Author's Note: Here's a lil thing to the other lil thing I'm doing. I'm really getting into my Hunter class character so I've written this chapter before I've done the Warlock one. That's up too, incase any of you would like to check it out. But in the meantime here's the second chapter to this lil thing. Thanks for checking out my story and:
E
N
J
O
Y
:)
Hunter: The Cloak
We just stand there, the stranger and I. Her curly hair falls through the front of her brown cloak and shades down the top of her face. People near us are asking if I'm okay, she brushes them off, "He's fine, the Traveler will deal with her later," she referred to Alexus. She was gone by now, the purple of her dress was obsolete through the crowds. The stranger, or savior, takes a hold of my arm and drags me inside to the train.
The silver doors slides closed behind us as we sit down in a booth. I look around, the train was basically empty. I mean, Meadow County isn't too popular unless you're visiting grandpa or… killing a man. We're silent, or she's silent, she's not even looking at me. Then, the train starts and she starts talking, fast, "Okay, listen up, William Enero he will not die by your hands, we need him, are you listening to me? Need him."
"How? What? William Enero? Who is that?" I attempt to play it off as if I know nothing of what she speaks.
"Oh, shut up," she rolls her eyes and puts her elbows on the table, "I heard you talking to your assailant."
"Who are you?"
She removes her hood of her cloak and her curly hair bunches up at the top, as if waking up. I know her, I mean I've seen her before, I just couldn't put my finger on it. She doesn't say anything as we enter deeper through the tunnels of the railroad. The humming of the wheels against the tracks fills the air of the inside of the train, she still doesn't say a thing. The fluorescent lights that reside above the windows bathe us in a blue shade.
Then, the light returns and she starts once again, "You won't kill him, you're not the type."
"Excuse me?" I was going to retort at her, confirming her accusations, but I pull myself back, "Why would I ever kill someone?"
"Okay," she leans back against the window, "What are you doing going to Meadow County then?"
"I'm," I think of a lie, "Going to visit my grandma."
"Really? What's her name?"
"Karen," I say quickly.
She starts laughing, "You're a bad liar."
I get up, grab my luggage and sit towards the front. People these days, I think. First, I'm almost killed by Alexus and then… I get up again and walk back, but I don't sit down with her. She looks up at me, "Thank you," I cough up, "for saving my life back there."
She looks away, straight forward, "Then do me a favor and save my life."
"Save your life? How?"
"Don't kill Enero."
"Lady, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Fine, you want to diminish the only hope of survival when the Darkness arrives, your choice!"
"Wait, what?" I sit down and throw down my luggage next to me/
"The Darkness, you heard of it?"
"Yes, I have."
Forested fields begin to pass us by as we enter the county. Deep into the forest is Meadow County, where I'd find Enero.
"We've got a good decade before they come, and we're not prepared, I tell you we're not prepared," she shakes her head and looks down at her hands. They rest on the table and show burns, cuts, blemishes. As if she used her Warlock abilities without the proper Gauntlets, "So, please, don't lie to me."
I gulp, "Uh."
"I won't hurt you," she adds, and slides her hands back down under the table.
"Okay, so what if I am going to Enero's home?"
"Then, I need to stop you, but I won't kill you, what did the Association offer you?"
"The Association?"
"Someone came to you, right? A guy with a weird name? I don't think you're doing this out of instinct, someone convinced you."
"Someone came to me, yes."
"What did they offer you?"
"An escape, from Earth."
"Mercury?"
"How?"
"You're not the first kid who's done this, Mercury is an ideal place for runaway teenagers"
"Yes, I was offered a fresh start in Mercury" I confirmed.
"What if I tell you I have something better to offer you? What if you wouldn't have to kill anyone you'll just have to fake it?"
"I'm listening."
"Enero won't die."
It's my nature, I'll have to admit that. Killing a man is a risk that I'm not willing to take. Listening to an absolute stranger seems like a comfortable risk I am willing to take, besides she's offering me the same thing without blood on my hands.
"Fake Enero's death?"
"Yes."
"How can I trust you?"
"I saved your life," she laughs as if expecting me to already have given her my trust because of that.
"Well…"
"Think of it this way," she leans forward, "I expected that girl to throw you into the tracks, I know her I gave a class to her group of Warlocks. She's instinctive, lots of intellect, determined, but finds the easy way out without thinking of the consequences. I could've left you on those tracks, you had about two seconds before this train killed you, but I saved you. I'll admit, as I followed you two down to the stop I hesitated if I should end up saving you, but you're valuable. I value you, trust me."
The trees become denser, causing the light that came from the window to fade. Again the fluorescent lights shine against us and we become silent. The whirring of the machines that carry us through the County become the only sound for a while, "Okay," I finally say.
"Why do you want Enero alive?"
She chuckles, "If there wasn't imminent death if he was gone, I wouldn't bat an eye if he died, but I think of the future of the traveler and the Galaxy before I think of myself."
"We'll be there soon, I want you to go wherever the Association let you stay for the time you'd be there, meet me at his address at six," she finishes and becomes mute again.
"Who are you?"
"Chrysanthe Vidal," she answers.
"Wait."
"Yeah, first Warlock yadda yadda," she rolls her eyes and looks out the window, "I've heard it a million times," she looks at her hands again.
"The Association, what's with them?"
"They have too much hope in the Traveler, they don't understand it has flaws… they're arrogance and ignorance will lead us to our death," she takes a deep sigh, "They're after me, they think I'll start a revolution or end the Golden Age by questioning the Traveler. They destroyed my Gauntlets forced me to use the power against them, thus these ruined hands. It was just one battle and they're cinched."
"I'm sorry," I attempt to comfort me.
"You ever think of being a Warlock?"
"No..." she seemed a bit surprised, "I mean it's never crossed my mind."
She mouthed, "Oh," and returned her gaze at the mirror, "I'll teach you if you'd like."
"What?"
"You can be a Warlock, with my help and Enero's too."
"I'd have to think about it, it seems like a lot of responsibility."
Her hair pushes against the window, but with its thickness it creates a kind of pillow as she rests against it. The dense forest begins to decrease as we exit the forest into the County, "Where're you from?"
"Earth," I replied to her.
"Euro, I'm guessing?"
"Uh, yes, well my mom's German and my dad's American but I was born in Finland."
"You speak Finnish?"
"No."
She nods, "Any talents?"
"I take risks? Just yesterday I climbed the biggest tree in my city, my sister was freaking out."
"You left family behind?" she scoffed, "did you leave a life behind in Denmark? Why would you do that? Are you running from something?"
"I got tired of my parents and their stupid ideas about the Darkness."
"You don't believe in the Darkness."
"I don't want to talk about it."
The train enters a tunnel that cuts through a mountain and when it exits I find the Warlock with her hood back on, "Don't fail me," she says, "as I said," she gets up, takes a hold of the rail on the ceiling and looks down to me. Her hood causes a shadow that covers most of her face, I can only clearly see the bottom of her nose and her mouth, "you're valuable."
I get up too as the train begins to slow to reach the station. I grab my luggage and head to the exit, Chrysanthe stands in front of the other exit. The train stops and the doors slide open, revealing the County.