Linh
Linh, Leila, and Lady Cadence all walked to Riverdrift, Lady Cadence's house. Unsurprisingly, it was a boathouse.
"I like it here." Leila said, looking around at the strange structure. "It's so different from my parent's old house."
"Mine, too." Linh admitted, surprised that Linh was talking about her parents, since it seemed like kind of a touchy subject.
"Riverdrift wasn't made to look good. It was made to be practical. Elves waste too much time on appearances." Lady Cadence said sharply.
"And yet you always look so well put together." Leila replied, still wandering around Lady Cadence's home, looking in nearly every room.
"There's a difference." Lady Cadence said, ignoring the fact that Leila was snooping around.
"True." Leila said as she opened a drawer in one of the cabinets.
Lady Cadence walked into her kitchen, then paused. "Leila, Linh, there's a bathroom at the end of the hall. I prepared and I have already included everything that you'll need in there. You'll have to take turns. Leila, you go first."
"Okay." Leila skipped down the hall. A few minutes later, Linh could hear the shower turn on.
"Take a seat." Lady Cadence said, motioning to the small dining table.
Linh sat. She looked around the room, noticing pictures of Lady Cadence all over the walls. Lady Cadence with King Dimitar, Lady Cadence with the Council, a much younger Lady Cadence with a group of women, all of them smiling. "Lady Cadence? Who are they?" Linh asked, pointing towards the picture.
Lady Cadence smiled wistfully. "They were my research group back when I was still in the Elite levels at Foxfire. I was studying microbiology, even back then. We all went our separate ways, but I still hear from them from time to time."
"Cool." Linh said, because it was. "Do you ever miss it?"
"Miss what?"
"Being young, without a care in the world."
Lady Cadence frowned. "I do. But I've come to realize that I have a new purpose now."
Linh and Lady Cadence were silent for a few minutes, until Leila came out of the bathroom, her black hair dripping wet, dressed in a simple dark blue dress, high heels, and a diamond necklace.
"You look beautiful." Linh said, because it was true. Leila did look beautiful, even though her hair was a mess and the dress was a little bit too big for her.
Leila looked at her and smiled, her blue eyes shimmering. "Thanks, Linh."
"Good enough, I suppose." Lady Cadence said. "Now, hurry up, Linh."
Linh fled to the bathroom. The second the cool water poured on her she almost cried in relief. It felt so good on her aching body. She showered quickly, and got dressed. Lady Cadence had left a few dress options for her, one light blue, one green, one pink, and one black.
Linh chose the light blue one, and slipped it over her head. She stared at herself in the mirror. She looked pretty, but her scars were still visible. What did Lady Cadence say that they were? Temporary scars?
Linh grabbed the hairbrush from the counter and began brushing her hair with it. She stared at the tips of her hair, which were badly burnt. She'd need to cut them off and redye them at some point. Until then, she'd just have to go with a more temporary solution: Put her hair up into buns, hiding the ends of her hair.
After she struggled to put up her hair, she put on a bit of pink lip gloss, and the smallest touch of mascara. After all, Lady Cadence had instructed that they dress fancily.
Linh walked out of the bathroom and back into the dining room. Lady Cadence was doing Leila's hair, twisting it into some complicated braid. "What do you think?" Leila asked, spinning around.
"I like it!" Linh said approvingly. Leila wore bright red lipstick and mascara, and looked a lot older than eleven.
"Thanks. Hey, can I fix your hair? One of the buns is a little lopsided." Leila asked.
"Sure." She sat down, and Leila carefully undid the buns, and gently brushed out Linh's hair. Then she moved on to making the buns, twirling Linh's hair into a beautiful masterpiece that artfully hid the silver tips on her hair.
"Ta-da!" Leila said, presenting Linh with a mirror. "What do you think?"
"I love it!" Linh exclaimed, hugging Leila. "Now, are we ready to go?"
Lady Cadence smiled. "We still have about an hour before dinner is ready. Until then, would you like to take a tour of Ravagog? I think you'll like the arena."
"The arena?" Linh questioned.
"Sure, let's go!" Leila said, grabbing Linh's hand and dragging her out the door. "Wait. Which way do we go?"
Lady Cadence laughed. "Follow me."
Tam
A/N: For Leila and Linh, it's been one day since the fire. They arrived at Ravagog early in the morning. For Tam, it's the day after the fire, but still in the morning/ midday, while for Leila and Linh it's already about 6:00. I know this is confusing, and it's only going to get worse as the story goes on, but I'll try to explain it as best as I can.
Tam groaned as he hit the ground. Again. He'd gotten used to it by now, since he'd been riding for several hours. He groaned as he pulled himself back onto the cruel bike. He hadn't been seriously injured yet, since he was able to levitate himself just before he hit the ground a few times.
Later
The sun was now high in the sky, and Tam assumed it was about noon. He stopped by the river and pulled out a strange human food called "a pb and j sandwich" Tam assumed it was some sort of meat, perhaps a fish? He didn't like fish, but was willing to make an exception, because this fish wasn't slimy at all, just very sticky.
Tam finished his fish, and got back on his bike, ready to keep going. Ready to find Linh.
Linh
Linh, Leila, and Lady Cadence had toured all of Ravagog. And Lady Cadence was right, they did like the arena. Some parts of it were too bloody for their taste, but Lady Cadence insisted that they would get used to it. Linh tried not to think about what that meant.
"Is it time for dinner yet?" Leila asked Lady Cadence. They were watching a rather exciting match between Ro, King Dimitar's daughter, and a male ogre.
Ro sliced her opponent across the chest with her sword. The other ogres and Lady Cadence all applauded. Linh flinched away, but Leila was still watching, enthralled.
"Isn't this too violent for you?" Linh whispered to Leila, still not looking at the fighting.
Leila glanced at her, finally tearing her eyes away. "No. But I guess it's because I'm not the one hurting them, so I have no reason to be guilty?"
Linh paused. What she was saying did make sense.
"Besides," Leila continued, "It's not like they're fighting for real."
Thinking about what Leila said, Linh looked at Ro and the other ogre. They were so graceful, it was almost like a dance. A deadly, graceful dance. The other ogre took a stab at Ro, and Linh winced, but Ro dodged it just in time.
After watching for a few more minutes, another ogre, who Linh assumed was the referee, yelled at Ro to hurry up and get ready to go to dinner. Ro grumbled, and left, following a guard that was waiting for her.
"We should be getting ready to go, too." Lady Cadence said. "King Dimitar doesn't like late guests."
Linh took a seat in between Leila and Lady Cadence. Ro sat across from them, next to King Dimitar. On the King's other side, there was a female ogre, who Linh assumed was his wife.
Lady Cadence pointed out to Leila and Linh what was and what wasn't meat, along with what was safe to eat.
The ogres all wolfed down their food, and boy did they eat a lot. So Linh wasn't too worried when she took seconds.
There was some chatter amongst the ogres, but most conversation was drowned out by eating. Linh could hear Lady Cadence and King Dimitar talking.
Someone jabbed her in the side. Linh looked up and realized that Ro was staring at her. "Sorry, what?" Linh blushed.
Ro laughed. "I was asking if you enjoyed watching the fights in the arena. I didn't think that elves were into that kind of thing."
"We're not." Linh said. "Into that kind of thing, I mean. But I liked it. It was a little too violent for me, though. I couldn't watch all of it." Linh tripped over her words, embarrassed.
Ro laughed again, but Linh got the impression that she wasn't making fun of her. "Good to know. Your friend, on the other hand, she was hooked."
Leila laughed. "I was. It was pretty interesting. You totally won that last fight, in my opinion."
Ro grinned, her eyes twinkling. "I'm glad you think so. But the question is, how could you watch all of it?"
Leila just laughed. "I honestly have no idea. But I'm sure it was because I knew the whole time that neither of you were in real danger."
"So you managed to trick your own brain?" Ro looked intrigued.
Leila shrugged. "Again, I have no idea."
Linh watched the exchange curiously. She'd been wondering the same thing as Ro.
"Hmm." Was all Ro said. Linh would have given anything to be a Telepath and know what Ro was thinking.
The rest of the dinner went well, with the ogres for the most part ignoring her and Leila, except for Ro, who kept asking Leila questions.
Linh and Leila were settling in with Lady Cadence, who they were staying with for the time being. They were sharing a room, but there was only one bed, since Lady Cadence's home was small and she didn't have many visitors.
Linh automatically went to the left side of the bed, claiming it as her side. Back when she and Tam had shared a room, her side was the left side.
Linh started crying, realizing that it had been almost a month since she and Tam had been Banished.
Leila noticed the tears in her eyes, and wrapped an arm around her. "You okay?"
Linh nodded. "It's just… I've been Banished for a month now, and…" She didn't finish her sentence.
Leila pulled her closer. "I wish I could say that it gets easier, but…" Leila dropped her arm, and sat down on her side of the bed.
Linh sat down beside her. "How do you get used to it?"
Leila sighed, and leaned on Linh's shoulder. "I don't know. Kai and I have been Banished for over a year, and we're still not used to it. Well, I'm not."
"Is that why you hate the Council so much?" Linh asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"One of the main reasons." Leila replied vaguely, and Linh knew better than to ask for more information.
"It's getting late. We should probably get to bed." Linh said, yawning. Lady Cadence had given both of them pajamas and other essentials.
"Yeah." Leila slipped into bed. Both girls had gotten ready for bed earlier, since Lady Cadence was washing their clothes.
Linh crawled into the bed. It was big, bigger than Linh's old bed, but it also had a sense of emptiness, even with Leila right next to her.
Linh tried to fall asleep, but her mind kept circling back to Tam. Was he alright? Where is he? Did he make it out of the fire?
"Can't sleep, either?" Leila asked, dragging Leil out of her thoughts.
"No, I keep worrying about Tam." Linh replied truthfully.
Leila didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm worrying about Kai, even though I know he can take care of himself."
Now both girls were quiet, lost in their thoughts. After a few minutes, Linh felt herself drifting off to sleep, a huge weight on her shoulders lifted, even just talking about her worries had helped.
Tam
Tam had no idea what to do. The river split in two directions, and Tam had no idea which way to go.
Left. The words pierced his thoughts, almost as if Linh herself had pushed Tam in the right direction.
Left it is. Tam decided, turning his bicycle left. It made sense, since Linh always chose the left side.
After riding for about half an hour, he noticed that it was getting dark. I'll have to find shelter. There's a forest up ahead, do I risk going in there?
Tam couldn't risk getting eaten by bears or whatever other horrible monsters humans kept in their forests.
He rode on, his muscles sore, begging him to take a break. Tam looked around, trying to find a good spot to stop and rest. He flopped down in the grass, gently setting down his bike. He pulled his backpack under his head, using it like a pillow.
He was pretty sure that the Smiths had packed him a blanket, but he was too tired to care.
The Next Day (Still Tam)
Tam awoke to see someone staring at him. He glared up at them, instinctively.
"Why the heck are you watching me sleep?" He demanded. The figure came into focus, and Tam noticed that it was a small girl with blonde hair and ice blue eyes. She looked to be about his age, but she was pretty short.
"Chill, I just got here. And would you rather me wake you up?" She retorted, glaring back.
"No." He admitted. "But that doesn't make you any less creepy."
"You're the one napping in the middle of my backyard."
"Huh?" Tam asked. He hadn't seen any houses nearby.
"I said, you're the one napping in the middle of my backyard." She repeated, looking annoyed.
As Tam kept looking at her, she noticed that she was wearing traditional elven garb, with a cape and everything. "So you're a member of the nobility?"
"You're an elf?" She looked surprised.
"Yeah." Tam replied.
"Why haven't I seen you before?"
"I'm Banished." Tam replied curtly. "You sure ask a lot of questions."
"I know." And that was that. "Well, do you want to come in?"
"What?" Tam asked.
"To my house. I mean, you're already here." She rolled her eyes.
"You don't care that I'm Banished?"
"Did you kill anyone?" She asked in response.
"No." Tam said, wondering why the heck she was asking him that.
"Then come on." She grabbed his hand and yanked him up. "You can leave your bag and whatever that thing is out here." She gestured towards his bike.
"Okay. What's your name?" Tam was still suspicious. Why was she being so nice?
"Marella. What's yours?"
"Tam." He decided not to give his last name, either.
"Cool. Alright, we're here!" Marella led him to a huge house, much larger than the Smith's. "My mom is actually having one of her good days, so she'll hopefully be excited to meet you!"
"Good days?" Tam asked, following her inside. The house was beautiful, covered in shades of gold and red.
"Oh. Right. She has a mental disorder, and her emotions are kind of all muddled up. I want to become an Empath so I can help her manage them."
Tam was surprised she was opening up to her this much. She'd just met him. "That's… a really good reason." And he meant it.
Marella beamed at him, before calling up the massive gold staircase. "Mom? Dad?"
"Honey?" A woman came down the stairs. She looked just like her daughter, but her eyes were a bit darker. A man followed her. He had the same eyes as Marella. "Did you make a new friend?"
"Yeah, this is Tam. Tam, meet my parents."
"Nice to meet you." Tam smiled. To his surprise, they smiled back.
"Nice to meet you too." The man said. "I'm Lord Redek, and this is my wife, Caprice Redek."
"It's so nice that you have a new friend! Do you two want to hang out in the backyard today? I can make snacks!" Caprise Redek beamed at her new guest.
"Sure, that'd be great!" Tam replied.
"Yeah, thanks Mom!" Marella added. "We'll be outside!" Marella practically dragged Tam out the door.
After a while, they started talking, and became pretty fast friends. Marella invited him to live with her, at least until he found Linh. Not knowing what he was thinking, Tam agreed.
The next few weeks went by quickly. Tam and Marella had grown close, but Tam never stopped looking for Linh. Marella helped him, and together they were able to cover a lot of ground.
Unfortunately, Tam still hadn't found her. And he had no way to get back to Excillium, so he just stayed with Marella and her family.
Linh
Leila and Linh had been in Ravagog for about a month now, and Linh still worried about Tam. Leila, on the other hand, had devoted herself to learning how to fight with Ro. She was a great swordsman, and got better each day.
Linh spent her time by the river, trying to control her abilities. As the days went by, she grew more and more powerful.
They were still staying with Lady Cadence, who was teaching them microbiology. Well, she was teaching Leila. Linh couldn't focus for long enough to pay attention.
A/N
Dang, it's been a while, hasn't it? I hope this long chapter makes up for the long wait!
Shoutout to the amazing Bleu, who has been helping me a lot with my characters! Another shoutout to my #CERTIFIEDALIENWEIRDO® group!
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Yay! Marella finally showed up! I had to change a few things around, and I was wondering if I would have to get rid of her entirely, but turns out I don't have to!