Author's Note: To my first 3 followers I love y'all you have no idea how happy it makes me to have you guys and my first favouriter here on my story. You guys rock!
Natalia found that waking up the second time in this new place was possibly more disorienting than the first time. Still unfamiliar surroundings were at war with the familiarity of home that her body felt. Charlie had checked in on her, rousing her slightly and in her disoriented state she almost readied to attack him before the reminder. That's Charlie, my father, and I am at home in my bed. She hoped that she had caught herself fast enough that any reaction out of the ordinary could be written off as stress from the night's events.
Waking up well rested was a new feeling. Bella's body has no beast blood and as such she doesn't feel the call of the hunt. A strange thought given she was sure last night she had felt it, no matter how faint it was.
School. Interesting, rather different from the colleges back home. It seemed similar to the learning groups she had as a child. All the village children taught by some of the elders about the world and how to survive in it. But school here wasn't about survival at all, it was all academic and that was very intriguing indeed.
I'm missing school. Right well given what happened yesterday she doubted anyone would begrudge her a day to recoup. Nevermind that today was actually going to be used to get a better foothold on this life she was stuck living for the immediate future and not to nurse a broken heart.
She went through Bella's morning routine trying very hard not to disturb the muscle memory by overthinking how strange it all was. She was slightly unsettled at the mirror, having only ever seen her own reflection in copper and obsidian mirrors, this one was so much clearer. It was unnerving to watch someone who wasn't her reflect her movements exactly so she didn't dwell on the reflection for long.
Another thing that struck her was Bella's youth. She was right on the cusp of going through her first heartbreak and then she got pulled into this definitely daedric circus. She felt for her, feeling empathy for the memory of pain she could feel from Edward's cutting words. But more acutely, the child-like memories had her longing for her own children. She had never been anything more than half a day's travel from them before, now she's in an entirely different world and completely defenceless. She couldn't call her magic like normal, this body had no muscle to it whatsoever, and there was none of the muscle memory her own body has for fighting.
She made her way downstairs realizing she was much more contemplative than usual. Perhaps this was part of Bella's nature to be stuck in her own head. Either way she needed to focus. She needed more action and that started with a better defence.
Charlie was at home watching a game. He must've stayed to keep an eye on Bella and see how she was doing. Natalia felt a twinge of guilt, he had no idea that his daughter wasn't actually here and she was a stranger playing pretend.
Natalia shuffled over to the cupboards to grab cereal. She remembered to slouch and hoped that her earlier encounter with Charlie meant she could get away with being distant today. She managed to get her breakfast upstairs without incident and began to exercise as quietly as she could while mentally cataloging everything she knew that could be important for blending in until she could get home.
She stretched as she tried to organize her thoughts. There was a lot of Edward to wade through. So much about Edward. Too much about Edward. This girl's whole life just became about this boy and his family didn't she care about anything else?
The floorboards beneath her feet creaked as she began to workout in earnest. Well as much as she could without alerting Charlie. She moved around the creaky floorboard as much as possible.
She cared about Jacob at one point, but only enough to get information about the cold ones. She cared about Charlie enough to feed him and keep his house clean but always finished fast enough to go back to Edward. Edward Edward Edward enough!
The floorboards creaked louder as her irritation flowed into her movements. She was already building up quite the sweat after doing what felt like nothing and it worried her slightly. No matter, endurance can be trained. And it looked like she'd be stranded here for a while.
She shook her head. Focus. No use dwelling on that. Everyone at home knew the plan and could keep the kids safe. But she missed them all terribly. Her resolve strengthened, she could work on both physical and magical endurance. She could work to connect to a weak point in Skyrim. The Throat of the World, the Twilight Sepulcher, the entrance to the Soul Cairn, she has options. Nevermind that no one has ever done this before she'll just be the first. She'll bring her findings to the college for further research once she is home.
She picks up the pace, pushing her body harder and working up more of a sweat as the floorboard kept creaking. Her irritation was rising and Charlie popped his head into the room.
"What." Natalia said harshly before remembering herself. "-s up Dad?"
"Doin okay in here kiddo?"
"Yeah Dad just uh, working out my feelings."
"If you're sure…" Charlie paused for a moment before hesitantly walking back down to his game.
Charlie doesn't hover, well good one less thing to worry about then.
Natalia tried to stick with quieter workouts but she had no stamina in this body. She was positively infuriated as she tried to push herself harder. She couldn't already be out of energy she needed to get home. The prospect of doing that felt farther and farther away as Bella's body reached its limits quickly.
The same floorboard creaked one more time and with a burst of fury Natalia threw herself at it like it had threatened her family. She ripped at its edges, straining to find the loose spot that would give. When she finally found it she tore it out with so much force she fell backwards before getting up and readying herself to throw it out the window. She caught herself before she actually went through with it but only just.
There under the floorboard was all the things she had searched for yesterday. It will be as if I never existed, Natalia fumed. She saw red. Everything in the floor was a personal offence to her and her respect for Bella was the thin thread holding her back from tearing the room apart. She felt a faint call to the hunt in amongst her anger, adding kindling to the flame. She needed to do something to get back into control before she blows. She feels a familiar heat building in her hands and unclenches her fists realizing what she needs is to get out of this room before she burns the house down.
She practically flies down the stairs calling out a quick excuse about La Push over her shoulder before sprinting out to Bella's truck. It's a risk with how slow the beast is given her tenuous hold on her anger but she takes it and heads straight for First Beach.
The drive actually managed to calm her slightly. Being surrounded by trees made it easier to deal with the insanity of everything new, like driving a machine faster than a horse to get to her destination. She also found a calmness in the loud rumble of the beast. She didn't have to focus on her distress when the constant noise was temporarily drowning it all out.
Choppy waters rolled back and forth over the shore as Natalia found a fallen log in a secluded corner of the beach. Looking out at the rolling waves she allowed the memories of Bella's childhood wash over her, letting the last of her earlier fury melt into melancholy.
She felt a dull ache in her chest as she looked out unfocused. It was strange and detached as if the body was reacting to Bella's consciousness still instead of her own. She mulled over why and how that's possible. She personally wasn't heartbroken but the body was reacting like it was. Had Edward done something to physically claim this body so it's attached to him supernaturally? Thinking his name plucked a heartstring but none of the memories indicated that was the case. He was always at arm's length being chaste and careful 24/7.
"Hey Bella!" A young voice called out from her left.
A young boy, 16, right- a boy around Bella's age came bounding over, his long, sleek black hair flowing behind him. He plopped down beside her on her fallen log.
"Whatcha doing out here loca?"
"Just uh," Natalia had no idea what to say the only memories she was provided were of mud pies as a child. Cute but decidedly not helpful.
"Dad and Charlie are huge gossips so uh, don't worry about it you don't have to explain anything."
They slipped into an awkward silence as Natalia racked her brain for something to talk about. Jacob wasn't really one of Bella's current friends but his dad and her dad were best friends so they could become close at some point. If she was here where she was supposed to be. Bella had also neglected the few friends she had at the beginning of school here before she was swept up with the Cullens.
What was she supposed to do in this situation? Does she rekindle friendships? Does she do nothing since they're not Natalia's friends, they're Bella's? Every option felt disingenuous in some way. This was all so frustrating. What in oblivion was she supposed to do?
"Hey so remember the legends you were curious about?"
Natalia was grateful for the interruption to her train of thought. "Yeah what about them?"
"Well I um, I never got to ask you what you think about the supernatural. Do you believe in all that stuff?"
Things were still stilted but they could at least go somewhere. They debated lightheartedly about the possibility of supernatural beings existing. Jacob was tentatively against while Natalia was all for it. She had an obvious unfair advantage but Jacob didn't need to know that.
"I mean come on, think about it, wouldn't scientists have found something with all the advancements in technology?"
"Maybe. But, if immortals exist they'd be rich and could pay off anyone to keep their secret."
Jacob gave her an 'are you serious' look.
"Don't look at me like that. Scientists have only explored 5% of the ocean; there's always a chance they've missed something."
"Sure sure. And mermaids ate sailors back in the day. That's why so many were lost, not because of the poor health conditions and constant battles or anything right?"
"Why stop then I'm sure sailors nowadays are still tasty."
They stared each other down for a moment before bursting out laughing. This was fun and easier than she thought it might be. It wasn't too hard to use the memories on the fly and sound like a normal human instead of an alien wood elf from another plane. Granted Jacob didn't know Bella well enough to catch any mistakes Natalia made, but this was nice. She'd cross the bridge of people who know Bella when she gets there.
"This was fun Jacob. I should head home to start dinner though."
"Sure sure. Next time you're down here swing by my place, you don't need to sit out on lonely Island you know?"
"Thanks I'll keep that in mind."
The drive home gave Natalia time to compare Jacob to Hjoromir. Jacob is probably what Hjoromir was like when he was a bit younger. Though he's probably not that much older than Bella. They're both very enthusiastic and puppy-like. Kind and optimistic though Hjoromir is a mite pushier than Jacob in his eagerness to be a true blue adventurer.
Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad starting a tentative friendship with Jacob while she was here. Assumably when they switched back they'd get all the memories of what happened in their bodies and Bella could continue where Natalia left off right? As long as Natalia was careful to act like Bella she wouldn't cause any problems for Bella's return. It was a crapshoot she was willing to take, keeping to herself just wasn't an option she needed personal interaction to stay sane in the upside down world.
Besides, she could hope that the whole legend about the cold ones was true. If the wolves are true Jacob might be one and she'd be able to tell him some or all of the truth without looking like a crazy person. She hoped.
Author's Note: I seem to write more per chapter for Natalia so far but in my outline I have more ideas for Bella's journey. Up next Bella wakes up in Skyrim proper. See you next time!