Violet paused for a moment, beaming at the slightly rickety house that stood alone near the edge of the savannah. Trees were scattered sparsely on the horizon, and it was sunset, lending a very nice first glimpse of her old home on the edge of the forest. She sped up, walking briskly towards the house, excited to see her family. Before she knew it, she was at the door. Violet took a deep breath, brushing strands of hair behind her ears and shrugging her supply bag back into place. She smiled, raising the rough-hewn door knocker and letting it fall.
"Hello?" Violet called, a bit nervous. She had been gone for a while. The old house was silent for almost too long, and then the door flew open, no one seemingly behind it.
"Oh, Violet!" squealed a voice, and she looked down at at the gnome girl half her size, pliers in hand, wearing an apron covered in what could only be rust flakes. She wrapped her arms around Violet's waist and squeezed her eyes tight with delight. Her eyes began leaking tears, but she quickly scrubbed them away.
Once Adeen had settled her adoptive sister into the sitting room with a steaming cup of tea, Violet decided to address the elephant in the room. "Adeen, where's everyone else?" Adeen looked down, picking at a flake of rust on her apron, then glanced out the window.
"Father and Johnathan went out hunting. They said they be back by... by today... this morning." Her eyes started to burn from unshed tears. She looked into the ceiling light in an attempt to push them away.
"Well... I'm back now... so at least you aren't alone. I'm sure they just hit a snag. They'll be back soon. Want to help me unpack?"
Adeen shook her head, "I make us some dinner. You must be famished."
While Adeen went to the kitchen to prepare a meal, Violet went up the rickety stairs to put away everything she had brought on her journey. When she reached her room, Violet unclasped the strap on her back. She drew her staffs and paused for a moment, for memory's sake. She secured them on the wall like a coat of arms, and returned to shuffling through her bag. When Violet was finished, she wandered back downstairs.
"Adeen?" she called, not seeing her adopted sister at first. "Adeen?"
"Over, here," Adeen called, standing up and drifting over. "Johnathan and Father should be back by now. I'm..." she glanced back over to the large window with peeling paint, the only kitchen window that faced the forest.
"Adeen, let's eat. If they're not back after that we'll look around."