AN: Alright. I apologize for taking forever to update this, but truthfully...I've taken forever to sit down and update anything more than about 1,000 words. School is finally out for Thanksgiving, and I will be having a lot more time to write. Between that and eating, what could be better?
As some of you may or may not know, you can hit me up on Twitter to be told what's going on with story updates, what they'll be about, and when they'll be up. If you're interested, follow this little word linkeh: twitter(dot)com(slash)alexosaurus
Also, review. :) Maybe your words will help my cold go away. :( Boo for sickness!
Angela glanced upwards as her hand moved through Temperance's hair. Her slender fingers picked the few flowers gracing the small clearing they were in, and she softly braided them into her friend's lengthy auburn hair. She observed the position of the sun, and glanced to her side to make sure her assessment of the time was correct. "I'm sure your father will be looking for you soon."
Temperance grumbled, and closed her eyes to appreciate the small gust of wind that rolled over her body. The tree leaves rustled a soothing song, and the sight of the usual green leaves coloring to bright yellows, oranges, and reds, filled her chest with a sense of awe for nature's beauty. Her eyes traveled over the colors painted across the horizon, and with a final rueful flicker of her eyes, she too looked to the sun to determine what time it is. "I think we should just stay here," she muttered as her fingers brushed over the crisping grass below her. "Truthfully, I'm sick of having to do this."
"Maybe if you just…went into this with an open mind…I'm telling you sweetie, it isn't going to get any better. You should just try and relax. Maybe you'll learn to love one of these men," Ange offered, looking down into her friend's eyes as she tilted her head back against her leg.
"Well, I suppose that could happen," Temperance mumbled as she kept her gaze with Angela's up-side down one. "But…I truthfully don't think that is how this should happen. I'm not a huge proponent of love in the first place-"
"Then why don't you just…choose one of these guys and marry him?"
"Because I don't need to! Like I said yesterday, I would much rather choose who I want to be with instead of someone else doing so for me."
"Oh…you just don't want to listen to your father do you?"
"Well," she laughed, rolling onto her stomach and quickly pushing herself up. "That's partly it."
The two shared a laugh, and they both quickly brushed away the lingering grass and dirt sticking to their bodies. They started walking towards the village, but Temperance stilled when she heard a foreign noise reach her ears. She glanced around the surrounding woods, and smirked as curiosity pulsated from her heart. With a quick touch to Angela's wrist, and a glance to where the faint sound was coming from, the young woman brushed through the foliage, and moved her way closer to the bay.
"Temperance!" Angela growled, angrily throwing a small nut and hitting her friend in the head. "You know we aren't supposed to go that way. Those…strangers are there. Your father is going to kill you if he finds out."
"Correction," the smiling deviant said. "He's going to kill us, because you're coming with me."
A pale hand circled around a tanned wrist, and Temperance easily dragged Angela a couple feet into the woods before she jerked out of her grasp. Her friend's blazing brown eyes stared into her own, and instantly stopped Temperance's attempts of escaping. The young woman tilted her head, and she softly chewed on her lip, as she allowed her question to slip. "Angie…what's wrong?"
"Sweetie, I'm not going to let you start acting like this," Angela growled, her eyes glancing at the scene behind her friend. "Your father is a strong man, and he would never want to put anyone into danger, so if he says to NOT go towards the bay…then I wouldn't be going towards the bay. You don't know what these people could do to you, and I don't want to be burying my best friend."
"That's absurd. What person could be a cold blooded killer like that?"
"Have you not heard the stories some of the others tell at night? They're horrid. They talk about…these…weapons these people have. They're loud, and if you get hit with whatever it is they release, it tears through your skin. They don't appreciate what nature has to offer, because all they want to do is expand the land they live on. They breathe destruction Sweetie, and they aren't real nice to those who are different than who they are. If they saw you or me they would most likely take us hostage and kill us. They can't help it…it's in their blood."
"Angela," Temperance laughed humorlessly. "Their blood…is my blood. I am what they are, but I'm not a killer."
"No, you're different," her friend insisted. "You were born and raised to appreciate everything around you. They were born and raised to be wasteful, and hurtful."
"You JUST said they can't escape it. I can't escape what is inside of me either. I'm no different than those people over there, and I can't believe that you of all people would categorize people you don't know as killers. I would have thought you would be smarter than to listen to gossip," she whispered, her head shaking as she stepped from the forest and started to make her way towards the village once again. "You were right before…my father will be looking for me."
(Oooh Alternative Universes)
"And this scar, I received during our last battle," Elsu muttered as he traced the scar raised against his muscular back. "I tore out the arrow head right after I got shot, and was able to send the others retreating before I got it looked at."
"Hm," Temperance muttered as she trailed her toe through the river's waters. "That's fascinating, but you realize that you really should have kept fighting with the arrow in your back. By tearing it out, you just caused yourself to bleed more."
"I…didn't know that," the muscular warrior sneered, leaning closer to her unconsciously. "I can truthfully say that I've never met a woman as smart as you."
She smirked and shook her head, scrubbing her fingers against her temple in an attempt to push aside her headache. She sighed and reached down to brush her fingers through the water once again, before she stood up and brushed off her legs. "I'm flattered by your compliments Elsu," she said politely, while letting her eyes glance around for something to occupy him. Her fingers touched the bracelet on her wrist, and she smirked when she quickly took it off, and hid it within her clothing. "Oh…no."
"What's wrong?" Elsu asked, as he rose to his feet and straightened his back to flaunt his pronounced torso muscles.
"My bracelet," Temperance whispered, as she turned to show him her blank wrist. "The one my father gave to me when I was a child. I seem to have lost it. Will you please help me look for it?"
"Of course," the man spoke huskily, a suggestive smile on his lips before he turned towards the path they had took and began to search through the underbrush.
Temperance smiled and pulled her bracelet from her side, latching it around her wrist before she easily sauntered into the woods and headed as far away from her date as possible. She ducked under fallen trees and brushed past dying foliage, until she stilled her footsteps to listen to her surroundings. The familiar echo of pounding floated with the wind, and Temperance's earlier conversation with Angela brushed through her mind and brought her advances to a halt. She was curious, both about the life beyond those trees, and the man she had saved from plummeting to his death. With a final breath to quell her doubts, she firmly grasped the limbs of the flimsy tree blocking her way, and pushed them behind her, as she trekked into forbidden territory.
(Oooh Alternative Universes)
"Seeley, you can go further than that," Jared called as he threw the small leather bound ball in his brother's direction. "Or at least I hope you can. I don't know how well your hand eye is now a days."
"My hand eye is perfect you little pest," he teased, as he tossed the ball back to his brother. "I'm more worried about your arm. It seems you've gotten a little weak since I've been there to outshine you."
"Oh really?" Jared asked, laughing as he tossed the ball in his hand. "Well, why don't you go fetch?" he asked, as he chucked the ball high into the air, and into the woods behind his brother. He rolled his shoulder, aching from the force, but that pain dissolved instantly when he saw the look on his brother's face. The two locked eyes and Jared simply shrugged his shoulder to quell any questions. "You gonna go get that Seel?"
"You little bastard," Seeley mumbled, as he kicked the dirt behind him in frustration, and ran into the forest with his laughing brother behind him.
(Oooh Alternative Universes)
Temperance crouched beside one of the trees as she glanced into the community built near the bay. She looked over the complex architecture of their city and smiled as the occupants ran around the clearings. Smoke rose into the air and the sound of pounding, scratching, and cutting filled her head and turned the sounds of the voices into a blur within her ears. Her eyes narrowed in fascination as she watched the interactions of the other people, but before she realized it's presence, an object zoomed past her head, and she fell backwards in fear.
She didn't know what it was, but as she looked upon the small, brown sphere, she narrowed her eyes and moved forward to pick it up. She studied it in her palm, and turned towards the direction the ball came from, just in time to see the man she saved the night before making his way towards her. Fear licked at her heart, and against her common sense, she threw it in his direction; screaming at herself within her mind against her own stupidity.
Seeley grumbled as he made his way through the underbrush, searching for the ball his jackass brother threw into the woods. He moved away some of the low hanging branches, and chewed on his lip as he searched, tilting his head when the ball rolled towards him. He reached down to pick it up, but his eyes rose to where the object came from; his curiosity rising as he moved closer to the back of the large, shady tree trunk.
Temperance breathed heavily as she tried to step backwards. Her back slammed into that of another tree, and she dug her nails into the soft bark to try and calm herself. She glanced beside her, ready to run away, but a soft gasp from the man in front of her stilled her escape.
"It's you," he whispered to himself, his hand tightening on the ball within his grasp. "What are you doing here?"
His questions barely registered in her mind, and she shook her head to try and communicate that she wasn't sure at this point. She ran through her mind, trying to remember the small amount of English that her birth parents had taught her, but just as she was about to open her mouth, the call of her tribe echoed through the woods. Her eyes turned towards her east, and as if she was possessed, she started to move past the stranger, and towards her village.
She took a couple steps forward, but whimpered when she was stopped by the man's hand lacing with her own. She glanced at the connected digits between them, and shivered as she fought to regulate the breath that had swooped from her lungs. Her cerulean eyes looked up into his own, and another shiver ripped through her spine as he pulled her closer to him and brushed his thumbs against the soft skin of her hand.
The calls from her father reached her ears again, and she whined softly as she forced herself to pull away from this man she felt as if she was magnetically attracted to. She started to run away, but once again he stopped her, and stood in front of her. She tried to move around him, but he refused to let her pass and continuously blocked her path.
"What?" she asked fiercely, her eyes blazing as she internally hoped that she communicated what she wanted to correctly.
His eyes widened, and he tilted his head at her, a small smile rising on his lips. "You speak English?"
She shrugged as her answer. "Barely," she answered, before she quickly said in her own language. "My tribe is calling for me, I must go."
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I don't know what you're saying…but…I have to ask you. What's your name?"
Temperance narrowed her eyes at him, contemplating his words before she nodded and took in a deep breath. She looked up into his eyes, and huffed out a hurried breath when she heard the call of her father nearing. "Temperance," she said quickly, before she rested her hands against the strong muscles of his chest, and removed him from her path.
Seeley stumbled away, and instantly brought his hand to his chest, still feeling the heat of her palms against his body. His smile was giddy, and stupid, and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he continued to stare at the spot she disappeared into. "What a lovely name. Temperance…I'm honored to finally make your acquaintance."