The Adventures of Katelyn and David (Sarre & Moogle)

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Katelyn returned to her family's corner of the caves the same time she usually did: Late. She always retreated when she saw the hint of orange in the skies outside, and in the hour it took her to scurry down the right passages, the group that her family was a part of was already setting up supper. Not that they wouldn't wait for her. They always waited for her. Who else could add that extra little pile of meat to the meal?

It was the same every night. They'd look up when she arrived, smile, and ask her what she'd caught. Then she'd happily present them with a pile of squirrels, rats, mice, and rabbits. She could do whatever she wanted as long as she brought some of her treasures home as payment for it. They didn't like it when she didn't listen, but they liked having extra meat more than they didn.t like her not listening.

Her parents used to yell at her, but she'd shown them too.

"You'll get hurt," father said.

She never did.

"Something will eat you!" Mr. Rodd said.

She never even saw anything big enough to do that.

"One day, you won't come back," mother said.

She always did.

They were all just silly, but they had learned that they were wrong, and they had stopped. Now they were just happy to see her every night.

The stew was tended by her sister, Felidor. Mother chopped the mushrooms and the carrots, and Feli made sure that she never stopped stirring; otherwise little bits and pieces would stick to the pot. Father was the one that cut the meat. He had taught Felidor how a long time ago, but why would she do it if he was better at it anyway? Besides, she hated the feeling of dry, sticky, blood on her hands, and unlike the water underground, all the rivers above were freezing. Sometimes there were even ice bits in them! And if there was no handwashing up there, then there was no way she was getting sticky blood on her hands.

In five minutes, all of Katelyn's meat was in the pot, and in ten, and the pot was brought out to join the circle. Her family's nightly contribution to the evening meal. Everyone was already there at the stone table. There were forty-four people. They sat down at their usual spots. Like always, Felidor was on her left, and on her right was David: her stupid boring friend-acquaintance thing that never said anything. Unless he was right.
 
David wasn't much like the other children in the cave. For instance, he never really talked much. It seemed like that was all the other kids ever did. They would talk...make noise...eat...and be disgusting. David was quite mature for his age, being only eight it was surprising that he was as well-behaved as he was. Another thing that wasn't quite normal about him was that he wasn't really playful. Sure he would play games with the other kids on occasion, but he usually just read books. There was a vast amount of both fictional and non-fictional books within the great-library. It seemed like there was almost nothing that he couldn't learn. This was one of the most important virtues to him, knowledge.

David's parents were always telling him to go outside with the other kids...bring home food....bring home fruit. But he never really did. Not until he was required to at least. Once kids were physically capable, they were put under a mentorship that would help them find out what best they belonged in. Unluckily for him, it was scouting and foraging. He was quite good at it really, almost without even trying. Other things he'd been put through, such as mechanics, medicine, and bio-technology all seemed to be his weaker areas.

His home life was rather normal, seemingly at least. His parents always seemed to be affectionate towards each other infront of him, but he knew of the disagreements and fights that they'd have behind closed doors. David honestly had no idea how his parents really felt about each other, and it was rather conflicting for him. His home situation is most likely what has formed him into the rather quiet and self-sufficient child that he is.
 
Katelyn wolfed down the contents of her plate eagerly. Outside, she never really noticed how hungry she got, but back in the cave, sitting in front of them, she became ravenous. It all smelled! She behaved as bowls of different things were passed around, though her toes were always twitching eagerly. First was always the watery soups of vegetables. Katelyn's theory was that these were served first to fill them up with water so they'd eat less, but she wasn't thwarted by this. She would gobble up the vegetables within, and offer the broth to Felidor, who always assumed it was an act of generosity. Stupidhead.

Then she'd sit and twitch her toes some more until other things were passed out. There were shreds of pickled meat, her family's thick stew; sometimes there were fish, which were ok. Then there were bowls of berries and nuts. She gave Felidor all the creamy nuts, which made her nauseous, and Felidor gave her anything that was sour, which she didn't like.

Beside her, David was sullen and boring, as usual. "You going to finish all of that?" she asked, pointing to his bowl. She could never tell if he was eating slowly because he was dainty and neat, or because he wasn't hungry.
 
David turned his head to the side and stared at Katelyn. His family had been invited over for dinner by his next-door neighbor's parents. It was such a polite offer that they would have felt rude to have denied. David cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes. I am." He was utterly disgusted by the rather quick and sloppy eating of the girl sitting beside him. Sure they'd been friends since they were born...if you could call it that. He went back to eating his food in a rather sophisticated and proper manner that was very similar to the way in which his parents were eating. It was almost as if two completely opposite sides of a spectrum were sitting next to each other and having a meal together. This is really the only way to look at it.

After a long few minutes of his normal-paced eating, he pushed his plate forward and relaxed in the chair that was almost too big for him. David is rather small for an eight-year-old, but his parents keep telling him that he'll grow way taller once he gets older, he has a hard time believing it.
 
"Slow," Katelyn said, stretching out the word to several seconds. The rest of the table was chattering loudly as well, and she liked it, because it meant nobody would be paying any attention to her. Beside her, Felidor was only just finishing up as well.

"You're just hungrier than us because you don't eat all day," she said.

"You're just un-hungrier because you eat so much that you're fat," Katelyn retorted.

They were twin sisters, but it didn't take very much to tell them apart. Indeed, Felidor had chubbier cheeks and arms. She liked to knit and cook with their mother, and peel vegetables and pick berries with their father, and between the fields and the kitchens, she'd find plenty to snack on. She was also the more demure of the two. Gentler. Nicer to the other kids, whereas Katelyn was either mean to them, or avoided them altogether.
 
David turned his head towards Katelyn and Felidor, squinting his eyes at the two of them. He muttered something inaudible underneath his breath and shook his head all at the same time, giving Katelyn a scowl. He was starting to feel anxious towards his surroundings, loud noises and having just witnessed the messiness of Katelyn was starting to get to him. He looked up at his mother and said with a small, yet loud enough voice that would be heard. "I'm g-going back home." He stuttered on the word, it was beginning to get a bit hard for him to breathe. He hopped down from the chair and speed-walked out of the house and took several quick and deep breaths. He finally calmed down and was able to think somewhat clearly again. He made his way into his home and sprawled out across a medium-sized green couch. He shifted around until he was finally in a comfortable position and he began to finally reach complete calmness.
 
"Wimp," Katelyn muttered, as he stood up to go.

"We'll save something for you," Felidor called.

Katelyn turned to her. "Why are you so nice to everyone? People are gonna use you to get all your stuff."

"I don't know," Felidor said. "Why are you so mean to everyone."

"They're all stupid," Katelyn said. "I mean look at him. He's so skinny, and he's still skipping mealtimes. It's stupid."

The stew was coming around now, and Katelyn put down her emptied bowl of berries. She loved the stew; partially because it was thick, and partially because she knew she'd contributed to it. She could tell that her sister felt the same way. She had contributed too, after all.
 
David couldn't help that he had frequent anxiety attacks. They mostly ocurred whenever he was surrounded by people he didn't like, or if he was in a situation he was comfortable in. His parents never really thought much of it and therefore didn't know that there was a problem much deeper than what it appeared as. David managed to get quite full from what little he ate and was therefore satisfied. He had no idea how Katelyn could eat so much and eat so fast....it was so strange to him. He picked up a book out of the pile on the coffee table infront of the couch and began to pick up reading where he'd bookmarked.
 
After the meal, Katelyn and Felidor both trudged back to their home, stuffed and content. There was usually another hour or two before they went to bed, so Katelyn sent Felidor to fetch David, and went about setting up a wooden target. As a scout, she and David had their own crossbows (hers significantly more worn and used), and they'd take turns letting Felidor borrow. It was almost a point of pride for Katelyn that her sister know how to shoot. "I'm amazing, and you're my twin sister, so you have to at least not suck," she had said during their first game.
 
David heard a knock at his door and went to go check who it was. Of course, it was Felidor as usual. This seemed to happen just about every day as of late. The three of them would always go for crossbow practice. David went into his room for a brief few moments and grabbed a quiver of bolts as well as a crossbow that was better suited for children, it looked to be in quite good condition. After a good bit of walking and navigating through the various tunnels, he finally got to where they would be practicing. "Why do I have to come every time?" David said with a small squint in his eyes to show his annoyance. He pulled out his crossbow, pulling a bolt into it, and then launching it forward into the innermost ring of the target.
 
"Because with Feli it's too easy," Katelyn said simply, as her sister's bolt landed three rings away from the center. David was noodly, and foraged more than he hunted, but the boy could still shoot.

"Well, we never have any cooking contests, or knitting contests. And I bet I can peel potatoes faster than you."

"Yeah, but none of those get us meat," Katelyn said. "And can you imagine living without meat?"

"I help Father set traps around the mills," Felidor whined, though her tone was defeated. She handed Katelyn the bow, and she promptly shot a bolt into the middle as well. Both she and David had chips on the back ends of their bolts, from where they hit each other fighting for the middle.
 
David winced as they began to argue and decided to play the mediator in this disagreement of sorts. "She's right. You both have your things you are good at, and they're both very important." David set the crossbow back onto the ground, pulling out another wooden practice bolt, and pulled it back so that it was ready to fire. He looked upon the target and aimed at the direct center, pulling the trigger, and hitting it right on the bullseye.
 
"Thank you," Felidor said.

"Boring," Katelyn said.

Her turn again, she took her crossbow from her sister, and shot again. There was one inside joke that all three of them agreed on: That one day, they would produce the dramatic arrow-split that was so often illustrated in stories. For now, they continued to chip away at the back ends of each other's bolts.

It was good that these were practice bolts. They were carved entirely from wood; even the fletching. If they had been using real feathers, they would have been battered and broken by now, by rubbing against each other so much.

Sometimes, not today, people would watch them; these two child prodigy shooters. The adults would try to help Felidor without much success, and they used to place little bets on Katelyn and David. When it became clear to them that they were equal, most of them had gotten bored. They were still impressed (duh!) but their sessions became less interesting to watch. Same thing over and over. Their bolts would cram so tightly into the middle that, four or five arrows in, they would begin to be shoved out by new bolts. Felidor's shots, of course, remained undisturbed around the sides of the target. But she had stopped missing, which was good!
 
David let out a small yawn and set down his crossbow. "This is boring me. We do this all the time. I'm going home." He said rather simply and stretched his arms and legs outwards before finally turning around and beginning to walk back towards his home. He walked pretty fast as he made his way back, not really even giving time for Katelyn to protest his decision. Nevertheless, it was starting to get late anyway. David's parents always required him to go to sleep earlier than most children, but he didn't really mind. The more sleep he got the better. As he was walking back home, a thought hit him. Why do we have to do all of this? Why do I have to do things I don't like....I just want to stay inside and read. Not kill animals and pick berries and vegetables. That's boring. He thought to himself and shook his head. Guess there's no point in getting upset about it if I have to do it anyway...
 
"But you're a scout!" Katelyn called after him. It hadn't even been twenty minutes, and he was quitting already. He was getting more and more boring by the day. In frustration, she lifted her crossbow in his direction.

As usual, Felidor was the one to flinch. "Don't hurt him," she murmured quietly.

Katelyn scoffed, and sent the quarrel whizzing over his ear. He'd hear it.
 
When he was walking away, he heard something whizz by his ear and then deflect off the wall. "What was that?" He stopped in his tracks and noticed a crossbow bolt had fallen to the ground and rolled towards him. "That's not funny! You could hurt someone!" He shouted back towards them, his words reverberating off of the walls.
 
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Katelyn grinned at his outburst. "Was too," she called back. "Besides, no way I'd actually hit you. You're moving like a turtle!"

Felidor tugged on her shirt gently, and when she turned around, she could see her father moving towards her. His expression brought her feeling of irritation; he was going to try reprimanding her again. Quickly, she made sure to get the last word in.

"Go sit in your tent with your books, then," she shouted. "Loser!"
 
David bit at his lip, slightly upset with what he'd just heard. Sure, he'd been used to this sort of abuse...afterall they'd been raised near each other their entire lives. However, this didn't make the bullying any less offensive to him. He quickened his pace and went into his house, walking past his parents and going straight up to his room and fell asleep as soon as he had hit the mattress.
 
"Katelyn," her father growled when he approached. "Tell me I did not see you shoot at David."

"I didn't," she sad. "Only in his general direction. If I wanted to hit him, I would have."

"What if you hit him by accident?" he said.

"I didn't."

"But you were close," Felidor murmured. Katelyn glared at her. "But she didn't!" she added in a hurry.

Their father sighed, then sent Felidor off to help their mother clean at the table. Obediently, she walked off and cast only a parting glance at Katelyn.

With a heavy hand on her shoulder, he lead Katelyn inside their own home, and gently leaned her little training crossbow next to his old, full-sized one. He had stopped scouting and started farming when his eyesight had begun to distort. He could still read and see fine, but his shooting sucked.

"Why did you shoot in his general direction?" he said.

"I wanted to get his attention."

"You could have called him."

"But shooting works better," Katelyn shrugged.

Her father sighed. Katelyn saw that he was in a sad mood today. Sometimes, he was like this, and other times, he was in his angry mood, and yelled. Kat liked his sad moods better, because when he yelled, sometimes other people would hear, and it would be embarrassing.

"One day, I'll be teaching you to use that," he said, pointing to the real crossbow against the wall. "It used to be your great-grandmother's, and then your grandfathers. Then it was mine." He patted Katelyn on the head. "One day, very soon, you'll be strong enough to use it. And none of us has ever aimed it near another person. Ever. And I won't give it to you if I think that what you'll do."

Katelyn looked at the weapon jealously. She did want it. Very much. "Ok," she said. For extra measure, she wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned her cheek against his stomach. "No more pointing crossbows at people. Not even David."

Her father returned the hug, then patted her affectionately on the shoulder when they broke away from each other. "Promise?" he said.

"Mhm! Promise," Katelyn replied sweetly.


Then she went to the bedroom she shared with Felidor, and had tucked herself into bed; mostly because there was nothing else to do, not because she was tired. When Felidor came in around ten minutes later, she lurched upright.

"Guess what?" Katelyn said in a loud, sharp, whisper.

Felidor picked up on her excitement. "What?" she replied in a matching voice.

"Father said I get to use the big bow soon!"
 
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