Remember The Storm–– Day 5 (February 6, 2317)

[Lithium]

Siren

Siren stretched and yawned as she sat up in bed. She hadn't gotten back to the house until around 2 or 3 last night, when the dust storm had almost blown itself out.

Hungry... better go ahead to the mess.

She pulled off her pajamas and put on a pair of jeans, some snake-proof work boots, dashed out the door and launched herself off the porch.

Trey

"Hey, Ash. Wake up. It's time for work. We've got to get ready for trade day."

Ash groaned and rolled over towards the wall.

"Whatever." Trey turned away from him and stalked out of the room and the house.

"Hey, Siren!" Trey said after she jumped off her porch. "Mind if I walk with you? Where you going?"

"The mess."

Trey ran to catch up and Siren smiled.

He's pretty good looking. But skinny and effeminate isn't my thing.

"What's up? Where's the kid?"

"Still sleeping," Trey said with a sigh. "He's just..."

"Just let him live a little. He's just like me when I was his age, except he has more responsibility."

Trey nodded silently and they walked the rest of the way to the mess hall.

Matthew

Matthew sat up in the dust-vault, his neck aching and his eyes filled with sleep from the sand. He sighed.

Standing up, he steadied himself against the wall, then stumbled out of the vault. He was craving meat.

He smelled it. Bacon. He tried to control the wolf impulses telling him to go after it.

I'm a man, not a beast. Get it together, Matthew.

He straightened his clothes and followed the smell of bacon to the mess hall.

Perseus

Perseus looked over Hazel's sleeping form as he fixed his semi-formal attire.

Got to look good for your girlfriend, don't you?, he asked himself.

He looked back at Hazel and felt a slight pang in his gut, as though he was leading her on.

Perseus shook his head. Whatever. Not my problem.

He fixed his pistol and holster to his belt, finished tying his shoes and climbed up the ladder to the surface to get some food at the mess hall.

I wonder if they'll have bacon...

[Cytherea]

Hazel

Hazel slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the room, and then threw the covers over her head.

"Finally... a nice bed." she groaned under the blankets. "I'm still so tired."

Suddenly, she sat up, pushing the blankets off of her.

"I'm hungry too."

She crawled out of the bed.

"Ugh. I've been wearing the same clothes for days now. I've got to buy something in town today. These clothes are trashed."

She pulled her shoes on quickly.

"Uh, hmm..." she studied the room. "Guess I'll come back the way I came."

Hazel walked to the ladder and climbed up it. She pushed against the hatch, lightly at first.

"Stupid hatch..." she muttered.

She banged against it, hard, and it flew open. She jumped out quickly and slammed it shut.

Julvely

Another night sleeping outside. Another night with the shoulder wound. Another night of silence.

Julvely marched up to a house nearby. She raised her hand, and gently knocked on the door.

[Brock]

Jack

After spending the night at a hotel in Lissy's town, Jack and Gillian went to the breakfast bar. After they had eaten, Jack decided to go back to the pawn shop because he wanted to ask Lissy something. They went out into the cold morning air and made their way to the pawn shop. To Jack, the air seamed smokey much like wet wood burning in a fireplace but he took no notice of it thinking someone was just warming up their house.

Just before they got to the shop, Jack and Gillian saw a black pillar of smoke rising from where Lissy's shop was. Jack and Gillian where both thinking the same thing,"Gangs". Quickly they sped towards the shop. Jack, being lightfooted, was first to come in sight of what was left of the shop. Black studs where slowly burning down to the base of the house where there was more smoke than flame now. He also saw Elisabeth crying outside the ruin of her house.

As Gillian came in sight of the scean, Jack said to him,"We should go over and see what we can do to help"

[Anwen]

Gillean wasn't listening to Jack. He ran straight for Lissy and knelt down beside her. "Hey, are you all right? What happened here? Who did this!?!" Gillean said, growing increasingly angry with every word.

[Brock]

Lissy

"Hey, are you all right? What happened here? Who did this!?!"

Lissy looked up, tears streaming from her purple eyes. "A gang came during the night while I was sleeping and set the old shop on fire. I got out just in time before the shop started falling down." She went once again into a crying fit. "All my things. Everything I owned, gone."

[Lithium]

Maya, Brad & Kelsie

"Yes? Can I help you?" Maya asked as she opened the door. She smiled broadly as she saw a girl with bright blue hair. Another refugee?

She noticed the bandage and quickly said, "Oh! You're hurt, come in, come in! I'm a nurse at the local medical center here. I can patch you up. How old is it?"

Kelsie ran up to her mother, loud and smiley, noticed the girl and suddenly shied. She hid behind her mother's skirts.

"Hey, Mom! Did Trey already leave?" Ash asked as he came downstairs. He came to the door and saw the blue haired girl. His eyes widened. "Are you a refugee too?"

"Asher!" Maya said sharply. "That's rude. Please, come in. Come in."

[Cytherea]

"Th- thank you." Julvely murmered. She stepped inside the house. "My name is Julvely." She turned towards the boy, (Asher, she believed) who had ran down the stairs. "Yes, I am a refugee. I've been for a while now."

She favored her shoulder slightly.

"While I was escaping, I got blasted in the shoulder. I patched it up a little, but," she shrugged. "It's not too bad."

She took off her bandage without difficulty, and revealed a bloodied shoulder. Most of the blood was dry, but the wound was obviously getting infected.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your morning." She said, looking down.

[Lithium]

Maya shook her head. "No, no. It's all fine. So what brings you to Borderway, other than being a refugee?" She went to the cabinet and pulled out a large first aid kit, opened it up wide and pulled out some bandages and antibacterial wipes and cream.

Asher sat down at the table and put his head on it and groaned.

"Hush, Asher. You should have gotten to bed earlier."

"Maybe I could have, if Trey hadn't spent almost all evening chewing me out. Not to mention, there was a sandstorm."

"Maybe he wouldn't have spent so long "chewing you out" if you hadn't been put in the detention center. We just lost two weeks worth of wages paying your fines."

"Whatever. I'm going to the mess to find my friends." He got up and stormed out of the house.

"I'm sorry. My son, Ash, can be a handful and a gallon of trouble to boot. So, what is your name. I am Maya. This is Kelsie, my youngest." Maya looked down at Kelsie who was still clinging to her skirt. "Can you go get our guest some water?"

Kelsie nodded shyly and then scampered off to find some water.

[Cytherea]

Julvely smiled as she watched Kelsie run off to get some water.

I never had a little sister. Just a bossy older brother.

"My name is Julvely. Julvely Sapphire. My parents are in prison, in Ambia. My brother was... sort of drafted into the Ambian army. I ran away as quick as I could, and somebody saw me." she jerked her head towards her shoulder, just slightly. "But I got away."

Julvely sighed.

"I won't get any help from my brother, almost guaranteed. But I plan to get my parents out of prison, though, it might take a while to have the means."

[Lithium]

Siren & Trey

Siren and Trey took their food on the cafeteria-style, red plastic platters and sat down at an empty table. The mess was filled with loud, talking voices and laughter as people relaxed for the morning, until the supply barge came in.

"What's your job when the supplies come in?" Siren asked in between forkfuls of egg.

"Transportation of food supplies for the mess. Yours?"

"Management of the transportation and organization of medical supplies. I hope we have enough weapons for trade. Matthew hopefully fixed enough."

"How many for this payment?"

"It depends. Probably a hundred or so. We've got some high-quality weapons."

"What happens when we run out of broken weapons?"

"Hopefully Perseus will be married to Ciel-Mer Solari by then and our cities will join together. Then, we'll be able to work on training for the war that we'll no doubt get dragged into."

Trey nodded and took a bite of his fruit salad.

"Can't you at least try to eat animal products? You don't have to be vegan here."

"Old habits die hard," Trey said with a shrug.

Matthew

Mathew sighed and took a seat by a window all by himself. I don't know anyone here.

A pretty black haired girl sat down across from him and smiled shyly at him. He smiled back, then winced, remembering his fangs. "Sorry. I don't want to scare you."

She shook her head and smiled again.

"Can't you speak?"

She shook her head.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

She shrugged.

"Well, feel free to stay here. I don't know anyone yet."

She smiled again and nodded, before patting his arm and digging into her food.

Matthew looked down at his breakfast and gulped everything down quickly. He looked back up at the girl who looked at him confused, her head cocked to the side. She held up a finger, stood up and dashed away.

He sighed. I just chase people away.

She came scampering back just as he was sitting back down with seconds. She carried a pen and some paper in her hands.

Sorry I left so suddenly. I need to remember to grab my paper and pens when I go out, she wrote.

I'm Kit. You must be Matthew. Thank you for your work on the Ion weapons. We'll be able to trade those with the Sky-Port of Solari for food and supplies. They cost a lot of money.

Matthew nodded. "Glad I could help."

Maya

Maya pursed her lips. "I wouldn't even consider that at this time. We just need to win the war and they'll let the prisoners go free. My... my husband is with them."

Kelsie dashed back with a glass of water and set it next to Julvely. She looked at her hair and giggled before scampering back to her mother, tugging on her skirt and whispering something in her ear.

Maya laughed. "Why don't you ask her yourself."

Keslie's smile faded a bit and she blushed before she turned to Julvely and quietly saying, "Is your hair normally that blue, or is it dyed? Are you an I.S?"

[Cytherea]

Julvely

Julvely smiled at Kelsie.

"Yeah, I dyed it. I'm not an I.S, otherwise it might be this color on its own; you never know."

She cocked her head slightly to the side.

"And how old are you, Kelsie?"

Hazel

Hazel made her way to the place where it seemed the whole town was gathering. She walked to the counter.

"What can I get for you, ma'am?" the man behind the counter asked. "We have fresh bacon and eggs this morning."

"That sounds wonderful..." Hazel frowned. "Oh... drat. Does it cost anything?"

The man stared at her.

"Duh, yeah." he said.

"Urg. I'm too hungry not to eat." Hazel groaned. She turned back to the man and fluttered her eyelashes. "Can't you let me have it for free, just today?"

"No." the man said firmly.

"Fine. What can I do to get it?"

"Work in the kitchens, if you don't have any money on you right now." he said with a shrug. "Right back there. Make a few breakfasts yourself, and I'll let you eat."

Hazel rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the guy.

"All right, then. I'll make a few meals."

She walked through the swinging doors into the kitchen area. People were walking by with trays and cups, and other people were making food.

"Um, miss?" Hazel asked a lady walking by. "Where should I work?"

"You a new recruit?" the lady asked, eying her up.

"No, I-"

"We need you making pancakes." the lady jerked her head towards a griddle and a bowl of pancake mix. "Hop to it."

Hazel quickly walked to the griddle and stared into the bowl.

"Never done this before..." she murmered. "Never cooked before, actually."

She put her hair into a high ponytail and forced a smile.

"But there's always a first time!"

She ladled out some of the pancake mix into a smaller container. She poured the pancakes onto the griddle.

"My goodness, this is easy!" she said, grinning.

She stopped smiling when the pancakes slowly started running together.

"No! No, don't do this to me!" she yelled at the pancakes.

She tried to separate them from each other, but realized quickly that she should instead take them from the griddle.

"Oh boy... these guys are burnt." she groaned.

She preceded in making two more batches (both of which resembled the first greatly), until she heard a man yelling from the other room.

"Hey! If you have any weapons, put em down and leave em down! We've got our guns trained on you, so do as I say!"

Hazel grinned.

"Ooh!" she whispered. "A bandit! I've always wanted to be in this situation. Except I'm one of the guests who just happens to have an incredible idea of how to get out of this predicament. Now I'm a cook and waitress."

She grinned even wider.

"Perfect."

She grabbed a long, thin kitchen knife and put it into her boot. She quickly put her extremely burnt pancakes onto a platter and walked out of the kitchen, smiling widely. She walked past the bandits, still smiling. She placed one of the platters of pancakes in front of a guest who was shaking like crazy.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully to the bandit. "How are you and your men doing today?"

The man who appeared to be the leader turned his gun towards her.

"I know you." he muttered. "You're the Hazel girl."

Hazel was sure her face was as white as a ghost. She tried to keep her smile strong.

"Oh, yes... my name is Hazel." she said.

The man lashed out and struck her across the face. She fell down, her lip bleeding. But she was smiling even wider now. Her hand slipped to her boot while she pretended to be hurt. She started to push herself up, before jumping with a sudden movement onto the guy's back. She held the knife right by his neck.

"Now put your weapons down, uglies!" she yelled to the men, who were obviously having a hard time assessing the situation. "Or your ring-leader gets his throat slitted."

"You wouldn't dare." one of the men said. "You're just a girl."

Hazel made a quick cut on the guy's neck.

"I'll go deeper next time." she warned.

The leader made a strangling noise, and Hazel quickly released the pressure just a little on the knife. The guy ripped her off his back with his huge hands and threw her across the room. She hit the wall with a sickening thud, and everything went black.

[Anwen]

Gil's blue eyes darkened to midnight in his fury. He put his hand on Lissy's shoulder and squeezed gently. "It will be alright Lissy. Jack and I will get those thugs and have them pay you for the damage, right Jack?" he called as Jack came running up.

[Lithium]

Perseus sighed as he glanced back at Hazel, who had been moved to a bed in the infirmary.

Stupid, impetuous girl. She should know when to let professionals deal with infractions. She's like a newborn calf–– always sticking her nose into things.

"Perseus?" a cool, female voice asked from behind him. He turned and his breath nearly left his body.

"Ciel-Mer Solari. How––"

"You have no need to be so formal with me." She walked forward and embraced him. "I've longed to see you."

He ran his fingers through her hair, then protectively wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head. "Luna. Not––"

"I know this is no doubt one of your many conquests." She looked away. "I hope you plan on breaking it off within the week. You know how I feel about your... infidelity."

He nodded. "She's a trainee. Besides, she could never replace you."

Lunealise nodded. "Good. Now, about the trade. We should work out the details."

Perseus opened the door for Luna and then followed her out and down the hall.

Foolish Hazel. Trusting a manipulative snake like me.

[Cytherea]

"She's a trainee. Besides, she could never replace you."

"Good. Now, about the trade. We should work out the details."

Hazel kept her eyes shut. Her heart was beating quickly, angrily. Her insides felt like they were boiling. She heard them walk away.

Oh that repulsive, reckless, undependable, immature, careless, obnoxious, ignorant, girly, fat, disgusting midget! I can't believe I ever liked him! That's it. That is it. He can share his stupid salsa with that other girl for the rest of his ex-girlfriend days.

[Brock]

Jack

"Ah...yeah, sure! I bet Kyle can help us. Elisabeth, do you want to come with us?"

Elisabeth

"Um...I guess so. I mean, I don't have anything to stay here for and I have nowhere to go to. Thank you for helping," She looked up at Gillian and smiled weakly.

[Anwen]

Gillean felt his face soften when Lissy smiled at him. He turned to Jack; "Do we need to go back to Borderway for him?" He looked back down at Lissy, "Do you want to use my horse? I think she can carry two."

[Lithium]

Perseus sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Is Ciel-Mer Anton here?"

Luna looked away. "Of course he's here. You probably won't be able to see him, though. He's indisposed at the present."

"Oh," Perseus said, relief edging into his voice.

"I will never understand why you two hate each other."

"He thinks I'm a lying scumbag who wants to marry you so I can take over your kingdom!"

"Well, you are often a liar. I'm not sure about the scumbag part. And, if not that, then why are you marrying me?"

"Well, first off, because you're the most incredible girl I've ever met in my entire life."

Luna blushed. "You're also a flatterer."

"No joke. Plus, I just want what's best for my people and for yours. It would be a mutually beneficial relationship."

[Cytherea]

Hazel quickly got out of the infirmary bed and stretched.

"Brand new day!" She said with a wide smile. She grabbed a fresh set of clothing that was sitting near her bed and quickly took a shower. She brushed through her long, thick, chocolate-brown hair with her fingers.

"I wonder where Mrs. Adams is. Probably already starting work."

Hazel heaved an upset sigh as she looked at what she was wearing.

"A pink dress. Seriously?"

She slipped on the white high-heels and smoothed down her hair.

"Hmm." She said, considering her appearance in a mirror. "Maybe a curl today. Strange things- found a curling iron in an infirmary bathroom."

She curled her hair into long, thick curls, and then put her hair into a high ponytail.

"Now; better get to work."

[Brock]

Lissy

"That would be nice, but I can get there on my own." She then unfolded a pair of black wings and took to the sky.

Jack

"That's most likely where he'll be. I bet he's over by the shooting range by Table Rocks." Then seeing Lissy growing impatient he said to Gillian, "We better get moving or else Lissy will leave us here."

[Lithium]

Lunealise nodded and continued her brisk walk down the hallway.

Perseus looked at her furtively. She bought it...? He sighed in relief.

"Oh, and just to let you know, we're hosting a ball to celebrate the second year of our engagement. Please bring all the people you can."

Now she's going to fish for when we're actually getting married...

"When will we be able to throw a ball for our wedding?"

Perseus shrugged. "I don't know. I've got so many loose ends to tie up, not to mention the war brewing between OneNation and Ambia. Ambia is on the march and already has covert operations going and OnNa is drafting and training soldiers like nobody's business."

"Excuses, excuses, excuses, Perseus. Casper was right about you. You have no sense of commitment."

"I do too! I've got loads of commitment! I'm committed to you, and us, and the welfare of Borderway, and––"

"Whatever. We'd better get back to the supply exchange. I don't want any accusations of shorting on either side. We've practically got pirates for a crew."

Perseus nodded and inwardly sighed in relief. I dodged that bullet.

[Cytherea]

Hazel found her way from the infirmary to the place where she worked. At least, she hoped it was where she worked.

"Hello?" she said, stepping inside. The place looked rather deserted; junk was piled in boxes, and spare gun parts littered the floor.

"Not the right room." Hazel muttered. She smiled and quickly walked farther into the room.

"Hello?" She called again. "Anyone... here?"

Suddenly, the sound of a gun firing came out of nowhere. Hazel dropped to her knees and waited for the shooting to end. She fought back a wave of dizziness that almost took her out.

"Must be from that little incident from before." She remembered the slave traders face. What had they been doing in town? The shooting stopped, and Hazel crawled from her hiding place. Not looking where she was going, she accidentally cut her hand on a piece of glass.

"Urgh..." she bit her lip and waved her hand in the air. "Darn it, stupid glass." She stood up and held her injured hand protectively in her other hand. "Hello?" She called again.

[Lithium]

Matthew heard someone call out, "Hello?"

He quickly stood up and walked to the archway between this room and the adjoining area.

"Oh. Hazel, right?" he asked, seeing her. "What're you doing here? I thought you were in the infirmary."

[Cytherea]

"Yeah, I was. I've got too much to do to stay in the infirmary, though." she let her breath out slowly. "But... I've got a question."

She pulled up a chair and sat in it.

"So, like, this isn't really happening to me or anything like that, but I was just wondering. Since you're a guy, do you ever have girl problems? I'm asking for no particular reason, just wondering. Like... are there girls that like a specific guy, and then he pretends that he likes them too, and then he finds... or say he already has, a different girlfriend, and he leaves me hanging? Uh, he leaves them hanging? Are you familiar with these sort of things happening in the modern world? No reason. Just asking."

Suddenly, a girl's form shimmered into appearance behind Matthew. She was beautiful, with long, red curls, and a fashion model's body. Her eyes were a deep dark blue.

"Oh...oh, oh... oh,oh,oh,oh,oh..." Hazel said, pointing. "She just came out of nowhere."

"Matty, it's me. Cassandra." the girl said.

[Anwen]

Gillean stared at Lissy rising high above them in the sky. "We better get moving or else Lissy will leave us here." Jack said impatiently.

Gillean turned back to him and grinned wolfishly. "Well let's go then! Come on!"

[Hwin]

Hunter leaned down and tugged on the ear of Beowulf, her German Shepherd. Beowulf whimpered and licked her hand. "Oh you!" Hunter laughed, patting the dog's soft coat of fur. Looking around, the hazel eyed girl sighed. "You understand me better than Dad. That's for sure." Getting back up on her feet, Hunter looked around the town. She'd been here before because it was the nearest town to her dad's farm. "The mess hall is just up ahead...I'm sure I'll make it in time for breakfast," Hunter mumbled to Beowulf, who barked, running up ahead. Hunter laughed and quickly chased after him before he might run someone over.