Scree! Scree! Scree!
The screeching of Cerys's morning alarm made her bolt up right in bed, her heart thudding in her chest fast enough that she was convinced it was going to explode inside her rib cage. "Christ! Why on earth did I set it so early!" She cursed at herself, slamming the snooze button before falling back in her nice warm bed. tossing her head to her right, she breathed in a sigh as she gazed out the window she'd grown accustom to leaving the curtains open for. Small droplets of water still clung to the glass from the storm that had made a muck of things the night before. The storm being the reason she had set an alarm for such an early hour. The sun had barely even made it's appearance above the calm lake that lay just across the cracked road outside her countryside home.
If only Rose hadn't asked for any early morning pictures of that damn lake... I mean, yeah, its bound to be a sight after the storm, but why so early?! she complained to herself before rolling over, facing her back to the window. releasing a slow, content sigh, her eyelids drooped. The warmth of her bed to irresistible for her to fight against the desire to drift back asleep...
Scree! Scree! Scree!
"Alright, alright! I'm getting up, for fuck's sake just stop!"
After a quick shower, Cerys threw on some fresh clothes and tromped down the staircase to the kitchen, lazily braiding her hair to rest over her shoulder as she went. Yawning and stretching out, she turned on the coffee maker and grabbed her camera, certain she would be back just in time for a nice warm cup of caffeine. Checking her cameras battery charge she smiled. "Lovely!"
Pulling on a pair of hiking boots and slipping into her favourite cardigan, she left the house, sliding the camera strap over her head and heading towards the cracked pavement that her destination lay just a short hike beyond. Crossing the street quickly, Cerys pulled herself up over a mossy stone fence, dropping gracefully onto the other side, her camera swinging wildly around her neck before she took it in her hands and made her way down a well beaten path that lead directly to a clearing beside the waters edge.
A few fallen branches and twigs littered the trail, but nothing that slowed the woman down any great deal. finally reaching the clearing, Cerys inhaled deeply, a serene smile playing across her lips as she stared out over the untouched lake, silent and holy. Oh, how many summers she'd spent alone skipping stones across the still waters, or trying to build a raft that she intended to use to reach the island that still stood at the heart of the lake. Raising her camera she began her work, playing with angles and filters in search of the perfect shot. Moving closer to the water, until she stood with the toes of her boots just barely grazing the waters edge, she surveyed the shoreline, cocking her head to the side at a particular sight. Crouching down with the water to her left, she raised her camera, examining the view threw the lens. What appeared to be a fallen branch lay half submerged in the lake's water, with the other half laying free against the shore. The curve of the shore making perfect contrast between the lake itself that still had heavy bursts of mists clinging to the clam surface and the land that lead up to a small grove of impossibly green trees, the branch laying perfectly between the two.
"Rose will adore you." Cerys smiled to herself, taking the shot and admiring the perfection of it.
The sound of a blaring horn made her jump in fright, her eyes looking up in fright towards the road, where she caught the glimpse of a passing truck. Placing a hand over her thudding heart, relief spread threw her as she shook her head, laughing at herself. Looking back up to the road, she smiled, waving as a familiar old man paused at just the right spot for her to be able to spot him from the lakeside.
The old, strange man didn't seem to see her at first, but once he noticed her waving like a complete idiot, his head gave the smallest of nods before disappearing out of sight.
Sighing and nodding to herself she turned back to the lake. It wasn't exactly unusual to see that particular old man just staring at the lake, if anything, that was the whole reason he ever walked down the road, to stop and stare at the waters, as though it had some kind of answers for him. Her parents had always told her when she was young to stay away from the lake if she ever saw him going near it, she knew now why they'd always told her that, but she never once felt that the man had a harmful bone in his body, much less that he had any interest in her or anyone else. He always seemed to be in his own little world.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she looked back down at her camera, deciding that she'd taken enough photos to satisfy her friend. Looking back towards the branch, she tilted her head at it. You'd think something made out of wood like such, would sway at least a little bit in the water, yet it stayed perfectly still. Peering at it carefully, she moved towards it, her eyes widening as she moved closer. Lowering down beside it, her breath caught. It wasn't a branch, heck, it wasn't even made of wood. Tossing her camera gently up away from the water, she pushed up the sleeves of her cardigan and poked at the 'branch'. Up close, it was clear that what it actually was was something covered in muck such as leaves and sand and mud. Clearing about of it away, she breathed out carefully, gripping what appeared to be the hilt of a sword!
"No way!" She chuckled, any rational sense fleeing her as childish curiousity and excitement at her find took over her motivation. holding with both hands, she pulled at the sword, convinced it was only laying just below the surface. To her dismay it appeared to have been stuck under the soft level of earth beneath the water. Moving herself to face the lake, she grasped firmly, breathing in and pulling hard.
It didn't seem to want to give easily, but ever so slowly. Cerys was leaning back, looking towards the sky, using all her weight to pry it free when she felt a sudden jolt from the other end of the blade, making her stumble forward toward the lake, but not enough for her to release her grip on the hilt. Staring with a perplexed look at the calm, unbroken water of the lake, her face contorted into a wary frown, her mind ignoring the sudden creeping feeling of unease. Reaffirming her grip, she tugged until knuckles turned white from effort. Clenching her jaw, she leaned back, using all of her weight again, trying her best to not look away from the lake. But at some point, she closed her eyes as she tried to pull at it harder, and once she did, there was another, more powerful jolt, that nearly sent her face first into the water.
Still, the water was like clear, untouched glass, reflecting back to her her bewildered expression. Keeping a firm grip, she tried a new tactic, instead of shamelessly tugging on the sword, she slowly, one agonizing second at a time slide it out of the waters grasp. Cerys's heart began to beat against her ribcage as the sword slowly began to pull free. Once it was finally free, she stumbled back a few steps, holding the sword up to look back at her own reflection in its perfect, clean as day blade. Her jaw went slack at the pure beauty of the blade she held. How on earth could this have been in the lake? And for how long? She wondered to herself, the creeping sensation in her chest growing to great to ignore.
Looking beyond her reflection, a small gasp caught itself in her throat as she looked out over the lake that was no longer a calm and gentle mass, but a tyrant, fear-striking beast. The waters curled and sputtered like that of a great sea caught in a horrible storm. the water began to curl up in the making of a large wave, making Cerys dizzy with a sudden rush of fear. Stumbling back, she found herself falling onto the grass that was still damp from morning dew. Clawing at the ground with one hand, the other refusing to release the blade, she tried to drag herself as far from the lake as she could get. Mere feet from the water's roaring edge, her only free hand tangled itself in the strap of her camera, causing more of a dilemma.
Let go of the fucking sword, or risk damaging my camera? Why is this a choice I have to make? What the hell?! Her mind blanked as the wave curled, and the water began rushing towards her as she tried to drag herself further with her elbows. Her heart lurched in her chest, as she heaved in and out, her vision blurring in and out as she tried to focus. It's only water, yeah? Only water... Her mind tried to rationalize. Just let go of the damn sword!
Squeezing shut her eyes, she sobbed silently in confusion and hysteria as she felt the water rushed up over her boots and up her legs, the coldness only making her grip the sword tighter. Then, just like that, right before it reached her waist, the water resided, returning back to where it came from. Cerys's eyes flew open, this time, she did not hesitate or attempt to drag herself away, she put all her force into putting herself onto her feet, and she bolted for the road, towards her home, camera firmly wrapped around her forearm, while she still grasped the sword, her whole body feeling numb as she sprinted without looking back to she what was becoming of the lake she'd grown up loving and adoring.
She stood outside the bathroom door, where she'd laid the sword in the tub with hot, soapy water, the hilt still covered in muck. After that, she was completely unsure of what to do. Did she throw back into the lake? Did she keep it? Did she even want to keep it, after everything that had literally just happened? "What do I do?"
Leaning back against the bathroom door, she slid down to the floor, hugging herself as she sat there with her legs sprawled out in front of her. "I have a sword in my possession, that a fucking lake tried to fight me for. What. The. Fuck." She stared out at the wall opposite her, not really seeing it as her mind buzzed with so many things, yet for some reason, if she'd been asked what she was thinking about, she wouldn't have been able to answer. There were so many things going through her head, that it was liking she was thinking about nothing.
Finally shaking her head, she exhaled, drawing her knees up to rest her forearms against them, she laid her head against the door. "Well, there really is no point in worrying about it right now, mmm? I'm sure if I just stop thinking about it, an answer will appear!" She concluded, pushing herself up and heading to the kitchen, shedding her cardigan off finally, and throwing it over the staircases railing as she walked past it into the kitchen where she poured out a mug of much deserved coffee. Looking around, her gaze settled on the blinking light of her answering machine.
"You have one new message:" It began before giving the message, "Hey, it's Rose, have you got those photos yet? I could really use them as soon as you get a chance. Just e-mail them over to me as soon as you possibly can, okay, Cer? I'm counting on you! Bye!", "End of message."
Cerys exhaled. it was barely eight-thirty am and she already wanted to retire back to bed. "Sweet Christ..." She muttered, retrieving her rather ruddy looking camera from the counter where she'd left it once she'd managed to untangle herself. Taking the coffee, and her camera, she headed into the sitting room where she had her computer set up in one corner of the room. Taking as much time as she could without feeling bad about making her friend wait, she finally sent off the shots she figured Rose would enjoy the most. And three full mugs of coffee later, Cerys was then left with nothing else to do. You're gross, take another shower. She rudely suggested to herself before heading up stairs to the bathroom that was en suite her room, and also didn't have a sword soaking in it's tub.
Finishing her second shower of the day, Cerys exited her bathroom into her bedroom, wrapped in a towel and unsure of what to wear. heading to the side of her bed where she kept her dresser. She stubbed her foot on something just as she neared, making her release a string of curse words as she backed away from the bed, to look down at the culprit. Sure enough a box stuck out from beneath the bed. Exhaling in irritation she sank down in front of the box, pulling it out and opening it up. Inside were multiple household decorations she'd never gotten around to putting back up since her parents had last visited. Little paintings that would have her mother hemorrhaging if she saw took up most of the boxes space, but one particular ornament made Cerys smile immediately. It was decorative wall sword her father had given to her when she'd turned twenty-one. He always knew about her soft sword for such things, and didn't have a problem with her desire to embrace such things, but her mother was another story entirely. Her mother probably would have strung them both up if she saw it. it was "un-lady-like" or "inappropriate", or whatever else.
Sighing, she picked it up, pulling it free from it's rather flimsy sheath to hold the light blade. She smiled at it, before her look turned quizzical. She held it up, then the sheath beside it, her thoughts trailing in all sorts of directions. Her eyes finally shone with an idea, a triumphant look placing itself on her face. She finally knew what to do with the sword.
Dressed in casual jeans and t-shirt, she opened the bathroom door, walking straight towards the tub where the mysterious blade lay barely visible in the mucky water. reaching in, she pulled the plug, then pulled out the sword, holding it over the tub as she reached for a towel, convincing herself that she was going to do laundry that night anyways so it wouldn't matter if this towel got dirty. Drying it, and rubbing away any residue that was still left over, she admired the blade momentarily, her breathing slow and calm as she held the blade in her hands, feeling its weight, its realness.
Shaking her head out of the clouds, she held the sword by its hilt and looked down at her belt where the decorative sword's sheath hung. Sliding it gently into place, praying it wouldn't tear the flimsy sheath apart the moment she let go, she stood with her hand on her hips, her eyes a glow from the accomplishment. She prided herself in this small victory, until her head brought her back to reality. Congrats, it's a sword in a sheath. Now what?
Quickly rinsing out the grimy bathtub, she left the bathroom, heading towards the door where her hiking boots were still laying in disarray. Pulling them back on, she took off out the door, closing it shut tightly behind her as she made her way, for the second time that day, towards the lake across the road.
I'm going to fight that fucking lake.
Standing at the edge of the clearing, Cerys inspected the lake. It was as still as when she'd first come down to it that morning. Yet this time as she approached it, she felt tightening in her gut. She stood, right at the edge of the water, hand on the hilt of the sword, the other hanging uselessly at her side. Breathing deep and closing her eyes, she bowed her head, trying to gather her thoughts, and figure out exactly what she was going to do now that she was there. Releasing her breath she opened her eyes and looked up, wetting her lips.
"Do you want the sword back?" Her voice sounded small, barely audible to her own ears, which she didn't really mind. She was talking to a goddamn lake after all. Looking around her sheepishly, she cleared her throat. "Just one little ripple if you want it back, okay?"
Of all the thing's she'd mentally tried to prepare herself for, what happened next was not apart of that list. Seconds after her words were uttered, the clear glass shattered as a person stepped up out of the depths of the lake, walking up towards her. She froze, her jaw slack, her heart either beating to fast to pace, or had stopped completely, her breath caught in her throat. It was a man, an unclothed man, but still a man, that made their way with a trance like look about him towards her, stopping just before he reached the edge of the water and falling down like someone who had traveled miles and miles and was to tired to go on.
Cerys finally exhaled, still staring out over the clear water, blinking slowly, before looking down at the naked, unconscious man. "Or send me a man if you want me to keep it, I guess." She swallowed uncertainly.
A/N: Alright, so this little beauty has been bugging me for awhile, and I just had to get it out there. I'm thinking of maybe just leaving it as a little one shot kind of deal, but I dunno, it could definitely be made into something more... Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoyed the read!