Chapter 47- Travels

Looking out of the window forty thousand feet in the air, I couldn't help but feel ecstatic that I was actually going. It was touch and go as I eavesdropped on my father and mother talking to Asima...

"Renesmee really wants to go…" My mom added thoughtfully.

"I don't think that this is the safest time for her to be traveling alone. Look how close it got last time." Daddy argued.

I imagined my mother holding his hand causing his rigid body to melt.

"I would have to agree with you one hundred percent Edward." I thought Asima was going to turn on me for my own good again. "If she were going to be alone, I'll be going as well."

"And what if you both run into Carlos on your travels? You couldn't protect her then." Daddy argued.

There was silence.

"I'm sorry, that was rude." He apologized.

"No, it's the truth," Asima sighed. "Look this was her idea, and she wouldn't forgive me if I didn't at least try to bring her with me."

"And what are you expecting to find in the short time you plan on being gone?" Mom asked still thinking.

"To be honest Bella, nothing at all. It is worth a shot however, we could use the help."

"Do you expect them to help, if it even goes the way you plan?" Daddy remained skeptical.

"Honesty they could say no, but I won't know unless I ask." She amended quickly after a short pause. "If it even works out."

Why was everyone doubting my plan?

"And you see our dilemma with letting her go?" Daddy asked proving his point.

"I do, I could be putting her in harms way over a total failure." Asima admitted.

I tried Ness…she apologized in my head.

"Edward, what about Jake and Seth?" Mom's voice lit up like she found the solution. "I'm sure between the three of them, she'd be safe for a week."

"I'm sure Jacob wasn't planning on staying here if she were going." Asima sighed, she was planning on leaving Seth here. Being around him had been getting tougher.

Dad was still silent, it felt like I could hear the gears turning in his head from the foot of the stairs. "And you think it's enough?" I knew he was directing the question at Mom.

There was a silence and I was worried about my mother possibly changing her view and then I would never get to go.

But then I heard my father speak. "If anything happens to her…" He trailed off the ending leaving me wondering what he was thinking.

"I know Edward. I'll keep her safe." Asima promised with a smile in her voice.

"Let's go tell her she can go." My mom exhaled. I was up from the floor and racing up the stairs towards the room.

I could hear my father laughing as I approached the door. "That won't be necessary."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed jumping into his lap...

It had been hours since my parents drove us to the airport in Lebanon, now I was looking back over the Atlantic ocean heading for Cairo.

I shot an excited glance over towards Seth, who was just as excited as I was to be heading to Africa. Egypt at that, the home of the pyramids, the country that paved the cornerstones for civilization for eons to come. I was more than excited. He was on board as soon as I told him my idea.

They were confused yesterday during my mental conversation with Asima. They assumed since Leah joked about the wolves that I was referring to the Quileute tribe, when really I was wondering about what Asima could possibly have left behind in Arabia.

That if wolves and leopards were technically the same thing, shape shifters, perhaps they multiplied the same way as well.

Jake was skeptical, he considered the Quileute legends as a wolf thing, yet didn't say anything trying to remain supportive, but Seth was just as confident as I was about my idea.

"How much longer?" I whispered across the row to Asima's seat.

"We have about three more hours before we land in London. Then we connect to Cairo from there, that will take another eight hours."

I played a game on my phone trying to prevent boredom, Jacob was asleep and I didn't want to wake him before we had to so I turned down the volume.

I could hear Seth calling Asima's name in a hushed whisper. She wasn't looking up from her book. "Asima…Asima.."

I knew that she heard him because I could hear him from across the aisle. Still irritated with his repeated rejection to her advances.

"Yes Seth." She replied coolly, "Is there something wrong?"

Seth ignored her tone politely, he once revealed to me that he found her pouts amusing and was now trying to hide a smile. "What's the plan when we drop in Cairo? Just walk around until we find something? Wasn't you're city further east, I think we should go to your old stomping grounds."

"That's out of the question. Things have changed drastically, it isn't Arabia anymore, its Saudi Arabia, four human Americans can't travel freely there. If we don't find them in Egypt there isn't anyone to find I'm sure.

"Can't we just…get permission?" I suggested. "I'm sure the American Embassy would me more than willing if we pay enough."

"The closest Embassy is in Riyadh, too far we'll lose time." Asima shook her head. Jacob woke to the severity of her tone. "We aren't going any farther east than Egypt."

"And we're only going for a week? We can't search an entire country in a week." Jake complained.

"If we can't find them in a week we can't afford to lose anymore time searching, we still have to be prepared, it's happening whether we find anyone or not." Asima sighed, her voice ringing with finality.

We remained silent for the rest of the flight and we caught up on sleep on the flight to Cairo. When we awoke to the sounds of the seatbelt lights turning on.

"You need to call Bella and Edward." Jacob suggested holding my bag for me.

I called my parents letting them know that I arrived safely and promised to call them everyday keeping them informed. It was dark so I couldn't imagine us starting the search tonight.

"We have a villa in the Katameya district, we can clean up and take some of the western cities tonight." Asima suggested.

"I'm fine with that." Jacob perked up for the first time since we got here.

I listened to her speak perfect Egyptian Arabic to the taxi driver as he loaded the bags in the car. Jacob and Seth were helping. I took the brief moment of solitude to send a text to Phillip letting him know that we landed and that we were alright and that I would keep him posted if we found anything.

"Let's go Nessie." Jacob said pulling me closer to him just as I received a text of appreciation before hopping into the cab.

The villa was impressive. Four bedrooms and a maid room were perfectly proportioned in the spilt level sand colored abode. The marble floor was accented with Persian rugs with various color schemes. I picked the first room I saw, it was simple, a full sized bed lower to the ground than most, a dresser and closet. I threw my bag down on the green cotton sheets folded at the end and walked back out.

"Let's go." I blurted hoping to find something.

"Give everyone a minute to get settled Nessie. I don't think Seth has even gotten in the shower yet." Jacob grinned.

It didn't take long for them to finish up.

"When do we phase?" Seth asked jumping to the floor skipping the last eight stairs.

"Not until we're out of the city, it will be mostly desert after that. Times may have changed but that much hasn't."

Asima looked out the window of the taxi in silence. No doubt comparing the thriving "New Cairo" to the Cairo she knew centuries ago.

Jacob and Seth watched with excitement as we passed several buildings. We all regained focus when the obelisks disappeared and desert greeted us at the western outskirts of the city.

The taxi driver rushed a frantic request to Asima as we got out of the taxi. Asima politely declined his offer and shut the door.

"What's got him spooked?" Jacob asked looking back at the anxious cabbie still parked along the side of the road staring at us.

"Saiful is worried about dropping us off in the desert. It's easy to get lost in the dunes, especially at night. Not to mention the casual looter. He wants to wait and take us back. Asima said that wouldn't be necessary." I informed readjusting my backpack smugly.

"Impressive." Asima approved before leading us farther into the wide open sand until eventually the road was completely out of sight.

"Siwa is one of the farthest western cities on the map, along with Musaid. About the same difference in miles South and North from here. We should split up and knock out both territories in one night." I suggested looking at the international locator and map on my phone. The application zoomed out automatically when I clicked the close button showing the little blue and purple dots in the United states. I was sure that Mom would have checked the feature at least a dozen times by now.

"Seth and I will go South to Siwa, we can meet back here." Jacob volunteered.

"Not a chance. Neither of you speak the language. Asima and I do, that won't help. Seth and Asima will go north, you and I will go south."

"No, you can't phase until you pass the main villages, if you and Jacob get too far I wouldn't know if anything happened unless he phased. We need to keep a connection until then. Jacob and I will go north, you and Seth go south, I can hear his thoughts at least until you get to the point you can phase."

Jacob huffed, he didn't like that plan very much. "Why can you hear Seth farther than me anyway?" he mumbled.

"Probably because he doesn't have a skull as think as yours." She quipped. I let out a laugh until I saw that Jacob wasn't amused. "Seth and Ness, don't phase until you can't see any type of light what's so ever. It shouldn't be more than fifteen miles. Lights mean people, that can possibly see you. When you get to Siwa phase back. Look around, and if you find something don't interact until we're all together." She ordered gently.

I shot her a salute and smiled, "See you in a few hours Jake. Come on Seth."

I could feel Jacob watching until we disappeared.

About half, way running Seth let out a torn sigh. "She's still mad huh?"

"She just doesn't understand how you could both feel the same way about each other and yet you refuse to be with her. Everything is usually 'a' plus 'b' equals 'c' in her eyes, so it frustrates her when she can't solve it." I explained my best friend in the best words that I could find.

He slowed his run to a walk and I matched him as he spoke. "She doesn't understand? I just want her to be sure. What if I…say yes and then a few weeks later she realizes that I am not what she wants." He ran his hand over his hair kicking the sand as he walked. "I don't think I could take that…again." He admitted.

I put my hand on his warm shoulder. "I understand." And I did. It wasn't just Asima that had a wounded heart. Poor Seth.

"Look." He whispered looking around at the sky. "All I can see is the moon. I can phase now."

I turned and sat down keeping my head towards our southern path, giving him privacy to phase. I didn't move until I felt his heated sandy fur brush over my arm, I turned around and picked up his clothes and shoes putting them into my bag before I hopped onto his back and continued on.

The Siwa Oasis was breathtaking in the moonlight. The majestically blue waters rippled hypnotically as I passed. There are so many things that I wanted to see in this city alone. Cleopatra's spring, Tomb Mountain and El Aghurmi were just a few. Gazing at this place, rich in history and beauty made me hopeful that we would find what we were looking for on our quest.

We walked through Siwa Central Square, we couldn't find a single hint of an unfamiliar scent. Some of the citizens were up before sunset going about there business and Seth and I blended in with them. Well as much as a tourist could blend in. I asked a few of them if they were familiar with legends of leopards, I could tell from the looks that it was no.

We gave up around eight that morning and headed back north towards Asima and Jacob.

"Find anything on you're end?" I asked waving across the hot white sand to Asima and Jacob.

"Nothing, zilch, zippo." Jacob groaned fanning himself. "Plus on top of that it's hot. How about you guys?"

"Nothing on our end either. We should go north tonight." Seth suggested.

"I think I found the Temple of the Oracle." I teased trying to lighten the sunken spirits around me.

"That's a myth Nessie." Asima disputed walking the miles of sand towards Cairo.

"We're myths too," I defended walking behind her holding Jacob's hand. "We are surrounded by mythical beings."

"I know, I know, look when this is over, we can come back together and search for it." She didn't sound too much like she meant it, but I planned on holding her to it all the same.

"Deal." I smiled, thinking of another adventure without as much peril.

She laughed at my eagerness, "Let's hurry. It will be high noon soon. We don't want to be in the dunes when that happens, you think it's hot now. We can rest up at the villa and start again in the evening taking the northern cities."

We followed in the sweltering heat, and I made a note to bring water next time. As soon as I got back to the villa in Cairo my phone rang.

My parents seeing that I was back no doubt wondering if we found anything. I told them no but we haven't given up yet and informed them of our plan as soon as the sun set. I sent everyone my love and crashed into my bed exhausted.

The northern cities didn't go well either. Seth and I were able to cover Port Said, Banha, Tanta, all the way to Suez not getting a single piece of evidence to support my theory. Jacob and Asima didn't have any luck with Baltim, Idku, or Alexandria. The next five days were the exact same. From Cairo to Mut, from Mut to Bans, Bans to Halaib we found nothing.

I was riding on Jacob's back heading towards Cairo before the sun got too hot. Seth was panting in a run slightly behind him and Asima running at his side. I looked over to the east the glistening water of the Red Sea made me feel a little less hopeful. Unless a miracle happened in by sunrise tomorrow we were on our way back to Hanover empty handed.

Unless…"Asima?" I called out readjusting myself so that I could look back and see Asima without falling off. Jacob sensed what I was trying to do and he switched to a safer speed.

"Yes." She proceeded cautiously probably knowing what I was thinking already.

I carried on casually, "I was doing some research yesterday. Based on the stories you told me from the last time you were here, you're old city would be just outside Al Wajh."

She was silent, and for a moment I had a glimmer of hope, "I'm aware of that. But it doesn't change anything. We're leaving tomorrow. It was a good idea, but we found nothing."

The finality in her tone let me know that there was no swaying her to do otherwise. I made it back to Cairo and called my parents just as I promised I would. My mom could hear my disappointment that the trip came from nothing. She said that she was proud of me all the same. Even though I knew she was genuine I didn't feel any better, I halfheartedly told her I was going to bed, and promised to call her before we boarded and to send everyone my love.

There was a knock on my door as soon as I hung up the phone.

"Ness, you awake?" Jacob asked cracking the door slightly.

"Yes I'm up, come in." I called sitting up and crossing my legs on the bed.

He came in and sat on the foot of my bed. "Sorry that your plan didn't work." He frowned trying to read my face.

"It's ok, just wanted to do my part to help. Now I just wasted more time." I sighed bringing my knees to my chin.

"It's not a big deal, it was a good idea, I guess they must have just died out with the times." He thought to himself. I knew if I weren't so sad about it he would love the fact that the wolves were the only ones of their kind out there. My face didn't change, "Don't be sad. You didn't ruin our chances or anything so don't go feeling useless."

"I don't feel¾" I started to protest by my face would have just given the lie away anyway.

He gave me a smug smile before tussling my hair and standing up. "Get some rest Nessie. I'll see you in the morning." I called back a goodnight before he shut the door.

I lay in bed awake listening to the house turn down around me. I thought about the leopards, I know that I can be a little on the stubborn side but this was more than that. It was a gut feeling. A strong one, so strong that even though I knew Asima and my parents would probably kill me later, I had to act on it. I quietly picked up my backpack and grabbed my shoes walking down the stairs and out the door barefoot. I put my shoes on when I felt the gravel on the streets, and ran at inhuman speed as fast as I could, heading to Al Wajh.

I was two miles away from the Red Sea, I could even smell the salt water, when I heard something approaching fast behind me. I stopped, I knew it was Asima catching up to me. I sniffed the air preparing for the worst, but it wasn't Asima that appeared from the darkness of the desert, it was Seth. He stopped three inches before me, his sandy fur and brown eyes holding a hint of anger.

"Don't look at me like that Seth. I need to go to Al Wajh. If we don't go then this entire week will become a waste of time. I can't go back without knowing." I called into the silent night of the desert around me.

Seth let out a small whine probably thinking about how mad Asima would be when she found out, if she hadn't already.

"Did you tell them I left?" I asked hoping that he didn't.

His head went from left to right in one quick motion along with a huff escaping his muzzle. He whined as if he wanted to tell me go back.

"You can go back and tell them if you want, but I'm not going back until I find out if they are there or not. You can't make me go." I huffed turning and walking towards the east.

I felt his warm mouth tugging on my shirt.

"No Seth, I'm not going back." I argued stopping to keep from tearing my shirt.

He whined motioning towards the Red Sea and pulled at my shirt again tugging me slightly towards the original direction I was heading. He wanted to go with me.

"Thank you." I whispered jumping on his back and securing myself, quickly heading east.

I was glad that Seth came with me when it came time to cross the Gulf of Suez. There was a strong current going towards the south and with me needing oxygen it was difficult. I made it about half way before I needed to climb on Seth for assistance.

I put my clothes on over my swimsuit after handing Seth a pair of his clothes that were left in my bag from the day before.

"Thanks for coming." I repeated as we walked on he beach.

"You seem set on going and everyone would kill me if I left you alone. We should probably call Asima and tell her where we are." He suggested.

"I left my phone behind. The last thing I needed was for my parents to see I was here." I answered.

Seth groaned, "That wasn't a good idea. How are we going to know our way around."

"Relax Seth, I memorized the map, I could walk these streets in my sleep. If we're lucky we'll be back before they even wake up."

"I don't feel really lucky right now." He sighed following me.

"Well I do." I smiled walking towards the lights of the city. I grabbed a large black scarf from my bag and started pulling my hair back, and wrapping it around my head.

"What are you doing?" He asked as I pulled the sleeves down on my shirt and the cuffs of my pants all the way down.

"Women have to be fully covered here." I explained, "And you'll have to do all of the speaking too."

"Oh great…" He mumbled kicking up the sand.

We worked the city from the inside out, it was bigger than I had planned and the sun was rising by the time we made it to the outskirts.

"We need to head back now." He said looking up at the sun. "We have a flight to catch and we are already in a world of trouble without missing the plane too."

I sighed knowing that he was right. I followed my gut and failed. "Let's just go a little farther north. We'll be closer to Cairo, a straight shot across the sea."

We walked the seven miles in the heat when the sun was completely overhead. I stopped handing Seth my water bottle, he needed to be as hydrated as possible if we were going to cross over the large mass of water and make it. The problem was, I only brought enough water for one.

"We need to get back soon." Seth squinted in the sun. "It's burning up."

"I know, sorry for bringing you out here." I apologized unwrapping my hair. Asima was going to be livid, we were hours later than we should have been.

I inhaled deeply trying to keep my breathing even.

"It's okay, I know you wanted to¾"

I hushed him looking off towards the north. I squinted looking towards the dunes, the sun revealing heat waves rising from the sand. I looked harder at the figure on the other side of the waves. It had to be a man, but what would he be doing out here? The closest city was twenty miles from here, and surely he would take the main road.

"Seth look, out there. Do you see that?" I whispered pointing at the still figure in all white.

"What, sand?" He asked staring of in the direction I pointed.

"No the man." I whispered pointing harder.

He squinted for a long time in silence before shrugging and giving up. "We better get back, I think the heats getting to you. You're seeing mirages." He answered pulling of his shirt and walking towards the water.

I sighed picking it up and putting it into my bag before turning around. "Vampires don't hallucinate." I argued stubbornly looking back towards the north. The figure was gone.

"Humans do." He teased from behind me.

"Not me, if I were seeing water out there then maybe, but light refraction doesn't make a person appear out of no where." I argued again.

He let out a laugh and I huffed dropping my bag and running towards where I saw the figure.

"Where are you going Nessie?" He groaned after me.

"You stay, cool off if you want, I'll be right back." I yelled running up the dunes not slowing down causing a cloud of sand to stir up under my feet. I didn't hear him coming after me so I was sure he thought I was loosing it. I thought that I was too for a brief moment when I reach the peak of the last dune , then I noticed the tracks.

"I knew someone was out here." I told myself in satisfaction. Then faced toward the seas, "There are tracks Seth, I'm going to follow." I called. I didn't get a response so I figured he didn't hear me.

I turned to follow the trail which suddenly became unnecessary, the man in white was right in front of me. He was staring at me with deep confusion. My face probably matched his, even though I planned to follow the trail to where the man went I hadn't yet thought of what I was going to say. "Salam wa aleikum" I greeted bringing my hand slowly to my face yet only making my fingers wave once.

He gave me an accusatory glance and spoke a phrase that I was unfamiliar with. I could only pick out a few of the words. He wanted to know why I was in the desert, was I following him.

I shook my head with a "La." quickly coming from my lips denying the accusation.

He asked another question and I realized the that he was speaking Hejazi Arabic, not Egyptian. I didn't know Hejazi. I gave him a slight shrug giving him a fragmented Classical Arabic sentence hoping he would know what I meant. I told him that I was traveling with a friend and didn't mean harm.

He remained defensively tensed. His wavy black hair fell to his shoulders. He smelled like iris and lotus with a hint of a sweet musk that was hard to describe.

"Nessie!" Seth shouted running up the dunes at my side not liking the outside view of the situation.

The muscular built man clenched his fists and shot a daggered look at Seth. Seth angled himself in front of me pulling me slightly back.

The man started shouting another stream of questions quickly. I tried my best to pull out the key words but he was talking much too fast.

"What is he saying?" Seth asked stepping fully in front of me.

"I don't know. He's speaking Hejazi Arabic." I whispered at his ear.

"You speak Arabic." he pointed out.

"Not Hejazi, it's a completely different dialect from Egyptian." I defended. I pointed to Seth repeating that he was my friend over and over.

I was able to pull out a few words and warned Seth, "He said not to proceed farther north. He says we should go, if we care about our lives, we should do so soon. He thinks we're looters." I answered.

"Tell him we're leaving." Seth spat through clenched teeth and shaking shoulders.

I started halfway through the phrase and stopped. I looked at his bronzed skin on his arms. It's tanned color was starting to mix with a flushed rose color underneath his skin. A subtle fluster, like a girls cheeks would have when she blushed, it wouldn't have been noticeable to a human eye but his muscular arms, and face, hands, even his fingers were flushed. Almost as if his skin were… burning. "No Seth look, at his skin." I whispered in his ear.

I looked at the man with wide eyes . "Fahed…" I gasped. The mans eyes snapped alive and a loud snarl sprang from his lips.

I pulled Seth quickly. "HE'S A LEOPARD! I screamed running back just seconds before the Herculean stranger transformed into a giant desert cat.

Seth's jaw dropped in awe at the large blue eyed beast before pushing me into the sand and phasing himself. I could tell that the man wasn't expecting it, yet he wasn't afraid. He towered over Seth by at least two feet . Seth gave him a warning growl and he hissed coiling back preparing for the worst.

"No Seth don't hurt him!" I screamed from behind him still too rational enough to stand between them. If they ended up fighting there would be nothing I could do to stop them. I shouted at the leopard telling him to stop. "Bess! Bess! Bess!" But neither of them released from their stances. Seth's strike would be more straight forward and for the throat but from the way the large cat was angled and his agility even in his stillness let me know that he had tricks.

I shouted again trying to make myself heard. Telling him that we were friends and we came in peace. Nothing clicked in his head until I screamed the phrase. "Aref Amirah Asima, Bint'nt Chosroes II. Bess!"( I know princess Asima, daughter of ChosroesII. Stop!) ;)

The leopard straightened out almost instantly. Seth angled himself back in front of me giving me a questioned look about the sentence which contained Asima's name. Of course they would be familiar with the story. I pulled the cartouche she gave me for Christmas out of my shirt and over my head. I walked past an anxious Seth holding it up by the thin rope chain less than two feet from his azure eyes.

Seth's head shot back towards the Gulf of Suez where I saw a raging Jacob running towards us with my ferocious best friend on his back. I could feel a slight pressure on my skin, letting me know that I was shielded. Jacob halted in point in front of Seth growling and Asima jumped from his back in between the wolves and the lone leopard. I felt her shield yank me back behind Seth and if her shield hadn't been fit to my body perfectly I would have fallen over by the sheer force in which I was pulled.

The leopard tensed again preparing for battle even though I was telling her that everything was alright. The others crouched, and Asima held her hands out between them, then pulled the scarf from her hair and face freeing herself from anything that would constrain her in anyway. He froze again immediately un-phasing, dropping to his knees, and bowing his head to the ground.

Jacob and Seth whined with confusion at me as if to ask "Why is he bowing?" I shrugged adverting my eyes from the naked man and focused on Asima's face. She was confused as well.

She asked him a few words in Arabic that I didn't catch and he nodded.

What is you're name?" She asked staring down at him.

"Sami" He whispered.

"The 'all hearing'" She thought to herself "Interesting."

"Are you really her?" He asked with English so perfect I couldn't detect a hint of an accent at all.

"If you mean Asima, yes, that is my name." She answered in an even tone.

"The daughter of King Chosroes the Second?" He asked still kneeling not looking up from her feet.

"That too I am." She sighed rolling her eyes. "You don't have to bow, please stand."

She handed him the large grey scarf that covered her hair and shoulders. He thanked her standing tying it around his waist.

"Why were you about to attack my friends Sami?" Asima asked directly.

"The girl.." He frantically explained. "She followed me, I asked her why, and then the boy came. The girl knew what I was. I couldn't let her leave. You understand?" He pleaded wanting be in her good graces.

Jacob let out a growl and I rubbed his leg trying to calm him. Asima waited for a moment before speaking. "She isn't to be harmed, we hold secrets of our own as you can see. She is capable of keeping yours as well."

"Yes ma'am." He agreed uncontested. Asima frowned not use to the reaction she was getting.

"You don't have to do that." She answered.

"Yes ma'am." He nodded again.

Asima rolled her eyes letting it go. "I assume there are others."

"Yes. Jabril, our leader, and my brother Rami. There are a few other people in our village but we're the only protectors." He informed respectfully his eyes darting back and forth between Seth and Asima.

"Jabril, is in the village now?" She asked trying to trigger the right thoughts for the questions she wanted to know.

"Yes ma'am, they all are." He answered not taking his eyes from the both of them.

"I must converse with him at once." She requested.

"I'll lead the way." He nodded taking three steps before turning into a large cat once again.

I jumped onto Jacob's back as he followed at Asima's side.

"I told you I was right." I smiled smugly.

She let out a small laugh, "Yeah, you were right, but don't celebrate yet. We have to see if they are willing to join us. Not to mention you have to deal with Bella and Edward who are awaiting your phone call.

I mumbled a swear under my breath and she smiled following the large Arabian leopard north along the coast.