Threa

The morning had arrived, strong clouds obstructed the bit of sunlight with the chilliness that signified the beginning of the harsh winter. Eris and her two brothers had always collected their woods after the other kids, thus, they began to set forth after bidding farewell to their mother. Eris loved going to collect woods, It was an opportunity for her to explore the area with her two brothers freely. But, because of this freedom they had explored everything, there was to explore. Yet, she still didn't give up in fact, this only reinvigorated her into getting better at spotting new things.

They had reached the area and begun to collect woods simultaneously Eris started to look around trying to spot anything new. In the midst of this, her brother Aeryn with his brown hair and dark eyes noticed her but he quickly went back to picking up woods. "Hey, Aeryn, Eris," Aten interrupted them with a face mixed with a smile and nervousness, "Yes?" Aeryn replied. "I know a place that we haven't been to before," Aten said. This surprised both of them. What is that place? Aten noticing the looks he was getting from both of them, their eyes looking for answers, "I-it's the gate." Aten said with some hesitation in his eyes. "Gate? They told us we can't go there though. Were you not paying attention to the stories that were told?" Aeryn asked in worry. "Of course, I listened but in the end, they're just stories." Aten pushed back.

After arguing back and forth, they came to a compromise that they would go and look at the gate, but will not go near it. After an hour of walking to the target destination, they were finally able to see it. "Wow!" They looked with awe. It was something they've never seen before. Although, they've heard rumors about it still couldn't compare to the real thing.

Sister began to draw the structure while Aten looked at the sky with focus. "What's wrong?" Aeryn asked. Aten didn't reply, instead, he kept his focus towards the sky where the clouds moved slowly, "It's going to rain. Let's go back." Aten said. Aeryn understood and quickly called out to Eris to pack up.

They tried to get to their home before it rains much heavily but in the end, they failed due to the long distance they had to cover. When their mother noticed them running, she immediately ran to them with worry plastered through her face. "Where were you?" She asked. They each looked at each other, and a hidden promise was made that day between the three of them, "W-we're sorry mom, we were just too engrossed in what we were doing that we forgot," Aeryn replied while putting his hands inside his pockets. His mother noticed this yet, she said nothing.

"Alright, come inside, and let's get you all dry." She smiled in an act of reassurance to them. The next day, they walked to school with their friends although, Aeryn himself wasn't that close to them because the only reason he got to know them was through Eris and Aret. Elisa took Aeryn's hand and made her follow her, "Hey Aeryn we're going to this spot to do our homework do you want to come with us?" Elisa asked. Aeryn was confused why she would grab him like this, "Yesterday, you seemed to not enjoy it and I was wondering if the only reason you came yesterday was because of the pressure?" She asked in an apologetic voice. Aeryn didn't want to hurt her, but when he tried to say yes, she immediately caught onto the act, "tell me honestly, please?" Aeryn having been outdone, gives up, "I want to ask Mr.s something." Elisa nodes with a satisfied smile, "alright."

The school they attended didn't have much of anything, the school had two rooms for class, one which students from ages 12-16 while the other one was for ages 5-12. The class, itself, had no chairs thus, they were forced to sit on the ground. Every two students shared a small table together.

As students began to fill the classroom, the teacher walked in, dressed in a dark suit, dark shoes, completely different from the rest. "Hello, students!" He greeted the students with glee, he then picked up a chalk and wrote down on the board the lesson for today.

As the class is getting ready to end, the chatter begins to pick up steam, "Hello, Mr.Smith" Aeryn walked up to him. Mr.Smith turned around with a surprised face but very quickly tried to hide it with a smile, "Yes?" Aeryn immediately presented his paper and pointed at the question that he was having a hard time with. "Oh, this one is somewhat of a trick question." As he started to teach Aeryn, he noticed something weird, "tell me what did you really want?" Mr.Smith asked. "W-what do you mean?" Aeryn asked with the sweat beginning to form on his forehead. Mr.Smith didn't say anything. Instead, he only looked at him, pressuring him. In the end, Aeryn gave in to pressure, "I wanted to know if you can bring me a book from outside?" Aeryn asked. Mr.Smith gave a smile before nodding, "I'll get you a book that I'm sure you'll be fond of." Heat began to cool off and as a result, he was more relaxed yet, he felt tired at the same time.

Aeryn who had finished his homework before his peers started to walk back to try to avoid the crowds, as he got home he saw his mother standing there. "Hello, mom." He greeted but he got no reply which seemed odd to him, "Are you ok mom?" He asked worryingly. "What happened yesterday?!" She turned around to ask in a very angry tone, Aeryn froze in fear, "n-nothing happened yesterday." He said in a low voice while his arms began reaching for his pockets. His mother became angrier and angrier when seeing this behavior, "tell me before I find out myself." She said while grabbing his hands and taking them out of his pockets. The atmosphere turned cold, yet, his body was getting hotter and hotter every second. "We went to look at the gate," His mother was stunned, seconds passed but there was no movement on her part something he had never seen. She became angrier so much so that she was going to lose control, something that Aeryn noticed, "who suggested the idea? Was it all of you? There had to be someone who thought of that idea." She started asking one question after another leaving no time for him to answer her questions. "I-it was me, mom. I'-am sorry. Please forgive me." Aeryn pleaded with his mother but she had already lost control and started to punish him physically. "Why can't you just take care of your siblings like you were supposed to. Why can't you just learn to behave? WHY? WHY? WHY?" She asked as she slapped him and punched him.