Chapter 2: Family Lines
Summary:
A look inside the Diamond family line and Riverwind family line
It was no secret to many how looks can be very deceptive. Many of the other 1st class families avoided the Diamond family and the Riverwind family at all costs. For the Diamond family, it was not readily apparent on why. Guy's parents, Rose and Emerald Diamond, were two of the nicest trolls in the village, or so it seemed. They helped out around the village, made clothes and toys for the orphans, helped run errands for those who were either too busy or had injuries that prevented them from doing it themselves. In public they seemed like the perfect, well mannered, sweet, caring couple.
Behind closed doors was a different story. Some of the other trolls, not truly believing what they saw in public often tried to spy on the Diamond family, listening in through open windows but out of visual range. This didn't stop the Diamond family from knowing they were being spied on though and anyone spying found that out the hard way. One troll who had been caught trying to listen in was found with a concussion and multiple bleeding gashes laying outside the medical pod in a very short time frame. When they woke up a week later, they had no memory of what had happened to them or how they got to the medical pod.
The birth of Guy Diamond was celebrated at the same time as the birth of Creek Riverwind. Their families could not stand each other and were long standing rivals of each other as well as rivals to the Oakley family. When the two sets of parents saw each other at the celebration for their children's birth, they had to be kept separated by the other trolls in attendance. In private, Rose and Emerald were teaching Guy how he should act in public, in order to keep up their appearances and to keep people from realizing how they truly were. Behind closed doors, they were arrogant, mean, self-centered, and completely ignorant. They didn't care for anyone and anyone they helped during the day, they would gripe and complain about during the night when alone, calling the other families lazy and overly dependent on others to get things done. The Diamond family felt that if people couldn't do things themselves, then that was their own fault and they needed to get off their lazy butts and quit being so reliant on others.
It was well known by many that Rose Diamond was extremely picky about who she liked and who she didn't like. Her dislike of Creek's family and the Oakley family stemmed from her own childhood when she had been treated badly by both families. She had started off as a 3rd class, being tormented because she had been forced to marry into the Diamond line but soon finding out that they were very similar to herself. Her addition to the family was almost like she had always been part of it. They treated her no different than anyone else in their family, not even treating her like they typically would a 3rd class child. As she grew older, she resented her parents and turned cruel towards all 3rd class families, not caring about the idea she herself came from one. Her dislike of Creek's family came from not just the constant bad treatment but also because she knew that any child of hers would likely have to compete with his family for the hand of any female child of the Oakley's. To say it was a complex rivalry would be an understatement. In honesty, there was no real reason for the rivalry, but in her mind, she felt she had every right to hate them regardless of what others said.
Emerald Diamond was just plain rude. It didn't matter to him if he was in public or not. If someone said something he didn't agree with, he had serious words with the offender. Hoping to get his son to be more like him was proving to not be going in his favor. His wife was already adamant about having Guy pretend to be nice in public, something he didn't feel was going to work in their favor forever. Of course, you know the old saying, the woman is always right. You argue with the woman, you get a frying pan to the face. He found that out the hard way more than once when arguing with his wife. He wasn't overly happy about being smacked with the pan, but his parents found it amusing and applauded Rose for doing it. Needless to say, she fit right in with the family.
The Riverwind family was a bit different. Unlike the Diamond family who was all sweet and nice in public, the Riverwind family acted snooty like they were better than everyone all because they were a spiritual family. Among the 1st class families, they were the ones most looked up to by the colony for spiritual guidance and enlightenment. Being looked up to in that manner gave them a major ego and superiority complex, making them feel that others couldn't do anything without them, that if any of them were gone, the colony would crumble. Rain Riverwind, Creek's mother, was one of the leading females of the colony other than the Queen. She was basically the go-to person by the royal family when in need of spiritual guidance. Her skills consisted of seeing and interpreting aura's, visions of the future which could only see maybe a year ahead, and dreamscapes. Her husband, Sage Riverwind, was able to get visions for many years in the future. He had already predicted the birth of a child for the Oakley family, but his visions were being blocked so he was unable to see the gender of the child. He had already informed Rain that the Oakley child would be born within 2 years. He had a slightly milder temperament than Rain did, but he was cautious, a trait not normally seen in most trolls. He had neglected to tell his wife of a vision that involved himself, visions that normally did not happen unless someone was soon to die.
With the birth of their son Creek, the Riverwind family groaned. They knew right off that if the Oakley's had a daughter, that Creek would have to fight Guy Diamond for the right to claim her as a mate. They knew right away that they would have to train Creek in not just his spiritual abilities, but also in basic fighting techniques. It would be one of the only ways that Creek would be able to prove to his potential mate and to others that he was physically capable to protecting his mate should it become needed. Sage was insistent on teaching his son as much as possible on how to properly treat a lady should he have the opportunity to claim a mate. With his being uncertain on the gender of the future Oakley child, he had no way of knowing how things would turn out. Time was limited and he wanted to do what he could in the time he still had. Rain however, having heard through Sage that the Oakley's would have a child within 2 years, already pre-determined that she was not going to like this child at all, and no matter what happens, she was never going to accept any child of the Oakley line. She kept it secret even from her own husband and fully intended to try to sway Creek to be the same as herself, judgmental and untrusting.
Roughly 2 years passed since the birth's of Guy and Creek and their families taught them as much as possible. Word reached the village that Moss Oakley and Summer Oakley were expecting a pod within a few months. Seeing as how the Oakley family was quite a distance out of the village, unlike others who had to register the birth's of their children, they did not because they didn't live in the village itself. This also afforded them the chance to have the child at home and if needed, hide the gender of the child. Summer was already plotting what she would do. If she had a female child, she would give her a male type name, teach the child how to alter their voice to sound more masculine, and dress them like they would a boy as well to try to maintain the deception. This would all be implemented should she have a female child. She actually, like King Peppy, was hoping for a boy so as to limit their family interaction with the Diamond or Riverwind families. Only time would tell what was to come, but it wasn't going to be very long. Summer's pod was due on Midwinters Day. Such a child was extremely rare, only 2 of which had ever been born on Midwinters Day in the entire history of their colony. She was hoping for a miracle and was not looking forward to what may happen if things did not go according to plan.
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chapter 2 :)
