Chapter 9: A Secret

This is dumb. I know my sister is out there somewhere. But I can’t seem to find her anywhere. I’m just out here collecting sticks like a fool for my shack that keeps falling apart. Curious how I haven’t run into anyone else out here. Except those eyes from the bushes. They seem shy, so I don’t approach them directly. But I really want to ask them where my sister is. I feel like they can help me and know more than I do, at least.

If they could help me find her, I’d finally get to meet Aensli in person! I’d probably get to meet Drahn as well, since she’s infatuated with the guy. Poor, delusional Aensli. Only a hopeless shut-in neet falls in love with the first person they encounter. Even if they are the same person who brought you into existence, that doesn’t mean-

My thoughts are cut off by the sight of a short woman standing in front of my hut. She observes it with great curiosity, unaware of my arrival.

A bag of clothes sits in her left hand. The same tattered clothes that went missing after I got caught on a bush the other day.

“You fixed them!” I exclaim, startling the woman.

“Yes, well.”

Her eyes dart around, looking for an escape. I feel the eyes from the bushes growing in number as she places the bag on the ground.

“I was wondering if you could tell me where my sister is,” I say. “Her name is Aensli. She’s in love with a man named Drahn.”

The woman's eyes nearly pop out of her head. “I wouldn’t announce that information too loudly around here.”

“Why?”

“Hey, guys. Look, a little shack! Oh, and there are people here!”

I glance over to see a one-winged woman bouncing around my property without any regard for its stability. A few people walk closer to us, each one different than the last. But the moment I see him, I know.

Aensli has talked about him so much, I know what he looks like more than my own sister.

“Drahn!” I call out, and the entire group looks at me.

Drahn’s eyes widen with fear as I move closer. A woman in brown steps between us, a deep scowl on her face.

“And how do you know my husband?” she snaps.

“I don’t,” I say. “But my sister does.”

“Alrighty then,” the short woman yells a bit too loudly in my ear. “I feel like some introductions are in order. I’m Crystal. This here is…”

“Blyth,” I finish. “I named myself, because there was no one else around when I showed up.”

“Where did you come from?” A tall, darkskinned girl asks me.

“My sister wished for me and I appeared from the autumn leaves on the trees.”

“And who is your sister again?” Crystal asks.

“Aensli,” I say, causing Drahn to flinch. “I’ve been looking for her but have failed to locate much outside this forest.”

“Well, it seems Drahn knows where to find your sister,” the one-winged woman snaps, lips pursed in disapproval. 

“Looks like our plans for the day will just have to wait.”

Finally. Don’t worry, sister. I’m on my way.