The Dance of The Marked (On Hold)

• The Start •

"Look Seph, it's a long story but basically some psychos broke in and kidnapped Calista while looking for something and I have to go find her before she gets hurt," Audelia said, speaking quickly to her friend. "An adventure? Uhh hell yeah. Count me in!" responded Sephina excitedly. "I- ugh alright, But this is no fun and games okay? We have to go find Calista and get her back alive," Audelia replied, already walking off to prepare for the trip.

Worried thoughts swirled around Audelia's head as they rode in silence. The only sound was the birds singing and the horses' hooves hitting the dirt. Neither of the girls said anything as they travelled.

"Hey Deli? Where are we actually going?" Sephina asked, breaking the silence. Audelia took a moment before answering. "We are going to see Queen Sayah. She said that if we ever needed something after my parents died, to come to her. I am hoping she may have an idea about where Calista is and what happened," Audelia sighed. "Oh, okay" Sephina responded. She wasn't usually this quiet. Sephina was the excitable, full of energy type of person which was the complete opposite of the quiet, hardened Audelia. They were left to their thoughts again until Audelia mentioned something quietly. "She was close to my parents back in the day. Then something happened before I was born and they lost their friendship and basically never talked again".

The trip was long and soon it was getting closer to dusk. Audelia looked up at the sky hoping that Calista was safe. "Hey Deli, I think we should stop for the night. It's getting dark and we need to sleep." Sephina said eventually. The stars were starting to twinkle above like a thousand fireflies and although Audelia didn't want to stop, she knew this would be the best decision. As if by fate they soon found a clearing that was big enough for them to stop and rest for the night.

They tied up the horses to make sure they wouldn't run away before starting to put up the camp. It was silent apart from the noises of the night and the quiet humming of a melody from Sephina. It was a familiar melody of a lullaby Audelia's mother used to sing. Hearing it again brought memories rushing back to Audelia and she could see all of them as if they were on a golden film strip only visible to her, winding its way around her. She shut her eyes tightly to get rid of the memories that hurt so much. She had to leave. Get away from the humming. "I'm going out hunting," she said gruffly. Sephina looked up and brushed her hands off on her pants. "Oh ok I'll just get my bow." Just as she started to move Audelia quickly responded, "NO, I mean no, I think one of us should stay here. You know, to make sure nothing happens to the camp." Sephina looked confused but silently nodded her head and sat down again.

Audelia felt bad for shouting at her friend but she was stressed. "I won't be long. Maybe you can get the fire ready?" She said quietly, praying this would make up for shouting. Sephina's face brightened at the mention of fire. "Ooh I love fire! Yes yes yes I would love to make the fire!" Just with that she was off finding sticks. Audelia chuckled a little from this outburst. 'We may be opposites but I do love her' she thought to herself. With that she turned around and started walking towards the woods, one of her knives spinning in her hand.

Audelia trekked soundlessly through the woods. Her dark clothing blended in with the surroundings and she had put her hair up into a loose bun underneath a beanie to hide the bright natural red of it. A small curly lock of hair had fallen down to the side of her face, framing it. Suddenly she stopped dead. In front of her was a perfectly sized rabbit. Audelia slowly crouched down being careful not to make any sound. She gripped her knife getting ready to throw it without ever taking her eyes off the rabbit. She watched as it nibbled on the grass, its long eyes moving, trying to hear its predators. Poor bunny. In one swift movement the knife flew from Audelia's hand, landing in the rabbit's chest, instantly killing it. Audelia stared at the still body of the animal before standing and walking over it. 'At least it didn't suffer' she thought to herself. She sighed and stood up before heading back to the camp. Dinner was soon to be cooked.

The smell of roasting meat and burning wood filled the air as the two girls sat around the crackling fire. There was a slight chill in the air but the fire warmed the two girls. The rabbit had filled the girls and now they sat there, staring into the fierce fire as it danced to an unknown beat. A chuckle disturbed the tranquillity of the night. Audelia looked over from where it came from, seeing Sephina trying to keep in a laugh. "Seph..?" Audelia said, worried her friend may be having a stroke.

Trying to keep her laugh down, but failing, Sephina burst out laughing. Audelia looked at her in sheer confusement. "Sorry sorry, but do you remember the time when we were about seven and went out and got lost? And I was crying and you told me to shut up and we ended up finding this random old house and I thought it was gonna be haunted but you just rolled your eyes at me and banged on the door. And no one came so you went around trying to find a window but you were too short to see if there was anything on it and it broke so this massive cherry pie fell on your head and you just stood there in shock as I rolled on the ground laughing at you. And then this really cranky old lady started yelling and chasing us with a rolling pin and you couldn't run properly because you kept slipping on the cherry pie," Sephina was barely able to get the words out she was laughing so hard. As she told the memory it started to come back to Audelia. Soon both the girls had tears streaming down their faces, remembering that significant day.

As the girls laughed, a figure watched them from the darkness of the shadow. There was something peculiar and familiar about the red haired girl. Audelia was her name. He felt he knew it from somewhere but he was unsure where from. He shook the thought from his head as he watched the two girls laugh at their old memories, wishing he had someone to do that with. A smile started to form the longer he looked. There was something enchanting about her. Just her.