New Beginnings

As he swung the sword around and batted at random leaves on the ground with it, Cael didn't realize that Olivia had been frightened. Her scream was translated in his mind as a cry of delight, and he merely laughed as he attacked a tiny branch, then turned to face her again. That was when he realized that her stance wasn't one of joy, it was one of fear. He blinked and frowned at her, nodded with an expression that clearly said 'of course I do!' when she announced that he had a sword. Before he could respond, Olivia was asking if he should have it out.


"Oh! You're right," he said, nodding. In moments, he threw the sword on the ground, where it dissolved in a golden shimmer upon impact. He smiled up at Olivia innocently and rocked back and forth on his heels.


"Are we going to find food now?" he asked, his stomach rumbling.
 
The girl nodded her head, albeit faintly. She swallowed hard, feeling how dry her throat and mouth was becoming. Food and of course water, was going to be something that they both needed. She took his hand and led him down the forest, trying desperately to locate a trail of some sorts. As they were traveling, Olivia's eyes kept darting backwards. Not too long though, she found a dirt trail made from deer. Licking her lips at possible meat or perhaps a source of water, Olivia tugged Cael along.

"Now don't make a lot of noise," she whispered to him. The girl started crouching amongst the bushes, a finger to her lips. "We don't wanna scare off the food."
 
Cael watched Olivia curiously as she seemed ready to faint or something, but then she took his hand and off they went again through the forest. He looked all around in hopes of seeing a plate of food just sitting out somewhere, but there was nothing but leaves and sticks. It was boring to look at, so he started watching where Olivia was leading him to. They had reached a trail, and he skipped along it as they walked. He was just about to start humming when she whispered and told him to be quiet. Nodding solemnly, he stopped moving and crouched down with her, mimicking her movements with wide eyes.


He waited for something to happen, figuring that Olivia was trying to hunt something. Maybe a nice rabbit for them to roast up, that'd be yummy. Nodding to himself, he shifted his weight a little, not noticing that his stuffed frog fell to the ground behind him. He looked around behind them, wondering if they had missed something. Suddenly he saw a bright red apple shining in the sun, sitting right where they had walked by! He was excited since apples were one of his favorite things, but he hesitated when he turned back to Olivia. She had told him to be quiet, after all. He should just go get it and come back so that he wouldn't disturb her.


Sneakily crawling away from his spot behind her, he toddled over toward the apple just laying there on the ground, leaving his frog behind. He smiled delightedly to himself as he got closer, seeing that the apple was nice and big. They could probably even share it. Just as he went to pick it up, though, it rolled away from the path and down a little hill. He blinked and frowned, watching it come to a stop a few feet away. Figuring he knocked it down there without realizing it, he toddled after it, barely noticing that it rolled away every time he got too close.
 
She heard the rustling noise of movement behind her. Frightened Olivia turned around and saw Cael crawling through the dirt, his little butt in the air as he tried to hunt something down. Frowning in curiosity, Olivia raised herself up and looked ahead. Her eyes caught sight of a large, red shiny apple. Her stomach grumbled audibly - perhaps the apple would be a better meal than trying to kill a deer.

Cael seemed to be on the same wave length because he moved towards the apple and tried to snatch it. But before his fingers could even grasp on the fruit, it rolled away. Perhaps his walking made it move...

But then it did it again... and again.

"Cael wait!"

She lunged for him and out of the corner of her eye she saw a black form jump from the cover of the forest, tackling her back onto the ground. A savage growling filled her ears as Olivia fought hard against the mauling her chest and shoulders.
 
Chasing the shiny red apple down the slope and away from the path, Cael didn't even realize how far he was wandering away from Olivia. The bright fruit was so large and looked so incredibly delicious that his stomach was rumbling just looking at it. Suddenly the apple stopped rolling and he smiled excitedly, running down to it in the fastest waddle that his little legs could carry him. He leaned down to reach for it, but then he heard Olivia yelling at him to wait.


Grumbling, he straightened up and turned, looking around for the girl. He couldn't see her anywhere, but he heard a weird yelping and growling noise. Maybe Olivia was in trouble - he should go help her! But if she wasn't in trouble, she'd still be hungry by the time he got back. Nodding to himself, he turned to pick up the apple, figuring that he could go back to Olivia with it as an apology for wandering off.


Right as his fingers closed around the apple, something heavy landed on him and knocked him over. It wasn't until he had been pulled across the ground and was dangling up in the air that he realized it was a net. He squirmed in a panic and dropped the apple to the ground with a soft thud. Somebody was talking in a language that he didn't understand, and he heard laughter. When he looked up, he saw a man with furry ears like a wolf who was carrying the net. He gasped - these were the people that had been starting fires in the city!


"Liv-ya!" he yelled repeatedly, starting to cry as he was carried away.
 
With a yell, Olivia kicked the thing hard in the stomach. She didn't get a good glance at it but she noticed that her attacker was also human except for the furry ears. She was encouraged by the creature's groan of pain and she kicked again, harder this time. Distracted, she rolled the body off of her and sprinted off towards Cael.

She could see him in the net and also the same creature carrying him along. Feverishly she looked around her, trying to find some sort of weapon. A large rock, about the size of her fist caught her eyes. Swiftly she took it into the palm of her hand and chucked it at the wolf eared man. A resounding crack met her ears as the rock made contact with the skull. The man went down like a sack of potatoes, dropping Cael. Olivia quickly started getting the net off of him.

"We have to get out of here," she said, breathlessly.
 
Cael was pushing his little arms through the net and attempting to reach for Olivia, which obviously wasn't working since she was too far away. He cried, sobbed, yelled threats at the man carrying him. It didn't seem to phase him at all except amusing him. He even tried to say that his father would throw them all in the dungeon, but that only got some strange smiles as if they knew something that he didn't. Squirming all about, he didn't even realize Olivia had caught up to them until the man carrying the net suddenly dropped.


Cael tumbled across the ground, getting all twisted in the net. He squirmed and attempted to pull it apart, trying to help Olivia as she pulled at it. Finally he got free of it and quickly ran to hold Olivia's hand. No more chasing apples for him!


"Which way, Liv-ya?"