Charmer and the Emerald Eye

Day One

"Alright, you two! It's time to move out!" Charmer's father opened the door to the room xe shared with xis sister. "It's been three months since I asked you to get out of here. You can come back when you find someone to settle down with."

"The sun's not even up," groaned Charmer's sister, Warrior. She slept on the bunk below Charmer in a wooden room decorated with colorful dried flower petals hung from the walls. The curtain over their window was another flower petal, which their father briskly removed. A hint of sunlight glimmered around from the other side of the mountain.

"It's up alright, there's just a mountain in the way." He said loudly. "You're both old enough to find spouses to start adding to the clan. I want you to have a spouse and seeds on the way in less than two years!" His feathered brown wings flapped once to stir up the room, sending blankets flying.

"Hey!" Warrior exclaimed, sitting up. "What if we don't want to get married?" She snapped back. Charmer remained quiet in xis bed, hoping xe wouldn't draw any attention to ximself.

"Then you can't live here. I'm tired of taking care of a pair of dead weights. All your older siblings have already gone out and started families or moved out of my house." Their father yanked the blanket off of Charmer and threw it on the floor. Xe yelped in surprise. "No lazy xon or daughter can mooch off me anymore! Time to head out!"

"Where are we supposed to go?!" Snapped Warrior, leaping out of her bed. Her feathered brown wings opened to protect Charmer from their father's eyes. Xis sister always protected xim like that.

"Warmton! There's plenty of suitors there that aren't related to our clan. Find some new blood." He took Warrior's pale wrist and pulled her aside, then yanked on Charmer's tail. Xe was trying to hide ximself in xis blanket, but evidently xis tail peaked out. Pain shot up xis yellow fur and the tuft of red hair on the tip of his tail curled away harshly. "Out!" Charmer's father practically pulled xim out of bed and flung xim out the door, shoving xis sister along the way. "You have until the sun rises past the mountain to get out of my house."

"What?!" Warrior exclaimed, scampering past her father to start gathering a bag. She buckled her sword in a belt around her waist. Her tail lashed, bare pale skin with a tuft of curly brown hair on the tip, and the brown hair on her head flailed from her quick movements. Charmer watched xis sister with wide eyes and stood in the doorway between their room and the rest of the house. Xis father pulled on xis fluffy wrist.

"You heard what I said. Out. I'm tired of putting up with you two. That includes you, Charmer! Don't just stand there bewildered! Get your shit together and get out of my house!" His long, wavy, red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. Charmer's father's name was Hawk, and he was named after his brown and white speckled bird wings, which Warrior had inherited. Charmer got xis wings from xis mother, fluffy reddish moth wings. Xis yellow fur designated xim as a xe rather than a he, and Warrior's lack of fur or horn designated her as a she instead of a ze. Charmer had two curly bronze horns, which were quite different from xis father's two small bronze bull horns.

"Which way is Warmton?" Warrior demanded, placing her hands on her hips and slinging a bag over her shoulder.

"Follow the waterfall down to the river. Where it forks, follow the river left. You won't be able to miss the town." Hawk explained. "I've met Warmheart before, he's the organizer of that town, and he's very kind. He'll let you live there, but he won't let you mooch without contributing like you do here. You'll need to get a job there. It's time to be adults."

"Fine." Warrior snapped, grabbing Charmer's wrist. She already had a bag slung over her shoulder. "Come on, Charmer. While you were standing there dumbfounded, I packed you a bag." She shoved a small bag into Charmer's hands.