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Othello and Rafael lay there in the brush, waiting intently, watching the bobbing lights approach the village gate. They were so quiet that all you could hear is the distant footsteps and the wind blowing through the trees. As the lights approached, closer and closer, Othello's heart was beating so hard and fast that you could see it through his tunic. The lights were so close that Othello and Rafael could now see the sillohettes of the creatures that held the lanterns, and the shape of a huge beast. The band was now crossing the bridge, the boys could hear the footsteps falling on the stone bridge, they held their baited breath.

The creatures were now directly in front of the bushes that the boys were hiding in. Othello and Rafael dared not move a muscle, or even blink.

"Come out of there, you're not fooling anyone." Said a deep gruff voice.

The boys nearly soiled themselves they were so startled. But they immediately knew what was going on, the crystal caravan had finally returned!

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About 2 hours ago, the crystal caravan had returned! The boys ran through the village, yelling the good news to everyone. In only a few minutes, every single villager was outside, waiting around the village's crystal, anticipating the purification ceremony, and then the festivities to follow afterwards!

Now the festival was in full swing. People were dancing to the traditional songs of old, young children along with the elders were listening to the stories of the crystal caravan, and people were just talking, glad to have the caravanners back safely.

But with the return of the old caravan, a new one would have to be sent out very soon. This was the thought in the back of everybodys' mind.

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The next night at dinner, Othello's parents were unusually quiet, they seemed troubled.

"What's wrong Mommy and Daddy?" asked Miriam, the youngest of the children.

"Nothing sweetie, nothing's wrong" answered Tristan with a distraught look in his eyes.

Deanna started to tear up, and then she got up, and ran out of the room.

Othello was now sure that something was going on, he had a good idea of what it was, but he needed to be sure. He stopped at the closed door of his parents' room, and pressed his ear to the door. Sure enough, Deanna was crying. Othello knocked lightly on the door and opened it. Deanna was sitting on the edge of the bed, clutching a pillow tightly against her body, her tears running down her flushed face onto the linen of the pillow.

"I was chosen to be on the next crystal caravan, wasn't I?" asked Othello.

"Yes. Yes, you were." answered Tristan closing the door behind him after he entered the room. "You are going to leave two days from now."

When this was said, Deanna sobbed loudly and buried her face into the pillow.

"Who else has been chosen?" Othello blurted, the first thought that popped into his head after hearing the news.

"Kayla, and Rafael for sure. That Yuke boy, umm... what's his name?... Jehosephat? Yeah, that's it! And Megan, the Rancher's daughter." said Deanna, regaining her composure a bit.

"What will I need?" inquired Othello.

"Follow me." said Tristan as he turned to leave the room.

Othello followed after his father up into the closet at the end of the loft upstairs. Othello realized that he actually never seen what was inside of this closet, it has always been locked. Othello understood why when his father pulled out a huge dusty chest.

"This is your old caravanning equipment, isn't it?" asked Othello.

"It is... Here is my leather armor, and my gauntlets, my sword, my shield..."

Othello stared in awe of the antique armor and weaponry that his father was pulling out of the chest. This equipment was no doubt Othello's grandfather's equipment, if not his great-grandfather's. He picked up the sword and swung it around, getting a feel for a blade in his hand. He turned around and swung his sword in one swift motion.

"AAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!" Miriam screamed. The sword had passed only a few inches above her head. Othello felt his heart leap up into his throat. He thought Miraim might cry, but she didn't.

"Why do you have that sword, Othello? Are you going somewhere with that?" she asked.

Othello almost broke into tears at that very moment, when he realized that he wouldn't see his family for a long time, and possibly, never again. He didn't know what to do all of a sudden. He dropped the sword and ran into his room.

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Othello didn't know what to do, he was excited beyond words to finally have his chance to get away and experiance adventure, but he knew he would miss his family and village horribly, and there was the underlying possibility of... dying. He was very glad to know his best friends would be coming on the journey with him, this comforted him somewhat, but he was still full of anxiety about the entire situation. He lay there on his bed, thinking, worrying, until he fell asleep.

Othello woke up the next morning, and realized that it was late in the morning hours. He ran downstairs and looked out towards the fields, where he saw his father and brother working hard. He started to tie his shoes in haste, but his mother's voice stopped him.

"Don't worry Othello. They woked up early to take care of your portion of the work so that you would be able to enjoy your last day here before you set off. I made some biscuits and gravy, your favorite, and it's sitting there on the table warm for you."

Although Othello didn't feel to great about skipping out on all the work while eating a good breakfast, he knew that his family wouldn't have it any other way, so he complied. After he was done eating breakfast, he help his mother wash the dishes, and then he went to go find Kayla and Rafael.

He walked down to the river to see if Rafael was fishing, but he wasn't there, and nobody was in the house.

"That's weird..." thought Othello, but he ignored it.

So he continued down to the tailor's house to see if Kayla was there. He knocked on the door, and a cheerful voice called out from inside,

"Come in! The door's open!"

Othello could recognize that voice anywhere, Kayla's mom, Elizabeth was always so cheerful and bubbly, it was obvious where Kayla got her liveliness from. He walked in, and saw that Kayla and Elizabeth were at the loom together, weaving some new journeying clothes for Kayla.

"Sit down Othello! Have some lemonade!" said Kayla, gesturing towards the pitcher and cups on the table.