"The camp was the battleground of shrieking color, each fighting to be more vibrant than the next."

Under the light of the setting sun, Honey saw the camp and much like everything else in the Wild Woods, Honey had never seen anything like it before. The camp consisted of half a dozen large tents and about two dozen smaller ones, each one sewn from vibrant cloth, surrounding what would soon become a large fire. 

The vagabonds lounged around the clearing, some cooking or grooming horses, but all of them smiling and talking to one another. Much like the tents, the vagabonds wore bright clothing that was deemed impractical by the Mutare, but to Honey's Lekki eyes, it was beautiful.

At first glance, Honey had thought these vagabonds were Lekki, much like the ones who had danced in her village's marketplace what felt like a lifetime ago, but then she noticed several of them had the ears and tails of Mutare. However, the vagabonds were noticeably smaller than the Mutare but too tall to be Lekki. 

Honey even saw one Mutare looking vagabond with only a single rabbit-like ear sprouting from a head of frizzy hair. Yet, there were still others who seemed to look more like a Lekki than Mutare, lacking the animalistic traits and none of the vagabonds seemed to care about it at all.

It was almost as if they didn't know there was a war between the Lekki and Mutare raging on just outside of their peaceful little camp.

That was when two children ran over to Honey and Dai, their dark eyes wide and glittering with excitement as they wrapped their small arms around Dai's legs, each one wearing an identical smile that lit their features. "Golden Eyes!" the little girl around Dai's right leg said, smiling wildly. She seemed to be a Mutare child, around six years old yet the other, a boy seemed to be Lekki, a couple years younger.

What Honey was startled by, however, was how the pair looked eerily similar, as if they were siblings. They both had thick, brown almost black hair that curled around their ears, that reminded Honey of Aldwin's hair and dark blue eyes. 

They had olive skin and wore bright colors as all the vagabonds did, and were bubbling with energy as all children, Mutare and Lekki alike. Dai seemed surprised that the children were now clinging to him, but Honey was treated with another one of Dai's rare smiles as Dai looked down upon the children. For a heartbeat, the Lekki girl wondered if Dai knew them.

"Hello there," Dai said, petting the girl's head, rubbing behind her animalistic ears. "What's your name?" he asked. Well, that answered one of Honey's questions.

"Juno!" the girl said, smiling up at Dai, and Honey noticed she was missing one of her front teeth. "And that's Ascot," she said, and the boy looked up shyly. "Grandmother Danna says you've come back to protect us from the bad soldiers," she said. "Grandmother Danna says that you swore to always protect us a thousand years ago. Is that true?" she squeaked.

"Very," Dai said. "You should know better than to question your grandmother. She's a very smart woman and a very capable warrior," Dai said.

The girl, Juno, giggled at Dai's words, before she nodded her head, giving Dai a silent promise. "When I get bigger I want to protect the vagabonds, too," she decided. "Like my grandmother and aunty and mama used too!" she said, smiling from ear to ear.

Dai's face softened at her words. "I'm certain you will," he said. "Now run back to your mother," he said and both children open their mouths to complain, but were silenced by Dai's sharp glare. "I need to show Miss Honey around or else she'll get lost. She's a Lekki you know," Dai said and both children turned to face the Lekki girl.

"Lekki do have a poor sense of direction," Juno said, clearly teasing the younger vagabond who had been without ears or a tail.

"Just because you have ears and I don't, doesn't make you any more Mutare than I," he snapped, speaking for the first time.

"You do have a bad sense of direction though, Ascot," she teased.

The boy, Ascot, playfully shoved Juno before dashing off through the camp, the older girl chasing after her, a determined fire in her eyes. Honey watched them go, a strange curiosity burning inside. "Are they-"

"Siblings," Dai answered, cutting Honey off. "It runs in the family. One child born with Mutare features, the other, without," he stated, turning to face Honey, the light drained from his eyes. "Although, the only reason Mutare let the vagabonds cross through the Wild Woods without penalty is for the Mutare blood that flows through their veins."

"Vagabonds..." Honey began, her eyes wide. "Are Mutare?" she asked, her voice painfully high pitched.

Dai didn't seem to pick up on her nervousness. "Not exactly," he said. "They're hybrids, half-breeds or as the Mutare call them, Halflings," Dai said before he finally noticed the lack of color in Honey's face. "You couldn't have really thought that never once in the past millennium a Mutare and Lekki haven't borne a child together, have you?"

"I..." Honey didn't know how to answer that. All she had known was that the Lekki and Mutare had hated each other for what Lukas claimed to be since the Mutare were first created. "I don't know," she whispered.

"Halflings are twice as annoying as any Lekki or Mutare," Dai said, a faint smile upon his lips and his eyes glazed over as if he was lost in a pleasant memory. "I like their will, though. Being born without a place in either world can be..." Dai trailed off, his voice uncertain, "frustrating," he finally decided upon. "Yet, the vagabonds have never once given up or felt shame in their heritage," he said. "Although I might be a part of the reason why not."

"But vagabonds come out of the woods!" Honey said. "They don't look Mutare then," she cried, grasping at anything to prove Dai wrong. Yet, she already knew the truth. Mutare blood had run through her mother's veins and it now ran through hers.

"Halflings only have their Mutare features in the Wild Woods," Dai said. "Anywhere else their features retract," he said, with a slight shrug. "It has something to do with an old rhyme saying that that the Mutare moon would reveal all truths and Lekki sun undo what had been done, or something," he said. "I could look it up for you if you're interested," he offered.

However, Honey didn't want to hear old rhymes. What she wanted was for Dai's words not be true. For him to be wrong, for once. Yet Honey knew he wasn't. Dai wasn't wrong about anything, especially when it came to old stories. Her mother had warned Honey to stay away from the woods. 

What if it wasn't for the fear of her daughter's safety as Honey had originally thought, but instead the fear of what Honey might become if the Wild Wood's moon ever kissed her head. Only, both Honey and her brother had been in the Wild Woods and nothing happened, or had it? Aldwin had never been under the moon's light. Was there a possibility that Honey's little brother might be a Mutare?

Honey was beginning to feel sick.

And she must've looked it too. "Are you certain you aren't feeling any pain?" Dai asked, narrowing his eyes. Honey's face had gone unexplainably white at his words. The Lekki girl nodded but said nothing and Dai tried his best to ignore it. Perhaps she was just feeling uneasy knowing the Mutare were so close all this time.

That had to be it, he decided.

"So you two are finally awake," a familiar voice asked, providing both Honey and Dai a welcome distraction. Lukas. The god seemed slightly annoyed, but a lot cleaner than the last time that they had crossed paths. The grime that had been piling on his face for the past week washed away and his hair carefully brushed. "The vagabonds wouldn't let me anywhere near either of you after I woke, despite how I told them I could heal you," he said.

"Vagabonds have a long memory," Dai answered, dryly. "They know exactly what the gods have done to them in the past. I'm surprised they even bothered to drag you back here," Dai said, before whirling around and stalking off, headed deeper into the camp.

Lukas watched him go, annoyed, although slightly confused. "Was he in a bad mood before I walked over or-"

"No. You caused it," Honey said, cutting Lukas off.

"Not surprising," Lukas stated. "Then again, nothing ever is these days," he stated, arrogance pooling his tone. Honey couldn't help but feel the slightest bit aggravated at the ever-present and obvious arrogance of Lukas and the more subtle arrogance of Dai. And with her mind already wrapped in her own frustrated thoughts, she didn't have the patience for Lukas's arrogance after listening to Dai's story about the vagabonds.

Which was probably why she said what she said next.

"I was surprised when Dai pulled that sword on you."

Lukas was silent, but his expression betrayed his shock. Honey's words had surprised and throughout his immortal life, he had never been very good at hiding his emotions. He had spent the past few days trying to think of an explanation for what had occurred but none came to him. He was just as lost when it came to that as Honey had been when she awoke earlier that day. 

"There isn't a chance Dai explained to you what happened, is there?" Lukas asked, and this time it was Honey's turn to have shock spread across her features. However, her shock quickly faded into obvious amusement.

"Do I know something you don't?" she asked, with a laugh, clearly enjoying teasing Lukas. The scowl Lukas wore only made her laugh harder before she finally answered. "Yes, Dai did explain what happened," she said. "He said it had to do with the Twin Blades and a magical blast," Honey said.

"That's impossible. The Twin Blade of Light is the strongest weapon ever forged," Lukas snapped.

"Not according to Dai," Honey said with a shrug. "Apparently there is another one. The Twin Blade of Shadow or something," she told Lukas.

"But it's been lost for a millennium," Lukas protested, clearly not wanting to believe what Honey was saying. "Back when the Dark Master fell," he snapped, looking at Honey skeptically. "It's impossible for Dai of all creatures to have it."

"What if it was never really lost?" Honey asked.

"I refuse to believe this," Lukas snapped.

"Which is more possible, Dai having the Shadow Blade or him having another that's equally powerful?" Honey asked, her voice low.

"I don't know!" the god snapped. "I'm not like the Balance Goddess or the Lady of Light! I don't have all the answers!" Lukas cried, his frustration bleeding into his tone. Honey was frozen. This was...new. "They were the ones with the plans," Lukas mumbled. "They were the ones who made the decisions. I just..." Lukas's voice hurt Honey's ears. "I just want to see her again. I miss her more than you could understand," he said.

"I would miss someone I haven't seen in a thousand years too," Honey said.

Honey's words meant nothing to Lukas. Honey would never have to live a thousand years alone in the heavens trying to please a mother who could never be pleased. She wouldn't have to live with the guilt that she might have been able to do something to prevent everything but didn't. 

She would never understand how Lukas felt when the Lady of Light didn't return to the heavens that day a thousand years ago. The pain was still fresh in Lukas's mind. She had said she was coming back. They had joked saying that it was just going to be a quick trip to save the world from shadow. Nothing unusual.

Then she didn't come back.

And when Lukas finally went down to the world to see what had become of his elder sister, it was too late. She was gone. Her sword the only thing left of her, lying discarded on the ground. Lukas had thought the Dark Master had won. That shadow had triumphed over light. He had thought everything was lost. And he had cried. 

So many tears were shed, so much anger had burned within him. It took another decade for the gods to realize that the Dark Master, too, was destroyed. That there was someone else sitting on the throne. The Council is what they called themselves. Mutare leaders who guided the woods.

The gods let them be, despite Lukas's protests. Without the Dark Master, the Mutare were essentially harmless. There was no need for genocide.

The other gods didn't listen to Lukas when he claimed that the Dark Master would return and use the Mutare as pawns once again. His older brothers and sisters ignored his warnings and instead focused on their own amusements. Their own pleasures. 

That was why Lukas was the one chosen to find the Rose Book. He was the only one of all twelve gods who remained vigilant. He was the only one who had trained. Lukas was given the opportunity to please his mother. All he had to do was bring the Lady of Light home, therefore saving the world.

No big deal.

"Lukas?" Honey's voice was soft as if she was afraid that Lukas might break if she said the wrong thing. "It's okay to miss a sibling," Honey said.

"No it's not," Lukas snapped. "It's selfish!" he cried. "It's selfish..." Lukas murmured, looking more like a scared child than a god. "It's selfish to miss a sibling more than to want to save the world!" he snapped.

"What?" Honey asked, confusion lacing her tone. She had no idea what Lukas was talking about.

"That's why I want the Rose Book," he said, his voice soft. "It's not to save every living creature on the world from witnessing the horrors of war, but to find my sister," he said, body trembling. "And I'm ruining lives to do it, but I still don't care."

Honey was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Then she took a deep breath, calming her nerves before she spoke. "Don't be so hard on yourself," Honey said. "Of course it's selfish, but you have a right to be selfish," she stated. "I'd do anything to save my brother. I'm certain any normal living creature would," Honey said.

"I'm not normal," Lukas said, bitterness filling his tone. "I'm a god. I'm supposed to be above normal," he said.

Honey sighed, shaking her head. Then she slowly grabbed Lukas's hand, placing it on his chest. She rested her own hand on top of it, her eyes locked on Lukas's. She could feel the pounding of his head, pulsing life through his body. 

"We are all living," Honey told him. "Inside of every god, Lekki, Mutare and anything in between a heart beats," she said, a smile spreading across her lips. She had never been very good with words. "Our blood may be a different color but we are all still living. We get to make choices and we get to make mistakes and we get to live with the consequences. We all have the right to be selfish."

"But-"

"No buts-" Honey snapped, removing her hand from Lukas's. "Just let me be right for once," she said.

Lukas sighed and rolled his eyes, but said nothing more. He decided that Honey could be right, just this one time.

A U T H O R ' S    N O T E

Hello everyone!

They're announcing the winners of the Wattys next Friday so I'm both very nervous and very excited!

I'll announce how we did next Sunday, I suppose.

Well, until next time!

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