Two Worlds - The Secrets Within (Book One)

Chapter IV

"War? War! Oh no." Naldi muttered, rubbing her temples in anger. Timmy frowned, staring emotionless at his sweaty hands.
"War. No. This can't be happening. We'll all die!"she glanced at the boy, noticing the fear that's dazzling in his round eyes. She sighed, frustrated. "You.. You could die." She whispered, so soft, he could barely hear her. But he knew what she said, because he was on thin ice right now, and once he falls through, he'll die. Although the Golden Ropes and Lord Zeppelin may be clever, most of the time they make the most inconsiderate decisions that could cost many imaginary lives.
"They'll just kill themselves if they want me dead. Plus, I've tried to figure out a strategy to save you, save your people. I mean, you had to expect this was going to happen sooner or later, right? Anyways, I've been working on it for years, and I haven't told anyone-" he hesitated and stared at Naldi who quickly lifted her head to meet his gaze.
"Till now." They both echoed, saying the two words in sync. The boy noticed a hint of a slight smile formed on Naldi's lips, then almost immediately it faded away from his vision.
"We need to tell the others." Timmy urged, jumping on his feet, picking up his pace as he could see Naldi in the air at the corner of his eye, flapping her delicate white wings. Just then, he heard a loud thump, and a dust cloud form in front of him. He squinted slightly, the dirt stinging his eyes. Then he saw Naldi standing in front of him, her wings larger and wider than ever.
"What if they're just trying to get to our heads?" She asked, gripping Timmy's hand in hers and tugging him to her, then basically dragging him to the village outside the South Hospital as if she didn't need a response.
"They aren't. I promise you."
There were about a dozen or so houses, made of thick logs, the bark shaved off for a smooth surface. The doors were wood, no doorknobs though, so it would just swing open if you laid a single finger on it. There were small backyards plastered in the back, with a small window and a backdoor in its view. Timmy's only been inside Naldi's house, but when he looks into different windows, everything is exactly built out with the same materials and food like Naldi's. Plucked feathers formed as soft curtains. A stove with some pans and pots. Dark oak cabinets, cups, plates, and silverware in each of the three, stacked on top of each other. A small wooden table with four weak chairs bordering the outside. A cyan couch with weaved buttons in a dent of the middle of each cushion, and black thread outlining each seat. A log stump as a small coffee table with a worn down TV with two wires standing tall on the top, making that annoying buzzing noise. Food was in the small pantry in the right hand corner, but since each house is a small rectangle, there's a triangle-like room as the food holder. Every house was a clone of another.
As trees spawned everywhere he went, like in a video game when your far away and theres just white virtual fog, then you get closer and stuff start to pop up in front of you, like render distance or something like that, they made their way in the tall, silken grass.
"Where are we going?" Timmy yelled over the sudden clacking of horses galloping across a field of wheat, warriors riding them. Usually, the horses would have their steel armor on their bodies and faces for protection, and the soldiers would have their swords and dull steel armor knee pads, pants, chest plate, boots, and helmets, but since it was just training and nothing serious, the army just wore their normal basic clothing, and the horses were bare except for the leather saddles straped around their back. Only one person wore her full body armor and her horse had that beautiful, metal, gold painted, body cast. Camilla. She was shouting random words at the men, giving hand signals and moving her head here and there. Her horse was highly obediant. His name was Steel. Steel's fur was a dark gray color, buzzed off so it was a smooth and short. He had black socks on its ankles, racing up to the crooks of his knees. Black, flowing hair, with bright blue eyes. He was beautiful.
As Timmy shook his head to clear his state, he realized they were strutting over to the Town Hall, when out of no where, they were flung back by a powerful force. As Naldi staggered backwards, catching her feet, she slowly lifted her head, staring up at a tall, buff man. As Timmy followed her gaze, his mouth immediately gapped open, shocked at the sight of leader troop, Amir.
There were about four leaders. Camilla, trainer of the WarTroops and DefenseTroops. Then there's Amir, trainer of the WarTroops, partnered with Camilla. Nestor, leader of the WeaponTroops and the KillerTroops. He's the one who loves the smell of icky blood-shed spread on the floor, so he'll probably be delighted by the terrible news we're about to share.
Then there's Tenet, leader of BoundaryTroops.
There are five different Troop Groups. The WarTroops, who fight in battle and are excellent fighters. The WeaponTroops, they make extra powerful swords and arrows that can go by command towards an enemy, and the people are astonishingly amazing at the way they move their body in combat with their inventions. The KillerTroops, they are the mischievous guards, or more like cops of the Good World. They sometimes sneak into the dead trees of the awakening Bad World to watch and wait for something to come, and when something stirs, they dive down from the sky and spread their night blue wings out, slashing out at the spot where the movement or noise came from. The DefenseTroops, in battle they stand guard at the Golden Dust Tree, basically their kingdom of life, but what makes life is the golden dust that slowly pours out of a small hole in a branch, spilling into a large ditch-like bowl made of logs and sturdy tree roots. They also stay put at the border, making sure no trespassers step foot over the dusted line. Then there's the BoundaryTroops. They always patrol the border every twenty to thirty minutes, catching a glimpse of something unnatural or misplaced, something moving or something tweeting out noise calls.
The way people are placed into these groups are that every new born angel is stabbed in the hand with a metallic knife by Queen Luna, then the blood is safely secured in a small tube and a tiny drop of the red paint-like liquid is dropped into five different faded blue bowls. One is filled with alien blood as a symbol of KillerTroops. Another is filled with coal, to show the darkness of war, a symbol of the WarTroops. Another is leaves, to show that nature is important, a symbol of the DefenseTroops. Then one is filled with arrows, a symbol of WeaponTroops. Then the last bowl is filled with rocks neatly organized into four rows as crooked lines, the symbol of BoundaryTroops. If the blood sizzles and explodes into a gust of smoke from a bowl, then the baby is placed into that group and is separated from his or her parents at the age of six years. If nothing happens to the blood, the baby gets to stay with its parents for the rest of its life and is placed into their group. These people are called Outsiders. If blood sizzles in some or all the bowls, then when the child is old enough, they will be able to choose their future path. They're called Choosers. Naldi is a Chooser. She chose to live her life as a WarTroop, and she is one of the most skilled students of her age group. Naldi is about twelve years old, living with a group of ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen girls and boys is probably very stressful. But she handles it well by the way she acts around Timmy.
As they just hesitantly stared up at Amir, he glanced down at them, anger seeping into his eyes until his gaze softened as he noticed Timmy. He bowed down, literally, resting his hand on his heart, leaning his head over in respect.
As the boy glanced at Naldi, confusion leaking all on his face, she just shrugged and gazed back up at Amir. When the boy did the same, Amir was already standing tall again, smiling and waving as he slowly stomped away. Timmy smiled confusedly, giving a slight wave, then limply dropping his arm beside him.
"Wow. Nice to blow off an expert." Naldi muttered, walking over to the counter where food was served. As the boy quickly trailed behind, grabbing a black tray and sliding down the wooden countertop, a lady scooped up mashed potatoes and plopped it on his plate, then another women splatting a handful of green beans beside it.
"You know, I thought we were in a serious mode detective kind of style right now, but now that we're just casually eating, it doesn't really count." Timmy noted, taking a spoon from a cup and following Naldi to a tree stump.
There were people crowded around everywhere, getting food and gobbling it down as fast as possible to leave and get ready for training. I guess they really work hard.
As Timmy glanced at Naldi, ready for a launch of impact, she just calmly shrugged.
"First off, it's one o' clock, lunch, second off, when a girl gets hungry, a girl gets hungry." She murmured in respond, shoving a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth and hungrily chewing it down to a pulp.
As Timmy examined the place, knowing he's never been to the Town Hall's Diner, he noticed how the sunlight seeped in the brightened room, sucking out the darkness of the open building. There were only a couple of tree branches and vines covering up as walls, the floor bare dirt under your feet with no ceiling. Tree stumps were naturally placed as tables and chairs, different shades of wood to prove there were multiple different types of trees sprouting every inch.
"I guess I was pretty hungry, too." Timmy admitted, gripping three green beans with their sweet sauce dripping on his fingers and plopping them into his mouth, chewing and gulping down the delicious vegetable, later licking his fingers as his taste buds flew in different directions from the impact of the wonderful taste.
"Wow, that was really good." Timmy mumbled, still sucking on his fingers for more sauce. Naldi chuckled slightly, then grabbed both their trays and shoving them on a wooden platform.
"Come on. We need to spill the news. You're sure you really know this is going to happen?" She asked, grabbing his wrist and pulling him out a poor-made door.
"Positive." Timmy responded, wiping his mouth. Naldi nodded.
"Then lets go." She announced sternly, picking up the pace. Timmy sighed.
Now was the time to tell the horrible news, and get prepared for a war that will never be forgotten.