The leaves on the trees were a reddish color, though most of them were on the forest floor being trampled upon. A cool, crisp autumn breeze rolled in, fluttering the dark blue and green cloaks wrapped around the two girls. It was night, leaving both of the girls to venture through the shadows alone. The two sisters did their best not to make too much noise throughout their trek through the woods to find a new home, but it was hard to be silent when you were scared of what could be lurking in the dark.

Well, Piper was scared. Scarlett, on the other hand, was too upset to let her nerves get to her. How dare they kick out the two girls who did most of the work for the kingdom? Piper was an excellent tailor; she made the clothes for everyone and without any magic involved – despite the villagers now suspecting her of doing so. Scarlett did all sorts of things to help the town run smoothly – and at only 15, mind you – like take up a job at the butchery, or even help blacksmith every once in a while. They were the best citizens any town could hope for, yet here they were, banished from their only home because of something they couldn't help.

At least they could say their good deeds saved them from being burned at the stake right when suspicions arose. They made too many friends for them to have just been murdered in the town square – nobody was that cruel. Needless to say, Piper thought being banished and shunned from her friends was worse than the alternative. If they didn't find somewhere to stop and rest soon, they won't make it past the end of the week.

"Seriously. After all we've done for them? I swear, we're never getting involved with humans ever again," Scarlett was still going on about how unfair they'd been to the pair of them when they came to a clearing in the forest. It opened up to a river, almost frozen over in ice – as it was slowly turning into the winter season. Across it, there was another stretch of land covered in dense trees. Piper scanned the edge of the river bank to see if she could find the shallow end in the darkness, and once she scurried off a little bit, she found a place where they could wade in and only get their ankles wet.

The water was freezing, as it was the coldest part of night. Both of the girls gasped when they entered the chilling water, but gritted their teeth and walked to the other side of the bank. Once they made it, Piper took a minute to shake off the water from her leather boots – they'd shrink if she didn't, otherwise – while Scarlett used her cloak to wipe off some of the excess water from her iron boots.

The bank gave way to the dense forest only a few feet away, and once the two were done getting their feet dry, they resumed their forced journey. It was much darker in this forest, which caused Piper to stick a little closer to Scarlett, even if Piper were the older one here. After a few moments of stumbling around in the darkness, Scarlett made a sound of annoyance and stopped in her tracks.

"This is pointless. We'll be easy prey if we're just walking around blindly. I'll just use a light spell," She offered, holding her hand up in preparation. Instantly, Piper grabbed Scarlett's wrist and lowered it.

"What are you doing?" She tried to show her discomfort in a voice not above a whisper, "We got banished for a reason, Scar. If we try to live without it, maybe they'll let us back in," Piper reasoned, still keeping a firm grip on her sister's wrist.

"Why should we go back? If they don't want us there, then we don't need them. It's not like we really had anybody important back there," Scarlett countered. Though she couldn't see it in the darkness, Piper looked down at her boots at the last statement before loosening her grip. Scarlett sighed, and then lowered her arm the rest of the way. "Fine, no magic. If you're willing to do it, I'll join in."

Piper voiced a 'thank you' and the two walked for a little bit more before they saw that the forest opened up again to a clearing, this one void of any trees or water. It was a good place to set up a home, they decided, and climbed up a sturdy tree to spend the rest of the night in. Tomorrow, they'd get to work on making their new house.