What's the worst that can happen?

by **Raeyn** on August 3rd, 2018, 10:57 am

Lua age: 7
Raeyn age:10

12th of Summer 501AV

The blessed Raeyn of Syna and the summer heat saw the Star of Kalea flourish. Bouncing from domes of skyglass and bathing the streets in the soothing golden glow, as far as the sight of the sun goddess could reach, there was life in the unforgiving. Behind walls and watchtowers the city never slept. Always busy. There was always something to do, something to see, joy to be had and wonder to be breathed into every facet of life.

And the people of the Okomo estates had quite the knack for wonder. Tending to their precious trees and florals, had caused quite the explosion of colour around the charming little cottages. The neighbourhood had turned into a patchwork of blooms, greenery and smells, so succulent that one’s stomach would rumble simply by passing the weaving paths around the gardens. Summer was a magical time indeed. As magical as the people who enjoyed it.

Shortly before the noon rest came a knock on the door of one of the cottages. The softness of a female knuckle caressed the wood of the Petri family. On the other side stood an Inarta woman with curls of fire, pinned up in an elaborate style of braids and knots that made her sun kissed porcelain features look truly exquisite. A healthy heap of blush accented the freckles upon her nose. Lips as rosy as summer petals. She was dressed in the latest Lhavit fashion, clad in flow loose fabrics to make the most of the short period of warmth up in the mountains. Both of her hands were held by equally immaculately dressed children.

One, a girl, with white ribbons in her hair and eyes so very full of life. A white dress to match. Dolly shoes protected her delicate feet from the long walks to the countryside. The other child, in spite of his striking resemblance to the girl, was a boy. His hair too was long, grown past his shoulders and tied at the nape of his neck. A childhood roundness in his cheeks upon which galaxies of freckles sparkles in the sun. Timidly he looked to his mother with slate blue eyes.

But the boy was perhaps the most distinguishable one of them all. For in spite of being undoubtedly of Inarta blood, there was something truly odd about him. A white streak of hair sprouted from the centre of his forehead where a patch of white skin sat boldly. Another patch of white hugged the crevice of his right eye like a crescent moon. A child of Leth and Syna was he. Fire and rain in one.

“Can I not just stay at the library? Please mum.” He whispered apprehensively waiting for the door to the small cottage to swing open.

“You will behave. Or do I need to have a little chat with your father about your disobedience as of late?” replied Astrid. A quiet authority in her voice.

Fearing a confrontation with the patriarch of the Inarta family, Raeyn kept his mouth quiet. He had doubted his mother’s words once and it ended with such an ass hooping that even though years had passed since, he’d never dared to challenge the iron fisted beauty again. Certain boundaries were best not to be tested. Still he had dreaded being left at the Petri’s. He didn’t know the people nor their children and truly had very little wish to get to know them. Happy in his own company, the child was. There was little others could offer him that he could not gain the bliss of solitude. Even at such a young age, others made him uneasy.

Word Count: 606

by **Lua Petri** on August 4th, 2018, 5:10 am

.
.

12 Summer 501 AV
w/ Raeyn

The Petri family were a well-off family. Anyone would agree if asked. Their cottage in the Okomo estates were larger than some, with both a second room on the ground floor as well as a second story. They also had garden expansions and the entire plot was surrounded in a wooden fence to give their animals room to roam. They had two chickens (one hen and one rooster), a cow and a goat. The cottage had to be large, after all: the Petri family consisted of five children and their parents. Luckily, Mr. Petri worked as a jeweler in the Azure Market and Mrs. Petri worked as an opera singer at the Ethereal Opera House, together making enough to support the family.

When the mother and children arrived at their home, Mrs. Petri and three of their children were currently home. Sixteen-year-old Kaya was out working, and thirteen-year-old Karin was out with her friends. Mrs. Petri was nursing the year-old Femi and when the door knocked she told Lua, who was playing on the floor nearby, to get it. Lua looked up from her mechanical doll and whined, "But I'm busy!"

"So am I, and Karl is upstairs. You're the closest. Now go!"

Lua got up, leaving the toy on the ground, and went to the door. She swung it open, holding on to the doorknob with both hands, and peeked in. When she saw the three fire-haired people standing there, she blinked. "Who are you?" She asked bluntly, then turned to her mom. "They're strangers!"

"Let them in, baby, I invited them." Lua blushed at her mother's nickname for her, and looked back at the people. After seizing them up, especially the boy with the weird white patch of hair, she opened the door all the way and nodded. "Er... welcome? We've been expecting you, I guess."

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya

.
.

by **Raeyn** on August 4th, 2018, 10:24 am

Raeyn looked to whoever opened the door but the moment his eyes laid on the visage of a young girl, he immediately cast them to the floor. There was something intimidating in the girl a whole three years younger than him. An unmatched boldness perhaps. A spark of the energy of a lioness. Then again at that age the boy had found a very many things intensely intimidating. His hand tightened around that of his mother's who paid him no attention.

Astrid smiled to greet the youngling but it seemed she was met with a lack of manners that tested her own polite smile. If her own children behaved so inappropriately they'd have found themselves washing their mouths out with some. That was a certainty. On the other side of the red haired beauty, Mara snickered to herself, amused a little by Lua's conduct. She wasn't so used to anyone not treating her mother as if she was the single red rose in a bouquet of thorns. Mara took an immediate liking to Lua. Raeyn... not so much.

The three of them followed the crow headed child inside, leaving the hustle and bustle of the animal filled garden behind.

"Well hello Hedvika." Astrid greeted mrs Petri with bountiful warmth. Gratitude underlined every word. Clearly the woman was doing her quite the service, taking care of the twins during this time that their grandfather had fallen ill, and was unable to do so. "I couldn't thank you enough for this. These are my little ones, I believe you haven't met yet. This is my little Mara." she nodded to the girl who grinned a toothy grin and bowed her head in respect. Her brother repeated a similar gesture but timidly, eyes wide like a rabbit staring down the tip of an arrowhead. "Are this is Raeyn."

"I'm certain they'll be on their best behaviour. But if they cause you any trouble at all, do send one of your kids for me. I'll be at my father's house all day. It's only a little further down the hillside." she said.

Astrid let go of the twins and prompted them to go join Luna so that she could have a little one on one and a half (the presence of the baby she didn't mind of course) word with mrs Petri. It was so rare that the two of them had chance to truly talk with the pressure of motherhood and work always seeming to get in the way. None the less at least Astrid was very song of the talented opera singer. She'd attended many of her concerts in the day, hoping for more to come.

Soon enough Astrid was back out the door in a flurry of skirts and hair, leaving a trail of sweet honeysuckle perfume after her. The children were left along at the mercy of the Petri family or more terrifyingly, at the brazen little tike that was Lua.

Word Count: 491

by **Lua Petri** on August 4th, 2018, 10:44 pm

.
.

12 Summer 501 AV
w/ Raeyn

Lua looked between the two kids briefly. The boy seemed... wimpy, at best. Avoiding eye contact and an overall posture of awkwardness. The girl, on the other hand, seemed amused at something. Lua wasn't observant enough to know what, though. They followed her inside and Lua stood a little to the side of them while their mothers talked.

Hedvika smiled from her chair, Femi finished eating and now falling asleep. "Hello, Astrid. It's no problem at all, I do hope your father does well with you watching over him." She looked at the children as they were introduced, giving them both warm smiles. "Hello, Mara. Hello, Raeyn. I've heard a lot about you two, I hope you enjoy yourselves! Lua here is quite friendly once you get to know her, and Karl upstairs an energetic youngster."

Lua watched them wordlessly, a grin on her face that to those who knew her knew she was thinking mischevious things. Raeyn looked like he'd be fun to tease. She wondered if either of them liked to wrestle; she and Karl did often, but she would've liked to have other people to test her skills on.

Their mother urged them to go to Lua as the mothers talked to each other, and Lua bounded over to them when they hesitated to go to her. "So our moms know each other, huh? That's cool! My mom knows a lot of people; she sings, and a lot of people admire her! The whole city in fact!" Of course that was an exaggeration. Lua had no idea how many people she knew. But she wanted to make her mother look that much cooler, and in turn she would look cooler to them, too!

When the twins' mother left, Lua reached out and grabbed their hands. "Come meet Karl! He's upstairs, probably reading one of his dumb ocean books. We like to fight a lot, though. Do you guys fight? Not real fighting, but playing?" She spoke fast as she led them upstairs, stopping to get her mechanical doll first, not really giving them time to respond.

"Please don't wrestle them, baby." Hedvika called after them. "Play nice. Not everyone is as energetic and physical as you are."

Upstairs was one room that served as the children's bedroom as well as playing area. There were numerous cloth dolls scattered about, dice sets, playing cards, bookshelves, and drawing tools like paper and quills with ink. Karl was laying on his bed, reading a book labeled Laviku and Svefra: Life on the Open Water. Lua huffed, letting the twins' hands go and walking over to Karl. "Hey, fishhead. Look, new friends are here. Let's play!"

Karl looked up from his book, looking over the two with a glint in his eye. "Huh, I wondered who Mom was talkin to." He closed the book and tossed it on his bed, standing up and putting an elbow on Lua's shoulder, much to her protesting. "What're your names? I'm Karl. I don't know what you know about Lua, but she's a brat and I'm much better than her."

"Shut up!" Lua tried shrugging his arm off her, but he would just keep putting it back until she gave up. "You're the one who always gets in trouble. One time, he went into Miss Longyard's garden and chased her chickens! One even got out, and he had to spend all day looking for it!"

The two continued to bicker, seemingly forgetting about the twins.

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya

.
.

by **Raeyn** on August 5th, 2018, 5:51 pm

Raeyn tried to flinch his hand away as Lua grabbed it. The touch of another wasn't quite something he was comfortable with. He barely ever even hugged his sister, and she was the one person Raeyn could get on with to some degree. But the new girl's hold was strong and soon enough the Inarta boy had forsaken his struggles to maintain the quiet dignity with which he carried himself, even as a youngling.

Mara on the other hand grinned, merry having met a new acquaintance. She listened about her mother, eyes sparkling with wonder. "My mum did say yours sang in the opera. She said she had a voice like a song bird. How magical it must be to hear such a voice but my mum refuses to take us to see. Maybe you should persuade mrs Petri to take us to see her next concert. Oh please please Lua. How wonderful that would be?"

Raeyn... he remained quiet. The very idea of having to sit and listen to such a thing seemed nauseatingly boring to the uncultured youth. One day he'd grow out of it, gain appreciation for art and music. But at 10 he was a boy with little time to waste and so much to learn.

In truth neither of them knew much about wrestling. They rarely fought at home and when they did it was over some terrible argument and it was vicious. Bruises would result from such a fight, scraped knees and elbows, cuts a'plenty. Suffice to say the parents of the Inarta twins discouraged such behaviour. And what was a child to do, finding itself ripped from the overbearing clutches of authority. Rebellion was precisely the answer.

Mara, giggling with glee at the prospect and Raeyn, finding himself already yearning for the safety of home, followed the girl upstairs where yet another face was introduced to them. A little older than the twins, the boy induced as Karl had been reading something Raeyn would find himself much more interested in than any childish games, which he considered himself above. But the moment the boy opened his mouth, Raeyn would already find himself wishing he'd just stay on the bed and read.

"Lovely to meet you Karl. I'm Mara." smiled the Inarta, a row of perfect white teeth accenting her plump, freckly cheeks. She could tell the two would get on fantastically from the moment she laid eyes on him. Karl seemed to give a similar treatment to his younger sister that she did to the brother of her's. Endless teasing of childhood youth.

"Raeyn." said the Inarta boy, so very quietly that the children would likely have to strain their hearing to catch the name. He stood there somewhat awkwardly, watching his sister do the social part of the encounter for him.

Word count: 469

by **Lua Petri** on August 16th, 2018, 7:37 am

.
.

12 Summer 501 AV
w/ Raeyn

Lua didn't notice Raeyn's uncomfortable way of following her; she was too focused on Mara responding to her about her mother. Lua giggled and responded as they had gone upstairs, "I'll definitely talk to her! It would be so fun to go together, all of us! Her voice is definitely just as good as you've heard, she's the best!"

Karl gave Mara a crooked sort of grin as she introduced herself, and when Raeyn introduced himself his smile widened. "Huh, you two seem quite the opposites." He let go of Lua, who quickly ran her hands through her hair to get it back to how it was before he messed it up. He walked over to the twins, looking over Raeyn and Mara back and forth. He grinned at Raeyn and put a hand on his shoulder. His grip was rough; his body was similarly built to Lua's - twiggy but they were stronger than they looked. "Hey, Raeyn. Can I call you Rae?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Rae, you don't need to be so stiff and awkward with us. We're cool. We don't bite. Well, Lua might but that's just her." He looked back at Lua and stuck his tongue out. "I swear, she's like an animal. We should muzzle her or something."

"I do not bite!" Lua whined, furrowing her brow and bounding over to the three of them. "I'm super friendly!" She turned to Raeyn and Mara. "I'm just tough, that's all!" She lifted up her arms to flex, even though her arms were thin enough for a grown-up to wrap their entire hand around and touch fingertips. But she didn't seem to notice, instead showing off "muscles". She grinned at the two, but Karl rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"So, how long will you two be staying here?" Karl asked, but Lua butted in. "Their mother said she'd be gone all day!" She grinned at Raeyn and Mara. "Do you want to meet our animals! We have chickens, a cow and a goat! Sometimes we ride the cow, though she's not very active herself, and the goat and chickens are fun to chase down!" She let out a mischevious chuckle. "Karl's the chickens' worst nightmare; they never let him get close, not since he accidentally broke one of our old chicken's legs." She said it so casually, not thinking about how it might sound to the twins.

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya

.
.

by **Raeyn** on August 17th, 2018, 9:13 pm

Raeyn didn’t like the way Karl clenched his shoulder. Not one bit. Though he had no ill will towards Lua, he didn’t exactly regard her with much affection either. Karl however… Karl he was starting to seriously hate. All it took was a split second, one wrong move, and Raeyn swore to himself he’d hate that kid for the rest of his life. How very lacking forward thinking was young Raeyn.

But then the dreaded nickname came. One only Mara and his mother were allowed to call him. Rae. How childish it sounded. And by ten years old Raeyn had already grown sick of being a child and wished to venture into the world of adults that had rules he much preferred to follow. Bright for his years was Raeyn. An old soul in a young body. Thus that nickname ill suited him and the very sound of it made his stomach churn. The red headed boy looked at Karl with burning embers of hatred in his eyes from beneath his brow. Teeth clenched. Fists tightening by his side. “Call me that one more time and I’ll kick your teeth in.” He said.

But a scolding for such behaviour didn’t come at the hands of Karl. It was Mara’s hand that whacked him across the head as soon as the words had left his mouth, much in the way his mother did when he misbehaved. “Don’t way such things! I’ll tell mum.”

He looked at his twin as if he was about to start whining but alas thought better not to, else he was pining for yet another sharp whack. Mara had him in check from the day the two came to this world. And thus he shrugged off Karl’s hand and scowled at the boy once more before taking a step back so that half of his body was hidden behind mara. Though he wished the whole of him could hide. He had barely arrived and already had more than enough.

From the safety of his ballsy sister, he listened to Lua boast about herself. Though she reminded him more of a boy than of a girl. She didn’t seem to have the gentleness of obsession with dolls more girls he knew had. She was… more fun than that.

At the mention of what Karl did to one of the chickens Mara looked at him horrified. She hadn’t imagined how he could have done such a thing. Perhaps kicking the poor thing. If he did so in her presence he’d be sure to et the same treatment Raeyn did. She too scowled before smiling to Lua and politely nodding her head. “That sounds fun. I’d like that. Rae Rae would too, wouldn’t you brother.”

The expression on the boy’s face was enough to convince anyone that Mara was just saying that to torment the poor reclusive kid who wished for nothing more than some peace and quiet in a day. How he wished that his mother would have let him stay with grandpa as he asked instead of subjecting him to such awful things as play.