruptly and walked quickly the way she had come, actively denying that she wasn't home. She didn't want to even consider what he said was true, but a small part of her brain continually asked why this man would continue to keep this up when the city was so close. After passing just a few trees Natalie stopped, suddenly out of breath as she rested a hand against a tree, barely feeling the gnarly bark, in front of her the woods only continued to stretch out, the entire city had vanished.

"This can't be happening..." she said, barely louder than a whisper, she was never one to panic but this brought her close to flipping out. Natalie new this part of the part by heart and no way in hell would she mix up the directions or the distance, it was simply impossible that this was the pond in her favourite park, but the other possibility was scary to even consider. Could she possibly have been thrown back in time, it shouldn't be possible yet the city was gone. Feeling her knees growing weak she leaned against the tree, closing her dark eyes and concentrated on keeping calm, she wasn't closed up about her feelings but she didn't want to collapse in front of a stranger.

When she thought about it, however insane it sounded, it could explain why her phone was no where to be found, perhaps it still lay in front of the pond but in her time. Sighing she pulled a hand through her hair before opening her eyes again to look at the man, "where is this place? You said something about Tyril, where is that?"
 
Ailred had followed the woman when she'd stalked off. How could he not? She as a puzzlement to him and he was going to figure her out or help her find someone that knew her. When she finally turned to look at him after running a hand through her rather beautiful hair if he was any judge, and asked him about Tyril he put on his most pleasant smile on and motioned towards the tree's that surrounded him. "Tyril is where you stand, miss. Tyril is one little piece of the Empire of our king, King Roberts. My father rules this land as a lord. Miss, tell me, how might you have gotten onto this land without knowing where it is you stand?" he asked gently, knowing that some women that had been dropped off in strange lands had been dropped off for no good reasons or often left in the middle of the night so the next day they could not catch up. "Perchance I might be able to help you to your home if you live close, or we could see about putting you up for a few nights until we can contact your family if they live farther away?"
 
Nothing he said sounded familiar to her, but at least they spoke the same language that meant she was in an English speaking country, unless whatever weird magic that had transported her translated as well. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Natalie said as he asked where she was from. Who would believe her if she talked about time travel, heck if she was the one finding a strange person that would claim to be from another time she would tell them to get their head checked. "Besides, I doubt I can get home easily," she said. It was true, she was very far from home in a place she didn't even know so how was he going to help her, but his offer of letting her stay awhile was tempting, sure she as most kids, hopefully, had been told constantly to not follow strangers but she gathered she hadn't much of a choice, unless she wanted to sleep outdoors in a place where she knew nothing of potentioal dangers.

"Do you have magic here," she said as a thought hit her. "Any kind will do, I think." Perhaps it was a long shot but who else could help her if not a magic skilled, hopefully this man wouldn't think her more crazy in case they had no magic, until now Natalie hadn't believed in magic so she wouldn't be surprised.
 
Ailred blinked a few times as she asked about magic. He glanced around a few times as if he was making sure he wasn't the one being watched by his people and laughed at. "Miss, the only magic that we have in these realms of the King is that that peddlers do to entertain children. Magic is outlawed in these lands and frowned deeply upon should one even dare try it," he said as he looked back at her. "Do not tell me you are a witch yourself. That would be horrible luck for me for they are ill luck and an ill omen indeed."

((Sorry it is so short ><)
 
Natalie frowned at his answer, she just had to come to the land where magic was banned and the only kind was the illusions and tricks put up for kids, at least there was magic so that was something, she thought, maybe some nearby country had more legal magic, how she would get to another country was a whole other question though. "I'm not a witch, I wouldn't need any help in that case," she said, it would have been so much easier in that case. "What's so bad about magic though? Isn't it helpful to use magic in some cases?" She wondered how the people in this land would see her if they knew she wasn't from their time, would they even believe it and in that cxase would they think her some kind of witch perhaps, a tendril of fear crawle down her back as she recalled the massive witch hunts where so many innocent was killed for fear of witches, she hoped it was not the case here.

(It's nothing, I also have problem keeping a longer post when there's much dialogue:)
 
Ailred took her in, trying to figure out if she was some kind of witch sent to tempt him by the Evil God, before giving it away. No. She could not be one of those kinds of monsters. It didn't seem her style to be at all honest. "Magic has never been used for good in any case that has been seen. Magic has prices it is said. All of the prices are large and ill towards the castor. I have personally seen one witch in all my life. She had sacrificed one hand and a foot to place a curse on a young woman that was prettier than herself that had charmed a lord into marrying her with her beauty. All three died once the curse had run its course," he explained before offering his arm to her. "Come though miss, let us return you to my home so that we can get you in some proper clothes. Whoever left you here was leaving you in a sorry mess. No woman would dare leave the house in those men's pants."
 
Well, that pretty much crewed up her plan to get back to her time if magic was so hated and had such a high price, Natalie wasn't exactly interested to get back home just to die or let others die for her. It was such bad luck ending up where magic was pretty much only used for evil, of course I was a thought that by learning how the magic worked perhaps there was a way to use it without shedding lives, or was that too much to hope for? "That is just wrong, and pathetic," she said to the man. Apparently vanity and jealousness was alive and well in this time as well, Natalie could never understand the joy people seemed to find in hurting others or spending time loathing others for what they themselves don't have. "Perhaps she should have bothered more to find a man that loved her for what she was than to revenge a man that went by a woman's appearance." She said rolling her dark eyes slightly.

Natalie hesitated a few beats before taking his offered arm, it did seem like he was an honest fellow and staying in his house would perhaps grant her the ability to gather her wits and better find a way home. "I like my clothes," she said in a slight protest, following his lead. "This is common clothing where I come from, our culture loosened up long ago so people could dress how they want." Natalie continued, she was not a fan of long skirts and she had a strong suspicion that short skirts and tights wasn't the highest fashion here.
 
Ailred flicked a glance at her that warned her not to fight it before he put on a humorous smile. "Well, then your culture is a bit more advanced than some might say ours is. Nevertheless, unless you don't want to end up burned at a stake, I suggest you get over your aversions to other styles of dress while you stay at my families home," he said as he led the way back to the pond and his horse who came trotting at a call of its name from Ailred.

"Do you know how to ride a horse with another person behind you?" he asked as he considered the saddle. "Or mayhap you were taught how to ride like a man as well as dress as one?"
 
Natalie scoffed slightly and for a slight moment she wanted to pout like a child and insist on the matter but she ignored it and nodded instead, "fine then." She wouldn't really have anything against long dresses or skirts, in fact she thought them quite beautiful but they made it so difficult to move around in, and Natalie had never been very fond of sitting still all the time. Natalie soon forgot that matter as the man called his horse over, smiling at the beautiful horse Natalie stretched out a hand towards him, offering the horse a chance to greet her before she attempted to pet him.

"Yes, I can ride," she said. "I've ridden since I was young and I dare say I'm quite good at it," she continued, it would be strange if she weren't seeing as she'd had over 15 years to learn. She hadn't been riding for a year though but Natalie figured it was like riding a bike, you never really lost the instincts once you'd learned them.
 
Ailred nodded at her comment about riding and then hopped up onto the horse without a moments hesitation. He turned to consider the girl before leaning over and offering his hand to help her up behind him. "Well then miss, I dare say I forgot to introduce myself. I am Ailred, the youngest son of the Lord that rules these lands. It would be my honor and pleasure to escort you to my home where we can get you properly dressed for this society and present you to my parents as a lost traveler who was abandoned by some evil monster of a person," he said with a glitter of mischief in his eyes as well as a hidden laughter that he had mastered over the years.
 
Accepting his outstretched hand Natalie placed a hand on the horse's back as well and managed to jump up behind the saddle without any mishaps due to the unusual mounting. "Nice to meet you Ailred," she said with a smile, a tad embarrassed that she had forgotten to even mention her own name with all the confusion since she for some strange reason ended up here. "I'm Natalie Queens," she answered in return. Instantly hit by the thought that it was a common surname in her time perhaps it wasn't so well known in the past with the exception of Scotland, at least she had same vague memory of her father mentioning one part of his family had had that surname for quite some time. "Yeah, someone sure as heck dumped me here," she muttered but had to smile as well, unable to stay negative for long, life was just too boring that way. Natalie adjusted her seat slightly but let her arms hang down her sides, although still prepared to take a hold of Ailred's tunic in case she lost her balance.
 
"Queens?" Ailred said with a furrowed brow. "Are you related to the McQueens by any chance? We know a family by that name a realm over. If you are one of their kin we could see about safe passage back to their lands if you would like. They have a laird up that way that owns land and has who knows how many relatives, they pop up everywhere." He nudged the horse into a slow walk, letting it guide them back to his own home. It knew the way better than he anyway and would take them safely home without knocking either rider from the saddle. That left him to chat easily with the unusual woman. What could she possibly be doing at a place like this if she was related to the McQueens?
 
Perhaps that 'McQueens' family was some ancestors of hers Natalie thought, of course it was a possibility it was just a similar name but who knew. Whether it was or not didn't matter really, after all even if she could play a relative to them the McQueens would eventually find out that she was not related to anyone of the living McQueens and then what would she do? There was also the small problem of the darker skin her mother had given her, she didn't know anything about the time she was in but judging by what she learned in history light skin was far more common. Also which time she was in would be nice to know, and while she could draw some guesses from Ailred's clothing and his horse's tack but while she didn't mind history in school much of it never really stuck in her head. "I don't know," she said, which was both true and an easy way to avoid saying too much. "Possibly but I haven't met someone with that name myself."

Really, what would people here think if she started explaining that she was probably from the future, especially judging from how Ailred explained about magic and witches. It was probably best to keep quiet for as long as she could and hopefully to have proof if she ever needed to tell someone, and seeing as how she'd be able to get home she very well would have to possibly. "This place is very beautiful," she said, enjoying how clean the air felt compared to the city she lived in, and the pond looked very much the same here as in her time.
 
"Well maybe you are a distant relative they won't mind taking in," he said with a smile as he nudged the horse to a faster gait as they exited the forest and were out on a clean plain. The horse gathered speed as he navigated the way around hidden boulders and sink holes in the ground before he topped a small rise, revealing a beautiful castle. "Welcome to my home, the Castle Tyril." This was said with great pride as he urged the horse forward again, letting it take it's own path and gait down the hill. He was proud of the castle because he had been one of the people that had helped build it as a child. Well, if you counted a small piece of the wall being his, then yes, he helped build it. But since then he had overseen many additions and revisions as their family had grown to include his older brother's wives and their wee ones.

He pulled the horse to a stop inthe courtyard as hostlers came to take charge of the horse. He lowered himself and then reached up for the girl to help her down. The men watched her carefully, surprised by her outfit. "Stephen, tell the maids to get a dress ready for Miss Queens here in my chambers and a bath ready for me. Oliver, let Henry take the horse and tell mother that as soon as we are presentable that I'd like to introduce her to a maiden that needs a bit of help," he said to two of the men that took the horse when Natalie was down. They rushed to do as he said and he smiled at her. "Come, we can summon a bath for you as well if you would like."
 
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