Forevermore

The Village of Ashes (Vale)

V A L E

         I walked back to my village alone. The snow started to fall from the sky and I sighed. I didn't know when I would see Reagan again. It could be a day, a week... a whole year could go by. But I wouldn't let that happen. The chief in my village was a very generous man, letting me see Reagan like this. He liked to keep his distance from her, and he had his reasons. He was like an overprotective father, always telling me to be careful and not get myself killed. He had told me that one day I would accidentyally touch her skin. Today had been that day. If he found out, he would hurt me. Worse, he would hurt Reagan. I ducked underneath a low branch and looked to my right. A branch on a tree quivvered, as if someone had just bumped into it. My feet made silent crunches as I tread through the snow. I had nothing to fear on this side of the volcano. If there was a man, I could kill him. It there was another Ashwalker, I would greet them and be on my way. I looked up at the sky, noticing how dark it had gotten. I hoped Reagan got home safely.

          A twig snapped to my right. I stopped. There was absolutely no sound at all. It seemed as if the whole world had gone still. I slowly turned my head to the right and saw her. She was an Ashwalker like me, I could tell because of her beautiful amber eyes. That, and because I had seen her around the village before. She had a slender face and tattoos and paint smeared on her cheeks. She was staring straight at me, and when she decided that it was safe to come out, she stood up and walked over to me. I looked her up and down. Her wings were a bright red, with yellow tips on the top and bottom. Only female Ashwalkers had wings. She was barely wearing anything at all, typical Ashwalker. She was wearing a short leather patch over her breasts that was tied to another piece of leather on her back. Beads hung down from it, all shapes and colors. There was a small case on the leather that held a thin dagger. She was wearing very short shorts also made of leather, with small beads hanging by multiple threads. She had long, slender legs and was probably very fast. Her long red hair hung limply at her sides, going all the way down to her waist. There were various feathers attatched to her hair, all red and yellow.

          "You are the one who visits Pulchra Diabolus?" She asked politely. I gave her a small glare but she held her ground. So that's what they were calling her. Of course nobody had bothered to tell me. Pulchra diabolus meant 'beautiful devil' in Latin. At least they thought that Reagan was beautiful. I wonder who had come up with that name.

          "Yes." I said to answer the girl's question. She nodded and walked alongside me as I walked back to the village. She carried a slender bow, almost as slender as her. The end of her arrows were a bright red, with a little yellow tip. Just like the Tangle Bird, I thought to myself.

          "My name is Aleta." She said.

          "I'm Vale." I replied. She nodded to herself and we fell into silence. I expected her to go on her way, but she just walked alongside me, head held high like she was a freaking princess. As you can probably tell, I don't use the formallity the rest of my people do. Finally I got impatient. "Can I help you with something?" I asked, stopping. She stopped and turned to face me.

          "The chief has asked me to escort you to his tent. It is my duty to get you there. Please follow me." She said, walking again. I glared at the back of her head and knelt down. Scooping up a fist full of snow,  I made a small, compact ball. I laughed to myself and chucked the snowball at Aleta's head. As it was just about to hit her, she whirled around and smacked it with her bow. It crumpled and fell apart, landing in the snow. "Do not act like a child, Vale. Now we really must be going." She said, walking again. I felt rage flow through me as I followed her through the woods. Stupid girl, making me look like an idiot. How old was she anyway? She only looked a year or two older than me, now that I looked her over again. She seemed to bounce when she walked, like a bird flitting her and there. She caught me staring at her and I quickly looked away.