This one is a day late, sorry! I think I'm going to start posting on Tuesdays, though, because Mondays are really busy for me. ~ First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/854964808/ Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/884465949 Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/889436208 ~ Age rating: 11+ (basically just as long as you're a mature reader) ~ We had been laying down at the east bank of the lake, shielded slightly by the coverage of the trees of the Woods so that we would not be seen. Em had suddenly pushed herself up from the dusty ground, and I had followed suit, leaning on my bent elbows so that the top half of me was supported to allow for airflow. I had looked out over the gently rippling water and raised myself up to a full seated position, pointing at something far in the distance, all the way across the lake – forbidden territory. Even more forbidden than the Woods. A small building in the distance in supposedly uninhabited land. How had I never noticed it before? “Look,” I had said, nodding to the direction of my finger. Em had scooted over next to me, so close that for a moment, it took my breath away from me. “What?” Her eyes had scanned the distance, searching for the small thing that I had spotted. “A building, hidden on that hill right there.” I had dropped my own hand to find hers, moving it to the point that I was looking at, my cheeks warm and, though I couldn’t see it, obviously flushed from the contact. What was it about Em that made me so nervous, yet so confident at the same time? She had squinted, then nodded as her gaze fell upon it. “What do you think it is?” I had asked, turning to face her. It had just occurred to me as I did that I was close enough to her that if I leaned my head just a little more forward, my own skin would press up against her forehead. But I couldn’t think about that. She was a hero. I was a villain. And besides, I could only think about the consequences if Mother were to find out that I had been fraternizing with a hero, of all people. Not the kind she wants me to mix with. But even so, it was nice to imagine what could be, in a different life, in a different world. Em had turned, destroying the fantasy, and fixed her eyes upon it again. “Oh. It’s where they keep the fairy tales. Where the Authors write them after every Tournament.” “Really?” I had said before I could stop the word from coming out of my mouth. “You didn’t know that?” Her face was incredulous, surprised at me, and I had wished that I hadn’t said anything in the first place. “I thought everyone did.” I had been about to shake my head, no, but maybe it was because that was something the heroes got to know, another privilege of being the good ones. And saying something about it might have given it away, and then this life of not being judged by my family, who everyone else is, would be gone. I would be back to being Ravynne the villain instead of Kaitlyn the hero. So instead, I simply tell her, “Right. I forgot for a second.” It doesn’t seem like she believes me, but at least she lets it go. Here is something people think they know about me, Ravynne Caldwell, daughter of Astraia Caldwell: She is quiet, born without the fire of her mother. She is a mystery, a gift waiting to be unpacked, discovered, pushed to the limits. Here is what they do not know about me: Yes, she is quiet, but push her to the limits, and you will find yourself on a teetering cliff with her, and no matter what, one of you will fall.
