The Outsiders

After the fall of the Ten Kingdoms, and after the death of the Fairy King, and then the death of King Absol, the elves fell into ruin. They’d been on the decline for years. Their life spans had been shortened due to a curse inflicted upon them by their former princess, the last princess of the former royal bloodline. At one point they could live indefinitely in the spring of their youth, but now they aged and died in the span of 120 years give or take. Their magical capabilities had also been hindered, they were still plenty strong but in their golden age a platoon of elves could face down an entire army of humans, now they were forced to hide in the forests under the protection of the Fairy King’s power; though he no longer lived, his forests were attuned to his will and protected it’s magical inhabitants from human’s who would prey upon them.

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Kara stood in front of a giant door set inside a barricade of pointed wooden pikes. Her two ducklings flanked her on each side. It seemed there was an elf village or town on the other side. A guard ran along the ramparts to raise the gate and open the door. Kara waited as the door slowly opened. From what she could tell they were in quite the frenzy, Castanetta must have been a really important person. A group of people in green leather armor marched out.

“Lady Castanetta, it appears you have returned safely, no worse for wear.” The head guard approached her menacingly. Kara backed away, rightly intimidated. Little Bird (name TBD) honked at the guard.

“Now, now, Heineken, be easy on the girl. She came back to us safely, that’s what matters. Scoldings can wait till later.” A teenager appeared behind the intimidating guard.

“I’m back and I brought…uh, this guy too.” Big Bird shook the useless luggage off it’s back. The long haired man hit the ground with a thud.

“So, Samisir did indeed follow her out. What a reckless young man.” The teenager said with a laugh. Kara knew these people were all elves and that elves were supposedly long lived but aside from that she didn’t have much knowledge of them. It was fair to say this teenager was probably not a teenager, in fact it seemed as though the guard who looked to be in his 40s and Samisir in his late 20s were both younger than this guy.

“I’ll take full responsibility for his actions, sir.”

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary. He was assigned to protect her after all. She was the reckless one. My daughters have become so rebellious as of late, I daresay I barely know who they are anymore.”

Daughters. The teenager had said it so casually, Kara almost missed it. This Castanetta was his daughter? It wasn’t computing in her brain. It was going to take some time for her to process basically everything. It made her feel like Keanu Reeves in that Matrix movie that came out a few years ago.

The teenager was fairly good looking, he had piercing blue eyes, and the same blonde hair that she had. He kind of looked like Leonardo DiCaprio. She might’ve swooned. She wasn’t the swooning type and she wasn’t really into DiCaprio or any Hollywood heartthrobs but being in the vicinity of someone famous still made one a bit lightheaded with self-importance.

Kara decided it was best to be polite and vague about everything until she was acclimated to this new environment. She lifted her skirt slightly and curtsied, “I’m so sorry for wondering out on my own and causing this whole mess. I have no excuses.”

DiCaprio’s eyebrows lower for a second then return, replaced with a smile, “None of that’s important, my precious Annett. Please come inside.” He turns to Heineken, “Tell the guards to be at ease, and have Samisir taken to the Healer’s and looked over. I’ll escort my daughter home, and uh…” He looks quizzically at the two birds behind Castanetta, Little Bird honks up at him.

“I’d like to take the Little one in with me, is that okay?” Kara was trying hard not to address him in any particularly way, she had no way of knowing what Annett called him. It also seemed as though this was the first time her father had seen these two.

He sighs, “Alright. Just the little one. Honestly. You always manage to bring something home, don’t you, but I just can’t say no.”

He beckoned her to follow.

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On the other side of the wooden encirclement was a town. Contrary to the commotion at the gate there didn’t appear to be much motion beyond that point, and revising the previous statement about it being a town, it was more like a town on the cusp of converting back into a village or vice-versa. Hardly anyone was walking the neatly packed down dirt walkways that zigzagged through the cozy mish-mash of stone and woodwork buildings.

A few elven girls bowed as we walked by, her father waved and they continued on with a barely perceptible additional pep in their step; the age weirdness wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

As Kara and DiCaprio walked deeper into town she finally took notice of their destination, there was a large tree toward the back of the settlement with a door carved into it.

“After you.” The teenager gestured and Kara entered.

The foyer split off to the right and left, “To the left, please.” She followed his instructions. The hallway to the left opened into a cozy little living room, the walls were tree bark with lit sconces adorning at equilateral intervals. There were two occupied rocking chairs out of three, and an oversized lounger across from them. “Please, take a seat.”

There appeared to be a third person in the room she’d missed upon first glance. The man looked to be about 18 while this girl couldn’t have been older than 15. She stood off to the side, in the shadows. “Now, now, don’t be shy, in, in, sit, sit.” Dicaprio who was slightly shorter than Castanetta gently tapped her shoulder. She cautiously entered the room, nearly tripping over a slight step.

The other two occupants also had blonde hair, one had blue highlights at the tips while the other had black streaks. The one with blue highlights was on the slighter side, with a gaunt face that she’d applied a bit of make-up to bring out a bit of color. The girl with black streaks was a bit better filled out (though not as filled out as Castanetta), and had a slightly darker complexion and sharper eyes. Those eyes stared back at Kara, as if her very presence in the room was insulting.

Kara nervously took a seat in the empty rocking chair. The 15-year-old girl set a saucer and cup down on the coffee table. It was filled with what Kara presumed was tea but she was hesitant to drink it yet.

DiCaprio sat down in the oversized chair. “Now, these two have already filled us in on the situation. I am aware that you three are not actually my daughters.”

“How did you know? And wait, these two are… are you two…?”

“Hello, I’m playing the role of Castella, but underneath the elf mask I am none other than-”

“Camden!”

“Hey, sweetcakes!” Her eyes suddenly switched from sharp and menacing upturning into a smile.”

“I want in!” The blue one sprang to her feat.

“Kourtney?”

“Yes bitch!” They all hugged and giggled like children, or like the college sorority sisters they actually were.

After they swung each other around and screamed in joy for a bit longer than comfortable, the teenager cleared his throat. The sisters calmed down and returned to their seats.

“Wait, where’s Lauren?”

“Lauren! I knew we were forgetting someone!” Kourtney exclaimed.

The old boy once again cleared his throat, “Now, now,”

“I was literally just talking with you about this.” Camden scolded Kourtney.

“THAT Lauren?!? That’s the Lauren you were talking about?” Realization dawned on her.

“Do you know any other Lauren’s?”

“Lauren pronounced Law-ren, Laren, Laurie, Laura, Lara, Lezlie-”

“Lezlie’s not even close, how could you confuse Lauren with Lezlie?” Kara was bewildered even though she’d come to expect this sort of thing.”

“We weren’t listing L names?”

““No”” the two other girls responded simultaneously.

“Wait! Hold on… I’m lost, what were we talking about?”

“GIRLS!” The teenage boy-man finally had enough

“You are definitely not my daughters.”

“Wait, who’s this guy?”

“I guess I’ll start from the beginning then. Hello, girls, I’m Lord Randran, the mayor of this provincial little town, and the father of the girls your souls are inhabiting.”

“Not even close” Kara whispered, thinking that maybe his name actually had been Leo or Dicaprio.

“I realize this was not your doing, though it is troublesome for a number of reasons, and as of now I have no way to return you home. I’m not sure anyone other than God himself can undo what’s been done. Long ago there were mages capable of resurrection and summoning but it’s been over 1000 years since then and the elven lifespan is not what it once was, but I won’t bog you down with the details. I’m 101 this year actually, and my wife over in the corner is 105.”

The little girl finally shuffles out of the shadows, she wears a simple dress and a bonnet, and spoke very plainly. “Hello, I am Elar, wife of Randran, mother of Castella, Castanetta, Chloe, Caspian, and Cambria.” She bows and returns to the shadows.

Elar seemed robotic in her delivery, one wondered if there was a tiny person in her head piloting her.

“I’m sorry about that. She’s getting on in years, and doesn’t want to forget what’s important to her. Elves age differently than any other species due to a curse placed on us by the last princess. We grow to about sixty and then begin to age backwards, and it’s not just our bodies that age backwards. The younger we get, the younger we act, and the hazier our older memories become. Elar forces herself to act in a reserved manner, and I’d be grateful if you all would respect that and not pester her too much. It takes quite a lot of willpower to fight the curses effects.”

Camden spoke up, “She mentioned two other names…”

“Caspian and Cambria. Caspian is our only son, he’s a member of the Sacred Guardians, an elite peacekeeping force working for the Centralized Government. We are proud of him. And Cambria…” Randran paused, a look of pain striking him, “She’s been missing for a while, Castanetta was frustrated with the speed of the investigation and I feared she might try to sneak off in search of her on her own, so I assigned Samisir to keep an eye on her, and you know what happened from there.”

“It’s possible.” Kara turned to Camden.

“You think so too?”

“It’s stands to reason.”

“I’m lost.” Kourtney pitch in.

“When aren’t you?” Kara spat.

“Sweetie, all three of us ended up in the bodies of these sisters…”

“So…” The gears in Kourtney’s head begin to clang together, “So Laurel is…in the body of……………….the missing sister!”

“Exactly”

“She got there eventually at least.”

Randran rests his hands in his lap, “Yes, I believe It’s highly likely this is the case, that your other friend ended up in Cambria’s body. I cannot even image what situation she was dropped into.”

They sit in silence for a moment before Camden finally breaks it, “I guess we’ll need to go search for her then.”

Kara couldn’t claim to be the smartest one in the group, but she was perhaps the most realistic. Camden had a good head on her shoulders but it often veered too close to the clouds. Lauren was an underachiever, though at times it seemed like a choice rather than some sort of circumstance, and Kourtney was… definitely the dumbest. Kara, in a pinch, had to be the realist and pull Camden back down. Lauren purposefully made herself an underachieving wallflower, and Kourtney actively encouraged and went along whoever had the loudest voice in the room.

“I think you’re being hasty.”

“I know you’re not the biggest fan of Lauren, but she’s alone out there and-”

“Where is there?”

“What?”

“Where? Is? There?” Kara raised an eyebrow.

Camden pursed her lips, seeming to understand what Kara was getting at.

They were on an unknown world, in unfamiliar bodies, in equally unfamiliar surroundings. If the three of them went off in search of Lauren they’d be killed, no question.

“And why is it that you want to find her so bad? You talk about me not liking Lauren, but I seem to remember you were rude to her on several occasions. Why the sudden change of conscience? Don’t project your regrets onto me.”

Camden shakes her head, annoyed, “I was not the best friend to her, I definitely could have been better.” She started to open her mouth but bit her lips instead. “I never understood her properly. I just don’t want to leave off the way we did is all.” She bowed her head and locked her eyes on her hands, not wanting to look at Kara.

Kara could see the regret, but it was also clear there was something else bubbling, some other thought treading near the surface of her mind that she needed to express to their missing friend.

Kara relaxed a bit, “Alright, but we can’t leave right now, okay. Time is a factor, I understand, but we’re not ready as we are.”

“I, too, would prefer it if you three stayed here for the time being.” Randran leveled his eyes at them, “You three are in possession of very precious treasures of mine, and it’s they’re something I, nor my Elar, could bare losing. We can discuss you leaving at a later time; however, this world, as Castanetta brought up, is new to you, and the politics are going to be tough to navigate. It would behoove all parties to hold off any long term journeying until you’ve been educated and acclimated to this place.”

He seemed concerned yet his eyes were dead calm. Randran didn’t have any intention of allowing them out of the town, Kara was sure of this. They would most likely have to sneak away, still he wasn’t wrong, she had pretty much just said as much. Kara looked to Camden, she raised her head and nodded. Camden looked to Kourtney.

“So…we’re staying?” It seemed as though she was at least half paying attention during the discussion.

“It seems so.” Camden gave her a halfhearted smile.

Thus began their short lived stay in the Elven town. 

ABOUT THE CHAPTER

THE TITLE. For the next couple chapters I wanted to stick with movie titles from the 80s/90s since that's the time period these girls grew up in. Apparently there was a sequel series to the Outsiders movie, and it happened to have Leo in it, so it felt like fate (I didn't watch it, I just scrolled through his filmography). Also, for some reason I thought The Outsiders was made in the late sixties to early seventies, but I think I was confusing that with Rebel Without A Cause, which it turns out was made in the fifties; remind me to never enter any movie trivia contests.

LORE. I actually have some stuff written down in regards to Luna's backstory, and said backstory happens to have a heaping helping of Elf lore and world history attached; however, I'm running into an issue of how to distribute it within the story. I'm going to try playing with a few different devices going forward. I don't want to tip my hand too early.

This is one of the perils of writing without an outline. I know who the villain is and vaguely what their role in the arc will be, I know Luna's story, and I know a few twists that I've already set into motion, but I have no freakin idea what the story is that connects them all. We are on this journey of discovery together.