The Tree Misketeers

Chapter 1- Leaving Hollow-tree

"LEAF! LEAF! LEAF! LEAF!"

There's nothing more satisfying than hearing your name being chanted from the stands as you're about to send your opponent biting the dust. I try to smile as best as I can while throwing my hands in the air to encourage them to scream louder. The crowd responds so well that my ears pop. 

I turn to face Aspen, the fairy I'm about to defeat. "It's just game, mate! Let's give'em what they want!"

I make my foil turn in my hand as the guy gets up, with great difficulty. He's taller than me, maybe older by two or three springs too. His glossy green skin glistens even more with sweat and his yellow eyes shine with anger. His right cheek is turning a darker shade of green and his bottom lip is cut. I'll be honest, I probably look worse. I can't feel the right side of my face and it's getting harder to stand up. We're both breathless but neither of us is willing to forfeit.

"Don't fool yourself, Oaklin! You may be good at fighting but you'll need more than that to become a musketeers of the King!"

We turn around each other for a long minute, neither of us ready to charge first. We've been fighting for a solid twenty minutes and I can feel my muscles starting to get stiff. My right hand shakes, almost dropping the sword on the ground. I still find the strength to laugh at his comment.

"Really? And what's that?"

"Humility", he growls with a fierce grin on his face.

The word is still ringing in my blocked ears as my opponent rushes into me with his sword aiming straight at me, catching me off-guard. I just have the time to move slightly to my left so he doesn't hit me at full speed and risk to send his foil through me but I can't escape the blow of his shoulder on my right side.  The impact is so violent that I drop the sword and make a full turn on my heels before landing on my back. I'm not yet down that his fist collides with my jaw. Stars fly before my owl eyes. Well, needless to say I didn't see that coming. 

Startled by the turn of events, I stay on the dusty ground for a minute, trying to catch my breath. That blow was definitely harder than I thought.

The referee - a winged, mantis faced fairy with long legs and arms - runs to us. Too tired and bruised to stand up, I know I won't be able to fight another round. I lift my left arm in the air and the referee declares Aspen winner of the fight. It feels like I'm eventually the one biting the dust.

The crowd cheers for their new victor. It's funny how easy it is for them to switch sides when the one you used to encourage loses. I don't care. I'll be out of here soon enough and my life will finally change for the better.

As my vision slowly comes back into focus, I am greeted by a green hand.

"It's just a game, mate! You'll get over it!"

I push it off to get up by myself. "Get ready for when I come back from the Capital, I'll make sure to kick your..."

"Leaf!" We both turn where the voice came from. My little sister is running toward us. I look all around to find my best friend, Cornel, shrugging. 

"What are you doing here, Blossom? I told you you could come only if you stayed with Cornel. Get out!"

"But...You lost. I wanted to make sure you were okay." This child definitely knows how to make things better. I grab my sister's hand as the three of us walk to the doors, allowing the next contestants to get ready for their duel. 

I can't believe I let Aspen get to my head. Since when does a warrior need humility to serve his country? What I need most is a perfect swordsmanship and a noble name. And lucky me, I've got both.

***

Once we're home, I finish packing my bags under the watchful eyes of Blossom. She is only seven springs old but she is already more mature than I am. 

"Promise you'll send me letters every week to tell me all about your adventures", she pleads with teary ember eyes . 

"Of course. But I'll be very busy so if sometimes I skip a week, don't worry, okay!" She nods her little head, making the flowers in her hair dance on her shoulders. If there is someone here, in Hollow-tree, I'm going to miss, it's my little sister. It's always been our mother, Blossom and I. Our father is hardly ever home because of the musketeers. I remember as a child I used to despise his job because it always kept him away from us and a couple of springs ago, a company led by my father passed by Hollow-tree to train nearby. I would get up early everyday to go and watch them train. A huge part was to be noticed by the colonel Oaklin but eventually, their discipline and skills grew on me. I thought that if my father couldn't be stay here with us, I would have to go with him.    

"Pinky promise", Blossom adds as she shows me her pinky. I wrap mine around it with a huge grin on my face. 

"Yes, Mademoiselle."

The evening passes in a blur. I do my best to capture every moment I have left with Mum and Blossom because deep down I know I won't be able to see them before a very long time.