Chapter Eight
The Right Light
Sometimes I hate who I am. This time next week I will be married off to someone I have never met. He is a prince across the sea. The man is the soon-to-be leader of the Human Kingdom. My parents say that I will learn to love this ‘boy’, but I do not care either way. My insides are boiling that my parents set me up with someone I do not know. I swear that once I do become queen I promise to never set up my child with someone who he or she has never met. People need to be free to choose. Is that not what separates us from ‘them?’ I’m not an animal or someone who is too foolish to realize what is right and wrong. I mean, I understand that this marriage is supposed to protect my family and all that jazz, but for once… I would like to be myself and not questioned for it. At the same time though, I worry that because of who I am and what I can be that I will never be loved by this boy. I want to love, and be loved in return. I wish to be free to choose who I want to marry and who I can be friends with. Is that so much to ask?
~Princess Valera of the North Isles
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Vanessa wasn’t one for playing games, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let this A-May know-it-all come in an act like she owned the place. Her and her friends had rushed down the hill. Link had rolled down it like a small kid, which made her laugh. He always managed to do that. Didn’t matter how angry she was or how stubborn she might be Link could make her laugh. She watched as everyone stood at the bottom of the hill. A small summer breeze went by their ears that caused a grin on Vanessa’s face. It was nice to not be stuck in the darkness like they had been.
“I don’t think you guys should go in there,” A-May said from behind them. She stood a good meter away from them. Her eyes were dark, actually they almost looked black from where they stood. Funny, the know-it-all seemed to have very light colored eyes. The girl stood there her hands in her pockets. Smug little-
“You can think whatever you like.” Vanessa stood one foot in front of the girl her face inches from hers. The girl was going to get pushed off her pedestal real quick. “Last time I checked though you were not invited here. No, you just come in and try to act like you’ve known us your whole life. Well, missy get this right now, you aren’t. Nor are you our queen or leader. We,” she made a gestor at the rest of the group, “Are friends. What are you?”
A-May stood there and didn’t flinch, she didn’t move. Her eyes were the color of silver, her face masked by an unknown power. Vanessa took a swing at her, anger boiling inside of her. A loud smack sound came against the Know-It-All’s cheek. Links and Allison’s voices rang out, “Vanessa!”
The girl still didn’t flinch or move she just stood there.
“Are you finished?” A-May said calmly. Vanessa stepped back. She knew all too well what it meant to not flinch at the smack of a hand. It wasn’t the first time. Her anger burst at the thought that this girl wished to act like nothing phased her. Suddenly her hands began to heat up a spark of red spurted from her hand and hit the ground.
Suddenly, A-May grabbed her wrists and her looked down at Vanessa’s hands. She muttered something, but the only part Vanessa heard was, ‘Queen’ and ‘Hono.’ Two things Vanessa had heard only from her familiar Flare. “You can’t control it can you,” she said plainly, and with barely a whisper. A-May looked up and her eyes were a deep blue.
Vanessa stepped back in anger, and embarrassment. “That’s none of your damn business.”
“Maybe it’s not,” again her voice was calm. Yet, there was an edge of knowingness. “But trust me. Your lack of control won’t be only your business if it gets out of hand.” Her eyes went straight to Vanessa’s friends. It wasn’t a threat, but a warning.
She took a deep breath and glared at Vanessa. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“Who said it was an opinion?” A-May walked past her and then walked right through her group of friends. Vanessa watched as Link put his hand on her shoulder as she walked past. His fingers barely brushed by her hair. The rest of the group stood back turning their heads from Vannessa and A-May alike. Vanessa stood their glaring at the girl who was heading towards the castle-like architecture. Flare nuzzled her neck, a wish for her Sentaku to calm down. The girl brushed the bird’s head with her right hand before she watched as her friends turned and followed A-May. A wave of sadness followed Vanessa as she watched them leave her and join the blond girl.
“Come on we better go,” She watched as Allisson stopped and waited for her. Vanessa gave a shy grin and walked over letting her hand rest in her best friend’s.
As the building grew closer she watched as Zavier stayed farther back with Link. Marcus had become like a lost dog and was talking with A-May. She was nodding away as if she had known the guy her whole life. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky and that caused Vanessa to become calmer. Her hands started to cool down and she smiled as she watched her friends begin to chuckle with each other. It was if the coming of night was calming them all.
“Hey, V, why do you think A-May didn’t want us to come here?” Allisson said in a low voice.
Vanessa shook her head, “Who knows, my guess would be that she doesn’t want us to have any hope for going back home. Look how smug she looks next to Marcus.”
The two looked ahead. Allisson gave a small smile, “She looks happy.”
“She looks conceited.”
“Maybe you aren’t giving her an honest chance. V, remember I was new to town once, I didn’t know anyone. I just jumped from group to group trying to find somewhere to fit in.” The girl stopped and looked at Vanessa with warm eyes, “I think she’s doing the same thing. How long has she been here without anyone?”
Vanessa looked from Allisson and back to A-May, “You may be right, but I don’t trust her.”
“Just give her a chance.”
When they got to the building Vanessa was overwhelmed by its size. There was no way it was just some church that looked like a castle. It was one large cobblestone castle, with an arch that led into a garden and more buildings. A-May stood with her feet planted right outside the arch, that was gated off. Vanessa watched as the girl looked around. There didn’t seem to be any other doorways, and the place was too large to go walking around to find one. She looked perplexed as if deciding if she wanted to do something or not. Vanessa watched in anticipation.
“It’s up to all of you, but I think we should rest here tonight.” Her eyes were on Vanessa who glared back. “What do you think?”
Vanessa was taken aback by the question. What did she think? It was getting dark and with darkness seemed to always be followed by trouble. “I guess we could camp here for the night. It is logical, I guess.”
A-May shrugged, “I’m used to the night, it does not matter to me either way. I understand the same can’t be said about all of you.” Vanessa wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or what.
She looked around at the others who all seemed to be exhausted. The familiars included, “What the hell, might as well.” A-May gave a small grin and looked up at her familiar. Then she untied a black bag around her waist.
“I’m really glad I went back to grab these before we left.” A red ball got tossed at Vanessa who barely caught it. Vanessa looked down to realize it was an apple. She watched as the new girl threw one to everyone. There was not an extra one for herself. Vanessa watched as everyone gave thanks to A-May, who just grinned. Then her familiar, Fang, tried to give his apple to A-May who shook her head with a chuckle. Fang curled up and put the apple in her face. The girl gave a playful glare before lightly grabbing it a taking a bite of the fruit. Then she handed it back to Fang. Maybe, Allisson was right she just needed to give this girl a chance. Vanessa took a bite of the apple and sat there in silence just watching as the girl sat there nibbling and splitting the fruit with the bat. Her friends began to talk and shiver.
Vanessa looked up at Flare who flew off suddenly. She could feel the bird leave, but she knew that the phoenix would comeback. Link came over and sat beside Vanessa, “So.”
“So what?”
Link leaned back and looked up at the stars, “It’s peaceful at night isn’t it.”
“If you call the last few nights peaceful…”
“Could be worse, could be back home getting ready for school.” He had a point there.
“We could also be home in the warmth of our own beds without the fear of what’s to come.”
Link gave a curt nod, “That’s true, but we did all say we wanted an adventure before summer ended.”
“This wasn’t what we had in mind.” Vanessa said a bit more rudely than she meant to.
The boy turned on his side and looked up at her, “Isn’t it though?”
“No,” They sat in silence for the rest of the mini meal.
It felt like hours before Flare came back. Large sticks and branches got dropped in the middle of the group. Vanessa sat up from where she had curled up beside Link. A large orange warmth radiated from the branches as they were caught a flame. The group began to chatter and cuddle up closer to the flames. Vanessa slowly got up and got closer to the warmth while being followed by Link. A-May had put on the black cloak she had used as a bag and stayed away.
Give her a chance, Allisson’s voice echoed in her head from the conversation before. Vanessa got up and walked over to A-May who instantly clenched up waiting for another encounter. Everyone else grew silent.
“You know it’s warmer over there than up against that cold wall.” A-May tilted her head and gave a shy grin before nodding. She got up and walked ahead but stopped to turn her head towards Vanessa mouthing the words, thank you.
The flames warmed them up as they began to nod off. She watched as A-May sat up, her hood over her head. Watchful. Vanessa closed her eyes slowly the last thing she saw was A-May holding a silver piece of medal in her fingers and looking up at the night sky.
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Vanessa awoke to the sounds of birds and the wind rustling the palm trees. Last night they had rested, today they continued to find a way home. She found herself cuddled against Flare. The fire from the night before was just a smoldering piece of ash. Marcus was covered by Precious’s wing and she gave a small smile at the image. Allisson and Zavier were cuddled up together and that reminded her of Link. Who was asleep beside A-May. She gave a jealous glare and watched as she noticed A-May was hugging Fang to her chest her back against Link’s.
She sat up and looked out at the sunlit sky and twisted her brunette hair. Vanessa watched as A-May lifted her head to look at her, so the new girl wasn’t asleep. A-May sat up, careful not to wake Link and observed the area around the group. It was as if she was confused by where she was. Did she not remember the day before?
“Morning,” Link’s voice said in a grumbling sleepy tone. He sat up to show his bed head hair. It was standing every which way. Vanessa giggled and Link gave a grin.
“You guys just don’t know how to be quiet do you?” Zavier whispered loudly towards them. Allisson yawned beside him and cuddled up closer to him. Vanessa gave him a look as he looked away in embarrassment. Yep, something was definitely up.
Link grinned and looked over at Zavier, “Nope.” Zavier rolled his eyes and lied back down. It was followed by a loud snore from Marcus.
“Seriously?” Zavier looked over at the sleeping form of the brunette. It was answered by another snore. Vanessa and Link chuckled. She watched as A-May looked around at the group questionably.
“Something wrong?” The girl shook her head at Link’s question, and looked around with a groggy look. Then suddenly she fell back down on her back with a groan. Link worriedly checked on her, but the new girl just swatted at him with a pathetic but playful hand. Okay, so the girl was just tired.
“I give up,” Zavier sat up and rested his arms on his knees. “Why don’t we all just scream on the top of our lungs? You know, because sleep isn’t a necessary thing.” Vanessa gave a half nod and looked over at Marcus and then Allisson. She wished she could sleep through all this like they could. Precious opened one of her eyes to show she too was awake and motherly draped her wing more over Marcus. Zavier sighed. She then realized he wasn’t irritated at them, but at a rather large salamander who was curled at his feet. “Rex, seriously?” A-May gave a giggle in a sleepy tone on the other side.
Flare by this point had sat up and was preening her feathers. She stopped to look at Rex and Vanessa heard what the bird said, “Rex, dear, you never have learned the word, quiet, have you.” There was a pause and then a slight chuckle, “I didn’t think so.”
“What just happened?” Vanessa said to her familiar out loud. The phoenix explained that Rex had been talking for the last hour keeping Zavier awake. Looks like Zavier hadn’t been talking to them as much to his familiar after all. She assumed though that they hadn’t helped the matter in any sense by talking.
Vanessa looked around and chuckled as her stomach grumbled. “Well, crap, I forgot we haven’t eaten since last night and that was just a lousy apple.”
“Someone say food?” Marcus’s voice rang out of the crowd.
“Oh for shit’s sake, you sleep through everything at the mention of food you wake up.” Vanessa scolded the boy.
He just rolled over and laughed. Allisson grumbled a small complaint from her spot as a small fairy playfully started to swirl around her. A-May stood up shielding her eyes, “I forgot how much I hated sunlight.”
“It’s nicer than bumping into trees all night,” Link chuckled.
“I don’t bump into trees,” she said plainly.
Marcus got up and stretched his arms. “Enough bickering, where’s the food?” Four out of five sets of eyes glared at him. “Just saying.”
Suddenly the gate they had been camped by creaked. Vanessa watched at A-May slunk into her hood,, and everyone else looked towards the archway.
“Does nothing normal happen around here?” the brunette said a growl in her voice.
“If that gate is any indication, I would say no,” A-May stood and dusted off her ripped-up jeans. She looked on at the building and crossed her arms. Her face looked uncomfortable.
The most inquisitive of the group got up and headed over to the archway. His hand peeked around the corners of the cobblestone. If Link had a tail it would be wagging right now. A-May slowly walked over, putting her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her with worry, before she shook her head and let her eyes wander over the archway. “Something wrong?”
Vanessa spun her head towards Allisson, who was rubbing her eyes with one hand.
“The gate opened all of a sudden,” Zavier said plainly to her. She nodded to him and stayed where she was while watching the other two. When Vanessa looked back towards the archway she had to roll her eyes. Marcus was up and looking over Link’s shoulder.
“Are we going to go in, or just stare at your three’s asses?”
The three chuckled at Vanessa, who crossed her arms in irritation. “We have some nice butts,” Link said why slapping Marcus’s back-side.
“Hey!”
“What, it’s a nice butt.”
“Not the point Link.”
“Deal with it.”
“Oh my god, just shut up,” Vanessa retorted walking through them.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the universe,” Link stuck out his tongue, and she returned it.
Allisson and Zavier walked up, the familars now joining their partner, “That would be a little funnier, if that wasn’t possibly the exact truth.” A few groaned at Allisson’s observation. Vanessa did not care, all she wanted was some food, and possibly a bed to sleep in tonight.
“Universe seems a little overboard, but I can see the logic in that statement.” Everyone spun their heads towards the new voice. A-May slinked backward as a dark, African American man materialized in front of them. His hair was gray and white, his eyes a deep golden hue. He wore a white robe with pants that tied with a black fabric belt around his waist. His feet were bare, and his arms were covered by the white sleeves. It almost looked like a stiff version of a bath robe.
“Who the hell are you?” Vanessa was the closest, but her forehead only came to this man’s shoulder. It was almost as bad as standing next to Marcus. She was not going to let this, whoever it was, intimidate you.
The man gave a stiff bow straight forward. His back and legs made an exact ninety-degree angle. He lifted himself back up and then made eye-contact with everyone, stopping slightly at A-May, and finally landing on Vanessa, “My name is Tayio, spirit of the day.” He gestured with his rough palm to everyone else, “And you are six Sentakus. Is anybody hungry?”
“Starving!” The oldest of the group yelled. Vanessa turned to see Zavier smack him up the head.
“Then come along. We have much to discuss over breakfast,” and with that the man turned away from the group quickly followed by Link and Marcus. The rest of the group followed and were all walking into the building with their familiars close at hand. She looked around and found A-May still in the same place by the archway. The girl was leaning against the cobblestone wall her face contorted in a manner of fear and worry. Vanessa caught the girl’s attention and gestured towards the building. A-May nodded, gave a deep breath and followed along with her bat sitting on her shoulder.
The girl squeezed Vanessa’s shoulder as she passed by, “Be wary. This place is too good to be true.”
Vanessa watched in silence as the girl threw the black hood over her head. Her pace was slow and steady as if on guard and waiting for an attack. She had not thought about how nice this place looked and how odd it was for someone to offer food to them, and not shelter even though obviously his guests had been outside all night. The girl looked behind her and stiffened as she saw that the archway gate was now closed. Well, if something did go wrong, they were stuck now.
“Vanessa, you coming?” A-May shouted from the wooden doorway up by the porch where everyone else had entered. The girl nodded before rushing over to A-May’s side to get some much needed food.
The Right Light
Sometimes I hate who I am. This time next week I will be married off to someone I have never met. He is a prince across the sea. The man is the soon-to-be leader of the Human Kingdom. My parents say that I will learn to love this ‘boy’, but I do not care either way. My insides are boiling that my parents set me up with someone I do not know. I swear that once I do become queen I promise to never set up my child with someone who he or she has never met. People need to be free to choose. Is that not what separates us from ‘them?’ I’m not an animal or someone who is too foolish to realize what is right and wrong. I mean, I understand that this marriage is supposed to protect my family and all that jazz, but for once… I would like to be myself and not questioned for it. At the same time though, I worry that because of who I am and what I can be that I will never be loved by this boy. I want to love, and be loved in return. I wish to be free to choose who I want to marry and who I can be friends with. Is that so much to ask?
~Princess Valera of the North Isles
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Vanessa wasn’t one for playing games, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let this A-May know-it-all come in an act like she owned the place. Her and her friends had rushed down the hill. Link had rolled down it like a small kid, which made her laugh. He always managed to do that. Didn’t matter how angry she was or how stubborn she might be Link could make her laugh. She watched as everyone stood at the bottom of the hill. A small summer breeze went by their ears that caused a grin on Vanessa’s face. It was nice to not be stuck in the darkness like they had been.
“I don’t think you guys should go in there,” A-May said from behind them. She stood a good meter away from them. Her eyes were dark, actually they almost looked black from where they stood. Funny, the know-it-all seemed to have very light colored eyes. The girl stood there her hands in her pockets. Smug little-
“You can think whatever you like.” Vanessa stood one foot in front of the girl her face inches from hers. The girl was going to get pushed off her pedestal real quick. “Last time I checked though you were not invited here. No, you just come in and try to act like you’ve known us your whole life. Well, missy get this right now, you aren’t. Nor are you our queen or leader. We,” she made a gestor at the rest of the group, “Are friends. What are you?”
A-May stood there and didn’t flinch, she didn’t move. Her eyes were the color of silver, her face masked by an unknown power. Vanessa took a swing at her, anger boiling inside of her. A loud smack sound came against the Know-It-All’s cheek. Links and Allison’s voices rang out, “Vanessa!”
The girl still didn’t flinch or move she just stood there.
“Are you finished?” A-May said calmly. Vanessa stepped back. She knew all too well what it meant to not flinch at the smack of a hand. It wasn’t the first time. Her anger burst at the thought that this girl wished to act like nothing phased her. Suddenly her hands began to heat up a spark of red spurted from her hand and hit the ground.
Suddenly, A-May grabbed her wrists and her looked down at Vanessa’s hands. She muttered something, but the only part Vanessa heard was, ‘Queen’ and ‘Hono.’ Two things Vanessa had heard only from her familiar Flare. “You can’t control it can you,” she said plainly, and with barely a whisper. A-May looked up and her eyes were a deep blue.
Vanessa stepped back in anger, and embarrassment. “That’s none of your damn business.”
“Maybe it’s not,” again her voice was calm. Yet, there was an edge of knowingness. “But trust me. Your lack of control won’t be only your business if it gets out of hand.” Her eyes went straight to Vanessa’s friends. It wasn’t a threat, but a warning.
She took a deep breath and glared at Vanessa. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“Who said it was an opinion?” A-May walked past her and then walked right through her group of friends. Vanessa watched as Link put his hand on her shoulder as she walked past. His fingers barely brushed by her hair. The rest of the group stood back turning their heads from Vannessa and A-May alike. Vanessa stood their glaring at the girl who was heading towards the castle-like architecture. Flare nuzzled her neck, a wish for her Sentaku to calm down. The girl brushed the bird’s head with her right hand before she watched as her friends turned and followed A-May. A wave of sadness followed Vanessa as she watched them leave her and join the blond girl.
“Come on we better go,” She watched as Allisson stopped and waited for her. Vanessa gave a shy grin and walked over letting her hand rest in her best friend’s.
As the building grew closer she watched as Zavier stayed farther back with Link. Marcus had become like a lost dog and was talking with A-May. She was nodding away as if she had known the guy her whole life. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky and that caused Vanessa to become calmer. Her hands started to cool down and she smiled as she watched her friends begin to chuckle with each other. It was if the coming of night was calming them all.
“Hey, V, why do you think A-May didn’t want us to come here?” Allisson said in a low voice.
Vanessa shook her head, “Who knows, my guess would be that she doesn’t want us to have any hope for going back home. Look how smug she looks next to Marcus.”
The two looked ahead. Allisson gave a small smile, “She looks happy.”
“She looks conceited.”
“Maybe you aren’t giving her an honest chance. V, remember I was new to town once, I didn’t know anyone. I just jumped from group to group trying to find somewhere to fit in.” The girl stopped and looked at Vanessa with warm eyes, “I think she’s doing the same thing. How long has she been here without anyone?”
Vanessa looked from Allisson and back to A-May, “You may be right, but I don’t trust her.”
“Just give her a chance.”
When they got to the building Vanessa was overwhelmed by its size. There was no way it was just some church that looked like a castle. It was one large cobblestone castle, with an arch that led into a garden and more buildings. A-May stood with her feet planted right outside the arch, that was gated off. Vanessa watched as the girl looked around. There didn’t seem to be any other doorways, and the place was too large to go walking around to find one. She looked perplexed as if deciding if she wanted to do something or not. Vanessa watched in anticipation.
“It’s up to all of you, but I think we should rest here tonight.” Her eyes were on Vanessa who glared back. “What do you think?”
Vanessa was taken aback by the question. What did she think? It was getting dark and with darkness seemed to always be followed by trouble. “I guess we could camp here for the night. It is logical, I guess.”
A-May shrugged, “I’m used to the night, it does not matter to me either way. I understand the same can’t be said about all of you.” Vanessa wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or what.
She looked around at the others who all seemed to be exhausted. The familiars included, “What the hell, might as well.” A-May gave a small grin and looked up at her familiar. Then she untied a black bag around her waist.
“I’m really glad I went back to grab these before we left.” A red ball got tossed at Vanessa who barely caught it. Vanessa looked down to realize it was an apple. She watched as the new girl threw one to everyone. There was not an extra one for herself. Vanessa watched as everyone gave thanks to A-May, who just grinned. Then her familiar, Fang, tried to give his apple to A-May who shook her head with a chuckle. Fang curled up and put the apple in her face. The girl gave a playful glare before lightly grabbing it a taking a bite of the fruit. Then she handed it back to Fang. Maybe, Allisson was right she just needed to give this girl a chance. Vanessa took a bite of the apple and sat there in silence just watching as the girl sat there nibbling and splitting the fruit with the bat. Her friends began to talk and shiver.
Vanessa looked up at Flare who flew off suddenly. She could feel the bird leave, but she knew that the phoenix would comeback. Link came over and sat beside Vanessa, “So.”
“So what?”
Link leaned back and looked up at the stars, “It’s peaceful at night isn’t it.”
“If you call the last few nights peaceful…”
“Could be worse, could be back home getting ready for school.” He had a point there.
“We could also be home in the warmth of our own beds without the fear of what’s to come.”
Link gave a curt nod, “That’s true, but we did all say we wanted an adventure before summer ended.”
“This wasn’t what we had in mind.” Vanessa said a bit more rudely than she meant to.
The boy turned on his side and looked up at her, “Isn’t it though?”
“No,” They sat in silence for the rest of the mini meal.
It felt like hours before Flare came back. Large sticks and branches got dropped in the middle of the group. Vanessa sat up from where she had curled up beside Link. A large orange warmth radiated from the branches as they were caught a flame. The group began to chatter and cuddle up closer to the flames. Vanessa slowly got up and got closer to the warmth while being followed by Link. A-May had put on the black cloak she had used as a bag and stayed away.
Give her a chance, Allisson’s voice echoed in her head from the conversation before. Vanessa got up and walked over to A-May who instantly clenched up waiting for another encounter. Everyone else grew silent.
“You know it’s warmer over there than up against that cold wall.” A-May tilted her head and gave a shy grin before nodding. She got up and walked ahead but stopped to turn her head towards Vanessa mouthing the words, thank you.
The flames warmed them up as they began to nod off. She watched as A-May sat up, her hood over her head. Watchful. Vanessa closed her eyes slowly the last thing she saw was A-May holding a silver piece of medal in her fingers and looking up at the night sky.
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Vanessa awoke to the sounds of birds and the wind rustling the palm trees. Last night they had rested, today they continued to find a way home. She found herself cuddled against Flare. The fire from the night before was just a smoldering piece of ash. Marcus was covered by Precious’s wing and she gave a small smile at the image. Allisson and Zavier were cuddled up together and that reminded her of Link. Who was asleep beside A-May. She gave a jealous glare and watched as she noticed A-May was hugging Fang to her chest her back against Link’s.
She sat up and looked out at the sunlit sky and twisted her brunette hair. Vanessa watched as A-May lifted her head to look at her, so the new girl wasn’t asleep. A-May sat up, careful not to wake Link and observed the area around the group. It was as if she was confused by where she was. Did she not remember the day before?
“Morning,” Link’s voice said in a grumbling sleepy tone. He sat up to show his bed head hair. It was standing every which way. Vanessa giggled and Link gave a grin.
“You guys just don’t know how to be quiet do you?” Zavier whispered loudly towards them. Allisson yawned beside him and cuddled up closer to him. Vanessa gave him a look as he looked away in embarrassment. Yep, something was definitely up.
Link grinned and looked over at Zavier, “Nope.” Zavier rolled his eyes and lied back down. It was followed by a loud snore from Marcus.
“Seriously?” Zavier looked over at the sleeping form of the brunette. It was answered by another snore. Vanessa and Link chuckled. She watched as A-May looked around at the group questionably.
“Something wrong?” The girl shook her head at Link’s question, and looked around with a groggy look. Then suddenly she fell back down on her back with a groan. Link worriedly checked on her, but the new girl just swatted at him with a pathetic but playful hand. Okay, so the girl was just tired.
“I give up,” Zavier sat up and rested his arms on his knees. “Why don’t we all just scream on the top of our lungs? You know, because sleep isn’t a necessary thing.” Vanessa gave a half nod and looked over at Marcus and then Allisson. She wished she could sleep through all this like they could. Precious opened one of her eyes to show she too was awake and motherly draped her wing more over Marcus. Zavier sighed. She then realized he wasn’t irritated at them, but at a rather large salamander who was curled at his feet. “Rex, seriously?” A-May gave a giggle in a sleepy tone on the other side.
Flare by this point had sat up and was preening her feathers. She stopped to look at Rex and Vanessa heard what the bird said, “Rex, dear, you never have learned the word, quiet, have you.” There was a pause and then a slight chuckle, “I didn’t think so.”
“What just happened?” Vanessa said to her familiar out loud. The phoenix explained that Rex had been talking for the last hour keeping Zavier awake. Looks like Zavier hadn’t been talking to them as much to his familiar after all. She assumed though that they hadn’t helped the matter in any sense by talking.
Vanessa looked around and chuckled as her stomach grumbled. “Well, crap, I forgot we haven’t eaten since last night and that was just a lousy apple.”
“Someone say food?” Marcus’s voice rang out of the crowd.
“Oh for shit’s sake, you sleep through everything at the mention of food you wake up.” Vanessa scolded the boy.
He just rolled over and laughed. Allisson grumbled a small complaint from her spot as a small fairy playfully started to swirl around her. A-May stood up shielding her eyes, “I forgot how much I hated sunlight.”
“It’s nicer than bumping into trees all night,” Link chuckled.
“I don’t bump into trees,” she said plainly.
Marcus got up and stretched his arms. “Enough bickering, where’s the food?” Four out of five sets of eyes glared at him. “Just saying.”
Suddenly the gate they had been camped by creaked. Vanessa watched at A-May slunk into her hood,, and everyone else looked towards the archway.
“Does nothing normal happen around here?” the brunette said a growl in her voice.
“If that gate is any indication, I would say no,” A-May stood and dusted off her ripped-up jeans. She looked on at the building and crossed her arms. Her face looked uncomfortable.
The most inquisitive of the group got up and headed over to the archway. His hand peeked around the corners of the cobblestone. If Link had a tail it would be wagging right now. A-May slowly walked over, putting her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her with worry, before she shook her head and let her eyes wander over the archway. “Something wrong?”
Vanessa spun her head towards Allisson, who was rubbing her eyes with one hand.
“The gate opened all of a sudden,” Zavier said plainly to her. She nodded to him and stayed where she was while watching the other two. When Vanessa looked back towards the archway she had to roll her eyes. Marcus was up and looking over Link’s shoulder.
“Are we going to go in, or just stare at your three’s asses?”
The three chuckled at Vanessa, who crossed her arms in irritation. “We have some nice butts,” Link said why slapping Marcus’s back-side.
“Hey!”
“What, it’s a nice butt.”
“Not the point Link.”
“Deal with it.”
“Oh my god, just shut up,” Vanessa retorted walking through them.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the universe,” Link stuck out his tongue, and she returned it.
Allisson and Zavier walked up, the familars now joining their partner, “That would be a little funnier, if that wasn’t possibly the exact truth.” A few groaned at Allisson’s observation. Vanessa did not care, all she wanted was some food, and possibly a bed to sleep in tonight.
“Universe seems a little overboard, but I can see the logic in that statement.” Everyone spun their heads towards the new voice. A-May slinked backward as a dark, African American man materialized in front of them. His hair was gray and white, his eyes a deep golden hue. He wore a white robe with pants that tied with a black fabric belt around his waist. His feet were bare, and his arms were covered by the white sleeves. It almost looked like a stiff version of a bath robe.
“Who the hell are you?” Vanessa was the closest, but her forehead only came to this man’s shoulder. It was almost as bad as standing next to Marcus. She was not going to let this, whoever it was, intimidate you.
The man gave a stiff bow straight forward. His back and legs made an exact ninety-degree angle. He lifted himself back up and then made eye-contact with everyone, stopping slightly at A-May, and finally landing on Vanessa, “My name is Tayio, spirit of the day.” He gestured with his rough palm to everyone else, “And you are six Sentakus. Is anybody hungry?”
“Starving!” The oldest of the group yelled. Vanessa turned to see Zavier smack him up the head.
“Then come along. We have much to discuss over breakfast,” and with that the man turned away from the group quickly followed by Link and Marcus. The rest of the group followed and were all walking into the building with their familiars close at hand. She looked around and found A-May still in the same place by the archway. The girl was leaning against the cobblestone wall her face contorted in a manner of fear and worry. Vanessa caught the girl’s attention and gestured towards the building. A-May nodded, gave a deep breath and followed along with her bat sitting on her shoulder.
The girl squeezed Vanessa’s shoulder as she passed by, “Be wary. This place is too good to be true.”
Vanessa watched in silence as the girl threw the black hood over her head. Her pace was slow and steady as if on guard and waiting for an attack. She had not thought about how nice this place looked and how odd it was for someone to offer food to them, and not shelter even though obviously his guests had been outside all night. The girl looked behind her and stiffened as she saw that the archway gate was now closed. Well, if something did go wrong, they were stuck now.
“Vanessa, you coming?” A-May shouted from the wooden doorway up by the porch where everyone else had entered. The girl nodded before rushing over to A-May’s side to get some much needed food.