Lark gasped as he awakened from his fitful sleep. Cold sweat ran down his cheek and out of his hair, drenching his poorly made pillow and his torn shirt. The sun was just rising over the horizon, barely visible through the cracks in the surrounding mountains. None were higher than he was though, and definitely none more inhabited. He got up off of his straw mat and walked over past the lonely tree that marked his point on the summit. He plopped down near the edge and let his feet dangle over the side, watching the sun begin its painfully slow ascent to above the peak of the lowest mountain. That was when he would go, down to the prosperous city carved in to the side of the mountain known as Dun Loireag.
An hour later, he stood up and began to walk the hour-long trek to the city. It was times like this when he almost regretted choosing to live up on the mountain, but his love of the view could never force him to move closer. Besides, in another two days, he would be leaving. On his descent, he watched the birds that dart around above him, playing and singing cheerfully without a care in the world. I wish I could be that way. It was a perfect temperature to go on a walk: not too cold and not too hot. There needed to be far more days like this one in fall.
His callused feet hugged the rocks with incredible precision, but 13 years of practice could make anything easy. He had been walking this treacherous path for so long he felt that his legs were almost a part of it. He ran a hand along his rugged face, full of nicks and scratches produced from his rather crude form of shaving with a knife. He had turned 18 only yesterday, and now the only things stopping his from leaving were his friends, who would be of age in two short days. Oh, how long he waited for this week. Soon, he would no longer have to live as an outcast; he could finally live a respectable life and be happy.
The hour seemed to flash by in a second, his thoughts clouding his sense of time. The gate stood before him: The gate to Dun Loireag. He passed through the gate with proud steps, for he could no longer be shooed out of the village for he was an adult. He went to his usual meeting spot: a rabbit hole that had been enlarged enough for three grown people to sit inside. He slid down into the hole, and found that his friends were already there. They were both sprites, meaning that they had translucent wings and magical powers, unlike humans who were substantially better built and had no grasp on the magic that came easily to his friends and others of their kind.
The first, the one named Shiro, was dazzlingly beautiful with her long braided dark hair and dark robes. She wore glasses that were usually seen propped up in her hair, and here eyes were both eerily white with gray pupils, lending her an air of authority usually only held by those who were old. Her wings were colored in a strange tie-die like way, as were all sprites' wings, which were made of a strange substance that looked like extremely thin glass, though it was clearly flexible and very delicate. Her face was contorted in a scowl. "You're late. Again. Why can't men ever be on time?"
"Now, now, Shiro. That was pretty rude." The second one turned his head towards Shiro. His name was Kuro, and he was the male version of his sister, but this was a given, for they were twins. His jet-black hair was worn at medium-length, covering just a bit below his ears. He wore white robes, though, and his eyes were normally colored, a bright blue. "You must excuse my sister, she woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." A smile that was forming on his face broadened as he watched his sister react.
"UGHHHHH! You men are all the same! Always so obnoxious and…" Her voice trailed off and became a low buzzing noise as Lark turned to Kuro.
"Yeash. And I thought she was bad on a good day." This provoked more yelling and ranting, but her continued on anyway. "So, is everything going according to plan? Will you guys be able to move out on time?"
"Yeah, things are working. Mom and Dad really can't stop us from leaving, at least once we turn 18. They seem very objective to us going, even though they don't know about you. As far as they're concerned, you died when your mom died. Let's just hope they don't find out in these last few days. That would be really, really bad."
Shiro stopped her rant after she thought she got her point across, and when she realized they hadn't been paying attention to her in the first place she turned threw herself into the conversation. "I can't imagine how excited you must be, Lark! After all these years, finally getting to leave. I know we've held you back, but soon we'll all be going into the world together, right?"
"Yeah, I guess your right. I might be dead now if you hadn't stopped me from leaving back after my mom's funeral. Who knows what could have happened if I had left while I was so young?" Lark chuckled a bit and then went on. "Unfortunately, Kuro does have a point. Even though they can't through me out of the village, if your parents see me here, they will make steps to stall your leaving."
"Yeah, I guess it would be better if you weren't here. But, come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Shiro shrugged if off and laughed.
Two nights later, Lark could here yelling from inside Kuro and Shiro's house. He dropped down from his perch, a little branch that hung above their house that he used to listen on what was happening in the twins' house. He did not like what he heard.
A very high-pitched voice rang out from the house. This was the voice of Shiro's mother, a busy-body who did very little that was productive and would make up vicious rumors to any who objected to her doing so. "Absolutely not! You might have had our consent before, but not now, not after Ms. Dwil saw you in that ridiculous hole with that savage. I told you to stay away from him, but did you listen? Noooooooo."
"But, but, Mom!" He heard the voice of Shiro cry out, "Why can't we go? We're adults now! It would be absurd to stop us! You can keep us pinned up here forever!"
The booming voice of their dad interjected into Shiro's comment before she could say more. "I'll tell you what's absurd! Hanging out with that common rabble trash!"
Kuro then made his reply, not at all in its normally light tone. "Fine." He slammed his fist down on the table at which they were sitting and threw his glass at the ground. "Then I'm leaving now. Come one, Shiro." They stalked off into their respective rooms and brought out two bugling bags. They then stormed out the door.
"Come on, Lark. I know you're up there. We're leaving." They began to move on without him, leaving the dusty road clouded in their hurry to leave. Lark followed, and they did not say another word for the rest of the day.