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¤ Dreamers ¤ • Chapter One • • D.i.s.t.u.r.b.a.n.c.e i.n t.h.e D.i.s.t.a.n.c.e • Written by Omniwite (Moogz) The grass was waist-high and the sun shone warm through the soft clouds. A dragonfly-like insect, a chisae, fluttered past the brim of Devron's straw hat as he tilted it upward to find the flower he was searching for. A light wind blew past and a brushing sound was heard, not only from the breeze but also from a follower. Devron refused to turn, a grin spreading softly against his features. "Devron!" came the girl's voice, slightly out-of-breath from the excess energy used. "Devron, wait! Wait I said!" Devron snickered silently and turned to face her, unmoving from his spot. Still continuing to smile, he sighed and asked, "Yes, Amaree? What is it?" Hands on knees, panting, she contorted her face into a look of anger directed at Devron, but Devron only continued to smile. She shook her head from side to side, still trying to catch her breath. He did know what she wanted, he just wanted to hear it from her own mouth. Standing up straight and letting out a sigh as she finally caught her breath, she loosened her face to expressionless features as she spoke, "I'm... sorry. I'll come along with you and help you gather some food and herbs." Devron's smile grew wider as he tilted his head to her. She frowned once more, "But only because Dad told me to!" "If you say so, Amaree," he said, dismissing the subject with a wave of the hand and walked off further into the straw-colored sea of grass. Amaree snorted, turning her head away from him and crossing her arms in aggrivation. Why did she have to be here? Couldn't she just practice for another unannounced battle that may come up? She was getting better... Realizing he was leaving without her again, she turned and started running after him again. "Devron!!" He abruptly halted in his tracks, the grin no longer gracing his features as Amaree caught up to him. She put a hand on his shoulder, laughing a bit, "Why'd you stop? You never stop so quickly!" Devron never met her gaze, scanning the area in front of the two in surprise, another light wind brushing across the field. "Devron?" He quickly put an index finger to his lips as an ear twitched, listening to what the wind would carry. He quickly whipped his head around and, palm on back, pushed Amaree and himself down to the earth's surface beneath the tops of the tall grass blades. "Hey, what the... Devron! What--" Amaree began, but stopped before finishing her question as she caught a particularily nasty glare from her brother, clamping her mouth tightly shut before trying to hear what her brother heard. "Marching..." she breathed before jumping straight back to her feet. "Amaree," Devron said, somewhat surprised. "Amaree, get down!" he hissed at her as she started running the way they came from. As she ran, she turned her head to face Devron, "I need to warn everyone! I need to warn Dad!" Cursing, Devron stood up and began racing after her. "Amaree! It's too dangerous! Come back here!" he yelled to her, but she was already too far ahead of him to heed his warning. Nevertheless, he continued to follow his younger sister through the heart of danger. • • • It seemed as though he had been running for at least a half an hour, but he knew it had only been a matter of minutes. Coming across the Skaaridian warrior's march to the fortress, he quickly took a 180 on his heel and ducked out of sight. Turning himself back around, he looked into the ranks of Skaaridians, trying to be able to make his sister out through the crowds, but the dust kicked up from their feet made a thick cloud he could barely see through. It's hopeless at this rate. Maybe she made it through before they came? he pondered. Seeing no other option than to wait the march out, he came up empty but to dash on through a gap before they could see him; the dust was thick enough that they couldn't see him if he went through, right? Seeing such a gap, he bit down hard on his lip and figured it was now or never. Inhaling deeply, he held back his coughing from the thick dust and hastily went through, making sure he was crouching as low as he could. Coming to the other side, ce collapsed into the tall grass and wiped the blood from his bottom lip as he listened in to any conversation. "Hey, I think I saw something," one said to another warrior. Devron drew in a sharp breath. "Where?" "Right in front of us! It looked like some kind of... animal, or something." "Where was it headed?" "Quiet, you two!" another snapped at the two conversationists. They continued by means of whispering. Devron perked his ears up, straining to hear what they had to say. Don't shoot... Whatever you do, please don't shoot... "Across the road. It was pretty large. What do you think it was?" the first one said. But before the second could answer, the third Skaaridian to talk nearly shouted at them in surprise, "Well, what if it was a resident? Shoot it!" As the first picked up his rifle, the second put a hand on it and shook his head at him. "It could be one of our own. Don't shoot. You'll only alert the enemy to our presence." Devron sighed and continued to head forward after his sister. She must have gotten past. The third scowled at the other two's hesitation and disbelief and cocked his own rifle. "If neither of you will do it, then I will!" Readying the trigger, he fired into the distance about five times before he stopped, others looking to him with shock and surprise both. "There. That's enough to have either scared it off or kill it. Either way, was that so difficult?" The first to talk gave him a nasty glare as they all started charging the fortress. Devron dropped down at the fourth shot that struck him in the right leg as the fifth wizzed past his shoulder. Clamping his jaw shut tightly, he eased the urge to shout down, holding the gushing wound with a hand. Sitting there, panting while the war cries of the Skaaridians could be heard in the distance, his mind was flowing with a myriad of thoughts, They're charging... How am I going to get there in time with my leg like this? I hope Amaree made it there safely and warned everyone in time. Suddenly his body felt light and he felt the oncoming signs of unconsciousness creep into his mind. As he passed out, his last coherent thoughts were, Amaree, please be safe... ________________ Tash • 7 |