Forgotten Truths (1st book in Forgotten Truths series)

5

(Slight time skip~)

Edge's light colored eyes whisked behind her. The silhouettes of the remainder of their group became fainter and fainter. She gulped before shaking her head. That was their fate, and she had absolutely nothing to do with their deaths that were sure to come.

  She picked up her pace. Edge used one of the twines usually used to bind hay to tie her hair back into a bun. The memory of her father scowling at her when she did this replayed in her head.
Well... who knows where he is now.

  She watched Rustic and Wisp for a moment. They reminded her slightly of her brother. Although the two are much older than he is, however, they are still quite immature.

  Thought stared at her from where she was. Edge put on her usual smile and patted the short girl on the head. She raced away from her, and towards that prince.

  She tripped on his boot, "Sorry—" Edge began to say before landing with a thud on the ground.

  Drought scowled at her. Edge sighed, 'He's always so... upset,'

  Edge tilted her head at Drought. Although he was practically like a burnt rock, that couldn't be what he was. He had to be something more. Edge just knew it. She made it her duty from the minute she saw him to try to break that burnt rock open.

Drought gave Edge a hand to help her up. Edge smiled to herself, 'Knew it! He's not just some burnt rock,'

"Keep moving," The former prince grumbled to Edge. That smile faded. Stubborn rock.

  Her eyes flicked to Sayuri and Atlanta. The two laughed and talked together. Bah— How had Rustic and Wisp, Sayuri and Atlanta all become friends. Meanwhile, she still was lonely. She had left everything to get tested: her friends, her tiny family, her farm... This whole experience was sucking the life out of her.

~*~

  "126,720, 126,721, 126,722..." Wisp's words trailed with every step the group took.

  It was giving Edge a headache, but she was too tired to say anything about it. Besides, Thought would probably have some fit. They had already spent hours walking this. She was ready to just roll over and collapse.

  "I see a house!" Rustic yelped; he clutched Wisp's hand.

  It was definitely less-dead here. Flowers sprouted at their feet. Tall trees— Very different from Flame Tribe's practically burnt trees —seemed to scrape the sky. Animals bounded about here and there. Everything seemed so... happy here.

Thought's hand shoved over Rustic's mouth, "Shh," She hissed.

Edge's eyes followed Thought's. A few Leaf Tribe farmers tilled the land. Already, a couple had their ears pricked and were looking about. Edge kept herself from laughing. They hardly seemed to be a threat.

Sayuri and Atlanta had just caught up with the group. As soon as Sayuri saw the farmers, she whispered something into Atlanta's ear.

Atlanta nodded, and stayed quiet. The lowly Droplet girl's hands kept moving around— They formed hand signs.

While Atlanta and Sayuri were communicating, Ji-ho eyed the farmers. A stern look crossed his face. One mixed with concern and frustration.

  Atlanta continued to make the hand signs. This time, she was talking in a voice level loud enough for Edge and Sayuri to hear— Not the farmers, however. Edge snickered at some of her jokes.

Then, Atlanta accidentally raised her tone, and said, "I didn't notice that Sparrow had a dot on his neck until I —had— to look at him. Pfft, it probably was the size of his brain."

"I guess he spent too much time building those muscles of his, then receiving some education." Atlanta added some of the weirdest hand movements Edge had ever seen. Maybe Sayuri had some hearing issue?

Sayuri started to stifle a laugh because of how Atlanta was acting. Edge couldn't really blame her— Sure, the joke wasn't the funniest thing she had seen, but it was still funny.

"Pfft," Edge couldn't hold it back anymore.

Thought practically was giving her the death stare. Unexpectedly, Drought seemed to be also amused by Atlanta's comment. 'Maybe he's like an ember; an ember is kinda useful, and Drought sort of has a sense of humor.'

"Aye!" One of the farmers barked. The others lifted their heads away from their work. "Mismatches!"

"Mismatches who disrespect our next leader." Someone else added.

  "Oh noooo. I disrespected a very important person." Atlanta smirked, "I'm sooooo sorry that I disrespected your future pea-brained leader." She spat out a snarky reply.

One farmer whispered to another. Even Edge, who was previously laughing as this, started to think that maybe this wasn't the best idea. They started to advance to the group.

"Oops," Edge mumbled. She fixed her hair before looking for an escape route.

"Atlanta shut up—! We're going to get caught," Thought spat.

"Too late for that," Edge mumbled.

——

Hi

-Echo