Rising Storm

Ache

Days slowly faded into weeks, and time seemed to be nothing more than a blur. Stormi paced around the dug-out home, her mind racing at a thousand miles per hour. Stir craziness had hit its peek, and she could no longer sit still. Arrow hadn't come back since the day he had brought her there, creating a shallow pit of loneliness within Stormi's heart. She would never admit that she missed him. All she could think about was him.

As the day urged onwards, Stormi dug into the books in the corner. Most of them were ancient, and few of them were newer. When Stormi pulled out one of the newer books, she observed it. The item itself was strange. The cover was made of two pieces of dried leather, bond together like the spirals of a notebook with some sort of weaved rope. There was no title on the cover, so Stormi opened it up. The paper was soft and flecky and delicate. Every word inside was hand written in beautiful cursive handwriting, and there were some hand drawn pictures. Stormi marveled at the creation, deciding to read it.

The mountains are a dire place. I was the first to go, but now there are so many more. I have learned of my father's curse. He sacrificed me and my brothers to appease his life. Tom and I awoke in the forest, getting the joy of watching Father eat our dead corpses. Right before us, his body began to change. All of his wrinkles vanished. He was young again. He looked just as he did before mom died. I left this world for Heaven, but came back to write this and aid Tom in the battle against Father. This is my fight too, and I know that I can come to the conclusion of this mystery.

-Lilith Miller

Stormi stared at the writing for a long moment before smiling. "These notes are my hope!" She cried, beginning to read everything that Lilith had left for her.

There was all sorts of notes on building, crafting, and creation. Stormi took particular interest in the weapon crafting. On top of all of the random survival skills that Lilith had jotted into the journal, there were lists of the new victims, and maps of the whole forest for thousands of square miles. Then there was the information she most needed: information about William. Stormi learned everything she could from the journal, spending the whole day searching through it. 

That night, she wandered into the woods and collected a few items. When she returned, she sat at the small table with everything she had brought home and pulled out her knife. She experimented, making gentle strokes with her knife long some branches. When she had created a solid enough base, she grabbed some string that she had found stuck in a tree and tied it to the top and bottom, and after a few hours, she had created a bow. It was far from perfect, and there were multiple issues with it, though, it was functional. She spent the rest of the night creating arrows with sticks, stones, and few feathers.

As days melted together more and more, she had created a weaponry for herself. She thrived off of eating the berries and nuts from she had found thanks to one of the maps that Lilith had left her. When she went through the rest of the books, she found three more journals, two from Lilith and one from James, the boy that Arrow had mentioned that built the little home she lived in now. She gathered all the information that they had to offer her during the night, and during the day, she was searching for items she could use to craft with.

After another week, she had created decent traps, catching small mammals to get protein. The knowledge was all thanks to the previous spirits, and some of the survival skills that Skye had taught  her from the military. She made a small life for herself out there; a small and lonesome life.

She laid on the bed one night, staring up at the ceiling of the dugout. She untied the red bandanna that she had on her head and pulled it off, looking at it. She unraveled it, viewing the solid back of it. In one of the corners, there was the faded name 'Luna Telgan' written on it. Stormi rubbed the writing, closing her eyes. "What would you do, Mom?" She asked the writing.

Despite barely knowing her mother, Stormi still loved the woman dearly. In her mind, her mother was one of the strongest beings on the planet. The few times that she had seen her mom, she had been very loving towards her and her brother. Sadly, though, because she was so young, she was not allowed to go to the jailhouse alone, thus she couldn't see her mom very often. Her mom wasn't destined to get out of that god forsaken place until Stormi was twenty-three. There wasn't a time on the planet that Stormi wished that her mother hadn't stolen all that money.

With a sigh, she tied the bandanna back around her head. When she wore one of her mother's bandannas, it filled her with strength. She closed her eyes to sleep for a short while before getting up to repeat the same process she had for the last two months.