Gallian's Revenge

Chapter 2

Dedicated to danasawr2495 cuz I lovers her and her stories :) Check em out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 2

I’ve always loved the woods. Listening to the happy trill of birds and the low hum of beetles. The smell of earth and the sight of so much life are soothing. It was like my second home. My mom used to joke that they new I would love nature so that’s why they chose my name, Fawne. It made me sad, thinking about my mom. I could still picture my parent’s in my head. My mom with her curly dirty blonde hair and copper colored eyes, my dad with short dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, my chest ached.

Walking through the woods now was strange. The place I had lived for the past 2 years falling away as we walked further into the woods. And the silence, like every living thing just up and disappeared. Even the twin’s were silent. Did nature know something we didn’t? I looked over at Killian and felt another pang. I had known Killian before Gallian’s revolt. He had been a grade higher in school and incredibly popular. We had never talked before that day two years ago. And now I couldn’t imagine not knowing him. He’s my best friend, the only one in our group that I would trust with my life.

  I looked at Emerson and couldn’t help but smile. He really was a great older brother. I could see just by looking at him and the twin’s how much they all love each other. I felt a little left out being the only person in our group who didn’t have any siblings. The only, only child. We walked for awhile, maybe a few hours but  I’m not sure.

“Let’s stop for lunch.” I said walking towards a small stream and set my stuff down. “How about we have a picnic? Emerson can you hand me your tarp?”

I laid the tarp out and set about getting the picnic ready. “Everyone go clean up in the stream.”

“Yes mother.” Ayanna said rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. I watched as Emerson went up to her and whispered something in her ear. She sighed and followed Emerson to the stream. Wow.

I opened the food bag and rummaged around looking for food. I pulled out some Apples, carrots, potatoes, and onion. I set an apple at each place and went to gather a some sticks to build a fire. I made a small tepee shaped stack of sticks and used a pocket knife and flint to get the fire started. I then grabbed one of our pots and filled it with water letting it boil. I used the knife to chop up the carrots, potatoes, and onion. I put them in the pot and stirred it with a wooden spoon.  I pulled a few strips of bark from our bag which we had been using as plates and set one at each place. Killian and the others came and sat down as I stirred the pot.

“Emerson, can you stir this while I go wash up quick?” He nodded. I stood and brushed the dirt and leaves from my pants. I walked over to the stream and fell to my knees. I looked into the water and grimaced at my reflection. My brown hair was tangled and a greasy mess. Dirt coated my skin. Now that I think about we could all use a bath. Maybe we should just camp here tonight. I could get some wash done too. I scooped up some water and splashed myself in the face. Then I rubbed my hands together cleaning them as well as I could

I walked back to the tarp and took back the spoon. We chatted happily till the veggies were done. Then I used the spoon to give each person a few spoons of veggies. Everyone thanked me and we dug in. I wish we had some spices or salt to make our food less bland but we had to cook it to make sure it was clean.

“How about we just stay her for tonight? We could all use a bath and I could get some wash done.”

“Yay! Baff!!!” Britain yelled getting up and running in circles. We all laughed at how cute he was.

“Sounds good to me.” Killian said with a shrug. “I’ll take Britain if you can take Paris.” I agreed and got up to start setting up camp while the guys got new clothes went down the stream a little to take there baths.

“Ayanna can you and Paris gather some leaves?”  It rains a lot here and I wanted to use the tarps to make tents.

“Why can’t you do it?” She pouted.

“Do you want to climb the tree’s to hang the tarps?” I asked knowing full well she had a fear of heights. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Paris’s hand dragging her to some shorter trees and started gathering leaves.

I looked around for a tree with branches low enough to hang the tarps from. I saw an oak that was perfect. I grabbed the tarp and used the rope to tie it to my back so my hands were free for climbing. I shimmied quickly up the tree and straddled the tree limb. I reached behind me and untied the tarp. I placed it so it hung over the branch, the corners touching the ground. I jumped from the limb and went to one of the bags. I rummaged around for the metal stakes and pulled them out along with a rock. I hammered the stakes through the corners of the tarp and tested it. Nice and sturdy. I smiled to myself. I made my way to another tree and set up the other tarp. I saw a slowly growing pile off leaves by the bags.

“That’s good girls! The guys can do the rest!” I got Paris and me a change of clothes and set them out ready to go. I used the water in my canteen to wash out the pot and then used some water from the stream to fill the pot. I set it back over the fire letting the water boil so I could use it to wash our clothes.

A few minutes later the guys returned, hair dripping and dirty clothes thrown carelessly over there shoulders. They were laughing at something huge smiles on there faces. I couldn’t help but smile at how happy they looked. I remove the pot and sat it down.

“Throw your dirty clothes in here.” They did as they were told. We didn’t have any soap but hot water was better than nothing.

“Let’s go get cleaned up.” I said grabbing Paris’s small hand. “You guys can finish making the beds.” With that we walked off to take our baths.

When we finished bathing we walked back to see the camp set up quit nicely. They had finished the beds a filled the canteen’s with water. I asked later and found that they had boiled water in a smaller pot, poured it into the canteens, and set them I the stream to cool the water. I took the clothes from the pot and hung them from some tree branches. Then I got more water and set it in the fire so I could wash our clothes.

“Where we gun go?” Paris asked climbing into Killian’s lap.

“Where ever the wind takes us.” He said softly running his fingers through her blonde curls. She snuggled into his chest and soon fell asleep. Killian looked down at the small girl in his arms and smiled. I was struck by the fact that he looked like a father. And in a way he was. He was the leader, the boy who took care of us, the one who did anything he could to help.

I sighed. Why us? I mean why did Gallian have to do this now? Why is he so evil? Killing innocent people, controlling everything they did, and watching there every move. He was a dictator, and a horrible one at that. I remember when Veritas was perfect, almost magically. The castle was magnificent, made of Marble and other precious stones. It was the largest building in Veritas.

I loved how kind the people were in Veritas. If someone needed help everyone was thereto lend a hand. All the houses and shops gleamed in the sunlight casting a glow over all of the people. They seemed to glimmer. Veritas was just as it’s name suggests, True. There’s no other word to describe it.

And I missed it terribly.