Banishment:
"They have allowed me to prepare your temporary life for you so accept that mercy, Dana." My mother murmured to me. Though her voice was heard it still crashed against my insides, bouncing off every wall of my mind. Though I should have been thinking about my humility of being exiled, I was instead thinking of my life of being an exile. I was thinking of the human world…
My father had once told me of the human world. My father, Yule Marx, had been part of the Quileute tribe for a long while, saying to have been searching for his soul mate. Two immortals brought together…Henrietta and Yule Marx. In my mind I could imagine them together, looking no different from today's image. My mother, too, had been alive for awhile and had had no choice in that matter. Both still looked mid-twenties rather than the hundreds of years they had beneath their belts.
I had gracefully inherited my father's softly tanned skin while my mother's hair stood boldly dark against the informal skin. My eyes had become a mixture of my mother's stone irises and my father's chalky blue, mixing into an iridescent wolfy blue. I had never gained height from my parents seeing as I stood only at 5'1 and it was expected for me to halt aging at a young age so I could quite possibly remain this way forever.
My father had claimed the human world to be less cruel than that of the Woodlands' world however not so faultless that it seemed fair. He had made the human world seem so average, so in-the-middle of everything that it had never appealed to me. I was told by my father that if I so chose to join their world, I must beware of the dangers that lurked in the shadows of the alleys and crevices. My father had even gone so far as to describe them to be 'casual dangers' in their way of fitting into society. I had heard the legends from those that my father allowed me to meet, allowed them to become a part of our world. I had met only one and that man, I knew, would accept me into his home as he had once offered. Sam Uley.
Sam Uley had been my father's best friend at a time and at the very end they had fought together. I had met Sam on the two occasions that he visited our world, both in which he had discussed his wife, Emily, as well as the legends. He had mentioned that he preferred to know as little of both of our worlds as possible. And though I loved Sam Uley as an uncle, he would never be able to instate the role my mother had played and would have played for me. My mother was the one who had been meant to see when I had stopped aging, she had been the one to throw the celebration, she had been meant to be the one to see my first few years of adjusting.
Now my mother would play almost no role at all if the Council had their way. And I had no doubt that the Council would have their way yet again. I had no mind in academic issues; my father had always taught me of human studies and had said I was farther ahead than most of his students. He had told me that my Woodland mind had photographic memory. My mother confirmed my previous assumptions.
"I will request Sam's assistance in this matter while you prepare your needs." My mother insisted. I blinked into reality as my mother's words crashed upon my drums. I had no choice but to comply with the Council. At least I would be rid of their injustice for millions of lifetimes if I had my way. My mother gave me a sorrowful expression as she reached forward. Most times I forgot that my mother had no sight at all for she had adjusted rather well besides the habits. My mother's palm grazed my cheek as she gently caressed my face. I embellished the gesture with shutting my eyes and reveling in what might possibly be the last touch of my mother. For if the Council had their way, and I had no doubt they would, I would never see my mother again.
Sam's PoV:
"What's Em making?" Jared questioned as he turned his muzzle in my direction to indicate the question was pointed at me. I rolled my eyes at the wolf-form as I thought back.
"I haven't asked. And don't think that you're just invited over any time you want for dinner." I snapped at him. However this point was lost when the house entered view. The old yellow shuttered house was rickety and out of date however I had managed to keep it standing for mine and Emily's sake. I could barely see through the holey screen door to where several of the Pack members had taken their seats around the table to be fed by my wife. No, not just my wife. Emily was my soul mate.
However before I could make a move as to phase into my human form to greet my loving wife, Jared's growl broke through my thoughts. I turned to see Jared's form perched on his haunches, prepared to spring in a position similar to a cat's. I directly pointed my muzzle in the direction of where Jared's eyes were glaring. The sight that greeted my eyes wracked fear through my body for the woman that met my mind.
Henrietta Marx, however, appeared as calm as ever with a wry smirk gracing her lips as she stared straight ahead of her, her eyes unseeing.
"Retreat, Jared. She's a friend." I thought to Jared.
Jared huffed once before relaxing in his stance, posing his nose to the air in a sign of confidence. I rolled my eyes as I retreated to the bushes. Though I knew the woman was blind, I would not grace her with such…indecency. Once I was fully dressed I found Jared still perched, staring at Henrietta in suspicious curiosity. I rolled my eyes yet again as I turned to face Henrietta. Though I had not seen the woman in two years she had not aged a day, as I hadn't expected her to.
Henrietta's hair had flown from its usual bun and now lay against her shoulders in tangled ringlets. Her face remained the pale youth of hers as she stood slim and as tall as I. I cringed as I took in her apparel. The woman wore a long, taut cloak, falling against her body and spread open by the wind to reveal the proper knee-length gown that remained the only thing against her bare body. The gown was shredded from wear at the hem and the bodice clung to her curves. Despite the gown I could understand why it is that Jared had growled; the cloak resembled that of the vampire royalty's own robes. I, however, knew that this was worse.
As I approached Henrietta tilted her head to acknowledge me as her eyes remained on the direction of Jared, still blank and unseeing. Jared, however, was oblivious to this. "Hello, Henrietta," I chuckled to the woman, the widow of my old friend. Henrietta smiled wistfully, her grace still apparent. "Glad I discovered the right path," Henrietta hummed in her wistful tone that her own daughter had always seemed to evade. I smirked as I shrugged. "I suppose your sight was never really needed." I chuckled conversationally. However, I wanted to take this elsewhere. I wanted to see my Emily.
"Jared, go on and phase so we can get to the others. Henrietta will join us." I commanded Jared. Grudgingly the wolf walked off to phase behind the bushes. I turned back to Henrietta to find her smirking blankly. "Thank you ever so much for the invitation," She chuckled. I rolled my eyes but chuckled along. "So, why the house call?" I asked bluntly as I stared at Henrietta. She frowned at me as she recounted the events in her head. "Do you remember Dana?" Henrietta asked just as Jared returned, zipping up his fly. I reached out and offered my hand to Henrietta. She offered a weak smile and accepted my hand gracefully. "How could I forget? That daughter of yours has a way of imprinting on your mind." I laughed to my dear friend.
Jared walked ahead of us though I could tell his ears were trained on our conversation. I had no issue with him listening in. Within a few feet we were in the clearing to the house and headed up the rickety porch. "Watch your step," I offered her as I helped her up the steps. It wasn't as if she needed this however I could tell she'd been having issues without her sight over the years. I only wanted things easier for my lost friend's widow. Henrietta smirked wryly as she accepted my advice and took the steps slowly. I opened the screen door for my friend.
"Yes, well, Dana has come across some…stages." Henrietta answered bitterly. I frowned at this. "Teenage stages?" I questioned. "Oh, yes! Every teenager goes through a state of rebellion!" Henrietta laughed as she made her way into my house. All eyes turned away from their food along with Emily's eyes away from Leah. In the years after Leah had imprinted on a half-vampire, Leah and Emily have regained their friendship, becoming closer and closer each day as Leah had regained her mood. I laughed at Henrietta's comment as I turned towards the Pack and my beloved wife. I couldn't help myself as I stepped over to Emily and wrapped my arms around her waist.
In a sign of symbolic apology I kissed Emily's scars first before kissing her full on the mouth. As every kiss with her, this one was no different in the intensity and the spark. I loved kissing Emily, my wife. Then I remembered (begrudgingly) that I had to introduce Henrietta unless I wanted the boys to suffer…hmm, do I have to introduce her? "Who's your friend?" Emily questioned suspiciously as she raised an eyebrow on her perfect face. I sighed as I realized that I would to satisfy Emily's own curiosity. "This is Henrietta Marx; Yule Marx's widow." I introduced Henrietta to the entire group.
Embry, who'd been gulping his Coke, sprayed out his beverage as everyone stared on in shock. As Yule hadn't wanted anyone aware of the Woodlands beside me, he hadn't informed the Pack of even his marriage. I found it shocking that he had managed to keep it from his mind even when he phased. Paul outright laughed as he stared at her. But I suppose half of the shock was due to her cloak. "Henrietta, would you like I take your robe?" I hinted towards the woman. Henrietta, smart as she was, caught the hint and nodded eagerly, a hidden smirk there. "Oh, yes! It is very warm in here after all." She announced in a grateful manner.
I chuckled as I headed over to Henrietta's side and accepted the robe she had gracefully shed. "Thank you," She said politely as she smiled in my blank direction. This made me sad. To think of the consequences she had gone through for her marriage to Yule… "Ah, and what were you talking about Dana?" I questioned as I hung the cloak up on the nearest nub on the wall. Henrietta seemed to remember the previous conversation with utmost bitter. It was even bitterer than when she had lost her sight, which made me wonder just what had happened.
"Is Dana alright?" I asked worriedly as I repeated my tracks to Emily's side. "She is…well. Yes, my daughter seems to be taking everything very well." Henrietta said confidently. "Not to be rude but you've never paid a house call before…what's up?" I asked. All ears were trained on the conversation and I had no doubt they had come to the conclusion that Dana was Yule's daughter. "You see, Dana's been in trouble before but not like this…oh, she managed to really piss off the Council now!" Henrietta laughed. I frowned at this. In all of my years, Henrietta had never swore and though 'piss' was very mild (compared to some of them I'd heard from the Pack) it was still considered very distasteful in her vocabulary.
"Dana found the Council's acts of justice unfair and decided to round up a rebellion!" Henrietta cried out exasperatedly. I laughed fully at this. Dana had told me of her dream to take down the Council and to replace them with a right justice. "That sounds like her," I chuckled as I thought over my two times of being with the girl. Once at her age of nine and the other at her age of thirteen, mere weeks before her father had died. Both times the girl was very determined and very understanding of how wrong the Council's acts were. Henrietta's sight was only one that she disapproved of and when she had told me of the horrendous acts I could barely control my anger at such vile people. Henrietta looked serious now.
"Her acts were considered treason in the Council's eyes." Henrietta hissed at the memory. She crossed her arms over her chest with a scowl on her face. I frowned deeply at this. While our Council took treason to the level of exclusion, the Woodland's Council took treason to the level of execution. My heart rung with fear for the girl I had considered a niece. "I managed to have them spare execution thankfully however they have admitted to giving the command of banishment." Henrietta admitted. I frowned at this even more. In the eyes of Dana, the human world was considered bland and dank compared to her beloved world of Woodland. The girl would absolutely hate it in the human world.
Still, Henrietta turned hopefully to me. "I apologize for asking such a thing however I must. I am asking you to care for my daughter here, in the human world." The mother requested of me. I turned to Emily instantly, who still appeared shocked at such a request. Emily had known nothing of them other than that Henrietta was Yule's wife and Dana was his daughter. And the words 'human world' had insisted they were something other. "Emily," I said to call my wife's attention. When Emily looked up, my breath caught in my throat just as every look from her made me do. The soulful brown eyes embedded in the russet face of my wife and tilted with beautiful features.
"Do you mind housing Dana?" I asked my wife. Emily was silent for a moment which I took as hesitation. "I understand your reluctance but Dana is like a niece to me. And if Dana was truly exiled from her…society, then she's going to have a rough time. I already know about her issues and I think we could help." I attempted. Though what I had taken as reluctance turned out to be determination. Emily retreated from my arms and headed in the direction of Henrietta. I think we were all shocked to find Emily take Henrietta's hands in hers and smile softly but determinedly. "We'll take care of her. I promise." My wife said. This only made me love her even more. Henrietta smiled genuinely towards Emily and nodded her thanks. "Thank you so much. I understand that Dana will have issues here however I promise to visit as soon as possible." Henrietta said.
I snorted at this. The Council wanted Henrietta with them and elimination of all reasons to leave would be top priority. This meant that I doubted Henrietta would be allowed to visit her only daughter.
Henrietta rolled her eyes. "I will find a way to visit her, Sam. I doubt that the Council can keep me from that." She said determinedly as she turned back to Emily. "Thank you so much, Emily. I cannot tell you how much this means." Henrietta said. I could understand though. Henrietta had hoped to be there for all of Dana's supernatural life stages and to be rid of that would be heartbreaking for her. However to have a familiar person take care of her daughter and to see those experiences precariously through us would at least ease some of the pain.
"Oh, I must leave now. Dana is still packing and should be expecting me." Henrietta announced with a sigh. She looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks. "Bring her tomorrow morning and we'll have her room set up." Emily instructed Henrietta before pulling her into her grip. I couldn't help but grin at the sight.
Dana's PoV: The next day
My human luggage…I'd never thought I'd wear anything other than the midnight blue gown that was uniformed to me. I'd never thought that I'd be banished from my home land, exiled and excluded. What sickened me even further was that everyone knew I was right. Everyone agreed that the Council's justice was unacceptable yet they did nothing about it. Why we were even so afraid of them was beyond me. The Council was only as strong as us and if that coo had worked we would have won. The only thing that pushed them so far ahead of us was that everyone did the pushing. Everyone fit them onto a pedestal as though they were Gods while they just reveled in it. I don't even remember what accomplishments they've come up with.
I had changed into the pair of human jeans along with a black camisole on my caramel cream skin. My dark hair was fooled around my face in endless ringlets in tangled bunches down to the small of my back. My mother had gone out to get me proper shoes and had grabbed me a set of tennis shoes along with a set of black rubber flip flops. I was now wearing the black flip flops beneath the legs of my jeans that seemed to pool around my feet. The waist of my jeans hung low on my bare body so that my navel showed just beneath my camisole's hem.
My mother awaited at the door of our mossy cabin as I struggled to pull closed the button on my old duffel in the sitting room. My mother, for once, was not wearing that flimsy robe that I so disapproved of. Though her eyes remained unseeing, her heart searched me out, finding me in the perfect spot closest to her that I could be. Her hands were clasped tightly around something, holding so hard that her fingers turned pink with determination. A thick leather strap swung in two separated glances from between the fingers in a mass.
My mother stood to the doorway's full height, her head mere inches from the arch's connection. Her usual mousy brown gown hung still against her body, falling to her knees in perfected shreds to show her knees between the gaps. Her feet remained bare and arched to the heels while a beaded anklet embellished her right ankle. She looked free and wild while I felt still and constricted. My mother and I looked opposites at this very moment. I missed my own midnight gown, the soft fabric flimsy and sheathing against my skin.
As I moved to my mother's side, my flip-flops padded against the old dirt floors of the handmade cabin. It was poorly made but it was made by our people just as every other cabin in our society had been made. Now it would be a mere memory in the distant abyss of my mind. My mother lifted her hands as I came nearer and opened the palms wide, tilted upwards to reveal what she had held. A thick black leather strap clutched onto a copper locket, neatly shaven and beautifully made. The copper lid lay, dented with a single red ruby in the center as it stared to us.
"There are no pictures and I just happened across it when I went in to gather your shoes." My mother insisted with a small pink-tinted blush on her cheeks. Though I found this incredibly cliché and sentimental I still took the locket. I whipped my hair over my shoulder to tie it behind my neck. The leather strap pulled taut, clasping behind my neck with a basic hook and chain regularity. My mother could be so sentimental if she wanted to be. I suppose for a million lifetimes without each other, this would be our only way of knowing that the other had once existed. I smiled at my mother as tilted my chin up higher to embellish the locket in pride. "I'll take it," I grumbled as I clutched onto my only last shred of dignity. There wasn't much left though, seeing as I'd heard the names that people called me.
Some begrudgingly loyal servants to the Council had even gone so far as to name me the Lucifer of our society. Great; I was being sent to Hell to deal with the damned. My mother looked at me, though, with pure eyes and pure intentions of loving me to her heart's extent. My mother had now lost everything; her husband and now her daughter. Though I felt the sting of tears in my eyes I repelled them. My mother would somehow know and I would lose that one last shred of dignity that I had left. "Sam and Emily are waiting. I trust they will help you with your future assistance." My mother told me. I frowned at her but nodded almost silently. "Fine," I answered briefly. I would take this with grace if I had any left.
"You will find him at the end of the forest. I trust you will know your way through here by now." My mother chuckled as she nodded behind her. "I do," I agreed with an indignant nod. My mother finally frowned and though the sight turned my heart cold and electric I couldn't help but understand. She finally said the words I needed to hear; the words that assured me she always and always would love me; the words that though they ached my heart, they also assured it.
"I will miss you, Dana."
I felt my nostrils flare against the struggle of tears as I fought them back. I tilted my head back, sure to make the action silent as I squeezed my eyes shut. Finally the few burning drops of salty liquid dropped from my chin and I cursed at them. My mother would hear them and she would care. I knew that my mother would care.
"I have to go," I announced as I stepped around my mother in the doorway. I knew that I should at least say a goodbye however that wouldn't be the case. I would see my mother again if it was the last thing I did. I could always find another way. I will take them down. The Council stands no chance. I thought determinedly as I pulled my flip flops off of my feet and began to run, an un-bleeding curse through the forest. When I died I would become this forest's ghost, I had no doubt of that. I would haunt these trees and haunt the Council for generations to come if I didn't succeed in my ambition. And there was only one way of knowing how to defeat the Council. The motivation for this solution was all the eyes that the Council had burned, all the reformations so unjustified, all the deaths so unreasoned and every last drop of blood they had shed without reason. I would kill them.
My feet scarred the ground with every dented footfall that cascaded behind me in such rapid speeds no human would hear or see them. Not a person would know that I had been the curse upon these trees. Grateful for the lack of obstacles from the path I had run down, I was nearing the brim of the forest. This caused sadness to ring out yet again for my homeland. My existence in this society would never be spoken of again if the Council had their way. They would've been proud of banishing me had it not been for the fact that I was the daughter of one of their own.
I tilted my chin downwards, my eyes tilting up in their sockets as my hair whipped all around my frame. My eyes scoured the brim of the forest that was now within sight. I was searching for one very large black wolf. The size of the animal had stuck out entirely as my eyes lay upon the only wolf within sight. He had come alone. I was proud of my Uncle Sam as he had known better than to put our society at risk of any other creatures. You could never tell which traitor lay upon us.
My duffel beat against my hip with the last few steps as I slowed my pace and my flip flops remained, clutched in the opposite hand by the thongs of the rubber sandals. I hoped that all traces of my teary escape had left my expression as I grinned at my Uncle Sam with my slowed approach. Only a few feet and I would be close enough. I pulled a low-hanging branch from my path as I grinned at the burly black wolf that sat, shaggy and amazing before me. I had seen Sam in his approaches as a wolf however my memory did his appearance no justice. The muzzle itself was larger than half of my torso as he stood before me. I would rue the day I ever measured him against myself; I already felt small enough.
"Hello, Uncle Sam," I breathed to the wolf as I stared into the luxurious chocolate irises. Sam gave a small wolfy chuckle as he nodded his acknowledgement. I had once respected Sam to the point of worship however I had calmed from that stage to a mutual friendship we now held. Then I saw the glimmer of a scold in Sam's eyes. "It's not that bad," I murmured as I glanced ahead of us. Only a few more forests before La Push would come to us. That meant a little over two days before we were to my new home. I wished for a good journey.
A/N: What do you think? Review me your thoughts. I promise this will be a very soulful story.