She woke for the first time early the next morning. It had been Pride's turn to watch her. Her stirring awakened him, lost in his own thoughts, and the girl with no name sat up quickly, cautiously taking in her surroundings. Her eyes gazed up at them, filled with a mixture of what Pride recognised as both fear and defiance; trepidation overwhelmed by the instinctive decision not to let the enemy see your terror. She lacked the ability to place trust in unfamiliar faces. Pride assumed she was from the city.
" Who are you?" she asked, her voice powered by conviction, " Where am I?"
" One step at a time." Pride replied soothingly, so as not to alarm her, " You're safe. That's all that matters for now."
The girl eyed him cautiously, her eyes drooping; clearly both physically and emotionally drained from what Pride guessed must've been a traumatic experience. " I'm Pride." he said, " And you are?" The girl eyed him suspiciously, unsure of whether to give out any information to a stranger.
" Amber," she gulped, her voice wavering slightly. Pride threw down the stick he had been using to poke the fire and moved to sit next to her on the log.
Almost instinctively she moved, wrapping the worn blue blanket around her fractured body as a form of protection. Pride smiled warmly at her, so much so that Amber couldn't help but relax a little.
" You're badly bruised, but no lasting injuries. Luckily I found you on that mountain, otherwise, you might not have been so lucky." Pride informed, offering her a jug of water to drink, which she quickly took, draining the contents almost immediately. Pride watched her intently, attempting to figure out exactly what was running through her mind.
Amber avoided eye contact as she felt his eyes bore through her. He didn't ask any questions. He didn't want to know why exactly she had been lying unconscious in the middle of nowhere. And even now, he didn't question her distrust, which she knew he was aware of; she could see it in his eyes. He was being cautious, and ever so gentle. Amber was dying to know more about him, but, like her, he gave nothing away. She knew only his name, which, in itself, was a mystery. Pride- she doubted that was his real name, yet she couldn't bring herself to talk to him. There was something stopping her. Perhaps it was that she didn't want to have to answer any difficult questions regarding her own life.
She remembered everything, clear as day. Ebony, rescuing her from the burning ruins of the observatory. Ebony, pulling out the photo of her and Bray, and their… Amber couldn't bring herself to thing about it. The ache aroused by it was more painful a wound than any of her burns and bruises. 'Leave,' Ebony had told her. She had blacked out before she got the chance to make up her mind. But now, glancing up at this camp, tucked away in the woods, living off the land.
This was everything she'd dreamed of but feared pursuing, and now, as if in some weird twist of fate, she was here. Taken care of by a group of strangers who were under no obligation to help her, yet they did anyway. And now, she glanced up at Pride, who was watching the fluorescent orange light of the fire illuminate the night sky, she knew. She had to stay. Returning to the mall, even if the mallrats were there would be too painful now. She didn't want to see him again; to experience the torturous ache of betrayal that cut her heart like a knife every time she even thought of him. This was her chance. Pride. The rest of his tribe. She had to start again. She would stay, if they would take her, she would stay and become a… Amber looked up. Who were these people?
" What tribe is this?" she asked inquisitively, trying not to let any emotion find it's way into her voice
" I'm not sure you can call us a tribe anymore. We're falling apart." Pride replied. Amber, however, seemed dissatisfied by this response. " Gaians." He sighed, " We call ourselves the Gaians."
That was it. Amber would stay. She would convince the tribe that she was worth keeping and then she would start a fresh. She would become a Gaian.
