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INDIANA JONES
iv. CHASING FIRE
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AFTER HAVING ONE OF the most preeminent bowls of hazelnut soup in the whole world, eight-year-old Indiana Jones made the decision of finally going to bed for the rest of the night. Her aunt happily tucked her in before stalking off to get some shuteye, as well. It had been a rather long day for the two girls, but that didn't mean they both were going to sleep just yet. Once Lucy exited the room, Indiana instantaneously hopped out of bed and scurried toward the window, pushing it open.
Easily hopping down from the window, the girl proceeded to run. She didn't care that her white nightgown was becoming even dirtier than before and she didn't care for the feeling of dirt squishing between her previously clean toes. All Indiana Jones truly cared about was the rush of adrenaline that coursed through her veins as she snuck out of her household to confront her friend.
'I hope he hasn't been waiting too long,' Indiana thought to herself. Nonetheless, she tried to enjoy her little night run instead of worrying about such a thing.
Nature was Indiana's favorite thing about life. Nature was life, after all, and she really loved life. She adored the feeling of the warm air blasting against her face as she pushed past the weak tree branches, causing them to snap off and scratch at her calves. The entire experience she was going through in that moment reminded Indiana of the adventure books Lucy often read to her. It made her feel like a superhero, like she could do anything. If this was what being "on the run" was like, then Indiana would love to be in that situation.
After a few diminutive moments of running eagerly, the short brunette crashed into a body, landing directly on her bottom. If she hadn't bumped into that someone, Indiana didn't have a doubt in her mind that she would have run right past the usual meeting spot. Apparently, the person had the same thought because he said, "Geez, if you were running any faster, I'd say you'd run right past me."
The brunette looked up curiously before grinning at the figure before her. "Sorry, Baelfire!" the eight-year-old said to the 10-year-old boy. "I was just so excited!"
Baelfire was the son of the village coward, Rumplestiltskin. Baelfire was also the son of the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin. It was hard to believe that the village coward was also one of the most powerful beings in the realm. Indiana didn't think it was too hard to understand, though. She and Baelfire wouldn't be friends if Rumplestiltskin was the way that he was.
Baelfire had received a lot of backlash for being the son of the village coward and the Dark One. No one wanted to play with him out of embarrassment or fear of getting murdered by the Dark One. That was how everyone but Indiana acted around the poor boy. Indiana fought for people who were getting bullied. It was one of the many things she was known for, even if most adults didn't consider it "bullying." Because of this, Indiana and Baelfire became the best of friends.
"So I kind of have to tell you something, Bae," Indiana sheepishly said, rubbing the back of her head once she stood up. Baelfire stared at her, waiting for her to say it. "I kind of told Aunt Lucy about the Shadow Man. I'm sorry! I didn't know what I was saying until I said it!"
Baelfire waved his head. "No, that's fine. Actually, that's perfect," Baelfire told her. Indiana raised her eyebrows at the boy.
"Huh? You made me pinky swear to not tell her and you're okay with it!?" Indiana bellowed. "I don't believe this! How could you just—?"
"Maybe if you stopped blabbering, I'd tell ya," Baelfire interrupted. Indiana folded her arms over her chest. "Geez. No wonder the whole village knows your name."
"That's not my fault," Indiana stubbornly mumbled. "Okay, maybe it is a little bit... or a lot bit..."
Ignoring her little comment, Baelfire proceeded to speak once again. "As I was saying, this is perfect because now, if one of us gets kidnapped by that Shadow, then at least someone will know, right?" Baelfire explained.
For about a week or so, numerous kids in their village had been going missing. The thing that really stuck out was that the kids that went missing were only boys and there were no signs of someone breaking into the homes all over the village. Everyone was on edge because of all the mysterious disappearances, but not Indiana. All she had to say about it was, "This is one of those cases where girls are better than boys."
Only one of the duo had actually seen the Shadow Man, and that was also Indiana. She didn't mean to. She didn't hear anything or feel its presence, but she had felt the strange urge to look out her window. Keep in mind, she was only six-years-old when this happened, so she didn't know any better. The next thing Indiana knew, she was staring at two yellow eyes that belonged to a shadowy figure.
The Shadow Man had been nice to Indiana, so she was having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that he was the one behind all the disappearances. However, she had to remember that when Baelfire had a hunch, he was usually right.
"I guess," Indiana agreed. Before she could say anything, Baelfire's ears perked up. He began to start walking in a random direction. It was as if he was in some kind of trance, suddenly hypnotized. "Huh? Are you okay?" When Baelfire broke out into a run, Indiana's eyes widened. "Bae! Come back here!"
That was how Indiana Jones ended up chasing Baelfire around the forest. She wasn't sure what had suddenly came over him or why he felt the need to start running for no reason. The more she ran, the more distracted she became as the sound of some kind of shrilly instrument loudly filled her ears. That was how Indiana started to run toward the sound, rather than running after Baelfire.
She killed two birds with one stone when she spotted Baelfire sprint into a clearing. There were several boys, all his age. They were dancing around a fire in a wild, animal-like manner. Standing in the center of this chaos was a boy that looked a few years older than the others. He was the one playing what Indiana now knew was a pipe.
Observing, Indiana thought these kids were crazy. Why were they dancing like that? Why were they dancing at all? Who was this guy? Thoughts spun round and round in her head and the next thing she knew, Rumplestiltskin was talking to the guy by the fire before dragging off his son. That didn't stop the party, though. She was so entranced by the boys dancing that she didn't even realize that the music had stopped.
"What's a girl doing here?" an unfamiliar voice quizzed from behind Indiana. The 8-year-old jumped and fell over in surprise. However, she was more angered at his question than scared or surprised about anything else, such as the fact that the person had somehow teleported behind her.
"How dare you! Girls are just as good as boys, maybe even better," Indiana boldly declared, staring at the boy. She couldn't pick up many of his facial features. The only thing that really stuck in her brain were his eyes. They were the greenest eyes she had ever seen in her entire life. They reminded her of Nature, of light and life. So why did they hold so much darkness and death in them instead?
The boy observed her. "I get it. You're little Indiana Jones, aren't you?" the boy wondered with a smirk. Indiana raised her eyebrows.
"How did—?"
"My friend, The Shadow Man has told me a lot about you, dearie," the boy interrupted, almost tauntingly. Indiana's eyes lit up with excitement.
"You know—?"
"What I'm more interested in is how you got here. Would you mind telling me, dearie?" the boy interrupted once again.
"Would you mind not interrupting me, you green-eyed... green... green... bean!" Indiana snarled in annoyance. The boy couldn't help but chuckle at the horrible attempt at an insult. "And if you must know, I got here with my legs! And because my friend started running here and I heard some really funky music!"
This caught the boy's attention. "Hm? Is that so...?" the boy trailed off, humming as he began to think. "I think we'll be seeing more of each other in the future, Indiana."
With that, the boy disappeared, leaving the boys to dance around their fire and a completely annoyed Indiana Jones.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
forgive me for my terrible chapter name skills. i tried to make a play on words by saying "chasing (bael)fire" but that was a fail LOL
also, am I the only one who thinks indiana is absolutely adorable? I love her