Summer had come sooner than I expected. Not very long after my distasteful encounter with Ashter, the warm season came-- replacing the sight of bright, beautiful flowers with rich, green trees, their branches full of thick leaves.
It's steaming hot when I arrived at the forest today. The sun is merciless, shining through the tree with a filtered coloring of light. Sweaty silver hair sticks on my forehead while I dunk my face into the cool water of the lake as my neck and everything below stays on the bank.
I hold my breath while I'm underwater, feeling the water hit the scalp of my hair and the coldness that so contrasts from the heat of summer. After a few moments, I bring my head back up to the surface, gasping for air as I fall back onto the grass.
Ethan chuckles at my side, clearly amused at the extent I will go to cool myself but he himself isn't doing so good. His normally neat raven black hair is now in a bushy mess though it still looks somewhat attractive.
"Why in the name of the gods is this day so steaming?" I hiss to no one in particular, the water already cooling on my skin while I tie my hair back into a wet bun, hoping the cold would stay longer.
When he doesn't say anything, I bring my eyes to him to find Ethan doing the same thing I did, drenching his face and hair into the lake. I contemplate on pushing him into the water but he already brought his head up, wet, raven black hair framing his face. Unlike me, he dosesn't gasp for air frantically. He brings his face slowly from the water, the only sign of him reaching for air is the slightly ragged breathing of his.
The lake seems to reflect the sun's shine, making it almost impossible to see the other side of the lake without getting blinded by the strong summer light. Ethan sweeps his hair back with a slick so he can see better and reaches into my sack of fresh game and herbs. He brings out a couple of peppermint leaves in between his slender fingers and dipped those herbs into the cool, clear water.
He hands to me some of them after he pulled them back into the air and I bite into the leaves forcefully, sighing at the taste of peppermint combining with cool liquid. The sweetness of it coats my tongue.
I chew. "You said Ashter is coming today. Where is he?" I ask to Ethan who's replacing his bowstring.
"He will come soon enough. Ashter is not famous for his accuracy of time," Ethan answers, not looking at me and focusing on his bow.
"It looks like you and him have something in common then."
Ethan breaks a smile at me but said nothing. We sit there for a while in silence, him with his weapon and me staring beyond the lake, occasionally rubbing my eyes from the constant exposure to light.
"How did you meet Ashter?" I ask out of the blue. In the past weeks, I've seen Ashter a fair amount of time. He would scare off the animals I wanted to hunt to irritate me, which he succeeded immensely. Teases would also come from him about me and Ethan which, for whatever reason made me blush deeper until Ethan told him to scram off.
Ethan continues his work, not fazed by my question. "He's an old friend of mine and Caspien. We were close when we were children."
"You were close?" I repeat him.
He tests the new string on the bow by flicking his index finger on it. "Not many years ago, he was sent across the sea with his uncle. He was gone for a long time and he just came home a few weeks back. I thought he changed but he's exactly the same." Ethan's features soften.
"Why was he sent away?" I ask, looking at him with interest.
His brows crease together, finally changing his gaze from the bow to me. "Why are you so interested?" There is an edge in his voice.
I shrug. "I just want to know."
Ethan seems unconvinced and eyes me suspiciously before telling me.
"He accidentally hurt my cousin, a royal and at the age of twelve at that time. Ashter swung his sword too hard at him and he was tended for weeks by the healers," Ethan says grimly.
"A sword?" I ask, not hiding confusion. "Why isn't your cousin dead?" I blurt out without thinking.
"It was a wooden one. We weren't allowed to use iron ones at that time," he explains.
I nod to show him that I understand. Of course, Ashter struck me as a murderer when we met but after a few weeks, his presence doesn't disturb me anymore. It doesn't mean that I consider him as a friend but he is getting closer to that.
I found that he is quite the same as me. Rugged and unyielding-- or at least that what I think I am. That's what a hunter has to be and I am one. Ethan seems to be different now with the presence of Ashter back home. Happy, but still guarding himself as he always is.
I was brought to reality when there's a sudden noise of gallops. My eyes meet Ethan at the same time and he seems to be as confused as I am. I bring myself to stand up after he does. From the thick trees, a brown horse suddenly shot up from it and I can hear a shriek. Not from me, no.
Ashter is on the horse, looking smug at me with a hooded figure behind him, slender arms around Ashter's waist and I look to him with my eyebrows creased. There's a shard of relief that it's Ashter and not some predator in the bushes but now curiosity is tugging at me. I can't see whoever is in the hood as the fabric obscures the face but I pity him or her. It must be like a furnace in there.
Ashter leans back to the hooded figure, whispering something I cannot hear and the stranger's head jerks up almost with excitement. Ethan is already walking up to Ashter, asking him.
He --or she-- unmounts Ashter's horse without grace, it's clear that the stranger never did this before. I can see bare, pale, slender arms clutching the horse's saddle as the feet lands on the ground. The brown fabric covers her whole body like a blanket, shielding everything but the shoulders to the fingertips.
The hooded figure brings his gaze to me and I can see that the outfit fails to cover the bottom half of the face that shows a button nose and pink lips forming into a small smile. It's a she after all, I thought. But a scar is situated on her left arm and it is fresh by the looks of it, pink but not red.
As Ashter tells Ethan something and Ethan's eyebrows cocked up in surprised amusement, the girl walks to me and pulls off her hood slowly, revealing her face and locks of brown hair comes down over her shoulders. I feel my heart leap into my throat.
Ariella looks to me with those soft hazel eyes, her fingers still on the edge of the hood while she looks to me expectantly with that small smile of hers.
My senses seem to stop as I look to her, not believing. She's alive. The last time I saw her, she was bleeding and dying and there she is now, healthy with only a scar on her smooth skin. I gaped at her, not knowing what to do. She could be angry with me but the smile of hers discriminate that thought.
With her here with Ashter, I can see their similarities-- those hazel eyes though Ariella has a touch of softness in it. That is probably the only thing that is the same about these two siblings.
I'm brought back from my mind to reality when Ariella shed the whole outfit to the ground, revealing a sleeveless dress that falls to her feet before throwing her thin arms around me.
"Hello, Cathellyn," I feel her lips move against my hair, forming into a smile.
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"How are you now? Does it still hurt?" I ask, looking at the pink scar. Thankfully it isn't too big but my chest tightens everytime I see it. It reminded me of my carelessness.
Ariella glances down at the scar on her arm while we walk through the forest as if taking a stroll in a garden. "No but thank you for asking," she smiles at me. "To be honest, I never thought I would ever get a scar."
Guilt infects me and I rubbed my face harshly. "I'm sorry. I really am."
Areilla's voice is soft and caring. "It's not your fault, Cathellyn."
"Even if I'm not, I should find the one that shot you. It's only fair that he is punished." I've been trying to search for whoever scarred Ariella but to no avail. The Outlander still talks to me, yes but there's something different as if I'm a stranger.
Ariella's hazel eyes looks to me. "I-- I saw who it was," shes says only above a whisper as if she is afraid.
I stop in my tracks and my heart seem to be doing the same. "What?"
The hazel eyed girl nods, fear in her eyes but confident in her voice. "I saw her. But she was wearing a mask and I only saw her eyes and hair."
I look to her while my heartbeat erraticates. It was a girl? I try to dig in my mind for any woman I know that hates Valarians and can fight. No, they are too many. I sigh in frustation.
Ariella gulps and continues. "She has brown hair. Not like mine but one with a deeper colour and her eyes.." She trails off and cast her eyes to the green grass of summer as the sun shine greater and my mind trailed with questions.
After a while of silence with the only sounds are the splash of Ashter diving into the lake, she finally looks to me in the eye. "Her eyes are violet. L-- like yours, Cathellyn."
My senses stop working and my tounge feels like it had turned into sand. "A-are you sure?" I stutter.
She gives me a meek but defining nod. "I'm sure. It was so bright a-and cold-," she starts to flail, looking everywhere except me. Her eyes are starting to glaze with unshedded tears.
I place a gentle hand on her shoulder despite my furiously beating heart. The look when she brings her hazel eyes to me with her cheeks already wet tightens my chest even further. Ariella takes a large gulp of air, calming herself. "I didn't tell anyone," she says quietely.
I close my eyes, thanked the gods, and listen to my friend. "I understand if you do not want to punish her, Cathellyn. I really do," she says, wiping the fallen tears on her cheek.
The same blood that she has run through my veins. "Thank you. Thank you, Ariella," my voice starts to break at the end. I strengthen myself, letting my hand drop from her shoulder to cup my mouth as the horid truth sinks in. Laila, oh.. Laila.
"Please, Ariella. I know I'm not in the position to ask for anything from you but please do not tell anyone," I plea when I finally let my hand drop from my mouth.
She lets out a smile of understanding, her cheeks still wet. "I won't. I promise I won't tell a soul."
How can she say that? I'm protecting the one that hurt her. "Thank you," I whisper again.
Ariella puts a tentative hand on my arm. "Hush now. Let's go back to Ashter and Ethan. They're waiting."
I give her a small nod and she smiles before walking towards the lake, taking me with her as my chest tightens with every breath I take.
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When I arrive back into the Outlands, my eyes instantly start to search for my twin sister, heart thumping hard and I curse when I cannot find her. After a while, I walk home but when I creak open the wooden door of the house, the only one in it is Mother. She's sitting by the window, letting clean light come in and shining this grim place a little.
A needle and some cloth is situated in her hands while her silver hair falls onto her forehead. In these days, it's hard to know if it's the natural silver hair that was passed down onto me or white hair that comes with age.
She doesn't acknowledge me when I walk in and place my daily game onto the table for her to cook like always. I look to her, expecting for her to say something to her daughter.
I grit my teeth, scolding myself for anticipating something from her. She's always like this after Father died, silent and--even though she doesn't say it-- sad.
Her expert hands continue to sew the pieces of cloth together. If my weapon is a spear, Mother's is a needle. Years of practice is shown as she sets the finished cloth aside and taking another one.
I let out an audible sigh, breaking the silence. "Mother," I call out to her.
She doesn't stop sewing nor does she brings her eyes to me. "Yes?"
"Have you seen Laila? I can't seem to find her anywhere."
"Why do you need to find her? You've been hating her all your life." She states.
"I don't hate her, Mother. She hates me," I sigh. I silently pray for her to just answer my question.
She finally, finally looks at me with beady eyes. Her icy gaze shoots through me, making my heart beat a little faster. Mother is one of the people that I cannot predict her moods or actions.
"Please," I say. "I need to find her."
She gives me a glare, sighing heavilly before saying, "I don't know, child." And she continues her work of sewing absent-mindedly.
My jaw tightens, holding a frustated sound from coming out of my mouth. I walk to the door, shutting it silently as if not wanting to wake a sleeping babe and resume my search for Laila.
I do not know what I will do when I find her but now I just need to see her. Jogging around for a while, head whipping to the sides to find my twin sister, I instead find Nala playing in the riverbank. I smile at the sight of her laughing as she splashes the water upwards and letting it fall onto her like a shower of rain.
She's playing alone, far from the other children. Nala sometimes do that-- dividing herself from the other Outlanders to find comfort on her own like now.
She sees me from afar and stops her movement in the water, bringing her feet out of the river while I walk to her with fast steps. Nala smiles, as she always does before running towards me and jumping to hug my figure.
I return her embrace, holding her tightly. She's one of the few Outlanders that don't give me rude glares everywhere I go. I put her down on the grass after a few moments. "Nala, have you seen Laila?"
Her face looks shock and then hardens. "I thought you were looking for me," she sulks, pouting her lips in an exaggerated fashion.
I laugh, ruffling her wet, fiery hair and she lets out a 'hmph'. " 'M sorry Nala but I really need to find my sister."
Nala's face soften in understanding. "Well, if you really need to see her, she was walking to the edge of the forest not a long ago, " she says in her squeaky voice.
I smile at the information. "Thank you, Nala."
I feel slight guilt for leaving Nala playing in the waters alone like that and the look she gave me when I told her I'm going almost made me stay. But finding Laila is more important now.
As I walk at the edge-- quiet except for the sounds of animals in the forest-- I wonder why she is here. She always told me that she despised the forest. Suddenly, I hear a loud boom coming not too far from where I'm standing. My heart skips a beat at the sound and then beats faster as I move towards the noise.
I can hear a sick, lunatic laughter now as I nearing the source. I know that voice, I thought grimly as I unknowingly step onto a piece of burnt organ on the grass. I continue until I finally see her.
The violet-eyed girl stands on a field of grass, surrounded by trees to shield from other's people eyes. The field is suppose to be green but now it is littered with burnt, black and red organs all over the place. I cup my mouth to stiffen any noise coming out when I saw a limp, long piece of intestine hanging from a branch. A deer's head is situated next to Laila's feet as she kicks it away with a whoop.
Laila stands in the middle of it all, twirling happily with her eyes peacefully closed as if this-- this madness doesn't affect her. Her dress is covered with blood and the air smelled of gunpowder and blood-- oh, so much blood.
I feel bile rising at my throat and I manage to stop it as I feel tears start to prick my eyes. She stops her twirling after a while and when she does, two pairs of violet eyes meet each other. Laila stands there, mouth agaped. "Ca-cathellyn?" She whispers as if not beliving I'm in front of her.
I grit my teeth forcefully while anger and fear and confusion starts to boil up inside me and I walk up to her with stride steps, not stopping and looking her into the eyes. She doesn't do anything but she gasped loudly when I slapped her across the face with all the might my arm has.
She brings a hand to craddle her now red cheek as she looks to me with disbelief. "You dare-- "
"What's this madness?" I ask, my tone dangerously calm. "By the teeth of the gods, what's wrong with you?"
She laughs a little but her voice is high. "I didn't know that the gods had teeth."
"Do not joke with me Laila. Not now," I warn her, my voice collected despite the fury spreading through out my body like wildfire.
She rolls her eyes playfully and shrugs. Laila starts to move away from me when I pull her back forcefully by tugging her arm, threathening to stuck it off the socket. "You're not going anywhere," I say, looking at her angry eyes. "Explain this, right now."
Laila frees her arm from my grip by a sharp jerk, fire in her eyes. "Explain what? This? " She asks mockingly, opening her arms wide to the bloody scene around us. "This is art, Cathellyn. It's beautiful and it's all my own magnificent creation," she awed.
I scoff, my own fire rising inside of me with anger. "No, this is not art. This is madness. You're mad! "
"I am not mad," her voice sharp as a razor. "You don't understand me."
"If you do no tell me now, I swear to the gods I will--"
Laila cuts me short. "What? What are you going to do? Tell the Outlanders what I did?" She scoffs. "Nobody believes you anymore, Cathellyn. Ever since that wench came to Valaria and you called her your friend-- that's the point that the Outlanders stop beleiving you. You betrayed us! You betrayed father!" She yells.
My chest heaves. "I didn't betray anyone. I only helped my friend."
"And you do not want to help your people?" She asks with a smile. "I might just think that we are both mad. You're spurting out the best lies I've ever heard."
I feel like at the verge of pulling my hair out from the scalp. "You're twisting my words," I say through gritted teeth.
She scoffs, still smiling a smile that I didn't know she has. "Whatever, my sweet sister," she emphazies the word 'sister'. Gods, what is wrong with her?
We stand there in silence, looking at each other and I cannot believe that this girl-- this mad, mad girl is my twin, who is supposed to be a reflection of me, who is supposed to be a friend, who is supposed to be my sister.
Laila looks at me with those beady violet eyes, sunlight gleaming happily above us when she finally turns away, giving me one final look that said nothing but hate before walking away from the field of burnt, charred organs-- leaving me there alone.
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