Wings

A Child in a Burned Village

Okay, from now on out, it will be Lo telling the story. I'll offer commentary from time to time, of course (Lo, don't give me that look! You're the one who invited me here to do the cultural note!) just to keep things interesting. Oh, and I may or may not want to explain things because Lo sometimes leaves stuff out. I'll just leave you with that and Lo can continue with the story.

- Felicity

***

I took a deep breath and carefully peered out of my hiding place, a little nook between two walls that the raiders had failed to locate. It had been a long time since the last boot steps had left the house, long enough for my stomach to start to rumble. I had started guiltily when it first started, half-expecting the mother of the household to slap me and scold me for being ungrateful. I couldn't control my stomach's growling. I just needed to eat more than most everybody. The only reason they kept me around was because I had a knack for starting fires, a knack that was whispered to be magic.

Upon seeing that no one was there, I crept out of my hiding place, stepping carefully around shattered plates, broken cups, and drying blood. I refused to look at the scene of death that played in the room next door; dim memories of an earlier carnage were threatening to rear their ugly heads and I knew instinctively that if I remembered, I would break down crying. I hated crying. It burned my cheeks when I cried, but like all burns I got, they only lasted a few minutes and were then gone. But I knew that normal people didn't have tears that burned them. Perhaps this was my punishment for having magic.

I opened the door to the house reluctantly, resisting the temptation to look back. This had been my home for so very long... even if the mother of the household hadn't liked me much and the younger brother outright hated me. I couldn't remember what had happened that had made them that way. Those memories were also deeply buried under a white haze of pain. And I had no intention of uprooting those if I could.

I stepped out into the snow, aware of its crunch against my lightly clad feet. I had no shoes, only rags that I wrapped around my feet and tied with bits of string. I might've been a guest at the household, but I was a reluctantly housed guest. I always got what was left once every member of the family was finished. Fortunately, I wasn't picky, so I usually had enough. However, I did recall one horrible winter soon after I arrived where there was no food left for me by the time everyone had some. This happened more days than not, and eventually I was so weak with hunger that I couldn't light a fire to cook the meal or keep the house warm. From then on, everyone sacrificed some of what they had to feed me, though there was no end of complaining about it. As I took a few more steps into the cold world, I wondered if they would have ever stopped reminding me of that one winter. Probably not. But the reasons why I came to that conclusion were shrouded in my mind. That bothered me slightly, but I decided there would be no use revisiting the past. It was over and done with.

Suddenly, I spotted a figure standing among the ruins of the village, half of it burning and the other half eerily quiet and dark at a time when there should have been singing and fires burning in the hearths. The figure was veiled by smoke from the fires and I couldn't quite get a clear view of him. At least, I assumed it was a him since he was fairly tall. He definitely wasn't one of the raiders, though. They wouldn't stay behind to see the calamity they had left on the village.

I then decided to approach. Maybe he knew someone who would take me in. I made my steps as quiet as possible and headed towards him. The grey clouds above loomed threateningly, ready to drop more snow any minute. I prayed it wouldn't; I had no warmer clothes, unless I wished to steal from the dead.

It seemed he noticed me, despite my best intention to stay quiet. "You survived?" he asked quietly.

I nodded, my throat too tight to speak. I then took another step forward and waited nervously. I didn't dare get any closer to him.