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rainbowdragonlair · 7 years ago

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Glowred Mine

The sound of metal grinding on metal filled the air as the old steam engine slowed to a halt; the destination of its passengers only a mine-track away. The group of people standing on the platform cleared a path, allowing those who were on the train to depart. A thin girl with tanned skin and auburn-brown hair stepped off, her blood-red eyes glittering with joy as she began humming.

“A sweet little light,

Carried far away;

Hear the whistle blowing,

From the iron train~”

Some of the people, mostly teens and young adults, smiled as they listened to the girl hum her little tune. A boy stepped out behind her, ashen hair and snow-paled skin glowing from the lantern light.

“Nice song Dennebee! But must you always sing when you come here?” The boy asked, a gentle smile showing he meant it in jest. A light flurry of snow began to fall, the tiny flakes melting as they touched the ground. “Man, I thought it was going to be clear for a little while.” The boy muttered, holding out his hand to catch a few flakes.

“It was, according to the radio-box. Not one can predict what the sky will do though.” The girl responded, walking toward the red glow that was the entrance to the mine.

The boy chuckled and followed the girl as they left the train platform and climbed into the large elevator; it wasn’t a long ride down, only into the bottom of a gorge which had a small section of track leading up to dispense the glowing red stones that were native to the land. The couple turned left and headed down into the cave-like mine, a dull red pulsing with the beat of pickaxes and hammers.

“You continuing work on the, um…” Dennebee trailed off, trying to think of the word.

“Rosterlein tunnel?” The boy picked up, grabbing a large sledgehammer from the rack of thousands. “Yes, I am. The tracks aren’t going to finish themselves!” He joked, nudging her lightly. “What about you?”

“I’m heading for the Churnchie tunnel. Be safe Maxwell!” Dennebee called to the boy as she grabbed a slender and very sharp pickaxe, and a light yellow helmet with a teal ribbon. The boy, Maxwell, jumped into a mine cart and headed down, deeper into the cavernous mine; Dennebee however, walked along a narrow ridge until she came to a small cave. She entered the cave and followed the pitch-black tunnel down until it was illuminated by the glow of burning stones.

She walked up to the back wall, gently nudging a smaller child out of the way. “Take a nap kid, you look like the Shadowman of the forest!” She joked to the ghostly pale child. “If you’re sick, tell the manager. He’ll let you stay in bed ‘till you’re better. A’right?” She smiled sweetly, her mangled way of normal conversation on full display. Her voice still held the elegance one would expect of a royal, but the only time her grammar and pronunciations were correct was when she was singing.

The child got the hint and muttered a quiet, if not very disgruntled “A’right” back at her before leaving. She picked up where the tiny human had left off, breaking off chunks of shimmering black rocks in search of the beautiful light of the Glowreds. She soon saw a small cluster of the glowing rocks, digging around them before removing the jagged variant. It was very light in color, but the shape was undesirable; its value wouldn’t be determined until much later. That’s how it was; and no one really cared to change it. Dennebee placed the cluster into a nearby bucket, waiting patiently for an empty mine-cart to come down the tracks.

The bucket was quickly filled with glowing red crystals, and a mine-cart came down the track just in time, allowing all the children to empty their buckets into the cart before sending it back up. This continued for five or six more hours before a whistle blew, signaling it was time for a break. Everyone carried their pickaxes and hammers up with them, to a large underground cafeteria; complete with lights, tables, and plenty of ways to get fresh air. Dennebee paid no mind to the food, though; instead continuing on to a stage, she gently tapped the old microphone to get everyone’s attention.

“Hello all. I’d ‘preciate your attention for few minutes. This is a re…uh…” She paused, trying to think of how to phrase this. Just then Maxwell jumped on the stage and whispered in her ear.

“Reminder, it’s a reminder of the Winter Festival Ball coming up in a month.”

“Right! This is a reminder of the Winter Festival Ball coming up in a month!” Dennebee parroted, smiling shyly. “So, uh, let’s all work hard now so we…you know…don’t gotta work that night…” She finished, fidgeting nervously.

A few giggles and ‘oh yeah’s emanated from the crowd. Dennebee smiled and removed herself from the small stage. She had no problem singing in front of a crowd of people, talking was completely different.

“Thanks for the help Maxwell!” Dennebee giggled, lightly pecking the pale boy on the cheek.

“Not an issue, always glad to help my favorite little miner.” He blushed, a smile giving away his happy-shyness.

Both teens got on the line to get food. It was a simple lunch of beef-and-broth-stew, a chunk of bread, and a cake-like brownie. It was always a simple lunch, but no one complained; it was food and food was good. They both quickly ate their lunches and milled about with the other kids, talking about possible decorations and a theme. The majority seemed to vote on the theme being the forest, as it was practically every year. They would drag in snow from above and hang garlands of white paper, and make trees out of old, unusable tracks. Since this was a common theme, most of the decorations were already available; they just needed to re-make the garlands and some lights.

“Perhaps we should start saving up the glowblues? The ones from last year are nearly extinguished.” Maxwell stated; though he usually laid tracks, he knew Dennebee would keep an eye out for the fragile blue stones.

“Yeah, though, we still gotta tell the boss the themey-thingy.” Dennebee muttered, pointing in the direction of the head-master’s office. “I’ll be back in a moment.” She said, trotting over to the office, skipping a few steps to reach the door before knocking loudly.

“Come in Dennebee.”

The short girl listened to the soft male’s voice and walked into the small office. The smell of cigarette smoke and warm oak flooded her senses, creating a unique, but pleasant aura.

“The theme for the Ball will be Forest again, correct?” The older man asked, swiveling around in his chair like some sort of super villain. His dark brown hair was slicked back and cut short, and he currently wore a deep blue suit with thin, lighter blue stripes covering it. He looked like someone from a mob movie.

“Yeppers!” The girl blushed, giggling happily. She had no idea why, but she loved the forest, even with the legends surrounding it. “We thought we ought to start collecting glowblues.”

“That’s a brilliant idea. I’ll make sure that all the other miners know and I’ll be sure to send extra carts down to collect them.” The boss wrote the notes down on a sheet of paper, smiling politely. “And I assume you will be singing and Maxwell will be dancing?”

“Probs.”

The man cleared his throat and gave the girl a stern look, making her quickly correct her sentence. “I mean-probably- but it may change for once.” The man laughed quietly at her shy look and shuffle. He usually didn’t mind his worker’s broken English, but he did make a conscious effort to teach them proper grammar and pronunciation.

The headmaster cleared his throat and snorted quietly before nodding, amused by Dennebee’s optimism. Even with all his workers being predictable as the weather, nobody in the small mining village got tired of the forest. It was one of those things that everyone was afraid of, but at the same time drew people into its depths.

Almost like a poisonous candy that isn’t deadly but could certainly harm an individual. Yes, it was sweet, but also something to stay away from. It was the forest.

“Alright; that sounds good. You may leave Dennebee.” The man nodded again and glanced at the door, which the girl quickly exited out of, letting go too early so it shut harshly.

“Sorry!” She shouted from the other side of the door, running off to go back to work.

“It’s alright.” The man chuckled to himself before looking over the profit sheets for the year so far and sighing; “Or not…oh boy…”

Dennebee continued back to the mineshaft, picking up her pointy pick-axe and her damaged helmet. Some people might be concerned with the ratty clothes the workers wear and the heavily damaged safety gear, but most paid it no mind. Over the years, the workers had learned tricks to get around safely and without too much worry; like how they would put a small cup of water over a cave to make sure it didn’t collapse in while someone was inside; or yelling ‘up’ or ‘down’ when using the harnesses; or setting up a dance-like-step while hammering in the tracks. Yes, they had their tricks.

Each cheap trick for safety had a purpose, and even though it brought great displeasure to the headmaster of the mine, none of the other wealthy ass-mats cared; in their minds, a penny saved by the workers was a dollar earned by the owner. But the owner of the mine didn’t think like that, he was sure that if you didn’t want a strike you had to keep your workers healthy and happy. Hence the reason he usually spent a lot on food and bedding, even if it wasn’t top-quality; he knew it would make a difference. All the workers knew he went out of the way to make sure they were comfortable, hence the reason for all the little tricks they picked up.

“Announcement, announcement! As you all have been made aware, the ball for the Winter Festival is coming up next month. In preparation, I would like you all to start collecting glowblues. Thank you” The intercom was silent again, allowing the workers to concentrate and be aware of any dangers.

Quiet mutter rang through the air as people began discussing what they could wear and where they would buy the needed supplies for their outfits. Most wanted to just update their dresses and suits, fixing anything that might have fallen off or torn while it was in storage.

“Behind you song-bird!” Maxwell yelled, walking up behind Dennebee and hugging her. “So, what do you plan to wear to the ball? We have to match after all, just in case no one else wants to do a combined song-and-dance-duo, as is customary during this festival.” Maxwell spoke, ignoring the girls’ half-hearted glare.

“Well, I was thinking of wearing a fuchsia fairy gown with royal-teal rhinestones tear-gassing down the back, and a train a mile long. Why?” The girl stated sarcastically, using her most pompous voice.

“Why, I think that would look wonderful darling.” The boy replied in an equally obnoxious voice. Both teens burst out into laughter after a moment of silence, rubbing invisible tears from their eyes. “Ah, hilarious. But seriously, what color do you plan to use as a base for your gown?” He questioned, clearing his throat and returning to his normal speaking pattern.

“Don’t know. I feel like red or purple would be best, but ‘m not real sure yet.” She muttered, going back to swinging her pick against the hard rocks.

“I’d go with the purple; you have that purple scarf after all. You can wear the scarf with the dress!” Maxwell offered. Everyone knew red fabric was exceeding expensive, but on really profitable years the headmaster would sometimes splurge for the blood-colored textile.

“That’s not a dress scarf and you know it. But I do agree, the red would probably be too expensive anyways. I swear the headmaster forgets I can read sometimes…” She trailed off, remembering the papers on the powerful man’s desk.

“That bad?” Maxwell asked, earning a silent nod from the girl. “Shit, they aren’t going to close the mine are they?” Dennebee simply shrugged in response.

“I didn’t see any statements, just warnings.”

“Those are the same thing pretty much in the business world Dennebee.”

“Oh…Shut up Maxwell. Don’t you have a track to lay?” She muttered, chipping off a large chunk of waste rock and exposing a particularly bright red crystal.

“Okay ‘Miss Fortune’, don’t get your undergarments in a twist.” He joked, patting her on the shoulder. “We finished laying the tracks, I know I had a break before, but I like watching you work.”

They both chuckled quietly and continued to talk until the end of the work day, waiting on the elevator until all the other workers were with them. Once everyone was on the elevator, the speaker crackled to life once again: “Announcement, announcement! The mine is to be empty for a few hours as we are leaving for town to gather supplies for the upcoming festival. Remember to dress warmly and bring your wallets, thank you.”

“Well that was fast.” A young man muttered, he appeared no older than nineteen, and clearly was a transfer from a different mine.

“Yeah, the headmaster guy is really nice! His rules are very basic! Don’t steal, be nice, no violence, work hard, stay at the camp when sick, and eat when food is given. Oh yeah, and he always yells about how some of us need more sleep. He actually smack my older brother once when he refused to go back to camp and sleep.” A young girl piped up; she was born into the mining business, so she knew the rules by heart as many of the other workers did.

“He also makes an effort to teach us reading and speaking. He says it’s for our own safety.” Another boy jumped in, nodding to a sign above. “You know what that says?”

The nineteen-year-old worker shook his head, causing Dennebee to sigh. Most headmasters didn’t care if their workers could read or speak properly. “It says that all of the workers gotta wear safety stuff. Like helmets and things.” Dennebee explained a sympathetic look in her eye.

“If you tell the boss that you can’t read, he’ll be happy to teach you. He taught all of us.” Maxwell spoke up, gently grabbing Dennebee’s shoulder as the rickety elevator started up. “His kindness is the reason we come up with all those tricks.”

The strange miner simply hummed in response, swaying slightly as the elevator quickly ascended to the surface. Once there, all the workers quickly boarded the train, eagerly awaiting their arrival into town. Their first stop was back at the housing district; they quickly departed and rushed into their shared dorm-like apartments to grab their wallets before leaping back onto the train, allowing for a quick departure to town.

The train whistle bellowed loudly as it pulled into the station, nobles and upper-class people stepping away from the rusty steam-powered creature as it lurched to a stop and opened its doors, allowing the scruffy passengers to depart.

“Lola’s Textiles?” Maxwell asked as he quirked his head towards Dennebee, raising an eyebrow to see if she agreed. They had four or five hours before they had to head back to the mine, and most workers were quick with their shopping, so spending time doing nonsensical things was common.

“Nah. I’m going to the button emporium. You go ahead, we do purple this year.” The girl responded, sighing and wrapping her scarf tighter around herself as a frigid wind shot past. “Curse this cold weather.” She hissed quietly, glaring at the direction the wind had come from. There was nothing there, but it made her feel better.

Maxwell laughed and pulled his coat tighter around himself, having been too lazy to ever fix the buttons. Buttons were cheaper than gems, but money didn’t fix a lack of desire to do something. “Alright; why not invest in a coat while you’re out?”

Dennebee laughed and shook her head, a smile gracing her lips. “Honestly Maxwell…”

“Wha-at~?”

The girl just laughed as she walked away, waving her had dismissively. The two were joking around and hadn’t done any harm, so most just ignored them; but Dennebee’s light and sweet laughter had caught a particular pedestrian’s attention. He looked around for the tiny pixie giggles and stared in shock at the ragged looking girl who the voice unmistakably belonged to. Her hair was filled with dirt and dust, but was clearly auburn in color; her skin was also covered in dust and dirt, with irritated patches here and there, and more than a few scars shining pink against the rust-like color. To him, it was clear. She was the light.

#Glowred Mine #Chapter #Glowred Mine Chapter #Chapter 1 #Chapter One #If I had to pick a word title for this #it would be #Don't trust fairy Tales #You will all see why later #as the story progesses

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