Runaway

Runaway

She brushed through the darkened forest, making sure to keep her back pressed against the bark of the ancient trees.  Sion paused, bow gripped in her right hand as she cocked her head to the side, her hair streaming over her back.  The color of her hair, the slant of her eyes and her pointed ears betraying her elven heritage; hence she made sure to keep the hood of her cape pulled up and over her head when amongst humans.  Most still did not take well to her kind.  It was one thing to read fictional stories involving Elves and the Fae, but sixty years ago, the Revealing, as the Mortal Governments wished to term the thinning of dimensions, began.  Now, humans, half-humans and non-humans all fought for the right to live within the same space, but that is a tale for a different day. 

Sion had not even been alive sixty years ago, but her mother had.  She told her stories of how they came through, within a small town of Blackbird Hill within the Adirondacks Mountains.  Her hand began to itch as the brand flared to life, bringing with it memories of her childhood growing up in Blackbird Hill.  Life was peaceful, quaint one could say; possibly even normal.  Her kind was welcomed by the humans, merging into their everyday life.  The Elves settled into a small community on the outskirts of town, near the forest, so as not to cause disturbances or problems with their more natural lifestyle.   Quickly several homes were built, which resembled log houses, nothing was made of prefabricated structures; instead everything was natural and silicone free.  Sion’s mother was pregnant at that time with her, so she busied herself preparing for her arrival.  Her father, an elder amongst her people, spoke with the humans, working out treaties and laws, which would allow for trade and work agreements between the two races. 
Within the Town of Blackbird Hill the two races managed to live peacefully, never knowing of what life is like outside their small world; but then again Blackbird Hill was more remote from the rest of the world, as it was further up in the Adirondack Mountains, away from “cultured” civilizations. 

Sion paused from her memories as a sound brought her back to the present.  Dragging an arrow from the sheath upon her back, she brought her bow up towards her face; cocking the arrow and drawing string backwards towards her cheek.  Her eyes began to glow a deep blue as they took aim upon the doe before her, staring deep within the female’s eyes, which was a mistake upon Sion’s part.  She stared to long… to hard… Within her ears she began to hear the “thump… thump… thump…” of the doe’s heart as it stood before her only fifty feet away, looking back at her.  A soft voice reached out to her, whispering into her head “Why?”

Sion could feel her grip upon her arrow and bow tighten, though she did not release either, she continued to stare deep within the creature’s eyes, captured by what she knew not.  “Why?” The voice asked again… “Leave me be!” Sion whispered back, demanding release; the brand upon her hand burning to the point she almost drops her bow.  “You have run from your kind, from who you are, and yet you are still who and what you are?  Why?” The voice demands.  Sion closes her eyes hoping to shut the voice out.  Her hands drop to her side.  Perhaps if she keeps her eyes shut long enough, the doe will be gone.  She stands there counting… 1…2… 10… 56… The numbers go on and on.  She finally stops at 367, before she opens her eyes.  Cracking her eyes open slightly she peers through them, only to find the doe standing there patiently waiting.  “LEAVE ME BE!!!!” Sion screams.  “JUST LEAVE ME BE!!! I do not wish this!” Her voice sobs and cracks as she shouts at the creature across the way.  “Why?  Why do you refuse to acknowledge who you are?”  The voice asks.

Sion spins about, flipping her bow over her head, strapping it upon her back.  Sheathing her arrow, she swings up amongst the trees.  “If you will not leave me, then I will leave…” her voice rebellious and stubborn, almost sullen as she stands still upon a thick oaken branch.  “Child of Nature… Why do you run?” The voice asks, both amused and sad as it follows her.  “I run because you will not leave me alone!”  Sion looks back over her shoulder to see the deer still standing there, as if waiting for something or someone to come to her.  Waiting for her, perhaps? 

She turns once more towards the creature, leaping from branch to branch, curiosity and resignation upon her shoulders.  The whiteness that flows through her long locks flying through the air, as her hood falls back upon her shoulders.  Coming to stand just above the doe she hunches down, her hands gripping the wood of the oaken branch between her fingers.  She can feel the ancient bark as it rubs between her pads; and she tilts her head to glance down upon the creature, “Tell me then, what do you want of me… Why have you followed me for so long?” Sion begs for answers from that which speaks through the doe.  “Now is not the time, Child of Nature, but soon you will understand; for now you must accept who you are, your mother’s daughter.”

Sion’s eyes once more begin to glow blue as emotions flare within “You wish me to return from whence I came; to go home!” She waves a hand towards the sky and behind her angrily, her pointed ears twitch at the concept.  “All must return home and face their demons, child.  It is how one grows.  It is time, time for you to stop running.” The voice is kind but firm as it explains its purpose to Sion, knowing the child is not likely to react well at first to this news.  “Running? Who is running?  I have been surviving just fine on my own!” her own voice responds with scathing loneliness, “I haven’t needed anyone from home…” her words belie the wistful undertone as she is drawn back into her memories and she can see her mother’s beautiful face before her. 

Her mother, Dianysus, whose arms she can almost feel about her, as she would hold a small, younger Sion upon her lap, pointing out the different natural herbs to be found within the forest; even as a small child Sionnan absorbed the knowledge her mother taught her.  She loved hearing the sound of her mother’s voice, soft and musical, firm and yet filled with laughter.  She knew how to make the smallest of hurts ease with a song.  Magic was natural for their kind.  They used it to help those, careful to use it in small doses and never tapping into the wild magic that allowed humans to be able to see the power.  She would laugh at Sion’s idiosyncrasies, seeming to know there was more to her, though she did not realize the differences would include wild magic.  Wild magic had not shown in their family in many centuries.  To appear now in a time of peace and prosperity with humans… this could only foretell disaster and must be hidden!

  The first time Sion’s eyes glowed, she was barely 3, surrounded by rabbits, a deer and other wildlife.  Sion was laughing and dancing with her new found friends, talking and playing with the animals when her mother came across her, in the grass.  Seeing her eyes shining blue, she cried out scooping her up and ran for the house.  Later that evening her mother and father spoke long to Sion telling her “Good little girls do not speak with the animals; they also cannot let others see their eyes glow. This must remain a secret; a special secret.”  Sion was confused for many years, but she wished to please her mother, her beautiful and kind mother.  She did not think to speak to the animals was wrong, nor did she know her eyes glowed, but momma and papa said not to speak of it to anyone, so it must remain a secret. 

The years swiftly went on and Sion grew, as the town grew.  Sion attended school with all the other children in Blackbird Hill.  Life moved along at an average, normal pace.  None was the wiser over what happened so many years ago, until that fateful day.  It was a May day, her senior year.  The girl was… well who the girl was no longer matters.  Sion’s memories latched onto that day as a shiver runs down her back.  She runs swiftly over them, recalling the uncontrollable anger she felt that day over becoming embarrassed at school, allowing the magic to bubble and explode from within, as she aimed it towards the girl who had succeeded at embarrassing her.  The end result, she had managed to turn the girl’s hair bright electric green and bright pink striped like a candy cane at Christmas time.   She recalled how the girl started to scream as she looked in the mirror in the locker room after gym class, while her friends were all panicking with her, unsure how to react over her new hair color; Sion’s mother had been so upset and scared, and her father had to work overtime attempting to convince the principle and parents of the diva girl it was simply a childish prank.  There was no such thing as magic, right?  Sion, scared by her own emotions and afraid for her parents, packed a backpack and took off into the woods that very night.  She had been running for ten years, living within the mountains, her only companions the animals and nature. 

Coming once more back to the present, as she blinked away her memories, swallowing hard and wetting her now dry lips, Sion turned to the doe and faced her with sad eyes “Time to go home… time to return to Blackbird Hill.” With these words, Sion dropped down from the trees to the ground below, whereupon she began walking several feet over to the left to where her campsite was.  Sion repacked her few belongings within her knapsack, rolling her sleeping bag into a tight roll, strapping it at the bottom of the pack, and hefted its weight upon her back, careful not to disturb her bow or sheath.  Finally ready, a water canteen in hand she turns to face the creature one last time, trepidation and slight anxiety weighing upon her shoulders as she looks the doe in the eyes, pulling her hood up over her head in preparation of her journey…  “Very good, Child of Nature… and now the story begins…”