Time to Tip the Scales

The New Girl

The hands of three girls are intertwined, showing the inseparable qualities of them. They would not be seen without one another, and if one was lost, they would spent an eternity looking for them. They laugh at a stupid joke that wouldn’t have made anyone else crack a smile, while not noticing the faint baby like crying of a young dragon. A faint rustle could be heard through the brush in the forest, like the sound of a footstep that was put in the wrong place. The faint breathing of someone could be heard, but not easily. Someone was running, but able to control the sound of their breath. She had heard the loud laughing of some obnoxious sounding people, and didn’t wish for them to find out what lay in the forest beyond.

When the giggling trio of girls approached a place where the ground dipped down slightly, they heard the rush of air beside them and saw a dagger impaling itself in a tree a few footsteps away from them. With a yelp, Ingris and Okin jumped back, but Amber simply smiled. She went up to the tree and started to pull the dagger out before she felt a hand covering her mouth and pulling her back behind a large pine tree. She made a startled gasp, though it was muffled by the hand. Amber couldn't see who it was that had her in their grasp, but she could feel the strength in their hand as if they had done something like this a thousand times. The pressure was just enough to prevent her mouth from mobile, but not enough to hurt her in any way. Whoever this person was, they clearly didn't want to hurt Amber. At least, not yet. "Why are you here?" A low voice hissed, not breathing with difficulty as most people who had been recently run. They had clearly been doing this for a long time.

When she didn’t even make a move to push her hand away to talk, the other person loosened their grip a little. “I said, why are you here.” They demanded, placing another hand on Amber’s shoulder right as both of her friends ran into the brush, finding themselves with an unusual sight. Instead of seeing one that would be normal for taking someone away while others are watching helplessly, they came upon a girl. A very muscular girl, but a girl all the same. She was only a little taller than them, although it was apparent that she was very used to fending for herself, judging by healing scars on her arms and the fact that there was no sweat starting to form on her arms from throwing a dagger, running around, and pulling someone away without anyone else being able to see.

This girl glared at the other two, finally releasing the smiling one from her grip and crouching down, watching a bit nervously. She hadn’t talked to actual people in at least 6 months. 6 times for the moon to grow and shrink, enough time to make it go from really cold to only somewhat cold. Within that time, she’d grown a lot. She’d cut her hair, found a nice new place to live, and found herself a blanket. Technically, she’d stolen the blanket, but she had found it hanging outside. That counted, in her mind, as finding one. The person didn’t really miss it anyways, because they simply started making another one. That was her rule—only take things that could be replaced or wouldn’t be missed. A simple green blanket wouldn’t ever be missed.

Curiosity flickered in the eyes of this new girl. She wanted more than anything to talk to these people, but she had something that had to be hidden. Anyone who wished to come into this forest—her forest—Was going to have to pay the price for it. If they would not leave her alone, then their blood would be spread upon the dead leaves. A girl at the young age of 14 would never want to trust anyone if she had never had anyone, and she had something that she would kill to protect, so the other girls were not in a favorable position at that point. Her eyes scanned the forest nervously, always flicking from one object to another, not really paying attention to anything in particular. She could catch broken glimpses of a conversation, very hushed and very angry sounding, but nothing more than a few words at a time.

“Was trying to kill you..”. No, I didn’t. I wanted to know why you were here. “..Is too dangerous. We sh—”, something cut off by the wind beginning to blow, blurring the words until they were unrecognizable. That frustrated the girl, not knowing what they were deciding. She needed to know if they would stay or leave, and especially needed to know if they could help her. That was something she needed even more to protect what it was that she had, she needed the ability to protect what she needed with ease. Perhaps even do what she’d been asked to so long ago. It was majorly important, and six months she had waited to tell someone her idea. They’d find her insane, but she was willing to take that risk.