A fanfic, pt. 4

Soon enough, everyone was awake.

They found themselves gathering around a slightly blackened table with one of its legs missing. Cadwick, Arunelle, and a few others from the encampment joined the Wingfeathers. Sara, Leeli, and Galya were some distance away, entertaining and watching the younger children, but Kalmar and Janner were with the adults.

Nia was about to officially begin rebuilding, and had been about to ask someone to make sure that everyone important was present, when Oskar and Artham arrived back from the Hollows; Oskar on a dragon and Artham flying.

“Greetings, Wingfeathers!” Oskar began to dismount the dragon.

Artham landed. “Good morning,” he greeted, nodding at everyone.

The dragon, now that Oskar was off, stretched, shook itself, and then took flight again.

“Alright. Let’s begin.” Nia put a piece of paper and a map on the table and pulled out a quill. She began writing. “We already did the fields. Most people have temporary shelters already, but we’ll need to build permanent housing. There’s still some rubble here that needs to be cleared, the castle needs to be fully rebuilt, and any other resources available need to be found and used. We’ll start here.” She gestured to the area around them, then began writing once more. “We’ll most likely need to search nearby for more resources. Food and water we have enough of for now, but we’ll need more food before these crops can be harvested — we can get that from the Hollows. Hmm… anything else?” She glanced around at the people surrounding the table, all thinking.

Cadwick spoke up. “We’ll need tools for building. We’ve got a few, but not enough.”

Nia nodded, and wrote that down. “We’ll borrow those from the Hollows.”

Artham nodded. “Alright. First order of business, I think, is to form teams and go find more resources. For now, everything can be brought right back here.”

Everyone nodded.

“Alright, then. Let’s get to it!”

Those gathered dispersed, most of them going back to the encampment. Nia called Sara and Leeli over to where she, Kalmar, Janner, Artham, and Oskar were standing. 

“It’s time to plan the castle. This is what the castle originally was like…” She drew a quick sketch of the castle’s floor plan, with small notes indicating where each room was. “I’m guessing that each of you already has some changes to suggest.”

The kids nodded. Kalmar produced his sketchbook, and then each of the children proceeded to point out where they wanted each of the rooms to be (mostly worrying about where their own room would be).

After a few minutes of deliberation, everyone was satisfied with the new layout (including Artham and Oskar). Kalmar promised everyone that he would make a full floor plan for each floor on a larger piece of paper (once he found one).

An hour later, work was well on its way. Kalmar, Janner, Artham, and Oskar had joined in helping clear the remaining rubble and build up the original, outside walls of the castle. Nia walked around checking on things and giving assistance when needed, noting down if they needed more nails or calling for another few people to help move a section of wall.

Most of the women did the same, helping where it was needed, especially getting tools, calling for more people, and finding a certain person that someone wanted.

Sara and Leeli helped keep the children occupied and out of the way, entertaining them with games, music (Sara singing, Leeli on her whistleharp), and stories.

Cadwick, Artham, Oskar, Janner, and Kalmar helped with moving and sorting the remaining debris, moving pieces of the wall to where they originally were, and building temporary houses out of the wood and stone available.

Everyone paused work around noontime. They sat in small groups on the grassy hillside to eat lunch, with a pleasant sea breeze from the west helping to cool everyone down.

The Wingfeathers, Oskar, Sara, Cadwick, and Arundelle sat together.

“At this rate, it should take us another few weeks to build the castle and the houses,” Cadwick said.

“Unwesh we’ve go- a dwagon to hawp ush.” Kalmar said this with a full mouth of food.

Naturally, Nia gave him a stern look and made sure that he saw her swallow before she spoke. “Yes, a dragon probably would help. Or a few, for that matter.”

“Like those?” Kalmar had finished his mouthful and pointed to the southeast sky. There, 3 dragons, still a long distance off, were flying toward them: Hulwen, a black one, and a blue one.

As the dragons approached, more people turned to watch them.

They flew over, blocking out the sun for a moment, then landed right next to the castle.

Greetings, King Kalmar, Hulwen said. I have come to propose an alliance between the Dragon Kingdom and Anniera, like the one when this country was young.

“Uh… ok.” Kalmar glanced around at the people, then at the castle ruins. “Now is not a great time. We’re still rebuilding…”

We can help you rebuild. We’ll discuss the alliance later.

“Alright.” Kalmar stood and turned to the crowd. “We’ve got ourselves some dragon helpers!”

The crowd cheered, then went back to their meals.

The rest of the day, Artham and the dragons brought back resources from the surrounding countryside or helped lift sections of stone from the castle walls, while the rest of the people helped with the various tasks that were needed to construct the houses.

As the weeks went by, the castle and village began to take shape. Dragons, Wingfeathers, and everyone else alike worked day in and day out, and soon enough, both the castle and the village looked just as beautiful as they had been originally, if not more so.

Three weeks had passed since construction began, and construction had finished late last night. They had to sleep in the cellar, but now it was morning. Janner could barely contain his excitement. He would have his own room! He would live in a castle! This was just like the stories he and Kal had imagined when they used to play together in Glipwood, before all of… this… had happened. He (quietly) leapt out of his bed, slipped out the door, and raced up the stairs.

He got to the top, glanced around, then raced up another set of stairs that were in front of him. He would explore the castle from the top to the bottom.

So up the stairs he went, and he found himself on a balcony that looked over a small courtyard. To his left and right ran an open-air walkway that turned south — towards the gate in the distance — and along the walkway there were two more rooms on each side. The way ended with a flight of stairs back down to the courtyard. He went to the left first, and found that the farthest room was Leeli’s: it contained a bed, a dresser, a desk, a bookshelf, and stands holding music. The bookshelf also had some cupboards at the bottom, but one cupboard in particular caught his eye. It was slightly larger than the others.

He opened it, but found it empty. He almost closed it, but then something caught his eye: the back of the cupboard was farther than it should have been — at the distance that it was, the cupboard would be going through the wall.

No sooner had he realized this than he realized that it wasn’t a cupboard at all. It was a secret tunnel to the next room. He looked closely, and sure enough, the back of the cupboard had the signs of a handle. He crawled into it, pushed on the back, and indeed, it opened. He quickly shut the door to Leeli’s room, crawled through (making sure to close everything back up again), and found himself in another room. There were no stands in this one, thus he wondered who it would belong to, but his wondering was cut short when another glance at the room told him there was another tunnel, for there was a bookshelf (and a cupboard) identical to the one in Leeli’s room.

He crawled through, and found himself in what must have been his mother’s room. The bed was bigger, and the corner of the room was cut off with a door, leading him to (correctly) believe that there was an entrance to a turret there. Just like the other rooms, there was a desk, a dresser, and a bookshelf. Unfortunately, that was the only bookshelf in the room. He closed the cupboard door and then left the room, finding himself once again at the left corner of the walkway. He walked to the right corner, where there were three doors; two to his right and one straight ahead. He went into the first door on the right, and found that it was Kalmar’s: there was a large drawing table in addition to the usual bed, desk, dresser, and — another cupboard- -bookshelf. He went through it, and the room that he came into was most definitely his. The bookshelf was a lot bigger, and there was another turret-entrance.

He grinned, but then exited the room to explore more. The room that had been straight ahead was Artham’s: it had a massive hole in the wall, giving him a clear view of the River Rysen and the ocean, and the furniture was all on the other side of the room. Just like every other room, there was a bed, desk, bookshelf, and dresser.

The last room did not have anything special to it — no secret passage, no big opening in the wall, no drawing table — thus it must have been a guest room. Which meant that there were passages between Nia’s room, what must have been Sara’s room, and Leeli’s room, as well as between his and Kalmar’s. He was liking this all the more.

He raced outside and ran down the nearest flight of stairs — which happened to be the ones at the end of the walkway — and then ran back to the cellar, nearly flying down the stairs before bursting open the door and exclaiming to his half-awake, surprised family, “IT’S AMAZING!”

“Goodness, Janner, no yelling this early in the morning!” Nia was still in her nightgown, in the process of packing up her things, but still quite clearly tired.

Kalmar, Leeli, and Sara, on the other hand, went from half-asleep to fully energized in a matter of seconds.

Moments later, the kids were rushing up the stairs, with Janner leading the way. He turned and led the wild party to Leeli’s room. Leeli, naturally, ran into the room and squealed in delight, while the others just took a quick look around and started to turn away.

“Wait, guys, check this out!” Janner opened the cupboard-passage and crawled through to the other side.

Moments later, everyone was out in the hallway again, having passed through both tunnels (inside the latter of which Janner told Sara that that had been her room) and the door to Nia’s room. They went into Kalmar’s room, emerging into Janner’s room, and it was then that Janner tried the tower door and found it unlocked. Janner ran up the spiral stairs, with everyone else hot on his heels.

They emerged moments later to the top of the northwest turret, then paused for a moment: the view was spectacular. After each person decided that they had seen enough, they raced back down and continued exploring.

Eventually, everyone had seen every room, had breakfast, gotten ready for the morning, and moved their belongings to their room, but by that time, all of the kids were quite tired, both from running around and from moving stuff. Janner went to his room and began to read. So did Kalmar (he read about how to draw better). Sara and Leeli also went to their rooms; Leeli played with Baxter, while Sara began writing about her experiences with the Wingfeathers so far.

Until the first clap of thunder struck, Janner had not noticed the sky getting gray. He had been peacefully reading and had gotten so lost in the book that he jumped nearly a foot in the air when it happened.

Heart racing from being startled, he leapt up and shut the windows in his room — for it was already raining — then climbed through the tunnel to Kalmar’s room, only to find that he had already shut his. Of course he could see it coming, Janner thought. He had been drawing.

Janner quickly went around to all of the rooms to make sure that all of the windows were closed (and a waterproof sheet had been drawn over Artham’s wall-opening), and it was during this time that he came upon Sara, writing.

She had been inspired by his journaling, and had just finished the first draft of a poem when Janner poked his head in.

“It’s raining — your windows are closed, right?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Hey — what are you writing?” Janner pointed at the journal and paper, both filled with neat, flowing script and sitting on the desk.

“Just journaling and a poem. Not much.” She began to shut the journal.

“Can I see?” he asked, coming into the room.

“I mean, it isn’t that good, but… alright.” Slightly embarrassed, she opened the journal again.

He walked over and stood next to the desk, and began reading.

She pretended to read along with him, but every few seconds glanced up. He’s probably going to be disappointed, she thought. My writing is nowhere near as good as his. She was mildly surprised when she saw Janner’s smile grow as he kept reading.

He quickly finished, nodding in approval, and said, “Nice. Good with the details.”

Sara had hoped that he would not ask about the poem, but unfortunately, that was the very next thing that he did.

She mentally kicked herself for mentioning the poem. Outwardly, she only sighed. “Alright.”

“I mean, if you don’t want me to read it, that’s totally fine — I don’t have to read it.”

“No! No, it’s fine. You can read it.”

“Okay.” He began reading it quietly out loud.

“Anniera, the heartbeat of goodness and beauty

The Hollows, the place known by many as 'fruity'

It seemed back in Skree like 'twas all just a tale

For my father had told me all the stories short-scale

And then came the night that it happened — the terrors

As I was torn from my bunk by those horrible scarers

Then led to a place where all around me was black

Where every escapee would be caught, and pulled back.

It was there in that darkness that I met the boy

That, though it was dark, he gave me such joy

For the light in his eyes — it never went out

Through the hardships, the fire, and even the doubt.

Oh, how I longed for the courage to run

Away with that boy — but the moment was done.

I waited and suffered, but then soon escaped

And there, I was met with a man oddly-shaped

He had claws for his hands, and two wings on his back

And his hair was quite white — not at all black.

He said he was sent by the prince of the Isle

That I'd heard of in stories, only once in a while.

The boy that I met — a prince? Could it be?

But the winged man and boy looked similarly.

The stories he told of the Isle I'd dreamed

They were true! Or at least, that's what it seemed.

The Fangs and the scarers were gone, so I told

Artham Wingfeather there about my wish, bold.

He listened closely, then quickly agreed

We should go, along with the orphans, you see

Not a day had gone by before we set sail

But were soon driven harshly ahead by a gale.

It took only days to cross the great sea

So in less than a week, I stood on the quay.

It was there that I saw him — the Throne Warden, prone.

His body lay there, cold and still, like a stone.

He had poured out his life so that others would live

So that those who were Fangs, all could forgive.

Thus we went to a Well that was said to give healing.

It seemed not to work — it left us all reeling.

But then, with the dawn, came the Maker’s great blessing:

The boy was alive, and none were left guessing!

I see now the Maker has long had a plan;

It spans all of time — since before he made man.

I now have seen all my dreams coming true

Except for the last one, but I hope it will, too.”^

Janner took a deep breath after finishing. “Wow.” He nodded. “That was good. Better than many of mine.”

“Really?” Sara smiled. “Thanks,” she said quietly. She hadn’t expected such high praise — she was not very experienced in writing, and it was only a first draft, after all. I suppose I might be able to ask Janner to help teach me, she thought. Although, I wonder if I should finish the poem now, or—

Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized that Janner had asked her a question. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention — what did you say?”

“What’s the ‘last dream’ that you mentioned at the end?”

“Oh, um…that…” Sara blushed slightly. “It’s just the first draft. I don’t really want to tell you yet…”

“Oh. Ok…” Janner began to say something, but was interrupted by Nia.

“Wingfeather children! Come to my room for a family meeting!”

“Now?” Kalmar questioned.

“Now, please,” his mother ordered.

Janner sighed, then smiled. “At least now I get to use the secret tunnel,” he remarked to Sara, then climbed through.

Sara thought for a moment, then put the papers away in her desk before following Janner through the cupboard. I suppose I’m technically a Wingfeather now, too, she thought.

“Janner… Kalmar… Leeli…” Nia greeted each of her children as they came in. “Perfect — Sara, you’re here, too.”

Nia was sitting on her bed, and Artham (who was also there) was sitting at the desk, facing toward them.

“Alright. Now that everyone’s here, I’d like to get going.

“First off, you are royalty. Annierians and Hollowsfolk alike know what that means. You’re not just kids anymore, you are rulers. I want you to act like it as much as possible.

“Secondly, I don’t want you to leave Dorminey — this town — without my permission. You can leave the castle as long as you stay in the surrounding area, but if you want to go to the ocean or a different town, you must ask me first.

“Thirdly, you will still have schoolwork to do. I’m considering sending you back to the Guildling Hall for a few weeks, but for now you will stay and learn T.H.A.G.S.

“Finally, you will have to work, just like it used to be before. You will have your share of work to do every day. Some days it might be washing the dishes, others it might be setting the table, gardening, or maybe even sweeping the castle floors, but you will each have your own chores, just like in Glipwood.”

The children nodded. “Can we go outside? It’s stopped raining now,” Kalmar asked.

Nia nodded. Janner and Kalmar leapt up and ran out of the room, racing each other all the way.

Leeli walked out, and Sara began to follow, but then remembered something. “Leeli — wait-” she turned back to Nia. “Can we go to Layna’s house?”

“Sure. But make sure you’re back by lunchtime!”

Sara nodded, then turned to where Leeli was waiting in the doorway. “Let’s go! I’ll show you the way.”

Sara led Leeli out of the castle, down the road, then onto a small lane that was lined with houses. Layna and her brother were out on the street, playing some sort of game with a ball. Noticing the girls coming, Layna waved excitedly, then ran to meet them.

“Hi, Sara!” She hugged Leeli, then Sara. “We were just playing ball.”

“Nice!” Leeli thought for a moment, then said, “I can teach you how to make a crown out of grass and flowers.”

“Yes, please!” Layna ran over to the side of the road and began picking flowers quickly.

Leeli chuckled. “Alright.” She and Sara joined Layna, and they all sat down as Leeli began to pick blades of grass. She showed them how to start with three and slowly weave more and more blades in, and before long, she had a small string of woven grass.

“Now you put the flowers in — but be careful, this part is a bit tricky. You don’t want to accidentally break the rope.” Layna handed her one of the flowers, and she carefully wove the stem into the green line, made sure that the flower didn’t fall out, then began to add another flower.

The other girls were fast learners, as it turned out, and within a few minutes, each wore their own grass-flower wreath.

Layna began making another one. She made it quite small, almost the size of a ring, and put only one flower in it.

Sara, curious, asked, “Ooh, is that a ring?”

“No, it’s another crown.”

“Oh. Who is it for?”

“Stormflower.”

EPILOGUE

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Sara tilted her head slightly. That name sounded slightly familiar to her. “Can I see Stormflower?”

Layna nodded. “Sure, I’ll show you.” She ran to the house and disappeared inside, reemerging moments later with something small and white clutched in her hands.

She returned to Sara and Leeli and held out the object.

It was a small, somewhat-weathered silk tricorn.

Sara picked it up and examined it, turning it this way and that. 

Suddenly, her eyes went wide, she gasped, and dropped the little toy in shock:

For there, on the hind left silk hoof, was written the name “S. Cobbler”.

^Yes, I did write this whole poem myself, with a little bit of help from RhymeZone. I'm proud of it.

[Link to part 1 will be in the comments.]