The air was crisp and the night was clear enough for the crescent moon to light the way through the forest as Damascus and Sophia roamed it. Damascus had reached his 15th Winter, and now nearing its end. He now stood at 5' 8", his blonde hair now more of a highlight to the brown that had taken over his hair, which he kept short, at his ears. Sophia was 5' 6", her hair was the constant coal black and, stopping just behind her shoulders. Damascus held his hands on the back of his neck, and Sophia walked beside him, her arms crossed from both the cold and feeling of being annoyed.
"Of course I've thought about running away from the Folly, but it'd be hard making a life at this age. Who'd give someone so 'young' a job!?" Sophia sighed and replied to Damascus' statement- "I know, but maybe we should take the chance! We could try to find a relative to live with until we find a place to work? Besides, we aren't THAT young! I've got four more summers before I'm considered an adult, and you only have three winters!" Now getting frustrated, Damascus lashed a kick out to a dead, rotten tree and turned to face Sophia.
"Sophia, we don't HAVE any family left! That's why we're stuck at the Fo-"
He was interrupted by a large short but thick section of the dead tree's branches landing on his shoulder and knocking him to the ground.
"Gah! Damnit!", he mumbled, as Sophia knelt beside him.
" You know, you kinda had that coming. Nonetheless, you alright?"
He sighed and sat up, holding his injured shoulder.
" It'll bruise up, but it won't kill me..." A dark object landed a few feet away from them, and they both looked at each other curiously. Sophia got up and retrieved the object to show Damascus. "It's a bird's nest..." Sophia stated. Damascus replied, a bit more worried- "yeah... A big one, too..."
They looked at each other for a second and looked up to see a large brown and white bird diving towards them, its massive wings spread and hooked talons aimed for their eyes.
Sophia dove off to the side and Damascus crossed his arms over his face just before the eagle attacked. It's talons pierced through his left sleeve into his forearm with ease, their hooked design holding the great bird onto his arm as it tried to peck his head with his beak. Damascus cried out in pain and grabbed the eagle's leg, throwing it onto the ground, but costing him by the claws being torn out of his arm. The eagle recovered quickly and Damascus rolled off his back into a kneeling position.
His deep green eyes were just as piercing and fierce as the eagle's yellow ones, but they sat in their positions, starting down their opponent. A few feet behind Damascus, Sophia sat up and looked at the two. The eagle took the opportunity and leaped into the air and began diving at her, and Damascus immediately threw himself at the eagle, but his desperate move was too slow.
Sophia crossed her arms over her face as the eagle's talon cut her arm in a line from her wrist to her elbow. She screamed and Damascus thought quickly, grabbing the very branch that damaged him and threw it perfectly at the great brown bird. The branch hit the bird's neck with such force, a crack was heard and the eagle fell off to the side. Damascus scrambled to Sophia's side, ignoring the blood streaming down his own arm to focus on hers. He tore off a section of his shirt and tied it tightly around her arm, above the long gash as she whimpered in pain.
"It's alright, just stay calm Sophie... Stay calm..." He said, trying to comfort her as he gently pulled her to her feet and they hurried back to the orphanage. Being wounded and out late at night, they stayed silent in the shadows as they made their way to the orphanage's front door. Damascus knelt down and produced a set of lock picks, quickly getting to work on the door's lock. In half a minute, they were in, quietly closing the door, and they hurried into Damascus' room. Sophia sat on his bed and laid back as Damascus quickly searched his room.
"A... Am I going to... Loose my..." Sophia studdered in a whisper, but he already replied- "You aren't going to loose anything, Sophia... Just stay calm, I have an idea."
She began to grit her teeth as he returned, handing her a piece of cloth, rolled up.
"What is this for...?" Sophia asked hesitantly.
"Put it in your mouth to bite down on, it should also keep you from screaming so loud... I'm sorry, but it will hurt..."
She was about to ask another question, but she began to understand as she saw him threading a needle. She put the cloth in her mouth as Damascus leaned over her arm, the needle ready.
An hour later, he finished and stood up to examine Sophia's arm. She sat up and looked as well, but cringed at the sight of the thread holding the two sides of skin together.
"Do you think this will work...?" Sophia asked, and Damascus replied- "I hope so... We should probably take the thread out after a few weeks..."
She looked up at him and smiled lightly, hugging him with her uninjured arm. "Thank you..." She whispered into his ear, and he wrapped his arms around her.
Just then, the door was thrown open and they both jumped, looking over. There, Abuscus, the orphanage's keeper stood in the entrance. The red headed man had a wicked and twisted look on his face, as he held the dagger Damascus' father gave him as payment to take the boy.
"You... You have caused me SO much trouble... Sneaking out at night, stealing extra food..."
He said, constantly adjusting and fidgeting his grip on the dagger. Sophia hid behind Damascus and they took a step back. "S-sir, we're sorry, but-" Damascus was interrupted by Abuscus' roar.
"SORRY won't cut it, you sick, insignificant BASTARD!!"
At that, Damascus' eyes narrowed, and he began to march forward, despite Sophia's attempts to hold him back, but she knew how he felt about the insult. He pushed her back to the wall and Abuscus began to raise the knife over his head as he got closer. Without time to hesitate, Damascus threw himself at his attacker and slammed him against the wall. With him pinned to the wall, he slammed Abuscus' arm against the wall, making him drop the dagger. But Abuscus landed a good punch on Damascus' cheek, making him stumble back. Damascus looked up, his mouth bleeding, but threw himself at Abuscus again, tackling him through the open door and into the dark main area, but illuminated by the large fireplace in the center of the room. He landed a punch on Abuscus' eye before he was kicked off by the red head, himself. Kicked directly over Abuscus' head, into the heart of the fire that lit the large room.
