"Doon," Lina started, tightening her grip on her younger sister's hand, "what are we going to do?" She gestured to the sunset and the unknown world with the wave of her hand.
Doon shook his head, all this information beginning to become too much for his young mind. He massaged his temples. "I-I don't know but first we have to get off this hill, it's giving me a bad feeling." He turned away from the sisters and began a descent down the hill.
Lina hurriedly shook her head, confused also, following Doon immediately.
Together the 3 of them made their way down the hill, Lina trying very carefully to follow Doon's feet patterns so her little sister didn't slip. The hill, they found out, was quite tall and bushy. Big, prickly bushes that were along their personalised track meant Lina had to pick Poppy up so she didn't getting them in the stockings she wore.
Trees also spotted the hill, Lina and Doon finding one to rest under, 20 minutes into their journey. Lina, though, was still confused as to where they were. They sat down.
"Doon, where are we?" she asked, bringing Poppy down to sit in her lap. "I mean, I've never seen anything like this before. What did you send back to Ember?"
The boy smiled, something he couldn't believe he was doing, considering their situation. He held up a hand. "Slow down Lina, please. I still can't believe there is a world outside of Ember, after all those stories they told. I'm trying to wrap my head around it too."
Lina sighed, a sign that meant she knew Doon was correct. Poppy made a familiar noise.
"Food, Doon?" Lina asked. "Did anything in your books say anything about food?"
Doon shook his head. "No it didn't." He then looked up, noticing something he hadn't seen before.
He stood up and reached out to a tree branch. Picking a red circle, he sat back down. "Will this do?" he asked, with a sly smirk.
"An apple?" Lina gasped. "From a tree?" She gently pried it from Doon's hand, and rolled it around in her hand. "A real apple," she said, mesmerized. Giving a look to the still smirking Doon, she flicked her eyes back to her sister.
Doon nodded. "Yeah, there's plenty more where that came from." Instead of standing up like Lina thought he would, Doon reached out sitting down. "Here," he said, handing one over as he bit into his own. "Let's go though. As I said before, I think something bad is going to happen. I can feel it."
Lina trusted Doon enough to know that if he said something was bad then he was probably right.
They stood, Lina bringing Poppy up too and resting her on her hip.
Doon looked back up to the place they'd come out of. From Ember, their home. "Why do you think the Builders built an underground city and locked us in it?" he asked, thinking out loud.
Lina shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant even though that exact question was the main one running around in her mind. "Maybe something bad was going to happen to mankind and they wanted to start a new world over," she answered.
Doon realised she was probably right. He began to walk back down the hill, his thinking face still on.
Suddenly, overhead a massive squawking sound was let out. All three of them looked up, shocked to something flying above them.
"What is that?" Lina shouted to Doon.
Dashing back to the tree so he was with the other two, and had some cover, he replied, "It's a seagull, but they're not supposed to be this big."
"Then why is it?" Lina asked, struggling to be heard over the horrible noise.
Doon shrugged, no help at all but then realising he had to take control. He was responsible for Poppy and Lina now. "Stay here," he ordered, trying terribly hard to stay calm. "I'll distract it somehow so it will go away."
Doon looked around, trying to find a rock or something but seeing something entirely different out of his peripheral vision. Focusing his entire gaze on the object, he tried to make the details out. Realising it was a person, a citizen of Ember to be exact; he found a rock and threw it in his direction. He hoped the seagull would see the rock and then the citizen.
Lina noticed his gaze locked on the door they'd come from and gasped. "Is that...," she stuttered, "is that Looper?"
Her companion nodded. "Yeah, it is. That's why I threw the rock in his direction."
Lina suddenly slapped him. "You threw the rock in his direction so he'd get eaten instead of us?" she asked.
Doon shrugged. "Well, yeah. You don't want Poppy to be eaten, do you?" he countered.
She hesitated for a moment but then shook her head, "No, of course not."
He smiled. "Good, now while the bird is hooked on Looper, let's get out of here." Grabbing Lina's hand, they dashed down the hill. They wove around trees and bushes, Doon occasionally looking over his shoulder to see what the bird was doing.
The three of them were breathing heavily when they reached the bottom of the hill, resting under a nearby tree. They bent over, trying to catch their breath. Now that they were down fully, Doon gazed up at the place where they left Looper and his admirer.
The bird was there, but Doon wasn't sure whether or not Looper was; if he was, he couldn't see him and if he wasn't, he couldn't see him also. Doon leant against the tree, sliding down it until he was fully planted on the ground. Lina and Poppy followed him, sitting down and resting their tired legs. Lina had noticed Doon when he'd looked for Looper, so she asked, "See him? He probably got eaten by it."
Doon laughed, despite himself. Lina gave him a look. "It's not funny Doon," she protested. "He was just like you or me."
He shook his head. "Nope, nothing like you or me. Well just me, I'm not so sure about you yet."
Lina playfully smacked his shoulder, glaring at the smirking boy. "Thanks," she said sarcastically, "that's nice."
"I know. Now let's go. I feel like exploring." Doon stood quickly, offering his hand to Lina.
She took it gratefully, bringing Poppy as well.
"Where to?" Lina asked, Poppy resting on her hip.
Doon shrugged. "Forwards," he simply replied. "Before we get the rest of Ember out-"
Lina cut him off. "Wait, the rest of Ember out? When did we discuss this?" she asked.
He shrugged again, not fazed at all. "We didn't. I just figured you'd want everyone out of Ember, just in case it collapses. We need to save the food as well," he pointed.
She shook her head, confused. "Well, you did figure correctly, but still..." she trailed off. Lina was still trying to grasp the concept that they weren't the only ones in the world, well Ember, that hadn't seen the surface, or who even knew there was a surface. She thought back to Clary, her friend, who was still in Ember. Clary would love to see this world, all the green grass, the vegetation.
"But still what, Lina?" Doon asked softly, cutting off her thoughts.
Lina refocused her attention back to Doon. "I don't know, Doon. The only thing I do, though, is, yes, we have to get the rest of the Ember citizens out."
"So, first, let's explore?"
Lina nodded firmly.
They walked forward, finally realising the big looming pine forest that stood before them. Poppy cowered in Lina's arms, covering her eyes.
Doon looked at Lina and Lina looked at Doon.
"We're still going," Lina stated, trying to push down the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Only Doon got those.
Doon smiled gently. "I know." He moved his hand to Lina's and held hers tightly. "Let's go."
Together, the three walked forward, trying terribly hard not to look at the tall trees. Within 3 minutes, they found a clearing: a big clearing. One that contained a small village with people buzzing about everywhere. Doon, Lina and even Poppy gasped.
They'd found civilisation.