AN: This is my first fic that I've written with the intent of actually FINISHING it, and I will eventually do so, even if I take a long time. I'm in my senior year, and have to bust my bum sadly. This isn't my best work, but one of my favorite, so even thought I write this for the enjoyment of doing so, I would sincerely appreciate reviews on it, just to see how people react.
And if the word "sue" starts getting tossed about with one or some of my characters, please let me know, and I will do my best to see if I can change that :3.
Damn this seemed so much longer when I was writing it...
Twin Mirrors
It was late morning out on the frontier, and the day was just beginning to heat up. A slight breeze passed through the thick foliage of the treetops, rustling them ever so slightly. It was a beautiful day, one not seen often, and two ten-year-olds in particular were hell bent on taking advantage of it.
Audrey and Alex were twins, more alike than clones, their genders aside. Both shared the same shoulder length, mussy brown hair, creamy complexions with a little splattering of freckles across their up turned noses, and dark emerald eyes framed by thick black lashes. Audrey, being born less than half a minute before Alex, instantly took to the role of 'big sister', and was by far, the more adventurous of the two, the unspoken ringleader of all their trouble. Alex, on the other hand, was completely content with staying inside and reading, writing, and painting. Audrey would pick on him endlessly for this, though she supported him more than anyone else, and would constantly tease that she was more of a man than he was. While it may have been true that he was the more effeminate, and she, the more masculine, they both shared the same driving curiosity that lured them out into the woods whenever the weather was fine for any period.
A river ran just outside of their town, and about a mile into the woods, the water had eaten away at the bank in such a way as to form a little inlet. It was about fifteen feet across and nine feet in. They would often swim and play in it, and, despite being told repeatedly not to venture out alone, they did so quite often. It wasn't that they were ignorant of the dangers of the frontier, even in as safe of a town as theirs, it was just that their play area had become such a safe haven for them that it seemed absurd that something bad could EVER happen while they were there.
They were just approaching their little 'cove' when they made their startling discovery.
"Come ON Alex!" Audrey called over her shoulder as she clambered across the river bed, gravel and mud scattering from under her feet as she stopped.
"I'm COMING!" He whined as he crawled over the trunk of a fallen tree. "I think I've got a blister, let's stop a bit." Audrey sighed and plopped down next to the trunk as Alex straddled it, working on removing his shoe. She faced the river and began to flick rocks into it, making it every time, even though they were a good ten feet from the bank edge.
"Damn it, ya always hafta stop fer somethin dontcha?"
Alex pouted as he inspected his foot, partially from what she had said, and partially because of the raw looking skin on the back of his heel. He supposed it was what he got for wearing his new shoes.
"Well, I'm not my fault something always happens."
"Yeah, yeah, whateva ya say, I still think you're a weenie!"
"Hey!" He snapped and spun about to retort. The look on his sister's face stopped him in his tracks. She was gaping into the river, something akin to shock and horror, but mostly curiosity frozen on her face. He turned back to look at the river, and froze. Because floating, right there, face down in the river, was a man. Alex suppressed a startled yelp and almost slipped off the log. Audrey, on the other hand, jumped up eagerly. A light of excitement glinted on her eyes as she quickly scrambled down to the waters edge.
"C'mon Alex!"She fairly screeched with excitement.
She'd seen dead bodies numerous times before, as expected out on the frontier, but never a FLOATER! Alex hesitated a moment, but soon his own curiosity kicked in, followed by the fear of leaving Audrey by herself. The body had caught up on a rock about six feet or so away from the bank, and Audrey was already four or five feet in, heading right for it.
Audrey shivered, not from fear, but the chill that the water held from flowing under tree shadows for most of it's stretch. It was moderately shallow in this area, and by the time she came up behind the corpse, the water was just up to her armpits. She slowly made her way up to the man's face, and as she did so, she heard heard Alex yelp and splash loudly in the water behind her. She shook her head and mumbled to herself. He was such a klutz.
Deciding that it would be difficult to have a good look at the body while in the water, she reached out gingerly and grabbed the collar of his large traveling cloak. He was a large man, but she towed him along as if there were nothing there. She marveled that his wide brimmed hat had stayed on, and figured that he must have swelled into it. She couldn't see much of him, his long black hair fanned out on the surface of the water and prevented her from seeing his face.
"Audrey!" Alex shrieked from behind her, "W-what are you doing?" She rolled her eyes and sighed,
"I'm moving the poor guy on shore so I can get a good look at 'im, that's what. Now, help me flip him over so we can drag him up without bustin up his face." Even if he was already dead, she just couldn't drag somebody face down through the dirt like that. Alex groaned and trudged through the water over to where she was. He was loathe to do this, but he had the same line of thought as his sister, and he grudgingly complied.
"We'll flip him towards me, m'kay?" Audrey said. Alex nodded, and, both grabbing onto the dead man, they braced themselves and flipped him over with all they had. He flipped over surprisingly easily, weighing much less than they expected. Twin gasps echoed in the air. However, it was not the shocking weight of the man that caused these gasps, but his face. Neither of the two were interested yet in those of the opposite sex, or for that matter, the same, but both of their hearts beat madly in time with each others. This man had a face more beautiful than any they had ever seen in their lives. Even in death, his gorgeous visage was enough to send the most masculine of men into a stupor. The gaped at him for a minute, before Audrey spoke.
"Quickly, let's get him on shore." Silently, they grabbed him by the shoulders and drug him up to the bank with all they could. Hauling him up a few feet away from the waters edge, they dropped on their bottoms and gasped for air. As they caught their breath, they stared at this mysterious, handsome man. He was dressed from head to toe in black, aside from the blue amulet he wore about his neck. By his physique and build, it was apparent he was a hunter of some sort, and a good one at that, but apparently not good enough.
Alex reached out tentatively for the man's face, and Audrey watched intently as he gently ran his nimble fingertips across his cheekbone. He reached up to his forehead and ran them down his beautiful, slim nose, the artist in him aching to attempt to capture that perfection on canvas, and despairing because it knew it never could and do justice to the young man. His fingers traveled down to the mans lips, and he ran them across them, watching as they curved slightly from the pressure. He pulled his hand away and traced the shape of his jaw.
"God, Audrey." He muttered. He pulled back and they looked at each other Audrey stared at him and opened her mouth to speak, but something caught her eye and she looked down with a gasp, her eyes fairly bulging.
"A-Alex!" She croaked out. "I-I think he's ALIVE!"
"That's impos-" He started and looked down just in time to see the mans lip twitch. He watched him for a moment longer, and a small muscle near the man's brow jumped. Audrey shoved Alex out of the and lay her head down on the man's chest over his heart. She listened intently for a bit and she sucked in a breath of excitement, her eyes widening.
"A-a heartbeat!He's gotta heartbeat!" Alex put his head down next to hers, and sure enough, there was a heartbeat, faint, but there.
"That's odd," Alex said, "his heart's beating, but he's not-" just then the man's chest suddenly swelled up, taking in air, and the children flew back with a cry.
"He's BREATHING!" Audrey beamed, excitement flushing her face. To Audrey, a body was someone who was long dead and there was usually nothing you could do about it. It was sad, but nothing to cry about. But now that this person was alive, even if just barely, emotion rushed through her.
"Quick! Let's move him up on the grass!" Acting swiftly, they grabbed onto the man once again, and, running on pure adrenaline, they pulled him seven or eight feet up the bank and onto a patch of mossy grass.
Audrey quickly bunched the man's cloak under his head and slid a round rock under it, elevating his torso. The twins watched eagerly as the man's breathing slowly grew stronger. Something in the river caught Audrey's eye and she jumped up, "I'll be right back."
"Wait, what?" Alex called as she ran back down to the water's edge.
"Just keep an eye on 'im!" Audrey called as she trudged back into the current. Alex sighed and turned back to the gorgeous man. As he watched, something almost akin to a flush came to the man's face. He gasped, and leaned closer, realizing that it was life its self returning to him. As he inspected the man closer, he noticed a small rip in the cloth just above the man's heart. He was about to call Audrey when she screeched.
"Alex! Look what I found!" He turned and watched as she ran back up the bank, dragging what looked like a long sword in a sheath. But it was longer than they were tall, how could a person wield such a blade?
Audrey lay it out next to the man, and then and there they knew it belonged to him.
"Wow, Alex, he's like an ANGEL or somethin." Audrey breathed in awe.
Alex was about to reply when the man sat up quite suddenly, sending the twins flying back, twin cry's echoing in the air.
The gorgeous man, now fully conscious, looked about, an almost unsettling calm emanating from him. His eyes rested on the twins, and Alex thought he would faint. He was even more beautiful when he was awake, if that was possible. Audrey, on the other hand, was for the most part, unaffected.
"Well, ya sure gave us a scare mister." she said, leaning forward eagerly" we thought you were dead fer sure. God knows how long ya were face down in that river. If it were me, I'd be hanging with the passed by now." The man watched them silently, his face not betraying an emotion. Audrey thrust her hand out. "Name's Audrey, and this idiot is ma brother, Alex." Alex was currently staring at the man in a stupor, his face flushed as crimson as the man's lips.
"What's yer name?" Audrey asked. The man ignored her hand and simply said
"D."
Both children caught their breath as the man spoke. That simple syllable he spoke could sand a flock of women into a swoon, and nearly did so to Alex.
Audrey beamed at D.
"Nice to meetcha Mister D!" Alex wordlessly picked up D's blade and passed it to him.
"Thank you."
Alex flushed up to his ear tips and quickly turned away.
D stood up and put his blade back on his back, fastening the strap that held it in place.
Audrey watched him curiously.
"Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're all rearin to go just yet? After drowndin to death!" She latched on to his hand. D looked down at her, a slight questioning look on his face. However, Audrey wasn't unsettled in the least. "We just pulled you outta the drink, the least you could do is stay around long enough ta thank us properly or somethin." D silently reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a handful of gold coins, holding them out to Audrey and her brother. She stared at him blankly for a moment, and fairly shouted.
"NAW! We don't want yer money ya fool!" Alex nearly fainted when she said that "If yer so quick ta hand that stuff out, then give it to our dad or somethin. Come an eat lunch with us." Her voice softened " Our mum makes the best food in the frontier."
" I can't." D said quietly.
"P-please!" Alex finally managed to say, shaking from the effort, and latched onto D's other arm.
"It's the only thanks we'll take." Audrey said stubbornly, "Besides, it wouldn't sit right with us, ya know? Hauling ya outta the drink and sendin ya off without a bite in your stomach. What kinda hospitality is that?" She looked pleadingly into his eyes." We live just outside of Oakcliffe, the next town. Please?"
D looked down at their sweet pleading faces, and something flashed across his face.
"Okay then." The twins fairly cheered, and proceeded to drag him down the path.
"Softie." A gruff voice said, though neither of the kids heard it.
AN: Taadaah! The first chapter is out! :D I'm not sure what kind of schedule I'll have when it comes to writing this, so don't hold your breath.
Thanks for reading, and you see that shiny pretty button below -yes, that one right there- click it, and you will see another chapter sooner than if I were left to my lazy self~!
3Foolishchild7