Author's Note: I feel like since I hadn't mentioned this in my first chapter, I might as well do it now. So, these are reusable of mine (yes, there will be more) and are used in original works as well as fan works. So you may refer to my characters in this as "Mary Sues' if you wish, but just know that they were not made specifically for this Fan Fiction, and that they do belong to me.
Anyways, now that's out of the way, hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting, been kind of busy (and lazy). So I had edited this chapter last night, but was too scared to post it, so I didn't, but, here it is now. Pay no mind to all the trashy fluff in this, better this than angst, am I right? No? okay. Also, I apologize if the writing isn't as good when it gets closer to the end, I had edited this piece, left the document open in Microsoft, but ended up having to force quite it as it started acting strange, and I'm not quite sure if I saved the last part correctly...
Well, thank you all so much for reading and have wonderful week!
After I had fallen asleep, I just assumed everything was a dream.
His breath, my breath, the dry, dusty world around us, the smell of his skin eventually, it had all become a dream.
"Hey man, what's with all this sand?" I asked, coming out of some dream I had forgotten upon my awakening, my eyes feeling as if they were glued together, my body limp and I realized that he was still holding on to me the same way as when we started our journey.
"Excuse me?" He asked, it had been some time since I heard his voice.
"I mean, this sand, what's up with it?" I questioned with a slight shrug.
"I think I let you sleep too long." He seemed to conclude as we made our way to the entrance of what looked to be a village at one time, it remnants nothing but crumbled brick and clay, causing a scene to flash through my mind, the scene of when I had first woken up, the sight of the surrounding I had a chance to behold, it looked almost like this village, the only key difference with this village and the one I had woke up in, was that mine was covered with sand.
"Whoa, what is this place?" I asked, looking around.
"This was my village." He replied, his tone solemn.
I gulped at the word 'was' and decided it would be a good time to ask,
"W…what happened to your village?"
For this, he didn't give me a simple answer, instead, I felt him clench his fist beneath my arm, his teeth gritted in what sounded like anger before giving me a reply,
"He took it from me."
"He?" I asked, my gut telling me to ease up on the questioning, but I couldn't seem to help my curiosity.
"The Pharaoh, that bastard." He responded through his clenched teeth, his hand easing up on my arm.
"The Pharaoh?" I repeated to myself, remembering then what that solider had told me when I was trying to free the thief; he had mentioned the Pharaoh as well.
Was the pharaoh at fault for the destruction of the village I had woken up in as well?
"I'm really sorry." I replied, turning my eyes downwards the to the sandy ground, the wind picking bits of it from the ground and swirling it around our forms.
"Don't worry about it, Spider." He replied with a slight growl as he kept walking further into the ghost town of a village, the silence of the village almost like the ironic screams of the villagers who once lived there.
Who would have done something like this?
"The Pharaoh seems like a really mean person." I said after a few minutes of silence as he led us down into what looked to be an underground cave of sorts, the sudden darkness shrouding my sight, the room smelling the faintest of mold.
"Hey man, remember our deal." I said, as I set me down on cold, damp ground, my eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness as I began to make out his figure.
"And what was that?" He asked, going over to sit on what looked like a large rock formation.
"You have to get some sleep now!" I replied, with a slight hint of annoyance in my voice.
"Oh that." He said, " I thought you were too out of it to remember that."
"Well, I remembered, so how's that?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips as I made my way to my feet.
"Yeah, that's okay, I think I'll pass it up." He said, his tone flat.
"Shut up, you promised!" I cried, making my over towards him, feeling my way through the dark.
"No, I really didn't" He replied in a matter of fact tone.
"Come on man, you have got to be tired by now after carrying my body for who knows how long." I pointed out, taking a seat next to him on the rock formation.
"True, you were kind of heavy." He teased, and I could hear a faint chuckle escape his lips.
"Ha, ha, very funny." I said, and even though I knew he meant that as a form of insult, I couldn't help but smile.
"Hey?" I began, looking over at the large rock formation I was now sitting on, "What is this?"
I couldn't make out his face, but he seemed quiet for a while, and I began to wonder what it was he was thinking. When he did speak, his voice was filled with a dead undertone.
"This formation is one of the only things that remains of my village."
"Really?" I asked, looking behind me I noticed a faint shimmer coming from the rocks, a shimmer that began to peek my interests as I reached my hand out to touch its source.
"No!" The thief commanded, slapping my hand away as if I was a misbehaving child.
"Geez man, a simple no would have sufficed." I said with a frown.
"Those items are sacred, they are not to be touched." He warned, his violet eyes burning bright in the dark, I was beginning to feel fear settle into my stomach; maybe this was a mistake after all. I soon decided it was best not to ask any more questions regarding the items.
"Sorry, I didn't know." I said, bowing my head in shame.
A few minutes into my silent shame, I felt something being placed on my head, soon coming to the realization that it was his hand.
"It's fine, Spider." He replied as he began to pat the top of my head.
I felt a blush set into my cheeks as he removed his hand, I thought I would be ready for this type of affection, but maybe all that flirting had been a front, maybe I really wasn't ready for this.
"What, no flirtatious remark?" I heard him ask as if he had been reading my mind.
"I…" I began, trying to think of something off the top of my head, "You have very nice hands!"
I heard him laugh for a few moments before replying with thanks.
A sudden rumble from my stomach interrupted us both, causing me to look down.
"Aww, that's awkward." I said as I turned to look up at him.
I couldn't tell exactly what he was doing, all I knew was that his figure was moving.
The next thing I knew I was hit in the face with what felt like a soft brick.
"Alirght wasn't expecting that." I replied, blinking a few times as I felt tiny little particles making their way to my eyes.
"You were supposed to catch it, Spider." He said.
"Catch what? I can't see two feet in front of me?" I pointed out.
He replied with an annoyed sigh, which was soon followed by,
"It was some bread I stole from those people at the restaurant."
"Aww, really?" I replied, my heart picking up its pace.
"Yeah." Was all he replied with, and I strained to try and find some red on his cheeks, but alas, the darkness was too thick.
Though I felt a sickening feeling about eating food off the floor, I was too overcome by hunger to think twice, and I yanked it from the ground and began to tear pieces of it off, like a hungered wolf off a dead animal carcass.
The thief didn't say anything while I took part in my meal, like he could though after the way he diminished the pieces of meat in a similar style.
Then something hit me, something that should have hit me before I took a single bite of the loaf of bread.
"Wait, this shit isn't poisoned is it?" I asked, turning to look at his shadowy figure.
"I don't know." He said, sounding offended.
"I mean, what if I fall asleep?" I asked myself, not expecting him to answer.
"So what?" He asked, and I thought I could see his figure give a shrug, "It's not like any of those bastards are around."
"True." I said, pressing my index fingers together, "But what if they find me?"
"First off, didn't you kill them?" He questioned, and I was brought back to the act of evil I had committed, making a swirl of guilt pool in my stomach.
"Well, maybe they're just unconscious?" I suggested with an uncomfortable laugh.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Spider." He responded, and I couldn't help but feel even guiltier.
"Even if they do come for you." He began again, grabbing my attention, "I can protect you this time."
At this, I couldn't feel my guilt, I couldn't feel anything at that moment, I just sort of put my head down, blood rushing to my cheeks causing my body to warm itself.
"I can protect myself." I mumbled to myself, feeling the pace of my heart pick up, faster than it was before.
"Sure, Spider." He responded.
I formed my lips into a pout, taking another bite of the bread, not wanting him to treat me like a child.
"I'm going to go take a bath!" I spoke up, making my way up from the rock formation.
"I'm afraid you can't do that." He responded, and I could feel the sternness in his voice as I went to walk towards the stairs that led to the outside.
"Why not?" I asked, turning to look at him as I placed my hands on my hips in defiance.
"If your going to be staying with me, you will be staying by my side." He said, getting up from the rock formation himself.
"You're not the boss of me!" I yelled, sticking my tongue out at him like the mature adult I was.
"Careful girl." He warned, and I noted that he had referred to me as girl this time and not Spider, I could tell he was getting angered.
"I'm not having you treat me like a caged animal!" I continued to yell at him, not quite sure how this was doing for my situation.
"I'm not treating you like an animal." He protested, "If you would like to leave, you may, but this means you are on your own. If you choose to stay with me however, I will need to keep tabs on you."
"That's kind of creepy." I replied, my eyes finding the floor, or what I thought was the floor, "Why's this?"
"Because of the little bar incident you caused." He said.
"Okay, first off, you were the one who wouldn't listen to me!" I pointed out, "If you hadn't eaten that meat, that would have never happened!"
The only thing I got from him was a growl before I continued with my speech,
"And second, shouldn't I do my best to stay away from you? I am technically the person who…killed those people…?"
"Yes, but who will they believe actually killed those men, a scrawny girl like you, or someone like me who is notorious for killing?" He asked, making me think.
"Yeah, but then they would come after you!" I cried, realizing the situation.
"Thank you, but I think I just told you this." He replied in a flat tone, "They will most likely come after me."
"Then why do you need to keep tabs on me?" I cried, not quite understanding the situation.
"If for some reason they do realize that it was you that had committed that act of murder, they will take you and more than likely execute you." He explained, his tone remaining flat.
"You want to sacrifice yourself for me?" I asked, feeling an emotion I hadn't remembered feeling in a while.
He didn't respond, so I offered a (1) defense mechanism,
"That's still kind of dumb to just follow me around, you idiot." I mumbled to myself, "Just to get yourself potentially killed." The feeling had its hold on me nonetheless and I felt it hard to breath properly.
"Did you still want to take that bath?" He asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, another defense mechanism of a different kind making its way from my lips,
"Oh I get it, this is all just a ruse!"
"What?" He asked, not sounding amused.
"You just want to see me naked!" I laughed.
"You're gross." Was all he replied with as he began to make his way towards me.
"First person to the river is a rotten egg!" I blurted out, making my way up the stairs and out into the warming sunlight that swept over the desert, something I felt I hadn't seen in ages after being in the musky, dark cave.
"You don't even know where the river is, do you?" I heard him ask from behind me, surprised he had already caught up to me.
"Well." I began, placing a finger to my lips in thought, realizing he was right, "Female instincts!"
"No." He said, shaking his head, "Follow me." He then began to make his way forward, and pretty soon I found myself following him once again.
"Are you sure this whole charade isn't because you want to see me naked?" I asked, removing my clothes as I did so.
"I told you no." He replied, and I assumed his back was turned to me in order to back up his reply as I had mine to him.
"Yeah, that's what they all say." I shrugged, dipping a foot in the water as a wave of cold shot through my bones, causing me to recoil back on to dry land.
"It's so cold." I whispered to myself, trying another foot as if I expected that to be any better.
"Just go in." I heard the thief prompt after a few minutes of failed attempts to get at least a toe in the water.
"Hey man, this isn't as easy as it looks!" I yelled back at him, trying for my final attempt, forcing my whole foot, then my leg and eventually my entire body into the pool of Antarctica.
"Motherfucker!" I screamed for all of Egypt to hear, causing a few stray birds to scream back at me.
"So you're finally in?" I heard the thief asked to my annoyance.
"Oh no, I was just screaming at you." I replied in a sarcastic tone.
"Careful Spider." He replied, but by the use of my name and the hint of laughter in his voice, I could tell he was joking.
"You want to join me?" I asked in another attempt at flirting.
"No." He responded, as I knew he would.
"Had to try." I shrugged, getting used to the freezing water as if began to feel nice on my sore, dried out skin, I let myself sink to the bottom, feeling the small rocks at the bottom to wedge themselves between my skin, causing slight discomfort.
I looked over towards the thief, his back, as I had expected, facing me, the injuries, though somewhat healed, still visible, and I began to wonder why that was all I saw when I looked at him.
I frowned, sinking deeper into the river, letting the water touch my chin, its small waves lapping up water to my lips.
I spat it out in retaliation, telling it to keep its metaphorical hands to itself.
"Who are you talking to?" The thief asked after a couple of minutes.
"You." I replied with a smirk, "Because you can't keep your hands off all of this."
"What?" He asked in confusion, "I'm not even touching you!"
"But you wish you were." I answered with a wink.
"Are you almost done?" He asked with impatience, ignoring me still.
"Yeah, I suppose." I replied, beginning to make my way out of the river, my eyes searching for my sorry excuse for clothes.
"Aww, see, I told you!" I cried, pointing at him, my body still exposed.
"What are you babbling on about this time?" He asked, his back still facing me to my disappointment.
"You stole my clothes so you could see me naked." I accused.
"Did you look in front of you?" He asked with no trace of amusement.
At his suggestion, I looked down, and surely enough, they were there, and I began to place them over my head.
"Alright, let's get going." The thief said, as he began to make his way to his feet.
"No." I protested, not quite sure what I was going to gain by doing this.
"No?" He asked, as if daring me to change my answer.
"Yeah, that's what I said." I replied, staying as strong as I could.
"Listen Spider, you got your bath, what else could you possibly want?" He asked, sounding more tired than angered.
"Now you have to take a bath!" I said, stamping my foot into the sand to show I meant business, kicking up a few particles as I did so.
"If this another attempt at flirting, I'm not interested." He replied with a set of glazed eyes.
"No, though I wouldn't mind that." I said with a mischievous glimmer in my eye, "But you 've been carrying those injuries for who knows how long, and I'm honestly surprised you're not dead!"
"Yeah, so?" He prompted, raising an eyebrow.
"So, I think if you take a bath, you'll feel better." I explained, "And don't worry, I won't peek." I then took a chance at a wink.
"Yeah, can we leave?" He asked again.
"No, you are getting in that river or..." I trailed off in order to think of a punishment, "I'll scream really loud."
"Yeah, that will do it." He replied in a sarcastic tone.
"Do it!" I commanded, getting angry now.
"No." He replied in a serene tone.
I felt there was no other option, so in a haste decision, I jumped on top of him, or more on his waist to be accurate.
"What are you doing, Spider?" He asked in outrage.
"Get in the bath or I'll pinch you, and it will really hurt!" I screamed, trying anything at this point.
"Get off!" He commanded.
"I'll pull you're pants or um…skirt down!" I warned, as he continued to pry me off, "Then you'll be sorry!"
"Fine, I'll do it, will you get off me now?" He replied after a few more attempts at trying to remove me from his waist.
I removed my grip from his waist and let myself fall to the ground on my butt, regretting it as soon as it had happened.
"Ow, my butt." I whined, watching the thief as he made his way to the river.
"What did I tell you about watching me?" He asked, glaring in my direction.
"That it was a perfectly normal, teenage girl thing to do and I should keep doing it?" I guessed with a weak smile.
"Not even close." He replied, keeping his eyes locked on mine, "No turn around or I will not get into this river." He then motioned me to do just that.
"You're no fun!" I huffed, making my lips into a childish pout.
"Yeah, yeah." He dismissed my whining as I soon heard the splashing of water, signaling me that he was in.
"Wow, that was fast." I said, eyes wide, 'Have some stripping secret?"
All I heard from him was a loud groan of annoyance, another signal to me, this time, to keep my mouth shut.
"Feels nice, don't it?" I asked, feeling quite smug, "Bet it looks even better!"
"Spider." He warned, and I could tell by the splashes of water he was most likely leaning back now.
"So not even a peek?" I pressed.
"What do you think?" He asked, assuming I already knew the answer by his tone.
"Fine." I huffed again, "Hey, you want to play I Spy?"
"What?" He asked.
"It's a game, I say "I Spy something orange' for example and then you have to guess what it is?" I explain as I began to rock back and forth on my bottom.
"Did you just make that up?" He questioned through another splash of water.
" I think." I replied, not quite where I got the game from.
"You think?" He asked and I could almost hear his eyebrow rising at this question.
"Yes." I replied as I sat straight up in the sand, "Come on, I'm bored and it will be fun!"
"Fine." He replies in a sigh as I find something to try and start with.
"Alright, I got something!" I say, sitting up in the sand, "I spy a large building."
"You mean the palace?" He groaned.
"Oh, is that what that is?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"Yes." He replied, and I could feel his eyes on my back, I had to hold the urge in to not look behind me.
"You want to go next?" I asked, assuming I already know the answer to this question.
"No, not really." He replied with what I knew he would say.
"Fine." I sighed, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over me, and I soon find myself curling into my damp clothes, head deep in the sand as I begin to drift off to sleep.
I woke up to nothing but pure and utter silence, hoping I wasn't dead, though I wouldn't have been surprised at this point; after all I'd been through.
"Are you awake, Spider?" I heard a voice ask from behind, a voice I only recognized by the name it referred to me by.
"Physically, yes." I replied, "Mentally, I'll need to get back to you on that one."
I heard a chuckle from behind me, and felt a weird twinge run through my body, I'd heard him laugh a couple times before, but every time he did, it made me feel…warm inside, and I wasn't quite sure why.
I looked over my shoulder at the thief, his head raised to the sky, which was nearing dusk. His arms rested on his knees, his legs grabbing my attention as I began my way around to look at him.
"You have really nice legs." I marveled, this not coming out as a form of flirtation at first, but as soon as it came out, I felt it must have been one.
"He looked down from the sky and towards me, his eyes narrowed in what looked to be confusion.
"Thank you." He replied.
"No problem." I said with a small pout as I turned my head down to look at the sand beneath my feet, enjoying the silence for the time being.
"Why don't we start heading back." The thief spoke up as he began to make his way up on his feet. I watched him do so in silence, my eyes wide in wonder.
"Are you coming?" He asked, looking down at me.
"I am." I said with a nod as I began to make my way to my feet, still feeling the weight of sleep on my body.
"You need me to carry you, again?" He asked, and I assumed her meant it as a joke in judgment of his tone.
"I'm a big girl!" I protest, "I can walk all on my own."
I felt his hand run itself through my hair as he replied in a playful tone,
"You are really stubborn sometimes, you know that, Spider?"
"Yeah, I know." I answer, trying my hardest to not look him in the eyes while my heart began to run faster then my body, my cheeks burning.
Why did I have the feeling this relationship would come back to bite me in the ass?
The more you know:
1. Defense Mechanisms: Now, if you're a bit of a psychology nerd like I am, you probably already know what this is, but if you don't, sit yourself down because I'm going to tell you. Put simply, Defense Mechanisms are the brains way of protecting oneself, whether it be from an unwanted emotion, fear, stress, sadness, etc. by putting up a sort of emotional barrier. There are many different types of defense mechanisms, but one quite common one would be procrastination. Yes, this in fact kicks into gear when we fear somethings not good enough or may not be good enough. For example, me with this chapter. I was afraid it was too dumb to post and it took me a while to post it, but eventually, I sucked it up and posted it anyways.
