Forest Guardians || Straykids ff

t w e n t y s i x

[Photo above: Arthur (red-hair), Elijah (black-hair) and Sylvie on Arthur's shoulder.]

yeona

I looked at the guards as they threw Elijah inside the cell just beside mine. Arthur and Sylvie were also in a different cell. "Ouch!!" Elijah cried in pain as his body hit the floor.

The guards quickly locked the cell door and left. I hurriedly went on the walls made of steel bars and watched him stand up.

"Are you alright?" I asked, watching him stretch his body. He looked at me and smiled with a thumbs up. Then I looked at the cell in front of mine and saw Arthur and Sylvie playing due to boredom. The little ones were inside a small cage inside my cell, and they were all sleeping. I guess I don't have to worry about them much, I just have to get them out of there.

"How are we gonna get out?" Elijah asked, yelling in frustration. I looked down at my hand and smiled as I saw my ring. They must have not known about the existence of dimensional rings.

"You can't get out of here." A voice suddenly spoke. Beside Arthur's cell was a woman seated comfortably on the floor. Her clothes were old and worn out. I heard Sylvie hissed at the woman, but she just chuckled. "Such a cute kitty." She commented, making Sylvie hiss more to her.

"Who are you?" Elijah asked as he hugged the steel bars while trying to have a look at the woman. "I'm just an old lady. Nothing special about me." She smiled at him, her eyes smiling along her lips.

"How did you end up here?" I asked, trying to open up a topic with her. She secretly stared at me with those mean looks. Or was it just my imagination. Then she looked away and smiled. "Ohh, just the same as yours." Arthur looked at her, confused. "What do you mean 'the same as ours?'"

"I mean those guards caught you and threw you here. They did the same to me." She said, then weakly stood up due to her old age. I had a full view of her outfit, and it was just normal clothes. I wonder how she was caught and ended up here?

I stood up and smiled. "I'm Yeona. That guy beside your cell is Arthur, and this guy beside mine is Elijah. What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" She looked at me. After staring for a while, probably thinking, she spoke. "I'm Irina." She said, trying not to interact more and avoiding eye contact with me.

"Should we call you just Irina, or do we have to put a title before that? Something like elder Irina." Elijah asked, which made her laugh. "Just Irina will do." She said, then she slowly walked around her cell and sat back down.

The corridors got silent as no one wanted to speak. But then the silence was broken by the little ones' whimpering. They just woke up and were looking around their cage to escape. I moved closer to them and they greeted me with pleading eyes. "I'm sorry guys. You have to wait a little longer inside. We'll find a way for you to break free." I explained, and they seemed to understand me as they gathered at the center and cuddled up.

I sat down beside their cell to accompany them. Then I saw Sylvie push her small body out of the cell and roam around. Arthur just stayed in his place as Sylvie looked in every corner. She came back with a bunch of keys in her mouth and gave it to Arthur. He tried every key in the lock in his cell and it opened. He quickly freed Elijah and then opened mine. He also opened the cage of the little ones before going out.

As I stepped out of my cell, I looked at him going to Irina's cell door with the keys on his hand. I rushed up behind him and tapped his shoulders. "What are you doing, Arthur?" I asked him in a whispered voice. He pointed at the cell door. "I'm going to open her cell door." I leaned near his ears and whispered. "Why?"

He then looked at me with a confused expression. "What do you mean why?" I suddenly remembered the look she gave me earlier. I was going to tell him about it, but maybe it was just my imagination so I shook my head and looked at him. I gave him a smile and spoke. "Okay fine, but hurry up. The guards will be here any minute now."

He took a few seconds to keenly look at me before opening Irina's cell door. Arthur helped her stand up and guided her out. I ran out of the cell room with the little ones in front of me.

I was running behind Elijah when I felt something held my foot and I tripped. I sat up and looked behind me. Elijah went beside me and checked on me. "What happened to you?" He asked. I dragged my foot towards my body and nothing was on it when I checked. "I felt something held my foot, but there was nothing." I explained, then he offered his hand to me. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up.

Arthur and Irina caught up and were behind us. The little ones, who were in front, came back running. We then heard loud footsteps. "The guards are here!" Elijah panicked, which made the little ones feel unsafe. I hugged them, and the next thing I knew, we were surrounded by a dark mist. When the mist faded, I looked around and we were transported in a dark tunnel or something. I noticed Irina put something inside her sleeves and walked away. Then she turned around when she noticed we were not following her.

"C'mon, we don't have all day to stand here." We looked at each other and just shrugged our shoulders as we followed behind her. I noticed the little ones slowly walking, so I cast a Light Barrier around them so they could see their surroundings. We walked until we reached the end of the tunnel and saw a dark, old cottage. Nothing illuminates the house, it was like abandoned for years.

"Ahhh, finally," Irina spoke to herself. "I've never been here for a long time." She added. She walked towards the house and opened the door. It created a creepy sound that scared the little ones. I knelt before them and assured that it was nothing. After that, they insisted on staying outside. I let them and stayed with them so they won't get scared.

Elijah, Arthur and Sylvie followed Irina inside the house. I watched them from the opened door as they curiously roamed the house. It was just a small cottage, probably smaller than grandma's. Outside was a table and chairs made from logs and woods. I sat down on one of the chairs and the little ones went and sat down with me. Some on the chair beside mine, some on my lap and some on the ground.

Irina went out of the house holding a tray with glasses of water and some cookies. She put it down on the table and looked at me with a smile. "Help yourself." She said, then she broke the eye contact. I watched her sit down on the chair opposite to mine. She was still smiling at me. I was kind of weirded out.

I grabbed a glass of water. I was going to drink it but someone on my lap jumped, knocking down the glass and broke it. I looked at Hyunjin who was staring at me. I was going to get mad at him when he walked towards my face and held my cheeks.

"Don't drink it. Something was on the water."