V For Vendetta, E For Emery (In need of editing)

Vendetta and Emery are the best of friends and enjoy going on adventures together, but one day they find themselves in great trouble.

     In a world normal people don't see lives a very young girl named Vendetta. She spends the majority of her time bouncing on lily pads; much like a frog. But Vendetta is a little girl, and I mean little. She loves to braid her soft, blonde hair into pigtails and put on the most sparkly lip glosses, but Vendetta also enjoys going on adventures. One evening Vendetta sneaks out of her small dirt cottage and silently creeps through the fluffy dandelion forest, trying not to wake her parents.

   Her high-pitched voice travels through the silence, “Let’s go, Emery!” she says. Emery’s vibrant orange and black wings flap gracefully as he makes his way towards her. Vendetta whips out a saddle from her leaf satchel and latches it onto his back; they are ready for their nightly journey. As they float higher and higher Vendetta’s golden, trophy eyes fill with excitement. Gently, they fly together without a care in the world, not knowing that today’s journey would be different than all the previous. Emery finds himself distracted by a glistening light somewhere down below and crashes, landing in a maple tree. The city of leaves rustles as the sharp wind whistles violently.

“What are we gonna do now, Emery?” Vendetta pouts, crosses her arms, and taps her foot. “This is all your fault.”

Emery looks at her hopefully and wiggles his antennae towards one of the largest leaves on the tree.

“How in the world are we gonna get up there?” says Vendetta looking up. “Are your wings okay, Emery?”

Emery sluggishly attempts to flap his wings; they move, but not very well. Emery and Vendetta both look at each other. Hopeless.

“Well, I guess we’ll stay here tonight. Maybe find a little hole in the tree or somethin’, I don’t know,” she pauses to twirl around in search of a safe place. “There!” she squeals, pointing at a vacant hole that was probably once a home for a squirrel.

Vendetta begins to climb up to the hole with Emery trailing behind her. The wind nearly blows them off the tree, causing flashes of orange and ebony. Vendetta’s braids fly about hitting her face and covering her eyes, but she is still able to make out Emery’s silhouette.

“Think you can make it?” Vendetta shouts. He replies with a twitch in his antennas then quickly crawls his way up to her.

They are closer now, a few steps away. The tree to them is like a mountain, but they finally make it. Vendetta moves to the side allowing Emery to enter first. She gently shoves him in and follows. They’re safe for the night.

The whistles of the wind finally stop, the moon says his goodbyes, and the sun opens her eyes once again. Morning has come. Emery, who’s cuddled up next to Vendetta slides his head out of the leaves covering them. The morning is so quiet that the flapping of his wings is audible to Vendetta, and she too wakes up.

“Good morning,” she says, reaching her arms up and trying to hold back a yawn. “I see you’re feeling better.” she says, now smiling at Emery who’s nuzzling her, a butterfly’s way of hugging. Vendetta makes her way out and unties her satchel from the nearest branch.

“C’mon, Emery! We must get home,” she said, holding his saddle in one hand and pointing with the other, “Mum’s not going to be pleased with us.”

From a leaf at the end of the branch together they leap to the ground. The fall is far, but a large mushroom saves their fall. “All the other creatures must be asleep,” Vendetta thinks to herself, “The day is young.” There’s no cricket sounds or buzzing bees, which is odd, seeing as every other day there are. Both Emery and Vendetta feel uncomfortable and afraid. Their silence together is usually peaceful; now it is not. They tread through the dirt that stuck to their feet and past the millions of blades of grass in search of their home.

“Emery, look over there,” says Vendetta. “What is that?” she quickly pounces onto his back, tosses her satchel to her side, and grabs onto the saddle. What she sees is quite far away, but curiosity took over.

They race through the grass gracing Emery’s wings and between the stems of the various pastel wildflowers until they finally find it.

Another small person. He wears a thick, mauve cloak, and a crown of the same color mixed with silver. His hair is onyx which makes his frosty skin and cerulean blue eyes pop out. His oddly large nose almost makes him look like a bird; he is a very strange-looking man. Vendetta curiously runs up to him.

“Hi! Who are you?” she pauses, but not long enough for him to reply. “My name’s Vendetta and this is Emery,” she says jumping and pointing at him. Confused, the man looks at her with concern.

“How did you get here?” he questions with a slight stutter in his raspy crackling voice. “I haven’t seen another person nearby in ages.”

“Well you see, Emery and I were flying: we always do at night and we hit a tree and now we’re lost.”

“Oh, I see.”
“Can you please help us?”

“Follow me,” replies the man, and so they do. Together the three of them travel past all the high-reaching trees, the forest of blooming flowers, and the maze of brightly colored mushrooms.

“Where are we going?” asks Vendetta shyly.

“You’ll see. Do not fear, child.” He pauses to look her in the eyes, “We’re close and I’ve got a gift for you and your friend.”

“Do you have a name?” she replies.

“My name is unimportant. All that matters is that you get home safely.”

“Oh,” she pauses, “Okay.”
“Here we are!” the old man exclaims.

They struggle through an ocean of pebbles and end up in a huge vacant field of dirt.

“But… I don’t see anything,” says Vendetta.

“Follow me just a bit further. This way. Hurry now!” he begins to run, but neither Emery nor Vendetta know why until they realize he’s gazing up into the sky. “Faster!” he’s now shouting. “Behind that bush!” he screams pointing to an enormous raspberry bush. Before he can make it to that bush he was pointing to, down comes a crow, his dreadful black wings, his putrid yellow eyes, and terrifying claws casting fear to all. The old man and the crow begin to fight; the man trying to escape and the crow craving a good dinner meal. From behind the raspberry bush Vendetta and Emery watch in fear.

“Inside the bush- Quickly!”

Slowly they crawl into the bush, unsure of what they’ll find. For awhile it’s nothing but leaves and thorns, until they get to the center and find a cobblestone castle with a flag outside labeled “Krato’s Magic Shop”.

“Welcome to my Magic Shop,” says Krato with leaves tangled in his black hair and scratches along his face the color of garnet. “Come inside, Make yourselves at home,” he opens a wooden door and strolls to a long shelf with twenty-six empty glass bottles of various shapes and colors. “V for Vendetta,” he says, carefully lifting up the twenty-second bottle on the long wooden shelf. “This bottle is just for you, Vendetta. It’s the color of ferns, just like your dress.”  He sets down Vendetta’s empty bottle on a table near the cauldron in the corner of the room. “Now, Emery, this one’s for you. E for Emery.” He picks up the fifth bottle on the shelf and sets it next to Vendetta’s, this one is orange. “Making potions is my specialty and I know just what you two need to make it home. I’ll be right back.” Krato says while running out the door to grab some raspberries and cut off a few thorns; Vendetta and Emery watch from the window behind the bench they’re sitting on.

“Slam!”

Krato returns with the items he’s gathered. “Just a few more ingredients,” he tosses the raspberries and thorns into the boiling cauldron, then opens a pewter pantry. He grabs a bottle, this one’s full of some odd teal bubbling liquid, and another,rose pink. The cauldron begins to bubble viciously, producing a thick, dark smoke. “Perfect!” he exclaims dipping Emery’s orange bottle into the cauldron and handing it to him. “Drink this. It’ll take a moment to kick in.”

Krato empties the cauldron and returns it to its original place. “Now, for yours, Vendetta,” he grabs a small bag of powdered charcoal, five dove feathers, twenty white rose petals, and a silver liquid. He throws them into the cauldron, but this time it doesn’t create a smoke; it creates a mist that fills the room. “Drink this,” he says filling the green bottle and handing it to Vendetta. “This will give you the ability to speak to animals.” Vendetta begins to drink her potion, complaining about the taste after every few sips.

Emery begins to glisten like the brightest star in the night sky.

“Yes! It’s working,” shouts Krato.

Emery sprouts arms and legs, his wings disappear and he no longer has antennas. He is human. Unable to keep his balance, he tosses his arms around Vendetta.

“Now you may communicate better,” says Krato smiling. “Carry on now, find your way home.”

Emery stumbles and trips on his own feet, not used to the legs he now owns, so Vendetta comes to the rescue. She is his crutch.

Shortly after wandering back into the forest, they come across a fox. Her fur is as white as the first snow of the year, her eyes are too.

“Excuse me,” Vendetta says quietly, “Can you help us?”

“Why yes I can, what do you need?”

“I need to go home.”

The fox turns showing them her back, and flicks her bushy tail, “Hop on,” She says and they do.

“Thank you,” Vendetta and Emery say in unison followed by giggles. The two of them fall asleep hand in hand and before they knew it, they were home again.