Tower

Everyone knows about the girl in the tower, she'd come in the dead of night, no one would see her except when she stood by her window, her black hair and golden skin unlike any they had seen. Kids would stare at this window, hoping to see a glimpse of the woman. But she never left her tower, day after day, staring out the window at the land she would never reach.

Lilac missed the sun. She missed going outside and feeling the wind. She sat in her room, weaving some yarn together. It was a haphazard job, the yarn knotted and ugly, but it was thick, and long, it stretched across her room, laying in bundles. She paused, standing to walk to her window. Her steps were uneven, a bandage hiding under her left pant leg. The window was locked shut, the key hidden in her captor's things. She looked down, the ground around 50 feet down, she looked back at her knotted rope, it'd have to be longer. The sky was dark, she looked at the moon, shining right in front of her, it was the only light she had for her work, and that was enough.

Lilac went back to her weaving, her fingers moving fast as she knotted the string together, the black string was thin, weaved it was as thick as her forearm, it would be tricky to climb down with, but this was all she had.

She worked in silence, her attention on her task, but she was waiting, it was time soon, for her captor's appearance. He would bring her dinner everyday, at the time where his face would be obscured the most. This is when he'd check her room for her escape attempts, he had thwarted 5 attempts before she had made a better hiding place.

Lilac heard someone coming up the stairs to her room. She stood up, gathering her yarn into her hands, rolling it into a ball, then she trotted to her bedside, pulling the mattress up, she slipped her fingers under the biggest floorboard, stuffing the rope into the small space. She then walked to the window, looking out of it, this is where her captor would find her every night. A shadow flew across the moon. Lilac shivered as she saw it, she rarely saw these untethered shadows, but they would fly past her window some nights. Other nights she'd see a parrot with jet black eyes stare into her room and wonder if they recognized her.

Lilac turned as the door opened. A girl stumbled into the room, hissing and cursing at the man behind her. Lilac stepped closer to the window, melting into the shadows, wondering if this could be an opening. The man didn't move his eyes from the struggling girl, her hands were tied behind her back, despite this she had a strong stance. She lifted her leg to kick the man. He caught her leg, throwing her back. Lilac's legs moved by themselves and the girl hit her, Lilac fell, cushioning the girl's fall with herself. The man looked at her, his icy blue eyes calculating before he turned and left, the door's lock engaging behind him.

Lilac let out her groan, moving her hand to move the girl's green hair out of her face. The girl sat up, the ropes falling off her hands as she shook herself off. She stood up, turning to extend her hand to Lilac.

"Sorry about that." The girl said, a rueful grin appearing. Lilac took her hand, standing, she hid her left leg behind her right, not wanting to show her limp to the girl.

"I'm Rachel." The girl stuck out her hand.

Lilac stared at it, wondering what the girl wanted, when the man did that with his hand, he wanted something. She didn't think the girl wanted anything, so it must be some cultural cue she didn't know. Lilac felt frustration start to creep in, she was farther from her home than she had thought.

The girl, no Rachel, dropped her hand, wiping it on her trousers, "I never liked that tradition anyways." She looked at Lilac, "What's your name?"

Lilac blinked, unused to someone asking her questions, "Lilac," She answered, her voice strong from her hours of talking to herself, she'd try to sing, but she was so tone deaf she hurt her own ears. She saw Rachel's eyes become interested, her accent was still thick, her words blurring together as her tongue tried to make english more familiar.

"Nice to meet you. Glad I'm not alone in here." Rachel walked to the window, taking out a metal object. Lilac stared at it, wondering what it was. Rachel cloned the back end and the front created light, Lilac widened her eyes, she'd never seen anything but fire make that light. Could that rod create fire?

Rachel clicked it more, the light making some sort of pattern. Lilac looked out the window, seeing a similar light flashing back.

"You're talking with someone?" Lilac couldn't keep the wonder from her voice, she'd been stuck up here, but this girl could talk to people within seconds of arriving.

Rachel laughed, "Yeah, that's my partner out there."

"Why are you here?" Lilac asked, if the girl had a partner, this would be a surprise for both of them, but Rachel didn't seem surprised, she was prepared for this.

Rachel nodded, "Good question. It's a job. I'm supposed to find some great treasure here, something to stop the shades."

"Shades?" Lilac was getting more lost with Rachel's explanations. The world outside was something she didn't know. She'd have to find out as much as she could from Rachel as she could.

Rachel looked at her, an eyebrow raised, "How long have you been stuck in here?"

Lilac bit her lip, looking at the small room, she had been here a long time, she went to her mattress, pulling it up and taking out her notebook, inside were tallies, she had forced herself to document the days she spent here, no matter how many. She opened it, counting the tallies.

"Today's my 1209th day here."