Time passed slowly, continuing on as it always had. The Signless grew taller, as well as the Psiioniic. The Disciple was still roughly the same height as the Signless bringing them to about eye level. The Dolorosa was as caring as ever, but still didn't know of the wild girl troll living in the woods. Signless had introduced Psiioniic to her and the two trolls had hit it off, now almost every night the three of them play amongst the trees. Of course the jade troll remained wary, ever since the night she had adopted Psiioniic into her little family she had been more on edge. There were rules still; the boys had to stay within certain proximity of their home. Her ears were always open for anything that may signal danger.
But there had been no disruptions yet. It was peaceful in the woods. The trees grew tall and strong. The river like stream was mere yards from the mouth of their cave, fruit was abundant (as well as other things such as wild lusus). Life was good, and the Dolorosa was happy.
Today after completing their chores the two boys went out into the woods to search for their friend. They walked to where she usually waited for them, but there was no sign of the olive troll.
Psiioniic paused in his tracks, listening. Them very quietly he whispered to his friend. "Do you think she's okay?"
"I'm sure she is, Disciple is a tough one." He spoke with an air of confidence, yet his voice was low and soft.
In a flash the Signless was skidding across the ground. The Psiionic jumped at the sudden movement and readied himself for battle, eyes flashing dangerously. But as soon as they saw past the wild amount of hair the two boys realized it was just teh Disciple.
She giggled, feeling very proud of herself. The boy was still pinned to the ground by her small body. Struggling, he let out a playful growl. "Hey! Let me up!" He yelped, laughing all the while. Disciple leaned back a bit, letting the boy to his feet. She remained sitting on the ground.
"Hey guys!" She smiled up at them. "Are you okay, Psii?" She turned to the gold troll. He was looking slightly pale.
"Yeah, Di, You just scared me. I thought we were being attacked." He reached a shaky hand to the back of his head and rubbed it remembering the attack on him long ago. The girl looked very apologetic and when she opened her mouth to speak the Psiioniic just shook his head as if to say it was alright. The Disciple turned to the Signless instead.
"Well I am a mighty hunter." She said simply, her bright hearted laughter filling the air for a moment. The three of them smiled now and took their seats. A small circle was formed between them.
"My mom told us a new story last night." Signless spoke to the girl. She immediately put all of her attention on him. Then with the help of Psiioniic the two boys recreated the story for her. She listened intently, never once interrupting. Her memory was excellent, she remembered every story they told her, every rhyme and rhythm. Every foreshadowing event and word play. All of them danced in her head when she was alone at day. These stories kept her company when her friends couldn't. The Dolorosa had such great concepts as well. Most of the time the two trolls would tell it correctly; although sometimes the Disciple could see them having trouble with parts they couldn't quite remember.
These stories were what the Disciple felt connected her to the Dolorosa. She treasured them with all her heart. It was the only way the Disciple felt she really even knew the woman. It gave her hope, dreams, and ideas. The connection of the story was a strong one and the jade troll didn't even know she existed. But the Disciple was very fond of the woman.
Sometimes when she felt alone she began to scribble out the images from her mind in the dirt. A warrior troll slaying a monster with her cleverness rather than strength, two lovers dying in each others arms, legends of twelve heroes rising as one, and many others.
The story drew to a close and she locked it in her memory. An approving smile was exchanged and the two boys stood. They helped the olive girl to her feet and the three of them began walking away farther into the forest, talking all the while.
This became a regular thing. The three of them would talk and share stories and act out their favorite ones. As the days turned into weeks which turned into months they all grew even more. It was peaceful. It was happy. It was a blissful paradise. The Signless could have stayed like that forever.
But that's not how the story goes.
The Condesce's trolls were working to find them. A small crew had been reaping the hills around them for months, searching for this mutant. They came dangerously close a few times, but they had never quite caught on to their location.
Until one bone dry night.
The sun had just set and night was beginning to break. The Disciple stretched out her body in a very cat like way. She sniffed the air; something was... off.
She reached her nose high into the air, huffing in the charred air. Smoke. The hair on her neck raised, was this a forest fire? She glanced up at the sky with her eyes this time and saw the huge cloud of black smoke above her coming from every direction. Yellow eyes snapped wide awake and a grey body was pumped full of panic.
Of the three of them the Dolorosa was first to wake as usual. She spotted the danger immediately, not far from their cave was a roaring fire. A grim expression took her features; she knew it was only a matter of time.
"Wake up! Wake up!" She yelled to the boys. They slowly raised their heads in a confused way. Suddenly understanding dawned on the Signless's face. Danger. He didn't know what, he didn't know where, he just knew to rely on his mother. Without bothering to grab anything the three trolls bolted from their only home and headed straight for the river. A Huge wall of flames blocked their path. The smoke choked them. Signless coughed, gasping for air. A firm hand closed around the hem of his mothers dress. Psiioniic looked absolutely terrified, so the Signless reached out a hand for him to hold. The boys firmly grasped hands as the unbearable heat beat down on them. Finally the Dolorosa looked down at them after thinking for a moment.
"They are trying to herd us out. We have to go out this way." She pointed directly to the huge flaming wall near them. Signless looked up to his mother, eyes wide with horror. They could never make it through that without serious injuries.
"It's the only way..." Psiioniic coughed in understanding. Then without warning he released the Signless's hand and jumped straight into the flames. The Dolorosa nodded at him, but the boy only looked at his mother with wide eyes. He was just a boy, he had never encountered anything as scary as this before. But his mothers face was so full of reassurance. Just in that look he knew he would be safe.
"You will be safe, my child." She spoke softly through the roar of the flames. They heard a faint yelling from the other side. Signless nodded once and turned to the fire.
It towered over him tenfold. The flames flickered with menace and hate, they spate sparks at him and devoured his beloved trees. He inhaled deeply, preparing himself for the jump. As he made his way toward the flames the amount of smoke caused him to gag and flater. He fell into the flames, heat consuming everything he knew. Oh gods, oh gods he was dead. He was dead. But then there was a hand, a very hot hand indeed grasping his forearm. Then the flames were gone and his mother emerged from them. She stamped out the few flames that had caught on her dress and gazed down at him on the ground. Parts of his hair was singed, as were the Psiioniics and Dolorosas. Ends of their clothing were burned and his skin felt like it still had the tongues of the flame licking him. In actuality he hadn't been in the flames any longer than the other two, but he would have been if it weren't for his gold friend. Signless smiled at the boy in gratitude as they moved to the river.
The Dolorosa was in it first. The two trolls could visible see her shudder at the violent change of temperature; from fire to ice water. She motioned for the other two to follow her. Psiioniic eased himself in next. His face became pale but he wore a relaxed expression. The water soothed any of the slight burns from the fire.
Signless began to slide himself in as well when a thought occurred to him. The Disciple.
He immediately ripped himself from the water and ran for the flames again. He tripped on a rock and just before he reached the wall of fire an arm grabbed him. It was his mother.
"She's still in there, mom! She's still in there!" He sobbed, barely able to get the words out. He couldn't bare to think of her in that disaster.
"Who? Someone's in there?" She asked, sinking to her knees with her hands on his shoulders.
"My friend, the Disciple, she's in there!" The Dolorosa looked thunderstruck at this information. Another child?
"Stay with Psiioniic." She said shortly before leaping through the flames again. The two boys watched in horror.
The Disciple ran, she ran as hard as her feet could carry her. Trees crashed down around her, half eaten by the fire. It seemed to form a ring, trapping her in. This was no natural fire. Ahead of her she spotted a flame free area and sprinted. As she drew in closer, desperately gasping in poisoned air she saw them. Three hulking blue bloods. But they spotted her too.
Now the four of them ran, the Disciple and four hulking blue bloods. They chased her until she couldn't breath and when she couldn't breath the took refuge in the only thing near her.
A tree.
They kept running after her though, why were they so determined to find her? What did they want from a useless olive blood? She knew how high bloods treated the lower bloods. It disgusted her. They continued on their coarse to find her.
As the flames began to creep uncomfortably close she climbed down from the tree and headed for the cave she had visited once. Walking inside she saw there was no one there, but everything looked untouched. Her stomach fell. What if the Signless and Psiioniic and Dolorosa had been captured because of her? The guilt welled up in her, and with combination of that, the exhaustion of running for her life, and the smoke she had breathed in she became sick on the floor of the cave. What was left of her meal was now on the floor and the Disciple realized that it would be of no use to sit in here while a fire was raging just outside. So she picked herself up and ran.
It seemed like hours later when the Dolorosa erupted from the flames to return to the boys. She looked at them apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I saw no one. But we must go. I'm so sorry." She said as she lowered herself back into the water. The Signless watched the flames for a sign of her, anything. But there was nothing. And soon he was moving downstream, away from his first friend and the only home he ever knew.
The Disciple stopped at the base of a tree, tears running down her face. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Her feet bled with cuts from bad footing and burns from wild flames. She slid down the tree and sat at its stump, sobbing and defeated. She would let the high bloods take her, she just couldn't go on.
But as soon as she heard the footsteps of their approach her mind went completely blank and she was back on her feet, this time running for the flames. She dodged through them, leaping over fallen logs and burning brush. As she continued to run the flames increased, as did the heat. She could feel her skin burning as she pushed herself harder and harder, running directly at the greatest flame.
And then she was consumed by it. Fire everywhere, she danced through it. Then it was cold. Very cold.
Lying on the direct other side of the flame was a river and the Disciple had fallen directly into it. The current swept her away but she didn't fight it. She just let the cool rush over her broken and burned body. The attackers were gone for now and the Disciple lay limp in the water, as it swept her North at the fork.
Little did she know her familiars had taken the East fork not an hour before.
Ha, this was kind of rushed. Sorry for any mistakes I didn't fix, I might go back and fix them later. Ugh, I'm still bad at writing fanfiction. It sure is fun though!
Thanks to all my readers! I never imagined I would ever get this many reviews on anything ever so it really means a lot to me. If you have any suggestions please just let me know, I love to hear from you.
Thank you everyone! GROWL POWER.
Cheetahgirl69