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love, winter.
Tribal Romeo & Juliet
The Tribe fanfiction loosely based on Shakespeare's great tragedy.
All characters are taken from The Tribe series. Nothing is mine; I just made up the storyline and the dialogues. Nothing would be possible without the wonderful masterminds behind The Tribe.
CHAPTER ONE
The Mallrats
The Mallrats found their home in the mall.
Time for dinner was approaching and in her quarters in the second storey, Amber was trying on the dresses, with the help of her dress consultant, Zandra, and her personal assistant/servant/confidant/friend (it really depended on the day what she was called and how she was treated), Salene.
Now she was wearing a long, yellow dress. It looked perfect on her; however, it had a small tear by her ankles. Not that Amber cared, though. She had bigger problems in her life. As Salene was brushing and hair and Zandra trying to sew the hole, Amber was talking, upset.
"I really don't understand why I have to marry him, you know!" she exclaimed. "I mean, I know why Lex wants me to marry that guy but … it is just obsolete! It's so like Middle Ages all over again, marrying because of economic reasons, politics, whatever! I know Lex wants to get the city and beat that Zoot but … what about me? You'd think he would want his little sister to be happy, especially after her family took him out of the orphanage … But no, not Lex! He wants to sacrifice my happiness for this stupid city!"
Salene and Zandra looked at each other. Of course, their position in the Mallrats was something every kid in the city desired. They had roof above their heads, food on the table every day and they were not slaves. Yet … working for Amber sometimes truly seemed to be a torture. Her constant complaining was getting on their nerves. It reached its peak when Lex, the leader of the Mallrats and Amber's adoptive brother, met a nomad named Sasha who apparently had hundreds of friends outside the city, up in the mountains. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to get more men on his side and overpower Zoot's empire, Lex convinced his sister to seduce Sasha and marry him so that he would not start working with The Locos.
"Sasha is not that bad, Amber," carefully remarked Salene.
"Not that… whose side are you on, Salene? You were supposed to be on mine!"
"I am, I am, I'm just saying … Lex could have picked someone worse for you to marry."
"It is hard to imagine a bigger Mr Boredom existing! Like, every time we're together, alone, he just keeps bubbling about nature and how great it is to travel around on horse – I mean, seriously, Middle Ages, anyone? – and all the people he had met on his travels … What about me?! I spend my whole day curling my hair and he does not even notice! Where's romance? There's no romance at all! And he is supposed to be musically talented but all he apparently knows how to play with his flute is one melody and even that one is annoying! If he truly loved me, don't you think he's play something a bit more … I don't know, romantic?"
"Maybe he's so in love with you that he does not know how to act around you?" suggested Salene.
Amber turned to her and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Are we talking about the same Sasha here, Salene?" she said. "As far as I'll ever get with him is holding hands. Holding hands?! Been there done that – in kindergarten!"
"Well, maybe you are overreacting, Amber," said Zandra, still kneeling down, trying to sew the little tear. "I mean maybe Zoot will win and there will be no point in you marrying Sasha. Once Lex will be beaten, he won't need Sasha's contacts from outside the city to help him win, right?"
"Oh, god forbid! What are you thinking, Zandra? Then he will want me to marry the magnificent Zoot himself! To, I don't know, improve his position in the newly established hierarchy!"
"Sometimes I don't think you know what you really want, Amber," sighed Salene and stepped back. She had plaited Amber's hair and wrapped them in a bun, still leaving two curls to fall down by the side of Amber's face. "Here. I think you look nice."
"I do, I like it, thank you, Salene," nodded Amber, looking herself in the mirror. "Ouch, Zandra! Be careful! You pinched me with a needle!"
"I am sorry, Amber, it's just that the hole is so small…"
"Oh, just leave it! Ain't like Sasha ever looks at anything below my eyes," rolled her eyes Amber, crossing her arms and throwing herself in the armchair. "I really thought these things would be easier in this world; my parents were always so strict when it came to dating. No, Amber, he's bad. He will use you. No, Amber, you are not going to the party. No, Amber, this skirt is too short. But no, now Lex is even worse! At least my mother didn't pick a husband for me!"
Zandra sat down next to Amber.
"Well, maybe Sasha won't even want to marry you," she smiled.
"Nice to know at least one of us is an optimist!"
"Are you ladies ready? It's time for dinner."
Jay peeked into the room. He was Amber's older cousin, the Ulysses of their world, a hopeless wanderer though life. He always appeared to be in a semi-dreaming state and many suspected not everything was in the right place in his mind. Hhe was often seen near city's bridges near the line between Mallrats' and Locos' territories, apparently contemplating, and it was a general fear that one day he wouldn't return to the mall for dinner.
"Sadly, yes," exclaimed Amber, got up and walked towards the café.
Lex and Sasha were already in the café, waiting for the dinner to be served. The future groom seemed to be distant and Lex didn't really know what to think of it. He certainly wanted the wedding to take place as soon as possible; he didn't want to risk Sasha switching sides.
"It would be simple, really. If my men and your friends united … we would overthrow Zoot in no time. He uses fear to gain followers but, I mean, if he's outnumbered, he stands no chance, right? And after the win, we, if, of course, you are interested, we could shape the city into anything we want."
"Certainly ..." nodded Sasha.
"It's just … he's been very secretive lately. My men haven't seen him on the streets often and it makes me think … is he planning something? I haven't even heard his stupid car! And he is always driving around with that siren … I am happy not to hear as I can't stand it but … he is about to do something. If only I knew what …"
"Yes …" once again nodded Sasha but Lex could see he wasn't really listening him.
If Sasha didn't have so many contacts that could help Lex win the city, he would lose patience a long time ago. Lex disliked the guy; he was impossible to talk to since he was constantly looking away and never listened. Lex certainly was happy to see Sasha so smitten with his sister but Sasha's non-cooperation was annoying him.
He was indeed happy when Amber walked into the café.
"Ah, here's my sister now!"
Amber smiled coldly at his brother who decided to ignore it. She sat down next to Sasha as Jay sat at the other side of the table. As a leader, Lex sat at the edge of the table.
Zandra and Salene, as servants, would eat later. They stood by the door, next to Ryan, Lex's personal guard. He smiled shyly at Salene who blushed and tried to disguise her smile.
Zandra leant closer to her.
"Look at Lex, he's wearing that shirt again," she whispered. "It enhances his muscles, don't you think?"
"If you say so, Zandra."
"I have been looking forward to this the whole afternoon!" exclaimed Lex as the first plates were brought to them. "It smells so magically, don't you think, Amber?"
"I'd say there are better smells than food. Like … the flowers someone special has brought you. The pillow someone you love has slept on …"
Sasha felt so uncomfortable. Amber was beautiful, there was no doubt. She could easily take away a man's breath. Sasha too felt enchanted by her but … it came so suddenly into his life. His world were travels, riding horses on green pastures, meeting new people, playing music for them … he never thought much about getting a woman. Now here he was, she was promised to him and he doubted he even wanted her.
He didn't even know what to do! He feared he would do too much, too soon. So he rather did nothing but that felt wrong too … he was just so confused and Lex's insistence to be in his company was not helping.
It felt so wrong to be close to this man. Amber was torn – she instinctively wanted to run away from Sasha who was nothing, absolutely nothing like the man she yearned for since being a little girl. On the other hand, Lex was her brother … she wanted and had to be loyal to him … he did mean good, after all.
Knowing he had to do something, Sasha reached out for hand. Amber, who saw it coming from the corner of her eye, immediately pulled it away.
"Oh, my nail is broken!" she screamed. "Zandra! My nail!"
Lex got up as Zandra ran to her lady.
"Somebody! Zandra, help her!" he exclaimed.
Zandra looked at Amber's nail only to find it to be in perfect condition – maybe she would only have to her nails redone as the golden nail polish was coming off.
"It's…" she started but Amber quickly frowned at her and broke her own nail. Zandra sighed. "Oh my … I'll go get clippers!"
She ran out of the cafe as if it would really be a medical emergency. Salene walked to Amber, pulled her chair closer and sat down. Lex too slowly sit down, looking lightly confused. Jay maintained a stoic look and Sasha looking down, trying to disappear from everyone's radars.
"It's really bad," nodded Amber, seeing her brother's doubt. "If it cuts in my skin, it might get infected…"
As Zandra returned with clippers, things returned to normal. Yet only till the main dish was served. Feeling like he was not supportive enough when his fiancée encountered trouble, Sasha reached out for her hand again.
And once again she was swift enough to avoid it.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry," she smiled as she yawned. "I really didn't get much sleep last night …"
"Oh, I do hope it wasn't me!" exclaimed Lex. "I know I get sometimes carried away and talk too loud when I'm discussing the future … Sasha and I had a very promising conversation last night."
"Absolutely ..." Sasha felt the need to nod.
"I'm very pleased to hear this, Lex. And no, don't worry, it wasn't you, I didn't even hear you. It's the full moon . It always gets the best of me …"
"Oh, is it full moon again? I've been terrible at tracking time … it does seem like something weird is in the air lately …"
"Actually," Sasha cleared his throat for the first time, "I met a woman once on my travels. She's very knowledgeable when it comes to plants. She told me of this natural medicine that helps…"
"Oh that's marvellous, Sasha!" exclaimed Lex. "Amber, maybe you two could … you know … go and visit this incredible lady?"
Amber frowned. The last thing she wanted was to go on a trip into the mountains, only with Sasha and maybe his horse. She was sure she would lose her mind from boredom.
"Well … I don't think she's still there. She moves around a lot …"
"And I do only have these problems from time to time! There's no need for any kind of medication!" quickly added Amber.
"I'm sure it is partly because of nerves," nodded Lex sympathetically. "You must be anxious about the future."
In his quest to be unseen Sasha bent down, almost touching food with his noise. Amber almost choked on a piece of bread but refused any help from Salene. She turned to Jay who looked at her with his blank eyes.
"Please," she formed a word with her lips.
He only smirked and put down the fork. He waited until swallowing the food, then he got up. He picked just the right time; he crashed into a waiter who brought another tray of food, this time a jug of strawberry juice. She didn't see the impact coming and the jug flew out of her hands, landing directly on the table, with red liquid splashing everywhere.
For a moment, everything stood still. Nobody really knew what had just happened and they weren't sure of what to do next.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't expect…"
"I'll help you clean up …" volunteered Jay.
Sasha only stared in disbelief as the juice was nearing him.
Lex got up.
"Will somebody take care of this mess?!" he shouted and the room became alive again, with Zandra, Salene and Ryan, along with other servants and guards coming to the table, many holding towels and napkins. They tried to wipe the liquid but it seemed they were only smearing it.
It was a moment Amber was waiting for.
"I better get out of here before it gets everywhere!" she exclaimed, got up so quickly that her chair overturned and fell backwards onto the floor. She lifted the bottom of her dress and ran out of the café.
To Be Continued.
Broughttoyouby:::winter.
