Disclaimer: How goes it gentle readers? Good? That's good. Sorry this took so long, but things have been grim on this end, which makes a couple of months fly right by.
HA
It was without a doubt the strangest bird he had ever seen. There he had been sitting, soaking his feet in the cool water of the lake and enjoying the calm surrounding him, when this bold swan glides over, only to watch him. It didn't get close enough for him to touch, floating maybe three, maybe five feet away from the bank, moving with the flow of the current. Just watching him.
"Psst." The sound meant to frighten the bird off was out of his mouth before he realized he was thinking of making it. His voice, crisp and clear against the peacefulness of the day, did nothing to perturb the swan. It continued to watch him, bobbing up and down in silence.
"Hey."
Silence.
"Hey. Psst."
Silence.
"Hey."
Silence.
Growing steadily more irritated, he picked up a clump of leaves, mud and rock, tossing it half heartedly at the glorious bird. Though it made a soft plunk sound and the splash forced a ripple, the swan was not startled. Rather, it looked to the spot where the threat passed, then back to him; it was as though, through that look, the swan was calling him the stupidest person alive. And he certainly felt like a fool through that gaze. Picking up another handful, he tossed it with a bit more accuracy, adding to it a
"Get lost."
But the bird didn't even bother to watch the flying clump – not even when it broke the surface a few inches away. Only bobbed up and down with the movement of the water, and watched him with a cool gaze.
It's my Lake, you idiot the bird seemed to say, and with his face burning red in embarrassment, he looked away. Focusing all his attention on the water he had disturbed with his irrational anger, he saw the little currents swirl with mud, turning the once clear liquid into a cloudy vision. He could still feel the ever-watchful eyes of the swan on him as it floated nearby in the waning light. Why was he getting so worked up over a swan? It was just a bird – a weird one maybe, but a bird nonetheless.
A sudden squawking pulled him nearly violently from his thoughts, and he quickly turned his head to see the swan that was dedicatedly watching him take off into the trees above his head. He was so startled he barely had time to duck before the damn thing took his head off. Looking back out onto the lake he witnessed the rest of the flock doing the same thing, darting into the surrounding forest with haste as the last fingers of daylight were stretched over the tops of the trees.
"How long have I been out here?" he wondered aloud to himself as he shook off the remaining water droplets that hadn't yet soaked into his clothes. It was nightfall already? He could have sworn it was just past noon.
"The whole latter part of the day, one should think." A second voice broke his solitude, and as quickly as he whirled around, Thaddeus Gammelthorpe came face to face with the same woman from the other night. Her feet were bare, but she still had that white dress on; she kept on talking when he said nothing.
"I would assume that would be obvious enough, seeing as the sun has vanished and the fires are being lit." she lifted one exquisite, pale arm and motioned along the banks of the Lake, introducing him to the sight of multiple burning fires. In awe, he wondered why he hadn't noticed the intricate and ornate stone buildings camouflaged into the wilderness before.
"And as you have been here since noon, that would make my statement of the whole latter part of the day true." Slowly she came forward, walking delicately over the fallen branches and exposed roots of the ancient forest. The silver of a pendant around her neck caught the light of a fire, glittering the image of an idle swan in his eyes.
"You're the woman from last night, aren't you. Outside Caesar's Theatre." She smiled with a nod, moving to sit next to him. Her eyes roamed the lake, before landing on the reflection of the moon. It never ceased to stir strong, powerful emotions within her.
"Is that the name of the place you were leaving, Caesar's Theatre?" she asked innocently, dipping her feet into the water beside his. He shivered, wanting to feel her soft skin beneath his hands.
"So it was you. Why did you run?" his hand was making passive aggressive motions, as if he were going to take hers. He never did.
"The City isn't safe for me." Her absentminded whisper pushed the bounds of his curiosity, and he looked at her gently while his mind ran away with the thought of how lovely she looked in the moonlight.
"The City is safe for no one." Their eyes met. Their hands didn't.
"You haven't left my mind since then." His voice was quiet, gentle, afraid he might frighten her off. The moon's reflection in her brown orbs captivated his sight and soul.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not." Such a bold statement from such a thin man, and she had to fight the urge to bite her lip lest it appear coy. Releasing an unsteady breath, she stood and made her way into the trees, only stopping to turn when she didn't hear his following footsteps.
"Would you like to walk with me?" there was nothing flirtatious or enticing about her, inviting without the sly, wanting undertones. He caught her smile, mimicking it to craft his own to send back, and both appreciated it.
"I don't even know your name." his heart fluttered at the way her body shifted with his statement, adjusting in the moonlight.
"That didn't matter yesterday."
He laughed, and she smiled.
"No I guess it didn't."
"So come take a walk with me. Watch the stars with me. Enjoy the night with me."
Well, he certainly couldn't turn down an invitation when she put it that way. He nodded, and after kicking the excess water of his feet and slipping on his shoes, he followed after her silhouette. Negotiating his way past the trees and bushes he supposed were really bears were really bushes were really bears were really bushes – he chased after this mysterious girl from the wood he adored.
And to his credit he only tripped twice.
Her laughter, light and airy, led him to her, and she in turn followed a path carved by the stars and surrounded by the trees, until she came to a small hill within a clearing. Thaddeus stumbled up the side, awed as he watched her twirl a few times, the dress billowing around her waist. She fell gracefully to her knees then rolled onto her hip, a patient smile on her face as she waited for him to join her. He laughed quietly to himself as he moved to sit next to her, and was amazed at just how right it felt.
"So, what's your favorite color?" his voice broke the calm, and she surprised herself with the laughter that bubbled up her throat. He grinned, obviously pleased with himself at the response his question garnered, but sat patiently for her answer nonetheless.
"Um, the pale of the ashen moon I suppose. What's yours?" she tried, but how does one describe the color of the sclera moon, like the eyes of your lover?
"Orange." She laughed again, and he felt as though the sound made him invincible. He could do anything, so long as he could make her laugh.
The night progressed quickly after that, he would enact scenes from the latest show he is in – never mind that at that very moment he was missing a rehearsal, and that his sister was working herself into a brilliant fit of rage. She would remain silent but smile bright as the sun, clapping enthusiastically when he would finish and take an elaborate bow. Then she would perform little dances from their upcoming Midsummer festival, and sing to him the songs she'd known all her life. They told each other of their families and friends, of favorite foods, memories, dreams, dislikes, and fears. He didn't tell her that sometimes while he performed, he was dressed like a woman. And she didn't tell him that she was a Swan.
Their hands still hadn't met.
The pair had been laying side by side in the cool grass, she pointing out the constellations and telling him the stories behind them. He would listen to her intently, asking questions every now and again, some would make her laugh but all she answered honestly. When the morning Robins began their songs, she sat up abruptly, looking down the hill just as a man and woman marched assiduously towards them.
"There you are my dear!" the woman exclaimed, her arms held open before her.
"Where have you been? Dawn is approaching." At the man's words, she jumped to her feet while he sat up, eyes wide and mouth open.
"Dawn?" the pair shouted, and while she made a small move towards the other woman, he lifted his gaze to the sky, amazed to see the pink blush of morning seeping over the trees.
The night's already gone? He wondered to himself, and with a sudden sense of urgency was on his feet and frantically trying to figure out in which direction the City lay. Of all the times to have a horrid sense of direction, he cursed to himself, this ranked in the top five. Spinning in a few circles in hopes of getting his bearings, he stopped when finding himself face to face with the man that had approached. He was a tall man, with black hair and mustache dark as the shadows that had surrounded him. His white shirt and dark trousers looked crisp despite the savage surroundings, his female companion donning an elegant floor length white gown. They both had a silver swan pendant around their necks, much like the girl. It was all so very odd.
"How do I get back to the City?" the new pair looked taken aback, as if he had insulted them in every possibly way while the girl wrapped one arm around her waist and the other went to cover her mouth. The man stared him down, analyzing everything about Thaddeus, before he seemed to come to a startling conclusion, stepping back quickly. Lifting his arm with precision, he pointed an agile finger towards the rising sun. When he spoke, his voice was a deep baritone that seemed to vibrate the timber of the trees encasing them.
"The City lies there." His words were final, and as the older woman took the younger into her arms, she too had something to say.
"Arise and go, Poet. And do not return."
The surprise on his face couldn't be masked, and as he tried to meet the eyes of the young woman, he found himself disappointed when he did. The look in her brown orbs brokered no question to her agreement with her elders: he had better gone before the sun arose, and not return. He didn't want to admit how much that hurt, deep in his very soul. And why should it? She was just another dame, another bird her would seduce and sex then not think of her again.
And yet deep within his heart, he knew she could never be just another bedpost notch.
With a nod in their direction, he took off for the horizon, looking back only once, although that could have been a trick of the light aided by the shadows. When he had disappeared from view, Rhonda sighed with an obvious tone of melancholy. And her parents knew she was saddened by the strange foreigner and his departure.
"I certainly hope he never comes back. Or better yet had not appeared at all, but that cannot be helped." Her mother voiced bravely, as the sun broke through the morning cloud cover, bathing the lake in warm pink light. Rhonda suppressed her gasp at the feeling that, even now several years after the first, still surprised and pained her. Her knees gave out, and the soft whimpers and groans from her parents told her that theirs' had done the same. The familiar feeling of horror and discomfort filled her from the inside out as she watched glorious, soft white feathers emerge from every pore on her body; the short locks of raven hair falling in clumps from her head as it shrank. Her skeletal structure was also forced to change rapidly, bones crunching and folding, extending and bending, until she was no longer a young woman, but a young swan. Twisting her long neck, her bead-black eyes gazed down her beak, elegant wings spreading to their full extent as she let out a squawk of irritation. Her dress slipped from her form as the sun invaded their forest of magic and illusion; Rhonda quickly pecked at the chain around her breast before looking to her mother and father.
Commanding Swans, the both of them. And both turned to watch her as she took off into the sky, headed for the City or some place that lay beyond. They understood; disapproved but understood nonetheless. She was, after all, a young Swan, her heart still swaying to the beat curiosity placed within at the sight of the City. They themselves had felt the same thing, long ago and in another time. But she would simply have to outgrow it as they had done.
She was going to be the Queen of the Swans someday.
She could not afford to be heartsick over a tainted human.
~O~
To say that he felt empty would be an understatement; Thaddeus had wanted so much to kiss her. His lips burned and his fingers itched as he thought of that smooth, creamy skin that taunted him all night long as he sat in her company. As the sun moved higher into the morning sky and showed him the way back, he couldn't stop thinking of that young raven haired woman – her eyes full of life as she watched him perform the Largo he was supposed to be rehearsing that night with his sister. Oh dear, his sister.
"I'm a dead man." Bemoaning his fate, Thaddeus rushed towards the hole in the Wall, wondering if Jolene had sent out the stage hands yet. She could be vicious when it came to defending the honor of her shows, and not even her cast could be safe from the wrath she possessed.
The large, warn Wall came into view so suddenly he was momentarily surprised; the thought briefly crossed his mind that he had gone deeper into the woods than that. Apparently not he admitted with a shrug as he looked for the opening hidden within the barrier. The echoes of gunfire overpowered the birds, and the wind was outmatched by the screams. He knew he was home now, Thaddeus realized as he listened to the angry, forceful shouts of the SSCA patrolmen demand identification and paperwork just on the other side of the Wall. He had to stop, leaning against the brick as he waited for the voices to fade into the distance. It would be a bad idea to poke his stupid little head through the Wall with them standing there – he'd be in jail or worse before he could even reach for the proper ID and paperwork he didn't have. Leaving the City was expressly forbidden unless one had the proper authorization.
No one ever received it.
Fighting back the memories that scared his mind from the last time he was caught trying to flee the City, Thaddeus almost missed the sounds of heavy boots making their way down the street and past the hole. They didn't notice it, they never did, and for that he was eternally grateful. As they disappeared down the abuse torn blocks, he released a shaky breath, squeezing his way through the opening and quickly righting himself as if he had always been there.
Whistling a catchy, melancholy tune, he strolled down the streets as if he belonged there, images of pretty little maidens dancing in his head. Not three steps down the lane he was pulled off his feet and into an alleyway; his back against the brick wall of a surrounding building. An arm pressed against his neck while another hand covered his mouth as he looked upon his attacker. What he found surprised him.
"Hmmga?" The shock in his voice was enough to stir a smirk across his captor's face, a smirk he knew all too well. Short blonde hair curved and curled around her chin, blue eyes bright with a mixture of fear and protection.
"Quiet Thaddeus, if they find us here they'll kill us both." Her whisper was harsh as she released him, before turning on her heel and making her way swiftly down the narrow alley. Sending a quick look out the entrance to be sure no one was watching, he moved to follow her. She paused to wait for him, and without words led him through the twists and turns of the dark passageway. She didn't speak as she guided him, save for when they stopped at a door, old and hidden within a notch in the wall.
"Sector Five is forbidden to the likes of us; and they've been checking IDs and papers all day. Follow me, even out here the walls have ears and eyes." With a forceful shove, she knocked open the door and ushered him inside.
It was a dimly lit hallway, a few well-placed burning lamps doing little to dispel the shadows. He followed her step per step as she moved, flashes of memories nipping at the corners of his mind – walking down a passageway similar to this one, holding Jolene's hand tightly in his own. Moving down the way, he could hear the sirens of the world outside fade away as his mind was assaulted by the memory of walking down the mortuary halls with his sister, to look upon the corpse of their dead father. His body riddled with bullet holes as he and every one of his work brothers were lined up outside the mine they were excavating and shot by an SSCA firing squad. Face covered in blood and mine residue, the nearly-made orphans couldn't be sure if it was a blessing or a curse that those bastards hadn't shot their beloved patriarch in the head.
His poor coordination on the stairs that suddenly appeared before his feet pulled him from the recesses of his recollection.
"Watch your step." Her monotonous warning came seconds too late, as he caught himself just before face planting on the cold step. Shaking off his angry rant, Thaddeus ascended the stairs carefully in the near dark, stubbing his toes painfully on the rotten wood every now and again. To punctuate his blunders, he would send pointed glares at Helga's back; she ignored them, however, in lieu of their destination.
An old, warn and beaten door rose from the top of the step like a monolith – upon reaching it Helga looked back at the young man with an expression that spoke volumes in the silence of the passageway. With a grunt, she forced her way through the door and into a small room lit by a few weak lamps. He followed her, taking in and analyzing the sparse room. He noticed one bed with a small table next to it which was help up a lamp, a dresser parallel to them on the opposite wall. A desk was placed at an angle in one corner, housing the other lamp as well as books which more than likely came from the wooden bookshelf beside it. There was a chair tucked in as a companion to the desk host to a figure, a dark blue bandana covering their hair.
It was when his blonde guide swiftly shut the door behind them that the figure turned within the seat – a seat which Thaddeus noticed they were bound to presumably for life – and a smile bloomed on his wide face.
"What have you brought home now my dear?" he asked with mirth not quite fitting his appearance as Helga made her way to him, one hand on his shoulder as she bent to kiss his lips smoothly.
"This is Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, Jolene's younger brother. Thaddeus, this is my husband, Arnold."
Now introduced, Arnold propelled his wheelchair forward with the force of his arms, before taking Thaddeus's hand and shaking it with enthusiasm. The young raven-haired man was just as enthusiastic with his own greeting, finding his host's smile infection.
"I certainly hope he isn't another radical, Helga. Last time you brought one of those home, you married him." his remarked earned him a swat on the shoulder and she smirked while easing herself onto the desk, but otherwise let the comment slide.
"Are you a radical?" Thaddeus found himself asking before realizing just how stupid that was. Obviously he was, if he lived in Sector Five – everyone knew that Sector Five was the four or five blocks of the city dedicated to housing criminals – most of which were radicals against the CA Royals. Security was usually tight, but that didn't mean that guards couldn't be bought off every now and again with money, drugs, women, or any combination of the three.
"I was born with legs; it was the SSCA that took them away. Yes I am a radical, but due to recent events, I only do most of the planning – it's Helga here who now does the running for us." He laughed, patting useless left leg with nothing but good humor. Thaddeus watched Helga's face darken for a moment, but said nothing.
"And how do you know I won't just go to the guards and bust you?" he asked as he found himself something to lean against; the wire frame of the small bed.
"We know your history just as well as our own. Why on earth would you aide the very men who took your parents from you?" was Helga's counter question, and Thaddeus found himself nodding. There was no need to ask how they knew his past; Helga and Jolene were good friends, and facts would no doubt have been shared between the two over the years.
"So why did you bring me here? Are you needing a new recruit or something?" it was becoming obvious to him that Helga was become both bored and irritated by the constant answering of one question with another, but Arnold it seemed was rather happy to just have a visitor.
"No such luck, Gammelthorpe. My main reason was to get you off these streets – the guard has been doubled in the last few hours and they've been checking papers like nobody's business. The other was to find out where the hell you've been. No one as seen you all night, and everyone at the theatre has been worried we lost both Gammelthorpes in one day." As she elaborated Thaddeus felt the blood drain from his face. Both Gammelthorpes? Did she say lost both Gammelthorpes?
"Where's my sister? Where's Jolene?" he was no longer leaning.
"Again part of the problem. Whoa whoa whoa, calm down turbo. None of us have seen her all night, but that doesn't necessarily mean the worst. She never showed at the theatre for rehearsal last night, and never answered the door to your place. Everyone knows there are only two keys, and the door was locked so we waited for you to show. Again, no luck since you bailed too. The whole company has been on pins and needles all night – so why don't you go back home and check there, and if that yields no luck, then head to Moby's and we'll go panic from there. Capisce?" There was no room for argument in her tone, and Thaddeus realized that he didn't even want to as he nodded. The only feeling he had was the need to get home to find his sister. His only family left.
All thoughts of the mysterious woman had fled his head.
"Good. Now you're gonna want to take the back alleys – I'd go with you but any group larger than one is being stopped, questioned, and removed. Just stay in the shadows and you'll be fine. Oh, and Thaddeus? Hope you find her."
With one more nod, he shook Arnold's hand again and bowed his head to Helga before making his hasty retreat out the door. It wasn't until they heard his heavy footfalls disappear down the steps and along the passage that Helga turned to her beloved husband.
"I'll have to go to the club soon." She said quietly, and Arnold took her hand in his, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.
"I hate it as much as you do, but you have to keep up appearances. If they were to discover you loved me, they'd have you killed as a way to punish me. I can't have that." He murmured, opening her fist to kiss her palm with grown sensuality.
"I know that. But I hate feeling as though I'm betraying you at your own wishes. So I want you to know that even though another man may enjoy this body, this heart will always belong to you." She emphasized her words by taking his own hand and resting it against her chest, soothing both their minds if only temporarily. His responding smile morphed from one of pure love to something more devious as his digits nonchalantly moved down to her breast, squeezing it daringly. Helga laughed.
"Don't worry husband, we have time."
They both laughed in a moment of carefree love as she took his hands once again and used them to caress along her thighs, lifting her dress up and over her head.
~O~
Making it back to the housing unit he and his sister shared wasn't so difficult, Thaddeus found much to his relief. Following the path of the alleys, he only had one near run-in with a pair of guards – they had been leaning against the guard tower sharing a smoke. He eyed the high powered rifles slung from their shoulders, the green hilted Bayonets at faithfully at their sides. The bright red of the arm band stood strong against the faded forest green grey of their uniform, a golden Fleur-de-lis resting above a black infinity symbol bold on the men's biceps.
Deciding the men were too much for his tired and worried body to handle, Thaddeus had turned to find another way when a violent sounding warning alarm went off, startling both him and the two guards. Tossing the cigarette off to the side without bothering to snuff it out, both men took off down the street and around the corner. Deciding to hold off moving until he was sure it was safe, Thaddeus waited until he heard the telltale gunfire and the screams that accompany them before he made his way swift and stealthy past the checkpoint. He stood and surveyed his surroundings for a moment, before moving over to where the forgotten and still burning cigarette lay. Picking it up carefully, he put it to his lips and inhaled gratefully while making his way past the stand.
Back in his assigned sector, Thaddeus was disappointed at the overwhelming feeling of safety that mixed with the fear which was always there, pinching the back of the neck and biting at heels. The only place he felt truly at ease was out there, beyond the Regime and the Wall, within the forest. He didn't have to worry about being shot – accidentally or purposefully – by the damn SSCA, nor did he have to work in that theatre. Out there, he was free to be himself, and he was surprised to realize he felt most at peace with that woman on the hill.
Without warning Thaddeus stopped in his tracks, a dazed look marring his features.
"Damn it all – I didn't get her name."
Another reason to be melancholy thrown onto his shoulders, he sighed heavily and picked up his pace towards his home.
The closer he drew, the faster he smoked until soon he was puffing out the gray contaminate more than he was savoring the effects it held. He had begun running prior to him realizing it, and the young Gammelthorpe soon found himself winded when he finally made it to the door of their unit the housing block. His usually nimble fingers felt pudgy and useless as he fumbled with key he had negotiated out of his jacket pocket. Taking a few attempts to get the key right, Thaddeus was huffing with irritation by the time he finally managed to shove the key directly in the lock and turn it; the door opened with a forceful shove to reveal a quiet, lonely house.
He thought his heart might stop.
"Jolene?" his voice matched his trepidation, and as he walked through the kitchen towards the steps to their bedrooms he found he hated the echo of his steps above all else. Once at the top of the stairs, a quick check of his room and then the bathroom both yielded the same results: nothing.
"Please be here, Joe." His whisper came as a surprise to his ears as he placed a hand on her doorknob, half to open it and half to steady his shaking appendage. With a reassuring exhale he turned the knob and let himself in. Of all the things he was expecting to see, what actually lay before him was more than a shock.
Jolene was sprawled on her bed, the sheets wrapped around her lower waist in all sorts of naughty ways. Her normally small to average size breasts were aided by gravity into pert and plump mounds. A man with sandy colored hair was at her side, the sheets also twisted around his middle, one hand above his head while the other was resting on one of Jolene's breasts with a casual sort of intimacy. They were sleeping so deeply that Thaddeus was surprised they weren't snoring the windows out.
Just as he was about to back out quietly and let them sleep until fully rested, the man gave his sister a good squeeze, and she responded with a throaty moan.
"GAHH!" he screamed, shielding his eyes as he threw himself backwards out the door. He delayed just enough to see his sister bolt up and the man flip off the bed before he slammed the wooden barrier shut and took off down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time and nearly breaking his neck.
"It burns! It burns!" he comically shouted, and couldn't hold back his laugh with he heard Jolene's roar echo throughout the small space.
"THADDEUS EDWIN GAMMELTHORPE!"
He felt safe and at home once more.
HA