Sister

2 - In Which an Eventful Afternoon is Had

Babie Carlson was sick of this trip. If they had flown, like Babie had suggested, they would be there by now, but 'No, this is the perfect chance for a family road trip'. Babie rolled her eyes as she mocked her Mother's voice in her head. No. Instead of flying to the capital, the Carson's were stuck in a caravan. Not even a good one. This one had belonged to Babie's Grandmother, who had no taste, as represented by the atrocious pinstripe interior, which was nothing in comparison to the fluorescent orange outside. It was just embarrassing to be travelling around in the thing. Babie's only blessing was that since they were travelling the countryside, there was no one to witness her humiliation.

"Ooh, honey, pull over here. This looks like a good spot to camp for tonight," Babie's Mother piped up, her brown hand with perfect nails pointing to a clearing off the side of the road.

"Right-o, Bluebird," Babie's Dad grinned at the woman next to him. Babie gripped the seat tightly as her Father turned the wheel sharply and the caravan spun off the road, tires screeching with resistance as the van slid over the dirt and grass to come to rest against a row of trees, parallel to the road but facing the opposite direction than before. Babie pried her hands off the seat, clenching and releasing them a few times to try and rid her hands of their cramping.

"Woo," Babie's Mum laughed excitedly, "You're such a great driver, Honey." Babie rushed to exit the car before she had to witness her parents making out. Gross.

"How much further do you think we've got to go?" Babie's sister asked, exiting behind her and stretching.

"I don't know. I just want to be there already," Babie started scanning the area, picturing how the camp would look when set up.

"You're not alone. I don't know if I can deal with Mum and Dad for much longer," the older sibling scoffed, rolling her head on her neck until a large crack was produced.

Babie shuddered, "Do you have to do that, Alix?"

"What?" Alix continued to stretch, "You know my neck gets stiff." Babie chose to ignore her.

"We're going to need firewood."

"Want some help?"

"Sure."

Alix grinned, "Wanna race?" Babie's eyes narrowed as she shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, knees slightly bent. Alix bolted off into the woods behind the caravan yelling, "Go!" Babie was off immediately after her. Though Alix had a head start, Babie was faster. Quickly passing her sister, Babie's stress melted as the wind whipped against her, a long, bright blue braid of hair trailing behind her.

"Hold up," came a call from Alix. Babie reluctantly stopped to wait for the woman to catch up. Babie already had a handful of good, thick sticks by the time Alix reached her and immediately the sticks were thrust into her arms. Alix gave her a good natured scowl before stooping to collect some more, Babie just shook her head at her sister and helped her.

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Placing the last stone around the unlit campfire, Babie brushed off her kaki brown leggings and off-the-shoulder, loose white shirt. It wasn't dark enough to need the firelight, but they would need it to cook dinner. Holding her palm over the sticks, Babie cupped her hand and quickly flipped it over. A small fireball hovered in her upright palm. With a toss, Babie threw the ball onto the sticks, lighting the campfire. 

"Babie, don't you need to save your power?" Babie's Mum rushed over and fussed over her, hands pressing her face, arms and fingers. Babie swatted her away.

"It doesn't work like that, Mum."

Babie's Mother huffed and moved back a step, her blue mop of corkscrew curls bouncing with the movement, "Well how am I supposed to know that? You're the first Blessed Child in our family. I don't know how it all works." Babie glanced over the shorter, plump woman, trying to gage if her Mother was properly upset with her.

"Now there, Merry," Babie's Dad thankfully intervened, "She didn't mean it like that."

"I really didn't, Mum," Babie seconded.

"Ok, duckling," Merry conceded, perking right up and practically skipping over to the caravan, "Harold, come and help me with dinner." Babie shook her head in amusement as her Dad winked at her before following his wife inside. 

"Close one," Alix teased. Babie just rolled her eyes good-naturedly. 

She froze. There was movement. Movement in the bush at the edge of the clearing. Babie could see it clearly behind Alix. Alix seemed to notice her gaze, because the shorter sister turned around to see what Babie was seeing. As she did, the bush rustled again and a figure jumped up from behind it. It was a woman. A pale woman with a green, wavy pixie cut. She raised an equally white hand and gave a shy little wave, before turning on her heel and running off into the woods. Babie didn't even give it a thought. She gave chase. She heard Alix yell out from behind her, but Babie wasn't listening as she tore after the woman. 

In the thick of the woods, Babie quickly lost sight of her. She slowed to a stop and tried to look for signs of which way the woman went but, having no experience with tracking, it was no use. The woman was gone. Until, that is, she wasn't. The woman appeared in front of Babie and pressed something to her head. Babie was momentarily stunned. In the second it took her to get over her shock, the woman was running again.

"Come back here!" Babie ordered and she once again gave chase.

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It was another peaceful afternoon Sister was enjoying from her balcony. That was when she saw it. A pale skinned, green haired woman, with what looked like a self-satisfied expression, rush out of the woods and head towards the field in front of Sister's house. The field that was full of haulberries, one of the most dangerous plants in the world. 

Sister was pressed against the railing in seconds, "Hey! Watch out!" she warned. But the woman didn't seem to hear her. Spurred into action, Sister leapt off her balcony and sped through the air towards the woman. They collided just before the field, both tumbling into the grass.

"Stop!" came a voice from the forest as another woman appeared. This one was tall and dark skinned, with vibrant blue hair, tied back in a long braid. The pale woman kicked Sister away from her with a surprising amount of force. She stood, gave a little smirk and wave to the blue haired girl, and rushed off again, heading in a different direction. The blue haired girl did not seem happy with this and moved to chase after her. Sister placed her hand on the ground to push herself up, when her finger brushed something very cold. Looking down, Sister saw a very unusual stone. It was a slate grey, but the flecks of red and ice blue caught her eye. As the blue haired girl stepped into her space to move after the pale woman, Sister picked up the stone, holding it up.

With the two girls barely a foot apart, the stone exploded.