Acknowledgements/Disclaimer
I'd like to thank my Mom, for helping with proofreading, and my two younger brothers for encouraging me to finish this; especially Joshua because he continually bugged me (and still does) to read this too him.
The Mirratord, Rin Simyaldee, and the Dabdough were created by Soulguard (his real name I don't know; you can find his profile on ).
Halo and its characters (e.i. Master Chief/John, Avery Johnson etc. etc.) belong to Bungie.
1. The Abandoned
A boy jerked awake to the slam of a heavy door.
Sitting up he glanced down next to him and saw that his three siblings still slept.
Cautiously he crawled out of the large bed they shared and went to the window and saw two people get into a cab and drive away. Dustan gazed after the car for a moment confused and wondering why his parents hadn't taken them with them. It took a few seconds for the answer to come to his young mind.
They left us; Mom, Dad. They left us, he though with tears in his brown eyes.
Six year old Dustan Sage angrily wiped his tears away and watched the car disappear as he though bleakly, I had hoped this would never happen; but it's time to leave.
His parents had abandoned him.
Turning and running down stairs he grabbed two back packs and stuffed one of the bags full of dried foods and a dozen water bottles from the pantry. It was time for them to leave. If they weren't gone by morning they would be picked up by the Orphan Agency to be put to work in the factories, or something else.
After filling the bag to its full capacity, Dustan buckled the straps across his torso and grabbed the second bag as he dashed up stairs.
He woke his sister up by shaking her gently. She blinked up at him blearily, "What is it Dusty?"
Dustan grunted, "Salacor is no place for orphans."
The young girl's eyes widen as she sat up, fully awake. "They left us?" she asked, hurt and disbelief on her face
"Yes; I'll find out why later. Pack some clothes and get your boots on," he ordered.
Dustan went to the closet he shared with his siblings and pulled a med kit from the corner and tossed it onto the bed along with five others and a knife, a flashlight with five sets of extra batteries, two cell phones and a charger. He had hidden these things several months before; just in case.
Grabbing a large bag he stuffed it full of clothes and old shoes he had grown out of; he would store them in the storm bunker in the backyard.
Going to the bottom of the bunker's stairs he went under them and searched for the secret latch his father had shown him last year. When he found it he tossed the overstuffed bag into the room. He would get it later, after he had his siblings were safe in the forest.
Going back into the house Dustan found his sister dressed and pulling one of the two bags onto her back. Grunting Dustan put the flashlight, knife, and cell phones in the pockets before turning and having her strap the med-kits to his bag.
"Ready?" he asked glancing back at his sister. The young girl shook her head, tears coursing down her cheeks. "No," she whispered.
"We'll make it Kay," he promised, hugging her tightly and desperately hoping he could keep the promise. Giving her a squeeze he picked up Jake, the eldest of the two twins. "Take Aussie," he commanded.
Kay wiped her tears with a sniff and picked her little brother up; holding him easily despite her young age.
The twins were alert but quiet; both sensing something very wrong. "Wa wong?" Jake asked quietly, his mind still sleepy. Dustan hesitated a moment then promised, "I'll tell you later Jake; but you and Aussie need to promise to be very, very quiet." The twins looked at each other then back at Dustan. "Uh'kay," they said together.
Dustan nodded and led his sister out of the house and into the streets of Dithe, a suburb city on the planet Salacor. The streets were deserted but well lit by street lights, making it dangerous for the children as they stole from shadow to shadow at a silent run. Their breathing was steady and rhythmic as they ran; both children used to the grueling pace and being silent. Salacor was not a friendly place for anyone younger then sixteen and children had to learn at an early age to be quick and silent when they weren't with their parents. It was either that or get taken to the Holding; a place similar to an animal pound only for children where they were held for a month and if they weren't claimed within that time period they were sent to factories to work or to do other labor.
Dustan stopped at the edge of the city, breathing heavily; the bag and his brother feeling like a few tons. Swallowing he glanced at his sister and found her trembling, sweating, and breathing heavily as she eyed their surroundings warily.
"How you doing?" he whispered; glad she wasn't one to panic.
His four year old sister nodded, "Fine."
He nodded and took a deep breath, time for the last, and most dangerous, part of their escape. "Keep low," he whispered then dashed forward, bent nearly double as he ran for the forest nearly a hundred yards away. Thirty yard out he heard shouting followed nearly instantly by the spray of earth all around him.
"Hurry Kay!" he shouted. His sister surged past him; adrenaline giving her extra power. Dustan followed, wishing that her legs were longer. Bullets peppered the ground around them angrily until they entered the forest.
"Keep going!" Dustan growled when Kay stumbled before him. Grabbing her hand he continued running, dragging her behind him.
Gradually the sounds of the adults faded away and all Dustan could hear was the sound of his and his sister feet, breathing, and the crashing of the foliage.
Slowing he stopped next to a huge oak and listened but couldn't hear anything except his hard breathing and pounding heart; Kay had fallen to the ground gasping next to Aussie. Dustan sat next to her and laid Jake down.
"Good job," he gasped at his younger brother as he tried to catch his breath. The twins were too scared and confused to answer but nodded. They lay still for a long time then Dustan sighed and stood wearily, "We should keep moving."
Kay groaned, "Let's sleep here, please Dusty I'm so tired."
Dustan wanted nothing more than to do just as she asked but he knew they weren't safe yet. Something instinctive told him that. "It's not safe here Kay," he said but soft snoring met his announcement.
Dustan sighed again and leaned against a branch but ended up yelping as it gave way under his weight. Staggering he caught himself then stared at a gaping hole in the trunk of the oak. He stood still for a long moment then reached over to Kay and shook her viciously.
She woke with a start then glared at him when she saw that there wasn't any danger, "Leave me alone Dusty." Dustan made a mental note not to wake his sister when she hadn't had enough sleep as he pointed to the hole. She stared at it then looked at him in confusion, "What?"
He shrugged, "Give me the flash light." She handed it to him and woke Jake and Aussie. The twins woke with a little trouble but stood up and grabbed one of Kay's hands as she followed Dustan down the dark hole. Dustan stopped inside and flashed the light around and saw that the tunnel curved a little down and to the right. Moving the light behind them he spotted a control pad to the left side of the door. Going to it he brushed the dirt from the wording. The red button said close the green said open. Pressing the red a door slid from the right and shut silently but quickly. Putting his hand against it he found that it was a sort of metal. Shaking his head he turned the light to the tunnel and cautiously made his way down it. His siblings close to his back
They walked for about two minutes when the tunnel abruptly came out into a large room about 1500 sq. ft. fully furnished as a living room. Three couches, large couches, were set to face a huge TV entertainment center a couple of billiard tables and a wine rack.
Shining the light around Dustan saw two arch ways; one to his left the other to his right but in the same wall as he was standing with his back to.
"Come on, we need to find a light switch," he said flashing the light around.
"There." Dustan glanced at where Kay was pointing and saw a switch. Going over to it he flipped it on. The lights above them turned on smoothly and gave the four children a better look at this strange place.
"This place must have cost hundreds of dollars!" Kay exclaimed. Dustan grunted as he looked at the quality furniture. "More like billions, sis," he said nodding to the huge 70 inch wide TV with some of the highest quality systems known. Though he and his sister were very young they had learned how to distinguish expensive and quality things from cheap and not so quality stuff.
He and his siblings had unusually high IQ for their age and were way ahead of other kids their age. Dustan had ninth grade comprehension level and Kay had an eighth grader's level. The twins had fourth grader's level of comprehension.
"Kay, take the bed rolls and lay the twins down for some sleep, I'll check out the other two rooms," he said as he let his bag down and took a water bottle out. Kay nodded and took her bag down and tossed him one of the two cell phones, "Just take it Dusty," she said rolling her eyes at his odd look.
Dustan shrugged and took a long drink of water then took the flashlight to the arch that was in the wall that the tunnel was in and flashed the light into the room and blinked when he saw it was a dining room with three tables with about twenty five chairs around each of them; there were three other arches adjoining this room.
Dustan flashed the light around and saw the switch going over he flipped it on. The arch next to the switch led into a short hall that went into a kitchen. Dustan switch the light on from next to the arch he just came through to reveal a huge, quality, kitchen. This room had one arch to the far left of the 1700 sq. ft. area. Dustan went to it and found that it was another hall. Turning back he turned off the light in the kitchen then went to the middle arch was in the dining room and found that it was a hall too, the third was a hall that had doors lining the sides starting about half way down it. Going over to one of the doors Dustan raised a brow when he saw that it was a bedroom. Doing an about face he saw that the room across the hall was a room as well. Walking down the hall he found that there were about thirty rooms and a huge bathroom that had over twenty showers and toilet stalls as well as urinary stalls.
Dustan nodded to himself; they could live here. Turning out the bathroom light Dustan returned to his siblings; turning lights off as he went. When he came in he found his sister already asleep on one of the couches. Smiling faintly he pulled off her boots and socks before pulling a blanket over her. Looking at his brothers he watched them sleep for several moments.
Dustan sighed softly and took the bag he had carried to the kitchen and put the food in the empty pantry along with the water and the med kits. They had food to last them a few days, so he and his sister had time to make plans about what to do.
Going back to the room, after turning out the light, the six year old took off his boots and socks and climbed under the covers next to his sister.
He felt clammy and filthy but he was too tired to worry about it but he had enough energy to take the cell phone from his pocket and set the alarm for eight o'clock when he saw that it was two in the morning. Closing his eyes he fell to sleep.
Three days later
Trae Torcher pressed his back against the trunk of the pine he was behind as bullets peppered the ground and bark of his cover.
"Keep your heads down guys!" he yelled to his men. The boys and girls within his sight gave him a nod as they kept low.
Nineteen year old Trae grabbed a fragment grenade from his satchel and pulled the pin with his teeth. "Nade!" he shouted as he threw the explosive toward a group of four or five enemies.
The fighting hadn't been going on long but Trae had lost two men already and the enemy seemed to have so many but, to his surprise, he heard the call for retreat from the enemy. Peeking out from behind the tree he watched as three people ran. He shot a few rounds after them but they were out of range.
"Klyro scouts," Trae muttered as he looked at the armor of one of the people he had killed. The dead boy was barely twelve but Trae felt no remorse. It was the way of life in the Forest of Orphans. Territory had to be established, and this was a way, even though a brutal one but much more merciful then what the government would do, population control. Every one of the orphans knew what it was but the wars continued. It was both a battle for survival and territory.
"That punk should know by now not to test our borders, can't he take a hint?" Trae glanced at a girl at his side and smirked at the trigger happy Karna. "You'd get bored if he did Karna," he said kissing her cheek.
The eighteen year old rolled her eyes, "I like a break sometimes dufus."
Trae chuckled. "Take care of the bodies, I need to go meet up with the other teams," he said glancing back at the other four, including Karna.
The four nodded. "Yes sir," they said.
Trae nodded and jogged away. He was the leader of the Guardians, the largest and most powerful tribe of Orphans in the Forest of Orphans. He had been leader for upward four years, two years after he had escaped from the factories in Dithe. Under his leadership the Guardians had become feared by the others but also known as the kindest. They didn't kill the injured of another tribe after a skirmish, or battle, but tended them the best they could then sent them back to their villages. They also accepted any new Orphans and trained them how to survive the forest then let them choose to go to another tribe, or stay with them. Most had chosen to stay.
The Guardians were also a buffer for the other tribes against the Adults of Salacor. Early every year, sometimes twice, the government sent out an army to try and recapture or kill off as may orphans as they could before their own numbers were depleted.
Trae came to a sudden stop when he heard a rustling nearby followed by a rough croaking cough.
"Jake, drink this."
Trae pinpointed the voice to behind a thicket of raspberry bushes. The coughing continued after a moment.
Silently the teenager moved to the bush and cautiously glanced through the branches. He froze as he stared at a girl of four or five kneeling over two identical boys. One was unconscious and had labored breathing the other wide awake but coughing weakly. The girl took a damp—Sock? he wondered—and dabbed the coughing boys brow.
"Kay? What's your Position?"
Trae tensed at the sudden crackling of a comm. then relaxed when he saw that it was a cell phone comm. The girl picked it up, "I'm at Alpha C. The twins are getting worse."
Trae was surprised how mature the girl sounded. She was really cute; beautiful actually. Her hair was blond and her eyes were a clear winter sky blue, her skin had a slightly sun burnt appearance to it but in a healthy way.
"Copy, stay put."
The girl set the phone down and continued to dab the coughing boy's brow and the other boy's brow as well.
Trae barely heard the third boy's approach as he came through the bushes opposite of the place Trae was hiding.
"I put the clothes away and got some more food. They totally cleared out the house though, so I had to steal from the neighbors place," the new boy said.
Trae guessed the boy was about six but he seemed so much older; and bigger too. The eyes of the boy were too hard and filled with knowledge that any normal boy his age should not possess.
The girl bit her lip as she glanced at the twins, "Did you try and get help?"
The six year old laughed harshly, "The others just shot at me when I let them see me."
The girl looked at the older boy critically then relaxed when she was satisfied he wasn't injured, "I wish mom were here. She'd know what to do." Trae frowned; did their parents die? They were lucky then; most kids their parents abandoned for better work elsewhere.
The boy grunted, "She'd just take them to the hospital Kay; and they aren't coming back. Not when their sitting in the luxurious apartment they bought themselves on Atrious." Trae was a bit surprised at the cold and angry tone the boy used.
So they were abandoned, Trae thought.
The girl gasped then muttered angrily. "Why did they do it Dusty?" the girl asked after her anger subsided; tears now in her eyes. The six year old embraced her and sighed, "I don't know sis, I don't know."
Trae shifted and winced as a twig sapped. The boy stiffened as he glanced in his direction, "What do you want? Going to kill us?"
Trae snorted as he stood, "No, I have a healer at my village that can treat your brothers." Not a good opening line but the younger boy didn't seem like the type for pointless chatter.
"Do you have any power to give us that aid?" he asked skeptically, his dark brown eyes scanning him coldly.
Trae smirk sardonically, "Quite boy; are you coming?"
The boy held his gaze for a long moment then let his sister go, "Fine."
Trae watched as the boy easily scooped one of the toddlers, which was about half his size, into his arms. The girl copied the motion with the other boy.
"I'll carry them, it's a long jog," Trae offered.
The younger boy shook his head, "No, we won't slow you down."
Trae shrugged and jogged away slowly. The two kids stayed with him; gliding effortlessly over the uneven terrain. Trae was impressed then immediately suspicious. No new kids moved that easily here.
"S-o," Trae said conversationally, but he was aware of how the two jogging at his side became instantly wary at his tone, "which tribe are you from?"
He expected them to attack or run but he was pleasantly surprised when the two kids glanced at each other in confusion before looking up at him.
"Tribe?"
Trae chuckled, "Never mind; how long have you been in the forest?" He noted that the kids had sensed his change of attitude and relaxation but didn't relax themselves.
"Three days," the boy answered. Trae glanced down at the boy and saw that he was serious.
"You haven't been sick yet?" he asked in surprise. Everyone got the forest sickness within the first twenty four hours of first entering the forest.
The boy grunted, maneuvering around some ferns, "Kay and I don't get sick."
Trae smiled wryly, "You will, everyone does. It's the way the Forest tests her children's hardiness." The two children exchanged looks.
"Go on," the girl encouraged.
Trae smirked as he stepped over a small stream. "The forest tests intruders of her domain with an illness that we orphans have come to call the Forest Fever. The forest gives it to us to make us stronger and to test our strength. It's a cruel way but an effective one to weed out those that are the strongest and are able to survive. Most don't last the first day," he said glancing at the babes in their arms, "How long have they been sick?"
"This is the third day."
Trae stumbled, "Third day?" he exclaimed staring at them in surprise.
The boy nodded, "My family has…unusual resistance against many things. Illnesses are one of them." Trae sent a curious look at the boy but they had arrived at his village.
"Let's get them to Lanny," he said after he let the two take in the sight of the large village for a long moment.
