It was a warm day, a soft breeze blowing through the trees and rustling a few leaves. There was a heard of deer walking peacefully by, grazing to their heart's content near the river's edge. A few butterflies filled the space between the slowly moving bodies, flying away when their perch was being disturbed by the deer. 8964 copyright protection438PENANAJMDRmRykbz 維尼
I sat on a branch of a nearby tree, enjoying the peace and serenity. I watched lazily at the water flowing and the silver fishes gliding past, every now and then one would jump out of the water and fall back in with a small plop. The deer proceeded to cross the river to reach the better pastures on the other side.8964 copyright protection438PENANAG4E5JZvWl7 維尼
"Nice little spot you have here." Rodney clambered up the tree very ungracefully, and found himself a comfy spot.8964 copyright protection438PENANA26hohEfvzv 維尼
"So much for peace and quiet." I smirked at him, but not really feeling the humour in it.8964 copyright protection438PENANAfAfEbCriiu 維尼
"Don't forget about me, ya know." Mitchel a little more gracefully pulled himself up onto his own branch.8964 copyright protection438PENANASNtcPamp5v 維尼
"Now three's just a party." I threw a twig at Mitchel, watching him swat violently at the invisible onslaught.8964 copyright protection438PENANAs36k58IB8J 維尼
"Knock it off would ya." Mitchel frowned, annoyed at me.8964 copyright protection438PENANAmiJL51DDNi 維尼
"So where have you been these past two days?" Rodney asked, looking genuinely concerned about my welfare.8964 copyright protection438PENANAlbtzrzMRPG 維尼
"You know, here and there." I shrugged, really not in the mood for conversation.8964 copyright protection438PENANAAcUqQn1c2T 維尼
"We've been worried sick about you, ya know." Mitchel catching on to the same concern as Rodney.8964 copyright protection438PENANAJijhsSWVKL 維尼
"I know." I twiddled with a leaf in my hand, flipping it over and over in between my fingers. "I just needed to get away, clear my head and all."8964 copyright protection438PENANAYi50Lff42Z 維尼
"Something happened that we should know about?" Rodney becoming quite protective over me.8964 copyright protection438PENANAvexM03Ijgn 維尼
I looked over at him and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing you need to worry about."8964 copyright protection438PENANAyrbUXRo1mD 維尼
"Is it because it's that time of the month?"Mitchel blurted out obliviously, not thinking before he spoke. "I heard girls get all moody and emotional then."8964 copyright protection438PENANAK02JWvyRAL 維尼
I looked at him in disgust. "Do you feel like dying today?"8964 copyright protection438PENANA4Vzhld1zUg 維尼
He looked shocked, not quite sure what he had done wrong. "What did I do now?"8964 copyright protection438PENANA9jDRhBfDts 維尼
"Never." I clamped a hand over my face. "Will we ever talk about that. EVER." I emphasised the last word, making sure I made myself clear.8964 copyright protection438PENANA09TBcNakSW 維尼
"Wow, I think someone might actually be." Rodney smirked, enjoying the new peeve they had discovered about me.8964 copyright protection438PENANAsc4NiS5P98 維尼
"Don't." I pointed a finger in his direction, putting full force into my death stare.8964 copyright protection438PENANAoEpgCHCkUg 維尼
The two boys laughed, obviously not bothered by their concern anymore.8964 copyright protection438PENANA48QOHPDua4 維尼
"You're so predictable." Rodney began, settling back into his seat and linking his hands together behind his head.8964 copyright protection438PENANAKdeew7GEVu 維尼
"I resent that." I followed his example, getting comfortable where I sat.8964 copyright protection438PENANAPjDnnxYm9N 維尼
"You are most of the times." Mitchel pitched into the conversation.8964 copyright protection438PENANAhM5CJZjbRX 維尼
"No I'm not." My stubbornness taking over.8964 copyright protection438PENANAzvc0sNfsCU 維尼
"Oh yeah?" Rodney getting ready for a debate. "Then how did we know you'd be in this tree?"8964 copyright protection438PENANA4oVb8DqXzl 維尼
"You didn't." I relaxed, knowing where this argument was leading. "You just knew I'd be in a tree."8964 copyright protection438PENANAPXZB1KGBso 維尼
"Okay, but give us the credit of knowing to look in the trees near the river." Mitchel also getting involved.8964 copyright protection438PENANAcwKliTfXfb 維尼
"Fair enough, I'll give you two that." I shrugged, accepting the draw.8964 copyright protection438PENANAfsyPTiCD4i 維尼
"Why do you hang out so much here anyway?" Mitchel asked, thinking out loud again.8964 copyright protection438PENANADuz29Ogja1 維尼
I watched the water again, finding it calming as I spoke. "Reminds me of a better time I guess."8964 copyright protection438PENANAyKNKd5VrG5 維尼
Rodney scoffed, shaking his head at me. "I highly doubt that the orphan life was any better than this."8964 copyright protection438PENANA880f2S0ME7 維尼
I smiled sadly. "I wasn't an orphan back then."8964 copyright protection438PENANAH7XQZo7NSx 維尼
"You weren't an orphan?" Mitchel asked surprised. Even Rodney gave a confused look. "But everyone in the organisation is an orphan."8964 copyright protection438PENANAtgWRTQRMA2 維尼
"Well technically I was." I tried finding the right words. "But I was taken in before I was orphaned."8964 copyright protection438PENANAbiOsDtBwj9 維尼
"How did that happen?" Mitchel still wanting more information.8964 copyright protection438PENANADNnCkaihQW 維尼
"On the night it all went wrong, my village was burnt down." I had to blink through all the memories fighting to overload my head. "My parents were still inside our house when it was torched. I on the other hand had been rescued by Odette before the fires broke out."8964 copyright protection438PENANARUOD8jdRzn 維尼
"No ways." Rodney shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way that Odette would've risked her life to save anyone, let alone you, if she couldn't benefit in some way."8964 copyright protection438PENANAMEX8MYIaOJ 維尼
"Well she got her own personal punching bag." I chuckled at my own dark humour.8964 copyright protection438PENANAYahcWmr0Zf 維尼
"That's not anywhere close to funny Laila." Rodney squinted his eyes in anger.8964 copyright protection438PENANAp7gzllaUA9 維尼
"Relax." I said, throwing my head lazily to the side. "It's made me strong. She may be the worst person alive, but she did teach me a lot."8964 copyright protection438PENANA8OqEYCJ7wf 維尼
"Well no one could be worse than the king, ya know." Mitchel shrugged, trying to find the bright side to life.8964 copyright protection438PENANAvyxS90Lzu5 維尼
"That is very true." Rodney finally relaxing a bit with the change of topic.8964 copyright protection438PENANAS9TfEbTGeA 維尼
I really felt like we had enough to worry about than worry about our pasts, so I sat up and clung to the branch. "Come on idiots." I grinned as I hung off the branch and fell to the floor, landing lightly in a crouch.8964 copyright protection438PENANAohy5IVw8of 維尼
"Where are we going?" Mitchel asked eagerly. Rodney was not too excited about moving from his comfy spot.8964 copyright protection438PENANAStDo0eVgot 維尼
"We're going for a swim." And I ran, stripping off all necessary things before I landed in the ice cold water, enjoying the sensation of the coolness seeping into my clothes and cooling me down.8964 copyright protection438PENANAkpP9QlRq5U 維尼
It wasn't long after that two splashes joined me, laughing as they went. We splashed a while in the water, acting like real kids again, trying to see if we could catch the fish swimming past to throw at each other. After what seemed like forever, we dragged ourselves out of the water, clothes heavy with water and dragging us down. We plonked ourselves down on the soft grass, still laughing at each other. We grew still after a while after that, getting our breathing under control and relaxing in the late afternoon sun. No one spoke for a while.8964 copyright protection438PENANApFXimSqoDj 維尼
"Hey guys?" Mitchel broke the silence, sitting up while he spoke.8964 copyright protection438PENANA7267KeIpS8 維尼
"Yeah?" Both Rodney and I replied at the same time, sitting up to face Mitchel.8964 copyright protection438PENANAAzm5YdueQG 維尼
"Promise we'll be friends forever." He looked so eager, so innocent in his questioning.8964 copyright protection438PENANAgDUmI3bJ8B 維尼
I smiled at the two of them, my heart filling with joy at the thought of being able to call someone a friend after so long. "Promise." I laid my arm out at an angle towards the center of our circle.8964 copyright protection438PENANANU4bN4EsPR 維尼
"Promise." Rodney smiled, following my lead and held my wrist, holding his own arm at an angle.8964 copyright protection438PENANAEr7OvwUAi8 維尼
"Friends forever." Mitchel said again, smiling as he spoke. He held onto Rodney's wrist, the angle of his arm allowing me to hold his wrist. Our hands formed a triangle, our band of friendship formed in front of us. We smiled, enjoying the support we felt from each other.8964 copyright protection438PENANAHvBHVZWbbT 維尼
For the first time in a long time I felt not only completely happy, but also content with my life.8964 copyright protection438PENANAPqonvNqOWI 維尼
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