A/N- Hey! Now ya'll get to actually read the correct chapter! Funzies! Lol enjoy the edit
Chapter 13 Busted
"Where are we going?" Alathia inquired before they'd gotten off the porch.
"I wanna go check out the lake again. What do you wanna do?" Alexia responded excitedly.
Alathia placed a finger below her lower lip in thought.
"How 'bout we look behind the house when we come back." She said thoughtfully.
Alexia nodded, and the girls made their way down the trail. The forest was just as dark as before, and there was a slight breeze as they wandered along the trail.
Alexia looked curiously at the trees.
"I wonder why they don't glow like the rest of the plants." She said, making her way towards one.
Alexia placed a hand on the bark of the tree, and realized…it was stone!
"Alathia! These trees are petrified! Look!" she shouted, knocking on the trunk.
"We're in a petrified forest! Wow! I didn't know things like that existed! That explains a lot about the house…" Alathia laughed, touching one of the trees to see for herself.
It didn't take them long to realize that the house they now resided in, was made from these ancient, stone trees.
"I wondered why the wood didn't really feel like wood! Maybe we shouldn't be so surprised…I mean, they couldn't leave this place and get the raw materials. It would be too hard to bring them by boat, since it's the only way they could get out here. Plus…Cloud woulda been right on their tails." Alathia reasoned, examining the tree carefully.
They soon got bored…staring at the stone trees, and again, made their way to the lake.
The crystal water glittered as they reached the shore.
"Ya know, for having us under lock and key…we got out pretty easily. Wonder if they even know we're gone…we could probably leave right now…and find Cloud, and they'd have no idea we were even gone until morning." Alexia giggled, playing in the water with her hands.
It tinkled about making the light from its glow dance along the cavern walls.
It was the first time she'd noticed that the lake went through an enormous cave, and opened up to reveal the Petrified Forest.
The women stared off into the darkness, occasionally sighing, or playing with a piece of hair. After a while, Alathia spoke up.
" I wonder what's behind the house? Maybe they have something cool back there! I mean, where else would they train us?"
Alexia shrugged, but got up excitedly.
"Let's check it out." She whispered and turned around to head back to the house, only to stop dead in her tracks.
The horrible icy feeling crept up her spine as she stared at them. She found her feet wouldn't move and her mouth failed to make any sound because of how frightened she'd become.
Alathia was in a similar state, only her mouth wasn't wide open like her pal's.
"Are you leaving us?" Yazoo asked calmly, a hint of malice in his voice.
Kadaj stood at his side, scowling at the two angrily.
"No, we were just checking everything out." Alathia said calmly as well.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Kadaj snapped.
"Because we don't need your help dragging us around anymore. We can handle ourselves!" Alexia retorted.
"Don't talk to him like that," Yazoo growled, stepping forward aggressively.
"Don't tell her what to do!" Alathia shouted, moving forward towards Yazoo.
"Stop ordering us around! You're lucky to be alive right now! Who knows if there are any monsters around here! Or worse, what if Cloud found a way to get here? You'd be screwed." Kadaj spat angrily.
"On the contrary, little man, we'd be fine! You'd be screwed. You're the ones he's after, not us." Alexia laughed bitterly, stepping close to Kadaj and jabbing him in the chest with her finger.
The four stared each other down for a long moment before someone spoke up.
"If they really wanted to leave us, they wouldn't have dottled around…they would have been long gone." A gruff voice sounded behind the stand off.
Loz calmly made his way up to the group and smiled sheepishly.
Kadaj huffed, and walked up to his older brother.
Yazoo relaxed, and cocked his head to the side, examining Alathia.
His expression seemed to ask "are you still mad at me?" as his lip seemed to slightly pout.
She relaxed and walked away from him towards Alexia.
Yazoo calmly turned around and glided to his brothers.
"Well, how about we show you the back yard tomorrow. We'll be training there in the morning" Loz persuaded.
"No! Now!" Alathia commanded.
Kadaj tackled her and the two went into battle mode, rolling in the dirt, growling, biting, kicking, scratching, and pulling each other's hair.
Yazoo watched for a moment, and then looked at Alexia.
"Don't even…I have blackmail my little sketch artist." Alexia purred, still watching the catfight on the ground.
Yazoo's jaw dropped and he stared wide-eyed at her.
"Give it!" he finally growled.
"What's she talking about?" Loz questioned innocently
"Nothing! Now, give it back!" he snapped at the two of them, panicking.
Yazoo started rushing towards her, and she whipped out the portrait.
"This is what I'm talking about." Alexia said, walking towards Loz, who had a look of pure confusion on his face.
"Alright! I won't do anything! Put it away!" Yazoo gasped.
He'd lost the battle…but not the war.
Kadaj and Alathia were now standing, fists full of each other's hair, growling obscenities at each other.
"Why do you pull hair, that's a girl's way of fighting?" Alathia snapped, yanking hard on his head.
"Because it's painful, and easy to do when I'm unarmed." Kadaj said calmly.
Alathia had had enough.
Quickly, she let go of his hair and swung her body around him.
Surprised, he let go of her hair. Again, it was a wrong move on his part.
As soon as he released his grip, Kadaj received a hard kick to the side of the head.
Said silver head was caught off guard, and hadn't defended himself in time.
The blow sent all thoughts scattering as he fell hard on the ground, covering his face.
Yazoo darted towards his wounded brother, and Loz grabbed Alathia to stop her from attacking anymore.
"What did you do that for!" Yazoo asked her as he examined Kadaj's face.
"He…PULLED MY HAIR!"
Kadaj was fine, a little surprised, but fine.
"Okay, we're going back now. You'll see everything tomorrow. We aren't training you first thing in the morning! Please…no more fighting." Loz pleaded lazily.
"And sneaking out!" Kadaj added.
"And stealing…" Yazoo practically whispered.
"As long as you don't attack me, there'll be no mire fighting." Alathia snapped.
"And you left it in the middle of the floor…I just took it with me so I could show Alathia…" Alexis reasoned angrily.
Everyone stared at his or her opponents tensely, until Loz started walking back to the house by himself.