Fantasy BASiL [Closed]

[animalartist]

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BASiL
closed to squidneytoot101, babydoll, and askaboutmybookss
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Borrowers are little people. They live in the nooks and crannies of humans’ houses and buildings. They take little things, like sugar cubes and tissue paper, things that humans won’t miss. The creatures live in secret, hiding from the humans. There is usually one to five families living in one building. The borrowers rarely stray too far from their house, unless they’ve been spotted and have to move. Being so well-dispersed, borrowers don’t have a set culture, clothing style, etc. Many borrower societies differ from being very 1900’s-ish to being fully modern.

Although the borrowers have thrived in the shadows on houses and offices, there is a group that is strongly against borrowers having to live in secret. They are constantly showing themselves to humans, forcing to borrowers living in that human’s house to face the consequences or move. The group is called BASiL, Borrowers Against Secret Living. (The i is there so it is easier to pronounce)

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Character Bio

Name:
Age:
Residence:
Living Family Members:
Occupation: (borrower, tailor, tinker, etc)
Sexuality:
LI?:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Fears:
Hobbies:
Pet(s):
Appearance:

 

[animalartist]

I rappelled down the dresser, my hair dancing through the air. I had a sugar cube and a spool of thread in my bag and a pin on my hip. My feet hit the ground, sending a jolt through my body. I wrapped up the rope and stuffed it in my bag. I skittered across the floor to a hole in the trim. Ducking in, I pulled out a small piece of fabric. I used the cloth to slide down a zip line, glancing down at the spiders and rats below. I dropped to a platform below and put the cloth back in my bag.

I frowned. The bag felt lighter. My eyes widened as I looked around in the bag for the sugar cube and the thread. I looked down at the expanse I just zip-lined over just in time to see the two items hit the ground. I sighed, punching the air.

Damn it, I thought. I can’t go back now, the sun is rising. I’ll just have to go home without them.

After the rest of the journey, I opened the yellow door of our small hut. Mother was lighting the stove with a match. She turned as I shut the door.

“Sweetheart! How was the borrowing?” She glided over and wrapped me in a quick hug. I looked down. Mother leaned down and lifted my chin. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t… get anything.” I muttered.

My mother frowned. “Tell me what happened, dear.”

Mother finished dinner, and I told her during the meal.

“Well, you rest today, we can go out together tomorrow night.” She kissed me on the forehead. “I’m going to bed now, alright?”

I nodded and went into my room after cleaning up dinner. There were magazine clippings pinned up on the walls, and plants in various spots. I sat down on my bed and laid down. I replayed of the borrowing in my head like I always do.

The sugar breaking apart on the ground. The rats scampering away, then coming back for the food.

I shook my head and the thoughts away. I turned in my bed, the pen springs beneath the mattress squeaking. I shut my eyes.

==

“Valorie… Val, honey time to get up!” I turned in bed, pulling the covers up to my chest.

“Mmm… five more minutes.” I muttered.

“Valorie, no!” My mother laughed, though it sounded strained. “Valorie, get out. Run, please!”

I frowned. “What?”

“VALORIE, THEY FOUND US, RUN!”

I jolted awake.

“VALORIE! VALORIE, GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!” I heard someone screaming in the other room.

Mom.

I sprinted through the house, toward the screams. I slammed the door open. The ceiling had been ripped off, and a hand was reaching down, chasing my mother. She ducked under a table, but the hand simply grabbed the table and lifted it up.

“MOM!” I screamed and sprinted across the room. I unsheathed my pin and grabbed my mother’s arm. She yelped but ran to the hallway with me. The hand moved toward us and wrapped its giant fingers around us. I closed my eyes, grimacing, and jabbed up with the pin. A thunderous screech came from the human, and a drop of blood fell on my shoulder. I yanked my mother into the hallway.

“Get your bag, grab anything you can.” We split ways.

I sprinted into

The house was still rumbling, the human trying to take the ceiling off. We shut the back door just as a hand reached in the hallway door.

I slid down the concrete foundation, helping my mother down as well. I slung the basket filled with food and herbs over my shoulders and wrapped a scarf around my head to protect me from the sun. I let my heart stop racing, and thought of all the memories in that house. My first steps, my first word.

I turned away from the house and walked away. Not now, I thought. Mourn later, get to safety now. The sand swallowed my feet and filled my boots as I pulled the sand sailer out of the hole. The wind was particularly strong that day, and the sailer pulled against the rope tying it in place. I loaded my mother’s bag and my bag into the hatch and gestured for my mother to get on.

She gave one last look at the house that I was raised in and climbed on. She gripped the mast and with tears in her eyes, nodded at me.

I pulled on the rope, and the knot came undone. The sand sailer shot away from the house like a bullet. I almost fell off the sailer, but I braced myself on the edge. I gripped the tiller, glanced back at the house, heart twisting, and steered the sailer toward the sun.
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[lonely.squid]

I was sitting on a wide rock, the warm, persistent rain falling around me. I was holding the stem of a vibrant green leaf above me to keep me from the rain. I had just finished my morning chores and took a break from the hectic hustle from inside our house. It had been raining for the past three days and some parts of our house started to flood. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to help, (and it would probably be helpful) but my whole family was on edge and I didn’t want to have another argument with them, so when everyone was ready, I snuck out the back door.



I admit, it did hear my mother and father call for me a couple times, but I just stayed still and waited until they were gone. I was thinking about what we were going to have breakfast when Cleo came out and tried to find me. I ducked behind the rock and waited to hear some more movement. I was just going to peak around the rock to see where she was when some one out there hands on my shoulders and yelled, “Boo!”



I screamed and turned around. Cleo was standing there, smiling. Her dark brown hair damp from the rain.



“Ugg, Cleo. You scared me.” I said standing up and sitting back down on the rock.



“I was supposed to do that.” She chuckled. She sat down next to me and leaned the leaf so it was above both of us. We sat in silence for a couple moments, staring off in front of us.



Cleo was going to say something when we heard a loud bang and booming footsteps. We both gasped and looked at each other. I sat there frozen, thinking up the worst possible out comes. Cleo snatched my forearm and dragged me along until we were underneath the foundation of the house. I took a few deep breaths and glanced at Cleo. She was looking to see where the human was.



Suddenly, a quiet, perky voice said, “I swear I saw someone right here earlier, but they were tiny. Like really tiny.”



Another voice stepped beside her and sighed, “Anna, I really doubt that. You’re always imagining things. What you saw, it might not have been real.”



“Ugg, whatever.” The other humans said and they both walked off.



Cleo turned to me and frowned. “You need to be more careful, Isla. You heard what she said, she saw you. You can’t just go wandering off outside of the house whenever you want to. Especially when our house is flooded. Mom and dad are already worried sick.” She walked off, leaving me alone with her words still hitting me hard. Tears formed into my eyes and I stood there staring at nothing in particular.



Finally, after a couple minutes, I pulled myself together, turned around and walked down the concrete path. I slowly trudged along the small puddles of water and down the nail steps. At the bottom, I hooked the rope to my belt around my waist and jumped. The wind blowing my hair behind me and drying my eyes. The zip line jolted to a stop and I unhooked the clip. I turned the corner and there it was. My old, creaky house. It had been my fathers house when he was little and his mothers when she was little as well. I stepped forward and turned the door handle and pulled forward. The door creaked as it opened. The wood floor was at least an inch covered in water. Buckets everywhere and the sound of dips crowding my ears.



This is going to be a long day, I thought.