The Golden Walker

"Things Are Changing,"

Kuttu thought to herself. Blowing her hair out of her face, she looked out to the distance, watching her sister blow bubbles with Chewie and Parker. However, Mittu looked sadder. Paler. More exhausted. And of course, she knew the reason why. It had been three weeks, 2 hours, and 37 minutes since Anshu discovered Arika missing and the note from Fawkes. Everybody had lost hope...except for Kuttu. She just...had this gut feeling. That Arika was okay. The girl was very forthright and headstrong, she wouldn't give up that easily, Kuttu knew she wouldn't. Little did she know, her ever-winding hope was the one thing that kept Arika ALIVE. Straying away from her sad thoughts, Kuttu spotted a dandelion. Picking it up gently, she caressed it in her hands, thinking it resembled how precious life actually is. You only had one. One to somehow experience all the things this world had to offer. Kuttu sighed, blinking her tears away. She loved her friends like her own family, and now someone was gone because of HER. Her stupid, agonizing conscience. But this wasn't the first time. Kuttu had always...doubted herself. Once, when she was nine, she was afraid to invite people to her birthday party because she thought, "Who would want to come to some silly little girl's party? No one." She had gone past that now, she had grown more mature and able. But there were times when she felt small and scared of what others would think. And bullies hadn't helped. So many tormented her over the years, ridiculing her and who she was.  Her friends scolded her, telling her to let go and just ignore them. But she couldn't. Deep down, she was quite weak and she resented that, one day hoping that strength would overpower it. 

"Kuttu. Mittu. Dinner's ready." said a strained, quiet, squeaky voice from behind her. Three weeks ago, Kuttu would not have believed it was CASSANDRA who was speaking. But Arika's capture...had changed her the most. Her hair was ratty and bleached auburn to hide her identity, her blue eyes sunken and slightly dead, but her attitude had the worst hit. She stayed often quiet, sometimes bursting out at Jane or Cusley unintentionally. The only other times she spoke was to call dinner. Kuttu nodded silently and got up to eat. "Jiti," Jane announced. "Any updates on the search?" Jiti looked solemn and shook her head. "We looked everywhere, even nearly outside Asan's borders. It isn't helping how we only have one week to get Arika back. Otherwise, she'll be dead. I don't know if Laila hasn't killed her yet or if she will keep her word. What are we going to do?!" said Anshu desperately. That was all Kuttu could take. She excused herself from the table and ran into her tent, crying. Of course, Mittu followed after her. "Kuttu?" she whispered. "It's my fault. I led Laila to you guys. I saw her in the woods. And me, being the stupid girl I am, I got so scared I ran away, and she-she followed after me," Kuttu sobbed. "Kuttu. You idiot! It wasn't your fault. She would have been able to find us anyway. Listen, you need to shut up and listen to me right now. You are MY SISTER and you ain't gonna blame yourself for these problems. You are strong enough to face anything." Mittu said to her defiantly. Kuttu wiped her eyes. "Listen...Aermani...while the wind blows..and the shadows gleam. Aermani..keep in your heart the life that you seek. Ala-na ma sin and give me light. Step away from the dark. Love will change minds, you just need to be kind. Be free, since life is ever-winding." Mittu sang quietly. Kuttu grinned and hugged her little sister tight. This was what sisters did, pick each other up when one fell down. 

"Alright people. We all know we're not gonna succumb to Laila, and I am not offering myself. We are going to rescue Arika, but we have to travel to Guriga, and fast. Anshu, you said it's an enclosed space, very enclosed, right?" Kuttu said a few hours later. Anshu nodded. "So, we might need some help. We need someone who's been to Guriga, and thinks, and acts like a criminal. Any ideas?" She lit up when Fred eagerly put up his hand, ignoring the confused look of his sister, which suddenly shifted into a glare. "I know someone. He's in jail for a while and he's Cassandra's.." Fred didn't have to finish the sentence. "Ex-best friend." Cassandra spat, giving Fred an unusually spiteful look. Eyeing the perplexed looks around the room, Jane explained hurriedly. "He was jealous of Saramus' and Cassandra's relationship, and then he tried to poison Saramus, and burn his ship down, but luckily he was caught and sent to jail for years. Cassandra's hated him since then, which really is a shame since they were quite good friends. If only Loser hadn't let envy get to him." Mittu snorted at the name. "LOSER? What's in a name? Huh, seems good enough for Kuttu." she laughed before Kuttu smacked her arm forcefully. "Don't make fun of him or Kuttu!" Cassandra yelled suddenly. Fred sighed and started stroking his sister's arm to calm her down.  "Cassandraaaaa...you're defending Loser again." "Oh." Realizing what she had said, Cassandra then came to her senses and redeemed herself after apologizing to Mittu, who was quite shaken from the outburst. "Well, that settles it then. We need to go somewhere north of Loosi. And according to my sister's sources, Jokein Asylum is near the Elfish kingdom. But, Loser will definitely want something in return for his help. Don't expect a single penny from ME, because I still wanna beat him up for hurting Cassandra," Cusley snarled, occupying a look that really didn't suit his quite calm stature. "Guys, guys! I just remembered. Do you know the town near the camp? I went inside this weird alley to get some black pumpkin for Palon to roast, and I heard some guys talking about a ball being hosted in Guriga, and that it's celebrating 'the capture of a Chosen One.' It's being hosted by none other than our Uirsgeul Diomhair. And better, it's a masquerade ball. So with this Loser's help, we could somehow sneak into the ball, and sneak past dear Laila Fawkes, who will also be attending the ball, and with a little help from Nandini's birds, we know she has the key to set Arika free, in a secured vault so that nobody gets it, and I'm pretty sure she would mean US." Luoxia rambled. Kuttu clapped her hands in delight (She did that when something had been achieved.) "You guys, we might have a chance to rescue Arika." Her friends nodded happily. "We set off tomorrow at 4. Don't think we're leaving at midnight," Lil'ta said sternly, quietly chuckling as she eyed the dejected look from the teenagers.