deia876lat

Frostridge

Ella had checked in on her sister a little later, but Selene seemed quite dejected and ready to just give up.
She had gone to bed early and had more or less asked if they would take over for a while.
Not that Ella minded, but she and Edric were pretty clear about the reason. Whatever the deal was with Captain Malcom, he clearly had had his effect on their sister. Ella knew what it was her sister ailed from.
Heartbreak.
Like in the stories, she had simply fallen hard for the man and his sudden leaving probably felt like rejection.
Normally Ella would not be surprised her sister's stubborn pride would have chased the Captain off, but it was rather uncaring and rude of him to just leave as if she meant nothing, as if they hadn't mattered.
Well, time to take matters into one's own hand. Early that morning she poked her brother awake and told him to go and get ready.
"What for?"
"We're going to look for him and tell him to come back and otherwise you'll have to challenge him for Sel's honour." Ella stated as she tossed him Sel's vest.
"Excuse me?" Edric looked horrified. "Why the hell do I have to challenge him?"
"Because you're the only man in his household, though truthfully you're more mouse than man."
Edric looked annoyed at her before bringing up a strong point. "But we don't even know where he went...for all we know we could be looking in the wrong places."
"He can't have gotten far yet, since he can't travel at night and it was pretty late when our sister came back, plus he wanted to go to Alaska, my guess is he headed towards the North. Plus there are some caves around there, a good place to hide."
Edric frowned at the knowledge his little sister seemed to have, but refrained from making a comment on it.
"All right, but we're not going unarmed. After what happened to sis, I have no intention on getting munched on by anything." He said as he took the rifle his sister had taken that fateful night when Ella had gone missing.
"You can lead the way, I'll be right behind you."

Jewel of the Skies

Of course I don't mind, I'll just have to weave my punishment into our story *smirks wickedly*.
All kidding aside, family is important and I hope you'll have a good time.

Frostridge

"He's got quite the temper hasn't he?" The Doctor refered to Selene looking at her in worry.
"Yes, but I am sure he has his reasons for it. Still, he shouldn't have acted that way towards you, I'm sorry for that." She apologised.
The doctor nodded,.
"I'll ask old Jeremiah to take you home himself, you shouldn't walk all the way back on that leg. You need more time to heal."
Selene frowned.
"I need to run the farm...how long will I have to..."
"Maybe your siblings can help you out with that. Otherwise you'd need to hire help. I'm sure the Elders are willing to do so if asked."
Selene sighed, feeling defeated.
She didn't need to wait long for her ride home and felt terribly empty when she limped into the house.
When she entered she saw the saddened faces of Edric and Ella as a note lay on the table in front of them.
"So he left huh?" Selene asked barely audible.
Edric looked at her with concerned eyes.
"What happened with the two of you?"
Selene explained as best she could what Malcom's had told her and how they had discussed the matter. She felt worn and in no mood for dinner. Edric confirmed that their sheep had been brought back and that they had mentioned that their sister had been attacked.
Selene sighed telling both of them what had happened and cast her eyes down.
"Please...just take a little rest sis." Were Ella's worried words.
Selene nodded walking towards the barn. "I'm going to take a bath first I need to get the stench off of me, besides I still have one good hand, so I am not a complete invalid yet." She said forcing a smile.
"I'll get you some water and other clothes..." Ella offered as she hurried upstairs.
Selene simply waited now having to rely on others to help her, its was almost soothing in a way if it didn't feel so dreadfully wrong.
When the bath was ready Selene asked Ella to just leave her be for a while.
There as she sat down into the tub she felt herself break down completely. Desperate she stifled her sobs, not wanting her brother and sister to hear her grief.

Frostridge

Her cheeks flashed red at his remark, as he carried her all the way to the village.
Sadly the doctor wasn't in, but that didn't stop Malcom from busting down the door, to which Selene could barely believe her eyes.
Outside the commotion had started and some had gone to inform and fetch the doctor.
As he placed her the doctor's bed Selene could barely get two words in.
"Malcom calm down, he'll be here in a few moments I'm sure..." Before she watched him tear up the house for supplies.
She was about to protest even louder when he placed the strip of leather in her mouth to bite on, making her realize he wasn't going to wait.
As the fluid was poured over her wounds she could barely hold still.
"WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HERE!" Doctor Faustly spoke as he hurried inside, finding the pair. His spectacles fogged up from the running he had just done.
"I suggest you step aside lad. No offense, but as the young lady is part of the village I do not want to see her care butchered up." He said as he made his way towards them and regarded the would with a careful eye and shook his head at him.
"Devildogs?" He asked looking rather concerned about something.
"Next time clean the wound first." Was his stern yet fatherly reply, before turning to Selene speaking in a much softer tone.
"My dear this will need stitches. So I will need you to be brave and keep looking and holding his hand." He suggested, before he shifted and told the man to sit on the otherside of the bed and keep her occupied.
Doctor Faustly opened up a drawer looking around for his steriled set of needles and some thread.
Selene grabbed hold of Malcoms hand trying to not look at what the doctor was about to do.
Still it hurt like hell, she squeezed into Malcom's hand looking at him with pleading eyes, but knowing she had to allow the doctor to do his job.
The leg seemed less drastic, and only required two small stitches. Her arm however held more than 10.
He bandaged them up with clean wraps and told Selene to take it easy for a while. She would need to rest and recover and got a salve for the pain and itching as well as a tea to sleep better.
"There you go my dear, now I suggest your friend borrows a mule from Jeremiah unless he intends to carry you all the way back to Ramsley Farm." He said with a teasing smile, before turning to Malcom.
"Next time, I'd prefer if you didn't tear up the place like a hurricane, but instead look with a bit more care. Some of the bottles contain hard to get ingredients that are a hard to replace." He said as he took his glasses off to clean them with his hankerchief.
"Lady Weaver will be needing your assistance too, doctor. She got attacked too." Selene told him worriedly.
"Not another...I wonder if they simply escaped their Farlander masters. It is all most troubling. First the Millerboy, then you and now you tell me poor Maggie Weaver was attacked as well? I shall have to inform the other Elders of this. We might need to set a watch upon the border again." The doctor stated before he dismissed them and suggested they should head home.

Frostridge

Widow Weaver came limping towards them.
She tore the sleeves of her own shirt off and tore those in makeshift strips, before she started wrapping up Selene's wounds, so the bloodflow would be stopped.
"Go to doctor Bentley in the village...He'll be able to help her." The grayhaired woman said nodding kindly to Malcom. "I thank you young stranger, we owe you our lives." She spoke before nodding at Selene.
"I'll send William over to watch your siblings..." Maggie started before Selene interrupted her.
"No...the flock, let him take the flock in before dark." Maggie nodded at Selene's own suggestion before she scolded the other farmer.
"Oh Donald I'm sure the Carvers will be able to fix it up and otherwise I'll hand you that old monster of mine if you're so separate for one." She said as she limped onwards.
"Maggie, you can't be walking like that back to the village. I'll go and get the mule." Donald said leaving the others to their business.
Selene was crying and whimpering in pain, as blood stained her clothes and feeling nauseous escaping from her rather fatal fate.
Still more worried for his clothing, she protested somewhat.
"I'll be fine, I probably can walk..." She protested trying to stand up, but sink ban down immediately as her body flared with pain.
"You'd best carry her, we can't risk anything else showing up and taking us by surprise." Maggie suggested to Malcom.

Frostridge

Selene kept watch over her flock until the midday hour started and moved over to Malcom.
"I'll go get us a bite to eat, I'll be back in a couple of minutes." She told him still feeling a sense of anger or unease come off of him. She could tell he was disappointed in her, but what choice did she have?
Thinking a little picnic would do the man some good, food after all was a wonderful healer of bad tempers, she hurried home and packed up a basket with all sorts of goods and after they would take the flock home she would suggest he'd take a tour of the village at the least. If was so focussed on leaving then he'd better go and get some orders for tools and whatnot in. Also some thicker clothes that he wore now.
Feeling rather gutted by the fact that the one guy that had entered herself seemed to dead set on leaving again, her feet faltered a bit.
That was before a cry tore through the woods.
Fear immediately struck her, who was in trouble? It was still daylight.
To assure herself of that fact she cast a glance up at the sky before another terrified scream tore her away from that and almost forced her to run in that direction. If it was one of the village...
Making her was towards it she noticed one of the Elders Widow Weaver cry as two of the Devildogs of the Farlanders tore and dragged her away by her leg. The woman cried out for help, but this seemed to only make the dogs more aggressive.
They were a monsterbreed from the City. They were bred to deal with the creatures, but these two seemed far more interested in people. Having nothing but her wooden staff, she put the basket hopefully out of sight and reach from the beasts. Then she swallowed, gathered all her courage and tightened her grip on the staff.
"I must be insane..." She uttered before she ran at them and whacked one on his head while screaming to get lost.
It earned her their anger. Before the Elderly woman could offer any thanks the two dogs focussed on Selene.
Slowly being driven backwards, her staff was the only thing that stood between them. Bared bloody fangs flashed and she could almost see the murderous red radiate from their eyes.
Panic and Adrenaline fought for control within her as she tried to keep calm and focussed.
One lunged at her, to force an opening, before the other jumped up and went for her throat. Through the sheer speed and force of the attack her staff broke as she had tried to bat it aside and she fell, immediately followed by the pain of the fangs that sunk into her flesh.
Through sheer luck she had brought her arms up and that had been her rather painful rescue. The first dog had latched onto her upperarm and started dragging her, whilst the other had sunk its teeth in her leg, shaking her violently.

Frostridge

She felt her face flush and her breath stop as she listened to his words, when he took her hands in his she felt her insides turn into goo.
Think Sel, Think. Her brain poked at her as she felt hooked and drawn by those beautiful eyes.
"You'd... you'd really want to stay with us? Are you sure you'd be able to live with me? Like my brother tends to say I'm terrible." She said with a nervous chuckle.
Oh she couldn't deny the attraction. She wasn't sure what it was that drew her to him, but what she always had regarded as foolish fawning of the other girls from her village over the young men, she now couldn't deny that she was just as guilty of the same behaviour.
What saddened her though was that he was so set upon leaving. She really didn't want to think of that.
But to leave herself? Leave her family home? If she had been alone she would have cast it all aside, but she wasn't alone. She had siblings that depended upon her. Her brother required medicine and treatment and if she pulled away Ella now, she would not be able to offer her any possible future of her own making.
Her sense of reason reminded her romantic heart that love was nice, but was not enough to survive upon.
"Alaska?" She frowned at his words. "And live where? In what? What will we do for food or other supplies?" She felt like she needed to force some reality on him.
"If we just go with the clothes on our back we'll starve within the year." She said, knowing she had to pedal back and not scare him off.
"Listen..." She took better hold of his hands stepping even closer to look at him with earnest eyes.
"If it just had been me then I would have followed you to the ends of this world, but I have more than just me to worry about." She sighed heavily. "Edric's health is frail and he needs medicine regularly and if Ella wants to have a choice in her own future than I can't uproot them. The village and the Elders despite your protest have provided for their needs when I wasn't able to pay for it. They care in their own way, but if that shackles you too much I understand. I however am not as free to go as I please as you are. I suggest you stay for a while at least, garner some supplies before you begin your trek up North. I couldn't bear the thought of you starving out there." She stated before she took his face in her hands and gave him a chaste kiss upon his forehead.

Frostridge

Selene looked saddened at his words, knowing all too well what losing one's family meant.
That was before he startled her from her thoughts by all his other questions, causing her to chuckle a bit.
"Our Elders decide a lot, but not who we marry. It's just that the village depends on its people. I am no leatherworker or smith or doctor or teacher. We all have a trade and perform a certain amount of hours of labour or fruits of our labour to pay up the toll for the tribute." She explained. "I provide the wool of our sheep, I don't have to give up everything, but we all supply goods and services for the tribute. Yesterday was our toll day where you have to bring in your goods and get a supply of rations from the rest. Because I supplied more wool and a couple of sheep last year, I was able to pay for things I can't make myself, like those boots you're wearing and some more meat and potatoes." She smiled knowingly.
"Oh sure it isn't freedom, but I didn't hear you complain last night or this morning about the food you consumed or the tea and milk you drank. Bella I traded for early on, because I wanted to have more say in what I could offer up as tribute. The Elders only kick a fuss when you can't pay and it is not like they'll evict you. They just try to find out what works best. Also normally girls want to get matched up because they look forwards to a life of their own, away from their family. It's just that I am the exception." She smiled at that.
"It is all Ella thinks about, getting swept off her feet by a handsome young stranger at the Tribute feasts, though she reads far too many novels, I wanted to indulge her this year by letting her attend with a new dress. The Elders sort of encourage the young people to mingle during these feasts so that the future of the village is guaranteed. They'll even invite neighbouring villages in order to get some new blood in." Selene explained as she started walking along the fence knowing that there were some berry bushes nearby and intending to get some.
"So you're free to live your life more or less." She ended looking at him with a gentle smile. "It isn't so bad."

Frostridge

Selene sighed as she walked over to the shed doors and opened them completely, allowing him to ask his questions, as she opened up the fence for the flock again. As on cue the sheep followed the fence work, eager to go outside and head towards the pasture.
"Well technically it's not our land. Our family more or less is allowed to use it from the village, the land we do own is the land we're standing on and the farm itself." She said as she turned to him, nodding for him to come along as she walked on the otherside of the fencework along with the flock.
Waiting for him to catch up she took a deep breath and started explaining what happened.
"My mother and father died, they were attacked by those creatures and killed, it happened 6 years ago when I was 15, they had gone out to help out a family that otherwise had trouble getting stuff ready for the yearly tribute. Being the kindhearted people that they were they went to help out for at least a week at that point, but they didn't return.
The Elders send out a search party and found their bodies, their wreaths torn from their necks." She shivered as she told him this.
"The Elders suggested we would be taken in by other families, but I wouldn't have it. I didn't want to lose my brother and sister after already having lost our parents. So, I made a deal. I would fill that roll, pay the yearly tribute and we would be allowed to remain the way we were. If I would fail in my duties, well...let's just say I have still managed to pay the toll each year." She stated proudly as she raised her chin up with some pride.
"Though girls in our village start to get 'paired up or matched' when they reach the age of 18. So far I've been able to avoid their matchmaking schemes, but I know from my friend that they'll start to demand I find someone. That's what Edric meant with his teasing." She sighed as they entered the green pasture in one of the open area's of the woods. It had been fenced all around and divided into section for quicker and easier retrieval.
Leaning against the fence she stared out over the pasture.
"I love my brother and sister, truly, I might act and look like a harpy, but its only because I am very well aware of what is at stake. What I have to lose and wanting to keep my family for as long as I can." She looked down before she looked at him.
"Which is why you shouldn't feel any obligation towards me, make your own decisions. Don't let me keep you from doing things you need to do. I just have to play 'mom' all the time that I sometimes forget that people should have a say in their own lives." Before mumbling.
"Besides for all I know I am keeping you away from your own loved ones and that wouldn't be fair of me if I did."

Frostridge

"Well you'd always be welcome." She said as he took the dishes out of her hands. "Though the decision is really up to yourself. Anyway, I have to go and take the flock out to the pasture." She said as she stood up and heard the rumbling coming from the upperfloor, clearly her siblings were up.
"Ella! Stop taking dad's vest, it's mine, you have mom's!" Came the complaint from Edric as Ella sprinted downstairs, clearly having healed well enough from her troubles yesterday to be up to her regular misschief again, with Edric limping behind her. Ella bolted down the stairs clearly wearing a woolen vest that was two sizes to big for her slender frame.
Selene sighed before taking a spoon and slamming it down upon the dinnertable drawing the attention of the others to her.
"Edric stop shouting and Ella give Edric back his vest or so help me I will make you do all the washing for a month and chain you to the bloody tub!"
Ella looked horrified.
"You can't that's slave labour!"
"Do you really want to test my patience Ella? DO you?" Selene warned as she put her hands on her hips, before turning to Edric and saying.
"Sorry Edric, but I am claiming Dad's vest for now for Captain Malcom. He's coming with me to tend the flock and he'll need something warmer than only a shirt."
Edric's eyes widened, he hadn't noticed Malcom yet, since the man was standing out of view for the two.
"You mean he's up?"
Selene nodded before she winced as the two hurried towards the diningtable to ask her, but now saw the man in question standing a few feet from them.
"He doesn't stink anymore...and didn't he have longer hair a beard?" Ella asked, having barely seen the man and trying to recall what she remembered from last night.
"Yes, but he cleaned up nicely." Selene said. "So why don't you give him dad's vest, as Edric said you don't need it since you have mom's." Selene pointed out and watched her sister frown, before taking it off and moving over to him.
"Hi, my name is Ella, nice to meet you Captain and thank you for helping us." Ella said with a bright blush on her cheeks.
Edric rolled his eyes at it and said.
"You're just as bad as she is." Edric said to Ella pointing at Selene, earning him a glare from his older sister that he ignored before asking. "She didn't push you into anything right? You're free to say no, you don't have to be shackled down to harpy like her." This earned him a swing, that he quickly dodged.
"See, she's as violent as they come!"
"I will show you violent you miscreant!" Selene said grabbing a pillow of the couch and flinging it at her brother, this time hitting him square in the face.
"I need to take the flock out, you two can go and have breakfast, but by the time I come back this place better be spotless!" She threatened.
Ella groaned. "Not more chores..."
Selene glared at her. "Don't complain to me, your actions from yesterday nearly cost us our yearly tribute! So you have a whole lot to pay for Ella. You are hereby under house arrest for a month!"
"That's not fair!"
"After what you did it is more than fair!" Selene threw back. "Ask your brother how badly behind you were!" Selene stated as she pulled on her own vest aggressively and grabbed one of the larger staffs. "I'll be out, I will see you later." She promised as she grabbed Malcom by the arm and dragged him along into the shed, ignoring the whispers from her sister asking her brother about last night.
"Oh, she practically waltzed all over him...that was before she cleaned him up, you should have seen her, the moment that beard had come off her face grew bright red..."