A cool morning breeze drifted lazily between the towering tree's trunks and through the open front of the barn, carrying with it the sweet earthy scent that always seems to follow a strong rain. The piercing song of a nearby bird echoed through the forest, joined not too long after by the mingled calls of the forest's other inhabitants.

Tun's eyelids fluttered open, and he squinted for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the faint morning light. He grunted and propped himself up on his elbows, slowly turning his head to look around the barn.

Tor, he noted, was still sleeping, her head resting against the giant manta's wing. The three smaller mantas must have moved at some point during the night, because they lay curled up at Tor's side, their small heads still tucked beneath their wings.

Tun reached out to shake his sister awake, then stopped, slowly letting his hand sink back down to his side. It didn't seem right to wake her, now. . . After all, they'd already spent so long wandering through the bleak, rain-soaked forest. . . What harm would a few more minuets do?

With a grunt, Tun dragged himself to his feet, careful not to wake his twin as he went. He slowly padded across the stone floor and knelt down beside the child, still wrapped in their bundle of blankets. The strange golden glow from the night before was completely gone, but their eyes still shone brightly. Tun paused for a moment, turning his head to get a better look at the blanket-wrapped form. There was something else about the child that wasn't quite right. . . Unlike every other spirit Tun had seen, this one wasn't transparent. As he looked closer, he noticed that their skin also lacked the faint blue tint that all spirits seemed to have. . .

"How are they?" a soft voice asked, and Tun spun around, startled. Naomi stood in the entrance to the barn, a woven basket of pink fruit hanging from her arm. "The child, I mean." she quickly added, and placed her basket down in the grass just outside the barn.

"Uhh. . ." Tun glanced back down at the child's still, lifeless form and winced. "Better than yesterday, I think. But still not great. . ." he trailed off and shrugged. "But I guess that's to be expected when you fall down a five foot hole in the woods and get picked up by a bunch of strangers and their grumpy Manta."

Naomi covered the bottom of her mask with one hand to hide her laughter as she made her way into the barn. "So you really did just find them in a hole?" she asked and sat down a few feet away, watching the elder curiously. "I thought Talia was just trying to trick me when she said that. . ."

Tun gave a small laugh and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, something like that. . ." he gave the child one more look, then turned his attention back to the Naomi. "Where is Talia, anyways?" a grin slid across his face, and he gave his head a small shake. "Or is she still in trouble?"

Naomi crossed her arms and blew a strand of loose hair out of her eyes. "She can come out of her room when she apologizes for what happened last night!" she winced and shot the house an uncertain look. "Though, knowing her, she's probably already run off on one adventure or another. . ." she sighed and absently straightened her hair. She watched the elder for a moment, then continued uncertainly. "You see, our family grows Sky Fruit." she continued, pointing at the basket of pink fruit by the door. "And our parents deliver them around the kingdom. . ." she winced and glanced away. "Which means they aren't home very often. . . And when they do leave, they put me in charge of keeping Talia safe. . . But she just doesn't listen to a word I say!"

Tun nodded along sympathetically. "Yeah. . . Siblings are like that, sometimes. . ." he glanced over at Tor who still hadn't woken up.

Naomi followed his gaze and stopped, her eyes lighting up. "Oh! Are you two. . . I mean, is she your sister?"

Tun snorted with laughter. "What, can't you see the family resemblance? I swear, if she just cut her hair, you wouldn't be able to tell us apart!"

Tor turned to glare at her brother with bleary eyes. "Or you could grow yours out. . ." she turned back away and pulled the blanket up over her head, grumbling something else that Tun couldn't decipher.

"How long have you been eavesdropping for?" Tun asked with a small grin.

"Few minuets. . ." Tor grumbled, finally giving up on sleep and sitting up against the manta's wing. "No offence, but you two are louder than a hoard of angry crabs rampaging through the citadel." she rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands and gently lifted the baby mantas from her side, carefully setting them down on the ground.

"Citadel?" Naomi asked curiously. "Where is that. . .?"

Tun turned to give the spirit a stunned look. "You've never heard of the citadel before?"

Naomi blushed beneath her mask and turned away, fiddling with her fingers uncertainly. "W-we don't really leave the house much. . . I mean, the furthest we've been from home was. . ." she paused, tilting her head back as she tried to remember. "Well, I think it was when we used to go to the Temple for the seasonal celebration. . . But we haven't been there in years. We've never even left the Hidden Forest!"

Tun tilted his head to the side as he listened. Her story sounded almost. . . Familiar? It hadn't occurred to the young elder that--before now--he and Tor had never left the Valley either. . .

"Yeah. . ." he muttered glumly. "I get what you mean. . . This is the first time I've left the Valley of Triumph. . ." he smiled, his face brightening. "But it's been pretty fun, so far! I mean, nothing beats crashing your manta in the middle of the woods, running around in a rainstorm, dragging small children out of holes, and sleeping in a stranger's barn, am I right?"

Naomi chuckled and slowly shook her head. "Obviously, our definitions of fun differ greatly!" She paused for a moment, watching the elder silently, then turned to look at Tor who had pulled out the map and was staring down at it intently. The feeling that she knew these two from somewhere had only grown throughout their conversation. . . She still just couldn't quite put her finger on where from. "So. . ." she began slowly, and looked up. "I don't believe I ever caught your names?"

"Oh, uhh. . ." Tun mumbled, his mind racing. They couldn't use their real names; that much was clear to him. If Elder Sage heard that the young elders had traveled to the Hidden Forest without his permission. . . Tun shuddered. He didn't want to know how that would end.

Luckily, Tor stepped in. "My name's Gaia." she said, shooting Tun a meaningful look. "And that's my brother Terran."

Tun stared at her for a moment as he processed this, then a small smile crossed his face, the expression thankfully hidden by his mask. Gaia and Terran; the stable hands that took care of the Mantas back in the Valley.

"Huh. . ." Naomi muttered to herself, her eyes narrowing as she stared down at a loose stone on the ground. She was quite certain that she'd never met anyone named Gaia or Terran, before. . . "Well." she said, trying her best to hide the disappointment in her voice. "I suppose you two must be hungry, huh?" before the elders could answer, she had scrambled to her feet and quickly made her way towards the open front wall of the barn. "I'll get you something to eat. . ." she turned back and gave the twins a small smile that went unnoticed behind her mask. "Come inside whenever you're ready!" without another word, she scooped up her basket of Sky Fruit and hurried back up the winding path towards the house.

When he was sure that the spirit was out of earshot, Tun turned and gave his sister a sly smile. "Gaia and Terran, huh?" he slowly shook his head. "You know, if they ever end up in the forest, we're going to have a lot of explaining to do. . ."

Tor smirked and rolled up the map, quickly placing it back over her shoulder. "Correction: They'll have a lot of explaining to do. . . We were never here." she glanced up at the manta who had not yet woken up. "Guess we should head inside. I doubt the manta will mind if we disappear for a few minuets. . ." she looked out the barn entrance at the sprawling forest that spread out around them. "Besides, I want to find out where we are. . . The map's going to be mostly useless till we figure that out."

"Yeah!" Tun agreed with a joking look. "Just don't take too long! If Elder Sage gets back before we do, we're going to have a lot more than maps to worry about!"

"No kidding. . ." Tor laughed and hopped up, dusting herself off as she went. "And if we're really lucky, he won't get back from the vault for a long time!"

What the young twins didn't realize as they raced down the stepping-stone trail towards the house on the hill, was that Elder Sage wouldn't be returning to the valley for far longer than either of them had thought. . . Darkness was brewing in the Golden Valley. . . Darkness that even the elders might not be able to stop.