Chapter Text
When Lisa said she wanted to go for a few days vacation, she never thought Brad would come up with this. A capming trip up the mountains. But if it meant she could escape work and her boss, she wasn't the one to complain.
But the relaxing camping turned into an event she wasn't going to forget any time soon.
It was on the third night, when they went into the tent to get more crackers for the marshmallow sandwiches, they heard footsteps and a plastic bag rattle near their marquee. Both of them went rigid, looking at each other. There was something outside. Prehaps it could have been a smaller animal but the horror movies thaught her that much to not to underestimate situations like these.
What if it was a monster? Or some kind of ghost haunting the forest which wanted to kill the campers in the tent?
She cursed mentally for watching so much Supernatural and having these thoughts.
Brad seemed to think for a minute before grabbing a knife and slowly approaching the entrance of the tent.
She slowly began to follow him, hoping it was nothing dangerous, maybe just some wild deer or fox walking around in hopes of finding some food. Brad grabbed the fabric, covering the entrance and looked at her for confirmation.
Lisa nodded and her boyfriend took a deep breath before yanking the cover away and looking around for the intruder.
Or intruders as it turned out. Two children, one standing by the fire, trying to warm up and the other stealing the bags of marshmallows jerked their head towards the couple. The four of them just stared at the other for a moment before the children dashed away from the camp. Brad cursed before running after them.
The woman just stared before herself, still trying to process what just happened. Those children looked like they were in the wild for quite some time now, judging by their dirty clothes or some smearing on their pale cheeks. Were they orphans or just some runaway lads from a bad family.
Brad was loosing them. He didn't quite understand how two toddler could outrun him like this but it happened. Almost. If the taller one wouldn't have tripped a bit, catching themselves just before they could hit the ground. The trip wasn't enought to stop the completely but it slowed them down enought for Brad to catch up with them. He was still behind the two children but he could see their pale hair clearly.
They kept running until they reached a small clearing with a crafted tentlike artifact at the edge. The two minor reached the tent and turned aroun to look if they outrun the stranger.
Brad stopped a few meters from them, not wanting to scare the lads away again. He took a few deep breaths and put the knife down from his hands before speaking.
"Hey there children! I don't wanna hurt you! What are minors like you doing out here in the wild? Are your parents with you?"
He looked around, hoping for at least one adult to be near but he saw none and was met with silence from the two lads. He waited a few seconds but after still not getting an answer, he spoke again.
"It's not really safe out here in the wild alone. You guys should go home..."
He stepped forewards but was suddenly met with something cold pressing against his chest. As he glanced up, he felt his blood go cold and his soul leaving his body.
A girl, looking no older than 17, stood in front of him with a long swordlike weapon in her hand with the tip of it poking him. He slowly raised his shaking hands and stepped back. The girl's grey eyes narrowed as she hissed out the word 'leave'.
Brad didn't need to be told twice. He spun around and ran as fast as his remaining energy let him. After making sure that the crazy bitch wasn't following him, he slowly made his way back to their camp.
Lisa was waiting for him and the moment she caught the glimpse of her boyfriend, she stood up and made her way towards him. She cupped his face, looking at him with worry clear on her face.
"What happened? You look horribly pale. Did you find the children?"
Brad calmed himsef down the best he could before whispering.
"We have to call the police."
When the police got to the scene, they thought some teenagers were just messing with them again.
The man who called them up sounded like a minor and the 'children living in the middle of the forest with one of them having a sword' sounded really made up.
Until the caller showed them a clearing between the trees. It was still dark but the moon lit up the small field, giving the grass the look as it was glowing. The fireflies flying around made it even more magical if it wasn't for the fact that there was some kind of tent looking as it was made by a bunch of homelesses. The skeleton of the crafted marquee seemed to be made out of big logs tied together at a point and the walls of it were clothes and leaves thrown onto the logs.
Shadowy figures danced on the cloths, caused by the fire lit up inside the tent. The three police officers began approaching the marquee watching out not to make loud noises since even if a small bit of the things the boy, Brad had told them were true, then one of the 'children' were armed.
They reached the mouth of the tent and slowly pulled the covers away and were met with not three but four pair of eyes staring at them.
They did look like children, prehaps the oldest of them being around 16 or 17. The latter stood up, holding some kind of long swordlike thing and got into a defending position.
So the Brad boy was right after all. One of them was armed with something similar to a sword.
The three policeman stood there stunned for a while before one of them cleared his throat and took a small step foreward, making the armed one tense up even more.
She was wearing a dirty red cloak and some knee boots which was covered in mud almost all the way up. Her eyes were warm grey but if you looked long enough it almost seemed like a little bit of purpleish tint was in them. Her snow white hair with a small greyish streak in it was tied back with a hair tie into a pony tail.
The other three was mostly covered by the oldest but their greyish cloaks and dirty boots could be still seen.
"Hello there little children. We are here from the Hallownest Police Department and we mean no harm. A tourist saw you lads and called us to help. Are you here all by yourselves?"
The oldest, probably their ringleader or some kind narroved her eyes before shaking their eyes. So they were all alone in the middle of a forest without any adults.
It was a really bad sign.
The policeman sighed and nodded.
"Alright, then you gotta come with us. We'll help you find your parents."
The 'leader' shook her head and spoke, catching all the three men off guard.
"We don't have any."
The voice was quite yet sharp and cold. She gripped her weapon tighter and took a step back. Making the officers step back as well, giving them a bit more space.
"Well, we still have to take you back to the station. Parents or not, it's dangerous to be out there, even if you have that sword."
The girl grimanced, clearly not happy with the answer.
"We are looking for the Radiance. We have to defeate her."
What the hell was she talking about?
The police officers looked each other before one of them spoke up.
"We know, that's where we wanna take you."
Guess lying is the only way left to get the four of them out of here.
The girl looked behind her back to the children before nodding.
"Then take us to her."