~*~
As the sun rose the next morning, and its rays struck through the open window of the abandoned warehouse, one of the fourteen girls lazily heaped in makeshift cots stirred. She threw back her reddish hair from her face and groaned in protest. Rolling over, she attempted to snatch back the last few glimpses of her ragged sleep, and gave up when she heard the deafening sounds outside the building. Carriage wheels, and horses, and...was that newsies bellowing?! Growling, she reached over and poked a peaceful Lightning in the stomach.
Lightning muttered something indecipherable under her breath and swatted her hand away. "I'm up," she yawned, and proceeded to shake Uhm awake.
It went around the room, from Azure, who had the now-empty liquor bottle in her hand. Then it went to Porcelyn, who had her face pressed into the straw of her cot and could have suffocated at any time had it not been for Whisper hitting her on the head to wake her up.
Of course, as soon as Midnight was aware of all that was going on around her, and Enchanted had finally learned how to deaden the pain pounding inside her stomach and brain, they immediately took control.
"DAMN!" Midnight said heavily, "Of COURSE they got ta all da papes befoah us! Now, whad are we gonna do?!"
Enchanted took one look out the window and shrugged. "If we get dere fast enough, we might be able ta salvage a workin' day."
So they crowded at the door, and started making their plans.
~*~
Seattle swept his thick, black hair out of his eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time today. He turned to face Racetrack, who was trotting along, searching for a seemingly good selling spot. He was rambling on about some guy named David and how good it was to get him away from school to sell a little with them. Personally, Seattle could care less. All he cared about right now was to sell all his papers, and get through another day.
Then again, that was all he could have afforded to care about in Oregon Territory. Get his money any way he could, stuff his mouth with whatever food he could buy, and find another place to spend the cold, lonely night. Once there had been Adora, a girl he had clung to ever since he was 13, a girl who would make his stomach tighten with whatever words she would utter. Adora, with the light, blonde hair and the golden eyes. Almost like a hawk.
"Hey, Seattle? Whatcha thinkin' bout?" Race suddenly disrtupted his train of thoughts.
"Nothing. Hey, when are we gonna get there? I just want to get rid of these," he gestured to the pile of newspapers he was tightly grasping on to in explanation to his eagerness.
"Yeah, hold on, we'se jist gonna talk ta Davey for a few minutes," Race said, regardless of the annoyed look on Seattle's face.
Seattle grimaced and nodded in agreement. What else could he do? Race was his lifeline here. He trotted along behind him obediently, letting the sun of New York warm his bare arms and the back of his neck.
~*~
Uhm swore colorfully under her breath, a whole dictionary's worth of curses slipping out of her mouth. Her head was constantly being hammered down with pain, courtesy to last night's consequences. She wished intensely that she was like Giggles; she could drink all day and night, and never get the tiniest bit of a hangover.
Lifting her head to the sun, letting the warmth temporarily heal her, before the brightness made her squint, she hobbled forward, the small weight of the bundle of papers hindering her ever so slightly.
She didn't see the crate lying directly in her path.
Her feet crashed into the side of it, and she stumbled to the rough cobblestone, her knee crushing the light, rotting wood of the crate.
David turned from the busy crowd at the lamppost where he was positioned when he heard a huge crash and high cry of pain. "Hold on, ma'am," he mouthed politely, tipping his hat to the impatient woman with her gloved hand outstretched for the front page.
David hurried to where he had heard the source of the noise. Sighing restlessly, he scanned the street for whatever had made it. In the corner, almost concealed by an alley, he spotted a whimpering body with strawberry-blonde hair and an ashy complexion. After further examination, he realized that the whimpering body was actually a girl around his age. Stepping quickly, he rushed to her side. "Hey, you ok?" he asked, consolingly.
Uhm, being put through hell and worse, didn't react the way she should have. Instead, with the pain in her stomach and head plaguing her, and now with the jarring of her knee, she snapped. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shouted at the boy who had appeared (almost as if summoned), and forced him backwards with a well-placed kick in the stomach.
There was a stunned silence from David, whose air had been forced out through his diaphragm. "What was that for?" he managed to wheeze out, staggering forward and going down on his knees to try to help Uhm again.
A blend of panic and rage was storming in Uhm's light blue eyes. "I SAID---GET AWAY!" she reached up and hit him with her palm and then more effectively with her knuckles.
"CALM DOWN!" David roared, trying to dodge her flying fists. Firmly grasping her by the shoulders, he shook her and then drove her firmly into the cobblestone. A shocked cry escaped her mouth and he knew that he had shaken her too hard. "Sorry," he muttered apologetically, and let her shoulders go for one instant.
In that one instant, Uhm shoved him away from her, tottered up on shaky legs and fell forward to drag him down to the cobblestone. It would have worked too, had it been that that day, she wasn't feeling particularly capable of tackling anybody. Instead, David lost his balance, regained it, swooped Uhm up in his arms, and drove her backward into a nearby brick building. Her head bounced painfully against the brick and amplified the pain until there was nothing but billows and waves of darkness.
~*~
To passerbys, all of this had happened in merely seconds, and as Race jogged up to David, he looked down in horror. "David, dat's one a Midnight's!" he choked out.
"Well, it ain't my fault!" David jumped to his own defense, "I came here to help her and she attacked me!"
Seattle looked down at the girl and considered her. Well, this Midnight was not going to be pleased, that was for sure. The girl was unconcious, her strawberry hair spread out on scratched shoulders from being rammed into cobblestone and brick, her arms with bruises from where David had held her too tightly.
David on the other hand, didn't look so good himself either. A gash had opened above his lip, and blood was pouring out of his nose. Seattle turned his attention to a distraught Race, who was babbling even more fiercely now.
"Dis ain't good, Davey, ain't good at all! Where a Midnight is, annuda one's shoah ta be!"
True to his word, another girl with light brownish-blondish hair and copper highlights appeared to materialize by the unconcious girl's shoulder.
Race recognized her to be Jack's 'lover' (they had been poking fun at him the day before), or the girl that had kissed him so forcefully. 'Azure,' he registered with a flash of remembrance.
Her eyes were no longer full of laughter as they had been earlier that day, but rather of harmful intent. "Who did dis?" she asked in a low, quiet voice, as if she would rather shout, but keep it all cooped in. No one dared to reply, but she looked up at David's face and got the answer. "Oh. I should have known. Annuda one a Jack's group, huh?" Without waiting for a response, she whistled loudly, two high notes, and one low. Almost instantly, two girls broke away from the crowd to dash to Azure's side.
Enchanted gazed down, horrified, wanting to lash back at David. Ugh, how she hated Jack right now. But something inside her mind warned her to stay still and to wait a few minutes before she reacted. Something told her that this wasn't a direct result of David's foolishness.
Midnight, however, didn't hesitate. "What da HELL happened heah?!" she snapped, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes as she knelt down by Uhm. Two minute furrows etched itself in between her eyebrows as she frowned slightly.
"Him! David! Jack's right-hand guy!" Azure pointed fiercely, and then lowered her finger to turn to Midnight. "We can't take dis no longer, Midnight! We gotta retaliate or else they'll hoit all a us!"
The words worked its way into Midnight's head, and before Enchanted could stop her, she had blurted out the words to Seattle, David, Race, and a late in coming Jack. "I'm declarin' a rumble!"
"What?" Jack panted in astonishment.
"A RUMBLE! MANHATTAN AND MIDNIGHT, YOU AGAINST ME, NEXT WEEK!"
Enchanted hung her head in desperation, and Racetrack gaped at the infuriated Midnight, already feeling the beginnings of helplessness starting in his chest.
Seattle rested his body on the brick building that Uhm had been slammed against. He watched the whole conversation unfold before his icy blue eyes, and he watched the girl he assumed as Midnight scream at Jack, David, and Race. He observed as Azure kept making sidelong glances from Uhm to Jack, as if making a big decision. And most of all, he watched the one girl who stayed silent throughout this whole time, looking back towards him with her tempestuous eyes. Her black hair, not unlike his own, was streaked with caramel brown. With a shock, he realized that her pupils were surrounded with a diminutive ring of gold.
'Well,' he thought for one second, and afterwards, berated himself for it, 'Maybe it wasn't so bad that I came here after all.'
~*~
As the sun rose the next morning, and its rays struck through the open window of the abandoned warehouse, one of the fourteen girls lazily heaped in makeshift cots stirred. She threw back her reddish hair from her face and groaned in protest. Rolling over, she attempted to snatch back the last few glimpses of her ragged sleep, and gave up when she heard the deafening sounds outside the building. Carriage wheels, and horses, and...was that newsies bellowing?! Growling, she reached over and poked a peaceful Lightning in the stomach.
Lightning muttered something indecipherable under her breath and swatted her hand away. "I'm up," she yawned, and proceeded to shake Uhm awake.
It went around the room, from Azure, who had the now-empty liquor bottle in her hand. Then it went to Porcelyn, who had her face pressed into the straw of her cot and could have suffocated at any time had it not been for Whisper hitting her on the head to wake her up.
Of course, as soon as Midnight was aware of all that was going on around her, and Enchanted had finally learned how to deaden the pain pounding inside her stomach and brain, they immediately took control.
"DAMN!" Midnight said heavily, "Of COURSE they got ta all da papes befoah us! Now, whad are we gonna do?!"
Enchanted took one look out the window and shrugged. "If we get dere fast enough, we might be able ta salvage a workin' day."
So they crowded at the door, and started making their plans.
~*~
Seattle swept his thick, black hair out of his eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time today. He turned to face Racetrack, who was trotting along, searching for a seemingly good selling spot. He was rambling on about some guy named David and how good it was to get him away from school to sell a little with them. Personally, Seattle could care less. All he cared about right now was to sell all his papers, and get through another day.
Then again, that was all he could have afforded to care about in Oregon Territory. Get his money any way he could, stuff his mouth with whatever food he could buy, and find another place to spend the cold, lonely night. Once there had been Adora, a girl he had clung to ever since he was 13, a girl who would make his stomach tighten with whatever words she would utter. Adora, with the light, blonde hair and the golden eyes. Almost like a hawk.
"Hey, Seattle? Whatcha thinkin' bout?" Race suddenly disrtupted his train of thoughts.
"Nothing. Hey, when are we gonna get there? I just want to get rid of these," he gestured to the pile of newspapers he was tightly grasping on to in explanation to his eagerness.
"Yeah, hold on, we'se jist gonna talk ta Davey for a few minutes," Race said, regardless of the annoyed look on Seattle's face.
Seattle grimaced and nodded in agreement. What else could he do? Race was his lifeline here. He trotted along behind him obediently, letting the sun of New York warm his bare arms and the back of his neck.
~*~
Uhm swore colorfully under her breath, a whole dictionary's worth of curses slipping out of her mouth. Her head was constantly being hammered down with pain, courtesy to last night's consequences. She wished intensely that she was like Giggles; she could drink all day and night, and never get the tiniest bit of a hangover.
Lifting her head to the sun, letting the warmth temporarily heal her, before the brightness made her squint, she hobbled forward, the small weight of the bundle of papers hindering her ever so slightly.
She didn't see the crate lying directly in her path.
Her feet crashed into the side of it, and she stumbled to the rough cobblestone, her knee crushing the light, rotting wood of the crate.
David turned from the busy crowd at the lamppost where he was positioned when he heard a huge crash and high cry of pain. "Hold on, ma'am," he mouthed politely, tipping his hat to the impatient woman with her gloved hand outstretched for the front page.
David hurried to where he had heard the source of the noise. Sighing restlessly, he scanned the street for whatever had made it. In the corner, almost concealed by an alley, he spotted a whimpering body with strawberry-blonde hair and an ashy complexion. After further examination, he realized that the whimpering body was actually a girl around his age. Stepping quickly, he rushed to her side. "Hey, you ok?" he asked, consolingly.
Uhm, being put through hell and worse, didn't react the way she should have. Instead, with the pain in her stomach and head plaguing her, and now with the jarring of her knee, she snapped. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shouted at the boy who had appeared (almost as if summoned), and forced him backwards with a well-placed kick in the stomach.
There was a stunned silence from David, whose air had been forced out through his diaphragm. "What was that for?" he managed to wheeze out, staggering forward and going down on his knees to try to help Uhm again.
A blend of panic and rage was storming in Uhm's light blue eyes. "I SAID---GET AWAY!" she reached up and hit him with her palm and then more effectively with her knuckles.
"CALM DOWN!" David roared, trying to dodge her flying fists. Firmly grasping her by the shoulders, he shook her and then drove her firmly into the cobblestone. A shocked cry escaped her mouth and he knew that he had shaken her too hard. "Sorry," he muttered apologetically, and let her shoulders go for one instant.
In that one instant, Uhm shoved him away from her, tottered up on shaky legs and fell forward to drag him down to the cobblestone. It would have worked too, had it been that that day, she wasn't feeling particularly capable of tackling anybody. Instead, David lost his balance, regained it, swooped Uhm up in his arms, and drove her backward into a nearby brick building. Her head bounced painfully against the brick and amplified the pain until there was nothing but billows and waves of darkness.
~*~
To passerbys, all of this had happened in merely seconds, and as Race jogged up to David, he looked down in horror. "David, dat's one a Midnight's!" he choked out.
"Well, it ain't my fault!" David jumped to his own defense, "I came here to help her and she attacked me!"
Seattle looked down at the girl and considered her. Well, this Midnight was not going to be pleased, that was for sure. The girl was unconcious, her strawberry hair spread out on scratched shoulders from being rammed into cobblestone and brick, her arms with bruises from where David had held her too tightly.
David on the other hand, didn't look so good himself either. A gash had opened above his lip, and blood was pouring out of his nose. Seattle turned his attention to a distraught Race, who was babbling even more fiercely now.
"Dis ain't good, Davey, ain't good at all! Where a Midnight is, annuda one's shoah ta be!"
True to his word, another girl with light brownish-blondish hair and copper highlights appeared to materialize by the unconcious girl's shoulder.
Race recognized her to be Jack's 'lover' (they had been poking fun at him the day before), or the girl that had kissed him so forcefully. 'Azure,' he registered with a flash of remembrance.
Her eyes were no longer full of laughter as they had been earlier that day, but rather of harmful intent. "Who did dis?" she asked in a low, quiet voice, as if she would rather shout, but keep it all cooped in. No one dared to reply, but she looked up at David's face and got the answer. "Oh. I should have known. Annuda one a Jack's group, huh?" Without waiting for a response, she whistled loudly, two high notes, and one low. Almost instantly, two girls broke away from the crowd to dash to Azure's side.
Enchanted gazed down, horrified, wanting to lash back at David. Ugh, how she hated Jack right now. But something inside her mind warned her to stay still and to wait a few minutes before she reacted. Something told her that this wasn't a direct result of David's foolishness.
Midnight, however, didn't hesitate. "What da HELL happened heah?!" she snapped, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes as she knelt down by Uhm. Two minute furrows etched itself in between her eyebrows as she frowned slightly.
"Him! David! Jack's right-hand guy!" Azure pointed fiercely, and then lowered her finger to turn to Midnight. "We can't take dis no longer, Midnight! We gotta retaliate or else they'll hoit all a us!"
The words worked its way into Midnight's head, and before Enchanted could stop her, she had blurted out the words to Seattle, David, Race, and a late in coming Jack. "I'm declarin' a rumble!"
"What?" Jack panted in astonishment.
"A RUMBLE! MANHATTAN AND MIDNIGHT, YOU AGAINST ME, NEXT WEEK!"
Enchanted hung her head in desperation, and Racetrack gaped at the infuriated Midnight, already feeling the beginnings of helplessness starting in his chest.
Seattle rested his body on the brick building that Uhm had been slammed against. He watched the whole conversation unfold before his icy blue eyes, and he watched the girl he assumed as Midnight scream at Jack, David, and Race. He observed as Azure kept making sidelong glances from Uhm to Jack, as if making a big decision. And most of all, he watched the one girl who stayed silent throughout this whole time, looking back towards him with her tempestuous eyes. Her black hair, not unlike his own, was streaked with caramel brown. With a shock, he realized that her pupils were surrounded with a diminutive ring of gold.
'Well,' he thought for one second, and afterwards, berated himself for it, 'Maybe it wasn't so bad that I came here after all.'
~*~