Chapter 1; Arianna

The birds chirping overhead stirred Arianna from her sleep. She pulled the blanket up to her nose and fluttered her eyes open slowly to give them some time to adjust to the light. The trees that towered overhead were so green that it made the morning air feel even more clear. She took a deep breath as if to test that theory.

Something smelled good.

She sat up and looked across to see her siblings were already awake. Her older sister, Desiree, was cooking something over the small fire that wasn't there when she went to sleep. Without being able to see what was in the pan, she could tell it was some of the meat that they had got from town the day before; the smell gave it away.

Arianna lifted herself from her bedroll and pulled the blanket up to wrap around her small shoulders. Before she would join her sister she knew better than to leave her things scattered so began to pack up her bedroll and put it with her bag. She then pulled a hairbrush from her bag and walked over to join her sister by the fire. Arianna began brushing her own hair slowly as she waited and watched her sister.

Desiree was the eldest daughter, second oldest of the four siblings. She was 25 and had a responsible and elegant vibe about her, she was also quite beautiful. Her hair was a shade of blonde that only seemed to be heard about in fairytales, Arianna was always jealous of that. Her face was clean and sprinkled with freckles that only seemed to enhance her beauty. She was the main reason that they had survived as long as they had because she wasn't only beautiful, she was also very smart, cunning to be more accurate. Ari wished they were closer in age sometimes, but they had only shared a father so their mother's were in their fathers life at different times.

Arianna smiled to her sister as she passed her a bit of breakfast. "Thank you," she said with an excited smile before placing the hairbrush beside her so she wouldn't forget it. Arianna really did love her sisters cooking, maybe it had something to do with it being all that she had available to her so didn't know any different, but it didn't change her mood towards it.

"Why do you insist on being so cheerful in the morning?"

Arianna looked up to the familiar voice with attitude in her eyes, did he always have to be such a boy? His arms were full of gathered wood for the fire and his sword hung from his belt where it usually rested. Growing up he always tormented her now that they were on the run, that didn't seem to change.

"I can't help it! Des makes good breakfast!" Arianna said pouting lightly before sticking her tongue out in his direction. She then turned back to take a bite of her food. Her eyes followed her brother as he moved to the small pile where they were keeping the wood for the fire, there wasn't a lot gathered there as they wouldn't be staying in one place for long. She watched him drop what he collected on top and brush off his hands. As he joined the two of them by the fire, he brought another thick branch to feed the fire.

Walter was the third child in their family, older than Arianna by nine years but still the closest she had. He was 19 which was closer in age to Desire than her. He was tall and his eyes were usually quite wild with playful intent, especially when it came to girls. He had a handsome face and with the makings of a strong jaw. He was built sturdy with his broad shoulders, the similarities between the boys' build in their family was striking. He had a hint of his mother's blond hair, not as bright as Desiree's, but it went well with his wild and sometimes reckless personality.

Arianna simply sighed before finishing her breakfast, she knew that they probably had a long ways to go today; they usually did, and with Walt teasing her as often as he did, it would feel longer.

"How did you sleep?" Des asked. Arianna looked to her sister and then smiled. Ari still somehow managed to keep a cheerful mood through all of what had been going on with them. She figured that it was the least she could do after not being able to do much to help out her siblings.

"I slept fine after I moved my bedroll, I was sleeping on a root at the start of the night," the girls laughed at this for a moment while Walt simply just scoffed at her stupidity. Ari took that as a win to make him laugh.

Not long after her root story, their oldest brother come in from the bush. He had their canteens and from the looks of them they were full. Arianna smiled to him and ran over to give him a hug. She loved and looked up to her older brother, he felt safe which was only natural as he and Desiree took care of them.

"Hey little miss, you decided to join us?" He teased lightly as he patted the top of her head.

"I wasn't gone," she corrected, "I was just asleep." Ari smiled brightly as if it was a good come back. The two walked over to join Des and Walt by the fire and after handing everyone a canteen, Alex cleared his throat with eyes directed to Desiree.

"Hey, Ari, go pack up and be ready to go," Des suggested. Arianna looked hesitantly at her siblings but slowly got up with her canteen before heading to her pack. She folded the blanket she had and began to work it into her bag. She glanced over to her older siblings who were speaking lowly so that she couldn't make out what they were saying. Des began to clean up and Walt stretched his leg over to stomp out the fire. Ari couldn't tell what they were talking about but it looked urgent and like they were going to have to move on quickly.

She was right.

Within minutes her older siblings broke from their huddle and gathered up camp. It took no time at all as they only had to put away the cooking and the food. Arianna had her own bag while her older siblings carried their own respective things as well as shared the things they all needed. Alex carried the most as he was able to.

She kept with her siblings as they fled the area in a controlled hurry. Her bag was strapped to her back and the skirt of her dress brushed against the tops of the grass and weeds that grew on the forest floor. She made a mental note to keep away from bur plants as she didn't want to spend more time than necessary picking them from her clothing.

After what seemed like an hour at a brisk pace, she knew they were far from where they had spent the night. They were safe from whatever it was. Right? She looked to her siblings backs but couldn't really tell if they were still worried but their pace hadn't slowed. Arianna was getting tired but didn't want to be a burden to her siblings so kept quiet, she figured that they would reach a point of rest soon but after a few minutes of thinking and hoping her legs began to feel like jello. She noticed she was falling behind so tried to push herself into taking the extra steps to move quicker. It wasn't until she felt Desiree's hand on her shoulder that she realized they had stopped.

"You should tell us when you need to sit," she scolded lightly as the boys set down their things down and settled in for a short rest, "we will understand but you have to let us know when you are reaching your limits." She put her hands in Ari's as a way to comfort her. The girls sat down on some grass to get off their feet.

Suddenly Desiree's face changed and her hands grew stiff in Ari's. Her sisters eyes rolled back so just the whites of her eyes were showing and Ari gasped.

"Alex! Walter!" She heard herself shout to them in a slight panic as she watched Desiree's face for any clues to what she was seeing. She felt Alex move her aside and watched him take Desiree's hands in his.

"Desiree," he would say in a calm voice, "tell me what you see." Alex was always good at getting through to her, it probably helped that he was always level headed and calm when it came to nearly everything; he was their rock. Arianna couldn't even keep her hands still as she leaned forward to listen.

"They are behind us- no, tracking us." Desiree would speak in a clear and calm voice as if in a dream. "A hairbrush?" Arianna's heart nearly stopped just then, her hairbrush! She had forgotten it at breakfast. "The-The Hounds." She stuttered out as her eyes closed and when they opened she was looking frantically at Alex, "we need to mask our scents!" She warned in a desperate whisper.

Arianna looked to Walt with panic in her eyes, "my hairbrush..." she whispered wanting to just go back and fix her mess but that was just a empty wish.

"Can't do anything about it now." He said which almost sounded comforting but, knowing him, it wasn't what he intended.

Ari watched as he quickly got to work grabbing the things he was carrying so that they could leave. Arianna followed suit and picked up her backpack and looked to her sister, she couldn't help but wonder if she was okay. Desiree's vision's always scared her, they looked like they hurt sometimes and Ari hated seeing her siblings in any form of pain.

"Come on Ari, we need to go," Alex said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He already had all the bags he was carrying on his back. "Let ya know if you can't keep up." He said with a seriousness on his face, it worried her. She wondered if they were in real danger, the signs were there but no one ever told her anything. They had walked fast ever since leaving camp this morning, after their meeting, maybe they were closer to catching them than she thought.

After a few minutes the siblings were moving again, a little quicker than before but this time they had Walter walk behind Arianna, and Alex was leading. Desiree looked back and took Ari's hand as they moved and Arianna felt a smile form on her face.

They moved like that for what seemed like miles when suddenly, Arianna heard the familiar footsteps behind her stop and she turned to look, hand still holding onto Desiree.

"Walt?" She asked confused which made Des and Alex stop too. They watched him as he drew his sword with a devilish grin on his face.

"Can you hear them?" He asked as the pounding from horse hooves on solid ground could slowly be heard, increasing as they neared. Ari felt Desiree pull her to move, being dragged into a run. She couldn't help but look back at her brothers, both stood their ground. She felt tears well up in her eyes as Des pulled her away, she was scared for her brothers, scared that she wouldn't see them again and it was all her fault.

As the girls fled, Ari was able to catch a glimpse of a horse and masked rider come running at her brothers. She watched in horror as they were about to plow right into her eldest brother but before that could happen, Alex grabbed the horse with both hands bringing it to a quick and abrupt stop just as the girls rounded a bend and the fight fell out of sight.