Within the Mission Part Twenty

Kalli didn't believe what was in front of her yet it explained so much. She'd explained what she was seeing to Hal and he'd promised to rush home as soon as possible. At first she hadn't noticed it because at first it wasn't there, in the more recent files Madame was known by a different name but in the older ones something rang a bell. The name brought back so many memories at once that Kalli held her head tightly in an attempt to stop the headache. 'Mme Prewitt'. Prewitt. Aaron Prewitt. Aaron Prewitt, the father of Sekae and Tilna. Sky and Poppy. She hadn't thought about them in quite a long time, surely it was better to sever any connections with them, they'd be safer. When Sekae first woke up after they were taken to the mission she had no memory of her time with the elves. Then the 'twins' were renamed, their names were far too strange for the humans' taste, they took gather closest translations available. It was best if she didn't try to revive their memories, she'd thought at the time, they'll be happier if they can't remember their families, right? A smile played gently on the corner of her lips as memories raced in front of her eyes; happy memories and memories that answered a lot of questions.

Kalli's mother had explained to her why Miria and Aaron had been yelling at each other. "They love each other, that's true, but Aaron is married to another human. Auntie Miria thinks it wrong for them to be together if he's already pledged his love for another."
"But Mama, what about Sekae and Tilna? If Uncle Aaron leaves; who'll protect them?"
"No child, he will never really leave his children, no true parent ever does, he'll still do all he can to protect them. His current spouse runs a mission, so he can work from the opposite side to protect his daughters."
"What's a mission?" Kalli asked, playing with her tail absent minded-ly.
"Hopefully you'll never have to find out Kalli. Now come, I've told Miria you'll watch over her daughters." Kallin put down the basket she'd been weaving and went to take Kalli's hand.
"Can Lena come?"  Kalli queried before she grabbed her mother's hand.
"Yes, she can but only if her mother says it's okay." Kallin was soft and warm and though elves weren't the tallest of creatures, especially when near humans, Kalli's mother was the biggest and strongest force in her life. She didn't look anything like her mother; she didn't look anything like the elves. Every part of her was either from her father or from the fox's spirit within her. Yet the elves cared not what their children looked like, well most of them, and Kalli was never treated differently to the others. Kalli's memories weren't in chronological order and her talk with her mother was closely followed by Tilna's birth ceremony. She'd been shaken awake by her mother, and Kalli tried to snuggle further into the nest of scrap cloth she had for a bed. "Wake up Kalli, a spirit has been born. We have to go watch; it will be the first birth ceremony you'll attend so you can't miss it." Kalli hopped out of bed immediately after hearing this, she'd always wanted to go to one but her mother had told her she was too young. She quickly fluffed her 'bed' to stop the dust from settling in and to rid it of stones, and then she slipped a pair of dusty yellow overalls over her night shirt. She grinned about the fact that this also meant beating bedtime and her tail swished excitedly. Lena had once told her that night-time in the forest was scary but Kalli disagreed, the fireflies came alive at night and caused the dew drops settling on the flora to sparkle. Cicadas and frogs made a symphony of sounds and songs that battled with the sounds of the nearby rivers' loud cascading. Kallin lead her on a path she'd never been allowed near before, she could see a faint warm light and could hear people shouting. She looked at the ground as she walked and realised that most of the large stones in the pathway had been painted, she asked her mother why this was. "This is the path of the past children, when a child is born the parents and sometimes grandparents paint stones and place them in this path. So the souls of the children already born and lived can help to guide and protect the new ones. Your stones are covered in angels, child, do you know why?"
"It 'cause Kalli means heaven" Kalli had heard it many times and yet it made her mother smile when they talked about it. "Nonna named you Kallin, the door to heaven, and she said to you; that if you had a child she truly would be an angel. But you said when I was born that one angel was not enough to describe me so you named me for all of them. Heaven." Kallin ruffled her hair proudly; it was expected of elf children to learn stories well so that they'd live forever in the hearts of the elves. The shouting up ahead had stopped and Kallin had to hurry them along in the dark woods. They came to a circular clearing with a stone bench in the centre and a small hut to one side.
"We have missed the physical birth but do not worry, the spiritual one has not yet begun." Kalli's mother left her to go check on Miria and Kalli explored the place with her eyes. It was the brightest place during the night-time so that the children's souls could not get lost and all around the edges small flowers bloomed. The shaman came out of the small hut dressed in ceremonial clothes, soft colours that seemed to sparkle a bit as he moved. Kalli had met the shaman before and she liked to think of him as a second Nonno, grandfather. In fact most children treated him like a grandparent; he brought gifts of good health to the sick and told the funniest jokes, but now he was serious. Lena's father asked him what was wrong and the shaman explained in words that Kalli did not understand at the time.
"The baby is premature and the hole in its soul is the largest I've seen, I doubt the child will ever take its first breath." His face was grave and his usually smooth voice was mottled by uncertainty. Kalli understood the last part and ran up to the shaman distraught.
"But Nonno, you must try! The children of past will protect the baby and grant it breath but you must give it the life to breathe." The words rushed out of her mouth and she felt she should not speak this way to an elder but he smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You are wise young one, like the spirit within you; you would make an excellent shaman." He stood and pulled his hood over his face to keep from confusing the spirits and to make sure that the first face the child saw was not him. Miria was helped out of the hut and closer to the stone bench and groups of people started filing in from the past of path children. Kalli realised that being let into the ceremonial circle early was a privilege and pride swelled in her. Aaron carried the limp baby to the stone bench and placed it on a small pillow in front of the shaman, he returned to sit with Miria. The shaman placed one of his wrinkled hands on the baby's forehead and raised the other into the air. "Spirits I call you forth to help this child, a soul of size to fill in the emptiness within it. Your life may begin anew and your struggles remembered, help to show this child the light of day and the darkness of night as you saw it." A mist set in that writhed with life and Kalli ran to cling to her mother terrified of it. It swirled and licked the air with tendrils which evaporated when they reached too high. Some of the mist collected into the form of a serval that jittered a bit as it moved and as it walked each footstep appeared to melt into the ground.  It jumped up onto the table near the baby and Kalli had to stifle a shriek, scared for the baby. Her mother smiled at Kalli's apparently irrational fear, and squeezed her hand. Nobody spoke; a spirit could easily be frightened away. The cat watched the child curiously for what seemed like an age, it placed a paw on the shaman's hand and evaporated into a glittering fog. The mist did not disappear though and the baby did not move, worried mutterings came from the crowd and Aaron and Mirias' eyes were wide. The shaman's pose demonstrated determination and he spoke again. "Still the emptiness is not filled" he struggled to find the words he needed "please." Nothing happened for a long time, and then the mist formed a second cat. An ocelot. It circled the table slowly, and then sniffed at the baby, the whole time the shaman remained still. Finally the cat disappeared into glittering fog like the other had and it seemed like everyone watching was able to breathe again. The magnificent fog swirled to the child and obscured it from view. A sharp cry scattered the remainders of the mist as the baby screamed, but while this scared Kalli, the other people around seemed to be excited by it. People cheered and Kalli frowned, the baby was crying and they were happy. Her mother spotted her confusion and smiled at her.
"Kalli, you need not worry, that cry is the sign of life. A baby that breathes is a baby that cries. The first shout is like life itself." There was a lot for Kalli to learn. The shaman picked up the baby and silence ensued.
"This baby is late to bloom and yet she will bloom magnificently. At the age of womanhood she will adorn her right ear with jewellery and she may pick a new name if she so chooses, until then what is her given name?"  Miria beamed and held Aaron's hand; they glanced at each other in a way that made Kalli think they could read each other's minds.
"We will give her the gift of the name 'Tilna'; the flower that's late to bloom." There was a collective sigh from the females as the shaman passed Tilna to Miria and Aaron. The hood still obscuring his face he whispered something to them, then he stood and pulled the hood down.
"Miria, spirit host to the bluebird, this child's future is long and stretches out in front of us. The spirits in your child give her life but who is it you wish to act as guardian to that life?"
"Kalli, daughter of Kallin, the girl that refused to give up hope and helped my baby to breathe its first breath." Kalli's cheeks burned red and she squirmed under the pressure of peoples' applause and cheers. People of all ages came and patted her on the back and congratulated her. The world faded to black and Kalli no longer lived the memory, she was close to tears. Some guardian she was.
Running wasn't something they did a lot of in the mission, they taught PE briefly until they realised the children had no energy for physical exertion. It was either feed the kids more or just don't have PE. Pretty easy to see which one they'd pick. Sky wished that they'd put more time into keeping fit, she had a feeling they'd be doing a lot more running in the near future. She could hear the guards running behind her but she didn't want to turn around. Galen and Aiden on the other hand didn't appear to be feeling the effects of fatigue at all. Poppy kept sliding from Galen's grip though and he had to keep slowing down to lift her back up. Poppy realised she was slowing them down.
"Le' me run" She demanded, her voice was serious and her tone kept Galen from questioning her. He slipped her to the ground and she slowed her run so she was next to Sky. The guards behind them wouldn't relent and Sky could hear the familiar sound of the activation of Taser guns. Madame had obviously told the men not to kill them. The gates to the mission were being opened, they were obviously hoping to chase them by car, as Aiden ran past the Ute however, he shot one of their wheels. Realising this someone began to shut the automatic gates again but the children slipped through easily with one or two guards managing to get through also. The others called angrily to the gate operator. Once the two guards got close enough they'd be able to Taser the four escapees. Sky's breathing grew heavy and she began to fall back against her will, her legs burning and her lungs screaming at her to stop. They'd reached a hill just outside of the mission and Sky had to stop, she just had to. But before she could she felt a hand around her wrist, dragging her up the slope. Aiden pulled her along with a look of determination shadowing his face. Sky looked back in time to see Poppy dodge one of the Tasers shots and trip. One of the men bunched the kicking and screaming girl up into his arms, his Taser dropped somewhere along the chase. Satisfied with one captive he turned and began back towards the mission. Poppy screamed Sky's name over and over, and Sky screamed back trying to break herself from Aiden's strong grip which continued to pull her away.  She finally wrenched her hand from his and began running back downhill towards the man with her sister, not quite sure what she'd do when she reached him, anything she supposed, to stop Poppy from going back to the mission. A gunshot rang out and Poppy's screams stopped.