Strings of hope

Chapter three: Friends

As the sun arose over the western land, filling the fields with its light and turning them from a light green, into a beautiful golden-lime color, the wind blew gently over the village. In the distance, Barbara could see the farmers taking care of the newly planted grains. She smiled as she closed her window and changed into her 'uniform' preparing for the day.

The elderly woman stepped out of her room and into the hallway, humming quietly to herself, not to wake up the still-sleeping children.

Entering the quiet kitchen she looked over the old counters, the knife markings remaining over the years, bringing a wave of nostalgia as she remembered the old times. Picking up one of the old towels, she made her way over to the backyard door, and as she was about to open it, she stopped in her tracks.

Even for an old lady, Barbara was still diligent, and she knew the orphanage better than anyone, having worked here for over 20 years. She was always the first to be up in the morning and the last to go to sleep every night, closing all the doors and windows as a precaution.

That's why she was alarmed when the backyard door was not looked. She remembered clearly closing the door and slowly lifting the handle slightly until she heard the soft 'click' sound, but now the door was opened.

For the first time in years, someone was up before her, probably they couldn't sleep and they came to take a breath of air 'Yes, that was probably the case' she thought, or ... Barbara refused to let herself overthink about the worst case scenario. The gray-haired lady opened the door quietly, not making a sound, looking over the garden.

A smile made its way over her lips as she began to walk over to the raven-haired girl who was deeply lost in thoughts, sitting next to an apple tree still in her nightgown. Barbara slowly approached and sat down next to the unaware girl looking over the garden.

"It's been a while since the mornings have been this windy, autumn is coming." The elderly woman said in a gentle tone.

Startled, the raven-haired girl flinched at the sudden voice, her body tensing up, but when she saw Barbara, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth and a small, awkward smile appeared on her face. "Morning Barbie... I didn't see you there." As she said that, Barbie put a cardigan over the young girl's shoulders.

"Morning sunshine, what got you thinking so deeply about and so early in the morning?" She chuckled, rubbing her back.

"It's nothing really, I just- um, couldn't sleep. That's all." Looking away, scanning the garden, her eyes landed on a significantly grumpy knight who was standing in the training ground earlier than usual. "What's he doing here so early?" She asked as curiosity got the best of her, "I thought he wasn't supposed to be here for a few more hours."

"Eugene? Oh, he sometimes stops by in the mornings when he has business in the village to have a cup of tea, or just to check on us. He might seem... how should I put it... a not-so-pleasant guy to be around, but he has a good heart." Getting up, she extended a hand to help the young girl to stand as well, crouching a bit to her level, she said humming "Why don't you get inside, it's quite cold this morning, you should relax a bit, today is an important day right?"

Evelyn looked confused, not understanding the meaning of her words until she remembered "Oh! Yes! Yes, today is my first day of training, I mean, real training!"

"Mhm, that's right, it's your first day of real training. Now go back to your room, I'll bring you a cup of tea in a little bit, would that be good?" the elderly woman hummed as she caressed the young girl's hair, motherly.

"I would like that, thank you Barbie."

As she watched the girl run inside, hearing the soft and quiet clicking of the door, she began to walk towards the tall knight, waiting impatiently.

When he saw her, the frown on his face turned into a more calming expression. He looked down at the gray-haired woman, scratching the back of his head before beginning to speak in a softer tone:

"Good morning Miss Barbara"

...

Evelyn stood in front of the big mirror in Barbara's room.

She looked at herself dressed in the so-called 'training uniform' which was just a pair of black leather pants, a white or rather beige tunic, and a leather belt – the leather wasn't real good quality leather, but rather a cheap one which was more affordable for the knights in training – clothes that were noticeably too big for her.

She continued to stare in the mirror, looking down on herself, drowning in millions of thoughts, thoughts that were screaming at her, thoughts that made her uncomfortable, thoughts that echoed endlessly throw her mind. That was until she heard two voices shouting her name, pulling her back to reality.

"Lyn!" the boy, Cyril, shouted again, standing behind her "Are you deaf or something?". He looked mad, but the little girl didn't understand why, she looked at him confused until another voice added.

"He's been calling you for a few minutes now, don't mind him, you know how he is," Aria explained standing in the doorway. She began to walk towards them, trying to fix the raven's hair and pulling it into a high ponytail.

The boy gave the redhead a dirty look, a bit embarrassed, then he rolled his eyes and looked back at the younger girl, continuing his questioning.

"What were you thinking so hard about, that you couldn't hear us coming? Or even calling your name. No offense, but you are one of the most diligent people I know... well, not a person, Mister Eugene is, well, um-... maybe kid...? You get what I'm trying to say, right?" now he was confused.

"What he's trying to say is that you seem out of it today, are you feeling well Lyn?" Aria explained once again, moving to fix her 'uniform' after finishing with the hair.

Evelyn looked at the flour, before starting speaking "I'm a bit concerned. I'm not exactly well-liked among the boys in the training ground. I can't help but overthink." She opened her mouth to speak again, but quickly closed it as Cyril commented again.

"Well, that's a really bad habit of yours." Annoyers could be heard in his voice "So what if they don't like you, they are not important. What's important is that you will be able to learn swordsmanship."

Aria frowned and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes "He's right with the last part, but what he actually means is that you don't need their approval, you already have wonderful people in your life, like Barbara and us." She tried to lighten the mood, holding the raven-haired girl by her shoulders and looking at her throw the reflection in the mirror. "We're your friends and we'll always be by your side no matter what."

"And if you ever have problems I'll be there to protect you" His cocky smile appeared on his face, which made the girls laugh. Watching them laugh, his face became red in embarrassment. He glared at them until they calmed down.

"No offense Cyril, but I think our girl here can take care of herself." Aria chuckled at the end, a habit of hers which the boy 'despised' he said.

Those two were weird. Aria was a calm, hardworking person, always helping with the little kids and cleaning, despise being young herself. Cyril on the other hand was a confident and hot-tempered person, always trying to push others to their full potential, never accepting 'no' for an answer.

Despise all their differences, they were quite a duo, or at least that's what Barbara said about them.

"I think we should go, otherwise you'll be late to training" The redhead looked out the window and saw a few of the boys already there waiting for the grumpy knight to arrive. With that, they made their way outside.

As more of the kids came around, Evelyn tried to keep herself tougher. Was it her anxiety or excitement, she didn't know, but what she knew was that she couldn't let her guard down. As long as she appeared strong it would be fine. As long as she was near Cyril it would be fine. As long as she had her friends by her side it would be fine.

The middle-aged knight came into view and all the boys rushed in a line –from oldest to youngest– waiting for him. The girl did the same and sat in the line next to people her age. By the time the knight arrived, they were ready. "Are you ready?" He shouted.

Evelyn took a deep breath and closed her eyes 'This is it. I've made it this far. I can do it. I will do it.'

"Let's begin!"