Fractical Cage [OPEN!]

[Chena]

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The girl reached down to pick up one of the herbs who spread across the field. The field was not really big but still big enough for about fifty people to work as herb gatherers. Most of the workers were women, young woman who had to work to get the money for their families. The field was full of woman in apron streaking sweat from their foreheads. Chena, who was the by far smallest girl among the herb gathers, dragged the herb out of its treasured earth and put in down in the basket standing beside her, waiting patiently for the girl to fill its mouth and stomach with herbs capable of healing others. The girl shivered as she thought of the doctors who would use the plants, she was scared of them. It was a day without any merciless sunshine, the grey clouds covered the sky and blocked out the light, which was a relief to the herb gathers that walked sweating over the field doing their jobs. Chena pulled her hat back to let her forehead get some air and cool her sweating. Her basket was almost full and she lifted it to try its weight, it was sure heavy and her weak girl body could not take any more of it than this.

The girl who always seemed to smile walked down the path leading over the grassland towards the gates of steel which fenced the herb lands. The metal was painted black to hide in the darkness of the night; any person who would try to sneak in during the night would be trapped by the fence, left out for the guards and their trained alphyns. If there was any animal the government could use they would, these bests was not any exception. Beside the field stood the alphyns’ cages, big and black as the night, covered with warning signs, only visible during the day, then and then the woman would hear growls and fighting from the cages. The guard by the gates saw her coming and stepped up in front of the gates. A big lock hanged from a chain which was tied around the black metal, the kay to the lock was hidden in the steel protected house which the guards usually hide in when they were free from duty. The house was protected because the risks of the alphyns going berserk. The monsters cages was placed around the fence so close that the beasts would always catch their prey but too far away for the beasts to hurt each others. Of course the alphyns were chained by heavy, cold chains keeping them under control. The closest beast’s chain was just long enough to reach the guards house which was the reason it was protected.

The guard removed the lock and opened the gates for Chena; his eyes nervously looking at the cage, the man flinching at every sound coming from the shut in. the small girl smiled at the guard whose friends teased him for his fear. Chena frowned at the men that would certainly pee their pants if the beast actually came out from its prison. As the girl walked past the men and headed for her home she started to sing.

"Do you remember? That day’s that the sun was shining?
Wasn’t life simple back then? I had no obligation, just my voice
Would you sing with me? A final song expressing my heart
The wind is ever blowing, not stopping to shed tears,
And neither shall I, because my heart is not weak enough,
To let the wind carry me away, the earth is living still.”

[Well]

Grandma Christie handed Well a big cup of lemon tea which was his little sister’s favorite tea. Well sat in the house belonging to Chena’s grandparents, the house was quite small but it contained all a person needed to live, a big room for the parents to sleep in and two smaller of one was Chena’s bedroom, a kitchen and a living room that also worked as tea saloon, the room they usually eat in was the kitchen. And of course the cellar with it’s dusty win and food that needed to be keep cold, down there was grandpa’s study where he spend his day working and reading. The house was filled with bookcases and books. The books were everywhere, covering every space of the house except for the couches and the table in the living room. Well had once managed to sit down on a book when the family had gathered for food at the meal table. Remembering the painfully hard cover of the book the young sky pirate looked around for more of the dangerous enemy. Well sat in the biggest couch standing right in front of the low table. On the opposite side stool another big couch and to the left an armchair. The furniture was all in white that matched the walls, if it wasn’t for the bookcases.

Well reached for the small milk can standing on the table while he watched as the grandpa read the news, his glasses dusty from being down in the cellar. The grandmother gave him a cup of tea but he said he’d drink it later. Well poured the milk and drank the tea, it tasted sweet since grandma had a habit of putting honey or sugar in every dish she made. With a lot of self control the pirate swallowed the sweet tea and poured some more milk into the cup.

Grandma had the circus in her blood too and had a hard time sitting still and just rest. The first time she and Well had meet was the day his mother found him and took him to the circus camp, sixteen years ago. Grandma had once been an acrobat and the lady of the show. As the circus had been dispelled the woman had settled down in a small, earthbound village and lived there with her husband. She had many times offered Well a place beside her table and a bed to sleep in. well knew she’d like him to stay forever, living with his sister but the sky pirate had thanked now to her offer with the promise to visit his sister at least every month. Chena was always very happy when he came, asking him to tell her stories of his life before they meet. Well felt a big love for his sister, and he wanted to protect her from her cruel past.

The sky pirate continued to drink his tea making grimaces when he was sure the grandparents did not look. His hen Cheesecake was sitting next to him, eating butter cookies and covered the whole space around her with flying cookie pieces. Well frowned and tried to move away from the missiles but they reached him wherever he moved. Then he heard his sister’s voice from the outside and sat up sharp in the couch, making Cheesecake and Grandpa jump with surprise.

[Chena]

As the girl reached the door, bright white in contrast to the light blue walls that made up the house, she knew something was happening. A familiar smell was hanging in the air, not the smell of new made cookies and sweet lemon tea but the smell of fresh air and oiled tree. As Chena opened the door to the house the smell of lemons came at her like a happy dog, her grandmother put her head out from the kitchen and smiled, her face a little white from the flour that also covered her hands. Chena walked inside the kitchen and dumped the herb basket in a corner and hurried into the living room. In the couch sat her brother, redhaired and fox-like. In his hand he held one of their grandma’s favorite tableware the one covered in small light blue flowers. Beside the boy sat his beloved hen and ate a cookie, sending pieces of it over the room like missiles. Once upon a time humans used flying things made of metal and shot them at each other, at least that was the stories that was told in history books, but no one really believed in them.


Chena walked over the blue carpet that was fluffy and warm under her feet. She moved over to where her brother sat and hugged him hard around his neck. Well had never liked body contact all that much and he seemed embarrassed of her hug. She moved Cheesecake over to her knees where the hen settled after some flapping with her wings. The girl laughed and petted the bird on its back, its blue feathers soft under the girls touch. She turned to her brother and smiled with her whole face.

“I’m so happy that you are here!” she said, “I’ve been waiting for a long time! I have been longing for your new stories! Would you please tell me some?”