Chapter 3: Ember, Octavius, and the Plan
I opened my eyes to see my sisters calm green eyes that she inherited from our mother. A dream, I thought. From a time that is no longer possible to go back to.
"Sorry birdie, I didn't want to wake you but what are we going to do now? I asked the squirrel a branch over and he told me the evil guys and goo looking people are gone, so what do you want to do?"
That's right although my dream was a distant memory the actions of the attack were just last night. I decided last night that protecting the last of my family is my duty. Probably now the last of our kind. Thinking about our kind makes me remember the horrific screams I heard last night, so I push away the realization for now. I turned to look at Ember whose eyes were puffy and red. She must have cried by herself last night. I would consider myself to be a "not crier" but Ember, really never cries even though she is still so young. She didn't even cry when she was born, mother was hysterical for about two minutes thinking she was dead. It took my dad and the doctor about an hour to fully calm her down and reassure her Ember came out perfectly fine and healthy.
"Em, I was thinking last night and I am going to go back down there and see if there is anything to salvage from our house. When I come back….. we will go over the barrier." I said with hesitation.
"...if birdie thinks that is what is best then I believe in you. I already asked swirl if the coast was clear a little while ago."
"Who is swirl? I don't think I've heard of that one before." I said
"Oh. He's my new friend, he's a snail. Last night a bird that was about to eat him dropped him and he landed on my head. Since you were asleep I didn't have anyone to talk to so l confided in him... about, last night. She said in a daze. Anyway, since I saved him he said he would check out our home for us. He came back a little over an hour ago and said it didn't look like anyone was coming back."
Another thing about Ember is she has the ability to communicate with all living organisms. Yes, not just animals but plants too. For people at the village this was a new gift. But Ember was not feared upon like me, but accepted. Our village was all about no discrimination, but I guess I was the acception. Even though she was accepted it didn't stop some from thinking Ember herself was a little strange. Which I can't Argue with. Who wouldn't think seeing a child having a full in depth conversation with a snail wasn't creepy? But I'm used to it so it never phases me when she brings up a new name or spices to add to her friend list. Em also by habit gave us animal names based on how she sees us. For me, she calls me birdie. She once told me it was because I am adventurous and when she looks at me I was always changing and doing my best. My father told me that it represented me well, since birds are also called the link between heaven and hell. They can swim, but they also can soar high into the clouds.
"Ok if you trust swirl so do I." I said to her.
"Great, when are we going down?"
"I am going down, YOU are staying up here with Octavius until I get back."
Just then as if I called on him, Octavius woke up from his hibernation with a dazed look on his face.
"Sis, what's going on?, Are mommy and daddy going to come back?"
Unlike Ember, Octavius is still too young to understand certain things. One of them being to not talk about obvious things for a reason, and the other thing is like most 5 year olds, he asks too many questions.
".... Mother and father are on a very important mission so they can't be with us right now." He looked at me with a look of confusion.
"When will they come back then? I want to see them!" He said as he started to tear up.
"I know, but would father want you to cry? Would mother want to see you so unhappy when it is so unlike you?" I said wiping the one tear away that escaped and was on his soft cubby check. He immediately stopped crying and started nodding at me.
Octavius was super cute. He got a lot of attention, and not just because he was the youngest. All the ladies in the village would get super jealous of how sweet he was especially as a five year old. All the other five year olds from our village were, to say the least, hooligans. Most of the time Octavius played with the girls or father because he couldn't get along with the other few boys who were his age. Our mother called him our cinnamon roll. Which was the most fitting name of all since he was cute, soft, sweet, and had chubby cheeks. And more creative than my nickname for him, which has always been O. But I guess Octavius followed in my nickname giving path, considering he calls me Sis, and Ember E. Even though he cries often unlike Ember, he is still very understanding and knows when to be strong. Even me and Em gave him LOTS of attention, and couldn't even argue with him getting most of it from everyone else. Especially when he gives you the look. Like the one he is giving me now. The big ice blue puppy dog eyes, with the look of a mixture of understanding and determination. I could never refuse him of anything when he looked at me like this in the past, and now.
"Birdie, I love bunny and all but, why can't I go with you? It was my home too."
"Ember's nickname for Octavius was bunny. Which is also very fitting for obvious reasons.
"You want to leave O up here by himself? What if he falls out, or the invaders come back and he starts crying and they find him?" Em looked at me with a indifferent look before she spoke,
"Fine, but just know" she said while leaning to whisper into my ear. "I know the real reason you won't let me come. I might be young but I can handle it and face the facts. Especially if this is our life we will probably have to face worse later." I then pulled back and gave her an understanding look and mouthed,
"I know."
I then saw O giving me another look of confusion, so I kissed him on the forehead.
"Sis will be right back. I'm going to grab a few things for our journey." I said as I gave him and Em a reassuring hug.
I then proceeded down the tree knowing that what awaits me will not be pretty.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone