Under the Hill

Chapter One how to wake a rebel

Looking at the small, desolate hill, you wouldn't suspect anything unusual about it – quite the opposite in fact. You would look at this hill and think- there's nothing special about this hill, it's not even special enough for a picnic to be held on top of it- but this thought, would be incorrect. You see, this hill isn't a hill at all. It's a house, a small hill shaped house- to be more precise. In this house live three children- children, most would say aren't even of age enough to wield their own staff, much less live on their own.

What is being shared with you now is not something most would consider being true and that these children are incapable of such feats but I assure you, all of their claims are true.

                                                                             CHAPTER ONE

                                                                      How to wake a Rebel

"One would think," Magda huffed, exasperated, usual calm demeanor slowly withering away, "that after sleeping until mid-light thrice in a row, she could wake, just once before first-day has passed!" Magda Hiles, a young mistress around 16 cycles, sat down at the table. "She knows we can't leave until she's up, and yet she hasn't woken until mid-light. It's infuriating!"

"Magda, you know she stays up to guard. And any ways, I don't see anything wrong with staying in till she's ready, there's plenty to do here." Willow, a soft-spoken child, brushed a strand of her long, caramel colored hair out of her face as she read her book - Staff wielding one- the beginners guide to staffs, do's don'ts and how to's by Inrick McDoyal – revealing baby blue eyes.

"Yes Willow, I know. I just wish Raine could wake up earlier for once."

Magda stood up, walked over to the mirror in the main room, put her dark colored hair in a messy bun, and moved the extra stubborn stands that wouldn't be bothered to be tamed from in front of her bluish-grey eyes to behind her ear. "Well I'm going to go wake her up; we have too many things to do before no-light for her to sleep late again." Walking over to Raine's room, Magda shot a look to her companion.

"Wish me luck."

Upon entering the room, Magda was bombarded with the scent of pine. Now, it should be said that each girl had customized their room to their liking. Raine, having the room on the outside wall, had opted to have a window provide light into her room instead of the hearth stone that lit up the other two girls rooms. The room, painted a light gray color, had murals of the forest outside with wolves and woodland creatures poking out from the forest. Magda had never seen Raine's room before, as she tended to stay out of the other girls 'private life' as much as possible, but she knew that everything in the room would have had to be done by hand, part of the reason that she had such a plain room herself.

Raine was found curled up on a hammock that was in the corner, a fur blanket covering Raine entirely, which wasn't hard, considering she was only 4'10 even at the age of 14 cycles. The only thing you could see was a long waterfall of blond hair, flowing off of the hammock, and almost touching the floor. "Raine, you've got to get up. We need to go to the forest to go hunting, then to the market, and we have many things around the hill that need to be done. It's nearly past first-day and we need to go."

"Mmhh. Mags, I don't wanna. I'm tired."

"Get. Up. Or I'll put a ward around the garden and let the plants die."

"NO! I'm up. Give me .... 10 minutes. Don't touch my plants!"

Walking out of the room, Magda felt quite accomplished. With Willow already up and ready to go, Raine up before Mid-light and ten minutes to make sure she was presentable before they left. Wandering over to the mirror, she looked at her outfit. Pants with her sleeved shirt and navy cloak. Grabbing her favorite cloak and the game bag, she went over to the table to wait and eat a fruit until Raine came out. It was Village day, when they went to the outskirts – about a 5 hour walk but they didn't walk there, not since their first Village day nearly two whole cycles ago – to trade the game they didn't need for fabric, thread and often times, new books and seeds.

"I'm here! Are we ready to go? Today's Village day right? Let's go to the forest already!" Raine shouted, running over to Willow and pulling her to the door.

"Do you have your bow and arrows?" Magda questioned, noticing that Raine's outfit was, rather obviously, something she had quickly thrown on – her shirt was crooked and one boot only halfway laced. "Yes, there just outside the doors, hanging on my hook because someone" Raine stopped to give Willow a pointed look, "doesn't let me bring weapons into the Hill."

"Raine, last time you brought one in, it slipped while you were cleaning it and impaled my book! It cost me 10 silver to get a new one!"

"And it cost me 15 copper to get a new shaft for my arrow! You didn't have to cut it!"

"Well this conversation is costing all of us valuable time we could be using to do other more important things. So let's stop bickering and got to the forest so we can take what we catch to the village and get things done." Magda said, rather snappily, deciding to cut the conversation short and get a move on. They had already wasted an hour and a half more than she wanted to have, waiting for Raine to wake up. Said girl opened the door, grabbed her bow, arrows, three hunting knives, and a replacement string for her bow, before bolting out of the Hill and into the forest.

"See you later!"

"Remember to go to the clearing when you're done Raine!" Willow shouted, rather amused at her companions childish behavior. "Come on Magda, let's go to that berry patch you found two moons ago, maybe there will be some ripe ones we can take to the village."