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. copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLA8oNL9go
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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaZcMC2mHF
"Nice little spot you have here." Rodney clambered up the tree very ungracefully, and found himself a comfy spot.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdRnMSVJtN
"So much for peace and quiet." I smirked at him, but not really feeling the humour in it.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTz91XXM6d
"Don't forget about me, ya know." Mitchel a little more gracefully pulled himself up onto his own branch.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIoaUaMWwt
"Now three's just a party." I threw a twig at Mitchel, watching him swat violently at the invisible onslaught.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlHtJtlEdP
"Knock it off would ya." Mitchel frowned, annoyed at me.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMI1VKZTw6
"So where have you been these past two days?" Rodney asked, looking genuinely concerned about my welfare.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HOvRJFDFc
"You know, here and there." I shrugged, really not in the mood for conversation.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hyOLhi7Vv
"We've been worried sick about you, ya know." Mitchel catching on to the same concern as Rodney.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoiFpdpp7W
"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."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdDjJu2p8I
"Something happened that we should know about?" Rodney becoming quite protective over me.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡBg095LroTm
I looked over at him and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing you need to worry about."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPLbvapUzw
"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."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5KuotZrT8
I looked at him in disgust. "Do you feel like dying today?"copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡaupbEuX5SQ
He looked shocked, not quite sure what he had done wrong. "What did I do now?"copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMFdYboo5Y
"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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡVW3Frs9qU2
"Wow, I think someone might actually be." Rodney smirked, enjoying the new peeve they had discovered about me.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4xYfctcim
"Don't." I pointed a finger in his direction, putting full force into my death stare.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K8IY7UnvZ
The two boys laughed, obviously not bothered by their concern anymore.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqWp6nSgOM
"You're so predictable." Rodney began, settling back into his seat and linking his hands together behind his head.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoRRm63Qjm
"I resent that." I followed his example, getting comfortable where I sat.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡcm6l55sZsY
"You are most of the times." Mitchel pitched into the conversation.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOpWewj7N8
"No I'm not." My stubbornness taking over.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6wKYTR2Jb
"Oh yeah?" Rodney getting ready for a debate. "Then how did we know you'd be in this tree?"copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVxvgDAJC3
"You didn't." I relaxed, knowing where this argument was leading. "You just knew I'd be in a tree."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡICS7y7ESer
"Okay, but give us the credit of knowing to look in the trees near the river." Mitchel also getting involved.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08xxTwrLya
"Fair enough, I'll give you two that." I shrugged, accepting the draw.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡWX6usn737K
"Why do you hang out so much here anyway?" Mitchel asked, thinking out loud again.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PmZXU7BMm
I watched the water again, finding it calming as I spoke. "Reminds me of a better time I guess."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NuAlo6M9F
Rodney scoffed, shaking his head at me. "I highly doubt that the orphan life was any better than this."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5C3z4rH7y
I smiled sadly. "I wasn't an orphan back then."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡrenNekIlVu
"You weren't an orphan?" Mitchel asked surprised. Even Rodney gave a confused look. "But everyone in the organisation is an orphan."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYicyEAFqJ
"Well technically I was." I tried finding the right words. "But I was taken in before I was orphaned."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoPWsp1T68
"How did that happen?" Mitchel still wanting more information.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxnPkB93X5
"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."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡyE3QQBurgV
"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."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBj0xLpyFw
"Well she got her own personal punching bag." I chuckled at my own dark humour.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡH634VoG5rD
"That's not anywhere close to funny Laila." Rodney squinted his eyes in anger.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZidQ9PlA6
"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."copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLHBMemcN2
"Well no one could be worse than the king, ya know." Mitchel shrugged, trying to find the bright side to life.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡIv8MA4ag9C
"That is very true." Rodney finally relaxing a bit with the change of topic.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkBcysmoNW
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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4IcFvr2He
"Where are we going?" Mitchel asked eagerly. Rodney was not too excited about moving from his comfy spot.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qJdcjinAs
"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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvMBIl34JR
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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eWKqCfRFX
"Hey guys?" Mitchel broke the silence, sitting up while he spoke.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KoQXA9gYK
"Yeah?" Both Rodney and I replied at the same time, sitting up to face Mitchel.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYfvzXQD2A
"Promise we'll be friends forever." He looked so eager, so innocent in his questioning.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3OrNf437J
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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dtp3r0dHY
"Promise." Rodney smiled, following my lead and held my wrist, holding his own arm at an angle.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpWdUwbL9d
"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.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFha74qb8x
For the first time in a long time I felt not only completely happy, but also content with my life.copyright protection254ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9LoyPPy2w
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