Sisters of Change
By: Moonling child with the help of Hibernia12
Disclaimer: Don't own 'starts sobbing'
Key: "Speaking" *thought* "different language"
A/N: Hibernia12 has decided that she doesn't want to write for Charlotte's parts, and because the first several chapters were horribly written, I am rewriting the first couple of chapters. They will be more focused on Shadow
An apartment door eased open, its well-oiled hinges silent. A pale, black-haired woman peered through the open door, scanning the visible rooms for threats. A gun was pressed against her side, ready to be used. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, and hearing her sister humming in the kitchen, Shadow let the door open fully and stowed her gun in her backpack. Her sister, Charlotte, knew nothing about it; thinking that nothing would hurt them. Shadow knew better, as she had lived through almost everything that the world could through at a young girl.
Untying and taking off her knee high black hiking boots, Shadow kicked the door shut silently. Cold green and gold eyes scanned the room again automatically, checking for threats again. Relaxing a little more when she found none, she slowly made her way into the kitchen.
"I'm home." Shadow said calmly, leaning against the door frame. Her sister - an average height woman - jumped in fright and shrieked.
"BLAISE! Don't do that!" Charlotte scolded, clutching her chest with tan her hand. Her green eyes narrowed playfully, seeing her sister smirking while leaning against the door frame - it was her version of laughter.
"Sorry, Charlie." Blaise was pleased. Without her realizing it, Charlotte's long fingers had wrapped around the frying pan she was cleaning as though to defend herself.
*These automatic responses will save her life one day. Now, if I could only get her to lose her trust in everyone. I don't mind her trusting friends, but strangers shouldn't be trusted. * Blaise thought.
Now, while Charlotte trusted everyone, Shadow trusted no one. Only Charlotte, and even then, it wasn't complete trust. The way she looked reflected it. She always wore black, dark indigo blue, and deep brown. She owned leggings, or tight black pants. She had a few deep blue shirts, and one dark brown shirt. All the shirts that she wore out in public were long-sleeved. Shadow preferred having nothing at all one her feet, but when it was necessary, she had her black knee-high hiking boots, or ankle high black boots. The dark colours were how she got the nick-name Shadow. All but one living person knew her as Shadow, and most believed that it was her given name.
Charlotte, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. She only owned bright colours. She had many red and orange, as well a few yellow, blue, pink, and purple blouses. They all had pretty designs or animals on them, and were long sleeved as she was always cold. She had many matching skirts, and little white slip on flats. She had two white, a black, a blue, and a red pair of flats. She owned one or two pairs of pants, which she only wore when she had too. During the winter, she would wear her thick winter pants, and then change once she had gotten to wherever she was going.
Charlotte's coppery hair was always done up in an elegant bun, or let down in gentle curls. It framed her heart shaped face, and made her light green eyes stand out a little more. Shadow's hair was always done back in braids, never in her face to bother her. Charlotte's favourite accessory was her starfish necklace, while Shadow's was her black, spiked choker, or her knives. Charlotte had a nice tan, not to light or dark, while Shadow was an almost unhealthy pale. Charlotte was average height, Shadow was five foot nothing.
"Awe. It's okay Blaise. I know you didn't mean it." Charlotte cooed, wrapping Blaise up in a hug. She rolled her eyes, before briefly returning the hug.
Blaise pulled away, and Charlotte let her, knowing her aversion of touch. "So what are we going to watch tonight? It is Friday, right?" Shadow asked, sounding as close to uncertain as she was ever going to get.
"Yep, it is! We're going to watch The Lord of the Rings." Charlotte informed her, walking over to the DVD player. Shadow wandered back into the kitchen. When she re-emerged, she held two large bowls of popcorn and a little black kitten on her shoulder. She had two bags of Doritos, and at least six large bags of chocolate and candy also, that she was trying not to drop.
"Finally got the day right." Blaise said smugly, handing the bowls of popcorn to Charlotte, and dumped the rest onto the couch. There were already a couple of bottles of pop, and two glasses on the table.
"Good job sis!" Charlotte praised and hugged her sister's arm. Pulling away, Charlotte took one look at her sister and burst out laughing. Shadow was standing there with her eyes crossed while sticking her tongue out.
"I'm glad that we don't have any more school right now. You need a break. You've been doing too much." Shadow told her. Charlotte rolled her eyes, and stuck her tongue out. The sisters had spent years learning different subjects at college and university.
Charlotte had been in medical school for the past six years, as soon as she graduated high-school at Seventeen. She had just finished medical school three months ago, and was going to be going into her residency program starting in September. She had also been studying different languages during the summer months with Shadow. They had been learning different languages for many, many years.
Shadow had graduated at the age of Sixteen, the same year as her sister. Charlotte was born in January, while Shadow was born in December. They had both started school a year early, but for different reasons. They had grown up learning French in elementary school, and continued to take it through high school. When they started grade nine, Charlotte had taken Latin classes while Shadow had started Spanish classes. They had taught the other one what they were learning in their respective classes, so that they both were learning the same languages at the same time.
They had also taught themselves how to speak Elvish from the Lord of The Rings when they were young and had seemed to have master it by the time they had graduated high school. They spend high school sending notes to each other in Elvish, that way if a teacher took them, they would be unable to read them aloud to the class.
Shadow had gone to college to learn how to be a personal trainer, which took her two years. She had devoted her life to learning mixed martial arts from a master while still in high school. She was one of the best fighters in the class. She had mastered everything that the school had to offer for hand to hand combat, with only the Master himself able to defeat her still. She continued to train, as she wished to beat the Master eventually. She only wished that she had learnt a weapon at the school, but they only let people learn hand to hand. They didn't even know that she knew how to use a gun, she had done that on their own.
She had also taken a four-month course one year to learn how to be a blacksmith. She passed the course with the highest grade in the class. She had then gone on to apprentice under a master, learning all that he knew. The metal seemed to want to be molded by her hands, and it came naturally to her. She split her time between learning how to fight, and her apprenticeship.
During the summers, when Charlotte was off of school, the sisters spent as much time as they could be learning a new language. Over the course of two summers they would learn a new language. They had learned Japanese, Italian, German, and Greek. The summer that they were in currently, they had spent reviewing and ensuring that they remembered each language individually. They believed that it was much easier for them to learn the languages because they had another person to practice on. They would purposefully start switching between languages to keep each other sharp. They knew English, French, Spanish, Latin, Japanese, Italian, German, Greek, and Elvish by the time that they were twenty-three and twenty-two respectively.
"You have been working just as hard, if not harder than me, Blaise! What, with all the work outs that you do to keep yourself fit and in perfect condition!" Charlotte argued. Shadow scoffed but let the matter drop, it had been an ongoing argument that they had had for years.
The pair settled into the couch to watch the movies. They gossiped, pointed out the errors in the movies, and complained about the parts that had been excluded or changed from the book, and gorged themselves on junk food once the pizza got there. In between the first and the second movies, Charlotte chased Shadow into her room to change into pajamas.
Charlotte came back wearing a once piece, long sleeved, footed, outfit. It was white with little yellow and brown giraffes on it. Her hair had been pulled back into a pony tail. Blaise emerged from her room wearing an extra-large shirt that ended just past her knees, with sleeves that came down to her wrists. Under that, she had on a pair of black short shorts, and a black tank top. Sitting back on the couch, the girls curled up with tea and hot chocolate.
Nearing midnight, near the beginning of the third movie, Charlotte fell asleep. When Shadow looked over and saw this, she let herself smile softly. Pausing the movie, Shadow picked up Charlotte and carried her into her room. She was very glad that she was much stronger than what she looked like, otherwise moving her sister would be much, much harder.
Going back to the living room, Shadow picked up the remote, turned down the volume, and pressed play. She watched the movie to the end, which ended at two in the morning. Taking the disc out of the player, she placed it back in its case on the shelf. Keen eyes scanning the room, and Shadow picked up the mess they had made. Once the junk food had been cleaned up and put away, Shadow relocked the door using the dead bolt and both locks. Closing the windows, Blaise locked them and drew the curtains shut firmly.
Grabbing her towel, Shadow locked her sister's door before locking the bathroom door while she had a quick shower. Stepping out from the shower, Blaise stood in front of the full-length mirror and growled at herself. Across her left forearm were self-inflicted scars, twenty-two to mark her twenty-two years of life. It was to prove to herself that she had survived twenty-two years of life. Along her arms, there were more scars but these ones were clearly not self-inflicted. Blaise's back, however, was another case entirely. From her shoulders to her hips, her back was covered in scars. They were barely noticeable, as they were only a few shades lighter than her normal skin colour. It looked like she never got any sun on her back. But if someone ran their hand along her back, they would be able to feel the raised scars. On her stomach - from one side to the other - there were four choppy scars that she had gotten when she had been in a car accident when she was fifteen. Over her heart, there was a tattoo. In a circle, there were the words WARRIOR, FIGHTER, PROTECTOR in a deep blue colour. In between each word was a flower. One was a Heather flower, which represented Solitude. Another was Lavender, which represented distrust. The third was Delphinium flower, which was representing boldness. All the flowers were a pale, silvery-blue colour. In the center of the circle, there was a sword crossed with an arrow. The Arrow represented defense and protection from harm. The sword symbolized power, protection, authority, strength, and courage. Blaise had a deep connection to her tattoo, and was proud of it.
*Who could ever love a girl with scars? * she thought to herself bitterly, brushing her long hair back and out of her face though she left it lose. It was so long that it went half way down her thighs – almost to her knees. Putting her pajamas back on, Blaise exited her room and entered her bedroom, only to find cat throw up on her covers and a sad looking kitten.
Shadow sighed, picked up the kitten and went to her sister's room. Following her instinct - which had never failed her - Blaise put her sister's glasses into the case before sliding it into her pocket. Two switch blades found their way into her other pocket, leaving her gun behind. Curling around her sister protectively, Blaise fell into a deep sleep.
*Why does it sound like there are birds in Charlotte's room? Did I leave a window open? * Blaise wondered, sitting upright in alarm. Looking around wildly, she pulled out a knife and rolled so she was perched on her toes. Crouching, Shadow glared at the forest around her. Her body was tense, her eyes darting around to take in the forest, looking for the people who moved them. It was gloomy, as she could tell that it was very early in the morning. The forest was just barely starting to light up.
"Well shit." Shadow said, kneeling so that she was in front of Charlotte. Patting her pockets, Shadow was relieved to find that her blades and Charlotte's glasses were in them. Shadow placed her blades in front of her, eyeing the forest around her with cold eyes. She didn't know what drugs she had been given, how she had come to be in a forest, or where she was. Shadow did know, though, that she would not be going anywhere else without a fight.
Examining herself, Shadow checked herself, looking for any needle marks that could give any clues as to what had happened. As she was looking over her arm, Shadow paused. Counting again, Shadow stared at her arm in wonder. Instead of twenty-two scars along her arm, there were only fifteen. Shadow examined herself more closely. The lines of her body seemed softer, her face more-so from what she could tell through touch. Her hips weren't as wide, her chest was much flatter than what it had been, she didn't have as dramatic of curves, and her butt was flat. Shadow remembered that after she came out of the coma, she had found food nasty and hadn't eaten properly. She had snapped herself out of it after she discovered that she was little more than a walking skeleton and gained weight again, that was also when she had filled out. It was after that that she gained her "new" body.
Shadow pulled off her shirt/dress and then lifted her tank top, and blinked in shock at the fact that she no longer had the four scars along her stomach. There were a few scars that were missing from her body as well, that Shadow knew for a fact that she had gotten after she had turned fifteen. She let her tank top fall back down, before stealing herself mentally for what was coming next. Everything seemed to be telling her that they had been de-aged, as even Charlotte looked younger, though not to the extremes that Shadow seemed to be. Her mind kept trying to tell that it wasn't possible, that it was impossible to be de-aged, but Shadow was very good at ignoring what her mind was trying to tell her and focus on what was in front of her.
Shadow knelt by Charlotte's head silently, not wanting her to wake up until Shadow had managed to get her bearings. She studied her face, and determined that she had seemed to have become twenty again over night. Charlotte had been twenty-six, but was now looking like her twenty-year-old self. *Or at least, around the age of her twenty-year-old self. * Shadow amended silently. It was harder for Shadow to tell what age Charlotte appeared to be, as she had no scars on her body. She was a blank canvas compared to Shadow herself.
"Where the hell are we?" Shadow wondered aloud, focusing on something that wouldn't give her a headache. Standing, Shadow stalked around the clearing, moving slowly as to check for bombs or what-not embedded in the ground. After Shadow had ensured that she had covered the ground and there was nothing in the ground that could harm them. As she was feeling the ground with her bare feet, Shadow was scanning the forest around her, ensuring that nothing was out there that could hurt them. Shadow was very overprotective and paranoid, but she reasoned that it was better to be protective and paranoid then dead.
Shadow was becoming more and more alarmed, as she could tell that surrounding woods were not those that were around their house. Shadow sat down heavily - though silently - back onto the ground beside the sleeping form of Charlotte. Quickly, she pulled off her large shit. She fiddled with her tank top and bra strap until she was sure that Charlotte would not be able to tell that she had a tattoo. Her sister did not know that she had a tattoo, no one did outside of herself and the artist. She had gotten it when she was fourteen, Charlotte's mother had taken her and posed as her parent and given the artist permission. She didn't know that Shadow had gone through with it, as it wasn't until the next day that Shadow had gotten it done.
Seeing her sister starting to twitch, a telltale sign that she was waking up, Shadow sighed.
*Well this is going to be fun. * Shadow thought to herself.
*Just as much fun as I thought it would be. * Shadow thought to herself sarcastically. She was leading the way through the forest as silently as she could, switch blades held open in front of her. Charlotte followed closely behind her, walking in Shadow's footsteps, clutching Shadow's large shirt. For once Charlotte was happy about the fact that Shadow always carried a weapon on her, as it was keeping them safe in the forest.
When Charlotte had first woken up, she had immediately started to panic. It had taken Shadow the better part of an hour to calm her down again. During her panic attack, Shadow had given Charlotte her glasses. It had settled her down enough that Shadow could talk some sense into her sister. Shadow had explained her theory that they had been de-aged. It may not have been the smartest move on Shadow's part, as it had almost sent Charlotte into another panic attack, but Shadow knew that it needed to be said. Once Shadow had presented all the facts to Charlotte, she accepted it - though Shadow secretly believed that it was the absence of the scars that truly swayed Charlotte into believing.
After she had calmed down, Shadow had pulled out her knives. It had earned her a glare from Charlotte, though she did not protest. That lead to where they were now. Shadow was leading them through the forest, on a path parallel to the path. She was doing this because the path was in sight, but they wouldn't be noticed. Shadow would rather have them up in the trees, walking from branch to branch so that there was an even lower chance of them being noticed, but Charlotte couldn't climb, or walk along branches. Shadow could only hope that Charlotte would be able to run away from anyone who may attack them.
Charlotte could run very fast, very far, and for a long time when she wanted and or had too. Shadow was already planning that Charlotte would run, while Shadow stayed behind to defend her escape route. Shadow planned to manipulate Charlotte into believing that she was going for help. Shadow knew, if they were to be attacked, that by staying behind she would be signing her life away. Shadow was okay with that thought, even though she hated manipulation. If Charlotte was happy, Shadow would be happy.
Shadow snapped back to focus as she heard a rustling from up ahead of them. Charlotte whimpered, dropping Shadow's over shirt and cowering as she too began to hear the things approaching. Shadow grabbed Charlotte and pushed her into a clearing, taking up a defensive position in front of her.
"When I say run, you run. You will not stop. You will not look back. You will run until you find someone to help you. Understand?" Shadow spat out, her tone leaving no room for arguments. Charlotte nodded, terrified. Shadow's knives were at the ready, one poised to be thrown. Shadow knew how to throw knives, having taught herself when she was young and bored.
As the noise got louder, Shadow grew tenser, until she was coiled like a spring. Two horses - one purely black and the other purely white - trotted into the clearing, shaking their mains as they went. They were barrel-chested, and smaller than most other horses – more like ponies. Shadow shifted, waiting for their riders - though she noted that the horses were not wearing saddles or bridles. Charlotte had no such worries. She hurried from behind Shadow and hurried up to the horses. The white horse paused and allowed Charlotte to pet her, while the black horse trotted around her and up to Shadow.
"Looks like they have us pegged right! You love the dark, colours, night, anything dark, while I love everything that is bright, white, and happy! Snow white, that is how white your pelt it. Spirit will be your name." Charlotte cooed to the horse. Shadow cocked her head to the side, puzzled.
*Snow white? What an unusual term, even for Charlotte. She has never used that before. Why start now? * Shadow wondered to herself.
"We're keeping them, then?" Shadow asked, raising a hand to pet the black horse in front of her. The horses were small, more pony-like, with an almost barrel-like chest. Something was nagging Shadow at the back of her mind, but she could not place what it was. She let it go, figuring that she already had enough on her plate that she had to worry about.
"Unless their owners come for them, then yes. We are keeping them." Charlotte nodded.
"Fine. Moonlight will be this pretty one's name. Black hope, which is what you remind me of. The kind of hope that only exists in the darkest of places." Shadow ended softly.
*What is up with us using weird phrases today? * Shadow asked herself.
Shadow urged Charlotte up onto the horse with the shirt in front of her, knowing that they would be faster riding than walking. Both had been taught how to ride a horse, and at Shadow's almost paranoid insistence, the sisters had been taught how to ride with and without a saddle. Shadow helped Charlotte onto her horse, before using a tree and pulling herself onto her horse.
At Charlotte's stubborn insistence, the duo was riding down the path. Shadow had wanted to continue through the forest, but Charlotte had pointed out that by walking through the woods, it would only tire out the horses. She also pointed out that by walking through the woods with horses that they would be more easily heard, making their "hidden" path useless, and that horses were faster running on open plains than they were through the heavy woods. It took several minutes of arguing, but Charlotte eventually won.
Now, the pair was quickly making their way down the trail. The sisters let the horses set their own paces, after the fifth time trying to slow them down, only for them to go back to the same pace once more. The horses were also picking their path, as they seemed to know where they were going. Once again Shadow was hit with the thought that she should know something about what was going on, but she still couldn't place where the thoughts came from. She had mused to herself about what she did and didn't know for the entire morning, afternoon, and part way into the evening. Both she and Charlotte felt as though they knew the forest that they were in, but they couldn't place how they knew it.
"I feel as though I've read about this place, this forest." Charlotte finally spoke up about the topic. They had stopped beside a small steam filled with clear, flowing water. Shadow was keeping Charlotte from drinking, until she was sure that the horses were fine. Charlotte was pouting at Shadow, but could see her logic so was listening to her.
"I know how you feel. I don't know how, but I do know that I've read about this somewhere before." Shadow nodded, eyes scanning the forest around her. She knelt, cupped her hands, and took a small sip from the stream. Shadow took a moment, before she motioned for Charlotte to drink.
As Charlotte was drinking, Shadow gazed around her at the darkening forest. It was quiet, but not silent which soothed Shadow. The animals were still making noise, which Shadow knew meant that there were no large predators in the immediate area. Shadow turned back when she heard a shift near the stream, and offered a hand to Charlotte to help her up.
"Alright, we have water. Nothing to carry it in, but we have a water source. Tonight, we'll stay here, if that's okay with you. In the morning, we will ride as far down the right side of the path as we can. At night fall, if we haven't come across anyone or thing, then the next morning we will turn around and come back to the steam. The day after we will go as far left as we can, only if we do not come across anyone we will just keep going on until we do." Shadow told her, taking charge. Charlotte nodded, sitting on the grass.
"There isn't very much else we can do, Blaise. We have no idea where we are, how we got here, or what's going on. I don't even see any proper roads, or even tire paths from cars on this dirt paths." Charlotte complained lightly. Shadow snorted and rolled her eyes.
"We're probably on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and these horses are owned by the farm. We should find our way out of the forest, and we'll be back to civilization. At least we have both graduated, and that we do not have any exams to worry about." Shadow commented, standing beside the horses. Shadow urged Charlotte to stand, and lead them deeper into the forest until she found a clearing.
"This is where we're going to be spending the night? You don't have a tent hidden somewhere on you?" Charlotte teased, pulling the shirt off Spirit.
"Nah, those are in my other pants." Blaise deadpanned, allowing herself to lighten the mood. Charlotte laughed, and sat down on the grass. Shadow prowled around the woods, looking for threats. She never left sight of the clearing. Once Shadow was certain that there were no immediate threats in the area, Shadow walked back to Charlotte and sat on the grass beside her.
"I'll take first watch. If I need to, I'll wake you up for you to take watch for a few hours, and then I'll take over again. If I don't need to though, I will just let you sleep through." Shadow said, more to herself than to Charlotte. Charlotte simply nodded, well use to her sister's insomnia and how she rarely got a good night's rest.
Charlotte eventually fell asleep with her head pillowed on a tree root, using Shadow's large shirt as a blanket. Shadow ensured that it was covering most of her body, as it helped her blend into the shadows and hide her from most prying eyes. Shadow's own dark clothes helped her blend in, though her pale skin seemed to glow in the darkness. Since most of her skin was exposed, Shadow hung back in the deepest shadows that she could find.
Her keen green and gold eyes scanned the grounds as she was hidden in the shadows of a tall tree. Shadow smirked suddenly, and walked over to the stream. Shadow looked at her reflection in the, and was pleased to find that she had been right. None of the muscles that she had worked so hard to get were gone. She was younger, but her muscles and reflexes remained. She hadn't known for certain until she could see the defined muscle lines in her reflection. She knelt, an began to cover herself in mud, with different layers of thickness to break up the patterns like Halt taught Will to do in the Ranger's Apprentice...
"Well shit." Shadow breathed. It had finally clicked in her mind what had been lurking at the back of her mind. It made sense, why the horses seemed so familiar, and the forest, why there were no tire tracks anywhere. Shadow stood once more, having finished applying mud, picked up her knives, and jogged back to the path quickly. Shadow examined the path, and even in the dark she could pick out similarities.
Shadow started grumbling to herself as she made her way back to Charlotte. She leant over the stream to take in her appearance again, and was pleased to see that she had all but turned herself into a living Ranger's cloak, though done in browns and not greens. The pattern allowed her to almost completely blend into the shadow around her. Glancing around, Shadow stalked around the campsite; never keeping her eyes on any one thing for long - just as Halt had taught in the story. She almost laughed, realizing just how much of an impact that a fictional character had had on her life. Shadow paused briefly in the shadow of a tree, where she quickly braided her hair back and out of her face. She knotted the bottom of the braid so that it would have a harder time coming undone.
By the time that the morning came, Shadow had done her nightly exercises, reviewed what she knew from the Ranger's Apprentice book series mentally, and had brushed up on her knowledge on swordplay. She didn't really know how to use a sword, but she did know some moves thanks to the books Eragon and The House of Night series, along with a few others. She had used a heavy branch as a sword, her knives being put back into her pockets, and practiced what moves she could remember from the different books.
With the dawn light illuminating the forest around her, Shadow could pick even more similarities between the books and the forest around her. She was wary and alarmed, but she had forced herself to accept the fact that she may just be in her favourite series of books. She looked around the now-light forest one last time as Charlotte began to twitch, indicating that she was waking up.
"Why me?" she asked the sky.
"Morning sis." Charlotte yawned, stretching cat-like from her makeshift bed.
"Morning. I figured out something last night." Shadow said calmly. Charlotte sat upright quickly, bright-eyed. She was a morning person, and it never took her long to wake up fully.
"What did you figure out? And why are you covered in mud?" she asked. Shadow jerked her head over her shoulder, and Charlotte followed Shadow onto the path with the horse's clip-clopping gently behind them. Once they were back at the path, Charlotte looked around; half expecting a dead body or some other random thing. She was again hit with the fact that she knew the forest somehow.
"Ranger's Apprentice." Shadow said simply, as she leaned back against a tree with her arms crossed. Charlotte looked around in confusion, before her eyes grew round with shock. Her head took in the forest around her, before whipping back and taking in the barrel-chested ponies eating the grass.
"H... How is this possible?" Charlotte breathed, eyes flicking back to the still form of Shadow against the tree.
"Don't know." Shadow shrugged.
"Why are we younger?" she asked.
"Well, if we were put in the first book, or the twelfth book, it may be because whoever sent us here want us to go around with the Ranger's. I, at least, appear to be fifteen, which is the age when most start their Ranger training. You could be drafted as a healer, a young healer, who would get to learn from older healers from here. You do know more about the human body than most other healers from this time." Shadow voiced her opinion.
"So, what do we do now?" Charlotte asked, walking over and petting her horse. She normally hated how emotionless Shadow sounded, but she was drawing comfort from it right now, as it meant that she knew what she was doing.
"We are going to come up with a plan, so that when we meet someone we will know what to say and what not to say, alright?" she asked.
"Yep." she nodded. Shadow breathed deeply, collecting her thoughts, before beginning to outline their plans.
"Okay, number one rule is that we never, ever, mention anything that we know about our world. No one would believe us anyways, so there would be no point. Rule number two, stick to the story. Try not to include any other information, and if you do, tell me please, so that I will know." Shadow requested.
"Of course. That sounds perfect. What's our cover story going to be?" she wondered.
"Well, include what we have done, just toned down. Such as, I have been teaching myself since I was young with how to fight in hand-to-hand combat, and have been taught by the town blacksmith how to forge. You have been training under a master healer for the past several years. Our village burnt down, and we are looking for a new place to live. We have been walking for five days, and the horses found us yesterday. We are going to say that we ran out of food yesterday, and have only had steam water to drink. For how we became sisters, just say that your parents adopted and took me in when I was thirteen. If anyone pressures you for more information regarding me, just say "that is for my sister to tell you, if she ever wants to" and leave it at that. You can say that our parents died a month ago, rather than when we were eighteen and nineteen, alright? That way no one will look for relatives of ours." Shadow offered. Charlotte nodded slowly.
"That sounds good, but I am going to include how you save those children from the burning building. No matter where we are, that deserves to be recognized." Charlotte told her. Shadow rolled her eyes, but pushed herself away from the tree. Her sister would not give up on somethings, and Shadow knew when to give up. They mounted their horses, before allowing the horses to choose their own paths, Shadow's large shirt was over Charlotte's lap once more.
"Stop!" Shadow called out, pulling her horse to a stop, and both knives coming out once more several hours later. Charlotte turned and trotted up to her side.
"What's up?" Charlotte asked. She fell silent as she heard faint horse's hooves in the distance. There were too many hooves at once for her to make out, so she turned back to face Shadow.
"There are three different horses coming towards us. There must be three riders at least. Get ready to run." Shadow's voice was a deadly calm that Charlotte rarely got to hear. She nodded, not wanting to be in a fight. Shadow put her horse in between whoever was coming up the path and Charlotte, using her own body to block her.
Shadow's eyes grew cold, and her face blank, as she watched three armored men gallop up before stopping and staring at them. Her knives were pressed against her legs, ready to be used.
"We were right. This is the Ranger's Apprentice. I wonder how badly they are going to want to kill us. We are riding Ranger horses. They're probably going to think that we killed two Ranger's and stole their horses." Shadow murmured to Charlotte in Elvish, who nodded.
"Who are you?" the man with the salt and pepper hair coloured hair and beard demanded. Shadow watched as his hand twitched towards the knives at his side. She herself flicked her own knives closed and slipped them into her pockets.
"Who are YOU?" Shadow retorted. She had decided to put them away once she saw who they were, knowing that they wouldn't attack without reason. It also gave them a leg up if they were attacked.
"Halt, Gilan, and Will. This has got to be the first book, Will looks so young." Charlotte cooed in the same language. Shadow snorted quietly, making Charlotte giggle.
"I know, he looks "my" age. You look Gilan's age." Shadow responded in the same language. She locked eyes with Halt, keeping Will and Gilan in her line of sight, and waited to see who would look away first.