•••
•••
VIVIENNE'S BODY STUNG with pain as she rolled down the hill. Shades of green filled her senses, blurring before quickly fading from view as she tumbled away, much to her displeasure. Yellow passed by her, and blue haunted her senses as she continued on her way down. She could feel her body rolling farther and farther away from the train, farther away from the assassin, and farther away from her home. She soon came to the realization that if she rolled any farther, she'd roll right off the cliff and into the ocean, and though she desired adventure, that was not the type of adventure she wanted. And so, with all her strength, she clung onto the tall grasses that surrounded her and stopped herself, a mere meter away from imminent death.
Enola and Tewksbury both stopped soon enough too, both panting and grunting out of tire. Both the girls made eye contact slightly, Enola silently asking if Vivienne was alright, earning a nod from the latter. They then glanced at Tewksbury, who seemed to be preoccupied with picking the green off his cream colored clothes- a terrible thing to wear when running away.
"You do make an awful lot of noise, don't you?" Enola snapped at the boy, pestered by his groans. Vivienne arched an eyebrow, watching the argument with slight amusement.
His lip curled in disdain. "Well it turns out being thrown off a train hurts considerably more than you might think," he exhaled sharply, "and I've lost a button." Enola shook her head in annoyance, taking one last glance at the train, before getting up. She offered a hand to Vivienne, who gladly took it, brushing herself off.
"So I assume I'll be getting no help then?" Tewksbury asked, shooting up, though losing his balance in the process making him stumble.
"You look like a drunkard, with your tousled hair and stumble," the raven haired girl pinched her nose bridge in an effort to gain back her wits, "and that's sort of embarrassing for us, so if you'd please stand up properly."
Tewksbury made a face at her which she returned. It was now Enola's turn to arch an eyebrow, before demanding that they begin to move away from the cliff and to a safer area.
As they started off, Vivienne thought of how the house must've been by now. A state of chaos, disorder. The day beginning with her relatives screaming and shouting, demanding their morning meal, and yelling at each other for the most random things. Nobody in her family was exactly calm, even her aunt Agatha had those moments where she snapped. Unfortunately, it didn't skip a generation and passed on to her- the few words she'd said had proved that. And now with the case of her running off? Who knows how horrifying her parents' attitudes had become. And even though it scared her slightly, the thought of them lashing out on everyone, she couldn't help but be amused by the thought of their angered, scarlet faces.
Her hands traced over the outline of her trouser pockets, before shoving her hands in them. Her head ached slightly both from the overthinking she'd been doing about their situation, and the fact that she bumped her head on a rock, which, thankfully, did not cut her.
Enola suddenly spoke, startling the others. "You both do know you've completely ruined phase three of my plan?"
"Phase what? Who the hell are you both?" Tewksbury hissed as they continued walking through the grassland they'd reached, and both kept silent at the question. "Look, I believe our recent brush with death deserves me at least a name."
"Enola Holmes," She took off her blazer, and Tewksbury's face brightened a little bit. Vivienne recognized the name, could it have been-
"Holmes...like Sherlock?"
"And I am undercover, so forget I told you that piece of information"
"Undercover for him?"
"Undercover from him."
"Hence why you are dressed as a boy-"
"Hence why you are to say nothing."
She looked between the two anxiously. "Um- Enola, Tewksbury, friendly reminder that I am still here." Both of them glanced at her, Enola's gaze lasting a moment longer before the turned to face both of them
"So?" She asked, causing both to look at each other for an answer.
"What?"
"Thank you? You're supposed to say thank you."
Vivienne murmured a quick thank you to the girl, who nodded in response, before looking back at the dark haired boy, who seemed slightly clueless about the situation.
"For what?"
Enola looked off into the distance with an aggravated expression, before turning on her heel, the other two not far behind, clinging onto her for survival.
•••
Their trek through the countryside had been a rather boring task, the scenery remaining the same except for the slight difference in what type of bug they were swatting away. Vivienne allowed her mind to roam off to more comforting thoughts, such as her older siblings, her aunt Agatha, and more importantly food. She kept silent about her hunger, already feeling like a slight burden upon the group. Though she knew she was much more valuable then the boy. She just didn't want to bother them again, seeing as Enola had just freed her shoulders from the tense state they were once in.
"We should think about sleeping soon." The brunette's voice broke through the silence that had settled upon the group. The dim, early evening light beat down on them, perspiration present on Vivienne's brow as evidence. She hummed in agreement, keeping her eyes trained onto her feet.
Tewksbury opened his mouth to speak, though his face contorted into one of thought. "We should think about eating soon." Vivienne met his eyes as she looked up, a flicker of agreement between the two, before Enola spoke up. "We have nothing to eat."
"Of course we do!" He cried out, making Vivienne rub her temple.
"I'm not eating dirt, boy." Pain surged through her head again at the sudden speaking.
"Not dirt, Arctium lappa, which you'll know as burdock," he looked to the two of them smugly, "very tasty. Um, then there's trifolium- clover." Both the girls lips turned into slightly amused smiles. "And is that... yes, I knew it! Mushrooms! Agaricus lanipus," He turned towards Enola, "the princess. Delicious." She took it from his hand hesitantly, her eyes poking and prodding in every little place along the mushroom. "If you two could get a fire started, I can make us a feast."
"Fine." Enola's lips quirked upwards into a smile, and Vivienne felt something run through her- an unfamiliar emotion. She quickly shook the feeling as Tewksbury said something to Enola that Vivienne didn't hear.
All of them went to work, Enola and Vivienne gathering materials to make a fire, Tewksbury gathering things for a meal.
Soon enough they were sitting in front of a blazing fire, chomping down on mushrooms as the night passed by. Vivienne and Tewksbury sat on the ground, Tewksbury watching Enola with an amused expression, Vivienne sitting slightly farther away picking at blades of grass. The three of them threw random things into the fire in an effort to entertain themselves- which wasn't working too well for them.
"I've been thinking. You need to disguise yourself a little. How do you feel about your hair?" Enola asked the boy, turning her view from the campfire to the boy. He thought for a moment, his face dazed slightly.
"I've never cared for it." Upon hearing that, Enola's hand reached to her pocket where a knife lay, before she looked around for a rock to sharpen it with. "Cut it off with a knife. Of course you will." He looked around, unimpressed. Vivienne leaned back on the grass, her elbows keeping her from completely falling onto the ground. Both watched Enola take a flat stone from behind her and begin to sharpen the knife with it, sparks bouncing off with every swipe. "Who taught you how to sharpen it like that?"
"My mother," another soft smile creeping its way onto her face.
"Your mother is very different to mine." He chuckled softly, looking at his hands and their dirt-caked nails.
"I'm reluctant to do so, but I'll relate to Tewksbury on that. Our mothers are most definitely different people." All of them shared a short laugh, before a slight silence settled over them.
"Who taught you about flowers and herbs?"
"My father."
Jealousy ran through Vivienne. Bitterness crept up her throat, though she bit her lip to keep quiet. They were both so close to one of their parents, while she hated hers so much she ran away. It hurt, all of it. But it made her who she was, she assumed. If she was closer to them she probably wouldn't have been there at all.
The other two had an interchange about their fathers, who had both passed years ago. She sat silently, throwing more bits of grass and rocks in the fire. Tewksbury moved to sit on the log as Enola continued sharpening the knife, getting ready to cut off his hair,
"Why have you run? From home, I mean." He asked, his face painted with both interest and fear.
She sighed. "I didn't want to go to Miss Harrison's Finishing School for Young Ladies."
"Wait, Miss Harrison's?" Vivienne sat upright, almost screaming out the words. Enola nodded. "I was to be sent there too!"
"Really? My lord, it's a small world." Enola laughed, heat rushing to their faces. "Why have you," she asked Tewksbury who'd been sitting quietly.
"Well uh, a tree branch broke above me while I was collecting wild mushrooms. It should have crushed me, but I managed to roll out of the way," Enola cut some of his hair off while he spoke, "and I realized that..."
"What?" both the girls asked in unison, and he smiled slightly.
"You'll laugh at me."
"We won't," Enola said quickly, looking at his with a slight concerned expression.
He lowered his head. "My life seemed to flash before me. I was to take my seat in the House of Lords. I had these ideas about how we might progress the estate. But my family were set on me joining the army and then going overseas, just like my uncle" he paused, before proceeding to go on. "And I realized I was scared, scared I would hate every second of the rest of my life."
As Enola spoke, Vivienne couldn't help but find herself connecting that to her own life- she'd run out of fear that she'd be forced to marry, and become some housewife- destined to die unhappy. She didn't want that, she didn't want to become what her sister had, what her mother was. Everyone in her family was some form of perfection. With their refined speech, their neatly combed hair, their perfect dressing. She was petrified at the mere thought of her selling her soul and becoming one of them. She hesitantly listened back into their conversation, looking up from where her once spaced out eyes had been staring at.
"Why were they going to send you off to the finishing school?" he asked, earning a sigh from the other girl.
She chose to avoid the question, instead speaking about her plan. "In the morning we'll have to move fast. The bowler hat man will be hot on your trail-"
"Where's your destination? I'm going to-"
"London." Enola cut him off, nodding as she did so. The raven haired girl pick at her nail beds. She didn't have a destination, something the quickly realized she should've set before she ran off from her home. She was probably going to just run around wreaking havoc until she got sent home. A terrible plan it was, though she couldn't think of much else at the moment.
"And yours?" he asked Vivienne, earning a shrug from the girl, Enola's eyebrow raised.
Tewksbury chuckled. "Well, then, shall we all, um, stick together?" he watched their expressions carefully, "If you like."
Vivienne didn't respond after Enola murmured a short no. "We'll get to London and all go our separate ways." she looked around at the two. "Understood?"
"Understood," both said in unison. Tewksbury cleared his throat, mumbling soft words of pained agreement.
"Do you have to be quite so brutal with the hair?"
"Yes."
( 𝐬. 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬! )
okay here it is. this one took like
a week to get out, because i had
like 1812038 tests but it's all good.
um, once again, let me know what
you thought. if there are any mistakes,
please feel free to let me know!
i made a zendaya fic too, so if you're
interested in that go check it out.
trigger warning (mentions of t*rture):
also, i know some of you don't
read these, but if you do, i'd
like to mention that there's a
genocide against uyghur muslims
in china happening right now. the
u.s refuses to do anything about it,
due to the fact that china produces
cheap goods using the uygher's
forced labor. they are t*rtured on
a daily basis, forced to eat pork and
drink alcohol, and have their heads
shaved. please spread the word if
you can, and sign the petition, which
i'll link in the comments.
and with that, stay safe,
wash your hands, wear a mask and
have a nice day/afternoon/evening/night!