However as they both attain the courage to battle the foul beast, with the newly discovered sword as their ally, they both pause.
Because how in god's name will they defeat such a humongous beast?
Sirella tugs at her brother's sleeve slowly, hesitant to ask, obviously expecting the worst. "Brother....?" She says softly, dreading as she continues "How are we going to fight that thing? Do you even know what it is?" She swallows anxiously, awaiting his response.
Solaire blinks once, twice, his grip on the sword loosens as he dreadfully realizes one thing
He doesn't have a shred of knowledge on how to slain this beast, however...
"Uhh....i mean i think i heard about it in legend? They're called Tilins, made of a mana-like substance called Tenil..."
Sirella stares at him incredulously "Tilins? Mana?"
"Yeah, you can't say magic ain't real since that crimson-dressed lady killed people with it, magic exists, and so do Tilins, which means Tenil exists as well."
He tightens his grip on his sword as he screams out
"BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT! IT'S COMING RIGHT AT US!"
He steps in front of his sister valiantly, his protective nature unwavering, he raises the sword to block the incoming lunge of the Tilin, but what's that going to result in when the Tilin is literally a Tenil user...?
Solaire's eyes are filled with horror as he grips his spiky blade handle tightly.
The Tilin takes 2 long strides, covering the long distance at an uncanny speed, shaking the ground in the process.
It stops infront of the shaking Solaire, staring at him, as if it's peering to understand, it's eyes narrowing in scrutiny.
A bead of sweat rolls down Solaire's forehead slowly, as if afraid of the beast same as him.
I definitely shouldn't have willingly challenged this thing! He thinks to himself, panicking internally
But i can't back down! My sister needs me and i need her too! He continues.
With a new flourish of conviction and rising determination he steels himself
"Sirella! Throw the stick at it's eye! We'll aim for that!" He shouts, commanding the battlefield with strategy instead.
"R-Right!" As she quickly prepares to throw it the beast tilts it's head and simply flicks them condescendingly.
They fly into the wall, they falter to their knees on the wastewater, Sirella coughs as she grips her neck, her eyes wide with the registration of her searing pain.
Solaire barely managed to block, however the blade slashed at his forehead in the process.
"I wish i had stronger arms...." He mutters quietly, frustrated at his own incompetence.
"Brother...i can barely...breath..." murmurs Sirella weakly as she falls onto her stomach, her breathing shallow.
"You didn't get an injury, sis! just breathe slowly and you'll be fine!" He says quickly as he determinedly rises to his feet and proceeds to shout at the Tilin like a viking in battle. "I won't lose to you!" With unwavering bravery. He will not succumb to despair.
The beast lets out a deafening roar, rattling the already unstable roof and walls of the aged sewers. A block falls almost falling on the incapacitated Sirella, but to her rescue comes her brother, leaping to close the distance he slices the block cleanly and gasps in astonishment at how easily he cut a solid block of refined rock, even if it's aged.
"wha..?" He murmurs, but regains his focus immediately and turns his gaze sharply to the Tilin, glaring at it with immense fury, if rage could strike the beast would be non-existent by now, too bad emotions aren't weapons.
"Hey! It's me you're fighting, you coward!" He screams out, like a raging volcano's eruption.
He swiftly dashes, ducking slightly to elude any immediate attacks, and with all the force he can muster as a mere 12 year old he strikes the beast's ankle with all his outrage brimming in his attack.
But all he could do to the beast was a minuscule cut, his eyes widen at the uncanny effect of his strike
HOW?! He thinks to himself, panicked.
The beast barely affected by the strike quickly attempts a counterattack, the same flick, but of course our marvelous Solaire learns best from first-hand experience
"Oh no you don't!" He swiftly sidesteps and strikes it's wrist in another attempt to turn the tides, or atleast drive the beast away.
"Sirella! If you can move, PLEASE THROW ANYTHING INTO IT'S EYES! TRUST ME THAT'S THE WEAK POINT!" He shouts as he again, only gives the Tilin a minuscule cut.
His brows furrow in irritation as he thinks to himself
According to those legends, the damage done to these things is proportional to the attacker's Tenil amounts... He thinks to himself as he narrowly dodges a rising kick from the foul beast, one that grazes the side of his head
But i don't recall those legends mentioning if someone without Tenil can inflict damage on these Tilins...the user must have Tenil....But it also never mentioned what can have Tenil... He continues his thoughts as he dodges with all the agility he can muster from his father's training.
Sirella heeds the call, and with wobbling legs, rises to her feet, gripping an abundance of small rocks in her each hand, sheesh they're dirty, she repositions herself and quickly throws the rocks with all the accuracy she can muster, recalling her mother's training she manages to get three rocks to hit the beast's left eye dead in the center.
"GOOD ONE, SIS!" Solaire immediately praises her, just like he always did back then, albeit in his own unconventional way.
The beast stumbles to one knee.
Now's my chance!
And with Solaire's quick thinking and alarming agility for one so young, he leaps up and pierces the foul beast's left eye with all the force he can muster, with his screams to power him, he digs deeper and deeper, the blood splurges wildly in all directions, but not red, blue.
"GHHH!" Solaire drives the blade deeper, reaches so deep the beast falls on both knees.
"Woah!" Solaire immediately dives back to avoid the falling corpse, leaving the sword stuck in it's eye, he falls into his sister making them both fall to the ground with a light thud
"H-hey?!" Sirella sputters "Get off! You're bloody!" She blurts out quickly as she tries to push him off.
"Of course i will! You're dirty too, y'know! Ew!" He quickly gets off, disgusted. "You smell like shit!"
Sirella gasps in immediate indignation "How dare you?! Atleast i don't have blood on me, dummy!" She quickly slaps him at his.....let's say ungentlemanly insult. "And why are you saying shit so much?! It's not cool! Stop repeating the only cussword you know, Ugh!" With a huff she rises to her feet her back turning to him as she crosses her arms.
But interrupting them is a deafening sound.
THUD!
They flinch in unison, the beast falling to the ground fully, their defeat evident as they stare at their now lifeless enemy.
"We..we...did it, brother.." Sirella murmurs softly as she stares at the Tilin, proud fills her heart and serene emerald eyes.
"Yeah..we definitely did..." He concurs softly, the proud palpable on his face.
"So umm....." He flicks his head in the direction of the still stuck sword "I'm just gonna...yeah..." He obviously can't part with the weapon that resulted in the finishing blow, but we all know that if not for Sirella's pinpoint accuracy they would have been killed, let's chalk it up to cooperation at the end of the day.
"nnnnggghhhh!" Solaire grunts, his face reddening as he tries to take the sword out "Why's it stuck like this?!" He says through clenched teeth.
Eventually he successfully yanks it out, falling on his butt in the process "owiee..." he rubs it gently.
"Ugh, you're like so childish." Says Sirella as she averts her gaze from his pathetic form from her perspective.
"Yeah yeah, shuddup" Solaire quickly retorts, visibly annoyed by her bratty behavior.
He stands up, sheathing the sword and placing it on his waist belt.
"Anyway, let's go, i feel like there's a town close bye....or maybe a kingdom?"
He says as he looks up
"Yeah i think i hear some noises, they're far away, probably not connected to the sewers." He adds.
"Really? So there are other human civilizations?" Solaire asks in bewilderment, clearly she's still clinging to the fact that Halia is the only human civilization, which was absolutely reduced to nothingness.
"Sis, i think the appearance of those crimson-wearing people proves that." Solaire says, deadpan.
He gently takes her hand, and they traverse through the sewers, their hands holding each other.
"So...do we even have money? We can't get into an inn or even a stable without some coins..." Sirella asks softly, concern written on her whole expression.
As they both tread through the sewers in search of an exit Solaire's response is a bit...optimistic.
"I think we can probably sell that necklace of yours, i know it'll fetch a heap of coin." He grins, proud of his plan, but Sirella gasps as she quickly grips her necklace "No! This was a gift from mom!" She shouts, offended by such a thought.
"Okay, Okay, Sorry..." He sighs, long and hard, thinking of another solution to their predicament.
Quite the paranoid little fellows, huh?
As they find the exit and begin to climb the ladder together Solaire's little kid brain comes up with an idea, his eyes lighting up at the thought of a solution.
"Oh, i know! Farmers always let people stay in their stable if they prove their worth, we have to work i guess, maybe milk a cow? or something?"
Sirella grimaces in disgust "Eww, no!" She quickly shouts in protest.
"yeah no, we don't have another choice, either we work or we go broke, oh wait we already are." Solaire counters, absolutely deadpan.
They reach the surface, the sun gently enters through the dense forest trees, it's not dark at all like in the sewers
Solaire takes a deep breath, relishing in the fresh air
"Ah, how beautiful, no more sewers..." He says in absolute relaxation, as if reveling this day of fresh air rediscovery.
The sounds of the kingdom they heard earlier in the sewers gets louder, the chatter of the people leading them. They turn to each other and Solaire says "We better go there, like, right now." He says quickly, the excitement palpable on his face.
Sirella quickly nods in her agreement her fists in front of her as her eyes sparkle
"Yeah!" She blurts out quickly.
They take each other's hands as they run towards the noise, the bushes rustle as they run by, a ray of the roaming sun hits their skin gently as they grin alongside each other happily, overjoyed by the fact they'll see people again.
Eventually they stop in front of a huge gate, their eyes wide with astonishment, but for Solaire its more fascination than it is astonishment.
"Wow...it's so huge!" Says Sirella, her voice full of awe and amazement.
"And sturdy!" Adds Solaire with his own fascinated expression.
They go towards the gate, the guard doesn't even bother to question them, he mutters to himself as he leans back on his chair "What adorable little kids."
Oblivious to his presence the siblings enter the kingdom and see a sign
"Nitsilvania, That's such a cool name!" Sirella in further amazement.
"Damn right!" Solaire adds with a huge grin.
But as quickly as the joy came, it doesn't last, they have a problem to solve, residence.
"So um...we said we'll go to a farm and ask to work there right?" Sirella asks softly, as a former royal obviously she doesn't want to work in such things, but it's not because she's spoiled, she's just quite the delicate girl.
"Well...I'm sure they'll be kind enough to let us rest...." Solaire replies reassuringly, trying his best to ease her worries, or so he thinks.
"I'll trust you i guess..." She says quietly, tilting her head down as they start to walk together again, this time in search of a place to stay for today.
"Are we sure we belong here, brother?" Sirella asks softly, her eyes glistening, this isn't her home, how can she believe she'll be welcomed here?
"Well...." Solaire attempts to comfort her "We'll find a place...i guess..." And again, he's still inept at comforting people.
They continue traversing through the kingdom in search of a place to stay.
They walk through the bustling city, the immense amounts of people confusing them, they're definitely not used to walking through such crowded places.
Families walk together joyfully, and all that does to the siblings is ache their tiny sensitive hearts, they didn't overcome their trauma, only hiding it for the sake of each other, though neither knows the other's intentions, they carry the same kindhearted nature.
Eventually they find a humble ranch and stand at the entrance for a few moments, they squeeze each other's hands and tentatively step forward, the ranch owner sips his afternoon tea on his porch, noticing the siblings he immediately says firmly.
"And what brings you two to my ranch?"
They glance at each other, wondering how to voice their request and after a moment of contemplation, eventually Solaire replies
"We're orphaned and we were wondering if we could stay here today and work for you tomorrow onward. We just got into this kingdom after traveling, so please let us rest for today and we'll work from tomorrow..." He says, earnest, his expression hopeful as he awaits the man's response.
"Hm..." The man thinks out loud, pondering for a long moment, he lifts the teacup to his lips, taking a small sip before his response "You do look like a hard worker little man, but i don't think i can say the same for your sister...she's quite...petite to say the least."
He sighs "But I'll allow it." He adds, accepting.
The siblings' eyes light up "Thank you, Sir!" They bow in unison.
"Yeah, yeah, save your thanks." Says the man, but can't stop the smile threatening to show itself at their joy.
He gestures for them to go in "There's a guest room, go upstairs then on the right side of the corridor it'll be the third door on the right." He goes back to sipping his tea, chilling in the optimal weather
"Thank you, Thank you!" They can't help their overflowing gratitude, they absolutely were not accepting such quick acceptance.
The man nods and gestures again for them to go in, and they quickly comply and pad on the wooden floors towards the guest room upstairs and they both place their hands on the doorknob and countdown in unison
Solaire: "3"
Sirella: "2"
Solaire: "1"
Sirella: "Open it!"
She blurts out and they both freeze as they gaze at the room, they were not expecting it to be clean and well taken care of.
"Wow, it's so tidy" Sirella says quietly, not anticipating this at all.
"Definitely." Adds Solaire.
They both pad softly towards the bed, and sit down next to each other.
"One bed tho..." They say in unison, they're not used to sleeping with each other, but they're not exactly annoyed, just slightly uncomfortable but perhaps they need to remain close to each other, otherwise how would they heal?
They lay on the bed next to each other "I'm so tired...let's just sleep, Solaire.." Sirella mutters, letting her exhaustion take over as her eyes flutter, threatening to close.
"Don't gotta tell me twice." Says Solaire as he quickly shifts into a comfortable position on his right side, when you succumb to sleep you gotta succumb comfortably.
Their moment of respite calls, and so they heed it's call.
How long will it last?
And what awaits the siblings in this journey?
Do they have a purpose?