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Below a blue, cloudless sky, Azura stamped angrily through the dry field that stood as a barrier between the woods and Athens' city gates. Defiantly, she kicked every unfortunate rock and grass stem protruding from the ground that caught her eye. Her pretty pale features were corkscrewed tightly and beamed a ferocious red. She'd never been so angry in her entire, all be it short, life.
"I'll never go back!" she said, repeating the promise she'd screamed at her mother just minutes before, "I'll never go back. And… and they'll miss me. Then they’ll wish they'd never said such things!" Determination squaring her tiny jaw, Azura stomped into the shady protection of the wood, quite content with the thought of never having to study in the dusty old library of Shoraki temple again.
Kalisha heard Azura the moment she’d entered the wood. A slow, warm smile washed over her tan face and she dropped from the tree branch she'd been lazing across, falling to the forest floor without so much as the snapping of a broken twig.
"Another fight." She murmured to herself, shaking her head with a chuckle. Quarrels between Azura and her mother, Wintre, had become quite frequent in the passing months, and as a result Azura was spending more and more time in the woods with Kalisha. Even though Kalisha enjoyed her ever growing time with Azura, she did worry about the time the girl was losing in her studies at the temple.
Kalisha never agreed with the majority of the Shoraki's teachings. Her life in the wood was so radically different than the lives of the Shoraki, confined in their temple, that she could find very little in the standard Shoraki education that would be useful to a Fury. But, Azura was to grow old in the temple, not in the wood, and so Kalisha pushed the continuation of her lessons, despite her own disliking for them. Preparing today's small speech as to why the girl should return, Kalisha started forward, bridging the mile or so gap of forest between her and Azura.
Azura never knew exactly where to walk once she'd entered the wood. Kalisha seldom camped in the same place twice, and Azura's knowledge of the forest wasn't keen enough to navigate in the first place. Despite Kalisha attempting to teach her tree identification, she didn’t spend enough time in the woods to properly learn all the species of trees, let alone how to distinguish one birch from another. So she merely walked, knowing that within an hour Kalisha would drop from the trees, directly in her path. Sometimes, Azura would play a game she'd made up, she would walk as silently as possible, hoping to be quiet enough to that Kalisha could not hear her footsteps, but to this day, she had never succeeded.
Today was not a day that she wanted to bother with games. Her temper had swelled so much in her argument with Wintre that she unsettled dead leaves and snapped dried twigs without a care. If anything, the extra noise would help Kalisha find her sooner, and if ever there was a time she needed Kalisha's company, it was today.
Much as she expected, within minutes she heard a familiar human rustle in the bushes behind her.
"I know what you're going to say, but I've made up my mind, and I'm not going back. Ever." she said, turning just in time to see two men step from the underbrush.
"Well, ya moight be v'ry roight there, pretty." one replied in a thick, oily voice.
"I'll never go back!" she said, repeating the promise she'd screamed at her mother just minutes before, "I'll never go back. And… and they'll miss me. Then they’ll wish they'd never said such things!" Determination squaring her tiny jaw, Azura stomped into the shady protection of the wood, quite content with the thought of never having to study in the dusty old library of Shoraki temple again.
Kalisha heard Azura the moment she’d entered the wood. A slow, warm smile washed over her tan face and she dropped from the tree branch she'd been lazing across, falling to the forest floor without so much as the snapping of a broken twig.
"Another fight." She murmured to herself, shaking her head with a chuckle. Quarrels between Azura and her mother, Wintre, had become quite frequent in the passing months, and as a result Azura was spending more and more time in the woods with Kalisha. Even though Kalisha enjoyed her ever growing time with Azura, she did worry about the time the girl was losing in her studies at the temple.
Kalisha never agreed with the majority of the Shoraki's teachings. Her life in the wood was so radically different than the lives of the Shoraki, confined in their temple, that she could find very little in the standard Shoraki education that would be useful to a Fury. But, Azura was to grow old in the temple, not in the wood, and so Kalisha pushed the continuation of her lessons, despite her own disliking for them. Preparing today's small speech as to why the girl should return, Kalisha started forward, bridging the mile or so gap of forest between her and Azura.
Azura never knew exactly where to walk once she'd entered the wood. Kalisha seldom camped in the same place twice, and Azura's knowledge of the forest wasn't keen enough to navigate in the first place. Despite Kalisha attempting to teach her tree identification, she didn’t spend enough time in the woods to properly learn all the species of trees, let alone how to distinguish one birch from another. So she merely walked, knowing that within an hour Kalisha would drop from the trees, directly in her path. Sometimes, Azura would play a game she'd made up, she would walk as silently as possible, hoping to be quiet enough to that Kalisha could not hear her footsteps, but to this day, she had never succeeded.
Today was not a day that she wanted to bother with games. Her temper had swelled so much in her argument with Wintre that she unsettled dead leaves and snapped dried twigs without a care. If anything, the extra noise would help Kalisha find her sooner, and if ever there was a time she needed Kalisha's company, it was today.
Much as she expected, within minutes she heard a familiar human rustle in the bushes behind her.
"I know what you're going to say, but I've made up my mind, and I'm not going back. Ever." she said, turning just in time to see two men step from the underbrush.
"Well, ya moight be v'ry roight there, pretty." one replied in a thick, oily voice.