Disclaimer: If you recognize it I don't own it!
DG shifted, hoping to find a more comfortable position, or at least move whatever was sticking her in the back. That was the last time she fell asleep while drawing; pencils did not a good bed partner make. A shaft of bright sunlight hit her square in the face and she blinkingly opened her eyes, throwing up an arm to block the light. She blearily thought to herself "When did I move the bed so the sun hits it?" She groped under herself, trying to find the pencil that was poking her and was astonished when she found nothing but pine needles and rocks. DG sat up, looking around herself, trying to figure out what happened.
"Hmmm. Trees, trees and more trees." Dg said to herself. "I don't ever remember seeing this many trees before in one place."
DG climbed to her feet, checking herself for injuries as she did so. She walked in a small circle, noticing the bits of broken house around her; there was one of the upstairs windows if she wasn't mistaken.
She lifted a hand to her head, feeling a small lump on the back that was tender to the touch. No wonder she felt out of it, she must have hit her head when she landed. Then the memories rushed back; the strange men, the mad scramble onto the roof and finally her mom throwing her off.
"MOM!" DG shouted into the trees. "Mom! Where are you?"
There was no reply, just a faint rustling overhead. DG started rushing around the clearing, looking for any sign that her mom had been there. All she finds are smashed bits of lumber, a few shards of glass and the one upstairs window that is miraculously intact. The rustling overhead becomes more pronounced as she finally stops to gather her thoughts. DG quickly spins around as she hears a noise behind her. No one is there but there is now a yellow feather sitting on the pine needles not far from her that hadn't been there before. She picks up a stick as she walks over to the feather, looking around to see where it came from. There is more rustling above and she spins once again and is surprised to see several small men wearing feathers and war paint standing behind her.
"Be watchful, I like not the look of her" the one wearing blue paint and feathers said to the red one who was pointing a spear at her midsection. "She is a spy!"
"What? No I'm not a spy; I'm just looking for my mother!" DG exclaimed as the strange little men started to advance on her.
"Creatures do not fall from the sky lacking magic!" the strange blue man said to the red one. "Mobats fall from the sky."
The small man wearing red feathers and paint seemed to be in charge of the others, in an exasperated tone he explained to the others "Mobats have wings."
They continued advancing on DG, she started to back up to avoid being jabbed by the spears.
Suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath DG's feet as she was hauled through the air and up into the trees, caught in a net the strange little men had been herding her towards the whole time. Hanging there in the trees, she watched the little men argue beneath her, pointing at her then off into the trees. She looked at the net she was caught in, without a knife there would be no escaping from it. War cries erupted from beneath her. "Well I guess they have decided what to do with me now that they caught me." She thought. Three of the little men ran into the trees and the net started to shudder. "Oh no!" she thought, "They're going to drop me!" The net slowly started to lower, her feet hit the ground but the net stayed tight above her.
The little men grabbed the rope and started pulling the net, causing DG to lose her footing. They dragged her through the forest, into a clearing with rope ladders hanging from the trees. She looked up, seeing a whole village in the tree tops. DG also noted the cages hanging from some of the trees, and got a sneaking suspicion that she would soon be in one too. Several of the little men climbed into the trees while the rest held her at spear point. They untied the net from around her, and poked and prodded her until she stood where they wanted her. DG looked up to see one of the cages descending towards her. They forced her through the hole in the bottom and before she could think of looking around they had hoisted her into the tree tops. Once DG had recovered from her stomach hitting her toes at the sudden vertical movement she grabbed the bars of the cage and stared out at the leader of the little group. He was smirking at her from a rope bridge suspended between two trees. Blue boy was standing behind the red one clutching his spear as if he expected her to suddenly sprout another head or spit fire at them.
"Look not into her eyes, for fear she will turn you into a scree! She is a spy!" said the blue one.
"I'm not a spy!" DG yelled, banging her hands against the bars of the cage.
"Then who are you?" The red one asked in a calm voice.
Taking a deep breath she replied "I'm DG. Who are you?"
The small red man straightened his spine and said "I am Red Hat; we are resistance fighters of the eastern guild."
The blue one pulled Red Hat back and hissed "Do not tell her who we be, she is a spy!"
Red Hat looked over his shoulder at the blue one and looked like he wanted to smack him. This was a feeling that DG could heartily agree with. He looked back to DG and asked "From which direction will Azkadellias' longs coats come? Will they walk or will they fly?"
DG replied in an exasperated tone "I don't know! I don't even know this Azkadellia person. What's a long coat? I'm a victim of a natural disaster and I just want to find my mom and go home!"
Red Hat looks to the blue one, "Maybe she is just a girl."
"Yes! Yes I'm just a girl." DG pounced on their doubt, hoping to reinforce it and make them see reason.
Red Hat holds up DG's locket. "This woman was seen being chased by a company of Long Coats towards the old road."
"Or leading the Long Coats there." the blue one snidely interrupted with a malicious look at DG.
"Please be careful with that, it has a lot of sentimental value. DG pleads.
With a sigh Red Hat looks at DG and says "Strap her to the flayer."
The blue one looks terribly happy at this and steps forward. "Squeal as you peel, till the truth breaks a deal!" He cackles and then drops the locket to the forest floor below.
