Note: All these characters belong to Telescene. I am
just borrowing them for this story.
The Truth Behind The Dreams
I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose
Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light
--Sarah
Mclachlan
She had him. She had cornered him and he had nowhere to
go. She could see that he was preparing
himself for whatever she might do next.
Marguerite wanted him to sweat, to worry. She loved how she could make the great hunter cower at her
feet. Marguerite walked up to Roxton
until they were both face to face. She
could see him tense up as she raised both of her hands. Marguerite saw his bewildered expression as
she brought her hands to his face caressing it… Crash!
Marguerite
woke with a start. She heard a loud
crashing sound come from the living room and now she could hear the sounds of
escalating voices. Marguerite got up
and dressed, eager to see what all the commotion was about. She went into the living room to find out
what was going on.
"Blasted
Malone, look what you've done now!" Roxton yelled.
"Hey maybe
if I had a little more help here, this wouldn't have happened," Malone said in
his defense.
"What's
going on in here?" Challenger asked the group.
"We were
carrying some of the stuff you asked us to carry down to your lab when Malone
here dropped one of the boxes."
"Malone
maybe you should try to be more careful…" Challenger started to say.
"Hey, if
you want your precious boxes brought downstairs then you carry them down!"
Malone steamed.
"Don't talk
to Challenger that way," Roxton said.
"Boys!
Boys! Knock it off now!!" Veronica yelled.
"I know
it's been a tense couple of days around the tree house with nothing to do, but
please try to behave. Personally I'm
not staying here one more minute if I have to listen to this. I'm going to head over to see Assai for a
couple of days. I can bring Summerlee
back with me when I go." Veronica, noticing Marguerite's presence in the room
asked, "Marguerite would you like to come along. I'm sure you'd like to get of here for awhile as well."
"Actually
that's not a bad idea Veronica, I'd love to come," Marguerite said. It was a chance to get out and she missed
Summerlee. He had been gone the last
couple of days helping Assai because her baby had become ill.
After
gathering the necessary supplies for the trip, Veronica and Marguerite
descended in the elevator leaving three ashamed men behind.
"I guess we
all overreacted."
"Yeah
Malone your right," Roxton said
Challenger
also apologized and the three men resumed the task of bringing the boxes down
stairs.
"I didn't
think that you'd just up and leave Veronica," Marguerite said as they made
their way toward the Zanga Village.
"Well I
needed to get out, besides those three having been acting like immature little
boys for last couple of days. Maybe
they'll grow up while were gone. Anyway
Assai has been wanting me to come out and see the new baby."
The rest of
the day was spent traveling to the Zanga Village. Veronica and Marguerite got there just after dark and headed
straight for Assai's home.
"Veronica,
Marguerite, it's so good to see you!" Assai said as she led them into her home.
Assai's
husband Jarl also greeted them and led them into the living room. When they entered they saw Summerlee sitting
down holding a one-month-old baby girl in his arms.
"Oh Assai
she's adorable," Veronica said walking up to look at the baby.
"Yes, she's
so cute," Marguerite said with a smile on her face.
Summerlee
handed the baby back to her mother as Veronica and Marguerite crowded around
Assai to get a better look at the little bundle in her arms.
"We were so
worried. She had been fussing for
several days before developing a very high fever. That's why we came to get Summerlee's help. We've seen how he's helped others in the
past over come a high fever."
"Thankfully
she's going to be just fine," Jarl said.
"Yes,"
Summerlee concurred. "She's going to be
just fine. I was able to make a
medicine out of some of the herbs I had."
"Well you
both must be hungry. I've prepared
dinner how about we go and eat?"
"Sounds
like a good idea to me," Marguerite said as Assai led them to the table.
* * *
Roxton sat out on the balcony
missing Marguerite's presence already.
Without their daily sparring match the day had been quite dull. Roxton noticed how Malone had also felt the
absence of one of the members of their group.
He had been mopping around all day since Veronica left. Roxton turned when he heard someone walking
out onto the balcony. Ned walked up,
joining him at the railing.
"Roxton you're looking a little
melancholy. Could it be that you're
missing a certain raven haired woman?" Malone said with a smile trying to
lighten the mood.
"No! Why would you say that, I mean
really Malone why would I miss a person like Marguerite?" Roxton said in his
defense.
Malone just give Roxton one of
those you can't fool me looks.
"Is it really that obvious?" Roxton
asked.
"Don't worry I won't tell
anyone. I miss Veronica too. We really acted like Jerks these past couple
of days didn't we?"
"Yeah, next time we get bored we
should try not to take it out on each other."
* *
*
They had finished dinner and had gone to the living
room to sit and talk. It was getting
late and everyone was getting tired.
Assai showed Marguerite and Veronica to their guest room and bid them
goodnight.
"This was a good idea Veronica,
it's a nice break. I just hope that
when we get back things will have calmed down," Marguerite said.
"Yeah I hope so too. Don't worry I'm sure everything will be
fine, let's just enjoy ourselves while we're here. Good night Marguerite."
"Good night Veronica."
* *
*
Roxton had just finished cleaning up the dishes from
dinner and was now ready for bed. He
hoped that maybe tomorrow would be a better day. Maybe if he went out hunting for a while he would feel
better. Roxton climbed into bed and
drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
Marguerite
was having the same dream she had had for the past week. She couldn't understand why. She saw herself corner Roxton. He had nowhere to go. She could see that he was preparing himself
for whatever she might do next.
Marguerite wanted him to sweat, to worry. She loved how she could make the great hunter cower at her
feet. Marguerite walked up to Roxton
until they were both face to face. She
could see him tense up as she raised both of her hands. Marguerite saw his bewildered expression as
she brought her hands to his face caressing it, then she brought his face down
to hers and kissed his lips. Then she
started playing with the buttons on his shirt, undoing them one at time very
slowly. As she put her hands on his
chest she could feel his heart beating rapidly. She had unbuttoned his shirt and now slipped it off his shoulders
exposing his muscular body. Then as
suddenly as the dream came, it went.
Marguerite woke up with a start, wondering why this dream kept plaguing
her mind for the last week.
* * *
The next
morning Roxton and Malone both decided that it would be a good idea if they
went hunting. It was a way to occupy
their time and the food supply had started to run low. They went to find Challenger to see if he
wanted to come along with them.
"Challenger
are you down here?" Ned asked as he walked down to Challenger's lab, Roxton
following behind him.
"Yes
Malone, I'm right over here," Challenger answered. Challenger was busy working on his latest experiment.
"Challenger,
we were wondering if you wanted to go on a little hunting expedition with
us. After all our food supply is
running low," Roxton told him.
"Yes I
think that would be a nice idea. This
experiment needs to sit for awhile anyway."
The three
men got all their supplies together and headed out.
* * *
Marguerite
was still a little disturbed by her dream but she tried not to let it show as
she sat and ate breakfast.
Veronica
sensed there was something bothering Marguerite. Usually that something was rather, a someone, Roxton. Marguerite was usually mad at him for some
reason or another. Since he was not
with them she couldn't think of what could be bothering Marguerite.
"Marguerite
are you alright?"
"Yes I'm
fine. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I
just thought something might be bothering you."
"No!
Nothings wrong thank you," Marguerite said all too quickly, which alerted
Veronica that there indeed was something wrong even if she wouldn't say what it
was.
After
breakfast Marguerite decided that maybe a walk would clear her head. She went outside and started walking
throughout the village. It happened to
be a particularly hot day and after a while Marguerite sought out a place to
sit in the shade. She found a bench
under a nice big tree. She sat enjoying
the coolness the shade provided.
Marguerite closed her eyes and was relaxing when an old woman sat down
next to her. Marguerite didn't even
notice the woman until she spoke.
"It's hot
out today isn't it," the woman said.
Marguerite
opened her eyes and looked next to her, noticing the old woman sitting
there. Seeing no one else around them
Marguerite assumed the woman was talking to her.
"Yes it is,"
Marguerite answered her.
" I thought
it was a good idea to sit out here in the shade to beat the heat," the woman
said.
"That's why
I sat here too," Marguerite said.
"That's not
the only reason," the woman said to Marguerite.
"Excuse
me?"
"I said
that's not the only reason why you came out here. You hoped that coming out here would help you clear your head."
Marguerite
stared at her in disbelief. How did
this woman know why she came out here?
"You came
out here to sort out your dreams. You
know what the dreams mean you just don't want to admit it."
"How do you
know why I came out here?" Marguerite demanded.
"I have
this gift. You should know what it's
like to have a gift." Now the woman was starting to scare Marguerite. She knew way too much about her.
"Your past
is what holds you back Marguerite. You
should let it go. Move on. It is no longer an excuse you can use. The truth is you love him. You know
do. What are you going to do about
it?" The woman knew her name. This was too weird. Marguerite turned to say something to the
woman but she was gone. Marguerite
couldn't have been seeing things; she knew she saw the old woman sitting there. Marguerite got up and walked over to a man
who had been sitting under a similar tree a few feet away.
"Excuse me
sir, but did you see where the old woman who was sitting next to me went?"
Marguerite asked the man.
"What old
woman?" The man asked.
"You didn't
see the old woman who was sitting next to me?"
"No I'm
sorry I didn't see anyone other than you sitting on that bench," the man said.
Marguerite
walked away a little confused. She knew
that old woman had been sitting there even if the man didn't see her. Marguerite decided that she would go back to
Assai's house. When she got back, Veronica
had a worried look on her face.
"Marguerite,
where have you been? We were so
worried," she said.
"What do
you mean I've only been out for an hour," Marguerite said.
"Marguerite
child, you've been gone the entire day.
It's already dinner time," Summerlee said.
Marguerite,
who was still confused, just sat down at the table not saying a word.
* * *
The next
morning as the three explores prepared to head back to the tree house
Marguerite was still remaining fairly quiet.
Summerlee was concerned, she talked the most out of their whole group,
and now she wasn't speaking at all.
"Are you
sure you're okay," Summerlee asked Marguerite as they started to walk home.
"Yes Arthur
I'm fine, just a little tired that's all."
* * *
Roxton, Malone and Challenger had spent the whole
morning cleaning the tree house. Malone
had gone to replenish their water supply.
He had handed some of the buckets to Roxton as they brought them back up
the tree house. Roxton was carrying his
bucket into the kitchen when he heard a noise outside. He went to the balcony to see what the noise
was. He looked over the railing to see
Marguerite, Veronica, and Summerlee walking up to the tree house. Just as he was about to shout down a hello,
Challenger called. He turned around, and
for a split second he let go of the bucket that was in his hand. The bucket fell off the railing and all the
water inside it landed right on top of Marguerite's head. Roxton hearing a scream looked down to see
what was wrong. When he saw what he had
done, he immediately thought about running as far away from the tree house as
he could get.
"What happened?" Malone asked as he
ran to the balcony, hearing the scream.
"I accidentally dumped the water on
Marguerite," Roxton said sheepishly.
Challenger came running up from his
lab to see what was going on.
"What's wrong," he asked worried.
"Roxton accidentally dumped a
bucked of water all over Marguerite."
'That's definitely not good',
challenger thought to himself.
The three men descend in the
elevator. As soon as the elevator hit
the floor Marguerite turned and glared at all three men. She had no idea who had done this until
Roxton spoke up.
"Marguerite I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to. I mean Challenger
called me and I just turned around and then…"
"You did this?" Marguerite said
pointing at Roxton.
"Yes, but it was an accident."
"Out of my way," Marguerite said as
she pushed past Roxton and went straight upstairs. Roxton followed after her as the rest of the explorers thought it
would be nice idea to take a long walk, far away from the tree house.
As soon as the elevator reached the
tree house Marguerite headed straight for her room, slamming the door behind
her. Roxton, taking a moment to compose
himself, knocked on Marguerite's door before letting himself inside.
* * *
"I think that we should make
ourselves scarce for the next couple of hours," Malone suggested.
"I think that's a good idea
Malone," Challenger said.
"I know I wouldn't want to be up
there for the next Great War," Summerlee said.
* * *
Roxton knew that she had him. She had cornered him and he had nowhere to
go. He had come into Marguerite's room to apologize, when she had stood up,
glaring at him. He was frozen as she
inched closer and closer to him. Now
she had him pinned against the wall and he was ready for whatever she might
throw at him. He knew he was in for it
this time. Roxton found it amazing how
he could stare down the face of death everyday on this plateau and not even
flinch, but put an angry Marguerite in front of him and he would be scared half
to death. She approached him, glaring
at him, not saying a word. When they
both finally stood face to face, Roxton braced himself for the worst. Marguerite raised her hands, and Roxton
anticipated her next move. To his surprise, she brought them to his face
caressing it, and then she brought his lips down to hers. At first Roxton didn't react, still a little
surprised at Marguerite's behavior.
Then Roxton began to kiss Marguerite back. He brought his hands around her waist as she began to slowly undo
the buttons on his shirt. Roxton's
breath caught in his lungs, as Marguerite started to run her hands up and down
his chest. Marguerite started to undo
his belt as she brought him over to her bed.
"Marguerite are you sure you know
what you're doing?" Roxton asked, realizing that the soon there would be no
turning back.
"I've known what to do for a long
time. I just never had the guts to do
anything about it before."
* * *
Just before
Marguerite fell asleep, Roxton whispered in her ear, "I guess I should dump
buckets of water on you more often." Marguerite laughed as she snuggled in
closer to Roxton. She closed her eyes,
no longer fearing the dreams that awaited her.
