Of Tales and Terrors – The Fairytale Rebellion

[Talisen Phoenix]

Baby Bear

He looked down at his parent’s bodies. So much blood. He wondered then, why he was being spared. Was it because of his size? Or maybe it was because of his age, he wasn’t really a baby, it was just a nickname, perhaps they didn’t know. His parents hadn’t been able to conceive any other cubs, so everyone in the village simply referred to him as Baby Bear, he had a real name, but few used it, and even fewer could remember it.

Baby lifted his head to explain to the gentlemen, but the human pointed his long black instrument at Baby fearfully before slamming the handle down on Baby’s snout. Baby whimpered in pain and remained silent; blood began to dribble from his cold black nose.

Baby hadn’t seen anything like the tools the humans used. When they pointed the barrel at something, after a loud boom, large holes exploded into the flesh. And whoever the tool was used on simply died. It was some form of magic of course, but Baby had never seen anything like it. The soldiers had used the weapons on his parents, right through their heads. They’d tried to protect Baby; they smashed their way into the modest two story wood cabin. It didn’t take long to realise something wasn’t right. They were used to visitors, what with Goldilocks coming and going, but this was no Goldilocks, no Scarlett, they meant to harm the Three Bears. Why Baby couldn’t fathom.

The living room was packed with men now; Baby could hear a woman’s voice. But she was too far away to pinpoint. Somewhere outside, maybe along the long winding dirt road that led to the village water source. A man leaned down with a small silver contraption, Baby was sure it was another boom stick, Baby closed his eyes, ready for the final blow, but Bear felt a small sting in his ear. They had pushed a small silver instrument through the flesh. Baby whimpered again, when he tried to paw at his ear, he was once again smashed in the face with the blunt end of the boom stick. Bear fell to the ground and stayed there, his eyes closed tight, the world spun, and his long black claws dug into the floorboard for support.

‘This one’s not causing any trouble, I think its baby’.

One of the men said.

‘Big fucking Baby!’

The other replied. The men started to file out of the living room and into the garden. He didn’t need his eyesight to know where they were moving, he could smell them. He could still smell the scent of two men, the very two who had first barged through the front door. The very two who had executed his parents. He could smell the people begin to clear the forest. They left the way they had come, through the long winding forest path, which led towards the village. Baby opened his eyes gingerly. His left eye was swollen and bloody. His dark rusty brown fur was sticky with blood.

‘Why have you come here?’

Baby asked cordially. The men looked down at Baby, their long boom sticks were pointed upwards, but they dropped them, pointing them at Baby.

‘Shut your mouth and you won’t get hurt!’

The first man said. They were dressed oddly, all in black with odd shapes and dark colours. They were clad in an armor that Baby had never seen before, and he’d once seen the prince himself! They had thought the prince’s silver and gold chainmail was the height of armor, but clearly they were wrong. The soldiers eased, they raised their long pointed broomsticks upwards again. Baby flexed his muscles; He stuck low to the ground and reared up at the last second. His father had said once that fighting was instinctual for a Bear. It was in their blood and fur; He said that Baby would know what to do when the time was right, not that he’d ever need to. They had a good life and few humans feared them, but then Mother had said the same thing about making tea. Baby was never happier to have heard his father’s wisdom. The Solider tried to raise his boomstick, but Baby’s long black claws raked forward and he brought his massive paw down on the man's head. He felt the crunch of helmet and bone and the soldiers head simply caved in. Baby was surprised how easy it was, how soft a human’s skull was. The second solider was faster, but not quick enough, Baby still had surprise on his side. Pulling his sticky paw out of the man’s skull, he launched himself forward with gnashing jaws. He grabbed the solider around the neck and brought him close towards him, hugging him tightly and squeezing his ribs together. He held onto the soldiers head with his jaws until he could taste blood.

Baby wasn’t sure how long he’d been holding onto the Man, he had to be sure you see. He let go finally and man fell lifeless to the polished floorboards. Baby didn’t understand why some people feared wild Bears. Humans tasted awful. He looked around at his home; he had belongings, but nothing he could take on the road with him. Bears weren’t accustomed to clothes or knapsacks that humans used. Funny how all of a sudden his home didn’t feel like his own. It didn’t even look like the place he’d lived in all his life, it was alien now. Baby backed away from the dead men, he’d have to leave. Baby lobbed through the living room stepping over the shattered remains of what was once a heavy oak door. Baby headed into the forest. At the very edge of his families’ forest lived Scarlett’s Grandmother, she had survived a wolf attack years earlier, she’d know what to do, she was a wise old woman.

So Baby ran, faster than he’d ever moved before, till every joint and muscle ached.


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[Scarlett]

*The sound of a snapping twig rang out across the clearing, the loud crack echoing like a gunshot in the formerly quiet woods. Scarlett straightened up quickly, the sudden movement causing a scream of agony to shoot across her aching shoulders as she scanned the darkening woods behind her, sapphire orbs wide with fright. Leaning against the handle of her shovel, Scarlett fought to catch her breath as she searched the woods for any sign of movement. She was surprised to see how dark it had gotten while she had worked. The sun had still roughly an hours claim upon its place in the sky, but this deep in the woods the tall trees had reduced the sunlight to a dark, murky amber tinted shadow that did little to warm the chill which had settled deep in her bones.


Another snapping twig sounded to the right and Scarlett let out a gasp of shock as she wiped the sweat from her brow, chewing on her bottom lip while her eyes darted quickly towards where she had just heard the latest sound. The leaves of a large bush were rustling noisy, though she could not tell if this was due to the sudden wind that had suddenly sprung up or the presence of something else.


Glancing back down, she analysed the mound of dirt which was the result of the last few hours of hard work. The mound was only slightly raised from the level of leaf strewn grass around it and Scarlett began to quickly kick leaves and twigs over the patted down dirt in an attempt to make it look less conspicuous. She had chosen this spot, so many weeks ago now, due to its seclusion and had thought she had no fear of her secret ever being discovered. But now, those sounds of the snapping twigs had filled her racing heart with a deep sense of fear. Nervously, she scanned the rest of the clearing, kicking more leaves and twigs over the mound at her feet until it looked just like the other small hills she had made over the past few weeks. She knew that the woods were home to many woodland animals and other creatures, all of whom were perfectly capable of snapping a twig or two as they made their way through the woods. She tried to convince herself of this as she finished her work, deliberately ignoring the fact that she had never heard a sound during her previous times in this clearing. If anything, the woodland animals and other creatures tended to becoming ominously silent the moment that Scarlett entered the woods.


Sighing deeply, Scarlett picked up the shovel and carried it over to the large moss covered rock where her picnic basket and travelling clock were. Her stomach growled at the thought of the sour dough bread that sat inside her basket, but she was too shaken to think of eating anything right now. At the thought of her last meal, Scarlett cast one last anxious glance back around the clearing, a shiver rippling down her spine. The most recent mound blended in perfectly with the rest of the clearing, visible only to Scarlett as she alone knew what was hidden underneath. Finally satisfied that her secret was safe for now, she placed the shovel back in its hiding place inside the hollow tree. Covering the shovel with branches, she then pushed the large rock back in front of the tree’s opening. The wind was blowing more harshly now, and Scarlett was grateful for the warmth of her crimson cloak as she slipped it on over her pale green dress. Pulling her red hood over her blonde head, she picked up her picnic basket and set off into the dark woods on the way to Grandmas’ house. *

[Mina Sylis Sunuki]

A tale of Rapunzel!

She woke up with a scare, jumping out of bed and sweating bad as she looked around unaware where she was. It took Rapunzel a few seconds to understand exactly where she was till she saw her sleeping prince next to her, sighing deeply.

She covered her mouth, as to quiet herself. She feared she would wake her husband. Everything seemed so much different from the time she was held captive by an enchantress who Rapunzel believed was her real mother.

As she lay awake, as suddenly the story of her remaining night as a captive princess in a tower deep in the enchanted forest;

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair” Everyday, around this time, she heard her mother cries. Eyes of emerald fluttered open from a long slumber. Rapunzel rose from the security of her bed, with magnificent golden hair that reached just at the bottom of her shoulders.

Once she arose from her bed, she stood looking towards the window, as she took a step forward, her ruby lips began to move as she sang a soft melody.

“A bit of golden locks of hair has grown with each note I sing, a song to lure those children dear, those children I do feed. A song to cause those children to come near. Grow my lovely golden hair, grow till I can feast. Raise a hand to the throat of those little tiny beasts. Sing the sing I know so dear, so I can feast on thee.”

Once she reached the window, her hair has grown so long. Looking down she notices her mother with a small child gagged. The child was squirming and a smile rose from Rapunzel’s ruby lips. She hooked her long golden hair around the hook that hung near the window. Long golden locks fell down to her mother, and she waited, as her stomach grumbled at the thought of the child in her stomach.

First her mother tied the young child with Rapunzles golden hair. Then she took hold of more of the locks of hair and tied it to her as Rapunzle pulled them both up with a hidden strength.
Her mother seemed pretty to the eyes. She looked, and sounds just like Rapunzle but bit older. The enchantress as made herself to look like her daughter as to not confuse her of who her real parents were. In her hand she carried a basket of bread, which was wrapped with a beautiful white dress that she will present to Rapunzel for her birthday gift.

As Rapunzel continued to pull the two up, she noticed off in the distance the man she spoke to on several occasions. He had brought her gifts that Rapunzel hid in a secret room that her mother never new. A small smile rose from Rapunzel’s lips as she notice the impatiens of the man she would soon run away with. The plot to destroy her mother was near.

As Rapunzel helped her mother and the child in her large room, her mother presented her with the gifts.

“Why didn’t you hurry when I called your name, Rapunzel? I waited down there for twenty minutes. I was getting impatient.” Her mother sat down the basket and took out the dress that covered the bread. She laid it behind a chair and turned as Rapunzel had already snapped the young child’s neck and went to the counter in the kitchen to prepare the meal for the two.

“I’m sorry mother, I was in deep slumber. I was dreaming about a man. When can I get out of this tower?” She grabbed hold of the butcher knife and began cutting limb after limb of the young child. Blood and guts gushed everywhere. Why was this always a messy job?

“Retrieve your hair, Rapunzel, it’s in my way!” Her mother yelled. It started Rapunzel at first, but then sighed as she sang the song again, and her hair shrunk back to her shoulders. As she continued to cut, she waited for her mother to answer.
“I told you before, Rapunzel. Men are evil. They will rape you and leave you for dead. I will not, and I will repeat it one last time, you will never leave this tower. Is that understood?” Her mother grabbed a wooden cup from the table and threw it straight at Rapunzel which hit her in the back of the head. Rapunzel sliced her finger as blood started gushing out.

“Owe! MOTHER! “She huddled over, holding her finger against her dress to stop the bleeding. Her mother sighed, walked to Rapunzel and took hold of her hand roughly. She started whispering under her breath and quickly the cut was healed. Rapunzel wish she had that gift of healing, but her mother had never taught her this spell.

The plan is working, Rapunzel thought. The commotion she’s making is letting her prince sneak into the tower below without her mother knowing anything that’s going on. Rapunzel continued to make the meal for her and her mother.
Her mother walked over to the table and sat down.

“I don’t like how this day started, Rapunzel. First you over slept and made me wait down there with a captive child, and now you talk about men. It’s your birthday, but I will punish you if you continue talking about such nonsense.”

“Yes, mother, I’m sorry. I will behave. “She placed a pot full of water over the fire, and began dumping in several pieces of meat. She cut the carrots, and potatoes she had and put them in a bowl for later use. Once she had finish preparing the stew, she sat down next to her mother and sighed heavily.

“It already smells good, mother. Thank you for your gift! Is this dress mine?” She glanced over at the white pearl dress that hung over the back of the chair next to her mother.

“Yes, it’s yours. I couldn’t get you your flowers you wanted because there were some commotions over at the kingdom. It had something to do with a back of bears being slaughtered and a wolf hunting down village people. It might be safe if I stay here the night.

The plan was working, Rapunzel thought. Once her mother falls asleep, it would give the prince a chance to slit her throat. She would be feasting on her mother soon.

“You haven’t slept here in a while, mother. I’ll be pleased to share a bed with you tonight!” Rapunzel said happily.
Several hours have passed, the meal was well prepared and she and her mother eat it. It was bitter, thought Rapunzel. Perhaps the child wasn’t well nourished. It didn’t matter, she was full and content.

It was time for bed, the nighting gale sung near her window and she almost drifted off to sleep. She couldn’t sleep just yet. She wanted her mother t fall asleep first. She lay in bed, as her eyes began to flutter closed but suddenly the soft snore of her mother caused her to open her eyes wide. She looked towards the secret door, as it slowly opened and quietly her prince walked in. He stood tall, powerful, in dark leather pants, and a black tonic. She smiled softly at him, and put her finger to her lips to silently hush him. He nods, and walked towards the side of the bed her mother was on. In his hand was a small silver dagger, and as he was about to slit her throat, the enchantress awoke and screamed. All the candles in the room lit as the light hit the dark prince. Rapunzel squirmed out of bed and screamed as well as her mother began floating above the bed her hair flying around her madly.

Rapunzel hid behind the wardrobe, watching as her mother pointed and started to say a spell at the prince, but Rapunzel will not allow her mother to do this. She began singing the song to let her hair grow, as soon as it did, she took hold of it, and quickly, she used it as a whip to entangle her mother in the locks. Her mother screamed and looked at Rapunzel. She pointed at her, “You dare betray your own mother? You disgusting wench. Have you screwed this man? Is this why you are betraying me!?”
Rapunzel didn’t answer; she began singing a different song, which causes her locks to tighten around her mother’s throat. Her mother gagged, and tried to breath, but quickly as if she were a twig, her neck snapped, and she feel slowly to the grown.
Dead, her mother was dead, lying there not breathing. Did she succeed? Did she and her prince win this battle? But suddenly her prince let out a terrified scream. He had turned very pale, and he fell to the ground. A couple of twitches and he paused. She quickly rushed to her prince, and feel down to him encircling him in her arms.

“Prince Robert, Prince Robert, my prince... Oh my prince. I’m so sorry, I’m sooo sorry!” She began crying and held him close. Her mother had succeeded with the death spell, and Rapunzel was too late. The man she loved, the only man she knew, was dead.
If only she knew the spell her mother cast earlier to heal her. As she continued to cry, a golden tear feel from her eye and landed on the lips of her beloved. A golden glow engulfed her prince and he jerked, and began to have a seizure. She yelped and held him tight as trying to calm him down.

It took several minutes but he calmed down, breathing heavily as he looked at his princess.

“My true beauty has raised me from my death. Let’s escape this hellhole and return to my kingdom!”

The story hasn’t end, thought Rapunzel as she curled up against her husband a few years later. She had found her parents not too long ago when her prince took her to their Royal Ball. When the prince introduced his future bride, her parents nearly screamed in excitement when Rapunzal stood above the staircase looking down at them. The queen thought that she was looking into a mirror and later found out that she was their daughter.

It took her a few days with her prince to know that eating children wasn't ‘acceptable’ in today’s society. She had to reframe from eating people, and eventually she even started to want a child of her own, not to eat, but to raise. Of course she misses the taste of small children, but she actually grew to like them in a different aspect. She was held captive in a secluded tower so long, she didn't know that children were great company and not a meal. Though of course she had to continue singing the melody she knew if she wanted her hair to grow.

She arose from the bed once the sun beamed into their room, and she began to prepare for the day. Today, she will visit a friend she knew who lived in the forest not too far from her kingdom.

[Talisen Phoenix]

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[Charlotte_Amsel]

She crouched in the early morning night and stared at the dying embers of her fire, thin tendrils of smoke sifting up from the rubble to dissipate in the thick canopy. The sun was above the horizon now, but in the thick black woods it was so thin it seemed dawn had only just now turned sleepy eyes to the world.

She rubbed her hands over knees clad in soft dark brown leather tucked into knee high black boots, their surface once polished now scarred and dull, the leather laces patched in places. She wasn't quite so worried about discovery here in the thick of the forest; this place was well off limits with all the ghosts and fairytales that came out of it's depths. Few who didn't know it's dangers and rewards ventured into the thick tree line. But still... this was something new. And it was best not to underestimate the unknown.

Sighing, she forced herself to rise and kick dirt over the dying fire. Mercilessly smothering it while her joints faintly protested after a long night spent on the ground. She'd broken camp before first light, all her worldly belongings neatly rolled and packed into the saddle bags on the black horse standing peacefully a few feet away. On silent feet she went to him, black gloved hands reaching to smooth tenderly over the velvety soft muzzle.

"You look right at home, don't you Rus? Even so far from home... I wonder if any of your kin are around here."

The horse shook his head, a long rippling mane of black silk tossing while he stamped his feet, each sharp hoof concealed beneath a ruffle of equally soft black hair. He was a beast of an animal, dwarfing the small woman that murmured to him, intelligence shining from within the icy blue eyes that watched her.

He was one of the few tokens she'd brought with her. A gift from her brothers, more now, a companion where she allowed no other. As if a reminder of all she'd left behind, she rubbed her left hand with the familiar ghost ache of a lost finger throbbed in the damp morning air. Did they still look for her? Or had they given up hope and attempted to salvage their restored lives? Shaking her head, she smiled grimly and mounted the big black horse. Gathering up the reins more out of habit than need.

"Enough of this. We still have quite a way to the next village. And who knows if it has what we're looking for. Let's get on with it."

Shaking his head as if exasperated, the horse turned a careful eye to the shadows around them, then set off at an easy trot, the woman on his back swathed in a fine cape of black, almost like a shadow herself beneath the cowl.

[O, sins...]

A soft sigh blew over the petals of the bouquet that she hugged against her body. She already decided to decline this suitor as well before he had ever said anything of confession and marriage. After all, how could she accept anyone when her heart was already full? And yet these flowers were beautiful and she would not punish them for their giver. As she walked back into the house, she spoke to the yellow roses and white carnations, the delicate baby's breath, the frilly fronds that were really quite excessive and they spoke back of the remnants of their dreams, as they always did, while she filled a large vase with water and artfully arranged them in it.

"Oh, I miss Kay so," she said to the flowers after setting the vase down on the kitchen table. "Things just aren't the same..."

She sat down, heaving another heavy sigh, glad that the family had gone out, although the knowledge that they had gone to visit Kay and his new wife burned her and was as difficult to stomach as the fact that he had gone and married someone else. And that someone else did not welcome her which was understandable for after all, what woman would allow her husband to be around someone who loved him deeply as well? She felt as she had when he had been kidnapped by the Queen so long ago... And yet this time there were no splinters in his heart, turning it to ice, no splinters in his eye so that he would not look at her. No, he still saw her and the smile he gave to her was still full of that childish warmth but he held her only in the esteem of a wonderful, life-long childhood friend. Like a sister. A pitiful sob escaped her and she could not believe that after so long, she would shed tears again, but only because she had lost him yet again. And this time he was not coming back.

It was mid-sob that the odd thunder reached her ears. The shaking of the ground caught her attention more quickly though and the tears immediately dried up from shock as she flew to the door. Had there been a small earthquake?! It was as if hellfire and brimstone had rained down from the heavens to punish the town, for almost the entirety of it was engulfed in acrid smoke and fire. Wide, shallow holes marked the wrecked town, and as she watched, more appeared before her very eyes in strange, hauntingly terrifying explosions. The tears started falling again as she screamed, running through the streets in search of her loved ones. She wasn't the only one running and screaming in the streets. There were those who were running around in panic, there were those who were trying to draw water to put out fires that were erupting everywhere and still others who were trying to pull bodies from the wreckage and administer first aid. It didn't help that the town doctor had been one of the first to die, although nobody knew that yet but the little boy who had been sent to fetch the doctor...

No dear voices answered her, and looking at the demolished town, which was torn up and looked like demons' work, she slowly back-pedaled her way out of what had been Kay's new house and was now just a funeral pyre, to run home. A home that was home no longer. It was one thing to lose Kay to another woman. A different thing to lose everyone to some mysterious force. She could not think of what it might be, although she was certain it was malevolent. It had to be, to kill so many innocent people! With shaking hands, she quickly packed her meager possessions--a necklace with a pearl pendant that was shaped like a tear which her mother had given to her on her sixteenth birthday saying that it was a family heirloom; the book about flowers that Kay had given to her as a present two birthdays ago; two loaves of bread which had been in the pantry and some cheese--in a knapsack and she fled out the door.

Just then, the ground seemed to explode behind her, demolishing yet more houses--including the one she had just left. Her body was thrown forward as if by a great hand and she landed face-down on the pavement, gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of her. What rampaging army of demons had been let loose in the town this evening?! Squirming, she attempted to sit up. Thankfully, most of the larger pieces of shrapnel and debris had missed her although bits of wood and stone had fallen on her. Her ears were ringing, her eyesight blurry but she could almost swear she was hearing a strange thunder in the distance, accompanied by screams of terror. When the wagons came barreling around a corner, she glanced blankly at them. One came to a stop beside her. A familiar face peered down at her, speaking urgently but she could not seem to hear what they were saying. It was only when she saw the hands reaching down that she reached up and was pulled into the wagon, which continued on out of the town.

Gentle hands patted her shoulders and her head, tested her arms and her legs. Only when they had ridden hours into the descending darkness did her mind return to her. She was laying in the wagon next to a close friend's elderly mother-in-law and child. The young couple was sitting in the wagon seat up front. There was a grim silence as the train of wagons trailed on by moonlight. She could not say how long she remained awake that night, but the sleep she fell into was filled with screams, strange lightning and thunder that was so loud, it could make the ears bleed.

[Talisen Phoenix]

Baby Bear

Baby Bear was almost at the point of utter exhaustion when he saw the figure. Shrouded in red, it reminded him of the smatter of his parent’s blood against the cottages dark floorboards. He tried to stop, but he was traveling too fast, if he hit her, he’d take her head off. Instead he did the only thing he could think of. He let his legs give way and he came crashing down through the clearing, rolling through the dead leaves and dirt. When he finally stopped rolling he opened his eyes slowly and struggled to regain his breath. He was covered in small cuts and his left eye was bloody and swollen. He blinked up at the woman he’d almost crashed into.

‘Scarlett?’

He panted.

‘I’ve come to see your grandmother, something terrible has happened’.

He said hoarsely, finally allowing himself to shed a tear or two. Gaining his composure he pulled himself up. He could hear a distant cracking and he knew it would be the sound of Boom sticks in the air; he could smell smoke and burning flesh. He wasn’t sure Scarlett would be able to smell and hear it. She was a human after all. He sniffed audibly. There was something else there.

‘Scarlett?’

He said, but his thought was interrupted by the sound of a sudden explosion in the distance, the sky lit brilliantly.

‘Your Grandmother will know what to do!’

He said, letting himself fall to all fours.

‘They killed my parents’.

He groaned sadly.

Elsewhere

Rapunzel’s small kingdom overlooked the Black Forest, it was elevated on a slate of hard granite and as a result, it made a perfect military outpost. This operation would be different; the kingdom had soldiers, guardsmen. It wasn’t a matter of simply storming into the kingdom walls and slaughtering the townspeople, though that was a good plan too. No, this operation would need finesse.

So the castle was stormed, but not with brute force, with men sheathed in black, hunting daggers and small pistols. One by one, every single guardsmen and solider was killed, the soldiers slid behind the victim and slit their throat. That’s exactly what was planned for Rapunzel. A solider had made it into her bedroom before she had a chance to leave. He watched her closely, ready to sneak behind her and slit her throat. He could see her long beautiful hair; he moved closer, behind a curtain, it was then that he caught sight of her face. He dropped his dagger audibly, they had been warned of the beauty of these fabled creatures, but he wasn’t prepared. How could anybody be prepared?

‘I can’t do it’.

He said softly, they had also been trained not to engage with the Fables, not unless it was completely necessary.

‘Run. Sneak away out of the kingdom, they’ll kill you’.

He said quietly, watching Rapunzel closely. He pulled out a walkie talkie, but Rapunzel would see it as a small black box, he spoke into it.

‘Tango Charlie Alpha, no sign of the princess’.

Elsewhere

The Girl and the horse traveled through the forest towards the neighboring village. What she didn’t know yet, was the village had been ransacked, the residents killed, the animals who could talk caged. Eventually she would have to come to the path that led to the village, the woods narrowed towards the road that led to down and it was inevitable. Eventually she’d come to the villages only survivors, the girl in the wagon, who had come so close to death.


On that very road however closer to the village, came a terrible creature of metal and smoke and fire. A creature that would be hard to comprehend, a creature the soldiers called a ‘tank’ and within ten minuets the tank would be on the path of the Wagon. They would have to change course, back the way they had come towards the black forest. They would have to outrun the horrid Tank.


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[Charlotte_Amsel]

Thick gouts of steam puffed from Ruskla's nostrils while man and woman wove their way through the forest, a single united black shadow that neither spoke, nor stirred as they picked their way with eerie accuracy through the thick tangled sea of trees, their black trunks so closely grouped, so gnarled and knotted together that nothing grew beneath them; their long unadorned trunks the only vegetation to be found as they raced one another for even the smallest scrap of light. Beneath the unbroken canopy of dark leaves it was forever dusk here, forever suspended between night and day in the realm of twilight, though with autumn snapping at the heels of summer the frigid air turned everything sharp and rich, every color, every detail beautifully enhanced like staring at them through crystal.

It was why the scent of smoke reached them first, that acrid stench of angry, burning death filling their noises while with unspoken agreement they sped up, Ruskla breaking into a fast paced trot that never broke their graceful navigation through the trees. Before they ever broke the thickest grove the air began to blur, sparks drifting like burning creatures on the wind, the gray haze settling over the trees like a sickness. The closer they got the thicker it grew, until woman coughed periodically and horse struggled to breath, his silky black ears laid flat against his head. By the time they reached the road fire licked the horizon like a searching glow, the beautiful crispness of the air eaten up by billowing clouds of angry black.

Ruskla danced and tossed his head, rocking back on his haunches while Charlotte tugged on the reins, skillfully guiding him to the road and to the wagons that marched like wearied slaves, looking for that break in horror when it stretched before them endlessly. Purposefully keeping her hood on to block the worst of the smoke, she yelled out over the sound of many wheels crunching rock and dirt, Rus rearing and pawing the ground in agitation.

"Ho, sir! What is this? What's happened to the village up ahead? Is someone's fields burning?"

It was an innocent question, an unconscious grasp for something normal, something sorrowful but natural. She didn't want to hear that these foreign happenings, these... aliens, had reached this far. While she awaited her answer she slipped off Rus's back, landing on nimble feet while her hands stroked his neck, covered his muzzle with a piece of her cloak to filter some of the soot from out of the air before it reached his lungs.

It was then that she felt it, the faint vibration sliding through the soft soles of her boots. Frowning at Rus, she dropped the reins--trusting him to stay by her side, no matter how the unsettled earth disturbed him--and dropped to her hands and knees, leaning down to press her ear against the road. Closer to the ground now, the vibration trembled up her arms and legs with a bone jarring sense of fear. What would cause this? What could make the very ground shake? Gaining her feet, she mounted Rus once more, spinning him in a quick circle to keep him from dancing and rearing while she shouted out again to the lead wagon.

"Speed your caravan up. Something's coming, and I can't promise it's friendly. I'll scout things and come back, but just to be safe hurry along."

She nudged Rus into action, woman and horse tearing down the dirt road toward the earth shaker, her cloak snapping beneath her like living darkness, a hard, cold knot of fear driving her forward until she spied the tank, surprise pulling her up short as Ruskla skidded to a halt.

"What in the nine hells....!"

It was as foreign a sight to her as anything could possibly be, the metal beast lumbering steadily down the road, as fast as a horse but infinitely larger, it's great long, narrow snout spitting fire at the countryside. Rus neighed loudly, a sharp piercing scream over the sound of explosions as they turned and fled the encroaching destruction. She'd come here for answers, and now she only had more questions. But more important than anything else now was those people, their devil hot in pursuit.

[Scarlett]

*Scarlett swung the basket back and forth absentmindedly as she made her way through the woods. Although she had set off at a quick pace, she had quickly slowed down to a dawdle at the thought of what would be awaiting her at her Grandmother’s house. The sun was quickly relinquishing its hold upon the sky, and the breeze from earlier had now become a cold and harsh wind, causing Scarlett to snuggle down deeper into her red hooded cloak as she dragged her feet upon the well –worn path.

Lost in her thoughts, Scarlett did not notice Baby Bear’s approach until he was almost upon her, and she jumped in fright as he came crashing towards her. After he had rolled to a stop at her feet she noticed he was cut in small cuts and his left eye was bloody and swollen. At the sight of the blood, Scarlett’s stomach lurched and she raised a slender delicate hand to her rosebud mouth at the sight of her friend in such disarray.


~Baby Bear?~ she breathed.


She listened to Baby Bear, unable to keep herself from wincing when he mentioned her grandmother. Hastily, she tried to recover.

~Something terrible? What has happened??!~

She watched as he sniffed the air and almost jumped out of her skin as the sound of a sudden explosion in the distance lit up the rapidly darkening sky above them. She tried to meet his gaze as he said that her grandmother would know what to do and was struggling to think of something to say when he told her that they had killed his parents.


~What.. who… who is “they”? I.. don’t understand… what is happening? What is that noise… ~ Scarlett tensed all over as she sensed that they were no longer alone on this remote path in the dense woods.


~Shhhh..~ she warned Baby Bear as she stepped a little away from him and peered into the woods. Although she could not see anything unusual she could feel something large coming towards them. Quickly.


Turning towards Baby Bear she mouthed one word at him, before she turned on her heel and raced away, leading him deeper into the woods.
~RUN!~ *