Ok, Attempt number two. A coding error occured so there is a small amount of revisions. Thanks to everyone who let me know! Ok as I said before, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of reviews last chapter, if your character is in the chapter, please review.
Anyway, sorry this took me so long, I worked really hard on this chapter and I hope you guys like it. Ignore spelling mistakes. Love you! *heart*
SIX YEARS AGO
Honestly, her first concern was the fact that her eyes were sealed shut with crusty boogers and sand. Try as she might, she couldn't force them open.
Then her other concerns hit her.
"Where the hell am I!?" She yelled aloud, forcing her eyes open. Light burst into her retinas causing her to fly backwards, landing in the soft powdery sand.
She literally clawed through her brain, racking it for anything, any memory at all; even her freaking name. She couldn't even remember what she looked like!
As far as she could see, it was desert for miles, warm golden sand and heat waves wafting up from the emptiness. Strategies zoomed through her brain but movement to her left interrupted her.
She peered into the shining horizon only to find a figure scrambling through out the sand. She rolled her eyes, wanting to investigate but fearing danger.
The figures were moving about, but not necessarily closer or further away. She cursed herself, and then decided to stand up and go examine the movements.
As she grew closer, she came to realize that the figure were actually 2 people.
A boy, maybe 10, with spikey black hair and dark gray eyes, laid on his back, pinned to the ground and flailing around. On top of him sat an even younger girl, clutching a piece of jagged glass and holding it high above her head. She was threatening him with it and she was barely 9 years old. The girl knew she was significantly older than both of them, they were clearly confused and she knew she could help.
"Get off him!" The older girl yelled, clutching the maniacs shoulders and attempting to pull her off the boy.
"He stole something from me! He took it!" She screeched.
The older girl ignored her screams, and continued to wrestle with her. The little one was stronger than she looked, but no match for the other's sturdy arms.
In a minute, the girl with crazy blonde hair was ripped from her victim. The piece of glass went sailing through the air, and the two fell on top of each other, tumbling down a sand dune.
When they finally rolled to a halt, Blondie pushed her self up and tried to make a break for it. She scrambled towards the other girl, attempting to kick her while she was down, but Black-hair charged down the dune, slamming Blondie to the ground.
"Stop fighting!" The older girl demanded. Her voice boomed and then carried through the open air. The pair stopped, be it out of shock or fear, and looked at her, really looked at her for the first time.
A breath caught in her throat. The boy was missing his left eye… it was just gone. He had a strong jaw and dark features which made him seem a bit older, but his face had a haunting look.
The girl reminded her of a little chipmunk or a golden retriever puppy. She had crazy, curly blonde hair that just barley reached her shoulders, pale skin, and cheeks dotted with freckles. But most notably, she had these two evergreen orbs for iris, no pupils, just green.
The older girl knew only one thing about her self; she had dark skin, darker than either of the kids in front of her.
"I don't know who I am. She just started attacking me—"
Something in the little girl's mind clicked. It was as if he reminded her why she'd been attacking him. Her expression changed and before the older girl could stop her, she was charging at the boy. She tackled him to the ground and shoved his face into the sand.
"Give it back!" She screamed, pounding her fists into his chest.
The free teen ran forward, shouting at the blonde to get off. She hooked her arms under her tiny armpits and flung her off the boy, sending her sailing into the sand.
She landed with a loud THUNK and moaned in pain. The teenager followed close behind her, pinning the blonde to the ground and staring into her eyes.
"You need to calm down!" She ordered.
Green eyes didn't respond, she just turned her head to the side and let a single tear fall down her cheek. Something was clearly wrong with this girl. She seemed to be losing her mind or she possessed multiple personalities, because with in seconds she was calm and composed. She no longer fought back, but just began crying silently.
The teen frowned and un straddled her. "What did he steal from you?" She asked.
"H-he stole my name. He took it from me."
The boy, who had just recently walked over, shook his head but didn't say anything.
"So you don't know your name?" The teen asked.
"No." She sobbed.
She put a dark hand on the pale girl's shoulder, "How about I call you Green, like your eyes? Would you like that?"
Green stopped crying and looked up, "Ok, and I'll call you Sapphire, like your eyes."
Sapphire smiled slightly, "That's ok with me."
Green laughed and clapped her hands together, "And he can be Grey! Just like his eyes!"
The boy frowned, "I want a cooler name, like Racecar! Or… or Metal!"
"How about Steel?" Saph suggested.
"Yeah!" Steel threw his hands up in the air. "Wait," He paused, "I'm not sure I want to be around that girl. She tried to hurt me with sharp things."
Saph looked at Green, "Green, will you promise not to hurt Steel anymore?"
Green hung her head in shame, "I promise."
"Ok, perfect. Now do you guys think you can trust?" Saph asked.
There was a pause, at first it was a bit discouraging, but she understood. Saph wasn't sure if she could even trust herself.
"I can trust you." Steel admitted.
"I can too." Green said with an assuring smile. "We're friends now."
Saph let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. She stood up and motioned for the others to do the same.
"I don't know why we are here guys, but I'll get us all home. I promise."
She began walking towards the horizon, but just as she started, the two young kids reached out and grabbed her hands.
She smiled and gave them each a squeeze.
"This is gunna be fun!" Green hollered into the empty air.
AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER
"What about you Steel, do you remember anything?" Saph asked.
He shook his head, "Nothing."
She sighed. They'd been walking for almost an hour or so. She was exhausted and thirsty and she could only assume the two children at her side felt the same. Once they warmed up to each other and Green got talking, she had a hard time stopping… in the most adorably annoying way. When she spoke, the curls in her hair bounced as she laughed and for the better part of the time they had been together, she was walking on her toes like an excited fairy.
But now, they were tapering out, all of their energy was draining and Saph didn't know what to do about it.
The sun sunk into the sand like a cookie plunging into a glass of milk, making Saph's mouth water. She took a deep breath and told her self to pull it together.
"Help!" A voice called in the distance. "I can't see!"
It was a feminine voice, young and fear filled. Saph down to the kids, Green had backed away, covering herself behind Saph's long legs, and Steel balled his, staring straight ahead.
"C'mon, lets go check it out." Saph suggested.
Green shook her head and whimpered slightly, but she didn't forcefully protest. Steel nodded.
The group made their way towards the noise, sticking close together and remaining silent. Green didn't let go of Saph's hand, but Steel had gained his courage.
"Hold still!" A different voice ordered, much closer this time. It was strong and sturdy, but had a gentle undertone.
Saph peered over the dune only to find a group of young children, similar or slightly older than Steel and Green. Two girls and three guys running around in circles like lost puppies. A girl with light brown hair was clutching her eyes and screaming, while an identical looking boy trailed behind her, trying to calm her down.
After only a few minutes of observation, it became clear that the younglings were in the same situation as the smaller group. They had no memories, no idea who they were or where they were. They walked around clueless. A small, asain girl with brown hair and multicolored eyes sat crisscross on the sand, observing everyone elses movements.
Two boys, one dark haired with hazel eyes slit like a fox and another with blonde hair and ice blue eyes, paced around yelling at each other but not really saying anything important.
"We should go." Steel said.
"We need to help them." Saph told him, looking slightly shocked at his lack of sympathy.
"What? We need to protect ourselves."
"Need I remind you that if I hadn't found you, this crazy kid over here would've gouged your last eye out with broken glass?"
Green looked down in shame.
Steel looked away, "Fine, but we need to be careful."
Saph nodded in agreement, "You guys stay behind me. Steel, hold Green's hand. Green, don't go crazy."
Green frowned, "I want to hold your hand."
"I need you to be safe." She said, giving the small girl a slight smile, "Steel, watch her please."
Saph walked down, followed by the kids. "Hello!" She called to the other kids.
Their talking stopped and they instinctively clumped together, glaring deeply at the incoming group.
Saph smiled slightly, she didn't want to threaten the kids. Steel's face was set with out much expression, and Green twirled her hair nervously.
"Who are you?" The boy with blue eyes asked.
"We aren't sure, but I go by Sapphire, this is Steel and that is Green."
The boy frowned, "We don't know who we are either."
"Hi Miss Sapphire." The slit eyed boy piped up, waving an enthusiastic hand, "Are you going to help us?"
"Um… yeah, of course." Saph said, a little shocked to be called "Miss".
"Can we stay at your house?" He asked.
"We don't have a house." Steel said, "We are homeless people."
"Us to!" He said, holding up his hand for a high five.
Steel furrowed his brow, "That… isn't good."
Slit eyes shrugged.
"So you guys don't know anything either, no memories?"
They all shook their heads.
"What do we do now?" The brown haired girl asked.
From the looks of it, these kids all had something off about them. There were multicolored eyes, no pupils, weirdly shaped pupils, missing an eye, nearly blind and more. Saph wondered if something was wrong with her. Maybe they'd been left here because they were all rejects of some sort.
She remembered the strange look in Green's eyes when she attacked Steel. Maybe they were all crazy. Maybe they were insane. Maybe she was insane and imagining all of these kids, why else would she be stranded in the desert with 7 kids barely above the age of 10.
"Saph is going to find us somewhere to live." Green perked before adding, "Because she loves me."
Saph faked a smile and choked out a sentence, "Just follow me ok, I'll figure something out for us."
The kids looked up at her hopefully with their weird eyes. In less than 3 hours, she'd gained the company and trust of 7 kids.
I think I'm going to vomit, she thought. But Saph pushed on anyway. She and the kids walked for a small amount of time for that part of the journey, Green made up names for everyone as they went. Fox for the slit eyed boy, Ice for the blue eyed boy, Freckles for the blind one and Cloud for the quiet one. She was deciding between Mouse and Gentle Giant for the tall twin, when they stumbled upon something that made Saph want to cry: 3 boxes marked "WICKED supplies" in big black letters.
"Look!" She yelled, taking off running before anyone acknowledged what she'd seen.
She knew she was being followed, she could hear Green and Steel right behind her so close that when the tall blonde girl with a gun stepped out from behind the crates, Green came slamming into Saph's back.
"Holy shit!" Saph cursed, screeching to a halt and throwing her hands up, "Don't shoot!"
Four people, or kids, armed with weapons that looked way to threatening for their age, manifested from behind the crates holding weapons Saph was honestly surprise that they were even able to hold up the heavy, metal blades.
These five were much more threatening then the other seven. Saph's breath caught in her throat.
"Please don't shoot us." Green whispered, stepping behind Saph.
Saph looked behind her, seeing that all 7 of the children had gathered behind her legs.
"Who are you guys?" The blonde girl with the gun asked. She was tall, but clearly still young. Her eyes were amber and her face was dotted with freckles.
"We are just a bunch of kids lost in the desert. We were hoping these crates had food or water or something in them."
"They don't have anything for you." One of the kids said, he was a young boy with multicolored hair like some kind of animal. He stood up tall and held his machete firmly.
"Please, we just need some water." Saph begged.
"No." Said a girl with multi colored eyes and dark brown hair. Her hands twitched slightly, but she still kept a firm grip on a long blade.
Saph was tired and hungry. Green wouldn't let go of her hand and Fox kept pulling Cloud's hair. She was sick of walking and she just wanted some fucking water.
"We are going to take some of your stuff," Saph said between grit teeth, "and your going to be o-fucking-kay with it. Understand?"
The girl with the gun stood up a bit straighter. A boy with a slightly deformed hand held up a baseball bat. A brown hair boy, slightly older than the rest, clutched a throwing knife in his hand but made no threatening movements.
The brown haired girl stepped forward, she twirled her knife carefully and stared deep into Saph's dark blue eyes.
"Go. Away." She warned. "Now."
Saph glared at the girl. She charged forward and rammed her into the boxes, causing the pyramid to topple over. Her knife fell from her hand, and Saph to the opportunity to pin her to te ground.
Behind her, she saw the kids charge forward. Steel took on the girl with the gun, knocking it out of aim and forcing it from her hands. Green and Fox charged the throwing knife kid. Cloud, Freckles and GG took on Crazy-hair, and Ice went straight for the Mutant Hand.
The kids tore at each other, Green wrestled the knife from her opponent, but he quickly got it back and lashed out at her. Cloud flew across the sand while Steel clutched his head after receiving a punch to the jaw.
The girl under Saph squirmed between her legs, but Saph didn't let go.
What the plan here? She asked her self. We can't just beat them unconscious and take their stuff. The oldest one couldn't be more than 12.
"Stop fighting us!" Saph plead, "We can get along."
"We can't trust you!" The girl yelled, her eye twitching viciously.
"Yes you can! We don't even know who we are!"
She stopped moving, "You don't? Do you have any memories?"
Saph shook her head, "None."
"Neither do we. I don't even know my name."
Saph rolled off the girl and offered her a hand, "WE can help each other. You can trust us. I promise."
The girl lost her edge, her fear factor, Saph saw her now as the little 10 year old she was. Short and innocent, lost and confused. She need Saph's help as much as the others did.
"Stop fighting!" Saph yelled to the others.
The children obeyed, they let their arms fall to their sides.
"What's wrong?" Freckles asked.
"We are going to work together, We are all in the same boat."
"You guys don't have your memories either?" Steel asked the blonde girl.
She shook her head.
"We can be a team, we just need to get along. Does everyone agree?" Saph asked the group.
Once again, no one visibly protested.
"Great. Now let's look in these crate for some things we can use or maybe some clues or something."
Cloud walked over to Saph with tears in her eyes. She out stretched her hand, showing a long but thin cut on the palm of her hand.
"This hurts." She whispered.
Saph knelted down and took the small hand into her very carefully. "Let me see that, Beautiful."
It wasn't anything to serious, but who knows what was on the blade that cut her.
"We need to clean this or stitch it up or something."
The brown haired boy that had been holding the throwing knife stepped forward, "I think I can do it." He seemed a bit more sure of himself than the others, and to prove that Saph trusted the new group, she nodded and pulled Cloud into her lap.
"Do what ever, just don't hurt her."
The boy nodded and searched through the crates until he saw a small spool of thread and a needle. As he got to work, Green got to work naming every body.
The new recruits were deemed: Glue, Hyena, Twitch, Doc, and Sassy.
TWO WEEKS LATER
"Jay! Get off Otto! You're going to suffocate him." Saph yelled storming into the main room to investigate the cries of help.
The girl, having recently remembered her real name along with Otto, peeled her self off of him reluctantly and stormed out of the room. Saph frowned and offered Otto a hand.
"Why do you keep getting sat on by girls, man?" She asked him.
He looked down, "I don't know. I made fun of her hair cut."
"Well don't" Saph told him, "Or else one of these days she's going to crush you."
Otto nodded before running off, hopefully to go apologize to Jay.
Saph looked around the room as a sense of triumph washed over her. They'd been in this place for nearly 3 days now, the longest they'd ever lasted in one location. It was a concrete building with a strong foundation and sturdy walls. It wasn't huge, but with a large room, two bedrooms, and an upstairs area, Saph felt that they fit fine.
Between the thirteen of them, things had been going well. The quieter ones explored the dunes and whispered amongst each other and the louder ones Threw balls of dirt at each other and tried to run the fastest. Some of them were really quite helpful. The girl they'd nicknamed Twitch had a knack for getting everyone to be quiet, and Hyena, the multicolor haired boy always made sure everyone was happy.
After several sleepless nights, crying for hours because she was so worried for their future, Saph finally felt as though she'd provided enough for the kids. They all seemed happy. She just couldn't understand why some one would do this to these amazing children, why couldn't they see how great they were the way she did. She loved them, she needed them to be safe, and some one didn't want that. It pissed her off to no end.
Saph sighed and strolled outside only to find Cloud and Green with their feet up on the outer wall and their heads down in the sand, laying on their backs and babbling on about something. Green dominated the conversation, but Cloud got a word in every few minutes.
"Hey girls, what's going on?"
"Hi Saph! We're just thinking of team names." Green said, looking up at Saph.
"For what?" She asked completely confused.
"For us silly, because you always say we're a team."
The girl crossed her arms and raised a brow. "Let me hear them."
"We've got The Power Squad, Desert Birds, and Awesome Team so far." The blonde said, "But we're going to keep working."
"Alright, you two have fun. I'm going to the storage room for some water. Cloud, make sure Doc checks out your stitches."
She nodded and gave a small smile before returning her attention to Green.
Saph walked alone to the storage room, a small cave they'd found to keep all of the stuff they'd collected and the items in the Crates. It was only a few minute walk, but it was dark out, and Saph didn't feel comfortable walking alone, so she jogged their in an attempt to make the trip as quickly as possible.
She skidded to a halt as she entered the room because inside stood the scariest thing she'd ever seen.
A young girl, very tall and slender looking, with her black hair sparyed all across her face and her clothes ripped to near shreds, stood in the middle of the storage closest. Her tan skin was cracked and dry, her lips were pale and her eyes were completely blood shot. She swayed slightly as if she might topple over any second, but gave no signs of physical weakness. Her expression was blank, but she carefully fumbled with a small black and yellow striped cloth in her hand.
"A-are you ok?" Saph asked hesitantly, her fingers inching their way to the knife strapped to her thigh.
The girl swayed.
"Can I help you? Are you hurt... or sick or something? Do you need help?"
She didn't respond.
"Listen I—"
She lunged forward and grabbed Saph around the collar of her shirt. She smacked the knife out of her hand and stared deep into Saph's eyes. She was way to strong for an 10 year old.
"We won't make it!" The girl shouted, a terrifying look filling her gaze. "They were done with us and they left us here to die!"
"Let go of me!" Saph screamed.
"Leave now! The kids aren't all right! They killed the world and they'll kill you too!" She stopped and let go of Saph shirt. She backed away slowly as if a realisation had just hit her, as if she just realised Saph was carrying a deadly disease. "You will kill you. You'll kill you and you will save us all." She paused, her eyes the size of saucers. "Thank you."
With those final words, her eyes rolled back into her head, and the young girl dropped to the floor unconscious.
3 years later, after fighting her demons for as long as she could, Danielle "Saph" Kent took her life.
•∞•
While she may have been dead, she wasn't gone
She watched them struggled and carry on
She watched the one who had fallen apart,
Look for her self with no idea where to start.
She saw young love form in the strangest places,
She saw them battles as if they were just races.
She watched the leaders strengthen
and their bodies lengthen
She heard the quiet ones speak their mind
She watched them learn compassion and how to be kind
And while their lives were riddled with disaster and sadness
She was there through out the madness
She was their mother and leader, she loved them beyond compare
But they had to learn the hard way that life wasn't fair
She killed her self and ended her strife.
The universe claimed a young and full life.
But that night the desert cried from the skies
For the world would no longer be seen from those beautiful sapphire blue eyes.