Pistachio #13, "A Decision" + Malt
Title: The Child's Fate
Word Count:1,194
Toppings: Whipped cream, Rainbow Sprinkles
Extra: Malt
Ratings: PG/PG-13 for swearing
Summary: Four figures stand watching as a small figure in the distance approaches.
Author's notes Finally, my first malt! Took me long enough. XD I actually started writing this a while ago, then had to bin the entire thing because I realized I was writing from the wrong perspective. It flowed so much better using someone other then Rhiannon's point of view. So I wrote this based on the results of Sly's game of Twister, with the prompts "Rhiannon", "Danger zone", "How's it gonna be", and "Female side character", and this is where the fantasy aspects of my story come into play. This will lead up to a small spoiler for Mousie later. >3 Enjoy!
The frigid, howling wind didn’t deter the small troop of four as they stood in the snow, their postures stiff and alert, much like a cat that sensed danger coming. Their faces and bodies were swathed in layers of cloth to protect the sensitive skin beneath from the hard weather, obscuring any hints of their expressions. Curiously, the second tallest of the troop stepped forward to the front, as they regarded the tiny form in the frosted pink coat stumbling towards them in the distance.
“That’s the third time she has come.”
The figure that had stepped forward glanced back towards the speaker, the smallest of the group, nearly missing the soft, lilting words because of the wind. This one wore a dark blue cloak that was clutched tightly around the small body.
“What tenacity for a child.” A second figure remarked, cloaked in a dirty, dark red cloak. “Or stupidity. Twice, our barrier has misguided her and placed her on a pathway leading out of the mountains and to safety. But she has now come here three times.”
The one that had stepped forward silently returned to studying the child, who was slowly progressing forward with her body leaning into the wind and her head bowed, as if to cut through the powerful currents like a ship would through water.
“Not stupidity, Rain.” Said one wearing purple. “Look at her expression when she looks up to check where she is! In this white landscape, in this damned storm, there couldn’t possibly be anything to tell her that she has been here before. No landmarks, no footprints even; they’ve all been covered by the heavy snowfall. But you can tell from the frustration on her face and the confusion that she knows she has already been to this place twice. It is intentional.”
The figures swathed in purple, blue, and red glanced at one another before staring at the child.
“We kill her then, just like we do the rest of her filthy kind when they come this far,” the one called Rain growled, lifting a gloved hand to the pommel of the sword that rested in its sheath on his back.
“She is but a child, Rain! She could not possibly know the peril she is in by coming here!” the one in blue retorted.
“And you are but a fool, Willow!” Rain snarled back, “Have you forgotten what her kind has done to us? If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t be on these forsaken mountains, freezing our asses off half the time, and starving the other half! If it hadn’t been for those monsters, we would be at home!”
“Humans are no more monsters than we are.” The one in purple pointed out, turning to face the other two. “If we hate them unfairly as they did us, this war will-”
“Will never end! I cannot believe you can defend those creatures Bane. After what they did to your son-”
“Do not bring him into this!” Bane hissed furiously.
“Whatever. I say we kill her. If she goes back to those cities and speaks about her experience here, our haven could be compromised.” Rain continued dourly.
“As furious as you make me, you have a point.” Willow muttered crossly.
“So you would justify killing an innocent child because of she might go back and tell someone about this, and someone might believe a child’s story of going up supposedly isolated mountains, by herself? Shame upon you Willow!”
“Not with a possibility Bane, with our survival!”
“So let’s just kill the bitch already!”
The three of them began to bicker bitterly amongst themselves, making the lead figure sigh.
“Wraith.”
The figure did not move as Rain spoke, and the other two fell silent to watch.
“You are our leader, Wraith. You must decide whether the child dies our not. Whether our haven is safe or not.” He demanded.
Wraith lowered the thick scarf, shrouding her face, revealing a delicate, feminine face. Bowing her head in thought, she closed her eyes.
“She is Ariannon’s child.” Wraith said eventually, ignoring Bane’s startled gasp.
“But how?” Willow asked in disbelief.
“Exactly my question.” Rain muttered, “Ariannon and her human whore died four years ago, and the child was never recovered. Soldiers killed the group that had agreed to take the little girl and hide her away. After they were killed, there was no one left; everyone else had already fled. The child couldn’t have survived by herself.”
“Look to her ears.” Wraith ordered quietly. “They have the same scarring as the babe did. Scarring, mind you, from having her ears cut to hide their pointed heritage. She is Rhiannon, child of Ariannon of the elves and Alexis of the humans.”
“Her blood is poisoned by that human’s all the same. We cannot trust her, whether she is Ariannon’s child or not!” Rain growled darkly.
Wraith opened her eyes to study the child. “I doubt she even remembers that her mother was an elf, or that magical creatures such as us even exist. And she will not realize that such creatures as us exist because we have taken to wearing a permanent illusion to look like humans.” She murmured. Should soldiers ever manage to come across them, they would see humans, not elves and fairies. “So… How’s it gonna be?”
The four of them stood watching as Rhiannon came to a stop at the edge of the barrier with a bewildered expression. The child could not see the barrier, of course, but she was somehow aware of it and that was unusual. They watched as she bit her lip in determination and began to force herself through the spell that had turned her away twice already, moving slowly as if she were wading through molasses.
“She is being driven by something. It’s clear that she would rather be somewhere else then the mountains. But something is compelling her to come here.” Wraith observed.
“But why?” Willow asked.
“I don’t know.” Wraith replied with a shrug. Wrapping her scarf back around her face, the leader started towards the girl.
“The child will return with us to the haven. She is here for a purpose, though I haven’t a clue as to what that may be. Rain, if it satisfies you, we and the whole of our community will not reveal our secret to her until everyone agrees she can be trusted. We all look human anyways, and it is forbidden to use magic for trivial matters, just in case. It would be an easy secret to keep.” Wraith called while she walked.
As she approached, Rhiannon passed through the barrier and fell face first into the snow with a small grunt of exhaustion. When Wraith scooped the small child into her arms, she gazed up at the stranger in befuddlement, but could not gather the strength to fight the larger female.
“Call me Wraith. You’re safe with us, child, we have food and warm shelter.”
“I-I-I-I’m Rh-Rhia-Rhiannon.” The child stammered, before her eyes closed and she was fast asleep.
Wraith didn’t know why Rhiannon was here, but she had every intention of finding out.
Word Count:1,194
Toppings: Whipped cream, Rainbow Sprinkles
Extra: Malt
Ratings: PG/PG-13 for swearing
Summary: Four figures stand watching as a small figure in the distance approaches.
Author's notes Finally, my first malt! Took me long enough. XD I actually started writing this a while ago, then had to bin the entire thing because I realized I was writing from the wrong perspective. It flowed so much better using someone other then Rhiannon's point of view. So I wrote this based on the results of Sly's game of Twister, with the prompts "Rhiannon", "Danger zone", "How's it gonna be", and "Female side character", and this is where the fantasy aspects of my story come into play. This will lead up to a small spoiler for Mousie later. >3 Enjoy!
The frigid, howling wind didn’t deter the small troop of four as they stood in the snow, their postures stiff and alert, much like a cat that sensed danger coming. Their faces and bodies were swathed in layers of cloth to protect the sensitive skin beneath from the hard weather, obscuring any hints of their expressions. Curiously, the second tallest of the troop stepped forward to the front, as they regarded the tiny form in the frosted pink coat stumbling towards them in the distance.
“That’s the third time she has come.”
The figure that had stepped forward glanced back towards the speaker, the smallest of the group, nearly missing the soft, lilting words because of the wind. This one wore a dark blue cloak that was clutched tightly around the small body.
“What tenacity for a child.” A second figure remarked, cloaked in a dirty, dark red cloak. “Or stupidity. Twice, our barrier has misguided her and placed her on a pathway leading out of the mountains and to safety. But she has now come here three times.”
The one that had stepped forward silently returned to studying the child, who was slowly progressing forward with her body leaning into the wind and her head bowed, as if to cut through the powerful currents like a ship would through water.
“Not stupidity, Rain.” Said one wearing purple. “Look at her expression when she looks up to check where she is! In this white landscape, in this damned storm, there couldn’t possibly be anything to tell her that she has been here before. No landmarks, no footprints even; they’ve all been covered by the heavy snowfall. But you can tell from the frustration on her face and the confusion that she knows she has already been to this place twice. It is intentional.”
The figures swathed in purple, blue, and red glanced at one another before staring at the child.
“We kill her then, just like we do the rest of her filthy kind when they come this far,” the one called Rain growled, lifting a gloved hand to the pommel of the sword that rested in its sheath on his back.
“She is but a child, Rain! She could not possibly know the peril she is in by coming here!” the one in blue retorted.
“And you are but a fool, Willow!” Rain snarled back, “Have you forgotten what her kind has done to us? If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t be on these forsaken mountains, freezing our asses off half the time, and starving the other half! If it hadn’t been for those monsters, we would be at home!”
“Humans are no more monsters than we are.” The one in purple pointed out, turning to face the other two. “If we hate them unfairly as they did us, this war will-”
“Will never end! I cannot believe you can defend those creatures Bane. After what they did to your son-”
“Do not bring him into this!” Bane hissed furiously.
“Whatever. I say we kill her. If she goes back to those cities and speaks about her experience here, our haven could be compromised.” Rain continued dourly.
“As furious as you make me, you have a point.” Willow muttered crossly.
“So you would justify killing an innocent child because of she might go back and tell someone about this, and someone might believe a child’s story of going up supposedly isolated mountains, by herself? Shame upon you Willow!”
“Not with a possibility Bane, with our survival!”
“So let’s just kill the bitch already!”
The three of them began to bicker bitterly amongst themselves, making the lead figure sigh.
“Wraith.”
The figure did not move as Rain spoke, and the other two fell silent to watch.
“You are our leader, Wraith. You must decide whether the child dies our not. Whether our haven is safe or not.” He demanded.
Wraith lowered the thick scarf, shrouding her face, revealing a delicate, feminine face. Bowing her head in thought, she closed her eyes.
“She is Ariannon’s child.” Wraith said eventually, ignoring Bane’s startled gasp.
“But how?” Willow asked in disbelief.
“Exactly my question.” Rain muttered, “Ariannon and her human whore died four years ago, and the child was never recovered. Soldiers killed the group that had agreed to take the little girl and hide her away. After they were killed, there was no one left; everyone else had already fled. The child couldn’t have survived by herself.”
“Look to her ears.” Wraith ordered quietly. “They have the same scarring as the babe did. Scarring, mind you, from having her ears cut to hide their pointed heritage. She is Rhiannon, child of Ariannon of the elves and Alexis of the humans.”
“Her blood is poisoned by that human’s all the same. We cannot trust her, whether she is Ariannon’s child or not!” Rain growled darkly.
Wraith opened her eyes to study the child. “I doubt she even remembers that her mother was an elf, or that magical creatures such as us even exist. And she will not realize that such creatures as us exist because we have taken to wearing a permanent illusion to look like humans.” She murmured. Should soldiers ever manage to come across them, they would see humans, not elves and fairies. “So… How’s it gonna be?”
The four of them stood watching as Rhiannon came to a stop at the edge of the barrier with a bewildered expression. The child could not see the barrier, of course, but she was somehow aware of it and that was unusual. They watched as she bit her lip in determination and began to force herself through the spell that had turned her away twice already, moving slowly as if she were wading through molasses.
“She is being driven by something. It’s clear that she would rather be somewhere else then the mountains. But something is compelling her to come here.” Wraith observed.
“But why?” Willow asked.
“I don’t know.” Wraith replied with a shrug. Wrapping her scarf back around her face, the leader started towards the girl.
“The child will return with us to the haven. She is here for a purpose, though I haven’t a clue as to what that may be. Rain, if it satisfies you, we and the whole of our community will not reveal our secret to her until everyone agrees she can be trusted. We all look human anyways, and it is forbidden to use magic for trivial matters, just in case. It would be an easy secret to keep.” Wraith called while she walked.
As she approached, Rhiannon passed through the barrier and fell face first into the snow with a small grunt of exhaustion. When Wraith scooped the small child into her arms, she gazed up at the stranger in befuddlement, but could not gather the strength to fight the larger female.
“Call me Wraith. You’re safe with us, child, we have food and warm shelter.”
“I-I-I-I’m Rh-Rhia-Rhiannon.” The child stammered, before her eyes closed and she was fast asleep.
Wraith didn’t know why Rhiannon was here, but she had every intention of finding out.