Charlie was tired of having to hold Mary back, but he was not tired of her. He would have loved to take some time to spreciate her a little more before time continued, perhaps even wait until sunrise... but no. Not only was he exahusted, he had a terrible headache. He considered just leaving and going to the tent, but nobody would allow him to forget it if he did.
That screach sounded again. That one that was heard before they could get out of their tents.
All the kids looked up to the sky to see the flock of agresive vultures, hawkes, and eagles, and how violently they descended to surround Aracarukku.
Juniper stood up once more, cleaning a bit of blood from her nose. Her eyes were dizzy, and Charlie was convinced it had been a miracle she had been able to do a stampede in a city. Perhaps it was a gift after discovering her abilities to late.
Juniper chuckled dumbly, as if her brain had been drained of inteligence in the making of the birds. But Charlie saw it as worth it, because Aracarukku dropped to the floor, protecting his own head with his hands. He may have been inteligent, and extremely powerful considering his age, but instincts were instincts, and the body always tried to protect the head.
A vulture dived down, with it's claws extended to reveal it's long bird legs. It headed for the hands, and while the other birds attacked the body, the vulture grabbed on tight to the fourth finger of Aracarukku's left hand, and tried to gain flight once more. Through the hesitation, the vulture started to use it's beak, and Charlie was thankful the flock of birds surrounding the child was dense enough to cover the scene, or he would have to spen the rest of the year with the empathy of getting a finger ripped off.
The finger fell to the ground, but was quickly taken by a hawk, which swallowed it whole. Alex attempted to puke, but failed.
Juniper dropped to the ground, but Clara immediately run, as if it was for her own life, to bring her back up. Juniper oppened her eyes slightly, and mouthed some words, and Clara immediately covered her face with her own from Charlie's point of view.
Following, all the children, exept the eldest and the blind, ran towards the girls as the flock disperced. It had been a short "duel", but every single second of it was a silent pain, awaiting for Juno to stand and breath, expecting for Aracarukku to drop and surrender. The strongest ones, including Chris, raised Juniper over their heads, not so high that Clara could not hold her hand. Juniper had calmed enough to sit up and understand what had happened.
She had won.
She was the new leader.
After years of children being forced to leave, she would now be able to state a rule alowing adults. And everyone had hope of creating a complete life now. One with a family, one with peaceful times of sitting on the edge of a house you have built yourself, and seeing how your kids run arround in the plants you planted.
Charlie was already imagining such a future, but now was not that moment. Now was the time to celebrate with a well deserved sleep. The children carefully placed Juniper on the floor, where she tried to stand for a moment before realizing she could actually do it. She laughed, and hugged Clara again. They embraced before turning to Claire. They helped her up, and eventually Onay, hugging them both too. But nobody headed for Aracarukku.
Charlie took a step in their direction, and they raised their terrified eyes as they looked at their amputated finger. Their eyes were terrified, and their mouth imposible to close. Charlie felt this was wrong. They deserved to be treated.
-Can you stand?
-Don't approach me!- they complained, turning arround on their own butt as to avoid looking at Charlie.
He grinned, and sat down next to Aracarukku.
-You know, you can still stay here. You can at least spend the night. I won't let anyone hurt you for what you did. You don't deserve it.- Charlie spoke without looking at the kid. He wanted to look like he knew what he was doing, even if he didn't know.
One way or another, he could convince Juniper to leave Aracarukku alive, and she would never kill him with no reason.
Mary walked closer, and like a spring, Charlie jumped up.
-Should we head in? We deserve a good night's sleep.- She started speaking with a smile, but it faded when she say Aracarukku behind Charlie.
-Sure.- He agreed, already walking to the tent, and Mary not hesitating to follow, but he added one final comment,- Don't hesitate to come if you make up your mind.
The kids reunited in the tents once more, and not even removing their clothes, they dropped asleep.
Charlie took off his shirt, but not his pants nor top underwear. He saw how the bunkbed Clara and Juniper were supposed to share was empty on top. He dropped from his own top bunkbed and checked, that in fact, they were sleeping together. Charlie smiled before heading back up, as well as Claire took the top bunkbed of the following bed.
Mary climbed up the bunkbed stairs, next to Charlie.
-Mind if I join you for a bit?
-No problem,- Charlie answered, trying to seem unbothered by the fact that Mary, the girl he liked, was on his bed.- What do you need.
-I don't need anything, I just need to give you a little thing.
Mary leaned in and kissed him.
-Good night,- She added before dropping from the bed.- Your heart's too big for your body.- And she left to her own tent.
The following morning, Juniper would wake up, and after that, new changes would probably be done the instant she woke up, and a whole life of peace and security was ahead of all of them. Once they reached maturity, they had a place. Once their minds stopped working correctly, someone would take care of them. And most importantly, they were surrounded by people who would never give them up.
It was not yet a paradise, but they would all soon craft it into their own paradise.
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