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❝𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕚 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖...❞

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𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 :: 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈

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CARRAN, IRELAND
2050

All around the cabin is silent, except for the occasional bird chirping. The sun is rising, its overpowering light already bursting through the gaps of the trees.

So far, Willow is the only one awake. They've made a start on breakfast already, frying an egg for everyone.

There's a soft smile on their face as they hum to themselves quietly. Cooking is something that never fails to bring Willow calmness. It was high on their list of favourite hobbies but still, it was nowhere near close to topping reading. No hobby of theirs could ever beat reading for Willow.

They hear the sounds of footsteps against the wooden stairs and Willow looks over their shoulder to see who has entered the kitchen.

"Hey Chlo."

"Morning." Chloe smiles at her friend, walking over to help them prepare the food.

The two converse quietly, shuffling around the kitchen. By the time the breakfast is ready, they can hear the movements of the others upstairs.

Hugh, Hallie, Victor and Pastella join the girls in the kitchen shortly after and the six of them sit down at the table. Not much is said between them except for small talk and a few laughs here and there.

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Azealia isn't sure where she is at this point. If anything, she thought that if there was any suitable time to just give up, it would be now. Her grip on Poppy's lead is tight, making sure her dog stays close to her. In her other hand, she drags her bat along the long strands of grass.

Azealia hadn't expected to survive this long on her own. When her dad had kicked her out, she was sure that was the end for her and it was only a matter of time before she got bitten. But Poppy has proven to be quite helpful and capable of aggression for a dog who used to be afraid of her own tail when she was a puppy.

Aside from Poppy, the other way Azealia was surviving this hell was by stealing necessities from various shops. Though in the fourteen year old's opinion, it can't technically be considered stealing if there's no one working there anymore. Not like anyone would care anyways. Given the circumstances, they'd understand.

Azealia could see a cabin in the distance but that wasn't what caught her eye. It was the people that were stood in front of it. It had been months since Azealia had laid her eyes on another human being, she's almost certain that she's dreaming.

She walks closer to get a better look, stopping behind a tree a few feet away from the cabin. Poppy's ears twitch as she takes notice of the people ahead of them and she lowers her head, growling.

Azealia clicks her fingers, trying to get her dog's attention.

"Poppy, stop! Stop it!" She whispers, looking over at the cabin and hoping they don't hear.

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Victor is stood by the table on the porch, counting the basket of fish the group had caught in the pond across from them.

"It's enough for four, maybe five, meals." He guesses, shrugging his shoulders, "It'll last us the week anyways."

"That's good."

As they talk amongst themselves, Hallie can hear what sounds like.. a dog? But that can hardly be possible. They've been the only living things in this forest for months. She turns her head in the direction of the low noise and her heart almost stops.

She reaches out and pulls lightly on Pastella's, the person who was physically the closest to her, sleeve. "Do you see that?"

Pastella follows Hallie's pointed finger, "Oh my god." She stares at the young girl, who has made quite a poor attempt at hiding behind a tree, for a moment to make sure her eyes aren't playing tricks on her.

"Guys," she calls, gaining everyone's attentiveness immediately, "Someone's here."

Hugh, Willow, Victor and Chloe move to stand beside Hallie and Pastella and follow their gaze.

"We should go over." Willow says after a moment's silence.

"We should not." Hugh countered without hesitation, crossing his arms.

"Hugh!" Chloe exclaims, staring at him in bewilderment, "She's a child."

Hugh doesn't respond, staring straight ahead at the strange girl with the dog with a stoic face. Another beat of silence follows.

"Come on, we're going over." Victor says, taking a step forward before Hugh stops him by gripping his shoulder firmly.

"No. No, we aren't."

Pastella sighs, "Come on Hugh, it's just a girl."

"I don't care. We're not going over. We don't know her. She's none of our concern or responsibility. End of story."

Willow and Chloe share a look of annoyance. This was typical Hugh behaviour. He always liked to take the role of the leader even though he refused to admit it and took offense that they even thought so.

"Fine. Then the five of us will go over and you can stay here." Chloe declares, raising an eyebrow.

"Chloe–"

Chloe doesn't bother to hear what Hugh has to say. She's already making her way across the forest, the others right behind her. If they argue any longer, the girl could be gone by the time they reach an agreement.

"Chloe! Chloe!" Hugh sighs as his girlfriend doesn't spare him a glance.

"Hallie! Hallie, hey!" Hallie stops for a split second. She looks over her shoulder at Hugh and gives him an apologetic smile before following the four to the tree. Hugh groans in annoyance and reluctantly trudges after his friends.

"Hi." Willow's the first to speak when they reach the teenager. The girl jumps and her dog's growls become louder, baring her teeth. She stumbles back and tries to pull her dog with her.

"No wait, don't go!" Victor says, holding a hand out, "We're not going to hurt you, I swear. I'm Victor, that's Pastella, Hallie, Willow, Chloe and the one sulking back there is Hugh. What's your name?"

Azealia only stares at Victor silently, her grip on her bat tightening.

"I, um.. I like your dog." Hallie says quietly, she has no idea what to make of this peculiar situation and after the look she receives from the girl, she wishes she hadn't made an attempt to get her to warm up.

A long awkward and uncomfortable hush grows over the group for an agonizing number of minutes.

Willow tilts their head to the side, trying to think of something to say, "... So–"

"Azealia."

"What?"

"My name. Azealia and this is Poppy." The girl mutters, her body language defensive and tense.

"Azealia, do you have.. are you.. are you with someone?" Chloe asks.

"No."

"Your parents–?"

"No."

"Any–?"

"I said no." The fourteen year old snaps.

Hugh's eye twitches. They haven't even been talking to this girl for long and he's already irked by her attitude. His friends were only trying to help and he didn't liked that rude look she had given Hallie one bit.

"Listen kid, if you don't want our help we'll happily leave–" Hugh begins, turning to leave.

"Hugh, shut up!" Chloe exclaims, running a hand over her face, "That's not helping."

"Do you have a place to stay, Azealia?" Pastella queries, gazing at the girl with worry.

"No."

"You can stay with us if you want." Willow says without even realising their words. This girl was clearly malnourished and they just wanted to help her.

"Absolutely not!" Hugh exclaims, looking at the five of them as if they all have three heads, "Are you insane?"

"Hugh, for fuck's sake."

"Hugh!"

"Seriously, Hugh?"

"She's like what– what age are you?" Victor asks.

Once again, Azealia keeps her mouth shut, staring at them defiantly.

"You're not mute, kid. We heard you speak earlier. Stop wasting our time and just tell us. How old are you?" Hugh says impatiently.

Azealia glares at Hugh before averting her gaze to the ground once more, "Fourteen."

That's enough to convince the group, except for Hugh, that Azealia needs to stay with them.

"Jesus Christ."

"We can't leave her out here. She's too young to be on her own at a time like this."

"Come on, Azealia, come back to the cabin with us. Please?"

They notice her uncertainty and try to reassure and persuade her.

"It's really warm in there."

"We have food."

"Poppy can come too."

"If you don't want to then we'll just stay out here with you. We're not leaving you on your own."

After a while, Azealia reluctantly gives in when she realises that they really won't leave her be no matter what she says.

"Fine." The young teenager eventually agrees, much to Hugh's dismay. He doesn't want to have a brat like this on his hands but it seems like he doesn't have much of a choice at this point.

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author's note ::
hii! i am so so sorry for the really long delay!! i've just been really busy lately. also if anyone's wondering how they have electricity to cook and stuff, they have solar panels on the roof of the cabin. i haven't proofread this so if there's any mistakes let me know. if there's any mistakes about pronouns, it wasn't on purpose, it just slipped my mind <3 remember to vote and please comment too! i have a cooking exam tomorrow morning that's 50% of my junior cert home ec exam so hopefully that'll go well! again, im so sorry for the delay!!

xx, izzy

ocs mentioned {not in order} ::

hugh o'cleary {xrosegoldqnx}

victor jay {Biggirl568}

pastella mcalister {if anyone knows if lilith has a new account please let me know!}

willow dean-song {vxntage-pxetry}

hallie jameson {-venusflytrap}

chloe madden {_roscxpctals_}

azealia murphy {xrosegoldqnx}