Red Smoke

The Peacekeeper

The hawk soared over the woodland, its wings silent in the summer breeze. Below it was the trees of Bellashaya, a beautiful land full of creatures that many only saw in their dreams.

The sun sat high in the sky, watching over the world and the creatures within. It smiled down warmly on the pure creatures, but no happy light reached the corrupted ones.

In this land, life was the most difficult for the purest of hearts. All while those who killed and thieved thrived in the shadows.

The King sat alone on top of a golden throne, all while his choir sang an eerie song. He only listened halfheartedly, as the rest of him had seemed to rot away in the past few quiet weeks.

The hawk scanned the woods below, watching for any sign of movement. He flew down and silently perched on the outstretched arm of the young girl he had known for so long.

Her eyes were as blue as the ocean beside her, skin as pale as a porcelain doll's. In the wind, her fiery red hair waved a warning flag for anything that sought out to harm her. She smiled as brightly as the sun at the hawk.

"Why, 'ello, Cooper. Have you made your daily rounds?" The turned to look out onto the rolling top of the ocean. Cooper squawked. "Aye? Good to hear." She spoke softly and happily, her toes digging into the sand on the bank of the forest that was surrounded by such beautiful blue waters.

"What's the news on mother, then?" She turned back to Cooper. Another simple squawk. "No better? Well, it's better than her getting worse." As the girl spoke, Cooper hopped up onto her shoulder. She looked back out at the ocean. The tides rolled around, foam rising out of the waves every once in a while.

For a good while, the two sat in silence. Cooper found the silence irritating and whistled a reminder to the girl. She shook her head as if to banish a thought from her mind. "Ah! Yes! 'Tis about that time of day, yes? Let's head home now..."

The girl turned on her heels and started up the sandy bank. She stepped into her knee-high boots and brushed off her corset and pants. After checking her bracers for sand, she continued into the trees, as silent as an owl.

With her hands locked behind her back, the girl sauntered through the woods, scanning the trees for any sort of a threat. Cooper pruned his feathers, but was alert as ever.

Soon enough, the girl and the hawk reached a cottage in the woods. They crossed a small bridge and followed a gravel path to the door. The repeated crunch of the gravel under the girl's boots was enough to make Cooper go insane.

As the girl opened the door to the cottage, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked down at her boots. Without a word, she stepped out of them, leaving them outside by the doorstep.

The girl walked inside, closing the door. She sighed after hearing the click of the lock, which she knew meant safety away from the creatures outside.

Cooper chirped quietly as the girl peeked into a room. A woman was laying in bed, her face pale. The girl grimaced and went to the kitchen, beginning on making some sort of soup.

When the soup was done, the girl brought it to the woman, who woke easily. "Isabella, dear, how long have you been home?" The girl sighed.
"Only a few minutes." She helped the woman to sit up and placed the soup bowl in her lap. "Now, eat, mama."