Adventures of a Little Sister

Part Twelve

Only the birds could be heard in the woods at that moment and the few before it. Something hid in the trees, remaining silent as it waited for someone to come along. Ears flicked on the head, trying to find the sound of footsteps. Suddenly, she heard some. A soft crunch of the grass and earth came closer with each time she heard the sound. Obviously footsteps, there was no mistaking it. She just needed to wait for the one making the footsteps get closer. 

"Little Sister?" A female voice called. 

Then came another female voice, "Little Sister?"

Strange, there weren't footsteps for two people, only one. She waited until they were in her sight to make her judgment on what to do. Once they were, she smiled joyfully and suddenly jumped out of the tree. 

"Roar!" She cried in her child voice as she flew towards the two.

The two women looked up just in time to see the child flying after them, tackling the fairy to the ground. The fairy screamed while the other girl quickly jumped back, holding a staff at the ready to strike. Seeing who it was though, she quickly lowered it and a smile came across her face.

"Little Sister, are you hunting again?"

The girl looked down at the fairy she had caught and smiled, nodding to the women.

"Yes I am Énna, and I just caught Xylia" 

"That you did." Énna replied with a chuckle. "What are you going to do now?"

"She's going to get off of me!" Xylia cried, struggling out of Little Sister's hands.

Little Sister opened her hands and Xylia flew out, quickly making her way to Énna with a fowl look on her face. She let a glare lose on Énna, who just chuckled more and patted Little Sister's head.

"Good job" She said, making the little child smile with even more joy. "You're getting better. We didn't even hear you."

 Xylia wasn't amused though, as she glared at the little girl. Little Sister saw this and lowered her head a bit, her black hair hiding her face. It had grown longer by at least an inch in the past year she had been in the forest. Énna noticed this and looked at Xylia in a disapproving manner. The fairy only made a hmph sound and turned her head away with her arms crossed. Énna rolled her eyes and walked over to Little Sister.

"Hey, why don't you try it on Ivaylo when he returns?"

Little Sister looked up at Énna with a slight smile and nodded. "Where is Ivaylo?"

"I'm not sure, Laerorneth sent him on some sort of mission and he hasn't returned yet."

"Isn't he supposed to stay with me though? Like you two?" The girl asked, tilting her head a bit.

"Well, yes, and no." Énna explained. "You see, he's, what you would call, an official of Laerorneth and he has to do what she says. It's the same thing with us, but she hasn't needed are expertise as much as she's needed Ivaylo."

"With the war the Humans have caused, it's no surprise he's been busy." Xylia interrupted. "He must be busy trying to find the dead creatures out of all the dead in the battlefields."

Énna elbowed the fairy before looking down at Little Sister, who had grown silent. Her ears had fallen flat, her hands in the pockets of the jacket she still wore. The girl had turned to her sad thoughts, ones she didn't want, but couldn't help but to think. It had been a year since she was left by her brothers to be safe from the war. They said they would return soon, but so far, she hadn't heard anything from them. Were they okay? Would they come back for her? And if so, then when? She didn't understand war, so she didn't know that war was something uncertain, especially when finding an end in sight. The war had just begun, so it was bound to be a few years at the least. 

Little Sister started to sniffle, starting to think the what if's. What if one of her brothers were killed? What if they were all killed? Where would she go? She didn't know the deal they had made with the Elven queen, so for all she knew, if they found her brothers were dead, then she wouldn't be allowed to live in the forest anymore. Her pet, Maimu, crawled out from the pocket it had been hiding in and gave a soft squeak. The girl patted the puffball's head, giving a tiny smile, the smallest she had ever given. 

"I miss them." She muttered, trying not to start sobbing. "I want to go see them."

Énna knelt down to the girl once she heard the idea. "No, no Little Sister, you can't leave the forest. You're safe here, and your brothers want you safe. What if they come back for you and you're not here?"

The child shook her head. "I wanna go find them." She started to cry now. "I want to see if they're okay. I miss them and I want to find them."

"Are you crazy?" Xylia joined, flying to them. "You'll get yourself killed out there and if your brothers find out you were killed then what will they do?"

She was right, Little Sister thought, what if she was killed. But, she wanted to see her brothers. What would the child do? She was a good girl, so she had to listen to what her brothers told her. If they told her to stay, then she would stay. A good girl always followed what she was told.

But, maybe she could check the hosue at least? It wasn't too far off, she could make it there and back within the same nigh and wouldn't be noticed. Little Sister had gotten even better at sneaking around, being able to jump Énna and Xylia was proof. And her brothers never said she couldn't visit home.

As she was thinking, it didn't go unnoticed by the two that looked at her. Énna cleared her throat, which brought Little Sister back into reality. "Thinking of something?" Énna ask.

Little Sister quickly shook her head. She knew if she said anything about visiting home, Énna and Xylia would tell her not to. She didn't want to be told not to, because that would mean she was given a rule and with a rule, she had to follow it. 

Énna raised an eyebrow but left it alone, standing again. "Well, it looks as though it's time for dinner now Little Sister. Shall we go now?"

The girl nodded her head, pushing the thought aside so she didn't have anything to hide. She would go to the house tonight once everyone was asleep. But for now, she would be the good girl that she always was.