[CENTER][h1][color=B3ADAB][b]CATHERINE CORIANDER[/b][/color][/h1][/center][hr]Walls of cobbled stone brick worn down by decades, maybe even centuries of wind and water, a massive wooden gate with more modern additions to seal the rotted parts, the foreboding aura of something just a little ‘off’. There was no mistaking that Tacet City loomed in front of them. Necks craned back as far as possible so they could see as much of the top as possible, four children swallowed in nervousness.

“Y-you think he got in through there?” Verbena wondered, pointing at a fresher gap in the massive wooden gate, another chunk having sloughed off, the recent additions failing to hold everything in place.

Rue went first, poking her head through. “Cassia coulda gone in.” Testing it, she stepped through, the tiny girl having now issue even without letting go of her teddy.

[color=B3ADAB]“Hey, get back here!”[/color] Coriander snapped. Rue hopped back over, back standing straight. [color=B3ADAB]“If something happens, where’s the town doctor?”[/color]

Sorrel, Rue, Peppermint, and Verbena all chanted in unison. “By the docks, look for the rocks, then turn to Coriander’s house and see the cross.” Peppermint’s eyes widened, the girl wondering, “Wait did anyone check there? Mrs. Poppy is super nice so maybe he’s hanging out with her, or he got himself hurt…”

The five of them stood in silence, eyes going to Coriander, who sucked in her lips, eyes drifting off to the side. [color=B3ADAB]“Well, we’re not going home and coming back just to check.”[/color]

Sorrel whispered to Verbena while Coriander moved towards the gap. “I think she just wants to see the city herself.” Verbena nodded in concurrence while Coriander poked her way through the hole, shifting her shoulder through. Pulling forward, her other one only shoved against the rotted wood, which refused to give.

[color=B3ADAB]“Oh come on!”[/color] she grumbled, before pulling herself out, plopping onto her skirt.

“Well, you are bigger than us,” Sorrel giggled.

Flashing pink, Coriander shouted, [color=B3ADAB]“Nooooo!”[/color] Turning back, she mumbled, [color=B3ADAB]“Not like this.”[/color] Standing up, she planted her sleeves on her hips. [color=B3ADAB]“Alright Peppermint, I’m lifting the ban, just this once.”[/color]

Peppermint squeaked. “W-wait, really?” With a watery tone, she wondered, “Won’t I get in trouble?”

Coriander approached, patting Peppermint on the head. [color=B3ADAB]“I really think Cassia is somewhere in there. I don’t think he’s in danger, but...I just kinda feel it. I’ll take responsibility! The door needs to be fixed again anyway, just try not to-”[/color]

“Okay!” Peppermint cheered, tiny fists balled up as she steeled her will. Slipping past Coriander, she placed one hand on the giant gate, her second one pulled back. As she wound it round and round, Coriander and the others scrambled backwards. “HIYAAAA.”

A crash split the air as wood tore around Peppermint’s fist. Coriander had been aware of her strength for just about as long as anyone in the town. It was certainly superhuman, something latent and abnormal. But even so, seeing the force that could come from that tiny body was always breathtaking. Normally, the rotted wood would have fallen easily around the area she punched, but she’d aimed a bit high, hitting a rusted brace that was lashed across the whole door. The metal was blasted out, ripping a fair share of wood at the same level along with it. Splinters showered the air, and the smell of must and rot blasted the nose. But it wasn’t over yet: the others had stopped to watch the fallout, and the giant gate continued to creak and groan. With another snap, it tore from the upper brace that kept it mounted to the stone walls. The massive gate, easily 50 feet tall, started to tumble down.

[color=B3ADAB]“PEPPER, RUN!”[/COLOR] Coriander called. The girl started to dash towards them, but the gate was already coming down, and no one was clear. Teeth gritted, Peppermint kicked against the ground, leaving a footprint in the firm dirt. Two arms outstretched, she came into contact with the door, slowing its fall. Then, she pushed her two arms out, the gate flipping in the opposite direction. The decrepit wood smashed into the ground, reverberations rumbling throughout the area at the same time Peppermint herself hit the ground, bouncing to a stop as the dust settled.

Jaws on the ground, three kids pushed past Coriander. “That was so cool!” “Pepper you’re awesome!” “I’m sorry I said we wouldn’t hang out with you I didn’t mean it!”

As they helped Peppermint up, the girl looked to the gate with a look of worry, then back at Coriander, who was approaching the kids with her eyes wide on the gate. [color=B3ADAB]“I’m gonna be in so much trouble.”[/color]

Peppermint whined, “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, I just got excited and-”

Coriander’s sleeved hands pressed on the girl’s cheeks, silencing her. [color=B3ADAB]“Don’t worry about the scolding I’m going to get later, you saved us, didn’t you?”[/color] Peppermint’s shoulders still trembled as the adrenaline ran its course, but the girl gave a nod. [color=B3ADAB]“So, let’s go find Cassia!”[/color] Swallowing back her trepidation as her heart began to calm, Peppermint joined the others as Coriander led the way, climbing over the fallen gate into the long vacant streets of Tacet City at last.[hr]Buildings rarely shy of two stories, roads stretched into grids, Tacet City’s orderly construction of angular buildings and wide windows was offset by the chaos and ruin of the dilapidated place, walls spilling out into the street, windows everywhere shattered, the glass deformed like it was slowly melting away. Every so often there was a skitter that froze the group in their steps. Even though they knew it was a cat or rodent finding shelter from their approach, the eerie quiet was a booster to the wrong kinds of imagination. It didn’t help that the occasional bone stuck out of the earth, reminding the world of its owner, long since fallen.

“W-why did we come here again? It’s too big to search all alone,” Sorrel whined.

“I think it’s cool!” Rue giggled.

“If there’s any monsters I can fight them,” Peppermint spoke in awe, looking down at her two hands.

Verbena gasped. “Monster!” Peppermint shifted in front of him, looking to see a shattered window reflecting herself in the lighting. After a few seconds to process it, her head sunk, the girl pouting as she beat back tears glancing back at Verbena.

Verbena was about to giggle when Coriander bopped him on the head. [color=B3ADAB]“She saved your life and that only kept you from teasing her for 15 minutes!? And you’re gonna scare the others if you keep shouting.”[/color] At the end of her line, the sudden squawk of a crow nearby made her jump a bit.

Clearing her throat, she started forward again, Rue hopping ahead while Coriander kept her eyes peeled, as much skyward as they were ground bound. After a few minutes, Rue started to turn off their main road. Coriander glanced around before shouting, [color=B3ADAB]“Stop!”[/color]

Rue glanced back, but her legs kept going. “Huh?”

[color=B3ADAB]“ANGELICA RUE I TOLD YOU TO STOP!”[/COLOR]

Rue froze in place, foot hovering in the air, the girl struck still by the weaponization of her full name. Eyes glancing back in front of her, she found that foot hanging over a gap in the road, a hole several foot deep stretching across the former side road. Letting out a wail, she flailed backwards, arms going wide as she fell to the stone. There was a low rumble, then a whine, before Rue started to cry, the eruption of emotions from the near drop, and the mild pain from the light fall tipping her over the edge.

[color=B3ADAB]“Untie these!”[/color] Coriander demanded, Verbena and Sorrel complying and releasing her hands from their sleeves. Going forward, Coriander helped Rue to her feet as she sobbed. [color=B3ADAB]“No running ahead, okay?”[/color] Looking up to the others, she repeated, [color=B3ADAB]“Okay?”[/color] Four heads nodded in compliance, before they started on yet again, Rue steadily calming down, teddy clutched tight in her other arm.

A few minutes of walking later, their path started to take turns with Coriander’s guidance, but the shadows got longer as the day wore on, less light peeking through the clouds above. However, no matter how many forks or bends they came to, Coriander didn’t seem to slow. “How do you know where we’re going?” Sorrel suddenly asked, breaking the growing tension of silence.

[color=B3ADAB]“H-huh?”[/color] Coriander gawked.

“How will you know which way is back? Especially if it gets dark?”

Coriander’s mouth hung open, her lips flapping without the words she was struggling to find. Finally she stopped, blurting with a strained voice, [color=B3ADAB]“I know where I’m going!”[/color]

“Which means you’ve been here before,” Sorrel said brashly, his words decided before Coriander revealed what he’d already guessed. Verbena walked up to Coriander, aiming a kick for her shins, one she skillfully dodged with a shuffle.

“We’ve always been told we’d get in big trouble for coming here, but you’ve already been here!” Verbena snarled.

[color=B3ADAB]“...Well...”[/color]

Peppermint frowned. “I thought you were [i]good[/i].”

Coriander winced. She threatened a weak smile, but it couldn’t come. Weighing it down was a sinking feeling in her chest, one of shattered expectations in herself, the self appointed big sister of these kids. She’d tried to be something of a role model for them, but she didn’t need to be told it wasn’t sticking. [color=B3ADAB]“I’m sorry...”[/color] Her head bowed, the clouds above moved a little bit faster as the wind picked up, a few leaves getting carried out into the open.