Retribution - Two

Two

Problems with Strangers

                                              
          I instantly hate the violet-haired girl walking up to me alongside my brother. With her large round eyes periodically flitting to the side to look at him, drawing the faintest hint of a blush to her cheeks, it's obvious to me that she is completely flustered by Freddy. And I hate it. He’s my brother; whoever she is, she simply has no right to be looking at him in that way.


          Two weeks have passed since we came to Darnassus, and though I was at first worried about being away from home and separated from my twin as well, any apprehension I felt was quickly chased away by how quickly I exceeded in my studies. My classmates, while all older and physically stronger, have proven to be less capable than me. Despite my speech and mannerisms earning a frown of disapproval from the Arch Druid, he has nonetheless paid special attention to me from the very first day, when I was able to cast a spell before the others and did so with little effort, surprising not only him and the other students, but myself as well.      
          Freddy, by all accounts, has exceeded just as well as me. We were quick to establish a meeting place for us to see each other at the end of every day - a secluded copse of trees behind the Alchemy shop in the Craftsmen's Terrace - and every evening during these last two weeks, we have swapped stories of our studies. As expected, he has made friends with nearly all of his fellow students and even though I’ve felt small pangs of jealousy during tales of his new found friendships, in the back of my mind I know that he is still my brother and at the end of the day, we will always have our own private meeting place.
          This girl, however, is an intruder. I glare at her accordingly as she approaches what should be time put especially aside for no one else but me and Freddy.
          “Ala,” Freddy says with a smile, “this is Mintia.”
          I narrow my eyes at him and the grin on his face disappears.
          “Hi,” I quickly greet her, not wanting to be outwardly hostile yet still too upset to be friendly with her. I grab Freddy by the forearm and tug him away to the side, watching with childish satisfaction as Mintia’s face drops into a confused and upset expression. “This is our time!” I scold him in a quiet tone.
          “I’m sorry,” he says immediately. “But she’s really nice. I thought you would want to meet her!”      
          I look over his shoulder to the Night Elf my brother has befriended. Her hair, violently violet and pulled into two low-tied heavy pigtails, compliments her rosy complexion perfectly. She eyes me with shyness and a touch of hurt in her eyes, her rosebud mouth pulled slightly into a frown. She’s pretty, but I don’t want to admit it. Clenching my teeth, I look back at my brother. “She looks like an idiot.”
          Instantly, I know that I should have kept my mouth shut. “Ala!” Freddy exclaims, his brow coming together in anger and his voice thick with the emotion. “Why do you have to be so rude?”
          “Because this is the only time I get to see you!” I spit back, resisting the urge to stomp my foot and not bothering to keep my voice quiet. “I don’t care if she’s nice! I only want it to be me and you here!” What I won’t tell him now, out loud, is the fact that I want to talk to him about the growing issue I’ve been having the last few days with my fellow students. Some time between when I first arrived and a few days ago, the other students seemed to decide that I would not be part of their social circle. Whether it had been a gradual or sudden occurrence, I’m not sure - maybe I’m too naive when it comes to friendships. But what I do know is that they have all stopped including me in conversations inside as well as outside of our studies. I feel my throat tighten up and my eyes sting with the threat of tears. I just want to break down to Freddy about this. I certainly don’t want to talk about my problems in front of a stranger.
          His facial features relax and I know that he’s seen the hurt in my eyes. “Are you ok?” he asks, his voice switching from anger to concern.
          For a second, I consider lying to him and saying that everything is fine for the sake of this Mintia that stands behind us, looking on expectantly. Slowly, however, I shake my head. “No,” I say truthfully. He glances back at Mintia uncertainly; I roll my eyes, knowing that I’ll have to give in to having this girl here with us. “It’s fine. She can stay.”
          The smile that blooms on my brother’s face makes Mintia’s presence tolerable. He gestures for her to join us and with an expression of elation and relief, she closes the gap between us.
          “I am sorry for my intrusion,” she says with a slight nod of her head as a greeting. “It is nice to meet you.”
          “It’s ok,” I say, not returning her pleasantries and instead taking my usual seat with my back against one of the trees. The river that winds in and out of Darnassus is not far from us, the water still and unmoving. I don’t like water; having nearly drowned when I was six years old, my fear of it is both paralyzing and rational in my mind. Though the moment that I was pulled from the sea by an unknown Druid that happened to be passing should be regarded as a life-altering event, since it is the very reason I became enamoured with Druids in the first place, when I think about stepping back into a body of water for any reason, the only thing I am struck with is my phobia. Even now, sitting near the calm mirrored surface of the relatively shallow river, I can’t help but be reminded of my mishap as a small child. Clearing my throat, I turn my attention to Freddy, who has seated himself at the base of a tree as well and is inviting Mintia to do the same. I watch with quiet amusement as she looks at the ground and carefully tucks her skirt beneath her as she sits down with a look of apprehension.
          I draw my knees up to my chest and hug them to me, trying to keep my sullen mood from showing on my face. It is the end of our second week of studies, and while I had planned on unloading all of the tension from the past few days onto my brother, my mind is now grasping for any other topic of conversation to break the silence. I clear my throat. “You’re becoming a Priest too?” I ask Mintia awkwardly.
          The polite look on her face falters for a fleeting moment; I watch as she appears to bite back whatever remark had raced to the tip of her tongue. “A Priestess, yes,” she says, correcting me. “It has been very interesting so far, though we are only just starting.” She smiles at my brother, her cheeks flushing a bit. “Freddwynn is far better at it than I am.”
          Freddy laughs, shaking his head. “I am not!” he insists. “And I told you, Mintia, you can call me Fredd.”
          I clench my teeth. No, she can’t.
          “Of course Freddy is doing well,” I say, forcing a smile and trying, with difficulty, to keep the resentment from seeping into my voice. “He’s always wanted to be a Priest.”
          “As have I.” Mintia smiles and this time I can tell that it’s genuine, instead of well-constructed for the purpose of being polite. “I believe we have both decided on the same vocation as well. The Holy path is definitely the one I want to follow.” She nearly radiates with her love of the magic.
          I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. Maybe Mintia isn’t the conniving intruder that I’m mentally molding her to be. Maybe, just like my brother, her interest lies solely with becoming a Priestess and she’s not intent on diverting Freddy’s attention.
          Maybe we can be friends.
          I stretch my legs out before folding them beneath me, feeling a bit more comfortable with this unexpected visitor. “So how old are you, Min?” I ask, in the hopes that the more we converse, the more I will come to like this girl.
          Her face falls, the smile disappearing from her lips; she makes no effort to mask her displeasure. “My name is Mintia,” she says in a tone that is both shy and stern at the same time.
          It takes me a moment to decipher why she suddenly appears perturbed. Then, scanning my question, I realize that it was the shortening of her name that made her drop all niceties.
          I scoff. Stupid Darnassus.
          Freddy knows what’s coming before I even open my mouth, and his hand is on my shoulder to try and quell it. But I brush him off and stand. Mintia has just torn my last nerve with her insistence upon keeping up the Darnassian speech and mannerisms that have eluded me since I arrived here. “I am so sorry to have offended you by calling you Min,” I spit sarcastically. She pales at my words; my outburst has clearly caught her off guard. “I wasn’t aware that shortening your precious little name was forbidden.”
          “Ala!” Freddy stands up beside me as tears spring into Mintia’s eyes. “Stop it!”
          I scowl at him. He’s my brother. He should be taking my side, not hers. “No!” I shout back. “She’s just like everyone else here, all proper and stupid.” I stomp my foot, giving in to childish behaviour. “And I hate it! I’m sick of it!” I point at Mintia with malice. Even though a shot of guilt runs through me when I see that she appears frightened and hurt, I’m determined to stay angry with her. “I don’t want her around! I don’t want to be friends with an annoying self-centered brat like her!” Before Freddy can stop me, and before they can see the tears spilling over my own eyes, I dash away from them. I haven’t even made it out of the Craftsmen’s Terrace when someone grabs me from behind. It’s Freddy, of course, who pulls me into a hug and lets me bury my face in his shoulder and cry, soaking his shirt for a few minutes before I catch my breath.
          “What’s going on?” he asks gently.
          I push away from him and wipe my face. I can feel the eyes of passersby on me, the little child causing a scene, but I don’t care. “I hate it here.”
          He brushes the hair back from my face, shaking his head. “No, you don’t,” he says rationally. “You were born to be a Druid. This is your dream, and you’re doing really well.”
          I draw in a long quivering breath and breathe out. Slowly, my heart stops beating so furiously within my ribcage. He’s right, as usual. I love my studies more than I ever thought possible. The feeling of being connected with nature is exhilarating. Every time I draw the magick from deep inside me, I can feel the energy seeping from the earth beneath my feet and becoming part of my own energy. I dream of the day when I will be able to take on the form of animals. It is very true that I love the vocation I have chosen for myself.
          It’s my fellow students that I can’t figure out.
          “You’re right,” I admit. “I love it here. I love training and learning new things.” I look past him, over his shoulder, to the spot near the path that leads to our meeting place. I’m sure Freddy has just left a sobbing Mintia behind, by herself, and it’s my fault that she’s hurt. Yet she spoke to me in the same manner of my fellow students, in that dismissive tone that makes me feel like an absolute idiot just because I misspoke. “But I don’t fit in,” I finish pathetically.
          Freddy smiles, his big warm smile that always helps me feel better. “Don’t worry about that,” he says, giving me a quick hug. “Worry about being the best Druid you can be. I like you, and that’s all that matters.”
          I grin. I love my brother. “I’m still not going to be friends with her,” I say with an ironically upbeat tone. He laughs and playfully punches me in the shoulder.
          “You wait here,” he commands. “I’m going to make sure Mintia is ok, and then me and you can go somewhere and talk.” He turns and I watch his back disappear off of the path, straightening my tunic and wiping my face, a smile still on my lips. Freddwynn, my brother, will always be here for me. He will always pick me up when I’m down, and he will always be there to stand beside me.
          As long as I have him, everything bad can always be made well again.