fictobers

fictobers by rani

ONE

It’s with a start that Moxie is jolted back into consciousness.

She hadn’t even realised she’d drifted off, but that was just another occupational hazard of trying to survive in a world that no longer valued those who were deemed to be imperfect, even if the standards of perfection were harmonious with idyllic impossibility.

“Rise and shine, Moxie,” Enzo murmurs from above her, his eyes the same colour as the sunlit leaves behind him as she meets his gaze.

“Why?” She asks, dragging out the last phoneme with a tired frown on her face.

Enzo takes her hand and places it on his wrist, letting her listen to his sprinting pulse before pointedly raising an eyebrow. “Can you feel this?” he asks, “It means we’re going to have company if we don’t start moving soon.”

With a groan, Moxie pulls herself up – using Enzo as a ballast, of course – and shakes away the aching stubbornness in her limbs, then taking the apple-flavoured breakfast bar from Enzo and breaking into it.

It doesn’t take them long to fall into their routine of erasing their tracks as best as possible and becoming mobile, their backpacks softly rustling as they walk. Although, they only travel about half a mile before there’s an alarming thud a couple metres in front of them.

“Was that a bear?” Enzo asks, bewildered. Moxie shakes her head in amusement. “Nah, more like a deer or something.”

Before he can reply, an exasperated scoffing echoes from up ahead, followed by a reasonably condescending: “People like you have no imagination…”

Enzo frowns at that, taking a step forward as realisation dawns on his face. “Xnij?” he inquires, his voice gentle but firm enough to elicit a clear reply. Rather than a verbal one, though, the two of them are met with a familiar sheepish smile, accompanied by Xnij engulfing them both in an embrace.

Moxie stumbles, throwing her hands out to steady herself as the three of them find their balance again. She shares an amused look with Enzo, who pulls back from their hug with a fond grin aimed at the third and final member of their group.

Xnij matches his grin as they brush the leaves from their shoulders and their expression turns a little more serious. “You’re better off going the other way, trust me.”

“How can I trust you,” Moxie fires back immediately, “when you look like you just crawled out of a glittery black hole?”

She has a point. Xnij looks like someone threw them into the deepest abyss space had to offer and then let a happy-go-lucky toddler who’d just been introduced to sparkles have at it with them.

She’s met with a classic eye-roll, followed by: “You can trust me because I’ve just outrun the soldiers rapidly approaching from behind me and unless you want to start a fight, you’d better listen to me and run!”

“They’re right, we need to go,” Enzo mutters breathlessly, grabbing her wrist and giving her the momentum she needs to start running.

And they run. Heavens, do they run. They run and run and let the wind howl beside them as they run and only stop when they reach a small, crumbling café that seems to be more or less functional judging by the smoke curling out of the chimney.

Ducking inside, Xnij grabs themself what looks like a croissant and places it in front of the counter, where a small, elderly lady raises an eyebrow. “Will that be all?” she asks sceptically.

Xnij shrugs awkwardly, pulling out a single gold coin and placing it flat on the counter. “I think that’s all I can afford, right?”

The lady’s expression softens and she shakes her head, much like a mother at her troubled child. Gesturing to the basket of freshly-baked goodies, she says: “Take what you need.”

Enzo’s stomach grumbles at that exact moment and his face flushes a rich pink, an obvious contrast to the colour of hot chocolate that his skin resembles - although that particular connection may only exist in Moxie’s mind.

“That applies to all three of you,” the lady adds, nodding her head to the tantalising pile that really shouldn’t be able to exist in such a decrepit place.

The three of them shyly seat themselves at the counter and take their fill - or rather, half of it because travelling on a full stomach is a fool’s errand - without directly acknowledging the lady openly looking over them. Only once they’ve silenced their hunger do they stand, Moxie turning to the lady with a grateful smile.

“Thank you, we really appreciate your kindness. If there’s anything we can do for you in return…?”

The lady waves a hand at them dismissively, her fingers curling around the gold coin for a second before she closes her eyes and opens her fist again, three coins now resting on her palm as her hands glow ever so slightly.

Enzo’s jaw drops but he’s quick to grin widely, then frown sadly. “Thank you but you can’t help us, haven’t you heard that it’s illegal to give aid to outlaws?”

Her eyes flash with what looks like carelessly controlled rage. “I heard enough.” Her voice is all but a hiss, making even their blood freeze for a moment. “This ends now.”

“This?” Moxie echoes hesitantly.

“This… This whole idea that we cannot provide for those who belong to us, those who so desperately need our help and are only denied it because of a selfish greed that controls the hearts of our corrupted so-called superiors.”

TWO

They lose track of time. Of course they do, they’re only teenagers after all and even the strongest of warriors can be distracted by the enchantment of good food.

And it is exceptionally good food, as they don’t stop telling her, never having been more grateful for bakers who genuinely put both effort and love into their work. Well, that, and magic.

“You really think I make good pies?” The lady asks them after a while, a hesitant look on her face.

“I know you do!” Moxie smiles instantly, then turns to Enzo for confirmation, only to find him looking considerably paler than before, breathing heavily.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asks, putting a hand on his arm as he looks up, alarm flashing in his summer eyes.

But before he can reply, the door is violently flung to the floor, landing with an alarming thud, sending soft explosions of plainly glittering dust all over them.

The lady is between them and the door within seconds, a faint glow surrounding her. That might deter most people but the leader - or the one who seems to be, judging by the gold epaulettes - just smirks, standing fast, a hand on the hilt of his sword.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” she hisses, glaring at the unreasonably tall soldier.

He just laughs at her, three more soldiers entering the broken doorway and standing parallel to the three outlaws. As soon as they’re inside too, he steps forward. “You think this troubles me?” he scoffs, “I’ve seen better displays of magic done by mice!”

The lady’s fists clench but Xnij beats her to it, throwing a brick at the tallest of them, knocking him to the floor, then folding their arms with a smirk on their face. “Everyone said that I would forget how to do that,” they say quite proudly, “but I will never forget!”

Enzo chuckles, moving to stand behind Xnij, a determined shine in his eyes as he addresses the soldiers. “It’s not like we haven’t seen the likes of you around here before!”

“Oh, really?” The shortest soldier asks, steadying himself as if preparing to charge.

All but growling, their favourite magical baker shakes her head. “You’re just another pawn like the rest of them, thinking you’re important when you’re actually just the same as each other, all of you making the same foolish mistakes.”

“Who could do this?” The one with blonde hair asks smugly, deftly unsheathing his sword and moving to attack the lady - then promptly failing when she snaps her fingers, immobilising him mid-swing.

“Just about anyone,” Moxie mutters, joining the others so they’re stood like a more or less human wall.

The lady sends the conscious three stumbling back, a thin sheen of glitter appearing in the air in front of them. “Try harder next time,” she says, but her voice is sharper than a fresh sword, full of a kind venom that not even the soldiers’ cockiness can argue with.

The leader shakes his head, muttering to the soldier next to him, who glances at their fallen comrade and pales, pulling the most uncertain face any of them have ever seen. Apparently choosing to give up on his order, the leader glares at the lady again. “We won’t let this defeat be the end of it.”

“It’s probably better that you do,” Enzo mutters, squinting at the unconscious man to check if he’s actually breathing.

Still, the leader grips the handle of his sword, a determined glint in his otherwise dull eyes. “We will be victorious, this is just a minor setback,” he declares, sounding far more confident than his team appears to be.

Moxie scoffs, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, then consequently blushes but clears her throat nonetheless. “Some people would call this-” she gestures to the broken door and the retreating soldiers- “wisdom.”

She’s not sure she got her meaning across but they must have understood something because, with one last, malice-filled look, the leader and his two henchmen, leaving behind the one Xnij had knocked out, march out of the empty doorway, their boots echoing on the unrelenting ground as they go.

An entire, agonisingly slow minute of silence later, Moxie speaks up once more: “So, what do we plan to do with the unconscious soldier?”

“Oh, don’t you worry, dears!” The lady replies, already tracing something in the air with her hands - probably to fix the door if the repairing cracks are anything to go by - and smiling widely. “I’ve had enough experience with amateurs like him!”

Xnij seems to be utterly transfixed by the way her fingers are sparking. “Can you teach me to do that next time we stop for a visit?” they ask softly.

As the lady nods, Enzo coughs awkwardly and picks up his bag, slinging it over one shoulder. “Sorry to be that person but we do have a handful of broken laws to outrun…”

Surprisingly, the lady just laughs at them, the door having now travelled back to its rightful place as if nothing had ever happened. “I thought you had forgotten!” she grins, then holds up a hand, letting out a small ‘oh’ and rushing behind the counter, pulling out a small box from behind the pointless till.

“Here, take these with you,” she kindly orders, handing Xnij the box of what look like miniature pies, then winking at him. “And don’t forget to come back so you can return my box!”

Moxie smiles fondly at the way Xnij’s entire face lights up and picks up her own bag too, taking Enzo’s hand to stop it from shaking so much. “Our gratitude is ineffable, really.”

Once Xnij is done trading subtle promises with the magical baker, the three of them set off once more, this time with a dash of confidence in their hearts, a box of mysterious pies in their inventory, and their faith in the world’s mysterious methods of kindness restored.

“This is gonna be so much fun!” Xnij exclaims optimistically, already scouting ahead for them, beaming as if this were a casual afternoon adventure rather than a potentially catastrophic escape but, for once, neither Moxie nor Enzo wanting to change their mindset, simply following with matching smiles.

THREE

Night falls by the time the teens reach the river where they’d planned to meet with an ally who’d told them they had a way of crossing the unofficial territory border without being detected.

Night falls, and so does Enzo.

He stumbles and tilts with a soft exhale, landing on the unyielding forest floor with the mutest thump known to the history of sound. If Moxie hadn’t been holding his hand, she might not even have noticed him falling in the first place, but since she is, she wobbles and barely avoids joining him.

“What happened?” Xnij asks, concern as clear as day in their voice. Enzo just shakes his head, glances behind them, and mutters: “Go forward...”

“...do not stray,” a cool voice finishes, Ren then stepping out of the shadows with a relieved smile on their face, offering a hand to Enzo, who gratefully takes it and pulls himself back upright.

Moxie automatically tightens her grip on his hand, then glances over to Ren sadly, knowing they're more or less broken up with their partner and this must be a painful reminder for them right now.

Ren just smiles. “I'm pretty sure they still have love for me…” they say rather sadly. “But if you cannot see it, is it really there?” Xnij asks, sounding both pained and sympathetic.

Saving Ren from awkwardly answering, Enzo stumbles again, crashing into Moxie with a frown, pulling his hand from her grip and using his right one to grasp his left wrist. The other three look to him immediately, Ren putting a hand on his shoulder. “Who is it?”

“Back… a month ago- I can’t…” Enzo looks up at Moxie with doubt and guilt in his eyes.

She knows how hard this is for him so she only smiles reassuringly, wishing she could help. “Remember?” she offers, then whispers: “You have to remember.”

Subtly standing as close to Enzo as possible, Xnij takes his left hand and closes their eyes, humming softly, rocking side to side before sharing a look with Moxie and nodding firmly. “I see it.”

Ren raises a questioning eyebrow, probably asking how on earth Xnij saw something in Enzo’s pulse, especially when they had their eyes closed. They’re good at magic, but magic can’t suddenly alter the foundations of common sense, no matter what anyone says.

Somehow understanding the unspoken inquisition, Xnij says: “I felt it… you know what I mean!” and waves a hand as if everything in the world is now irrelevant, the frequency of Enzo’s pulse taking priority over all else.

“It’s the captain of the soldier troop from the bakery,” Xnij clarifies, causing both Moxie and Ren to groan in annoyance, Moxie then fiddling with her nails as she considers this.

It means they have an incredibly limited number of options; they can’t go back if they’re being tracked and they can’t take any of the safe routes since the captain being involved means guards stationed at every bridge and gate and known entrance to the next territory.

“We can always swim?” Moxie suggests, then blushes under the scepticism in Ren’s gaze.

“Wet clothes will drip and leave a trail that we won’t have the forest to cover up with,” Enzo breathes, still a little out of it but obviously having recovered enough to think straight.

Ren’s eyebrows furrow as they seem to recall something. “You can use the tunnels, nobody else knows about those yet…”

It doesn’t take the three of them long to agree with that plan, already mentally preparing themselves for the trek. Xnij grins at them once it’s wordlessly settled. “At least it can’t get any worse!”

Snap. Snap.

Branches, frozen leaves, and acorn shells start to snap in a steady rhythm behind them, almost as if a herd of horses had suddenly been released after being kept immobile for a year.

Within seconds, Ren has tensed, looking around, scanning the area, Enzo now, due to the warnings sparking in his blood, half-leaning on Moxie, who worriedly wraps an arm around his middle, sighing.

They hope they’re wrong and their suspicions are actually based on mere coincidence for once but the snappings continue, only getting louder as they go on, meaning that they have to either figure out how to vanish from thin air or they’ll have to face another confrontation.

Moxie bites her lip, flinching as the distinct echo of a horse neighing from somewhere far too close hits their ears. “Do we really have to do this again?”

“They just don’t give up,” Xnij mutters as they step in front of the other two protectively, ready to pull up a shield or settle into their familiar pattern of battle once more if necessary.

“We need to go,” Enzo says, clearing his throat and taking a breath before turning to Ren - also known as their geographical encyclopedia - and asking: “Where’s the nearest tunnel entrance?”

After exactly a couple of second, Ren nods their head to the left, their hair flying up from the intensity of the action before settling over their eye once more. “About fifty yards that way. But you still won’t make it if they have their steeds with them… Unless…”

“No.” Xnij and Moxie reply simultaneously, already having clocked the nature of their terribly risky plan.

“We all know that playing the distraction card is the only way you three will cross the border,” Ren tells them as if they’re talking about simple addition, sending them all pointed looks.

Enzo exhales audibly, reaching out and finding Ren’s hand. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Are you kidding?” Ren replies, giving Enzo’s hand a small squeeze before pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to Moxie, who nods at him thankfully, respectfully.

There’s a moment where the four of them share a tense silence, knowing their reunion is about as certain as determining which side a forty-sided dice will land on when flipped a second time. The interruption follows a moment later, yet another succession of snapping noises that causes them to take a deep breath and place their trust in the universe.

Winking, Ren declares: “I’ve waited so long for this,” before practically melting into the shadows, leaving the three outlaws to leave them behind without any further doubts.

With no other option, they go, Enzo more or less fully supported only by the other two, Moxie following the tiny map Ren had given her to locate the correct entrance, all of them glancing back to nowhere in particular and whispering their shared gratitude to the ever-listening air before vanishing into the tunnels, the sound of breaking nature replaced by a heavy blanket of silence and wistful courage.