Dawn of Warriors

Chapter 5 A

"Why did they send us here? I wanted to try that new food they had at the cafeteria" Chris complained, huffing as he stretched his arms over his head, his voice a little distorted from the action. "Eh, what's with the-" the boy started questioning, his voice showing his worry as he had received a deadly glare from his brother. "Are you serious?!" Alex growled, surprising Chris with how dangerously calm his voice was. It had that tone that was similar to yelling, yet the volume wasn't much louder than that of Chris's. "They only sent us here because you broke the coach's favorite porcelain vase!" Alex exclaimed with a sharp movement of his arm, extending it outwards as if to point to an invisible item. "It was an accident" the boy laughed nervously, still finding it amusing with how easily his brother was irritated with his shenanigans. Alex only huffed and shook his head, turning his attention back to the narrow hallway they were walking down.

Chris knew that his brother was agreeing with him though and would rather them be back at the academy, relaxing with the rest of the candidates. Instead, they were sent to this little chore, assigned to find more about this spy who had sneaked in. "You think we'll have to fight?" Chris asked, his voice laced with excitement, one that Alex also shared. "I thought you'd rather be eating the new food" Alex teased, a small, playful smile curving on his lips, followed by a pout form Chris. "I would..." he hummed but was quickly shushed by the other. "Wait- Did you..." Alex whispered, watching as Chris nodded his head in agreement, letting the other know that he, indeed, had heard that little pop noise, barely noticeable. "There!"

At the end of the dark hallway, made of grey stones that were lit by torches scattered on the surface, the two boys could see a shadow that peeked through a door and then rushed back in the same room, the door being slammed shut. Alex and Chris took off to the direction of that room and only stopped when they reached their destination. They clearly hadn't thought too much about it. "Should we knock?" Chris whispered and Alex shook negatively his head, softly rubbing his chin as he was thinking. "We kick the door open!" He announced proudly, clapping his hands once and watching as Chris nodded his head once, with pure determination. "Step back!" Alex said, oozing with confidence and Chris obeyed, watching as Alex gained some momentum and collided with the door-

"Ouch, ouch, don't" Alex huffed, now being on the ground and rubbing his left shoulder. "Sorry" Chris whispered, pressing his lips together and retrieving his hands back to himself, being that he wanted to make sure his brother hadn't broken a bone or something. "I'll try again" Alex said, his determination not once shaken from his failed collision with the door. Neither of the two had a chance to say anything more when they heard some heavy breathing, feeling it to their left sides, falling warm against their skins. The twins were left staring at each other, frozen there on the floor for a moment before they slowly turned their heads to look at a large human-like creature, flesh rotten, a huge smile on its face, so disturbing. Its eyes were bleeding, as if they were to pop off of its face at any second. A soft growl came from the creature. That was the queue for the boys to instantly synchronize their voices into the decision of "RUN!"

The forest was calm during the day. Rays of sunlight were gently purring on top of the tall green foliage of the trees. The waterfall was surrounded by green that flourished due to the clear running water, everyone who lived near that forest has always said that they were blessed to have that waterfall. For Eva, that wasn't the case. The waterfall was a place where mischief was born along with the Three Mice, which now were reduced to one very lonely mouse. She was left alone when the twins had left for the training Academy, she was left wandering around the waterfall with no one to fly her to the top, or no one to push her in while she was trying to pick up the shiny rocks in the shallow part of the waterfall's end. Eva was sitting next to the same spot where she had to say goodbye to Alexander, then followed Chris and she knew her turn would never come. She was pushing the little gravels through the water watching them as they unlogged from their stable positions and washed away by the current the waterfall created. She was so focused in the action of boredom that she did not notice the slow limping footsteps of the old lady behind her.

"Will you please help me set my basket down?" came the trembling voice of the lady that startled Eva. "Of course!" the girl announced springing up from her place to grab the straw basket from the woman's shoulder. The lady approached the water but did not really touch it, she seemed to simply stare at her reflection. "Are you going to the orphanage?" Eva asked, her naturally curious personality finding the simplest of questions interesting. "I was, but I think I was meant to stop here so I can find you" the lady said, leaving her reflection alone and turning towards the young girl. "You are friends with the boys of the headmaster right? The two troublemakers" she said. Eva suddenly got suspicious, every time someone asked about her friends it was either for a warning or something they had broken and she would have to fix so she would cover for them. "Yes. I am. They are not here any more so if they took something from you or broke anything of yours, you will not find them around" she replied, trying her best not to give off free information. The lady seemed to take in a sighing breath, she seemed disappointed. "I simply wanted to give them these. As a present" she announced producing from her long black cloak a shiny apple and an old ring. "I can keep them if you want. So, you won't have to get back up here when they return" she offered. In reality, the girl simply wanted to eat the apple and the ring was an added bonus. The lady seemed to agree with that proposition and gladly gave the two objects to Eva, right before she grabbed her basket. "Do be careful. This waterfall is a powerful place" she said, not giving the girl a chance to reply.