The night is darkening round me
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending
Their bare thoughts weighted with snow,
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.
~W~
Chapter 1 – Nightingale
A beast slumped on the forest floor panting as much as his bruised and fractured rib cage would allow, his worn and beaten legs had long since given out on trying to carry him. He could hear the rain begin to get rapidly heavier; it stung as it reached his wounds, making him howl weakly and feebly. Laughter met his ears. They'd followed him all the way here? They hadn't been joking then; they really were going to kill him. Surrendering to the inevitable, he closed his tired eyes and relaxed, not willing to push himself any further.
Suddenly, through the rain and rumbling clouds, he could hear a voice. It was soft and soothing, humming tunelessly and happily as if all was right with the world.
"Oi, boss!" yelled one of the men "There's a girl by the lake, what she we do?"
The beast sensed the man closest to him stiffen, before planting a heavy metal-capped-boot kick in his ribs, breaking several of them and puncturing his lug "Ha. This one ain't goin' nowhere, we'll jus' leave him here t' die."
In the dead of night, beneath the glistening clouds and waning moon, surrounded on one side by a high cliff face, on the other by thick evergreen forest, there was a slender girl, sat on a boulder, wearing nothing but a dark blue bikini, her long wet hair hanging down her back. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be humming, which was the only sound other than the rustling of the wind in the trees and the rushing of the waterfall coming down from the mountains.
Maddie swung her legs back and forth consecutively, sat on the over-hang on the end of the pier-like formation someone had built out of rocks. Her toes just barely touched the surface of the lake, yet the water beneath her still moved as if her swinging legs were submerged up to the knee. The unnatural motions of the water were because of her abilities, because she was a mutant. She'd been travelling for more than a month now, or that's what it felt like, she'd lost track of the date a long time ago. To her great surprise, five and a half years of Girl Guides had actually come in handy when she camped out in the forest (which was more often than not) and of course, with her ability to manipulate water, catching fish to eat wasn't all that hard.
She looked round when the soft rustling became harsher, as if someone was pushing them aside roughly. Suddenly, something crept from the perimeter of the forest, faltering over the rocky bank. It whined and growled as if it were in great pain.
In the dull light of the moon, Maddie could only just make out its silhouette against the murky black of the forest. It appeared to be some kind of animal standing and stumbling on its hind legs, its features resembled that of a wolf, but that couldn't be right, wolves were nowhere near that big (it was at least seven feet tall) and as far as she knew, they didn't walk on their hind legs. Suddenly, it snapped its head round to face Maddie. Dark yellow eyes glared at her and Maddie found that she was unable to move. As abruptly as if the animal had been clubbed over the head, it dropped to the ground, almost shrinking in appearance. Swiftly, the fact that this creature could be dangerous was erased from her mind and she ran forward, worried for the creature. As she neared it, she noticed that it was no longer the hulking seven-foot-tall wolf-like creature, it was now a pale-skinned, tall, dark haired boy wearing nothing but a pair of battered, ripped cut-off jeans and carrying a satchel that was in much better condition than him. His breathing was shallow and pained; drying blood stained his paling skin.
Wolfgang blinked himself awake, forcing his bleary eyes open. His head was pounding and his throat felt as if he'd swallowed sand. Somebody had covered him with a blanket as well. It took him a moment to get his brain working enough to register where he was. The sky above him was dark and spattered with stars, the waning moon glowing brightly; there was a soft rushing and flowing of water nearby and a subtle crackling of a campfire. He guessed he must still be by the lake, but it was obviously much later now.
Lying back down and putting an arm over his eyes, he noticed that his throbbing migraine only seemed to be getting worse. He heard something move, and a moment later, he felt someone lean over him, but he didn't care to open his eyes. Delicate fingertips touched against his aching temples and a cooling sensation spread out from her touch, soothing over the throbbing parts of his head, clearing his mind and relaxing him.
He opened his eyes and looked up at whoever was leaning over him. It was a girl, she had long red-auburn hair and her eyes were closed. She was sat on her knees above his head. Her eyes flickered beneath their closed lids; there was a look of smooth concentration on her features. Without even having to ask her he knew that she was a mutant, and she must have the ability to heal people. As the cool feeling continued to pulse out from her fingertips, he reached up and gripped her wrist. Instantly, her eyes snapped open and her hands snatched away from his head, taking the cool feeling with them.
"Is this some weird habit you got?" he asked dully but sharply, she looked stunned and he sat up and turned to face her "Healing random strangers? For all you know I could be hunting down and killing mutants" she looked even more shocked, he sighed "Look, what I'm trying to say is, you should be more careful that's all"
"... Right...?" she stared at him, trying to make sense of what he'd said.
"And a headache's nothing, healing my ribs was enough, you didn't have to do anything else, the rest would have healed up on its own." he scolded.
"U-um, actually... that migraine was from a skull fracture, which caused several blood vessels to rupture, which could have given you a brain tumour, which could have killed you." She rushed, still looking slightly stunned at the scolding. He stared at her silently.
"Yeah, well... don't make a habit of it." He said eventually, crossing his legs
"What? Saving your life?" she asked, a hint of humour entering her voice.
"Yeah" he said simply
"You should get dressed before you catch a cold, here" she handed him a pile of clothes and a pair of Dock Martin's; he recognised them as his own. Only briefly wondering where she'd found his things, he walked over to the shelter of the forest. As he began to change, she called over to him "So what's your name?" she asked casually
He hesitated for a moment, half-way through taking off his, now ruined, jeans and pulling on an older pair "Wolfgang." He said "Yours?"
"I'm..." she hesitated "...Andromedea Williams..." she muttered
"What kind of name is that?" he asked, sitting back down opposite her as he buttoned up his shirt
"Shut up." She snapped "Don't you dare call me anything but Maddie."
Wolfgang pushed his now dry, floppy hair out of his eyes "I didn't mean that. You don't think Wolfgang's my real name do you?" she blushed and looked away from him "All the mutants I've met or heard of have ditched their old name and chosen their own"
"I know" she muttered "But I can never think of anything."
He observed her for a moment, thinking "Nightingale." He decided, she looked at him, bemused "Florence Nightingale was a nurse; you're a healer, same difference really."
"Nightingale..." she said the word carefully, cautiously, a thoughtful look on her face, when abruptly, she yawned
"Whatever." He yawned "It must take allot out of you to heal people. Get some sleep" he almost ordered her, as he got up off the blankets and sat on the opposite side of the campfire. She stared at him again. "Sleep" he insisted.