The Spring's last bloom

"So what!" I screamed at my father. "Women cannot be scouts, you know that!" He screamed back at me. One of the arguments we had continuously, whether I could be a scout or not. At least once a week, I, Iris Moonstone, fought with my father who was the leader of the Elven clan. "My gender shouldn't have any affect on my Education, status, nor what I can do!" I hated being a woman sometimes. Every other woman in my clan seemed to come to terms with this misogynistic rule that had been placed years ago. I often wondered why I could not. Either way it didn't matter much to those around me. I've always been seen as less. Ever since I was 7 and enrolled in early training for Scouts also known as 'EST' which was funny to me since we were in the Eastern time zone of all 4 realms. The 4 realms used to be one massive clan that all survived on each other but of course, someone didn't like this and split us up into 4. The Elves, The Dragons, The Ogres, and The Fairies. Each clan has a leader that makes the rules, determines what's good and what's bad and especially, who lives here. The leader of the Elves is a 56 year old man and my Father, Damon Sai. He doesn't live up to his first name which means 'Gentle' or 'To tame'. The leader of The Dragons is a 1742 year old woman who doesn't seem to age at all according to the bedtime stories they used to tell us. Her name, Frirriphi, means 'Lady of Fire' and boy does she live up to that. The leader of the Ogres is a 14 year old boy whose first name means 'Strong' and last name means 'Good', Duron Boone. Last but definitely not least is The leader of the Fairies, a beautiful 23 year old named Luna Lightfoot. She is the person who I've always looked up to since the moment I heard of her in a book I read at 13. According to many stories, she helped fight and heal over 100 people in battle. The fairies are an all woman clan that have their own powers. Some can control the wind, some heal, some teleport. Whatever you can imagine, one of the fairies has it. "Well it does, so either come to terms with that or leave." That brought me out of my thoughts. He didn't really mean that, did he? "You don't mean that." I replied with tears threatening to pour out of my eyes. "Oh I do, I really do" Those words were something I never thought I would hear after the previous sentence. Among hearing them, the tears just started pouring. More and more and more. Each time I thought one would be the last, another would escape. I just stood there. I don't know how long I was standing there for but after what felt like a year, I jumped out of the window and ran. I ran faster than I ever thought possible. Maybe if I can run fast enough it'll all be forgotten. I knew that was a lie but at the same time I wish it wasn't.

At least a couple hours had passed when I woke up in the lap of someone. Their scent was not one of the many I had memorized. They seemed to be afraid for me even upon not knowing me, or at least I think they don't. I wanted to get up, pull out the dagger that has been sheathed to my thigh ever since I earned it at 12, and attack. I couldn't move though. Why couldn't I move? What happened? I had no choice but to listen to my surroundings. Upon doing so, I heard crying. It was close to me as well. It was to my right. It was the person that had my head in their lap. Why were they crying though? I moved my head to face them but they didn't seem to notice. I tried to talk but nothing came out. I can move my head and arms, but I can't speak or walk. They don't seem to be a threat though. If they were I would be dead and they wouldn't be crying. So many questions that no one could answer as I could not speak. I had two options here. Get their attention or play dead till they leave. The second one seemed better but there's a chance they wouldn't leave. I had a better chance at surviving doing the first option. Get their attention, heal, then run. My heart was racing against my breath. I moved my arm slowly so as not to disturb them and touched their arm gently. They jumped but I feel like they would have no matter how gentle I touched them. "Oh my stars, I am so glad you're okay!" What? Suddenly everything went black.

"Will she be okay?!" I heard that voice which sounded like when the bells dropped from the flowers at exactly 10 AM. Her voice sounded like no one else's. "I don't know, she may get better in a week, a month, a year. We don't know yet, miss" "Well maybe you should find out!" she raised her voice and yet her voice still sounded lovely. I debated on whether or not I should get up. After sitting in silence for a while, the doctor left. I moved my head ever so slightly as not to signal that I was awake. It was around 12 AM by the looks of outside. I moved my head back to the position it was in before so no one would notice I moved. I heard the footsteps of the other person walk over and sit down on the floor next to the bed I had been placed on. I decided to let myself rest for an hour and then make a run for it.