"Children. It's time to get up." Called mother. I was reluctant to get up because I wanted more sleep but everyone left me in bed. So, groaning, I got up and followed them to the dinner table. Mikael of course, glared at me. I was always the last one to get up.
"Eat your breakfast brat so that we can go and I can teach you a sword maneuver and then Finn can deal with you. Then I'm going to need you Elijah. I'll send you back and you kids can do whatever task your mother has for you today." Mikael said and he began to eat. Yes!
I ate my breakfast and retrieved my sword from beside my horses' stable. I attached the sheath to my waist and walked over to the entrance of the stables and waited for my father to come out. As usual he took a while. After I was considering going back inside he came out and motioned for me to follow. I frowned a bit. He never seemed to be happy with me. But I can understand that. If I were a bit more like Finn and Elijah he'd be happy with me, though on the other hand I HAD misbehaved yesterday. On a side note though, I don't understand how staying out late is bad.
I followed him and he led me to the usual clearing. He readied his sword. This time his face seemed at least not so angry with me. I smiled at him, he returned it for a second. Then he began to instruct me on what to do.
"Niklaus I want you to come at me with your sword." I did and he spun around so quick that my sword left my hands and his sword was aimed at my chest. I backed up and he had me retrieve my sword. I obeyed. I did this a few more times. Until Mikael decided it was time to actually teach. "Watch my movements Niklaus. This technique is best used when your attacker is aiming for a downward strike. However the more you master this technique, the better you can handle any movement, as with most of the sword maneuvers. Now you try." He said.
I retrieved my sword and made the movements he made. He corrected the mistake I made in my posture. After about fifteen tries he had me practice on him.
By the time that he was satisfied he led me back to the house. I needed a drink anyway and was grateful. He took Elijah who had his sword handy, I smiled at him as left. I needed to get my drink. I went inside the house and Rebekah handed me a glass of water. I smiled and drank my glass. I kissed her cheek in greeting and she 'mmmd' as in she needed to complete her house work.
Kyle and Carr came over and shouted through the front door. "HEY! NIK! GET YOUR DUMB ASS OUT HERE! OR WE'LL HAVE TO COME IN AND GET YOU!"
"Don't you dare Niklaus. You heard Mother last night. We're supposed to wait for Elijah to come back and then go berry picking at noon, as siblings."
"Or what? You going to tell on me?" I said sarcastically.
"OI! NIK!"
"OI! I'm coming." I grumbled. I left the house to meet them with Maria. OH. Now she gets to come out and play. "What's up?"
"We're going to go see the girls. You know Crystal, Olivia and Cynthia."
"Sorry. Can't go right now. I'm scheduled to a sibling bonding time. Tell her I'll see her tonight in our usual go-to spot. We'll sneak out late and go see them. Alright with you guys?" I whispered.
"You sure? With all the trouble we got into last night?" Carr asked, rubbing his bottom.
"Yeah I'm not sure I can handle getting caught again Nik." Kyle said and looked at the ground.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. Trust me." I said encouragingly.
"Okay, fine. But –"
"IF we get caught I'll take all the blame."
"What are you boys talking about?"
"Oh Father. I thought you went to teach Elijah." I said.
"I'm just about to."
"Shh. It's Nik's papa."
"Shh. Before you get seen.''
"I'll be leaving now."
"Okay." They left and Maria waved bye and began to talk away to them about Steven. The boy she met over with us. I watched as they left. Oh how I would miss my Crystalia. Oh well. Making fun of Finn is almost as good. As well as having fun with my other siblings. I'd have the best day yet. Especially with Kol around.
I saw Elijah coming back so I decided to go inside and I hid behind the door. When it opened I saw Elijah come in, Mikael however didn't follow. Instead you could hear him shouting to other men in the village. I jumped on top of Eli making him fall over. I landed on his chest and began to laugh. He laughed too. He wrapped his arms around me and I hugged him back.
He stood us up and kissed my cheek. I smiled as he left to go get a drink himself. I saw Kol playing with Rebekah and decided to leave the house when Finn blocked my path.
"No Niklaus. It's almost time for Mother to come and send us out."
"Really? Getting in my way TWICE? I wouldn't try a third time Finn. You don't tell me what to do, just like everyone else." I growled at him.
"Are you challenging me? What do you mean? You obey Elijah. And Mikael. Really? Father beat-" He didn't finish his sentence because I punched him and he felt his cheek and at the same time I knew I was in trouble.
"Niklaus!" Mother scolded. She smacked me five times on my undercurve before putting me in the corner. "Finn why did he hit you?"
"…Because I was scolding him about leaving. I almost brought up what happened last night."
"So you were taunting him? Go stand in the corner. I would have expected much better from you." So we stood there until she let us out. We walked out to go pick berries and Rebekah came up to me.
"What happened last night Niky?"
"Nothing happened last night." I said.
"So. Where are we picking berries?" asked Kol. "Can we pick cherries and call them berries?"
"No. Mother is smarter than that."
"Some of the clan is allergic to cherries and so Mikael is going to taste test. He'll know if we're lying." Eli said. Kol sighed and I pouted. "Do you know the clan code?"
"Yes Lijah."
"You were taught the difference as a kid. By now you would either be exiled or killed for such an act. Besides a thought like that is childish" Finn said. I snorted. As if he knew any better.
Elijah handed us baskets to put our berries in. I took mine and Beky's. "I know where we can berry hunt. Besides I'm sure they would prefer empty handed instead of cherries."
"But cherries are better because their bright red-"
"And look like poison, huge amounts of poison." Kol called.
"Whoohoo poison!" Kol and I whooped in unison. Rebekah fell down laughing. Kol and I helped her up and followed Elijah to a bush. We began to pick berries until we filled up our baskets.
"So do we leave back home or do we stay here?" asked Beky finding a stick. It was straight and had only a few bumps. She looked around for another. I helped her by bringing another to her.
"Well this is called sibling bonding time. So we stay besides it's almost time for lunch. Lunch would be over by the time it takes to get back home. I say we have lunch here. There are plenty of berries here and those trees over there house apples and oranges. We can have fruit for lunch."
"If you boys can catch some meat I'll gladly cook it for you guys. Only take a few minutes, ten at most." She said and began to build a fire pit. We headed off and Kol stayed behind but in a short three minutes he was with us.
We began to look and hunt for signs of prey. I found signs of a stag and whispered to Lijah and he silently signaled the others. He took the lead on the hunt as I dropped back. I had done my part in the hunt. Hunting was a team effort. I watched as Lijah found the deer and Kol hunted it. In no less than 2 minutes we had meat to go along with our fruit, just like at home.
We brought it back to Bekah, I was glad that she'd learned how to cook. She began to tirelessly turn it and then Kol, Rebekah and I all took turns rolling over the meat. After ten straight minutes she declared lunch ready. Lij cut the meat up into five equal parts and Beky made a salad out of the fruits and made the fruit into a pretty design.
I ate mine slowly, enjoying every morsel. This was the first time ever to have food made only by Beky. It was delicious. I put the rest of my meat with my salad and tried it that way. I couldn't exactly decide whether I liked it that way or not. Sadly I finished my meal and Rebekah was sadly finished with hers too. I took her aside and she got the sticks.
"We'll go collect water, from the river." I said and pointed in the direction. I took Bekah's hand and led her to the river. I had of course noticed that she'd been crafting another basket. I took it, for it was empty of any holes unlike the other baskets.
I took her to the river and took out the sticks. "Beky we only have a minute before we need to get back to the others." I took one and handed the other to her. I made the circular motion that Mikael made. This time I did it like dad did but not as strong, but hey I was kid. I copied the motion a few more times and then let Beky have at it. She had a few times until she got it right. I congratulated her and took her 'basket' and filled it up with water.
"Let's head back. We have what we came for." I carried out the water and we after a grueling somewhat 20 minutes we made it back. She laid the basket down gently and everyone had their fair share of water, even then we still had tons of it left, it still reached half way up.
"We should go home now." Finn said. Yeah, because right about now it would be his turn to learn from Mikael. We decayed the sight we'd ate at and made our way home.
Nothing eventful happened until we got back home. Mikael scolded us and took Finn to the clearing. I ran off to the stables and set my horse up after feeding him. Black Diamond and Bright Sapphire neighed as if I was up to trouble. Of course not. I was just trying to keep myself FROM putting myself into trouble.
I sat atop Speedy Star and rode him out of the village to where my friends were in the next village over. Though the farther I left the village, the more it felt like I was being watched. I felt self-conscious. I sped up Star and he whinnied in delight. I still felt like I was being watched. I lowered myself to him and he sped up. He was having fun. The feeling went away instantly. I was already over half way to the village Crystal lived in.
I slowed down Speedy Star. When I reached the village, Star was at a walking pace. I looked around and saw my friends laughing, all except for Crystal, she was down and in the dumps. I walked him over to her.
"Need a hand, love?" I asked. She squealed and jumped me, causing me to fall off my horse, who stopped moving instantly. We giggled as we rolled on the ground. I kissed her over and over again and eventually she got up, laid me against a tree and laid her head on my chest. I combed my fingers through her hair. "How you been gorgeous?"
"Lonely, little boy. How could you? Leave me alone when they come here?" she asked, getting up and giving me a stern glare. I sighed.
"I have a grand excuse, little girl. I had to care for my family first. We needed berries. I got scolded if that makes you feel better."
"Why?"
"Because I hit my brother Finn. He was taunting me about how Mikael punished me last night. When I hit him Esther saw and she even put me in the corner. I mean how dare she?"
"Did she hit you?"
"Course she did. What would you do if you saw your kid hit your other kid?"
"Scold him, smack him, and put him in time out or leave him for you to punish depending on if I punished him last time or not."
"We're going to have kids, huh?" I said. I wasn't ready for kids, at least not yet.
"Yes we are. Two girls and three boys. Or three girls and three boys. Or maybe three girls and two boys. Which do you think would be best? I'm already thinking up names for the children."
"I would prefer three girls and three boys. Teach them all the bloody same things."
"You're thinking of your sister Rebekah aren't you?" she said beginning to draw lines on my chest. I grabbed her other hand and put it to my cheek. "I was thinking of the names anyway. The boys would be Niklaus Jr., Charles Jr. and Harry. The girls would be Racheal, Candice and –"
"Crystal Hailing Mikaelson the second." I tried.
"Brilliant. The daddy should at least name one of the kids."
"I don't feel right being called daddy by you."
"Hey sorry to break up the reunion but speaking of daddies, here comes yours Crystal." She got up and ran to him. They embraced and he whispered into her ear.
I heard "Aww. But Daddy… Fine. No I don't want a repeat of last night. Ok I'll drop the attitude. Let me go let them go. But can we have Cynthia over for dinner? And Olivia? Thank you Daddy."
She came back over. "Good news. Charles didn't see you Niky. Bad news. You guys have to go home. He's giving me some private time. I don't need him punishing me again like he did this morning." She kissed me and I kissed her back. She left after giving her friends time to say goodbye.
"Did you give him attitude this morning?"
"Yes Nik. And you?" she said blushing.
"Mainly because I'm impulsive and because of disobedience." I said, my turn to blush.
We headed back to our horses and I had Maria sit on my horse and rode us back to our village. I dropped her off at her house and rode off home. I noticed that Kol and Mikael were already headed home. So I headed around and into the back of the stables so we wouldn't be noticed. I put him up after feeding him and caring for him. I kissed him and headed for inside the house.
"Where've you been Niklaus?" Mikael demanded.
"Around. I was caring for my horse and White Sparkle." Rebekah's horse, who got to go out every day but only for walks by Rebekah. Sad but hey. Every once in a while Esther would take her out on a horse ride. But I took her out more often than that because I saw that as unfair to both the horse and girl.
"Time for dinner children." Called Mother. I ran inside and hugged my mom. "Thank you for dinner Mom." I said and suddenly remembered I was supposed to have apologized for hitting my brother. She must have felt my emotions or read my mind because she said that I still had time to do so. So I turned to Finn. "I'm sorry for hitting you this morning."
"I forgive you Niklaus." He said. Though to me it sounded like he was patronizing me. Mikael heard his tone and made him say it again and this time it sounded sincere. I hid my smirk.
We sat down and had dinner. I ate my meal between my parents, Finns' usual spot, so he frowned at me every time he spotted me, which wasn't very often because he was sitting beside father and Elijah was sitting beside mother. Across from me was Rebekah and then Kol.
We were left alone as Mikael and Esther went to their room and we stayed at the dining table. We talked to each other as Rebekah tried to eavesdrop on our parents. After a few minutes I shook my head and dragged her away from their door. I talked to her, whispered something about what we going to do tomorrow before church began the next day. She sat up straight.
"Noooo. Not yet. I don't want to go to church so soon."
"Get over it. At least on Sundays we all go for a horseback ride. You know? Because all the horses need exercise or they might get unhealthy. I for one, like Sundays."
"Well I for one, don't like it because we practically stay about from 7 to 12. Then we have a family outing and finally we can go our separate ways. 7 to 12 Nik. 7 to 12."
"Stop being a spoiled brat little sister." I grumbled.
"I learn from only the best, Niklaus." She said pointedly.
I squinted my eyes at her. "You mean me don't you?" I said.
"Yes."
"Oh and by the way, little sister, don't eavesdrop on our parents in their room. An adult bedroom is meant for adult things. You're not ready for such things yet. You can with other adults but not them."
"Well I think I am ready. I think I'll go for a walk."
"I'll come with you."
"No you won't."
"Well you always have someone to occupy you outside."
"And that would be… you?"
"No. That would be Finn, Elijah, Kol, mom, dad or me."
"Well just because I can doesn't mean I need."
"You have someone with you, not because you need to but because you want to."
"Well I'll go out on my own for once then, maybe today."
"And you think you're going to because…"
"I don't need permission just as much as you guys. I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do."
I needed to change topic before our discussion becomes a heated argument. I turned my head from her to look out our one and only window. Mikael had created it and said that we could close it up with a piece of wood. I heard Rebekah's chair move and she got up. I grabbed her wrist gently. I pulled her to me and hugged her. She fought for a second but then gave in and hugged me back.
"You must promise me an audience with Kyle. If you are to have me forgive your earlier words."
"Ah, yes. Your endless infatuation with him won't last long. He has eyes for another. I know because I see the way he is with the girl they call Olivia. I don't know her but Crystalia is trying to convince me to meet her. Though I refuse out of love for you, sister."
"Am I supposed to feel touched by your words?"
"Depends. Do you want to?"
"… Yes."
"Well then do. However, yes I do promise you an audience with my friend. I would, however, implore you to not make any regretful advances to him."
"I'll take Olivia on as an obstacle. Meet her, tell me her weaknesses. Promise me Niky that you will do this one thing for me, I will fight her for my man."
"You realize that he is not your man? I promise to meet her. You realize that you could- I mean to say that we are holding this conversation until later notice."
"Fine. But I will bring it up with you when I choose to Niklaus." She said authoritivly.
"We'll see, we'll see." I said and then engaged us into Elijah's and Finns' conversation.
Eventually we were all tired of talking to each other and I absent mindedly held Beky in my lap while I played with her hair. She kept her eyes closed and mmmd in delight. Kol was leaning on Elijah bored out of his mind and Finn was leaning against the wall.
Then Esther came out and told us to move into bed. We got up and obeyed. I laid there with Beky and Elijah at each side still playing with her hair. Esther and Mikael came in and kissed us each on the forehead. Finn and Beky fell to sleep soon and I waited. I waited for Kol and Elijah to sleep.
It took hours but finally they fell to sleep. I snuck out of bed and slowly, quietly opened the door. I looked around. No one.
I headed to my horse who was still set up. That was sort of easier than I thought. I smiled to myself and spurred Star and enjoyed the feel of the wind in my hair.
When I got there they were hiding in the bushes with their horses well hidden behind the trees. I snuck up on them and they nearly jumped out of their hiding places.
"What is happening?"
"We're headed to the woods to have some privacy."
So we went there and we danced and talked and laughed until we could no more. We began to feel tired and then I realized I had to get home.
"Crystalia. I need to get you home so I can get home. Sorry love." I took her home along with Olivia and Cynthia. Then we headed home. I snuck them inside so that they would not get caught.
I headed home to find Mikael was sitting at the table. He looked at me, angry. I looked at him in the eye and he stood up, slowly, trying to intimidate me.
"Where…have…you…been?" He demanded. He walked over to me.
"It's personal but if you really must know…" I looked down at my feet feeling embarrassed. "I had to pee." I squeaked. He froze and I looked at him, terrified.
"Get to bed. Next time just tell me or go BEFORE bed." He said and sent me off to bed with a smack to my bottom. I jumped and ran off to my bedroom. I rubbed my bottom. I'd sold it great. It could have been much worse. Good thing I know how to fake emotion, and thanks to him beating me in the church, humiliation was a new emotion I could fake.
I found a place to sleep beside Elijah. A place I loved going to sleep. At least when Elijah was not angry with me. I went to sleep beside Elijah, the only slot left, but my favorite slot ever.