• "Get out. We know your hiding behind that tombstone".
    "Greetings, Arika, how kind of you to drop in. I see you've brought a friend", I replied, stepping out from behind the grave, eyeing Arika carefully in case she decided to pull something.
    "Shut up, Thalia. I don't need your palace manners".
    "Sorry to disappoint you; I don't go by Thalia anymore", I said coldly, walking towards her slowly, partially crouched down.
    "Last time I checked, which was yesterday, your name was Thalia. And last time I checked, you have something that belongs to me".
    "Speaking of palace manners", I mumbled under my breath.
    "Shut it, Thalia!" she hissed. Her red hair seemed to blow up in flames behind her.
    "Wow. That's a neat trick. Impressive".
    "I don't need you approval".
    "You don't need much. I'll just be leaving, then", I quickly darted towards the woods, hoping to loose her in the density of the trees.
    "Stop her", Arika said steadily. Her friend leapt up with miraculous speed and pinned me against a tree.
    "If you want to keep your life, than I recommend not pulling anything tricky. Arthur can run faster than light".
    "I don't care to know any of this -" I began.
    "Your opinion matters not to us", said Arthur, looking towards Arika.
    "If you -"
    "Give me the matches".
    "What matches?" I asked, smiling devilishly. Arthur kneed me in the stomach and I gasped for air.
    "Stop playing stupid, Thalia. Even you aren't stupid enough not to know what matches are".
    "You must be mistaken".
    Arika rolled her eyes frustratedly and the flames produced from her scalp seemed to soar higher than before. Her eyes flashed white and a jabbing pain entered my head.
    "I ask again. Where are the matches?"
    "GET. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD!"
    She rocked on her hip and the pain stabbed even deeper than before.
    "We're waiting".
    "I used them all!" The pain subsided for a moment, but then blazed harder than ever.
    "You IDIOT! Did you have no idea whatsoever what those were?"
    "Come now, 'even you aren't stupid enough not to know what matches are'".
    "ARGHH!"
    The pain felt like it split my head down the middle and I let out an agonized scream that bounced off the trees and echoed across the lake and fields.
    "Let's go Arthur. The Hejjhis heard us", Arika said and the two of them disappeared in a cloud of yellow smoke.
    I fell to the ground, hard. The pressure Arika had been putting on my head had broken the scar on my cheek, and fresh warm blood oozed down my neck onto my haggard clothing.
    Damn.
    At that moment I heard the Hejjhis breaking through the woods and golden firelight from their torches. I quickly bounded over the gravemarker and a couple large boulders until I was hidden in the thick mess of grasses by the lakeshore. I laid down low and curled up into a ball under the overhang of a large boulder. I hoped it wasn't an animals home, for I had had already enough visitors for one day.
    I could hear the Hejjhis conversing amongst themselves, and padded feet running in different directions. There was also a heavy plop, the sound of a canoe being undelicately dropped in the water. The calm waves broke around the boat as a clan of Hejjhis boarded.
    The Hejjhis were exploring the area. I listened, my ears and eyes wide open, waiting for a good time to run. That was when I noticed I didn't have my rucksack.
    A couple yards away, the Hejjhis were dumping something's contents in a confused mannor and talking jibberish to eachother. Oh no, I thought, and my cheeks glowed deep red, as a Hejjhi pulled out an article of underwear and stared at it. A chorus of deep laughter rang out throughout the group.
    They stayed there for hours, just laughing and toying with the things in my bag. Against my better judgement, I slowly fell fast asleep, and in my sleep, images of Arika's flaming hair and Arthur's speedy leaps and the Hejjhis messing around with my rucksack infiltrated my mind.