This story is a continuation to Of The Sand and The Sea.

If you are new and have not yet read OTSATS, you can go ahead with this one if you'd like. It would add an air of mystery, I suppose. But if you have the time, OTSATS can be found on my profile.

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-Part 1-

Green Leaves

It was a promise she made long ago. It was a promise she wanted to keep, because he had been such a good friend.

She never met or made another friend like him.

There were also things she wanted answers to, like the strange powers she had witnessed and the otherworldly occurrences that had happened. Were they real? How was it possible?

She wanted to know. She wanted to return to him.

Looking back, she could have never known how much trouble it would bring upon her and her family.

...

Gentle waves whispered up the golden shore. She stood in the waters, facing the coast of sand. There she saw a boy standing just out of the reach of the sea. Pale eyes framed in black stared back at her, pleading. A tender smile made its way onto his lips as he held out his arms, calling her to him.

Slowly, with the waves urging her forward, she walked to the boy with hair like crimson...

...

The bus roared as it sluggishly pulled away from the school. The girl was yanked from her reverie.

The loud engine only distracted her temporarily. Her hazel brown eyes glazed over again as she slipped back into her musings. The other kids were loud and boisterous. The girl slumped further down into her seat. She leaned her head against the window, sighing. She had hoped if she sat far upfront she'd be less disturbed by the obnoxious people in the back. She'd been wrong.

At least she could escape them with her thoughts.

How long has it been? she wondered. Was it… even real?

Years ago a crimson haired boy and a little brunette girl ran across hills of sand. The next day they would be walking through a field of grass and blossoms.

It felt so far away now. She supposed that was what time did. The past just kept getting further off as the present raced forever forward.

Things had changed over the years, many things. The hazel-eyed girl was no longer so small, and no longer home schooled. Ever since her first day of second grade, and her first day of public school, she had hated it. She hated waking up early, hated walking through the halls with her head down, and hated the way the others treated her.

She was shy. She had a hard time speaking. Sometimes she could get over her reticence and was able to talk some, to let a bit of her personality shine through… that was when they'd see how strange she was, how weird. Many times she had been harassed because of this.

It was better if she stayed quiet.

It had gotten better over the years. Now instead of harassing her they generally ignored her presence. Sometimes it was as if she were a ghost or a corpse – albeit a walking one.

That was fine with her. She didn't need their acknowledgement.

She sighed quietly, thinking back to when no one would hurt her. It was because he was there, guarding her, the scarlet haired boy's presence threatening to even the tallest of men.

Or… did I just dream him up?

She glimpsed at the scar on her left hand. It was a streak of white going diagonally from her wrist to the base of her ring finger, where a small burst-mark was left. It stood as proof that he wasn't just an imaginary friend her psyche had created when she was five.

Right?

What if she had just fallen on some rocks and then tied it to her imaginary friend's doing?

No, no, no! she berated herself. I couldn't have made it all up – it was too real!

It had to be real; it just had to be. Her brother remembered her having a red haired friend and her mother definitely remembered the boy with blackness around his eyes. It did happen. The scar and her family testified to that.

Suddenly the shrieking brakes of the bulky vehicle stabbed her ears, the force slamming her unsuspecting face into the seatback in front of her. Her thoughts were knocked to the backburner.

"You almost hit me!" screeched a girl. Her voice came from the front of the bus. Did she jump in the path of the bus? What kind of crazy…?

The hazel-eyed girl rubbed her face, barely distinguishing the sounds of the bus doors opening, the bus driver yelling, and the shouts of the other kids. Without warning, she was forcefully ripped from her seat.

"I don't wanna sit up front. You were supposed to make the bus wait for me!" proclaimed the one whom pulled her from her seat. It was the crazy girl. "Hey! That's my seat! Move, kid!"

"Um, I'm older than you?" responded the older boy, trying not to show fear.

"Don't care!" screamed the angry girl with shockingly bright hair. It was almost if someone had set her hair on fire. "Up! Or I'll rip your earring out, lady-man. Now!"

The pierced boy scrambled to sit elsewhere and the crazy girl plopped into the seat, claiming it as her own. She pulled the jumbled brunette with her.

"So… What do you wanna do this weekend?"

"Uh," the brunette paused. "I... What?"

"Oh, come on, Katy! Think of something intelligible to say. We're going to go to the fields again, aren't we?"

A hesitant grin spread on the hazel-eyed girl's face. "Yah. And the woods too, okay?"

Dark green eyes twinkled in satisfaction. "I'll just get off at your stop."

Noiselessly, Katy contemplated the one sitting next to her. The fiery haired girl lived just beyond the hills and woods that surrounded Katy's humble home. Katy had seen her the first day of school back in second grade. Her deep emerald eyes widened when she saw Katy. Then she twitched sporadically before chasing the brunette down the hall with a textbook.

That was when Katy realized this was the same person in the woods who had chased her with a stick and destroyed her hard built dirt-castle. The crazy girl had declared her name was Oreo.

And it was in this recent year that Oreo had become increasingly persistent in her pursuit of the brunette. Finally she'd won Katy over with her crazy antics. They were good friends, despite their personality differences. Katy thought that maybe that was what the emerald-eyed girl had been trying to do from the beginning; make friends with her.

Though, running someone down while crazily waving a stick was not the best way to go about it.

"Hey, it's our stop! Hello!"

"Ah!" Kat shot up from the seat, book-bag in tow. "Coming. Wait, Anna!"

And that was her real name. Annabel Burnstone, to be exact. No one knew why she liked to be called Oreo.

Thankfully the bus driver gave them no quarrel. But with the way Katy and Anna bolted off the bus, they really didn't give her time to protest. They walked the long graveled driveway quickly. Katy stared at the back of Anna's head as they moved. How did she get her hair to shine so? Her tresses were like bright rubies. Katy awkwardly scratched at her scalp. Her stringy brown hair was nothing in comparison.

They walked up the patio and Anna threw open the house door like she owned the place.

"Oh, look. It's the hooker twins," drawled Kat's older brother the minute they got in the living room. He lounged on the couch lazily.

"Shut up, Denim," sighed Katy, more exhausted than not. He'd never change. He believed he was the king of the farm. No amount of arguing could convince him otherwise.

"You're just jealous 'cause you can't touch this," Anna said smugly.

Katy did a double-take before snorting. Anna was snide... but funny. She was glad Anna was there with her. Ever since her cousins moved away, the farm had been rather lonely and the animals could no longer provided Katy with the complete companionship she needed.

"Katherine," warned her mother from the kitchen. "Don't start."

"I didn't say…" The brunette groaned. "Let's just go outside, Anna."

They traveled over hills of green and into the dense woods. Light from the sun trickled in through the leaves. This was their place, their sanctuary, where no one could reach them. No other eyes to judge, no other mouths to whisper vehement words. The towering trees gave her a sense of shelter, a sense of security.

And she was the deer, the doe that hid amongst them.

This is Haven, Kat thought wistfully.

Haven. It was the name the crimson haired boyand Katy gave to the little forest, fields, and farm. Sometimes, she liked to think he was there, running with them.

Through the years before she became friends with Anna, she would envision him sitting with her in class, on the playground, and next to her whenever she stood alone. She seemed to stand alone a lot.

I will make believe that you are here… until I can see you again. Okay?

Katy especially did so when the other kids had picked on her, had taunted her relentlessly. She was able to withstand them then, thinking he was just behind her. Like a leaf in the winds of a hurricane. That was her. Helpless and distraught. The thought of him steadied her.

"Whoa! Katy, get over here!"

Katherine ran fast, eager to find out what her friend was fussing about. "What? What is…?" Her hazel eyes traveled up the large structure. "That's..."

Old and daunting, the house loomed over them. Its dark and empty eeriness seemed out of place among the green leaves of the little forest.

"I..." Katy started after finding her voice. "I haven't been in there in a long while."

"Let's go check it out!" Anna rushed to it, a strange kind of glee emitting from her.

Katy advanced carefully. The porch groaned as the girls walked across it. The brunette slowed and observed the floorboards.

"Anna!" she cried in surprise after the ruby haired girl kicked open the aged door. Its hinges let out a deafening screech.

"What?" She sneered. "You scared?"

Katherine grit her teeth, irritation seeping up and over. "Quit screwin' around!" she hissed out. Annabel only grinned cheekily in response.

Inside, dust coated everything. The wallpaper was peeling and yellowed with age and old-fashioned, worn furniture was scattered about. It was as it was before, just mustier and dustier.

Anna wandered over to an old bookshelf, looking around with bored, unimpressed eyes. She began muttering something about a secret entrance as she flung books off at random. Katy chided her on her treatment of the books; they were to be read, not thrown at random. She was promptly ignored.

So her attentions went elsewhere. She made her way to the stairs. The room she wanted to see hung in her mind's eye. The wood walls, the wood floor, and that antique dresser that she once pushed out of the way to find what was hidden behind it.

The steps produced an occasional creak as she ascended upwards. She walked stiffly and uneasily until she stood in the doorway of that room. It was just as she remembered.

Swallowing, she suddenly felt very nostalgic. Her heart jumped a bit when she saw the large carving on the wall. The hourglass-like symbol stretched up to the ceiling. This...was what marked the portal. This was the "gate" that led to him.

She hadn't tried it in so long. She was afraid of what she would find, of what she wouldn't find. Katherine moved towards it in a trance-like state, releasing shaky breaths. With a quivering hand, she reached out and traced circles with her fingers before resting her palm against the wooded surface. She waited.

Nothing.

Well, maybe if she pushed on it. She leaned her weight forward onto her hand.

No, still nothing.

She heaved a disappointed sigh. Had it really been a dream?

Just what was my sense of reality as a five-year-old? she questioned. I imagined it, then?

"Of course," she whispered to herself, scoffing. No twelve-year-old would actually believe there to be a portal in an old, run-down house. And one wouldn't believe a phantom sealed the way. She felt ridiculous now! There had to be some other explanation for the memories!

But still... she could not help feeling the bitter pang that hit her heart.

"Katy! Where the –" A loud noise, which Katy assumed was Anna tripping, sounded out from downstairs. "Son of a bitc –"

"Anna!" Kat quipped, swiftly descending the flight of steps. "Don't say that!"

"Just because your mother beats you for saying those words doesn't mean I have to…" Anna scowled. "What? Don't look at me like that! That stupid chair tripped me!"

Katherine made a face. "Maybe you should watch where you're bloody walking. Then the inanimate objects wouldn't trip you."

"Shut up! They're conspiring against me," shouted the ruby haired delinquent, opening and slamming random doors.

She smiled at Anna's odd behavior. Hit by a sudden playful urge, Katy scurried behind her. "Guess what. Anna, guess what!"

"What?"

"You're it!" snickered the brunette as she tapped Anna and took off down the hall.

The emerald-eyed girl chased her friend, shouting obscenities and griping about how Katy didn't play fair. The brunette's funky laughter rang throughout the house. Although Anna had never heard a mule give birth, she did think to compare Katy's laugh to such noises.

Katy screeched in delight as Anna gained on her, both girls tearing around a corner. Up ahead, Katy caught sight of the door Anna left open when she was tagged. It was a closet, a more than decently sized one, filled with...fur? Yes, fur. Dresses, coats, and shawls all made of the fuzz. They were old and dirty but Katy didn't give that much consideration before dashing into it, pushing through the thick material. Anna was hot on her heels. Then, abruptly, Katy faltered in her step and Anna stumbled behind her. The ruby haired girl fell into Katy who, in turn, hit her face against the back wall.

The girls groaned in their pain. Katy used the back wall of the closet to lean on as she uprighted herself. It was after she rubbed her aching nose that she caught sight of what was carved onto the wall she leaned on.

It made her gawk. It's like the other –

She didn't get to finish her thought, as light pulled in and enveloped both girls.

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She felt as if she were floating, flying. It was a string of light… and then nothingness.

A canopy of dense green leaves welcomed her as she slowly opened her eyes. It took her a moment, in her shock, to realize she was sprawled on her back, the earth lumpy beneath her. And something was not quite right. The trees that surrounded her were far bigger than the ones that encircled her home. If the trees of her home were giants, then these trees were titans.

"Ugh," wheezed a voice from underneath her. "Katy! Ah jeez, Katy! Get off! Your butt… is crushing… me!"

In a flash she was up, helping her fallen friend. "Sorry! I didn't – oh, whatever." She waved the other girl off as she went on to gaze around her. Her current environment was more important. Anna was talking, so Katy knew she was fine.

"Thanks for your concern," grumbled Anna, stretching out her sore limbs. "Ugh, what just happened? How did we get outside?"

"I don't know. I'll just…" The brunette's voice faded and she began walking in an uphill direction, hoping to get a better view on things.

Anna sighed before idly following the quiet girl's quick pace.

Anna slowed to a stop, casting glances around her. This somehow seemed familiar. Very familiar. She blinked owlishly at the girl with a long chocolate mane ahead of her. Why did that look familiar too? Extremely familiar, in fact. Was she having a déjà vu?

"Anna," called Katy nervously. "You better come look at this!"

The redheaded girl picked up her velocity, only because the brunette sounded panicky.

"What is it? You made me walk faster! Do you know how tiring that...is...?"

She trailed off. Both girls gaped at what they saw before and below them. It was a brightly colored town that extended out to a mountain monument with the faces of four people engraved into the surface.

Stray green leaves rode the wind out into the village before them.

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A/N: Well, this is the beginning. The first few chapters are always the most difficult to write, at least for me. I hope this was satisfactory.

Review, please! Let me know how I did or how I can improve.

Thank you for reading.