Chapter Eighteen [Val]

                                    

                                          
At lunch, we all sat around the table inside the house. We were outside all day working and cleaning up the remains of the barn so it felt nice to be in the shade. Everyone was focused on eating. Noah, Simon, and Malcolm were finally joining us at the table. They were all dressed in fresh clothes and walking around.
    Noah had a hood on to hide his hair from his parents, who seemed pretty annoyed that Malcolm, kore, and Noah were all sitting together. Maya spent her lunch with Sue and distracting Noah's parents so they couldn't interfere. Now that Simon and Malcolm could walk, we needed to start thinking about leaving. Simon comes and sits across from me. 
    "How's your leg feeling?" I look at him. He takes a bite of his food and looks up at me. Maya was paying the couple back for the food, so there was plenty to go around. 
    "It stings, but I've had worse. Thanks for the help." Simon takes another bite and smiles at me.
    "Any time. I'm glad the ointment worked as well as it did." We both look over at the end of the table when we start to hear an argument. Noah and his parents stood there arguing. His hood was pulled down and his short white hair was shown. "Uh oh..."
    "What did you do to your hair?" Martha whines and looks at her husband. "She cut her hair!"
    "Yes mum, it's a haircut!" Noah sighs. "It's just hair!"
    "Who cut your hair?" Martha stares at Kore. "Did you do it?" 
    "You told me to stay away from them, so I did." I notice Kore cringe. For the most part, Kore did avoid them. He was never in the same room as them and stayed outside to work. "They look good with it, and it's just hair. I don't see a problem."
    "The problem is that she's a girl! Ever since you've shown up she's been acting like a boy! Cutting her hair, talking in a lower voice, even sitting like one!" Martha stomps her feet. 
    "Honey, don't do this right now." Rodrick tries to calm Martha, but she's fuming. He gives a look of sympathy to Noah. 
    "Who cut my daughter's hair?" She shouts across the table. Sue stands up and glares at Martha.
    "I cut it because he asked me to." She smiles at Noah. Maya stands up and looks at the couple.
"Everyone, calm down. Martha and Rodrick, I'm sorry for my troops' interference in your families' lives, but I would appreciate you not blaming them." I can tell that she wants to side with us, but because they're letting us stay in their home she has to remain neutral. Martha sobs and goes into her room. Rodrick looks at all of us and then Noah, he looks embarrassed. He smiles gently and ruffles Noah's hair. 
"It looks good kiddo, sorry about your mum. I will try to talk to her." He hugs Noah and follows Martha into the room. 
"Well, at least his dad's not horrible," Simon mumbles over to me. I just nod back to him. 
"Well, that was a disaster." Noah sighs and slumps into his seat. 
"Are you okay?" Sue looks at him and hugs him. 
"Yeah, I'm fine..." He rubs his eyes. His shoulders sag as he gives a defeated look to us. "Let's go outside for a bit."
We all go outside and sit around our tents. Kore and Malcolm sit with Noah and Sue. Maya and I sit together. Simon is off on his own, staring up into the sky.
"What's up with him?" I look at Maya. 
"I think he's waiting for a letter from his mom." She sighs and looks at Simon then giggles. "He's a momma's boy."
"So, we should leave soon. Before we cause any more trouble." I look at her. She seems to jump at the sudden topic change.
"Yeah, I agree. We should talk to everyone about it." She sighs. We look at Simon as he stands in the field. A pigeon swoops down and lands on his arm. He walks over to the other four and sits down. Maya and I go and sit with them too. 
"Kore, mom sent you a letter." Simon hands both Kore and Sue a letter. "You too, Sue."
"Really?" Kore looks at the letter and opens it. He spends a few moments examining it. Sue reads over hers. They both seem surprised.
"Okay, people, we need to start thinking about leaving." Maya looks at them. 
"Really?" Noah looks a little conflicted as he looks over to his house. 
"Noah, the choice is yours. Just be aware that if you come with us you will be charging into a war." Maya smiles gently at him. "We are more than ready to welcome you, we lost a lot of good men when Endmear was taken over."
"Listen, this is a big decision. We will respect whatever choice you make, but you have to be the one to make it." Malcolm looks at Noah. Kore rubs Noah's shoulder. 
To me, romantic love has always seemed just like platonic love. I've had people tell me that I'm strange for not being able to tell the difference between platonic and romantic love. It's the same way with sex, I don't understand the way people can feel that sort of attraction. When I look at Kore, Malcolm, and Noah their relationship just seems like an extreme friendship to me. 
"I want to follow you guys. I love my parents, but I've never felt more at home with anyone than I have with you guys." Noah isn't just saying it to Malcolm and Kore, but to all of us. We all smile and laugh. Even if we all don't get along with each other, we know we can all trust one another. 
"Welcome to the Misfits!" Sue laughs and playfully elbows Noah. 
"Oh, is that what we're called now?" Kore laughs.
"Well, I'm just glad to be here!" He laughs.
We sat around and talked about our plan to leave. Maya showed us where the camp that we were trying to go to, as well as where the Kiri soldiers are attacking from. Skyfall shares an eastern border with the Kiri Empire. Totem was one of the first towns to be attacked and it also was one of the closest to that border. Kore and Maya had figured that Kiri was attacking the capital to throw off the military and cause panic, and that's exactly what happened. With Maya's father dead it was nearly impossible to calm the citizens of Skyfall. The only reason they know Maya's alive is from all of the search parties of Kiri soldiers going around hunting for her. We needed to reconnect with the generals and restore Maya's throne as quickly as possible. 
Simon, Sue, and Kore spent time writing letters back to Simon's mother. We talked until we hear the dinner bell. We all wandered back through the field and into the house. Martha sits at the end, she seems to be a lot more composed and calm than earlier. It was a little unsettling at how calm and welcoming she had become. We all sat at the table and ate, but as we ate we started to hear shouting from outside.