Deep Roots

Chapter Thirteen

Phoenix

"Lynn?!"

Her eyes are filled with concern as she walks over to a patch of grass. The grey pupils glazed, as if she was lost in thought and staring out a window on a summers day, yet her actions display otherwise. Lynn crouches on the ground and stares with grief at the same patch of grass. Slowly, with a slightly shaking hand, she starts to reach comfortingly over to the place her eyes are concentrated on. I rush over to her panic coursing through my veins. I place my hands on her shoulders and shake her violently.

"LYNN!" I shout.

Lynn snaps out of her daze with a start and twists her head towards the source of the sound. She glances back at the mysterious patch of grass before her face morphs into horror, her eyes filled with confusion while clambers to her feet again.

"What happened?" she asks, rubbing her eyes like she had just had a long sleep.

"Y-you blanked out... I dunno, you were acting... strange." I stutter.

Lynn shrugs it off and then stares back at the patch of ground she had been crouching near.

"Soooo..." her voice trails off as she avoids my gaze, "what should we do next?"

"What!?" I shriek suddenly at her calm small talk. "You're just gonna pretend that didn't happen?"

She shrugs again and then starts walking off, leaving me with no choice but to follow her.  I stumble over to her side and press on, "You were like... possessed. How are you so calm?" I exaggerate possessed to try and provoke some waves in the smooth, calm ocean of Lynn's mind.

"Because it was nothing," Lynn says, her tone so harsh it makes me drop the idea of making her worry about it. We trudge in silence, yet unspoken words hang above us like a heavy cloud.

"Please..." I say, letting the cloud rain down words. I smooth down my hair and think, what do I actually want? Why is this so important? What can I do to even make her care? "At least... At least tell Slate. A-and Titan."

"Fine." Lynn retorts stubbornly and continues to walk towards the tree, carrying the picnic basket that we had joyfully eaten from only a few moments ago.

.  .  .

"... and in the dead woman's arms there was a baby. It's cries... they were so bone chilling. I tried to comfort them but then... every vanished. I dunno I just woke up, like it was a dream."

I play with my hair nervously as Lynn finishes the recount of her vision. What Lynn said was much more horrific than I imagined could of happened then.  Titan's face is stony and hard, his brows scrunched in confusion as he takes in Lynn's dreadful words. Slate stares at her, his eyes wide with shock and slightly bloodshot, like he is about to cry. I just feel numb, like the things she said had never reached my ears.

"Okay... Lynn," Titan says calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder while I fight the jealousy that overwhelms me, "thank you for telling us this."

I wait for Lynn to catch my eye and for her to send a 'thank you' through her grey irises, but I find that she doesn't meet my gaze. Instead, she smiles at Titan and wipes her eyes. I try to ignore the next rush of emotions that pumps through my veins; envy. I was the one that had suggested to talk to everyone but now Lynn gets the credit for being so honest.

Everyone looks solemn-faced as we all turn to leave and head inside, the skies now dipped in pinks and purples. A thought flutters across my mind like a bird taking flight. I tap Slate lightly on the shoulder, before my nerves swallow me whole.

"Slate! ... I um... was wondering... if you could help me."

"Help you? What do you mean?" he ponders, staring at me with his intense green eyes.

"With... fighting." my voice shrinks to the size of a mouse squeak. But Slate seems to hear what I'm saying, because his eyes widen in surprise.

"Fighting? Really? ... Why?"

"Well... I saw you teaching Lynn... and you were really good." I squeak, almost coming out in a pleading sort of way.

"I will happily teach you!" he smiles, his confusion ebbing away into a handsome grin. He begins to walk in the opposite direction to our large tree home, beckoning for me to follow with a wave of my hand. I stumble after him nervously, what was Slate doing?

The leafy green trees press against my sides before Slate and I emerge into the clearing where the battle happened. Why were we here? The inky blues and purples of night are already washing over the area, every single blade of grass outlined by the silver of a half moon. Slate walked to the center of the area and then beckons me again with his hand. I nervously shuffle over so I am standing next to him.

"What are we doing here...?" I ask with a wobble in my voice, not sure why this was spooking so much.

"Training!" Slate exclaims. The nerves fade away but then new ones replace them, I have no knowledge of fighting whatsoever, and I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of a person I barely know.

"... Do we have to? It's getting dark and..." my voice trails off as I try to think up of solutions, but before I can the truth comes out, "... I don't know how to fight." I mentally kick myself for confessing the truth and for even asking for fighting training in the first place.

"No, no no! It's okay, everyone has to start from somewhere." he smiles genuinely at me and I let a little smiles play on my lips.

"You know," Slate continues when he notices I wasn't responding, "when I was younger, my father went off to the war. But before he left I remember him teaching me how to fight." 

His melancholy tone envelopes me in a sensation of guilt and sorrow. Many lost their family members due to the war, including myself. The ferocious blood bath killed many and we were left for a while with a gap of children, except our generation, the baby boom, sprung up so the tree became plentiful.

"I knew nothing of how to fight and I would struggle a lot, I grew so frustrated with myself but then my father told me this; 'No matter how many times you fail, you fall down, you have to stand back up because you only loose when you give up." he finishes the quote softly, fiddling with his Earth pendant as he speaks. 

A long, thoughtful silence covers us. But not an awkward one, a calm one. A comfortable one.

"Thank you, Slate." I say quietly as we ditch our training session and head back into the warm safety of our tree.

I apologise so much for the long wait! I was suffering from writers block and I have been doing a lot at school and everything. This chapter might be a bit messy because I am so tired. I just want to get this story out first before I polish it.

-Miranda

p.s thank you everyone for over 400 reads!