Hello, community!

My name is Jabbawack and I have recently began writing The Alchemist Adventures (TAA). I have come to tell you I will be starting a new short story series to keep you occupied as I have almost lost interest in TAA. However, if a thought comes to mind, I will be sure to add it to TAA, but for now I hope you will enjoy my new series. Tomorrow I will release the first part of Eyes in the Nothing, as well as every Friday until the series is complete. I don't often write in anything other than first-person, however I have decided that I need to overcome that issue and write a story in third-person point of view. So I will. (This one isn't all that great, because I didn't feel the need to add detailed words 'N such)

Thank-you for your time,
-Jabbawack

P.S. Don't forget to review each chapter when added. ;) (You can find more chapters past some of the comments)

Prologue

Somewhere, out in a land of fantasy...

A small girl of about four sat on her bed. Everything around her was very pink, white, and frilly. On her lap resided a huge, old book, opened to a yellowing page. The book's title was simple, 'Fairy Tales'; it's cover powder blue with golden decorations all over it. The book was at least a good twenty years old and dog eared due to having been read so much in that amount of time, the pages loose and threatening to fall out unless taped in tightly.

The door to the bedroom opened and the child looked up at the extremely beautiful woman who entered, her hands behind her back, a kind, loving smile adorning her face. Her hair was dark, eyes a clear shining green, skin soft and clear as her child's. Even if there had been a stern expression upon her face she would have still looked just as kind and beautiful.

"Have you picked out a story for tonight sweetie?" The woman asked in a soft voice, sitting down on the bed and drawing the child into her lap. Her daughter nodded and held up the book, pointing at the page. "Ah! Cinderella! That's a wonderful choice, darling. I don't think we've read it in a week at most." The little one clapped enthusiastically at the praise she'd received. The woman smiled before continuing. "But first my dear daughter, I have a surprise for you." And she pulled a blanket out from behind her back.

It was a beautiful blanket in itself. White, soft canvasy feeling linen covered in pictures. It was wider than it was long, making it more to wrap around one's self than to sleep under. Each bottom corner had a blue fairy surrounded in silver glitter dust, facing inwards. After each fairy, heading towards the center of the bottom of the blanket was a yellow star, a golden crescent moon between them, also bordered by glitter dust, but blue/green instead of silver. Above each of these five figures were two, blue, words, one on top of the other, making up two sentences when read across the length of the blanket. 'Follow Your Dreams My Child. Your Heart Shall Guide You.' Under each sentence was a sparkling line of silver.

Above the sentences, to the right was a picture containing a path, castle, lake, village, forest, and house. Acrossed from this, on the far left were the words 'Never Let Fear Hold You Back. For There Is Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself.' Towards the center of the blanket was the golden silhouette of a roaring lion, rearing on it's hind legs, golden glitter dust all around it. Above the lion was a rectangular patch surrounded by lace. It was embroidered with the words "Princess Ebbie's Story Time Blanket' then followed by a large heart, all in the child's favorite color, pink.

In the top corners of the blanket was a single cloud each, and then in-between these was a cloud going all the way off the edge of the blanket the words 'Once Upon A Time, Long, Long, Ago...' inside in silver. Each cloud was full of white glitter dust, as well as bits of silver.

The kind woman wrapped the blanket around her small, gaping child with a smile before beginning their story for the night. "Once upon a time there was a..."

"And they all lived happily ever after." The woman finished the story, having read every single word of it. She tucked her daughter into bed, placing a loving kiss on the child's forehead and ruffling her hair. "Good night my sweet, dear little Ebbie." The child smiled, kissed her mother's nose and snuggled down into her covers, hugging onto her new blanket. "I love you more than the stars above my darling."

"Nigh nigh Mama, I love you more dan da biggest cherwy pie in da whole world!" The child's eyes closed as her mother gave a chuckle and left, closing the door, and turning off light, a small dazzling night light still brightly lit nearby. A smile graced the child's face as she fell into a magnificent dream world, hugging her story time blanket close...

Part One

It was the shrill sound of her old, sick sounding alarm clock that awoke her. Sitting bolt upright in her rickety bed, she blinked her eyes in the sunlight that came through the small, rectangular window by the ceiling of her small, dank, gray bedroom. She hit her alarm clock so that it fell off the worn out lopsided dresser and clanked onto the cold cement floor. It was the only way to get it to stop sending out that annoying buzzing noise before it woke her father.

Yawning tiredly, she swung her legs out of bed to let her feet hit the floor. The bed creaked under her weight even though she was so skinny one could nearly see the outline of her ribs. Throwing the thin, holey cotton blanket aside, she rose from her bed, socked feet freezing on the cold floor. Her thin gray nightgown skimmed crossed the ground as she wandered over to her lopsided dresser and tugged out her clothes for the day.

She chose a dark gray, plain, long sleeved shirt, a baggy black turtleneck, a pair of worn out black jeans, and underclothes. She dressed quickly and hurried upstairs her hair unbrushed. She always kept it pulled back in a pony tail and tied tight with numerous scrunchies along it so as to keep her hair in place. It was a bit messy, but not by much.

She went through the door at the top of the stairs and into the kitchen. She hurried about, getting started on making the numerous things for her father preferred for breakfast. Eggs over easy, bacon, sausage, toast and coffee. She had it all set out nicely on the table by the time her father entered the room. He sat down, took up a piece of bacon and bit into it. After chewing and swallowing he looked up at her.

"Over cooked! Can't you ever get anything right?"

"But father..." The girl's voice was small, slightly frightened and yet soft, sweet, and kind at the same time. "You said it was under cooked yester-"

"It was! Now you've gone and screwed it all up again." The girl's father stood from the table, pushing his plate away and taking up his coffee cup. He made a face as he sipped at it, and spit it back out into his mug, setting it back down on the table with a thunk. "Too strong."

"It's exactly the same amount of grounds and water as yesterday... you liked it then." The girl retaliated in a very weak, slightly shakey tone.

"Too strong." The man stated again, giving her a bitter look.

"But Mama always said it was tw-"

"She could cook! You can't! Get to school! Now! And I don't want any more bad report cards!" Her father banged his fist on the table loudly, enunciating the last two words of his sentence.

"But Father! B's aren't bad grades... I'm getting an A in English."

"English! Poppycock load of crap! All you do in there is read!"

"No, we..."

"Reading! Such a waste of time! 'Specially those dammed fairy tales!"

"But Mama loved books... fairy tales most of all..."

"Her one flaw. Now get to school!"

"It's only 6:30... School starts at 8:00."

"Then go downstairs and put on a pair of pants that don't hug you so tightly! Have some respect. No daughter of mine is going to look like one of those skinny jean wearing hoosies."

"Yes sir." His daughter headed on down to her bedroom. She hated getting yelled at. Every time he yelled at her, he might as well of slapped her. What had happened to the kind loving father who would hoist his little girl up on his shoulders so she could see the parade better? She had been asking herself this same question for the past eleven years.

After putting on a pair of pants even baggier than the ones she had had on, a pair of boys' army green cargo pants, she plopped down on her bed. It springs creaked noisily, groaning in protest. She hid her face in her pillow, muffling the wracking sobs she let loose and capturing the tears so they didn't roll down and stain her face.

Once finished crying, she sat up and wiped at her eyes. Hopefully it would now be late enough for her to head off to school. She picked up her clock to check the time. It was only 6:45 now, her father would have showered and headed off to work by now.

Grabbing her nearly dead shoulder bag, she headed upstairs. In the hallway she tugged on her shoes over her socks... a pair of old black sneakers that had gotten too small for her years ago. She then pulled on her too small black winter jacket (her father didn't allow her to wear bright colors), and headed off to the horrors of high school.

It was in the brick building, this world of teachers and learning, that she lost herself. She'd take the books she needed for the morning out of her locker, stowing away her back pack. She only used it to cart the things she needed to do her homework with home.

Homeroom, English, Chemistry, Math, she went about the first three hours of the school day in her normal way. She pushed herself to pay attention in class, putting all of herself into her work. However, there was only so much she could do to stay awake in math.

In math, she sat bored at her desk, head down in her arms, listening to Mrs. Foosa go on and on about Binomial Equations. The clock clicked, and the entire class was suddenly wide awake, staring at the clock who's minute hand had just clicked backwards as it always did before it went onto the next minute. It read 12:11 before it gave another click, shooting the minute hand forward to 12:13. A loud buzzing noise sounded through the entire school for a good three seconds, closely followed by the sounds of desks moving, people chattering, footsteps, and bags swinging onto shoulders. There was soon the sound of lockers opening in various parts of the building, doors opening and closing. Students and teachers alike headed off for lunch, the reprieve of the long learning hours for all. Some teachers headed towards the cafeteria or teacher's lounge.

In the cafeteria the girl was alone, sitting at the most graffiti table in the farthest corner of the room away from the windows. It had been that way for her at school. It was perfectly normal.

Her mother had died after being in a coma for three months after a car accident eleven years ago. It was an accident that the girl herself had been in, receiving a huge gash in her right leg from a piece of twisted metal. She'd been four months away from turning five and her father still blamed the incident on her, even though she'd been so little and asleep in her booster seat in the back seat.

When she had entered school that September, she had shown and told her stitches. The other children had been shocked and her teacher was less than pleased. She'd received a very severe scorning about the inappropriateness of her show and tell and her father had been called. Marked as a bad egg by the teacher, the other children had shunned her.

"Oh look-it! It's Ebony!" An all too familiar voice stated in a tone dripping with bitter sweet sarcasm The girl that we finally know as Ebony looked up from her pathetic lunch to find the oh so very popular and beloved flute player, Brianna. Tall, blond, blue eyed, and wonderfully white, perfectly straight teeth with an unpleasant attitude. Ebony looked back down at the table, trying to ignore her as she continued.

"What kind of name is Ebony anyways? It sounds so... fugly-ugly."

"Ebony is a type of black. The darkest, almost blacker than black." Ebony muttered in response.

"Well, if it's so 'black', then why aren't you?" Brianna scoffed and stalked off laughing with a bunch of other rather horrid band girls.

Brianna was right though, Ebony wasn't black, even though she did love looking at all different types of skin colors and trying to find a colors to describe them. No, ebony was actually rather pale, due to it being winter and all. But her mother had named her Ebony for a good reason. Her hair was the darkest, blacker than black, ebony itself. Matched with her soft, deep, deep sapphire blue eyes she was actually somewhat pretty. Right now, those lovely eyes of her's were narrowed in disgust. If there was one thing she hated more than Brianna herself, it was her racism against anyone who didn't look like society's definition of a perfect woman.

Lunch ended and it was back to class. History, Geography, and Economics later, the school day ended. Ebony walked home as she did everyday, getting her socks and shoes soaked through with cold snow. She entered the house shivering and quickly rid herself of her socks and shoes. She went into the kitchen, dragging her school bag with her, intent on getting her homework finished before she started dinner. A slip of paper on the otherwise bare front of the fridge caught her eye. Her father had left a note saying that he'd be gone until tomorrow evening and to make sure she had the house cleaner than clean by the time he got home.

Ebony whooped and hurried upstairs. She quietly entered her old bedroom. She loved her old bedroom, with it's pink walls and white lace trim. After her mother had died, her father had relocated her to the teeny little, six by six closet in the basement. It fit her bed, dresser and floor lamp. Her bed was a very old mattress on the floor, and her dresser only contained two drawers, one for tops, and one for bottoms. Her lamp gave off a very dull light, and it's bulb flickered a lot as if it were dying.

But her old room! Oh! It was huge, with two big windows, a big cushy, warm bed, a ceiling lamp, two other lamps, a night-light, and a giant wardrobe in the closet.

Sitting down on the bed she sighed and looked around before rising and going over to the book shelf and pulled out her old book of fairy tales. She went back and sat on the bed, opening the book. She smiled when she saw she'd landed on her very favorite story's first page... Cinderella. Out of the corner, well, more like the top, of her eye she spotted something white coming out from under the bed where it seemed to have fallen. Leaning forward, she bent down and picked it up. One glance and a gasp later, she was hugging it tightly.

"Story..." Her voice was a whisper as she stated the name she had given the blanket her mother had made for her oh so many years ago, her beloved Story Time Blanket. Draping it around her shoulders as her mother used to do for her all those years ago she flipped to the first page of the book, reading from the beginning. All the way from Beauty and the Beast to Snow White. It was getting after midnight by then, so she just laid her head down on her old soft pillow, snuggling up under the covers. She had taken the liberty of changing into her night gown before she had started the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

She lay there, wishing and hoping about fairy tales, magic, princes, princesses, wishing, dreaming, wishing as she fell fast asleep, her big book of fairy tales lay open on her stomach, Story clutched tightly around herself. There was a sudden blast of bright, nearly blinding light and Ebony disappeared completely, Story going with her. The big book of fairy tales landed on the floor face down with it's pages wide open, with no one else in the house to hear it's thud.

Part Two

Ebony snuggled deeper under her covers, the warmth and weight of them greatly welcomed by her entire body. Having had to sleep under nothing but a thin, holey cotton blanket for so long, she was grateful that her father had gone out so she could have this chance to sleep safe and warm out of the basement for once. There was a great comfort in the weight of the blankets, like they could protect her from anything or anyone that should step into her room in the middle of the night.

She felt sunlight hitting her face, bright and warm. She let out a sigh, pressing her eyes closed tightly against the brightness. If it was that bright out, or at least her eyes said so, then it had to be around noon already. Sunlight like that never appeared in winter until around that time of day and it was soon gone after about two hours or so. Opening her eyes, Ebony gasped and sat bolt upright.

She wasn't in her old bedroom! She was actually in what seemed to be a small, stone, one room, thatched roof hut of some sort. The sunlight was coming in from a wide open, round window above the bed she was in. The window had wide open shutter, and not a single pane of glass. The bed was made of wood, and was as soft and cushy as could be. Another window, identical to the previous one, was set into the wall on the other side of the hut.

Under the second window resided a small round, wooden table with two matching chairs. Nearby that was a bookshelf that didn't touch the ground, seeming to be built right on into the side of the hut. Under the bookshelf, covered in some sort of deep red material was a high backed armchair that was clearly for sitting in and just relaxing with a good book.

Nearby the chair was a round topped wooden door that matched perfectly with the shutters on the windows in the fact that they looked to be very old fashioned. The door was wide open, revealing a bright sunny day, not a speck of snow in sight. Directly across from the door was a roundish stone fireplace, ashes from a recent fire still burning red hot.

Looking down and still all around, Ebony discovered the floor to be wooden and that there was a wooden chest by the foot of the bed. Other various objects: a kettle, a pair of pants, a pipe, a teapot, dishes of all sorts, books, and other unique items lay about the hut in a rather neat and organized order, as though everything had a proper place. Even the open book on the seat of the arm chair and the other one on the very back of the chair seemed to be in just the right spot.

"'bout time you woke up!" A gruff, yet kind sounding voice stated from the wide open doorway. Ebony had to let her eyes object and then adjust to the brightness of the light from outside before she was able to clearly see exactly what the speaker looked like.

As it was, he was a man of about six feet tall. He was rather chubby and looked strong, not to mention old with his chest length, gray beard and hair, shining out of which were a pair of twinkling brown eyes. He wore a brown shirt beneath an animal skin vest and a pair of tan trousers. His hobnail boots clumped noisily against the wood of the floor of the little hut. Ebony couldn't do anything except nod ever so timidly at his comment.

"Name's Marshule." The man stated in a reply to nod. 'And yours?"

Ebony seriously pondered whether or not she should tell this stranger her name. So, she looked down, biting her lower lip, having decided it best not to. When she looked down though, she spotted her story time blanket laying on her lap. Looking up, she smiled ever so slightly before stating softly. "My name is Ebbie, just as it says on my blanket."

Marshule's eyes crinkled slightly in a kind sort of way when he smiled wide at her. "Odd name Ebbie is. Most girls are named after flowers, fruit, or fairy tale characters."

"Fairy tales?" Ebony's back straightened and she sat up more so as he mentioned the one thing she loved most in the world besides her dead mother and blanket.

"Yeah, you know, Cinderella, Snow White... why there's one named Little Red in the village! We just all call her Lired, mix the letters about."

Village?" Ebony sat up even more. This man, Marshule, talked of fairy tales and their characters when she herself felt as if she were in one!

"Aye! The village of Oriean, haven't you heard of it?" Marshule looked slightly shocked and surprised, his voice full of disbelief.

"No… I haven't. I dunno where I am or how I even got here..." Ebony admitted this, her head hanging once more.

"Well, that's an easy one! You're in the Kingdom of Oriean, and I found you last night. You were huddled under a tree nearby during that awful storm we had. I couldn't just leave you there to get sick and die now could I?"

"I suppose I should thank you then..."

"You're welcome. I've got six girls of my own. All grown and married of course, but they used to stop by before that dammed wall got built!" Marshule looked furious about this for some reason, stomping his foot on the floor. Ebony jumped at the stomp and his angry tone, the look on his face scaring her a bit.

"W-wall?"

"Yes. No more questions now! Hurry up and get undressed, I've got-"

"No!" Ebony's red alert feeling went up and she stared at him as if he were crazy, tugging the covers of the bed tighter about herself and up to her chin.

"Let me finish! I'm not tryin' to do anything to you Ebbie. I'm ten five times and seven years of age! You're younger than my first grandson... why he's ten and nine years of age. You can't be any more than..."

"I'm sixteen..." Ebony stated in order to clear up the age issue.

"Wassat?"

"Um..." Ebony bit at her lower lip again. She wasn't sure exactly how to state her age here, they seemed to say it in a funny sort of way. 'Now, ten five times... that'd be fifty... and seven.. so fifty and seven is fifty seven. And then ten and nine must be nineteen.' Having determined this the best she could, Ebony hesitantly spoke up again. "Um... ten and six? A one and then a six...?"

"Oh! Right, well, you be three younger than my grandson, and younger than his sister, too. Now as I was saying, I'm not about to do anything to you, pretty as you may be. I meant for you to get undressed and head into the wash shed... I've made you up a bath. The water should be cool enough not to burn you by now."

"Oh." Ebony rose out of the bed and looked down, face red. She still wore her old, gray nightgown and black turtleneck to keep herself warmer as her night gown had short sleeves. "Sorry..." She scrunched up her socked feet and then hesitantly tugged off her socks and turtleneck. It was surprisingly, yet welcome-ly warm as a May morning in the hut. "The wash shed is where please?" She figured it'd be best to take a bath as she had been told. It had been a long time since she'd washed in more than just a quick shower.

"Out the back door and right on in the next." Marshule stated with a smile, opening the back door that Ebony hadn't noticed due to it's being behind the head of the bed. Once opened it revealed a corn field growing nearly right next to the hut wall. There was a small, added on, square wooden shed connected to the hut, right next to the back door.

Ebony nodded and went into the shed to find a shelf with a water filled bucket in it, a pile of thick cloths which she assumed were towels, a huge chamber pot, and a big wooden, old fashioned tub filled to the brim with steaming water. A jar of brown squishy soap rested on the nearby shelf along with a small square patch of thick cloth.

Sighing, Ebony closed the door and got the rest of the way undressed, folding her clothes and setting them on the shelf. She climbed into the tub, finding the water so pleasantly warm on her legs she just let herself drop down onto her bum, splashing a bit as she ducked under the water for a moment. She came back up and breathed happily, letting the hot water sooth away at her sorrows.

I hope Hyuga will give you gold in exchange for this story, it's awesome. Really, such stories really add to the RPG part of this game.

Thank-you! ;D However, he can have this one for free... Since it's not really detailed, I don't really want to put a price on it; I don't see this being a good story to actually use.

Look for Part Three next Friday!

~Jabba

Story for me... NICE :D

Where's those 5000 gold pieces, anyway? x^D

Part Three

Once Ebony had finished bathing, she climbed out of the tub and wrapped herself up in two of the big, thick pieces of cloth used to towels. She gathered up her clothes and headed out of the wash shed and into the hut. Yes, now I know what you're thinking; why not just put the night gown and underclothes back on? Well, because while she'd been in the bath, Marshule had come and knocked on the door. He told her not to get dressed when she came back in for he would find something for her to wear, having things left over from his daughters.

Marshule was currently sitting at the small table, eating his way through what looked to be a mixture of oatmeal and grits. To Ebony it looked positively revolting, because... well, it just did.

Ebony just stood there, watching for a moment, her hair dripping on the floor. She then wrapped her towels tighter about herself and cleared her throat as she tossed her clothes onto the bed. Marsh8ule looked up at her, slightly startled.

"Ah! Ebbie's all nice and squeaky clean now!" He grinned up at her with what seemed to be a great fondness, his tone jolly and happy. "Wonderful! Here, eat this..." He rose from the table and set out another bowl of the disgusting looking mush. "It's best with a bit of sugar and smushed grapes mixed into it. I'll find you something suitable to wear so that you don't stick out like a sore thumb. "

Ebony nodded and took a seat in front of the mush on the table. She pulled the sugar bowl to herself and dipped the spoon into it, getting out a little before sprinkling it all around on the mush. She then took a spoonful of what she assumed to be the smushed grapes: a clear jellyish substance with bits of green and purple in it from the skins. She mixed them both in and then hesitantly brought the spoon up to her mouth, opening it and taking in just an itty, bitty bit.

A smile lit up Ebony's face and she shoved the rest of the spoon full of mush into her mouth, relishing the lovely taste of it. She dug right back on into the wooden bowl and began eating at it in a ravenous sort of way, having not eaten anything since the previous day's lunch. And that had consisted of a single slice of bread slathered with peanut butter and folded in half along with a small school carton of milk.

"Hungry eh?" Marshule asked, watching her with a smile. He was kneeling on the floor by the wooden chest at the foot of the bed. He had the lid open and was digging through it, looking for something.

"Very." Ebony replied with a small smile. She liked Marshule a lot really. He acted as though he was truly fond of her, this, she figured because of his living alone and his daughters being gone. He seemed like he'd been lonely for quite some time.

"Good, shows you're human."

"Why wouldn't I be human?"

"Can never be too careful when you live oh so very conveniently at the edge of the forest. Which is why you need to get dressed so we can get going."

"Going?" Ebony's brow furrowed at this in a confused sort of way. "Where?"

"You and you're questions! I've never met a girl with so many questions such as yourself. Just stop asking and do as you're told, I'll answer questions later."

Ebony sighed and looked down at the table. "Yes Marshule." Once she'd finished she set her wooden spoon to the side and rose, clutching the towels to herself so as not to let them drop.

"Alright then Ebbie, go put this on. It'll fit. You're my youngest daughter's size when she was ten and four years of age. And the underclothes have never been worn." Marshule held out something made of deep emerald green cloth, all folded up nice and neatly. Ebony took it with a nod and went on out and into the wash shed again.

It turned out to be a simple dress. A ruffled skirt reaching down and skimming below her knees. The sleeves puffed up around her shoulders and then became thin, clinging to her arms in a rather comfortable way. The sleeves ended in a fancy, yet rather simple triangular fashion on the back of her hand, the tightness of it keeping that part in place. The collar was square and trimmed with a deep blue ribbon as was the triangular sleeve part. The collar wasn't large; in fact, it stopped right before it would have started showing cleavage, which Ebony was glad of.

The underclothes were rather similar to her own, a pair of something that looked a lot like panties, only with extremely short three inch long legs, and then a pair of bloomers and a frilly skirt that went over them, covering them, but only going down to her knee. The undershirt was almost exactly like a bra except the fact that it was longer and you had to wrap a couple of ribbons in the back that you had to together until everything was tight enough and then you had to send them through a series of ribbon loops and tie at the bottom to keep it all in place. A bit like a corset, but not exactly.

Ebony sighed once she'd finished getting all of this on and left the wash shed, tying a deep blue ribbon sash that matched the trim around her waist. She entered the hut and Marshule was there, waiting for her.

"Oh pretty!" Marshule clapped happily in approval. "Now you sit, and let me do up your hair. I'm a bit rusty, but I think I can manage."

Ebony did just that, taking a seat at the table in a very non lady-like manner. She sat on the chair backwards, straddling the back of it and leaning forward so he'd be able to get at her hair better. Marshule stared at her in slight shock.

"I swear to Morieania, I have never seen such a girl who behaves as you do." But he set to work on her hair anyway; brushing out each lock with care as it was all rather curly, causing it to be even more unruly than it would have been if it had been straight. He brushed it all until it was sleek, shining, and so smooth that the home made wooden brush went right on through it with ease.

After brushing it thoroughly, Marshule went at making a small braid from a lock of hair in front on either side of her face, entwining each with a deep blue ribbon, using the ends of which to tie the braids tightly so they wouldn't come apart. He then brought the braids around to the back of her head, tying them together with yet another deep blue ribbon, not in a bow, just wrapping it around the ends tightly so they stayed together at the back of her head. He then left her to sit on the chair and returned with large, round mirror. "You look beautiful, Ebbie."

Ebony stared at her reflection, mouth agape. If you had asked her she would have said she was pretty, but not beautiful; if you had asked anyone else they would have agreed with Marshule. For Ebony was beautiful, something not a single soul besides her mother and now Marshule had noticed.

Her long ebony black hair shone and flowed in gentle waves down along her shoulders and back, all the way to her waist. If make up had been handy, it wouldn't have been needed; her skin was pale and clear of any acne. Her lips were a healthy shade of red and were a good shape as was her nose. But it was her eyes that stood out against everything else.

Long lashes framed a pair of eyes that were so round they had a very childlike air to them. They were normal with where everything was of course, white then color, and then the black pupil, but it was the color that stood out the most out of every single thing on her face, including the her eye shape. They were a deep, deep sapphire blue, the exact same color of a velvety night sky when the stars had just revealed themselves.

Ebony was still in shock, staring at herself in the mirror, mouth still open. She hadn't looked at herself in the mirror for quite a long time, at least not closely like this. Normally she just brushed it out and threw it up into a haphazard ponytail to keep it out of her face during the day. She never cared what others thought, for they didn't even like her. Sure, they picked on her, but that had died down due to having grown old.

Marshule smiled and cleared his throat. "Now then..." He bent down and put something around her right ankle. "Do not, I repeat, do not ever take this off unless you wish to be bombarded with unnecessary questions. Everyone in the Kingdom of Oriean wears one to prove they are part of the kingdom and mean no harm."

Ebony looked down to find a silver chained anklet around her right ankle. Moving so that she had both legs on one side of the chair she leaned forward and got a closer look at it.

It had seven separate little gems in it; red, purple, green, blue, pink, orange, and yellow. It hooked onto one of its links, the left over ones hanging down the inside of her ankle and ending in a clear gem. Looking up, Ebony smiled at Marshule. "It's beautiful, but couldn't another kingdom copy it and cause trouble?"

Marshule grinned at her and shook his head. "That's illegal, but all the other kingdoms burn their crest onto the ankle of their people when they reach five years of age anyway. Our Queen's great, great, great, great, grandfather couldn't stand to see little ones with his crest burnt into their skin, so he created the ankle bracelet."

"Oh... that was smart and kind of him. I wouldn't want anything burned into my ankle." Ebony stated, contemplating the fact that maybe Marshule would have burned the crest into her ankle if they had never gotten the anklets instead.

"Me neither." Marshule nodded and shuddered. He handed her a bag similar to a back pack... two straps for wearing connected to a big pouch. The pouch had a flap that tied closed to a metal chain link on the bottom of the bag. "Here. I've already put all your clothes and that blanket of your's in there."

"Where are we going?" Ebony asked, putting the bag on her back and then taking the next thing he handed her; a pair of blue satin slippers that matched the trim on her dress. She pulled these on, admiring the green embroidery.

"Down the river. C'mon, I told you not to ask any more questions until later."

"Um... okay." Ebony shrugged passively and followed him out the door of the hut.

They walked along the two wagon wide road, four deep ruts in the dusty dirt. A forest was on one side, a huge cornfield along the other around Marshule's hut. The cornfield soon turned to forest as well though. The road was pretty straight all together.

They stopped walking when they got to a long cobblestone bridge that stretched all the way acrossed a fairly large lake, the other side just barely visible. Two men stood, one on either side of the bridge. Both were dressed completely in red and wore quite a bit of armor. The one on the right's face was only stoney until he spotted them. "Mornin' Marshule! S'not fishing nor village day yet is it? And who is this lovely little lady you've got partway hidden behind your back?"

He was right about that. As soon as she had spotted them, Ebony had slid behind Marshule a bit, not sure whether they were nice or not. In her defense, they both did have what looked to be long swords hanging from their belts.

"Ah! Hello, Lawrence! No fishing or villageing today I'm afraid. I'm just taking Ebbie here along to to Madame Rosato. She's my brother's niece's stepdaughter. Visiting from Lanor."

"Best be careful with her on the rapids, the river's flowing awful strong after all that rain we had. I highly suggest not going today."

"We'll be careful. Come Ebbie." Marshule nodded and steadily went down the bank by beside the bridge, waving for Ebony to follow. He led her down slowly to the water where a canoe sat, rocking back and forth slightly, tied tightly to a stump on the bank.

It was an old and rickety boat. Wooden and looking as though it could never hold even an ant, let alone the both of them. Marshule climbed right on in though, seating himself down. "In we get then, Ebbie."

Ebony stared at the boat unsurely, biting her lower lip. "It doesn't look very safe, Marshule. It looks as if it'll never stay afloat for more than a minute."

"It's perfectly safe! I built it myself! Now climb aboard, we need to get a move on." Marshule gestured with an air of someone telling a two year old to finish their vegetables and not argue about it; simple, and straight to the point.

Ebony sighed and climbed in hesitantly, nearly tipping and falling into the lake as she did so. She eventually got seated steadily across from Marshule. He grabbed up two oars, put them both in the water and began paddling them along the lake.

When they were in the center of the lake, on their way towards a river that could be seen nearby, Ebony decided to ask more questions. "Who's Madame Rosato? You're brother's niece's stepdaughter?"

"I had to tell him something. Men don't go around with young ladies their not related too and whom they're a good ten four times and one years older than them. He'll believe it too."

Ebony frowned at this but shrugged it aside. "And Madame Rosato?"

"I can't say nothing about her, Ebbie. You'll have to wait until you meet her, then you'll understand what I mean."

"Alright, then what about that wall you were talking about earlier? The one that made you angry..."

"I thought everyone, everywhere, knew the story about the wall. It's been told in every single known kingdom."

"Not me, I haven't." Ebony sighed, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. "I'm not exactly from a known 'kingdom', that's for sure." Her stomach gave a jolt when she thought about home. She was finally away from her verbally abusive father and peers for now, and it made her glad. "So tell me about it?" She opened her eyes and looked up at Marshule, her head tilted to one side expectantly.

"Alright then. Many years ago, fourteen to be exact, the wall was nonexistent. We all lived happy and peacefully until the Great Loss caused the king to have the wall built. It took five years to get every stone in place, and everyone helped with it, even those from our ally kingdoms.

"Great Loss?"

"Yes. The Great Loss. See, the reason the wall was built was because our queen, kind, beautiful, and caring Morieania disappeared with her and the king's only child. It was absolutely horrid One night they were there, the next morning they had both disappeared completely, never to be found again. Everyone is pretty sure the thieves stole them away. See, King Tobiathno says that the child had woken in the middle crying, as all small children do. Queen Morieania went to the child's aid and took the child out to the gardens to read to the child back to sleep in the peace of the night as she always did. Sadder still, not a soul outside the castle ever saw the child, nor do we know the name or whether it was a boy or a girl. The King and Queen were going to wait until he or she was five years of age and then they could present their child with the ankle bracelet in front of the whole kingdom. The wall surrounds the main village of Oriean, the castle and all it's garden and two farmer's fields."

"Oh wow..." Ebony frowned opening her eyes and staring at him. "It's such a sad story Marshule! Having to live in fear like that just from losing two people."

"It is horrible Ebbie. I, and many others, miss our Queen Morieania greatly. She was the kindest lady anywhere. She took great care of us, always wandering the village streets and uniting us as one. She sheltered the homeless, fed the poor and hungry, and even had a special school built for all the children who wish to go there."

"She sounds absolutely wonderful. I wish I could've met her." Ebony nodded and they continued along the lake and onto the river. It was flowing steadily and looked calmer than Lawrence had said it was. That is until they got to the rapids.

The rapids were fearsome and absolutely horrible to such a small boat. The river tossed them all about, twisting their boat in circles, sending them down small waterfalls and around rocks. Marshule had taken to one oar, able to use one better to steer them about as they went. Ebony's hands were clutching tightly onto her seat, knuckles white, eyes closed out of fear. One waterfall in particular sent then directly into a rock, flipping their boat and sending them both into the river.

Marshule immediately grabbed the closest rock, calling for her to do the same. Ebony obeyed, knowing her life probably depended on it. She clutched a hold of her rock tightly.

"Marshule! I can't swim!" Their canoe was stuck between two rocks up river from them, the river pushing on it until it cracked right in half, the two large pieces floating down at them, being tossed this way and that in the angry river. The last thing Ebony's eyes saw was a startled, and highly upset Marshule, trying to get to her. Her last thought was that he would never make it in time, and then a piece of the boat hit her, knocking her off the rock and into unconsciousness, sending her underwater and down river.

Part 4

Ebony awoke to the feeling of being shaken gently. She opened her eyes, breathing rather heavily. Her head and mind were rather fuzzy, as was her eyesight, but she could feel a great deal of pain in her left ankle, as well as her right wrist. Blinking, her mind began to clear. The last thing she remembered was falling into the river and having a huge chunk of wood from that retched canoe ram her off the rock before everything had gone black.

"Hey, you alright?" The person speaking was close, most likely beside her somewhere, as far as she could tell. It was a very unfamiliar voice, but it was distinctly male, the tone sounding concerned and worried.

Blinking a bit more, Ebony's eyes began to focus on the figure kneeling beside her, a hand on her shoulder. Fear spreading its way through her body, she sat up much too fast, causing herself to become suddenly light headed and dizzy. Despite this and the pain in her limbs, she quickly crawled, backing away from the figure on her hands and feet, stomach facing upwards.

"Hey, give her some room, Adano. She looks rather frightened." Yet another voice stated from nearby. It was softer, and more gentle than the previous one, but still highly unfamiliar and definitely also male. Her eyes clearing completely, Ebony took one last blink and then gave the two a go over.

The voices belonged to a couple of boys about her own age. The one who had had his hand on her shoulder had black hair, though not quite as black as her own, and his eyes were a mixture of hazel and brown, which was rather nice. A kind smile was on his face as he looked at her, still kneeling.

The other boy was standing nearby, only about ten feet away to be exact. He was holding onto the reigns of two separate horses, one black and one gray, both of which were very big for horses. This boy had lighter brown hair and a pair of deep forest green eyes, piercing and soft at the same time.

Both boys were fairly tall by the looks of them and both were wearing brown trousers, white button up shirts, and a clunky brown boots. The black haired boy wore a hooded cape of deep green about his neck and a flimsy straw hat upon his head. His companion wore the exact same cape, the only difference being his was a deep blue and he wore not hat upon his head.

"Ah, alright then, Sage. How do you suppose we find out who she is and what happened to her then?" The black haired boy Ebony now knew was the one called Adano due to their being the only two there and his calling the other Sage.

Sage grinned at his friend and led the horses over. He handed their reigns to Adano and then kneeled down as the other boy stood. He held his hand out to Ebony in a friendly kind of gesture. "Please don't be afraid, miss. We'd never harm a gentle lady such as yourself. We just want to help you out. Might you tell us your name?"

Ebony blinked at him, still rather scared She didn't know whether she could trust them or not. Deciding not to, she shook her head, no she would not tell them her name. She was still frightened beyond reason. First she'd lost Marshule in the river, and now she was soaking wet on the forest floor with two strange boys.

"Alright then, don't speak. Will you at least let us help you though? You look horridly in need of it." Sage continued, his voice still soft and calm as before.

After some great, careful consideration, Ebony nodded. She'd be glad to have some help for she wasn't in the greatest of conditions at the moment. Her left ankle and right arm both burned with pain. She was sopping wet and shivering despite the warm day. She had good reason too though, it being shady all around. The only areas that didn't have a tree within at least five foot of another were the river down the bank behind her, and the narrow woodland path the boys had been traveling along when they had found her unconscious body in the first place.

Ebony pushed herself up off the ground with her left arm and her right leg. Once she had risen, her left ankle lasted about a millisecond before it gave way in pain. She stumbled forward, but never got a chance to hit the ground. Two strong pairs of arms had caught her at the exact same time, one in front, and one in back.

"Watch it there now, miss. Your ankle's swollen up like a loaf of bread before it's even been baked." Adano stated from in front of her, grinning ever so kindly. Sage was behind her, hands on her waist, holding her steady and forcing her to keep all her weight on her right ankle rather than her left. "I've got her Sage. You go get the bandages and such so we can patch her up. We should have done so earlier really."

Sage nodded, letting go of Ebony and letting Adano catch her completely. He hurried over to the horses, opening one of the saddle bags and pulled out a roll of white cloth and a jar of what seemed to be crushed up plants.

Adano set gently brought Ebony back down onto the ground as Sage got the things and then came back on over to them. He set the bandaging and jar on the ground and then went at Ebony's right arm first. Ripping open the sleeve, he revealed a large gash in her arm. It was a good six inches long, on the top side of her lower arm. Ebony let out a sharp hissing gasp as Sage spread the pasty crushed plants along the gash, having opened the jar to do so. He then wrapped bandaging about her arm tightly, to stop the gash from bleeding any further than it had already.

"Sorry 'bout your dress, there was no other way to get at it." Sage stated in his same soft tone, but now with an apologetic air. He finished up with her arm and then went down to her ankle. He slathered her ankle with the green goop before he began wrapping the bandaging around her ankle and foot as well. The bandaging would help keep it tightly in one position so she wouldn't fall again if she put any weight on it. "There now... Don't you have any shoes?"

Ebony blinked and realized that her feet were bare. She must have lost the slippers Marshule had given her when she'd fallen in the river. She shook her head at Sage and pointed to the river. He nodded. "Ah, I see. Gone down to a watery grave then, have they?"

"Oi! Look what I found!" Adano called, hurrying over. "It was down by the river, stuck to a rock." The pair looked up at him. He was waving a sodden piece of cloth that Ebony instantly recognized despite it's wetness. "This your's miss? We did find you by the river as well..."

Ebony nodded enthusiastically, holding out her arms. Adano grinned and gave Story to her. She hugged it close before draping it around her shoulders, hugging it there. Sage reached into his pocket and then brought his hand up, pinning the blanket around her with a star-leaf shaped brooch. "There, now it'll stay."

"Come miss." Adano lifted her up from the ground gently, carrying her over to the horses. He hoisted her up onto the black one before she could protest. "We've got to get going. You'll ride Frana here, he's a lot gentler than Blan."

Ebony gasped, looking down, amazed at the height of the horse. She'd never even pet one, let alone ridden one!

Sage, watching her face become more frightened than it had been before, stepped forward, taking her hand in his. He used his other hand to grab a bit of Frana's ebony black mane and wrap it around Ebony's fingers with a smile. "Hold tight as you want, he acts as if he can't feel it when ever I tug his hair really hard. If he minded, I would've known by now." He then mounted the horse, sitting directly behind her. "I hope you don't mind... We'll travel faster if we all ride." He took the reigns Adano handed him, putting his arms about her so he could hold them correctly.

Ebony shook her head and just held tighter to the horses mane. She didn't mind if he rode along with her, in fact, she was actually glad he was doing so. Now, with one of his arms on either side of her, holding tightly onto the reigns, she was a lot less likely to fall off the very big horse.

"Yah! Get on, Blan!" Adano stated, having mounted the gray horse a few moments ago. He gently tapped his heels against the horse's side, squeezing with his calves, just enough to get Blan to shoot off in a canter, having apparently been trained to do so a long time ago.

"Aye! Up, Frana!" Sage mimicked Adano's movements and Frana mocked Blan, taking off in a canter after the gray horse and his rider.

It was like nothing Ebony had ever experience before in her entire life. The horse rocked beneath her as he ran, her hands clinging onto his mane tightly, reducing her chance of falling from him. The fast movement was oddly exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Frana moved with such swiftness that it was near impossible to recognize that he was being led by Sage's steering him with pressure from his legs and just a little guidance from the reigns.

At least fifteen minutes later, the trio and the two fast running horses came out of the forest path and into a meadow that they crossed quickly to a dirt road. Looking down, Ebony recognized the four carriage wheel tracks in the dirt. Was this the same road that led to Marshule's hut? She opened her mouth, about to ask, when she was distracted by the sight of a giant gate set into a humongous stone wall.

The wall was at least a good three stories high, topped off with metal spikes and a few look out towers to help prevent from attack. The gate was made of solid black iron, the rails each having spikes on top and within them, as though to prevent anyone from trying to climb through the bars. This had to be the wall Marshule had mentioned earlier, the one built after the kingdom's Great Loss.

Ebony stared up at the wall in awe as the two boys slowed their horses down, first to a trot and then to a walk as they neared the huge iron gate. It was very intimidating and inspiring at the same time. All those spikes, looking sharp and dangerous, the three guards on either side, with a sword and bow each. They were heavily armored, and probably had more weapons upon them than just the sword and bow...

"Who goes!" The biggest of the guards, a surly looking man, asked from beneath his raised knight's visor on his metal helmet topped with a bright red feather.

"I, Adanoiousa of Orieans, and my companion, Sabithage of Orieans, good sir!" Adano stated clearly, lifting his right ankle out of his stirrup and holding his pant leg up to reveal an anklet exactly like the one that adorned Ebony's own right ankle. Sage did the same, raising his trouser leg, but keeping a firm grip on the reigns at the same time.

"What about the girl?" The guard asked, staring at Ebony, hard and cold. Ebony dropped her gaze, biting her lower lip. What would happen if they found out she wasn't from around here, or if they found out she wasn't from any kingdom, known or otherwise?

"She is a maiden, found half drowned down by the river. She does not speak, nor are we positive she can do so. She is of the Kingdom of Oriean though, she has the bracelet upon her ankle." Adano stated clearly and loudly again.

The guard nodded and then signaled to four other up in two separate look out towers on either side of the gate. They nodded and had the gate opened by those down below behind the gate, inside of the wall. As soon as it was open enough, the two boys squeezed their legs against the horses, urging them forward at a walk, and all five of them went on through the gate.