I thank fate for letting us meet, so very grateful..

Our village...

A sweet melody could be heard by those walking by, but there was no one to listen. Knowing this Cole freely played their guitalele not a care in the world, they didn't show this though, as their expression never changed.

"Cole!" called a small voice. They looked around not seeing anyone, so he looked back in front of himself to continue with their guitalele, and be greeted by her, Peregrine August.
"Ahh! Ah.. Perrine, you scared me." He said between studders. Perrine looked at them playfully which they thought was sweet, considering Perri was always more serious due to the way they were raised so Cole always embraced it when they were childish.
"Sorry I'm late, I was caught up..."
Cole frowned knowing exactly what that meant, they looked at the ground then back up at Perrine,
"I know what you mean, don't apologize", said Cole. Perrine winced at the answer and went to sit next to them. They were both kinda sensitive when it comes to home life, both because they didn't have the best living situations. To think about it, Cole didn't actually know anyone in the village with a stable life, a girl residing at an orphanage was recently adopted, but her life was so bad in her new home that she ran away from the kingdom. Cole also knew another kid who dealt with abuse, a noble child named Clémente Dearworth. Clèmentine was a beautiful child, kind, joyful and in a constant state of reverie, along with a doll-like face. Cole surely saw an interest in them, Perrine knew Cole liked her, yet Cole was still in the denial phase. But alas no one can have beauty without a price, Clèmentine lived in a broken home, cold and abusive. Cole never knew the full story, as they never talked in detail about it, but watching and consoling them from a window, just showed that nothing was what it seemed for the Dearworths. Breaking Cole from his train of thought,
"Hey! Earth to Cole Seymore!" Perrine.
"Oh! Yeah, I-ah... Hide and seek..?" Cole found themself often stumbling over his own words when it came to Perrine, their voice soft yet stern, her face fair with a hawks glare, and they were glaring straight at him. Perrine gave them a look and muttered a soft
"Okay." as they looked away, any other person would think they're irritated, but in reality they're embarrassed. Perrine wanted the ground to eat her up (and leave no crumbs) just their case of RBF syndrome (resting bitch face), Cole quickly placed their finger on their nose and exclaimed,

"Not it!", and was met with perrine strangling him.
"Hey! I wasn't ready!" At the time Peregrine carried a small body, even smaller than Cole, so it was easy to break free. Perrine accepted their fate and turned around counting.
"Find me beneath the grove!" Cole shouted and quickly ran to find somewhere to hide, he found a place behind a thicket and bent down, the place was far enough to be out of Perrine's sharp gaze, yet close enough to see the village clearly. Cole watched as Perrine turned around quickly snapped back around, they did not move, she instead stood and observed their surroundings,
"Maybe that's why they're so good-" Cole was startled out of his thoughts by the clipping sound of a
"Cricket?" Cole sat there, still shaken from the noise but then came back to their senses.
"And a fat one to.." Or atleast the biggest Cole had seen, they slowly shuffled closer and-
"Pow! Haha I found you!" Peregrine, again.
Before Cole could react they were frozen in place by a blood curdling scream (æææææ), along with frightened cries of their people. Cole raised their arm to shield the smaller one as they looked back at their village, they were both left in fear, crouched behind the grove, seeing the gruesome sight. Perrine started sobbing at the sight as Cole's frame trembled, the bright splatter of a bright red liquid had imprinted itself into Cole's mind, a moment never to be forgotten, something that will haunt him forever. Cole shut their eyes and turned away so frightened they didn't notice Peregrine's arms holding tight onto his torso, afraid and shaking just as much as them. Her lips trembled before speaking,
"W-what is that? What is that! Cole? What is that, Cole!" Sobbed Perrine. Cole gripped their shoulder, their other hand on her face trying to console their sister figure. they could barely speak, only holding back sobs as they listened to the soul wrenching screams of their village. Cole finally opened their mouth and hummed,
"Our village...".