The Hunter's Daughter [Paused]

Chapter Two

Abilene looked at her with semi-concerned eyes. The brown and green hazel color stood out like the tree leaves when the sun hit them with golden light. "It sounds like you might not have gotten much sleep last night."

Dezzery put her hand over her sister's, "I know what I saw. I didn't really believe it but the forest was very quiet when it burnt out. That's really the only thing having me doubt what I saw was only caused by drowsiness."

"I do not think any of my plants could change the color of the flame. That is more in the realms of alchemy and I only know about herbs and flowers," Abilene snipped a couple more flowers into her basket. "It would take a powder of some sort to change the flame, not herbs. That much I know."

Dezzery sighed. She would have to confess to her sister and hope she would not utter a word to their parents.

"What about a chip of firestone?" she asked. "Would that change the color?"

Abilene quickly turned towards her sister, still wielding her scissors. The plants at the top of her basket almost flew out from the sharpness of her turn.

"You took the fire—" Abilene started to exclaim, until Dezzery attempted to cut her off with a hand over her mouth. Dezzery ended up cupping her hand in front of her sister's face while holding a finger to her own lips when she remembered the scissors at the last second. She did not want to add accidental stabbing to be added to the list of exciting things to happen to her before noon.

Abilene snapped her own mouth shut in response to her sister's reaction. She then looked down, remembered the scissors, and tossed them gently into the basket in her hand.

"You took the firestones?" she whispered harshly.

"Yes, I took them," Dezzery responded matter-of-factly. "I wanted to be quick so I could sleep some more before noon."

Abilene huffed her annoyance with her sister. She quickly rolled her eyes shortly after and gave a shrug of understanding.

"So you think maybe that's what changed the color?" she inquired.

"Perhaps," Dezzery responded. "What else would it be?"

"I don't think a magical flame reaction to fire stone would be a dark fire that sucks the light out of everything," Abilene gave a judging look. "That's practically the opposite of a firestone."

"I was thinking the same thing," Dezzery said. "But I thought, maybe since it was with an offering to the forest folk, it turned dark as a result. Like they don't appreciate my shortcut or refused the offering."

Both the sisters stood still in the garden, one clad in leather breeches and the other in a linen skirt and apron, as they looked down in thought. The sun was in their eyes now, rising up higher. They heard one of their neighbors' roosters crowing from a few houses away.

"I should go put the firestones back," Dezzery broke their quiet moment of thought. "If Momma and Papa aren't awake already, they will be soon. And I want to crawl back into bed before they ask me to do any chores."

"You lazy bum," Abilene teased. "They're going to make me do everything."

"You're sixteen now. While you'll always be the youngest, you can't be babied all the time," Dezzery smirked.

Abilene scrunched up her lightly freckled nose. "I'll make sure to leave you all the work tomorrow then," she teased.

"Anyways," Dezzery quickly circled back to their original topic, "I am hoping it is not the spirits of the wood being angry with us. The Autumn Festival is soon and it would be best to mend things before then if they are cross about something."