Flames surrounded the beautiful green trees, engulfing everything in their path. A frail old man looked out at the destruction, though his face was just a blur. His eyes, though. His eyes. His eyes were full of power and strength. "Impetum!"

SJ woke up in a cold sweat, her breathing laboured. As she tried to re-gain her breath, the visions whirled around in her head for a split second, before disappearing.

                       ◇ ◇ ◇

A young woman hacked at tree stump, trying to remove it. When she couldn't do it, she groaned, throwing the axe on the ground.

"Shelley, you ok?", asked a tall boy. He picked up the axe from the ground.

Shelley sighed. "I've been trying to get rid of it for half an hour, Mikhail. It won't budge."

Mikhail surveyed the damage. "Another tree gone? The Termes are back?"

Shelley shrugged. "I'm not sure. That seems like the most likely option."

Termes were hideous creatures, similar to crows but they were bigger and had blood red eyes. They ate away at the trees and other vegetation. They were known to attack anyone in their way, though they never kílled them. They hate leaving things unfinished, which is why Shelley was removing the stump.

Mikhail raised the axe, a grin on his face. "Here, Shelley, I found the problem."

"What?"

Without warning, Mikhail slammed the axe into the stump. He went all out, possibly taking out any anger he had, on this stump. He'd have to dig deep for that anger though.

He stopped when the stump was nothing more than a broken mess. He dropped the axe. "You were so precise, Shelley. You hacked it in the same place."

"Choosing one point is a logical thing to do", said a defensive Shelley.

"Sometimes, you need to go crazy. Attack it from everywhere. All angles", he said. "Anyway, where's the repellent?"

Shelley shrugged. "It's SJ's turn to get more."

"She isn't here yet?", asked Mikhail, frowning when Shelley shook her head.

Suddenly, SJ rushed towards them, her clothes looking disheveled. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the pair staring at her. "What is it?"

Shelley and Mikhail looked at each other, trying to decide which one of them would tell SJ she looked like she'd just come out of a washing machine mid use. "You look a little... wild?", replied Shelley.

SJ let out a dry laugh before holding her hand out. "Sorry, I woke up late. Here's another bottle of repellent."

Mikhail took it and gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I'll get started on the trees down there", he said, before pointing.

This was another typical day for Coppersberg's residents. They attended school on weekdays, where they were basically just spoken at for 6 hours, unable to socialise with anyone unless they were in your group.

Then, you'd come home and do any homework, as well as spend time with your family. Why was this important? Because on weekdays, you'd spend after school time with your group. You shared a house and had to pitch in with agricultural duties. On weekends, you'd get to spend both days with your birth families, or rather the families you had before you turned 16.

Breaking these guidelines didn't mean you were breaking the law. Talking to anyone outside of your group, with the exception of medical professionals, suppliers and teachers, meant you were directly breaking the law.

SJ walked into their house, which was more like a medium sized hut. Shelley followed after her, curious to know why she was acting weird. "SJ? Has something happened?"

SJ had always liked Shelley. They were quite similar in terms of them both being sticklers for rules. Though it was easier to communicate with Mikhail, there was something about Shelley which made SJ value her opinions more. "No, why would you think that?"

"Well, it's just... I know you go home for the weekends. But you're never normally this late on Mondays", said Shelley. "If something's wrong you can tell me."

SJ thought back to her nightmares. Flashbacks filled her head, making her shudder. She closed her eyes tight for a few seconds to steady herself. When she opened them, she was met with a worried Shelley. "I'm fine, really. I just miss my sister, that's all."

SJ never spoke about her family in detail. The others only knew that her youngest sister died, the other sisters weren't around anymore and that it had something to do with the Tapestry law.

Shelley nodded, a sympathetic look on her face. She clapped a hand on the girl's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her. "Take it easy today. Mikhail and I have got you."

-

In a slightly more lavish, but still largely agricultural area, 3 people were doing jobs.

"Lyndi!", exclaimed a girl. "Where's the lawnmower?"

Lyndi rushed out, colliding with a boy. "Oh! Sorry, Duke-"

"-Watch it, yeah?", he exclaimed, a scowl on his face.

Lyndi frowned. "Sorry." She sprinted away from his glare, stopping when she got to Holly. "The lawnmower's in the shed. I'll grab it for you."

"Thanks", smiled Holly. "And... sorry for making Duke angry at you."

Lyndi shook her head. "It's not your fault. He's probably just having a bad day."

Holly nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Sometimes I forget that even good looking people have problems."

Lyndi giggled. "Hey, who's to say you aren't good looking?"

"Oh no, don't say that! I don't want hot people problems!", joked Holly, making Lyndi laugh.

"I'm headin' out for supplies", said Duke. "Be back in an hour."

Lyndi grabbed sonething out of her pocket and handed it to Duke. "Termes Spray. In case they're about."

To Lyndi's surprise, Duke gave her a small smile and nodded his head. "Nice one, Lyndi."

As Duke walked away, a puzzled Lyndi watched him. A shocked Holly turned to Lyndi. "Ok did he just be nice to you so quickly after being a jerk?"

Lyndi shrugged. "I guess?"

"How do you do it?"

Lyndi shook her head. "No idea. One thing's for sure though, that boy's an enigma."

-

A girl with jet black hair was in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal. As she scooped up another spoonful, a girl knocked it out of her hand. "Hey!"

"Sorry, Audrey. Noah's orders. That cereal is way past its best before date."

"It tastes fine, Luna", said Audrey.

Luna picked up one. "Girl, it's black. And... oh hell no, it's green too."

Audrey shrugged. "Like I said, it tastes fine."

A persistent Luna grabbed the bowl. To her surprise, Audrey leapt on her, trying to reach for the bowl. "Give it back!"

"Audrey-"

The bowl slipped from Luna's grasp and smashed when it hit the floor. Luna and Audrey just stared at the broken pieces.

"Yeah, I'll leave that to you", said Audrey, a mishevious look on her face. She stood up and sprinted away.

"Hey! Come back!"

"You'll have to catch me first!", replied a grinning Audrey.

"Hey, what's all the noise-", started Noah, rushing into the room. He stared at the broken bowl before looking at Luna.

"Would you believe me if I said bowl came like this?", asked Luna.

-

In another area, similar to the second area, a girl was tending to a lost horse. "Hey, girl... where's your home?"

"Maaria, get away from that horse!", yelled a girl.

The horse started bucking, clearly startled.

"Gigi! You're scaring her", said Maaria.

"Look at its legs!", she exclaimed.

A confused Maaria looked at the horse's legs. Her eyes widened when she saw they were multiplying.

"A Malumeq? ", she questioned, taking several steps back. "I thought we got rid of the last one."

Gigi shook her head. "It was Naomi's turn but she just went out instead."

The Malumeq opened its mouth, a thin purple thing resembling a tongue poking out.

Gigi grabbed a pitchfork but stopped when she realised she'd have to get close to it.

"What are you waiting for?", asked Maaria.

Did Gigi want Maaria to die? No. Was she going to risk her own life for her? Absolutely not. "Here!", she yelled, throwing the pitchfork to her.

Maaria ducked and leapt, seizing the pitchfork. "Tell Naomi about this!"

As Gigi turned away, she heard a painfully loud shriek. The same she'd heard countless times before. She didn't turn around.

"It's dead", said Maaria, breathing heavily.

Before Gigi could react, Naomi rushed out. "What the héll happened here? I was trying to call someone."

Before Maaria or Gigi could respond, a large group of horseback riders rode through their area, wearing black attire and black masks.

Gigi, Maaria and Naomi looked at each other.

-

Hi! I'm sorry this is so bad, it'll get better! Noah and Naomi's responses/parts are vague because I don't have their connections yet.

Regardless, I wanted to get something out so that I could jump straight into the action in the next chapter.

The next chapter will be out when I have all the Connections in.

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

Who are the people in black?

starryeyedturtle

FishyFishy_Fries

hopefulfirebird

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

Ladybuglolz

SoniczurcX

OrdinaryBard