K so i only added a few new things on this chapter, nothing too big. Just a couple of corrections on the spelling and added some things to clear up some stuff. But enjoy the chapter!
Flashback
Many years ago the Molty Folk often trailed through the Wayless Woods to get to their next destination. It was an odd assortment of people. Fire-eaters, tightrope walkers, dyers, magicians, animal tamers, knife throwers, and anything else that the people of Argenta or Lambrocia ever wanted to see.
Back then, the Black Prince and Dustfinger were only 18 years old.
Living on their own since they could remember, they learned to only rely on each other. Of course the other Molty Folk were willing to help others that traveled along side of them, but they couldn't always feed the others. So, the boys learned that it was just better to be by themselves. Prince was tall, lean, and dark as the night itself. While Dustfinger was lean, almost as tall as the Prince, and lightly tan along with his sandy ruffled hair. Both were almost exceptionally well at their talents, Dustfinger with fire, and Prince with his bear and his knives.
One day though, while going through the woods, a little wail rang throughout the dark woods. The rest of the Molty Folk were farther ahead of the two younger boys. 18 years old and yet so dependant of themselves, they followed the young cry.
It led them to a hollow of a tree, looming over all of the other younger trees. Prince, being the more mature of the two, took the liberty of looking inside of the tree. What he saw made a bright smile appear on his dark skin. It was a baby girl, not much older than 10 months old. With what little hair was on the little girl's hair, it was dark, and her eyes were a shinning green in Dustfingers flame light.
The girl, once she saw that someone had come to her aid, stopped her wailing. She made a smile and reached towards the dark man.
"Where do you think her parents are Prince?" Dustfinger asked.
The dark man shrugged, not really caring. Never before had he ever had the chance to hold something so small in his arms. The girl, she never once wailed or whimpered as the Prince picked her up. She was only wrapped up in a dark red blanket that looked as if it had been through thick and thin.
"I don't know, there's no note. Not that I could read one even if there was one. But why do you think someone would drop off such a small baby girl in the middle of nightmare infested woods?"
Dustfinger, shrugged just as the Prince had. He as a child had been left and abandoned, never seeing or remembering who his parents are.
It was often that young children were left when they were young, but never this young. That was how most of the Molty Folk came to be. Abandoned, shunned, or unique people came together to make what they were now.
"Who knows, but it sure wasn't the safest place to put a baby, that for sure. Anyway, what are you going to do with her?" Dustfinger already knew part of the answer; Prince would keep her and make her one of the Molty Folk. But what the Prince had to say along with that, almost made him burst out in laughter.
"She will stay with us, and…she will be my daughter." Prince said, with much seriousness. "Just look at her, the way she smiles whenever I look at her. Plus, we could teacher her! You could teach her how to play with fire, or do one of your juggling acts…while I could teach her how to throw knives and play with my bear!" The Prince was almost jumping up and down with excitement. But he remembered the young girl in his arms, and contained it by laughing.
"But, of course, you'll be helping as well."
Dustfinger about fainted.
"What do you mean?! I don't know how to take care of a girl, let alone a baby! We'll have to feed her, change her, and then comes the-." He was cut off as Prince suddenly placed the little girl in his arms. Her little eyes suddenly opened as she was abruptly in another's arms. Dustfinger winced, expecting the baby to suddenly cry at his scarred face. But no, she just looked at him, and then reached with her little hands to touch his face. Her hands were so small, so small compared to both men's.
With that, Dustfinger vowed from that day, to protect the girl as well as her father, the Prince.
"So what are you going to name her?" Dustfinger asked, not looking up from the bundle of joy in his arms.
A moment of silence engulfed silence held them all as the Prince thought a moment, "Ann, her name will be Ann."
"What made you choose that?"
The dark man smiled, his white teeth such a contrast to his dark outfit.
"It just came to me."
So that was it, they took the baby girl back to camp, and from then on there they took care of her. Of course, the woman often had to help the poor boys with changing, and feeding, but other than those few things, they had everything under control. Ann, as young as she was, never cried once in the night. Which they found odd, because other children younger than Ann often cried in the middle of the night, keeping everyone up. But their little girl never cried once she was in her father's arms.
Ann also, by her first birthday, showed that she wasn't afraid of much. Prince's bear, who scared even the most brave of the Molty Folk, wouldn't hesitate to run up to the animal and pet it as if it were a common dog. Prince was proud of this; it showed that she would make a wonderful assistant with the bear.
Moments with Ann made both men's lives as wonderful as can be.
Her first words, much to her father's joy, was 'Dada' and her second word, which surprised everyone, was 'Dusty'.
Dustfinger never felt so happy in all of his life. He was able to witness Ann's first steps, her first words, and anything else that came with watching a girl.
By the age young age of five, Ann had long brown and reddish hair, with a slight complexion of tan skin (probably because she spent most of her time outside) and had developed unique skills beyond those of her age.
For example, as she grew older she was able to strike and dead center target with her fathers knives, wrestle bear (which was a feat all its own to even get close to the bear), but more importantly play with fire. From the first day she saw Dustfinger perform Ann had decided the she wanted to play with fire as well. She wanted to make it move the way 'Dusty' and talk to it.
She loved the fire. Ann treated it the exact way that Dustfinger did, with care and caution. He even allowed the girl to perform by the age of 6 because she was fully able to ask the fire to take forms and move. But, by 12 years old, Ann could talk with fire after Dustfinger took her to a hive of fire elves, and shared their fire honey with her.
She talked by the language of fire, as if she had been speaking it her whole life!
All throughout the Laughing Prince's kingdom, Ann was known as the youngest fire eater ever to perform. People came to watch the girl make her figures of fire, and dance around them. Some of the flames were her height and danced with her like a little partner.
Dustfinger had never been so proud, but at the same time a pit of something dreadful had dug itself into his heart.
Ann, by 15 was already becoming a woman, and whenever they performed, boys and even men, would stare at her like leeches. And it made Dustfinger burn with a rage so strong and heated, that even the flames he played with would seem merely warm. It was often that a man who had 'accidentally' touched Ann ended up going to the healers because of severe burns. Ann never knew why Dustfinger got angry; she just thought that the men and boys were kind and friendly, always talking to her after every show. But her father and Dustfinger knew better.
"Dustfinger…I've noticed that you've been acting strange lately." Prince said one night. Both Dustfinger and Prince were no longer boys, but men. They had gone through so much together, but now even as they grew older, they were still close and just like family, told each other everything. But, even as they were younger, they still pertained the same look as always. Dustfinger in his fire eater's garments, and Prince with his black clothing.
"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything different. Is it my hair? Cause I already told you it got bur—
"Not that Dustfinger, something else." The Black Prince had a look in his eyes that was telling Dustfinger not to play dumb.
"It's nothing, Prince."
Ann, who had been talking to others among the Motley Folk, walked near the fire that the men were sitting around. All of the other Molty Folk soon were fast asleep, ready for the next day's performances. Ann, just like Dustfinger, was dressed in the fire eater's outfit. Red and black, her favorite colors.
Prince never minded that Ann preferred fire performing rather than knife throwing or bear wrestling, as long as she was enjoying it. He had a feeling as she was growing that she would prefer a fire eaters life to a knife throwers. Though if she ever changed her mind, he knew she would make his performance even better with both their skills.
"Father, I did the laundry today with some of the other woman and cleaned your k knives. I told you to sharpen them as well, but seeing as you didn't I did it for you. Oh, and I made sure that your knives were hidden under your bed like you asked." She smiled.
Prince smiled back, "Thank you Ann. What would I do without you?! Did you make s-
"Yes and I gave bear some food as well. I wouldn't forget him!"
Both men laughed as Ann sat on the ground near Dustfinger and laid her head on his lap. "Dusty, are we going to do that new trick that you showed me yesterday? The one with the torches and the rope?" She looked up at the scarred face of Dustfinger, eagerness shown clearly on her face.
"Only if you think you can handle it!" he teased
"Of course I can! I've been practicing day and night." Ann snapped, with clear humor in her voice.
"Alright then, but I still want you to be very careful with those torches. If they fall on your arms, you'll be as red as the color you wear."
"Don't worry," Ann yawned, "I'll be sure to wear my thick jacket." Ann sleepily was closing her eyes more and more as Dustfinger stroked her hair. Until finally, the girl was sound asleep.
Prince, who had remained silent, watched as his best friend stared at his daughter, emotions splayed across his face.
"Its Ann isn't it?" Prince asked.
Dustfinger looked at his friend, confused.
"Whenever you look at her, you show such compassion and caring in your face, it's hard to say that. You're usually the closed book!"
"No! Its just…oh I don't know Prince." Dustfinger sighed, "I know that she is still young, and that she has so much more to live for than the life of a fire eater. But, whenever I see someone looking at her, it's like I want to hold her close to me and tell the world that she belongs to me. I'm so selfish."
The Black Prince laughed.
"So YOU'RE the one burning the citizens! I swear I thought something was going on! After every show some man would have either his arms burnt, or his hair, or his legs. Trust me, I've seen some those men several times at your shows and I cant blame you for burning them, their nothing but pigs."
Prince, who noticed that Ann was starting to slide from Dustfingers lap, stood up and picked up his daughter, Ann mumbling something in her sleepy state, tried to latch onto her father for warmth. When Prince put her down on some fur pelts next to the fire, she went straight back to sleep snuggled up in her fur blankets.
"Dustfinger, I could tell from the first time you held Ann that you were going to be very protective of her. I don't mind if you have feelings for Ann, so long as you don't harm her in any way. Which I know you wont, but I mean…just don't mess with her feelings Dustfinger. She thinks so much of you. From the very beginning she always wanted to make you proud or approve of something she did. I just don't want something to happen and have our family fall apart because of it."
A silence went on after Prince finished talking, only the sound of the fire crackling.
"Prince, I tell you this with all of my heart, and you know this is new to me because I hate showing my emotions, but..." Dustfinger looked his friend straight in the eyes. "I will always protect Ann, no matter what. I would lay down my life for her and do everything it takes to make sure she's happy. I would be anything for her. A brother, a 'uncle' or …something more if she ever wanted. But I would never mess with her feelings." Dead seriousness on his face, Dustfinger leaned in close to the fire, poking it to keep it from dying.
Prince looked at the fire eater. He could tell that Dustfinger loved Ann, and even if Dustfinger didn't know, Ann loved Dustfinger just as much. She would constantly blush whenever he came around and caught her staring at him, mumbling that she saw something interesting in the sky, or on the ground. Prince would catch her blushing and often make jokes about it. Leaving him with a very mad teenage daughter and a couple of burns. He didn't find it odd that the two liked one another; he just thought it was funny that they didn't know that the other liked them.
"Well then, if you mean those words down to your soul," Prince pulled out a hidden knife, the only one he never threw was this small silver one, specially made from the two's childhood. It was the one that both cut their fingers on and declared them blood brothers with. "Then I give you my blessings."
K so review and I'll give you guys a BIG cookie! With lots of chocolately goodness!