New Beginnings

Chapter 1

Beep Beep! Beep Beep! Beep Beep!

"Bart wake up already!" an intrusive voice called out from the hallway. The male groaned, turning in his head slightly, before pulling over a pillow, just around his ears. This was not a time by which he wanted to be up-

"Bart, school's still a thing and if you don't get down here this instant, I'll barge in there and get you out of your bed by force!" Unfortunately, his sister's screeching continued unable to be blocked by the barricade the pillow should have provided. Sigh. Perhaps next time.

As the teenager got out of bed stiffly, stretching his arms a little and yawning, he walked right up to the dresser. "Yeah, sis... I'm up," he muttered. "Just don't get your hair in a twist."

Bart Simpson loved and cared for his sister like any brother would for their female siblings. However, on this particular occasion, he was wondering why Lisa was a part of their family. After all, no one here shared her enthusiasm for school. Even if this enthusiasm was what kept him from the rector's office more than enough times in the past, mostly on the account of being late to school. Not that he minded it terribly, not that his father minded either. Only the rector held fear of him, not the other way around. His father almost always sided with the boy. Though sometimes he wished that Homer wouldn't.

"Well, then hurry up. The pancakes were ready ten minutes ago and Maggie won't be happy that you've dodged trying them on purpose. You know she's been practicing that dish for Cookery," Lisa reminded him with a slightly gentler voice.

Wait... she was? Oh shit, she was! He looked over at the alarm clock noticing how late it was. And he'd have to be ready in the next ten minutes too. Quickly forcing the dresser doors open, Bart picked out the only half-decent, not too old item of clothing he had left, the three-day-old socks (well, he could re-use a pair of socks a few times, couldn't he? Surely a public high school didn't have hygiene protocols relevant to socks in the school rule section), undergarment and quickly put them on, before rushing downstairs, with his oldest sister only rolling his eyes at him as he ran down the hallway.

Passing by the thankfully clean kitchen, he picked up a random plate with semi-cold pancakes. Stacking them and compressing them into a more bite-sized portion, he stuffed them in his mouth. Sure, it gave his sisters something to laugh about as he had maple syrup all over his face and hands afterward, but he couldn't care less. "'Anmph foh vuh anaches," he managed to utter through a mouth filled with food. He would compliment her later... if Lisa nagged him enough, but for now, thanks would have to do.

'Well, at least they were edible,' he thought to himself, remembering the first time that Maggie had made pancakes. Let's say that the girl only very loosely followed what would have been the recipe for pancakes and as a result, Bart had managed to skive off school for a stomach cake and a small fit of vomits.

Then, telling himself that he could clean himself up at the school's water-fountain, he headed straight out, slamming the door behind him and running to the nearest bus stop. If he'd been paying much attention, he would have known that Lisa had just begun to panic over the order of her sheets when he had been leaving and Maggie spilled a whole tub of maple syrup on Homer's portion of pancakes, quite by accident. (Not that he would have cared anyway.)

And with a little bit of panting on the way, he arrived just in time to see the high school bus arrive at the curb.

"Hey Bart," the driver said as the door opened.

"Hey Jojo," he greeted back cooly with a wave. Judging by the people he could see through the windows, only very few were thinking of skipping school. Well, that could get interesting. He wondered what intriguing new detail he could have missed out or forgotten, one which would have swayed most of the students into going to school after all.

"So, your sibling's forgotten something again?" Jojo quirked an eyebrow.

"It's Lisa... but you've got the other part right."

Just at that moment, Lisa came running which was immediately greeted by a cacophony of laughter and a few rude words as the entire bus recognized the school's nerd. Hushing them, the driver then waved to Lisa, as Bart stepped into the bus. If he could he'd rather not sit next to his sister. Life was embarrassing enough without having to be placed right next to a member of the most unpopular highschool clique ever... the Nerds. Okay, that was an exaggeration. But who would want to sit next to their sibling every day?

"S-sorry I'm late," Lisa apologized in the voice she spared only for those she held some respect for. A.K.A not Bart. Not since he refused to let her sit near him during the lunch break.

"'S fine, kid," Jojo brushed it off, as Lisa sat down, three rows behind Bart, on the opposite side.

"Hey, Lis'," the only person who would stay obnoxiously happy in her presence greeted her. Ralph Wiggum. Bart, who was cursing himself for going to the same school as the person who really had no idea of how not to be annoying, was pretty certain that Lisa was probably wishing she hadn't sat there either. Sure, Ralph did have friends, but he himself was questionable and maybe too cheery for most to handle.

Then again, one could blame it on his ADHD, amongst other things.

She sighed, but smiled anyway, waving back to him. "Hello, Ralph," she greeted, deciding to put character flaws behind her - she herself had countless of her own, so why judge another?

School. Her once favorite place. Now it reminded her of her wish to move past that stage, get further in life than this. It wasn't the Springfield High was a bad school. With the change of Mayors, from Quimby to Flanders bringing more benefits than problems in the Springfield community, school funding had increased. Arguably, Springfield High was better supported than ever, despite taking it for granted. The students were another story altogether.

From bad influences strolling through the halls to lazy no-goods that cared little for their own and everyone else's education, there was a lot to complain about. Despite being a public school, Lisa almost felt annoyed at the presence of so many ignorant minds who were somehow allowed to attend this school. Compared to them, many of the Springfield elementary students seemed decent even. She was reminded of this opinion as she was yet again forced into a locker with the brute power of another student's elbow. As much as she had a feeling it would bruise, she didn't dare raise her voice. If a sheep bleats in a forest, the wolves come closer and as for her, she was the sheep.

"'Ey, move away, swot," the guy who had pushed her grunted lowly.

She pressed herself closer to her own locker, avoiding another wave of students, as the guy got swept away by the loud current of teenagers. Bright colors flashed past her; bold lettering, flimsy shirts, shorts, bags with strange symbols and brands. Once it was over, she finally allowed herself to breathe, looking at them squeeze through the doorway to the canteen.

'Well, it could be worse,' she told herself, her inner voice desperate. 'It could be worse.'

Turning around, with a few clicks of the lock, she managed to pry open her locker, taking out a large stack of papers and folders. It towered high, leaning against her body, reaching up to her chin. Her plan for lunchtime? Studying, of course? What else for the middle child in the Simpsons' family could be better suited? Besides, she had another test due two weeks time. Either get an A or go home, was a rule she kept to. It wasn't a goal. Everyone wanted an A. She worked for an A.

"Human body - Cardiovascular disease, blood vessels, cardiac cycle..." she muttered to herself, scanning past the different sections boldly highlighted in her notes, as she walked off. Perhaps the human heart held no value to her in an academic sense, but she would nail it down if it took the entire fortnight to revise.

The words faded out, turning into a tune of sorts as she walked into the library. However, as she passed by a wall filled with biology posters, she stopped dead, almost dropping her notes. For just a moment, her breathing seemed to skip, before returning to normal. A deep blue gaze trailed down to the floor, past the folders in her arms and down to the grey floor beneath her feet. She swallowed thickly, forcing her thoughts elsewhere and pushing her body, almost automatically, forward.

Somethings no amount of knowledge of sciences could solve.

Oh, was she relieved to hear the bell.

With a steady step, Lisa Simpson walked out the door that day, head still hung down. But at least the worst of it was over. No more pushing or shoving -

"Hey, watch it!" a cyclist shouted at her, as they pushed past her on their BMX. She tilted her head only to see a blonde dressed in mostly black, with a venomous gaze. Mumbling a small "sorry" she stepped to the side as the cyclist brushed past her. Bart himself ran past her just moments later, followed by a wheezing Milhouse and an a weary, sweating Martin Prince who called for him to slow down. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she reminded herself of the irony of it all.

During their childhood years, Bart would have given anything not to be seen with the likes of Martin Prince (although he wouldn't have wanted to be seen with Milhouse either, she supposed), but as time progressed and they were all forced into a new, alien environment, groups mixed and were placed together, expected to survive this change placed upon them. You could say her brother evolved in the years, adapting much better than Lisa had expected and better than she herself had. Of course, his teasing, mischievous behavior stayed much the same.

"Bart, that's my perpetual motion machine," Martin whined, chasing the boy, who much to his misfortune had longer legs and a more agile body. Not to mention terrible ideas. Like last time, when Bart stole the equipment her science teacher had been using for a Planaria experiment. It took her at least a thousand words, 24 hours and asking Milhouse to help - which she did only in emergency situations, due to her prideful nature - to persuade Bart to give it back. It was really quite a miracle that despite the damage done to the equipment he'd only received a week of detention.

"Bart," she called after her brother. "Give whatever you stole back to Martin."

Her brother, groaning, finally gave in.

"Should have known you nerds stick together," he couldn't help the biting remark, as he handed over the equipment to Martin. With a huff, Martin turned to Lisa with an ever-polite smile, elbowing Bart. That caused the other blond to scowl and complain. "Oh come on! Don't say you're hitting on Lis'! Not cool."

She only waved back at Martin, before taking her own way - through a shortcut she devised when she was younger. Whatever Bart though, it was likely untrue. The last time someone showed her the same amount of interest that she did was when she was eight. And besides no amount of manners can spark anything that wasn't there before. Martin was an interesting guy... but in the years she's known him, he never seemed interested in being with her and she never felt anything towards him but friendly feelings. Although if she were to choose between Milhouse and Martin, it would be admittedly Martin she would choose. Glasses didn't make you smart and if there was something Lisa definitely hoped for in a man, it was intelligence. And maybe a little understanding towards her clumsiness, stubbornness and her opinions.

'A real power of a man is in the size of the smile of the woman sitting next to him.'

If done well, jokes and the sorts of things that can make you smile are complex and multidimensional, with a promise of intelligence behind them. Which was something she-

...And trip. She picked herself up from the rough rock, brushing off the pebbles and debris digging into the palms of her hands. Then she picked up the pieces of paper that she had let go of. Dammit. Someone had left behind a set of red and black rollerskates with not a care in the world. As did Lisa with her attention, she realized. It happened these days... a lot.

'Lis, focus.' A good recommendation from the best brother she could have had.

Moving on, her eyes settled on the pavement in front of her. The bushes, the trees, the forest path that led just a few meters off the main path and took her around the secluded set of houses behind the row on her left and the roots that she could stumble over at any given moment. The bus wouldn't have taken her from school this late, as both her brother and she had other things to sort out after school, but she would catch up on the time she could have been at home for, knowing the route she was taking now.

She did too, arriving only five minutes behind the usual time, placing her bag carefully near the slumped pile of open pockets and hanging out gym wear that could only be described as Bart's own bag. Dad was still nowhere to be seen - which translated to either 'at Moe's Tavern' or at 'work' - and so she decided that she and Maggie could start with making dinner later.

Then the girl uttered a short greeting... which was immediately followed by thumping sounds coming from the stairs and a bear hug from her sister.

"Lisa!" Maggie exclaimed as she continued hugging her favorite and only sister for a while longer. Then she pulled away, before showing her a wooden sculpture, of blues and oranges. A tusked animal looked at her with beady but wonderfully painted eyed, reminding Lisa that Maggie was the truly artistic one in the family.

"The elephant looks great, Maggie. When did you make it? And... um... why exactly blue and orange?" the older sister said as she gazed at the statue cradled in Maggie's hands.

The younger sibling smiled widely. "Really? I made it in design. Got some wood from the teacher and permission to use a few of the tools... and chose opposite colours to make it look more interesting," Maggie explained, her eyes shining.

"Well, it certainly looks interesting," Lisa teased ruffling Maggie's hair with one hand. Then she pulled away, sobering a little, whilst Maggie only grumbled at her tease. "Want to help me with the salad later?" she asked her younger sister.

"Sure." Maggie nodded.

With that settled, Lisa smiled and walked out of the house. "Well, I'm going to study in the garden if you need me."

Waving her out, Maggie soon disappeared back upstairs, bringing her elephant sculpture with her and Lisa stepped out into the garden and into the tree house. She would first check the tree house before bringing up her school notes - last time she'd found a set of sparrow eggs that had fallen into the tree house and remained miraculously unharmed, though abandoned. She wasn't about to let something a miss this time.

Though before she could even reach out for the ladder, she could hear loud, wild whinnied coming from the wooden structure above her. It sounded as though hooves were clattering against the wooden floorboards too, with a rhythmic stomping sound following. She froze, with two things going through her head. One was that she had horses in her treehouse. It seemed surreal and exciting at the same time, making her tremble with excitement. The other was that whatever it was, other than a horse could be potentially dangerous. Careful, her mind warned her. Though another voice in her head told her to go up there. There was a promise of adventure in it. It didn't help that the eight-year-old she'd left behind years ago had resurfaced. Her eight-year-old self would have gone. No matter how scary it was.

Warily stretching her hands and gripping the ladder, she clambered up to the top. Almost falling as she pushed herself over the edge of the treehouse, entering.

A dozen wild beasts, creatures coated in black were pounding on the wood with what could only vaguely be viewed as hooves. She could hear gasp beyond that, barely human, but they sounded terrified all the same. It came from a corner, in which the creatures were facing, snorting and kicking in the one direction. She couldn't quite fathom how they'd gotten there, or how they all fit. But that wasn't the main problem now. Lisa covered her mouth with one hand in a vain attempt to conceal her shock, as she neared the creatures.

'Bravery. You have to be brave, Lisa,' she told herself. Her heroes often were. Yet she was there, trembling like a leaf as she tip-toed closer to them.

"Shoo!" she called out, as loudly as possible. Maybe it was a stupid idea, coming from a smart individual. Or a smart idea from a stupid individual. Whatever the case, she hoped this would at least get their attention. They may have been able to get up here, but down it would be harder.

They turned, glowering at her with amber eyes. She gulped, realizing not only that she was outnumbered, but that their peculiarities didn't end there. The creatures looked skeletal, with flailing manes and tales, their bodies sleek and covered in... sand?

"Good horses... n-now leave the person be," she tried again, this time in a softer tone.

They whickered, looking amongst themselves.

She stepped closer, cautiously and slowly. Placing a hand near their faces, she watched them back away. Were they... afraid? Of course, they would be! How could she be so stupid? Animals were almost always more scared of humans than the other way. It made sense.

"I won't harm you..." her confidence grew as she stepped around them. They went the opposite direction, clearing a path which led her to the figure of the person who'd been in trouble just moments ago. Though her focus was on the creatures in front of her and slowly but surely, she ushered them away. They left, clearly terrified of her touch, for whatever reason. Despite their size, they cleared the place quickly and as they got to the edge, they simply dropped. She cried out then, but looking out of the treehouse, she saw no corpses. Only horse-like creatures trodding through the air, looking as though they floated, galloping through the weakening rays of sunshine.

Her jaw dropped and for a moment, she felt as though she may faint. This was absurd. This wasn't normal. This couldn't be. This-

She blinked, realizing there was still another problem to take care of. She could faint later.

Though the dizzying sensation, the strangeness of it all did not ease as she turned around, only to find herself looking at a crumpled heap on the ground; a body with ashen gray skin and a horribly battered body. The rags it wore were in tatters and what once could have been a robe, was most certainly inadequate at hiding this creature's afflictions. It was tall, taller than most people she had seen, even lying down... although she could argue that her mother with her hair had once been taller.

Its eyes were shut, but it seemed alive enough, at least when she leaned down, kneeling next to it. Breathing ragged and unsteady, but despite that, Lisa felt relieved. At least it was alive. Wounded - heavily from what she could see - but relatively safe now. Black circles around its eyes; whether bruises or signs of a lack of sleep and scratches and bruises on its face. Its neck looked far worse though, oozing with blood and horrid, deep cuts. A wave of nausea hit her, forcing her to look away. This wasn't an Itchy and Scratchy episode. This was real blood, on a real person, who now lay in her treehouse. There was no way she could bring it into her house, not with how heavy it could be and no one would believe her if she told anyone. For all she knew, this could just be a bad dream. A vision. Schizophrenia haunting her. She closed her eyes. Inhaling. Exhaling. She needed to breathe. To think. What would she do?

It seemed so simple at first. Take care of it of course. Bring some bandages, water, towels... how hard could it be? Clothes would be harder. Disinfectants. Antibiotics - it was bound to be in pain. Food. A lot of it judging by how little flesh this creature had. Then there was the issue of broken bones. Punctured organs? She hoped not, but there could be internal bleeding. This creature was dipped in blood. Sticky, surreal shade of crimson. The fluid was everywhere.

So she went to get the water. The bandages. Everything she could think of and everything she could find.

It would take a while. No a few hours. Dinner would be late. But she could easily tell her sister that she got too caught up in a project. Apologise. Better beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.