Plotty: The Best of Orphans!

[Ali Wolf]

Tommery looked down at the small flute in his hands. He drummed his fingers on it for a second, thinking of a tune to play, before beginning to whistle out of its wooden interior a quiet, happy, random song. His emerald eyes looked up to an old man that had come to stand next to him, listening to the pretty music, and watch the waves in his old age. The little boy directed his marble eyes back to the ocean as well.

It was late afternoon on a summer day, yet the sun was still heading to wards the ever stretching waters to show the not so far away coming of winter. It made beautiful colors of a green and blue- almost black ocean and the sky was a painting of orange and pink, an inspiration for his beloved music. A breezy ruffled his dark, soft hair. The salt air filled his lungs sweetly. The waves were like an everlasting rhythm to his flute tune as they crashed into the dock of which he dangled his feet over the side.

Tommery, better known as Tom to his friends, Tommy to his sister and mother, paused from his music for but a second to sneak a peek at the shop door across the dusty dirt main market road. He grabbed a glimpse of his twin sister through the window before she disappeared. Ellie was his love, his beautiful sister, best friend, and forever playmate. They looked unbelievably alike, and if she were to cut off her hair(which would make him very sad,for Tom adored her long curls), and he lose his tan, it would be practically impossible to tell them apart. They were even only a few pounds apart in weight! Where their appearances were alike, their personalities differed completely in the eyes of the world. Elli could be the most outgoing and energetic girl, where Tommery might simply stand and watch. Most shied away from him, for his lack of voice, though the few who became friends were introduced to a boy full of play just like his sister, and intelligent as well. But that didn't happen often. Ellie seemed to be the only one he trusted.

Tommery didn't bother finishing his song, and jumped to his bare feet, dusting off his simple brown pants, and walked across the road into the cool shop. It was a bit dark inside, and he blinked his eyes to adjust, then walked around two shelves to find his sister. They were alone besides the shop keeper sitting at the counter, polishing what appeared to be a little bronze sculpture. This was Ellie's favorite shop. It was filled with little tinkers and odd ball items coming from all over the world. Tom had been waiting for her, but decided to leave early because the old man had made him uncomfortable. "Ellie," He whispered, for this shop felt like the small, dark place to whisper in. "Ready to go home? Dad said we could take Flick out before it got dark, remember?" Flick was the horse they had recently found a few miles into a field. It was just a small, wild pony, but Tommery loved it because it was the first horse he was allowed to help train. It was like a present from the sky.

[Caty]

Eleanor looked around the small store, eyes widened at all the little knick knacks and tidbits that were for sale. She went there often, but there was always something new each time she came. Ellie had even bought her favourite teddy bear in the whole world , Mr.Tums, there.

She wandered gleefully among the rows and shelves, and ended up in the back of the shop. Her emerald eyes studied the shelf that was backed up on the wall, a layer of dust covered the polished wood. Ellie sighed and tucked her dark chocolate hair behind her ear. She hated to see such antiquities gather dust just because a shop keeper didn't care enough. She slowly moved her sleeve across the shelf, watching as the faces of the different figures showed themselves, and flinched as she saw how much dirt had come off on her clothing, silently wondering what her mother would say. Smiling to herself, Ellie scanned the wall again. The sunlight bounced off a figurine on the far end of the shelf, a bronze horse stood there confidently. The figurine reminded her of their pony, Flick, but it looked quite different. It had a strong body and long strands of hair were shown hanging off to its side. As Eleanor looked at it more closely she saw a pointed horn at the top of its head. Very curious, indeed. "I simply must buy it.." She thought to herself and bit her lip as she carefully took the bronze statue down from the shelf to check the pricing. Ellie's face lit up as she read the label, it would cost just under what she had. She held it firmly in her hands and walked to the front of the store.

Eleanor passed the shop window and caught a glance of her brother, Tommy, playing his flute. He was a talented musician. He played the best music in the world, in Ellie's opinion. Tommery was a rather quiet boy, but Ellie knew from experience that he became confident when it was needed most. She could still remember sitting on the playground swing, surrounded by some of her least favourite people, and wanting to give him a huge bear hug as he saved the day. Ellie and Tom were each other's best friends. He turned to look at her, and she smiled and continued to make her way down the row.

Ellie approached the shopkeeper and watched as the young lady took the figurine from her clutch and began to polish it. She quickly looked out the window once again to try and spot her brother, but she saw that he had left. Eleanor turned and heard the shop door close. The little bell that hung above the entrance rang quietly, and she guessed it was her brother who had come to fetch her. She searched the store for perhaps another item of interest, before she had to go home. Eleanor didn't have much time to do so, though, as she turned the corner to see Tommy. He whispered to her and she replied, "Okay..just let me get one thing. The shopkeeper has it." Eleanor squeezed past her brother and rapidly went to the counter. The little horse now was shining. She handed over the payment before the young lady had chance to speak, murmured "Thank you!" and took the item. Ellie faced her brother. "All set!" she exclaimed, looking forward to taking Flick out that evening.

[Ali Wolf]

Tommy smiled sweetly at his sister, simply happy that she was happy.

"A unicorn?" He stated as they left the shop. As the got into the diminishing sunlight, she handed it to him and he held it up to his face to look at it more closely. He loved the detail in the horse, each strand of hair and tuff of fur perfectly set. "Fantastic." He handed the little statue back to her and continued walking.

They were almost out of town, for most of the larger houses were a small walking distance from it, when a boy their age came running from the alley way between two houses. His bare feet almost slid out from under him on the dirt as he stopped to prevent running into the two. He was taller than both of them, though just as skinny. He wore simple, raggy clothing that he had most likely worn for a few days straight, taking a swim in the salty waters in them as well. His hair was all sticking up in its muddy blonde mess, and there appeared to be dried mud around his mouth and half of his face. Even with all of this filth, the young, handsome features of Scotty Bullis still stood out, where Tommery might simply be considered a cute little boy- the twin thing a definite add on.

"Well, look who it is!" He had obviously already forgotten whatever he was running for. "Elli, and her little sister." He made a sweet face to wards Eleanor, a flirt to one of the prettiest girls in town. It didn't seem to matter to him that he was insulting her brother. Tommery always seemed to be getting picked on, because if Eleanor was small for her age, imagine how small Tom was for his age as well as his sex. It was a done deal that he was a shrimp, not matter how much he ate or how much work he did. He glanced at the horizon, not appearing to notice Scotty's insult. "What'd ya got there, Elli? Another thing for your little doll collection?" What a surprise, flirting session over, all his little mean mind could think to do was be a jerk to both of them.

[Caty]

Eleanor looked up at Scotty. She'd always thought him a handsome boy, and when she was younger she'd often wondered if she would end up marrying him. She knew better now than she did a few years ago, and had realised that however nice his outside features may seem he wasn't as nice inside-and it was doubtful that would change. Now as his face was covered in mud and his clothes and hair were a mess he somewhat looked what he was.

Ellie heard Scotty's last remark and took no notice. She knew it would hurt him more if she simply ignored him. He would get what was coming to him. "Whatever..." Ellie said and rolled her eyes, "Some boys can be oh ever so immature." she said to Tommy, although secretly she was directing it at Scotty. "Come," Eleanor told Tommery, keeping her stature "Flick is waiting!". Eleanor tugged Tommy's arm and as she passed Scotty she gave him a disgusted glare and walked away. She smiled to herself as she imagined him feeling pretty bad about himself right about then.

When the twins were far away enough from Scotty so that he couldn't hear them Ellie turned to Tommy, "You don't really look like a girl" she said reassuringly. She hoped that he hadn't actually bothered with anything Scotty had said. "He's just a big soggy poop" Eleanor said, grinning, hoping she could get her brother to giggle.

[Ali Wolf]

Scotty got a mad look on his face, almost stuttering. "Immature? HA! Maybe you should start acting your age, Eleanor. I can't..."

The twins turned a corner, out of his range of vision. He didn't bother following them, and simply stomped his feet in annoyance.

Tommery snuck a sheepish look at his sister as she pulled him along and tried to reassure him. He knew he looked like a wimp, and there was really nothing he could do about it. He could run back, jump on Scotty and pull him to the ground while throwing punches, but what would that solve? Scotty would either get back at him, or Tom would look like an idiot who lost his temper way to easily. He had only actually defended himself and his sister a few times, and that was when someone had actually tried to hurt Ellie and had destroyed her favorite dress in the process.

"He's just a big soggy poop." A smile pulled at the side of his mouth, and soon he simply couldn't help laughing. "A big one of Flick's, at that." He mumbled to her happily. She could always get him out of bad mood, some how.

When they finally reached their large, beautiful home, there was a caravan out front belonging to one of the tinkers their father often did business with. That was part of the reason why they were simply so rich. Their father was a master in trade, and played it like a game of poker he had been practicing his whole life. They quickly snuck past the front door, not wishing to hear any further the shouts from their father to the fur trader, for he had lost half of his load to thieves. When they reached the stables, Tommery grabbed equipment from the rack and began saddling up Flick. It took a bit longer than expected, Flick not fully cooperating until Elli had run back into the house and to the kitchen to grab two apples for him.

Tommery led the beautiful little horse out of the stables and into the darkening air. The sun had already gone down, and despite his father's words to be out and back before dark, he couldn't resist. The horse tromped about in excitement. It black coat gleamed and mane ruffled in the ocean breeze. Tom smiled as his realized why his sister had picked out the small statue, for it bared an amazing resemblance to Flick. Tommery made sure his flute and knife were secure in the strap on his pants before giving Ellie a hand onto Flick. Even though the horse was only half grown, they were still extremely short, and Tom had to pull himself up and struggle to get on as well. When they were both up in the comfortable red leather saddle, Tommery held on to his sister, sitting behind her, and let her steer the horse with the reins wherever she pleased. "So, where shall we go?"

[Caty]

Eleanor giggled as Tommy responded, "A big one of Flick's, at that." She knew that her brother had a sense of humour, although he didn't get to show it often. A caravan was parked outside of the Channing household. She heard fits of screaming coming from inside and nodded as Tom quickly explained why. She admitted to herself that she would be angry to if half of what belonged to her disappeared. They both hurried to the stables to escape the noise.

Elli watched as Tommery desperately tried to get Flick saddled, taking her initiative and ran through the backdoor of the house, into the kitchen to get some apples so Flick would co-operate. Her mother always told her that she really shouldn't take so much time making simple desicions. Yet, Eleanor was very picky about these things, and Flick deserved the best. She was deep in concentration as she felt each apple and studied them for any brown spots. Carefully taking two from the bowl and grasping them, one in each hand, she ran back outside.

Tommy led the horse out of the stables and Elli was surprised to see how dark it had gotten so quickly. Her brother helped her on to Flick and she stroked his shiny ebony-coloured mane. After both twins were safely on Flick Elli's brother asked her where she wanted to go. Eleanor made Flick trot around the garden as she made up her mind. She noticed a dripping tap by the stables and replied, "The Lake," Eleanor replied to her brother as she remembered when they had first discovered the body of water surrounded by trees. It seemed almost magical to her.

They both smiled and made their way out of the Channing residence. It felt so good to Eleanor to have the cool breeze pushing back the strands of hair from her pale face. She smelt the air and grinned as she spotted Scotty walking home and purposely rode past him, pretending she didn't see him. The sky was getting darker by the second.

[Ali Wolf]

"The lake." Tommy repeated quietly, pleased at his sister's decision. They had found the lake one week ago, right after they had found Flick. The lake was in a wonderful location. It was extremely hard to find, for the forest thickened greatly around it, so most would simply go around instead of wandering through.

As Flick trotted happily around the outskirts of town, Tom released his grib from his sister to turn his head. Scotty followed them with his eyes, and when the two boys' gaze met, Scotty stuck his tongue out meanly. Tommery stared at him with a frown, simply sad at how stupid people always acted towards him. He finally tuned away; he wrapped his arms around Elli's waist and rested his head on her shoulder. He closed his eyes to enjoy the salty breeze against his face and blowing his soft hair back.


Once they reached the forest, the ride wasn't much longer. Flick slowed to a walk as he weaved through the trees and dogded low branches. His hooves clomped softly on the earthy summer ground. When they reached the thicket surrounding the lake, stars were already dotting the sky. Tommery tried not to be worried about when they got home, hoping they could sneak in with out any one noticing. They left Flick tied to a tree, his black coat made him almost invisible. The twins crawled under and around bushes and trees until they were through to the clearing, the lake.

A full moon was hlaf way in the sky, shining its soft glow across the lake surface and lighting their faces to appear pale. The water lapped lightly against the shore with a pleasing sound. Tommery rolled up his pants and took a step into the lake and sat down on the shore with his feet in the water. The night was bringing on a surprising chill, and he no longer wished to take a swim like he had been longing to do all day.

Tommy got a playful look on his face and snuck Elli a sideways glance before reaching a hand into the dark water and throwing a splash of water at her. He giggled, knowing what was coming, and jumped to his feet and hopped away from her to run about the side of the lake.

[Caty]

Eleanor opened her mouth as wide as she could in pure shock of what Tommery had just done. The night was already chilly, it didn't help things that she now had the lake water spattered all over. Her face turned into a grin as she ran up to the water, bent down and cupped it in her hands. Running around the lake to where her brother was she quickly threw the water in his direction and quickly turned around back the way she had came in case he tried the same thing again.

Elli giggled and pushed back her hair so she could see more easily in the increasing darkness. She turned around and saw Tommy racing towards her. Giggling, in an attempt to duck her brother, she fell down causing him to trip over her. Still trying to catch her breath, Eleanor rolled over to her side and saw water at least an inch away from her nose. About to get up, she saw Tommy's foot as he kicked the water up in her face. Squealing, Elli rolled over into the lake, shivering as the cold water surrounded her body.

Trying to get her brother in too, Elli tugged at his foot, hoping he would lose grip of the ground and topple into the lake. Tommy stood firmly, looking at her with a smile on his face. Eleanor made a funny face and he laughed, quickly she pulled him again whilst he was unaware and he fell into the lake beside her, the water cushioning his fall.

[Ali Wolf]

As Tommy ran away giggling, he couldn't resist looking back at his sister. As he did, he almost lost his footing and stopping completely, trying to stay on his feet. Once he stopped and glanced at his sister, she threw a handful of water at him. He felt the bits of drops on his face and laughed again, also happy that Ellie wasn't mad. He quickly doubled back, right on her heels. He couldn't stop giggling and it slowed him down. He had his eyes closed in a laughing fit right when Ellie ducked to the ground, and he toppled over her. He quickly scrambled to his feet and slid into the lake. His feet sunk into the cool mud. He turned around to see his chance. His sister was laying right by the lake! He brought his foot out of the mud with a smirk and stomped it back down. The water make a 'thunk' and splashed right in her face! Tommy leaped to the shore as Ellie rolled into the lake. He took a step towards her, hoping she was alright, but quickly jumped back as she attempted to pull him into the water as well. He couldn't resist doubling over with laughter when Ellie stung her tongue out and screwed up her eyes. She seized her chanced and grabbed his foot, pulling him right into the water beside her.

Tommery began giggling again as he sat in the shallow water, splashing his sister and kicking the water up in the air. He hardly heard the first booming sound in the distance. A second. Boom! A third. He quickly scrambled out of the water and tugged on Ellie's wrist to pulled her out with him.

"It didn't look like it would storm tonight." He said in confusion, peering into the sky. There was another boom in the distance, but no lightning. Then there was a scream. It sounded quiet from where they were, but must have been extremely loud to reach that far. Tommery stared at Ellie with wide eyes, still gripping her wrist. He didn't want to know what was happening.

[Caty]

Elli's ears perked up as she heard very loud noises in the distance, booming sounds one after another. Scared as to what the noises could be, Tommery quickly tugged Eleanor out of the water. She became even more frightened as she watched her brother's bewildered face. "It didn't look like it would storm tonight." Tommy commented, "I don't think it's a storm..." Elli secretly thought to herself. She gasped as she heard a muffled scream in the distance. Her brother turned to her with wide eyes, squeezing her wrist. The twins shared a moment of shock, in the dark, gathering their thoughts.

Eleanor let go of her brother as she ran back to Flick. She knew they couldn't just stay there, they had to find out what was going on. Elli tried her best to clamber onto the horse, but with no success. Eyes watering because she wasn't getting on, despite her efforts, she felt a small nudge from the ground, pushing her onto the horse. She smiled, knowing it was Tommy and adjusted herself on the saddle whilst she freed her hand to give her brother some help.

Once the twins were on Eleanor immediately steered Flick through the trees and undergrowth as fast as she could without harming Flick or the twins, rushing by plants which they could hardly see due to the darkness. Elli took a deep breath as they almost approached the road. The sounds were getting much louder, and the screams of all the townspeople were definetely clearer. She slowed a little, in fear of what they were about to see.

[Ali Wolf]

Tommery simply stared at his sister, unable to hide his fright, though he didn't want his sister to be as afraid as he was. A million thoughts passed through his head. Bandits, fire, tsunami, dragons...anything was possible in his head. He had gone to listen to the traveling bards so often, his head was filled with endless tales of terrible happenings in other towns. Perhaps it was their turn.
His expression quickly switched to confusion, shock, confusion, same thing. He ran behind his sister as she tugged him along, hardly staying on his feet. He could hardly see the rocks and twigs he was tripping over. He managed to climb through the thicket and find his sister struggling to get on Flick's back. The boy quickly grabbed Ellie's foot and pushed her up. After grabbing Tom's hand and helping him up, they were off. Tommery didn't think it wise to rush to town to see what was happening, in case something truly horrible was going on. There were two reasons, on was that it could most definitely place their lives in immediate danger; the other is he would simply not want his sweet twin sister to see anything so horrible as what was lieing in his imagination at that moment. Tommery would have tried to persuade his sister to slow Flick, but he had never seen her in such a rush, in such panic.

Tommery barely had time to think as they reached the end of the forest. Just as Flick's hooves touched the dirt path, Tommery yanked the reins from his sister's hands. Flick quickly opened and back up a notch. He grabbed his sister's hands and squeezed tightly, hoping she would understand his silent 'shut up!'. Two men just walked past them. They carried a sword in one hand, knife in the other. Tommery didn't recognize them from the village. From a flickering light from the fire, he saw dark blood stains across their clothing and faces, and elbow deep on their hands.

...The fire. It seemed to reach the stars, it blazed so high. A thick Gray billow of smoke puffed up from every flame tip. Simple wooden houses were crumbling from the blaze. It seemed like every five seconds of the night was filled with a scream, and the other seconds only the crackle of the largest fire, and the laugh of pirates could be heard.

[Caty]

Eleanor was shocked as Tommy suddenly pulled the reigns from her hands, causing Flick to rear. Elli felt her brother squeeze her hand so much it had turned almost white. She ignored the pain, for what she was seeing occupied her attention far more than her pale hand. Eleanor realised why Tommy had brought them to such an abrupt pause.

Elli stopped breathing for a few moments as two men passed. They looked like demons to her, blood was spattered all over their dirty clothing and smirks were set apon their face. A silent gasp escaped her lips at the sight of the sharp swords and knifes that were grasped in each of their hands. Then, she saw more blood. It looked as if the men had stuck their hands inside somebody and pulled out their heart. It was terrifying.

A tear made its way from her eye to her chin as Eleanor saw the blazing fire, not so far away. It seemed as if the sky had turned red, which reminded her of the stories she had been told about the depths of hell. She'd never seen anything like it before.

The twins said nothing as the simply stayed there for a minute or so, trying to get their heads around what was going through their minds. Elli let out a whimper as she saw a house she recognised in the distance. It was slowly collapsing as the fire engulfed it whole. She found her brother's hand and stretched it out in the direction of the building. "Look.." she whispered, as a cascade of tears rolled down her face. Screams filled her ears, as she watched their home burn to ashes.

[Ali Wolf]

The men had left by now, out of sight and scampering through the deadly streets; slicing the head off any they could find with their sharpened blades.

"Look..." Tommery released his death grib on Ellie, realising he was most likely hurting her. He stared off to where she was pointing at, clenching his teeth, unable to fight back tears. A few hot streams trickled down his face, but then he squeezed his eyes shut. Now was not the time. There was never time for tears- especially when they were truly needed.

He gave his sister a small hug, grasping for breath. He finally caught a gasp of air and, with one hand holding his sister's, and the other about the reigns, he pulled softly to command flick to back up. The poney readily obeyed into the dark forest, and seemed to know the importance of being quiet. Tommery had an urge almost over power his simple common sense. He wanted to run back and kill as many pirates as he could with the small knife he had on him- even if it ment being killed. But Ellie meant to much to him. And he had no one else now, and she had only him. Their parents were most likely dead. The whole world he had grown up in was gone. Tommery wiped a hand across his eyes, and that was the end of crying.

[Caty]

Tommery slowly backed Flick up as Eleanor stared blankly at the scene before her, she could see bodies lying all over, smothered with blood from head to toe. The wind picked up, causing the fire to lash out on all those who were trying to escape its path.

She lost sight of the road as they enclosed themselves in the woods. Trees surrounding them, she could no longer see the people...but she could still hear their muffled screams. Wiping her tears from her eyes, she could sense that her eyes were red.

Thoughts rushed through Elli's head. She wondered what exactly had happened to their town, she hadn't heard of such things before. She asked herself whether her parents could possibly still be alive, despite the murder scene that had engraved itself in her mind. She told herself that they could have escaped, and were looking for them at that very moment. Deep down she knew, though, that the scenario most probably was not so.

Eleanor blinked her remaining tears away, wanting to hold onto the little strength she had left. She turned around to look at her brother and saw that they were in the clearing once again, with the lake in the centre. She stared blankly into the trees, in deep thought. What were they to do now?

[Ali Wolf]

They reached the lake once again, and it seemed like forever had passed since last they visited. Tommery had only just witnessed his life vanish before his eyes, and stared at his sister blankly before sliding down from Flick's back. It seemed like the world was frozen in time, they the only ones moving- and the gentle waves of the lake.

Tommy held his small hand up to a twin hand of his own to help Elli down to her feet. He didn't bother tyeing Flick up, what could possibly happen? If their beautiful, only other companion happened to run away, it's not like his father could yell at him for it. And even if Flick did disappear, the two had eternity to search. Tommy turned from his sister and walked to the lake's edge. He stared down into the dark water and barely saw his own reflection with the help of the moon's soft glow. He sat down with a sad huff of air.

"Pirates." He said to his sister. "They raid towns to find souls, since they are without one. No matter how many lives they take, they only return to the ship with riches." He said this in a soft voice, as if he was retreated into the shell he always wore about other people, never Ellie. Or perhaps he was just simply, unbelievably saddened.

"What shall we do now? We have no where to go..." He assumed Ellie felt the same as he, accepting their parents were dead and not thinking anything else, no hope.

[Caty]

Her brother helped her down as she she took a deep breath whilst she watched Tommy stare down into the water, in which could be seen the still reflection of the moon. She listened carefully as he mumbled something under his breath about pirates, silently giving a nod of acknowledgement for what her brother had said.

She wondered about the comment. 'No souls...' she thought to herself, remembring the blood smeared all over the men she had seen. Eleanor hoped she would never come across somebody with no soul again, if that was what they were like. Suddenly she sensed a feeling of loneness come over her. Her whole world had been torn apart in the blink of an eye. "No," she remembered. She still had her brother, Tommery. Now, he was her world.

Eleanor went to her brother and embraced him by the side of the river. Water gently lapped over the toes of their shoes. Suddenly, an out of the blue question came to her, "Where is the bronze horse?" she asked her brother, letting go of him, feeling rather idiotic about blurting out something so odd at the completely wrong time. She waited for a response from her brother, forgetting for a moment about their situation whilst she bit her lips to stop herself from apologising for herself. Elli knew it would just make things worse if she did.

[Ali Wolf]

Tommery hugged her sister back, and made a confused face when she asked about the little statue she had recently bought....in a shop that was at the moment burning to the ground. He wondered why she would worry about something so small and insignificant to the horrible situation at the moment. He figured she was trying to get her mind away from tragedy. He followed her example and closed his eyes, thinking for a minute. He had watched her carry it into the house when she was getting apples....but Tommery also saw Ellie carry it back out. He suddenly remembered.

"Oh, you put it in Flick's saddle, in the left pouch. But why does it matter, Elli?"

As Tommery told this to his sister, he remembered another thing as well. Not so long ago, he was talking to his father in the library. Their dad was showing him a trade route he had once taken, and had warned against it, pointing out a much safer one. Tommery had simply asked him to tell a story of his trading days, and his father had. It contained horrible beasts and cannibal tribes. Their father gratefully said he was lucky to live, no matter the valuable trade possessions he had with him. Tommery remembered the markers to each route, though couldn't remember which was good and which was bad. Though, that didn't matter at the moment. The only thing which matter was that the boy knew the only paths to the nearest town, which was a week and a half's ride away.

[Caty]

Eleanor spoke nothing more of the bronze horse after her brother had told her that where she had put it. She was only relieved that the figurine had not gone down with the rest of her belongings, Elli had been drawn to the horse and had grown quite attatched to it since. She thought of her favourite stuffed toy, Mr.Tums, who was most likely a pile of ashes sitting in the mess of burnt wood and rubble that the twins used to call home. Where were they to call home now?

She did not bother to answer her brother's question immediately, as Elli considered it unneccesary, and reminded herself of what she had read on the back of the figurine as she had looked at it closer. Eleanor has a knack for remembering details about things, even when she did not pay much attention to them at the time-it was why she did well in History, although the dates were uninteresting at the time of her learning them, she surprised those who tried to test her. 'This antique was found at abandoned Shistaa grounds, one-of-a-kind' ,Eleanor recalled reading. She had heard of the Shistaa before, but couldn't imagine such terrible creatures creating such a beautiful thing. Either way, she thought it could be quite valuable if they needed money-though, she wouldn't let go of the bronze horse easily.

"No reason," she replied to Tommery. Deciding that they'd cross that bridge when they came to it, and she didn't want her brother to ask her to sell it if it wasn't absolutely neccessary. Eleanor realised that for the time that she was lost in thought, she had somewhat forgotten of the tragedy that had befallen them. Remembring her parents, she moved her left hand to her the silver bracelet she wore around her wrist and held it, moving her finger over the engravings. Elli sighed and tried to repress her sorrow, they had to do something...they couldn't just stay by the lake forever. She pulled the red bow from her hair and stuffed it inside the pocket of her dress.

[Ali Wolf]

There was another scream in the distance, and a few more shouts, but other than that, everything seemed to have died down. As Tommery strained his eyes, he could only hear the soft crackle of the fire. It would be at least eight hours until morning, and with any luck, the pirates would be on their way by then. Tommery could see Ellie's eyes droop slightly as they sat next to each other in their own thoughts. Tommery could feel his own head become heavy with exhaust- for it had been one of the longest days of his life. Or so it seemed. Although he did not want to go to sleep, he felt there was simply nothing else. So, the young boy pulled his feet from the water, kissed his sister on the hand, and curled into himself on the warm ground. He looked at his sister one last time before closing his eyes.
"Good night Elli.." He mumbled before giving into a dreamless night. It was the first night he could remember with out dreams. The beginning of his dead-like sleep.


Morning came just as quickly as the night had fallen. With it, the blazing sun high in the sky. It seemed to think nothing of the horrors of the night before, and shone with its brilliance just as it had every day before. Tommery was awake at the time of the sun. With out walls to shade them, the light seemed ten times brighter. The boy stretched himself out on the ground, feeling aches and pains from the uncomfortable bed of dirt he had slept in. Tommery finally pushed himself to his knees and crawled to the edge of the lake. He dipped cupped hands into the cool water and splashed his face several times. Tommery stood with water dripping from his head and onto his light shirt. A breeze came through and chilled him, but he was now fully awake and knew the water would dry quickly.
By now, Ellie was waking as well. As he waited for he, he walked over to Flick who was taking a drink by the water's edge. He stroked the black fur and felt a pang of guilt. He had forgotten to take off his saddle and harness. He wanted to take it off now and give the horse a nice apple or something, but figured he and Ellie would be leaving soon. He strained his ears to hear anything like last night, but the only sound was the lake water and sweet melodies from the birds about them. They would definitely ride to town as soon as possible and see what was left- if anything but ashes.

[Caty]

Elli began to open her eyes as rays of sunlight stung them. Flinching, she quickly scrunched them up and stretched out her hand infront of her face to block it out. She hadn't remembered falling asleep the night before, the memories of the happenings that went on the night before came back to her as she tried to remember closing her eyes. She turned to her right and saw her brother stroking Flick. Slowly she got herself up off the ground and rubbed her back where she must of had fallen on a pebble when she drifted to sleep the night beforehand.

When Eleanor was standing up, she inhaled a deep breath of the fresh air and took in her surroundings. The birds were chirping, it was a bright and sunny day, she could see no sign of the raid. Almost as if it had never happened. She knew when they visited the town that day, though, that was going to change. Elli almost dreaded going to see what damage was caused, she feared it would bring back too many memories.

Elli approached Tom and Flick, she draped her arms over his shoulder and rested her head on her hands. "Morning," she said in a quiet yet clear voice. She went up to Flick's nose and began to stroke it from top to bottom, admiring his smile. "Poor thing," she said, looking into the horse's eyes, "did he have his gear on all night?" she asked, addressing Tommery. Eleanor felt saddened as she realised that the creature had no idea what had gone on, obviously she didn't know if he would care, but he might...she really didn't have any idea about what was going on in Flick's head. Speaking of Flick's saddle, she turned her attention to its left side. Making her way around to it, she reached her hand inside the pouch, sure enough the horse figurine she had bought the previous day was in there. The sides of her lips slightly turned upwards.