5A/N: This is a story I've been working on for a while, so I've got a few chapters pre-written. Hopefully I can finish the next chapter before I run out of chapters to post. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!
Chapter One: Leeah
Alanya dashed toward town, her hooded black cloak flying behind her. She ran through a small clearing surrounded by oak trees. Her pointed, Elven ears picked up the sounds of the wildlife around her. She halted in the clearing, standing completely still. Then, she slowly extended her arm and whistled a short, chirping tune.
From a nearby branch, a bluebird answered her call, whistling back to her. She responded with another whistle, and the bird flew over to perch on her arm. She looked down at it, taking in the patterns on its bright blue feathers. It really was an exquisite little being. She smiled, then twitched her arm ever so slightly, indicating that the bird should go back to its business. It complied, and flew away into the woods. Alanya shook her head at the marvels of nature, then continued on toward town, this time at a slower pace.
When she reached the town gates, she found them locked. She wasn't surprised. The townspeople liked to keep them locked in case of attack. A locked gate wouldn't deter a battering ram any more than an unlocked one would, but it would help with anything smaller than that.
Alanya pulled a set of lock picks out of a pouch at her belt and set to work on the lock. It took her a good two minutes, which said something for the lock. The longest it had ever taken her to pick a lock was four and a half minutes, and that had been a masterfully designed lock, with three whole sets of tumblers.
The lock clicked open, and she slipped through the gate. She dutifully locked it behind her, doing her part to keep the town safe from thugs and the like. Then she headed through town to her second-story home.
She slipped silently down an alley, coming out in front of a crumbling brick building. A plaque on the door said "Library". Below that, there was a sign nailed to the door that said "CLOSED". Alanya knew that it always said that. The library had permanently closed after people were caught stealing books.
Alanya turned right and ran past more crumbling buildings. The entire city of Boleon was in a horrible state of disrepair. Twenty-five years ago, a band of thugs had infiltrated the city, setting fire to half of it, and partly demolishing the rest of it. Some of the townspeople had rebuilt it, but none of them were architects, and it had soon started falling down again.
After that, a quarter of the townspeople had become thieves, another eighth had become scavengers, and half had gone elsewhere to find good jobs and a better place for their families. The remaining eighth were the ones whose safes had not been broken into at the bank and could still live normal lives. However, that section of town was always where the thieves went, so many of the remaining eighth were almost as bad off as the scavengers. Alanya was among the scavengers, though she had still had a fair amount of money in her purse when the thugs had broken into her safe at the bank, and she had been visiting a friend a few towns away during that period of time. Her life was a hard one, with little money and an even littler house, but she managed to scrape by, only stealing when absolutely necessary.
She arrived at her house, unlocked the door, and went up a flight of stairs to her room. There was a cot against the far wall, with a nightstand and a dresser next to it. On top of the dresser was a stack of books, and on the other side of the room was a door into a tiny bathroom.
Alanya went over to the dresser and picked up the top book. It was titled "The Lonely Days: A History of Boleon's Downfall". She opened it to the first page. It said: "Chapter 1: The Attack…The city of Boleon was great and prosperous, until the year of 1548. That year, in the month of July, the bandits attacked.
"They burned buildings and stole food. They pulled up the stones in the cobblestone streets. They would have destroyed the entire city, if it hadn't been for Lank Sharp. He picked up an axe, and told the bandits to leave. They laughed at him, so he ran into their midst, hacking and slashing-"
Alanya slammed the book shut. She started to feel rather sick at the thought of hacked and slashed bodies strewn across the streets. She put the book down, and opened the top drawer of the dresser. Inside was an assortment of items for escaping, sneaking, etc. She took out a bag of caltrops. She pulled out a handful, being careful not to poke herself, and shoved them into her pouch.
She walked over to the window and looked out at the crumbling buildings. To her surprise, she saw a young girl running along the street below, her red hair streaming out behind her. The girl looked extremely distressed.
Acting on instinct, Alanya grabbed her yew bow and quiver off a hook by her bed and raced down the stairs to follow the girl. She didn't know why she was doing it, but something in her heart said that this girl needed help.
By the time she had locked her door behind her, the girl was gone. However, the streets were muddy, and Alanya could easily follow the girl's tracks. They led her down her road, and onto the road where the old town hall was. Then, they stopped. Alanya looked around, trying to find where the tracks picked up again. She noticed that they stopped level with a door, so she went over to it. She found the tracks right outside the door, which happened to be about ten feet away from where the tracks stopped.
"That girl can really jump," she muttered to herself. "And she can make it look like she grew wings and flew."
She went over to the door and knocked. There was a faint murmuring on the other side of the door, then a small slot opened toward the top, and a pair of bright green, slightly bloodshot eyes looked out.
"What do you want?" It was a young girl's voice, so Alanya assumed that it was the same girl that she'd just seen running through the street.
"Um…well…" Alanya didn't really know what to say. 'Hi! I saw you running through the streets and decided to poke my nose in your business! Can I come in?' That didn't really sound that great. So she said, "You looked like you might be able to use some help."
"Help?" The green eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did you come to offer your services or something?"
"Well." Alanya thought for a minute. "I suppose I could, if it was necessary. I just didn't like seeing someone in so much distress."
The eyes seemed to lose a bit of their hostility, but there was still a slightly suspicious edge to the girl's voice. "I suppose you can come in." The slot slid shut, and Alanya heard the latch being undone. Then the door opened, and Alanya saw a young girl, about twelve years old, dressed in a green tunic and brown leggings. It was definitely the same girl, the bright red hair proved that. There was a short sword hanging at the girl's hip, in desperate need of refurbishing. "What's your name?"
"Alanya."
"I'm Leeah." The girl shut the door behind Alanya. "Is there something in particular that you wanted?"
Alanya shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Why were you running through town like that?"
Leeah's eyes grew sad. "My sister was just carried off by wolves."
Alanya was startled. "Wolves? Where?"
"Just outside town." Leeah went over to sit on one of the two cots against the far wall. "In that little wood."
"Why?" Alanya asked. "I didn't think there was a wolf problem around here. No one's ever been taken before."
"I have no idea," Leeah replied. "All I know is that I have to get her back."
Alanya looked at her intently. "And how were you planning to do that? There's no way you could do it alone. Are you sure you don't want my help?"
Leeah seemed to consider the option. "I suppose any help I can get is good," she finally said. "Do you want something for it?"
"No. Why would I?"
Leeah stared at her. "Why else would you be so willing to leave your home and run off in search of a stranger's sister?"
Alanya grimaced. "You're right. It does sound a little far-fetched. But honestly, it's because I'm sick and tired of this old run down town, and would absolutely love to go on any sort of adventure. And I think that helping you is the perfect way to do it. Besides, you need the help." She grinned. "Don't you?"
Leeah nodded. "Yes, I do. I hadn't really thought about it before."
"Well, you'd better get your stuff together if we're going to leave."
"You're right." Leeah walked over to her dresser and pulled out a brown backpack. She stuffed a random assortment of equipment into it, including a purple sheepskin sleeping bag with lime green and brown splotches, which Alanya found rather odd. She also noticed that Leeah didn't pack a tent.
"That's an interesting sleeping bag you've got there," Alanya commented. "Where'd you get it?"
"My aunt made it for me," Leeah explained. "She was colorblind. She thought she was giving me the prettiest sleeping bag ever. Still, it's very warm. Now, we should get going if we're going to catch up with the wolves."
"You're right," Alanya agreed. "However, we'll have to stop at my house so I can get my supplies. Won't you need a tent?"
"Maybe," Leeah replied. "But I don't own one."
"Oh," Alanya said. "Well, I have a spare. I can grab it for you." She pulled the door open and stepped to the side. "Youngest first," she said, ushering Leeah through the open door. "We'd better lock your door, too."
"It's not like there's anything of value in there," Leeah grumbled, but locked it anyway.
Alanya turned around and headed to her house. She heard Leeah following her, the girl's boots splashing in the mud.
They arrived at Alanya's door, and she unlocked it and headed up the stairs. She didn't hear anything behind her for a couple of seconds, then she heard a soft thump on the stair behind her. She turned around. Leeah was standing on the next stair down.
"What did you do?" Alanya asked. "You definitely didn't walk up all of those stairs." She suddenly remembered the footprints in front of Leeah's door. "Did you jump?"
"Yes," Leeah answered sheepishly. "My mom was a Swei."
Alanya nodded. The Swei were 4-foot tall humanoids that had the ability to jump up to fifteen feet in the air. That also explained why Leeah always wore greens and browns. Swei generally lived near forests and wore colors that would help them blend in. "How old are you?" she asked Leeah.
"Twelve," Leeah answered. "I'll be thirteen next spring. Why do you want to know?"
"That's what I had guessed," Alanya replied. "But when you said your mother was a Swei, I wondered if you were older."
"I got my dad's height," Leeah said. "He was human. Now, enough about me. You're an Elf, aren't you?"
"Yes," Alanya replied. "I come from a long way away, in the Veiled Forest."
"I've heard a bit about that place," Leeah said. "It's said to be very foggy there."
"It is," Alanya confirmed. "That's where it got its name."
"How old are you?" Leeah asked. "You look like you're about twenty, but I've heard that Elves live a very long time, and age slowly."
"You're right about that, too," Alanya told her. "I'm one hundred and six. I'm still very young for an Elf. Now, shouldn't we be heading out already?"
"Oh, yeah," Leeah said. She jumped past Alanya to the top of the stairs, and pushed the door open.
Alanya shook her head in amusement. Leeah was certainly full of energy. She ran up the last few stairs and into her room. Leeah was looking around in surprise.
"This place is almost identical to my house," she said. "Just there's only one cot, and the dresser is on the other side."
"Most of the apartments in Boleon are a lot alike," Alanya said. "After the bandit attack, they were all rebuilt by a very unimaginative group of people."
She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a black backpack. "This shouldn't take too long," she said, throwing stuff into her backpack. After a moment, she stopped. "Would you say we're going to need some of these?" She held up a small green ball.
"What is it?" Leeah asked. "It looks like an oversized pea."
"It's an acid bomb," Alanya replied. "As soon as it's smashed, it lets out a cloud of noxious fumes. Good for escaping."
"They could be useful, I suppose." Leeah shrugged. "Bring some if you want."
Five minutes later, Alanya walked over to the door with her backpack on her back.
"Come on, Leeah," she said. "Let's go get your sister back!"
A/N: Did you like it? Well, whether you did or didn't, please review. =)
And personally I think they get better as they get into the story, so please bear with me. I should be posting within the week, so stay posted!