The first thing they noticed when they arrived at the valley was the lack of life. There was also the smell… The awful, awful smell.
The rancid odor of decaying cows, pigs, and chickens assaulted their nostrils from the very first minute. It was relentless. They passed by miles upon miles of failed farms and dead animals on their way to the city. They would pass by one every hour or two and spend another hour ripping it apart looking for food, drinks, and supplies. They scored finding medical supplies and more rope in one of them. They left the farms stripped of supplies and weapons, believing that the occupants of the farms were killed by the changeling horde they’d survived the day before.
Although, from the untrained eye, the grassland of the valley seemed dead, the Children of Harmony spotted many rabbits, prairie dogs, and the occasional deer. They passed by them without any harm because they knew there was the possibility of another threat lurking around each bend.
They found a farm that had pure fruits and vegetables, no dead animals and no smell of death and decay and settled there for the night. With sunset approaching quickly, they opted to forgo the hunt and just concentrate on scavenging whatever crops were ripe and stay indoors.
"They even have firewood ready in the basement!" Starburst announced as she walked up the stone steps with a cord of chopped wood in her arms.
"Sweet! Claire, you can get the fire going, right?" Prism asked.
"Let's wait for after dark, Star, use that for the wood stove in the kitchen, I'll grab some more wood to get the fire going!"
Star walked in the kitchen to see Anthea and Cotton Candy chopping up the vegetables and fruit they had collected, mixing that with preserved meat they found in one of the previous farms.
"I'm still surprised we actually want beef after passing miles of cattle carcasses." Star chuckled as she started tossing the firewood into the black, cast iron wood stove. The girls were on the other side of the kitchen, and the crisp sound of chopping vegetables filled the air.
"It’s all we have. Unless you want spoiled eggs." Cotton replied.
"Right?" Star replied, standing when there were four pieces of firewood in the stove. "I'm going to check on the boys upstairs, you can start the fire when you’re ready."
***
"Got any threes?" Golden Delicious asked.
"Go fish," was Turquoise’s reply.
Golden grumbled as he took another card. Their playing field was an old wooden box found amongst the sparsely decorated items in the attic. They were using the old wooden floor as their seats. There was another wooden box in the attic, but that was being used as Illusion's seat. He was looking outside the window, his mother’s sword in his hand. Instead of shooting anything that would have posed a threat he was planning to rather take them on himself.
"Shouldn't you two be looking out for changelings?" Star asked as she walked up the old steps, each step being a heavy creak that felt like it was one more pound away from giving way.
"No changelings out there!" Golden announced as he looked out the window opposite of Illusion. Illusion could only roll his eyes and chuckle in amusement as he continued to peer out of his window.
"Anyway, dinner should be ready soon," she said as she walked back down.
***
Dinner was eaten around the table in the living room. The bowls of grilled vegetables and beef marinated in lemon and herbs were enjoyed by the group. They lit the fire when the dinner was done and, with the doors locked and all the windows boarded up, they enjoyed a quiet night with each other, waiting for the sweet serenity of sleep to arrive. As it arrived, they set out a sleep/watch schedule and went to sleep, having lookouts watch in pairs.
The first two up: Prince Illusion and Crystal Clarity.
"Well, if you think about it a different way, it's like a vacation!" Claire said, the fire warming them as they sat on the couch.
"First vacation spot I've been in where the locals try to kill you." Illusion replied.
"Yeah, yeah."
"I was worried for you, you know," Illusion said somberly. "I was angry, but I was also afraid. I wouldn't know what to do."
"You know I can take care of myself,"
"I know... Just... I don't think I would have survived not having you in my arms ever again."
Claire smiled from that revelation. "You're just a big baby," she said as she collapsed into his chest. With enough force, she pushed his upper body down the sofa and she laid on top of him, their noses touching.
"Claire, I..."
"Just relax," she said, bringing her lips to his. A peck turned into a tongue, and a tongue turned into Illusion kissing her neck.
They were finally in each other's’ arms, two lovers who were separated by weeks’ time. They were finally together, with not even hundreds of or even thousands of changelings stopping them.
So naturally, finally being together after all that, the topic of further enjoying each other's company was brought up.
"Hey, want to... You know, do 'it'?" Claire asked.
"W-what? Here? But your bro-"
"He’s too chickenshit to do anything. If he does I’ll stop him."
"Well, if you insist," he said. He slipped his hands up Claire's shirt from the waist to her upper chest, exposing her bra to himself. They continued to kiss deeply until Claire stopped in a panic.
"You know what I just realized?"
"What is it?"
"W-we were supposed to be on guard," she whispered.
They looked up to the door to see around ten to twelve figures, humanoid in figure. They were in black cloaks with no face to be seen. Their hands were non-existent, only sharp claws protruding from the arm holes. They were looking at them, and the young lovers knew they were surrounded.
"Oh shit," Illusion said under his breath.