So, it's midnight...
Fang: We should be in bed.
Me: Yeah, but we're not. I'm actually considering watching a movie, but first, I wanted to start on the next update of Double Date!
Fang: Joyous...Isn't there something about a race in this one?
Me: Yes, yes...The Race of Doom....
Fang: The Race of Doom?
Me: -shrugs- It sounded cool, and I'm tired, anyway.
Fang: Let's get this over with...
Me: By the way, for all my crazy fans...Did you know I now have a fansite? There's a link on my profile. Wow, I'm famousish....
Risa's POV
Another morning in Forks. Doing nothing. I was beginning to wonder why we were even here. Was Embry ever going to talk to his mom again?
I had gone out to sunbathe in the Cullen's front yard, only to realize there wasn't much sun to bathe it. Actually, it looked like it was going to rain. Great. If there's one thing this town didn't have to worry about, it was a drought.
So, now I was just lying on the ground in the Cullen's front yard, watching the clouds roll by. Boring. Heck, the clouds in Forks didn't even have cool shapes to pick out! They all looked like, well, clouds. Not exactly prime-time entertainment.
Suddenly, Edward was standing above me. Darn him and his speediness. "Birdwatching, Risa?"
"Yeah, I'd love to. Know where I can find some birds to watch?"
Edward grinned and took a seat next to me. "So, enjoying Forks so far?"
I shrugged. "Sure, it's a great place. If you've got a thing for monotony, that is."
Edward laughed. "Yes, I guess it's not the most entertaining of vacation spots, even with all the living myths and legends."
"Well then, how about we make something exciting happen?" A voice said behind me.
I turned to see Embry walking up to us, a big smile across his face. "Oh, Embry...I don't like the look of that face. It usually means you're up to something..."
"I'm not up to anything! Well, this time." Embry said, flopping down next to me. "I just got an invite from Jacob for some entertainment tonight at La Push."
"What kind of entertainment?" I asked. At this point, he could say 'Snail Races' and I'd probably be all for it.
"The La Push wolf pack kind." He said, grinning.
"Ooo, an element of mystery. When do we go?" I asked.
"Nightfall."
The door to the Cullen's home opened and Esme stuck her head out. "Embry? Risa? Bella and I whipped up something for lunch you might like! Want to come in and give it a try?"
"Wonder what they've whipped up this time?" Embry muttered, getting up.
"Who knows." Edward said. "It's the first time in a long time Esme's been able to find a use for all those foreign cookbooks she's collected, and she's taking full advantage of it."
"Alright, Embry, you go scope out what crazy recipe Esme and Bella have cooked up this time, and I'll go find Fang." I said, pulling myself to my feet. I turned to the vampire beside me. "You coming, Edward?"
He shook his head. "Think I'll stay here and keep an eye on your clouds for you." He said, smiling.
I smiled back. "Alright then." Embry had already walked off, and I began to walk toward the woods to find Fang, when I suddenly felt a cold hand on my shoulder. I nearly jumped 10 feet up. "Hey!"
"Sorry, Risa." Edward said behind me. "I just wanted to say...." He spun around to face me. His amber eyes were so intense to stare into. I almost wanted to look away, but I forced myself to hold his gaze. No man, dead or undead, was going to make me back down.
"Risa, remember, just because Embry wasn't...Up to something this time doesn't mean that none of his friends are."
I opened my mouth to ask Edward what in the world this warning was supposed to mean, but I blinked and he was gone.
I sighed and contiuned into the forest, scanning the skies for my bird-boy wonder.
I had to say this for my situation. I may be stuck with two loveable pains-in-the-ass, but at least I wasn't stuck with a cryptic, speedy, mind-reading vampire. Sheesh.
Jacob's POV
This was almost too perfect.
I'd gotten some of the other wolves of La Push together for tonight, saying we were just going to have some fun and get to know Embry's girl. What it turned into, as I'd hoped, was a wonderful display of all of the wolves, but especially Embry's, talents and athletic abilities. We'd shown Risa our cliff diving, which she'd thought was pretty cool, and some of our wrestling techniques.
The best part, though, was Fang. He stood next to Risa the entire time, looking totally pissed. I could tell he knew we were showing off, and he didn't like it. Good. We'd see who Risa'd pick now. Her skinny little sorry excuse for a Thanksgiving dinner, or Embry, the big, the strong, and the brave?
Now, it was time to pull out the big guns.
"I now call for....A race!" I yelled, jumpng in front of the group, who were taking a break and eating some of the hotdogs and things we'd brought to grill.
"What kind of race?" asked Jared.
"An epic race." I answered. "Let's see....." I pretended to think for a moment. I already knew where I'd have the race to. "How about a race to the Cullen's front step and back? I'm sure they wouldn't mind..."
"Well, except Rosalie. She'll be pissed." Embry added.
I nodded. "Well, yeah, but that'll be worth it." I said, grinning.
When the others were done laughing, Quil spoke up, just as planned. "So, who wants to race, huh?"
A bunch of the guys of course scrambled to race, but I had one certain person in mind...
"Embry! Hey, why don't you race?" I said, walking over and clapping him on the shoulder. "If I remember, you used to be pretty fast, almost as fast as Leah. Unless, you're out of practice..."
That got him. "Hey! I don't need practice! Alright, who'll go up against me, huh?"
"Are you sure this is a good time for a race?" Risa asked me, looking up towards the sky. "It's been looking like rain all day, and now, it looks pretty nasty."
"Nah, don't worry about it." I told her. "It always looks like rain around here. And besides, we've all weathered worse than a little storm."
"So, who'll race Embry?" Quil asked.
Of course, a bunch of others were willing to race him, especially Collin and Brady, being smaller and probably quicker than him, but Quil and I had other plans...
My eyes travelled over to Fang, who was still sulking behind Risa. Time to put the plan into action.
"Hey, Fang!" I said, giving him a hard clap on the back that almost sent him toppling over. I held back a laugh. "You haven't gotten to try anything today. Why don't you give racing Embry a shot?"
I saw Embry shoot an unpleasant grin in Fang's direction and Fang glared back. Oh, too perfect!
"Well, in less you don't think you can keep up with him." I added.
That did it. "Yeah, I can keep up with him." Fang said, pulling off his jacket and handing it to Risa.
Risa looked a bit concerned as she took his black jacket. "Fang, you don't have to do this..."
"I'm fine, Risa." Fang said. His eyes travelled to Embry. "It's all fun and games anyway, right?" His eyes narrowed.
Embry's evil grin widened. "Right. Just for fun."
"Fang, just...Be careful." Risa said quietly.
By then, Fang was already walking up to stand next to Embry. They glared daggers at each other as they stood side-by-side. I had to give the bird-kid credit. Embry was about 3 times his size, but Fang wasn't backing down one bit.
It was almost too bad we had to make a fool out of him.
I went to stand in front of the two of them. I looked back and saw Risa standing there, looking first worriedly up at the sky, then at Fang and Embry. I almost rolled my eyes. If she was going to be with a La Push wolf, she was going to have to learn to stop worrying!
"On your mark!" I yelled out.
Embry phased into wolf form in a burst of fur and shredded clothes. Good thing I'd thought to tell everyone to bring extra clothes. The others cheered.
"Get set!"
Fang whipped out his wings. I almost laughed. He probably thought those wings would get him far. Well, in this windy and cloudy weather, and with him not knowing the terrain as well as Embry, he was dead wrong.
"Go!"
At that moment, two blurred figures sped past me on either side. One took to the woods, the other took to the air, and in seconds, they were gone.
And now, all we had to do was wait.
Fang's POV
Well, so much for the fly up, spot the Cullen's house, and land' plan. It was way too cloudy to fly very high, and it was only getting worse. I flew as low as I could, trying to stay out of the clouds. I had to rely on my little knowledge of the area and my awesome directional skills to figure out where the Cullen's house was. The only way I knew I was going anywhere near in the right direction was when I'd catch a glimpse of Embry running below me.
The weather was getting pretty bad, even for Forks. The clouds were a dark black. And just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I felt the first drops of rain on my back.
Maybe this was a stupid idea. But, after watching those stupid wolf-guys show off all day and seeing Embry's sneer, I couldn't refuse the chance to do a bit of showing-off myself.
It only occured to me, now that I was already stuck in the race, that they may have planned this whole thing just to humiliate me. Well, I'd prove them wrong.
If I ever got out of this damn storm, that is.
Finally, I spotted the Cullen's front steps, just as the rain began to really pour. I tucked my wings in and sped toward their house, unfurling them at the last second to land. Note to self: Pulling your wings out like while falling at an obscene number of miles per hour that hurts.
Just like that, I landed right on the Cullen's front doorstep.
Just as Embry's huge paw touched it.
There was a split second where we looked each other in the eye. We glared at each other for that one second. If this had been a movie, it would have been one of those epic slow-motion scenes, like in 300 or something. Then, I shot into the air just as Embry shot back off into the woods.
The trip back wasn't any easier than the trip there. Now, I was cold, soaked, and starting to get tired. And, to top it all off, I heard a crash of thunder.
Now, I had a choice to make. I could either keep flying and risk getting turned into Kentucky Fried Bird Kid, or I could land and risk losing the race.
You know, to most people, that would be a no-brainer choice, but it's amazing what pride does to your thinking. I kept flying.
Or, at least, I tried to keep flying. The wind picked up and soon, I found myself being blown every which way, barely able to stay in the air. Lightening struck around me, lighting up the sky. I tried flying lower, closer to the trees, but only risked getting blown into the treetops. Of course, I didn't have any other real choice of where to fly. The higher I flew, the closer I was to the lightening.
Suddenly, off to my right, I saw lightening hit a tree hard. Between that hit and the wind, the tree couldn't stay up. I saw it fall with a crash.
And heard a loud howl erupt from where it landed.
"Embry." I said, spinning around in the air and heading toward the fallen tree. I made a not-so-graceful landing nearby, crashing through a couple treetops to get there. I searched madly around the fallen tree, trying to catch a glimpse of the furball. "Embry!" I called out to him.
Finally, I heard a bark.
I jumped over to the other side of the fallen tree and found Embry, the tail end of him stuck under the tree. I bent down next to him, trying to assess the damage and find a way to get him out. If a normal human or wolf had had a tree of that size fall on them, there would have been a lot more damage, if they even survived. Lucky for Embry, he wasn't normal in any way. He's healing ability had kept him from suffering any real damage, he was just, well, stuck.
Since there was no way I was lifting the remnants of that darn tree off of him, I could only see one real way of getting the guy out. "Hold on, Bry." I said and ran off to find something to dig him out with. I came back with a large, flat rock. I bent down next to him again and began digging around him. It was a good thing it was raining, t had made the ground a bit softer and easier to dig in.
I don't know how long it took me to dig him out. All I knew was that, by the time I got him loose, I was soaked, cold, and covered in mud. I leaned against the tree, just wanting to rest, but Embry nudged me with his nose. I couldn't sit against a fallen tree in the middle of a thunderstorm and rest. We had to get back to Risa.
I stood up and, leaning on Embry slightly, we walked back.
Jacob's POV
"Where are they?!" Risa nearly yelled. She'd been pacing back and forth at the door in my house, which we went in as soon as the weather started getting really bad. Most of the other guys had left by now, needing to go home for various reasons. All that were left was Quil, Seth, Risa, and I. And Risa was not pleasant company right now.
"What about if something's happened to one of them?" Risa asked. "I've gotta go out there and see if I can find them." She started to go for the door, but Seth stopped her.
"Hold on, Risa. If you go out there, we'll just have three missing people instead of two." Seth said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "They're two tough guys, they'll be ok. Just let them come back to us."
Risa complied, but not happily. She began pacing again. Seth gave up on stopping her, I guess, because he sat down. I, on the other hand, was annoyed by the endless pacing.
"Risa, come on, they're fine and they'll be back soon." I said, walking towards her.
"Yeah, Jake, really? And you know this...How?" She asked me, sounding annoyed.
"Like Seth said, they're two strong guys. There's nothing to worry about. So just sit and chill, girl." I pulled a chair over for her to sit in.
She just glared at the chair, and then at me. "You know, I bet if Renesme was the one out there, you wouldn't be just sitting and chilling."
Oh, she wasn't going to get me to back down by mentioning Nessie. "This is different, Risa. Embry and Fang are fine. So, please, stop being such a worry wart!"
Alright, I've looked into many angry glares before in my life. My dad's when I nearly destroyed the kitchen one time, Sam's when I defied him and left the pack, Edward's when, well, many different times.
But looking into Risa's eyes at that moment, I saw true anger.
"Jacob Black, the last time I saw my Mom, she told me she'd be right back. So I waited. And waited. And waited. But she never came. She couldn't guarantee that she'd come back, and you can't guarantee that my boys'll come back. So, therefore, I worry. If you're so annoyed by my worrying, maybe you should've thought of that before you hatched up this idiotic scheme to SHOW OFF!!" She spun around and stared toward the door, crossing her arms.
And I shut up.
For a few minutes, there was nothing but awkward silence in the room. Risa continued to glare towards the door. My eyes travelled over to Seth, who gave me an 'I told you so' look. I looked away. Finally, Quil broke the silence.
"Waffles, anyone?" He asked awkwardly, holding up a plate of waffles he'd gotten from the kitchen. Everyone turned to stare at him, but no one took him up on the offer.
That's when the door finally opened and Embry and Fang staggered through the door together, soaking wet and covered in mud.
"Boys!" Risa exclaimed, trying to hug both of them at once. "I was so worried! What happened?"
Fang took a couple steps and collapsed in the chair I had pulled out. "Storm knocked down a tree. Had to pull Embry out from under it."
Risa's eyes widened and she turned toward Embry. "Bry, are you ok?"
He nodded once and ran to grab his extra clothes off where we had put them on the couch. He ran down the hall to get changed.
Risa turned toward Fang. "How about you? You're soaking wet, Fang!"
"And sitting on my furniture..." I muttered.
Risa shot me a glare that would've turned Medusa to stone, but chose to go back to Fang. "I'm fine, Risa." He answered her. "Just a little cold. And tired. And hungry."
Risa smiled at him, pulling a leaf out of his hair. "Well, let's see if I can't fix at least one of those problems." She walked over and took the plate of waffles out of Quil's hand. She handed them over to Fang.
"So, let me get this straight." Seth whispered to me. He'd gotten up to stand next to me. "You started this race to embarrass Fang, and end up making him into a hero."
I let out a low growl at him. "Oh, shut up."
Embry came out at that point, fully dressed, but still a bit soaked-looking. Risa was next to him in seconds. "You ok, Bry?"
He smiled and gave her a hug. "Yeah, I'm fine. Miracle healer, remember? How about feather brain over there?"
"Fine." Fang answered him, stuffing another waffle in his mouth.
As Risa went to get her coat so they could leave, I shuffled up next to Embry. "So, Embry, who won?"
Embry gave me a mildly bewildered look. "Jake, who cares?" He walked off, leaving with Fang and Risa.
"Jake?" Seth said.
"Yeah?"
"Coulda told ya so."
You know, Dad may kill me for putting another teenager-sized hole in the wall, but it was so worth it.
Me: So, there was the Epic Race of Doom.
Fang: Where I epically saved Embry.
Me: Epic.
Fang: So, are Embry and I, like, friends now?
Me: Don't bet on it.
Fang: Thought so.
R&R?
And check out my fansite! Link on my profile!
