She didn't wake up until the night. It scared Elijah to the ends. Her lips started to get a rose color and her breathing got more even, but still no evidence of consciousness or that she would wake up soon.
When darkness came, Elijah had no clue what to do with her. His father was already angry with him because she took nearly all of the blankets they with them. Mikael's older son had only taken his and Niklaus' fur so their father couldn't tell the boys to give him his back and complain about the girl already interfering in an enjoyable hunt. Luckily the brothers sticked together and were determined to save her.
"You should warm her tonight, brother. It'll help getting her temperature up."
Klaus cheeks flushed on his serious face which made Elijah smile. He was still so innocent concerning women, which his brother considered honorable. Elijah was happy that he himself and his siblings hadn't lost their respect concerning women like Mikael.
"I don't want to invade her privacy, Niklaus. The fur keeps her warm enough."
His fingers couldn't help but touch her silver hair. Never before had he seen it on a younger woman. Usually only elders grew white hair.
"I think her survival is far more important than her privacy. You know what mother always told us. Body warmth, staying close together while sleeping when we get lost outside, is the best."
Of course Elijah knew. His mother taught them things like that since they were children. Survival was hard in their times and knowing such things was essential to live long enough to start an own family. To fulfill their duty towards the clans.
"And how do you want to stay warm?"
Niklaus smiled at his brother and sat himself in front of the fire. They started to whisper to no disturb their father.
"I'll just stay close to the fire. We can swap places in the night, I'll wake you."
The older brother nodded and placed himself next to the girl and wrapped his arms around her coated body. He covered himself in some of the leftover blankets. His chin on top of her soft hair, he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. Even though she smelled like blood and dirt there was still something sweet about her scent. It changed, some hours ago, when he carried her, she smelled like death.
Elijah really hoped she would survive. Her body felt warmer now and lit his hope. He prayed to the gods that they would save this girl. Whoever she was, a live was always worth being saved, especially when it was a helpless, injured woman.
But who would hurt a woman in the first place? Even though he had fought in battle, Elijah couldn't think of any reason to hurt females. They usually weren't involved in battle. He also could never understand why warriors raped and killed the women of the conquered village. How brutal and lavish. Most of them could be integrated to be good clans members. But no one would listen to a young warrior like he was.
His last glance was at his brother before he feel asleep. Klaus stared at them with a slight smile on his face. It felt good to do this together with him, something against their fathers will. This was the brother's little rebellion and at the same time, they would save a life. It was a calming thought to sleep quietly.
Both brothers didn't get enough sleep that night. Elijah stood close to the girl while he was watching the fire, checking her temperature then and now. He knew that Klaus would be uncomfortable to sleep that close to her, so Elijah gave his brother a spare fur blanket so he would a little bit warmer.
His mind raced about simple questions and thoughts. But the most prominent was what they would do with her. He needed to bring her home, to his mother so she could help the girl coming back to full health. There was still the possibility that she would never wake up though. Elijah tried to not think about it yet.
It was very early in the morning when Mikael and Klaus awakened. His father stood beside his son shortly, looking down to the injured girl while shaking his head and sending Elijah a grim look. He disappeared into the woods after telling Niklaus to come with him.
Elijah could see fear in his brother's eyes, but he still obeyed. It was the best he could do for the girl. Distract Mikael, so Elijah could stay behind with her.
The silence was a relief for Elijah and he sighed. Sometimes he liked simply being on his own. It wasn't granted often.
Just when he wanted to get himself something to eat, he heard a gasp from beside him. It came from her. When Elijah turned, he caught glimpse of intense green eyes, staring into the sky. Her eyes reminded him of the woods that surrounded them when the trees got back to live in spring and spread their new, healthy leaves.
Her full lips were parted and she breathed heavily. Elijah didn't know what to do, he just kneeled next to her, frozen in motion.
She woke up. She was breathing. She was beautiful.
Probably she was beyond confusion. The girl had no clue where she was and was certainly afraid.
Then, her gaze suddenly bore into his and Elijah was taken aback by the intensity of her stare. She looked right into his soul and maybe even far beyond that. He felt like he was stripped of every secret he kept, every event his eyes had seen. For a moment he forgot all trouble, all sorrows about keeping his family alive.
Maybe she was a siren. He heard countless legends about those monsters seducing men into their own death. But those were telltales. Right now he couldn't imagine that she could hurt anybody. She herself had a look of despair in her eyes. When her eyes were still closed, he judged her as being innocent, but now he was sure she wasn't. Beside fear and pain, there was a fire burning inside her. A fire that could be tamed by no one.
She tried to get up, but her breath hitched when she noticed that she was injured. Moving that wound wasn't a good idea, so Elijah lifted his hands to calm her.
"Don't be afraid. I won't to anything to you. I found you in the woods, injured. You're save now."
Was she? Elijah wasn't really sure himself. From all the dangers lurking around his father was the closest, but he surely wouldn't kill her now that she was awake. It went against the clan's code of honor.
She seemed to think for some time and freed him from the spell her eyes had him on. He knew his mother was practicing witchcraft, but never before did he more believe in it.
After she came to the conclusion that she wasn't in urgent danger, she removed the fur from her body, only to notice that he clothing was ripped apart. She gave Elijah a suspicious look before her eyes fixed on the still bad looking wound. Flinching, she pulled her fingers back after she touched it. The wound was deep, but still just cut flesh and didn't hit any vital organs or bones.
There was this look of helplessness back on her, a feeling she surely didn't feel often. Pride radiated off her, a certain self confidence that made her fight against everything.
"We should clean this wound. There's a stream nearby, I can help you."
She shook her head and furrowed her brows while she concentrate on getting up. That expression nearly made Elijah smile. That girl seemed to be very stubborn, even beyond his sister. For Rebekah stubbornness would stop when she would be injured. Not that Elijah ever would allow this to happen.
Shortly after, she fell back after a little cry of pain escaped her lips. So she wasn't mute, she could talk, she just didn't want to. He could understand that. Elijah himself was often speechless, especially when he was afraid.
A little playful was on his lips when she gave up and she rolled her eyes at him. For her, this was the last of her dignity she lost.
Elijah picked her up and cradled her into his arms again, like yesterday, while she held the remaining cloth over her breasts. As he went, he grabbed clean piece of clothing that he brought with him, so she could cover herself when they were finished cleaning the wound.
She was so small against his chest, Elijah was sure her height wouldn't fit her character. Her silver hair swung over his arm as he walked. It would reach her waist when she was standing.
Not shortly after, they arrived at the stream and Elijah placed her back on the ground and wetted a cloth and carefully started to dab around the wound. He noticed how bold she was, he could only imagine how painful this was, but she didn't even flinch. The only movement that gave her away was the tension of her abs that tensed when he touched the wound and relaxed when his hand drifted away.
Her lips were now a thin line and her green eyes stared at Elijah, which nearly frightened him. But he kept on, trying to distract her by speaking to her.
"You know, we will go back home mid day, so we'll be there before it gets dark. We will take you with us if you allow us to and my mother will take care of you. I hope she'll be able to heal you before the fever gets to you. But she helped more difficult cases before you, believe me. She practices witchcraft, do you know that from your home? Wherever this might be, if you're healthy again and you want to leave, I'll bring you there, I promise."
When he spoke the last words, her eyes went from being completely blank to sad. Speaking about her home seemed to hurt her even more, so Elijah dropped the topic.
"What is your name anyway? If you don't tell us, we have to find a new one for you. I'm really bad with names, my mother or my sister has to do this duty. It's unbelievable, they look at a person and they always have a fitting name for them. But I don't think they have ever seen someone like you before."
He finished cleaning the wound. It didn't really look much better, but he did the best he could. He looked at her still dirty hair, he was sure that she would like to take a bath, but not in the cold stream. This had to wait until they got back home.
Changing her into clean cloths was very awkward. She could held herself upright on her own and Elijah had to help her with closed eyes, because she insisted by motioning with her hands that she didn't want him to have a look at her private parts. But after a lot of struggling and enraged sounds by the girl, the fabric fell around her curves and covered her neatly.
Elijah carried her back to the fire only to see that his father and his brother weren't back yet. He couldn't follow them now because he didn't exactly know where they went and he felt more comfortable staying at her side, watching that she wouldn't do anything stupid even if everything about her told him that she wanted to be alone.
Sitting behind her near the fire, he made it his task to pick all the leaves and small branched out of her messy hair. It was a little excuse to touch those soft lengths, he was curious to see her when she was clean and bathed. She had something enchanting about her, something that made him feel comfortable around her.
The girl sighed and seemed to relax a little. Closing her eyes for a second, she made a decision. The decision to trust him for now.
"My name is Hela."
