A/N: Oh dear, once again this one is ridiculously long, quite possibly the longest chapter I've ever written for anything... Believe it or not, it was actually supposed to be LONGER! -Sweatdrop- I never intended or even expected this chapter to be so long, and I did think about splitting it up but I just couldn't, forgive me! So, once again, I apologise if it's overwhelming. As of right now, it looks like the next ones won't be nearly as long, but in any case, I hope the length of this one makes up for the lengthy delay. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out quicker and for now, I hope you guys enjoy this one! So, without further adieu, PLEASE review! It really is the best motivation for continuing! :) As always, much love and thank you guys so much for your support! :)
Disclaimer: As you all very well know, I am fortunate to own my OCs... and that's about it.
She was trying hard to focus, she really was. But Demetra simply couldn't concentrate on what the smallest member of the Blitzkrieg Boys was saying with such a commotion filling the air.
The small group were still out exploring the village, but they'd pretty much explored every nook and cranny at this point. They'd just decided to head back to the facility for another bite to eat, when Demetra's attention was hijacked by an unexpected disturbance. Waiting for Ian to take a break in his chattering, the brunette snagged her opportunity first chance and turned a questioning look on the boys.
"Where is that racket coming from?" She asked, coming to a stop in front of a large log building with chain linked fences around it.
"Oh, that's the dog sled rental place."
This greatly piqued the brunette's interest.
"Dog sleds?" She repeated, trying desperately to sound casual and not like the excited child she felt like. "You can rent dog sleds here?"
Not being fooled in the slightest, Ian grinned wide, and the others - as usual, save Tala - either chuckled or smirked in amusement.
"You like dog sleds, huh?" Ian asked enthusiastically. "Yea, they rent 'em here, you can pick your own team and everything!"
"There are bigger teams and dogs with different skills depending on what kind of trip you're going on." Spencer filled in.
"I see." Demetra said simply, staring at the building.
After observing it thoughtfully for a few moments, an amused snort broke the silence.
"You look like a kid staring through a toy store window." Tala taunted. This took Demetra slightly aback; she thought she'd been doing a pretty good job of hiding her emotions. Still, the redhead continued. "You act like you're so tough and so cool, but you're really just a typical little girl under all that talk."
Demetra turned a scowl of annoyance on the redhead, but he surprised her once again when she saw him walking towards the building.
"Where are you going?"
Tala continued forward without stopping and didn't look at her when he spoke.
"I could answer that with a well-deserved smart-ass response..." He drawled, the smirk evident in his tone. "But just this once I'll let you off with it. Obviously I'm going in, and I know you want to see what this place is all about; so are you coming or not?"
Chewing her cheek for a moment or two, not wanting to give the redhead the satisfaction of thinking he could actually see through her, Demetra eventually caved and released a heavy sigh of annoyance before moving forward to follow him.
Behind the two, the remainder of the group all exchanged amused looks before following as well.
-;-
It was the most amazing place the brunette had ever seen and the way her head was on a swivel as they walked through the place was a fine indication. Evidently, the building was only a tiny portion of the place; it held all the necessary supplies and equipment required for the trips, medical needs, and other things for taking care of the dogs. As one passed through the building however and exited through the back door, a massive expanse of rows upon rows of kennels ran off in the distance nearly as far as the eye could see.
"That's why they were making so much noise." Ian spoke up beside the brunette, pointing to some workers entering and leaving the fenced in areas with huge buckets in each hand. "It's feeding time!"
Demetra watched as the uniformed men and women filled the feeding containers of the excited canines. From the looks of things, it seemed like each huge fenced in area was home to a whole team.
"Do they keep them in there all the time?" The brunette asked, feeling sorry for the dogs.
"Naw, they get lots of exercise." Bryan replied, lifting an arm to point off in the distance behind the rows of kennels. "It's hard to see but way back there is a huge fence that goes all the way around the property. This place actually owns a pretty big piece of land, and during the day time, the workers usually let the dogs out back there for exercise; usually a only a few teams at a time."
"Yea, they usually only keep them in the kennels for feeding time and at night." Spencer added.
"Besides, this place is pretty popular." Ian added. "So most of the dogs get lots of exercise when they're rented for trips."
Demetra was just about to question the boys further when a new, heavily accented voice sounded from in front of them.
"Hello there boys! Back again, eh?"
The group stopped walking and all looked forward as a uniformed man approached them with a smile. Stopping in front of them, he reached out to shake the Blitzkrieg Boy's hands.
"And you brought a pretty face with you this time!" The man said turning a kind smile towards Demetra.
Kai gestured towards the brunette as he shook the man's hand.
"Anton, this Demetra Nakamura. She's going to be staying with us at the facility for a while."
When the two had released each other, the man named Anton reached up to tip his hat at the brunette.
"I am pleased to meet you young lady." He said kindly. He then looked around at the small group as one. "So, how should I help you boys today? Come to take a team out again?"
"Not this time." Kai replied. "Today we're just here to show her around."
Before Anton could reply, Ian spoke up with an excited expression.
"Hey! Why don't we go for a run!?" He asked with a huge grin. Tala snorted.
"I doubt the sheltered little pampered princess could handle roughing it for a night in the harsh Russian terrain." He replied tauntingly.
Demetra lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she turned an unimpressed look on the redhead.
"Believe it or not, I have actually spent my share of nights outdoors." She replied coldly. "And in case you've forgotten, I'm Finnish; our winters aren't exactly tropical."
"I chose not." Tala replied with a smirk. "Trust me, princess. This isn't like camping in your fully-stocked skyscraper on wheels.
Feeling the familiar urge to defend herself against the irritating Russian, Demetra opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Kai, who was quickly becoming the resident referee.
"Well, there's only one way to find out how tough she is, Tala." Kai replied with a challenging expression. "Whatta ya say, Demetra? Care to take him up on his challenge?"
Silver eyes narrowed on Tala as the redhead gave their owner a taunting smirk. After a few moments she lifted her nose in the air and looked down it at him when she spoke.
"With pleasure." She almost seethed.
Kai's smirk widened as Tala and Demetra stared each other down, and the others passed around another look of amusement.
"Oooo! She's a feisty one." Anton said with a laugh. He then turned to the side and gestured the group to follow him. "That's the spirit young lady; don't let the boys have all the fun! Come, let us chose a team for you!"
Demetra gave the redhead one last glare before moving past him to follow their guide. Tala watched her for a few moments before giving an amused snort and moving to follow, the rest of the boys following close behind.
"So, the teams on this side are our experienced dogs." Anton informed her as he lifted a hand in a sweeping gesture towards their left side. "They are trained for long runs, like day trips and overnights; they are the ones you want. Why don't you look around and pick out a team you like?"
"You go ahead and look around." Kai told her. "We've all got teams we always pick so we'll go get them ready and get the gear."
"Fine." The brunette replied simply, not looking at him as she scanned the many kennels.
"I will go and help the boys." Anton told her. "You can go meet the dogs and pick the ones you like. If you need something, call to one of the employees, they will be glad to help you."
Demetra nodded with a small thanks and the next moment was left alone. Walking down the long row of chain-linked fences, she couldn't help but smile at the excited canines all barking for her attention as they jumped up on their confines.
She walked slowly and observed carefully, occasionally stopping and crouching to size up a team or reach through the links to pet an excited dog. There were so many dogs and Demetra had no idea how she was ever going to chose just one team. She'd nearly walked the entire length of cages, figuring she was going to have to walk back and look them all over again, when a particular dog at the very end of the rows caught her attention.
Cocking her head to one side slightly, silver eyes watched in fascination as her gaze fell on a pure black dog in the very last kennel. He was visibly larger than the majority of the other dogs, and unlike them, he was laying calmly beside the fence instead of going ballistic with excitement like the rest of the dogs and his team. When he heard Demetra approaching him, he lifted his head and locked eyes on her, gaze following her and watching her as she stopped in front of his kennel and crouched down in front of it. When the brunette placed a hand against the fence, the black canine immediately rose to its feet and approached the fence to sniff the brunette's hand. After doing so, it licked her hand and Demetra reached through the links to pet its head, smiling fondly as it closed its eyes and tilted its head to the side to allow her to pet him.
"He reminds me so much of Trea." She thought in awe as she looked the canine over.
Aside from being easily one of the largest dogs there, he was also one of the only few who was a solid colour; being completely and utterly coal black. The only colour the animal had was its bright golden lamp-like eyes. It also looked much more wolfish then the rest of the dogs.
"Would you like to go for a run, little brother?" Demetra asked the dog. The dog opened its eyes to stare into hers and Demetra felt her heart swell.
"Ah, I see you've met Neobuchennyy."
Demetra looked up and over her shoulder to see Anton standing behind her with his hands on his hips. A little ways behind him stood the Blitzkrieg Boys.
"Neobuchennyy." The brunette repeated slowly, looking back to the beautiful creature before her. "That's an interesting name. Does it mean anything?"
Anton smiled.
"Of course. To English, it roughly translates; The Untamed One." When the brunette gave him a curious expression, he laughed and elaborated. "He is a very smart animal who doesn't like to be told what to do! With Neobu, you must always remember that he is a wild spirit who demands respect, and also that he is only here because he wants to be."
Anton approached the kennel and stopped in front of the gate. However he made no move to touch the dog and the canine made no move to ask for it as his golden eyes locked onto the man.
"Neobu came to us as a little one in rough shape. We tried to train him but he refused to be tamed! Always escaping and never wanting to be hitched up with any other team! We tried for years because no one want to give up on him, but eventually we were all at our wits end and didn't know what else to do with him. We considered giving him to a wild preserve to just run free, but one day, just when we were ready to make the call, someone dropped off these puppies, all in rough shape like he was." Anton gestured towards the other dogs in the kennel with the black canine with a fond smile. "Neobu took to them like an adoptive papa and always looked after them. He stopped escaping and was willing to be hitched up with the pups. He still don't like to be treated like pet, but he stays now and watches over his team."
Demetra was extremely fascinated with the dog and his story.
"Really?" She asked, intrigued. "Interesting... do you think he'd like to go on a run?"
Anton laughed now.
"Would he ever? Neobu loves to run! He likes to pick his Musher, not the other way around, but he seem to like you! He is a good dog and a good leader, you will have a good run with him."
Demetra held gazes with the dog for a while and eventually reached out to rub his head again, making the canine close his eyes once more as he enjoyed the attention. She then retracted her hand and stood up.
"Then I suppose this is my team." She said decisively. Anton grinned wide.
"Very good choice." He said approvingly. "You will not be disappointed. Kai tells me you have to go and pack, so you go, and dogs will be ready when you return. "
"That's about it. Think you've got it?"
Demetra paused as she ran Kai's quick lesson over in her head.
"Hike, get moving. Gee, left. Haw, right. Easy, slow down. Woah, stop." She ran those terms, and the others the blunette had given her, over and over in her head until she was sure she'd remembered before looking at her teacher and giving him a single nod.
"I got it." She said simply.
"Good." The blunette replied. "Shouldn't be too hard to remember but just in case, stick close to us and you'll be fine."
He looked up around at the rest of his friends then.
"You guys good to go?" Receiving confirmations all around, the blunette nodded and stepped up onto his sled's foot boards. "OK, let's go. Hike!"
Demetra watched the blunette's team shoot forward, followed quickly by the others. She smiled in amusement when her new furry friend looked back at her with bright, expectant eyes.
"Alright, Neobu, my friend, show me how it's done." She said softly. She then lifted her chin and raised her voice as she called to her team leader. "Hike!"
Excited, Demetra's chest swelled with joy as her team instantly shot forwards and swiftly caught up with the others.
Bright silver eyes scanned the scenery enthusiastically as their owner fought back a giddy grin. She'd been on countless skidoo trips with the girls and Breal, even overnight ones, and even in the winter. But nothing she'd ever done in her entire life could begin to equal the feeling of dog sledding.
Demetra allowed her eyes to slide shut, thoroughly enjoying the moment. Unlike a skidoo, she noted that while the lifeless machine needed a human hand and consciousness to control it, the intelligent creatures powering her current ride needed only direction. Even the sound was so much more pleasurable. She was unable to resist a small smile of content as she considered said sound; the crisp, drawn-out crunch as the sled glided across the fresh snow, the sound of the dog's feet as they pounded the heavy powder almost in unison, the excited pants and occasional yelps as her team communicated to each other in their own way.
A heavy, contented sigh escaped the brunette as she enjoyed the feel of the wind and bright sun on her face for a few more minutes before finally, reluctantly opening her eyes.
"Does it get any better than this?" Demetra thought, her heart completely full for the first time in a long time.
"Hey, princess! You planning on letting your dogs do all the work?"
Resisting a sigh of annoyance, Demetra looked to her left to see Tala and his team several lengths ahead of her, the redhead grinning mischievously back at her.
"You've only got one job, and you're already slacking off!" He called tauntingly. "I know you're running with professionals, but think you can at least try and keep up?"
Raising an eyebrow, the brunette glanced to the front and noticed her beautiful lead dog looking back at her with a strange look in his lamp-like eyes that tickled her funny bone. A glint in her own eye then, Demetra smirked.
"Alright, big dog." She muttered to herself. "You wanna play, let's!"
Lifting her chin again, she shouted to Neobu.
"On by, Neobu!"
Looking forward again, Demetra gasped slightly as her lead dog immediately bounded forward as his legs began to move so fast they were almost a mere blur. Clutching her handlebar tightly so as to not fall off, Demetra's eyes widened in shock as she was reminded of all those silly movies when the vehicles in them were thrust into hyper-drive. Suddenly it seemed like her team and sled were flying as it shot forwards, convincing the brunette they weren't even touching the snow.
Looking over his shoulder cockily, Tala did a double-take and the smirk on his face dropped away as Demetra quickly caught up to him and soon overtook him completely. As she approached, he scowled as he helplessly watched her fly past Ian and his team, then Bryan and Spencer simultaneously, who had both been keeping pace with each other, and eventually caught up with Kai. The blunette looked to his left and smirked to see the brunette keeping pace with him now. A brief conversation passed between them and the two looked back at Tala with amused smirks, making the redhead's blood boil.
"On by!" Tala yelled angrily.
Obediently his team shot forward and also easily overtook Ian, Brian and Spencer. However, when he tried to catch up to Demetra, her lead dog looked over its shoulder, and spotting the redhead fast approaching, picked up his speed. Several times Tala tried to pass the brunette and her team but each time her new friend would sense his approach and shoot forward to leave him in their dust.
Clenching his teeth, Tala cursed under his breath.
"Damn dog!" He growled in his head. "Stupid thing has an attitude, just like the pain in the ass driving him!"
Deciding he'd pass them when the midnight demon tired, Tala resigned himself to hanging back from his competitors and stewing.
-;-
The teams ran on open plains for roughly two solid hours before a cluster of trees finally appeared in their field of view. Demetra, who had distanced herself a little from the Blitzkrieg Boys, but was still keeping pace with Kai, heard the blunette's voice over the sounds of the run and looked over at him.
"Let's stop there for a rest!" He called to the group. Receiving confirmations all around, he turned forward again and spurred his team on.
Soon enough, the group had reached the trees and moved into their midst until they found a wide enough clearing to accommodate them all.
"Easy!" Demetra called, mimicking the guys as they approached the clearing. When Kai brought his team to a stop beside a large fallen tree she decided to take up place beside him. "Haw!... Woah!"
One by one, they all slid to a stop and dropped their snow hooks onto the ground, pressing them down before dismounting and moving to unhook the dogs. After making sure each team member had a well-deserved bowl of food and water in front of them, the group moved to the centre of the clearing and began setting up for themselves.
"We've been running for roughly two hours, twenty-eight minutes." Kai informed the group, reaching up to halt a stopwatch dangling from his coat. "So we might as well have something to eat while we wait."
"What do we have to wait for?" Demetra asked as she sipped from her water bottle.
"Usually it's a good idea to take a break equal to your run time to make sure your dogs are good and rested." Spencer informed her.
"I see." The brunette replied simply. She turned and crouched to ruffle Neobu's back, which made him lift his head to lick her gloved hand before turning back to his food. An affectionate look shone in Demetra's eyes as she looked down at him. "I suppose they deserve it."
"Well, no better lunch than fresh fish!" Ian exclaimed, holding up some strange objects. "Ice fishing anyone?"
Demetra gave the small teen an odd look, then glanced around at the others as they produced odd looking equipment from their sleds. She began to feel slightly left out until Bryan appeared in front of her and all but thrust an odd looking contraption in her face.
"Don't worry, newbie! We got one for you too!"
Slightly taken aback, Demetra leaned back slightly to stare at the object being offered to her before eventually reaching up and accepting it. She stared at it for a few moments before looking up at the young man before her.
"Thank you, Bryan..." She said a little awkwardly. "Did you make this?"
A huge grin split the teen's face at that.
"Yep! Made it myself!" He confirmed enthusiastically. "In fact, I made 'em all, and not one of 'em has ever failed yet!"
Demetra looked back down at the object then and felt a sudden pang of affection towards her new friend.
"Thank you." She said again, more softly this time. When she looked up at him, Bryan's grin widened.
"Yea, sure, don't mention it!" He then turned towards the others. "Come on! Last one on the ice is a rotten tomato!"
-;-
"I can't believe what I'm seeing. You're completely hopeless."
A vein throbbed in Demetra's forehead as she tried to ignore Tala's taunting. She hated to admit it, but truth be told, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
"Says the guy who hasn't caught anything yet..." She grumbled in her head.
As of right then, both her and Tala were the only ones who hadn't caught any fish, but if she were honest with herself; she'd admit that the main reason the redhead had yet to catch anything was because he was too busy making fun of her lack of skills.
"I thought you were supposed to be some master angler?" She grumbled back at her tormentor.
"Wrong kind of fishing." Tala replied with a taunting grin. "And I am."
Demetra turned to him now and narrowed her eyes.
"Well let's see your skills then, master." She challenged irritably.
Tala's smirk widened, but to her surprise, he approached her instead of his own hole in the ice.
"Gimme that." He said, holding out his hand for her tiny fishing rod once he was in front of her.
Grudgingly, Demetra handed over her rod. Silver eyes watched with interest as Tala crouched down beside Demetra's fishing hole and scooped out some of the slush that had accumulated before dropping the line into the freezing water.
"This isn't like walking up to the seafood isle in the grocery store and just picking out what you want, your highness." He taunted her again. Demetra felt like smacking him. "You can't expect the fish to just come to you, and you can't expect to catch anything if you're just jigging the line like that. This is how you do it."
Demetra watched unblinkingly as Tala jigged the rod once, then let it slowly sink back down before waiting a few moments and doing it again. She watched him do this for a long time until eventually she was convinced she would die of boredom.
"I can see this is working so well." She said sarcastically. "Clearly you're skills aren't-"
She stopped and stared at the tip of her rod as it suddenly buckled over, and the taunting smirk the redhead gave her made her urge to smack him that much more powerful.
Silver eyes narrowed as Demetra watched Tala pull up the line to reveal the biggest and fattest fish she'd ever seen. She wondered if the look she was giving him was as scathing as it felt, and judging by the cocky expression he gave her when he held the twitching wriggling creature up for her to see, she guessed the answer was yes.
"That's how you ice fish, princess." Tala said once he'd unhooked his fish and handed the rod back to her.
Demetra took her rod back and glared at the redhead as he walked away from her laughing to himself. Heaving a heavy sigh, she turned back to her fishing hole, and giving it her best stink eye, she moved to crouch down by it again and grudgingly mimic what she'd learned from her bane.
-;-
It seemed like she'd been sitting there for hours, and as she sat staring at her little hole in the ice, occasionally bobbing Bryan's homemade rod up and down, she couldn't help but wonder just what on God's green earth people found enjoyable about this blasted sport!
"What a ridiculous pastime!" She thought to herself with great irritation. "I mean, if you're starving, you've gotta do what you've gotta do, but to willingly submit yourself to this and call it fun! What the hell is wrong with people?!"
Not for the first time, she debated getting up and childishly throwing down the rod, storming off the ice, and heading for the woods to try and hunt something with fur for lunch - certainly it'd be a fair trade and surely it'd actually be easier!
But, as always, her pride won out and Demetra knew she'd never be able to give Tala the satisfaction of knowing he'd outsmarted her, not to mention that it was something else he had over her.
So, releasing another heavy irritated sigh, she glared at the hole in the ice again and gave her line a sharp, spiteful tug. However, she straightened and furrowed her brows when it brought up solid and refused to budge. Giving the line another sharp tug, she was once again unable to pull it up any further.
"Now what?" She muttered in annoyance.
After trying several more times to tug up her line with no success, she was finally forced to admit she had no idea what was going on and that she needed help.
"Hey..." She called reluctantly to the guys over her shoulder. "I think my line is stuck..."
One by one, the Blitzkrieg Boys made their way over to her from their respective spots, and when they reached her, Bryan crouched down beside her fishing hole. With a hand to his chin thoughtfully, the other reached out to experimentally tug at her line. When he leaned ahead to peer down into the dark circle, and tug the line again, his eyes bugged.
"It's not stuck!" He exclaimed loudly. "You got a monster on the other end!"
Demetra blinked for a minute in disbelief and watched, slightly dazed, as the next few minutes passed in a flurry while the guys - save Tala as usual - scrambled to help her out. She watched them hurrying to cut the hole bigger and scoop out the slush and chunks, she watched them jig the line a few times to apparently make sure the fish was still there and make sure it was hooked good, then she watched with a slightly warm tug of affection towards them when Ian thrust her line at her with a one hundred watt grin.
"Here, it's your fish!" He said excitedly. "You do the honours!"
Demetra looked at the line in his hand and with only a slight hesitation, reached out and took it from him. She felt a little foolish when the guys cheered her on as she pulled up the line, but there was a tiny little piece of her that felt the child-like excitement of the moment too. In that moment, Demetra found she understood why people liked ice fishing.
When finally the nose of the fish was visibly poking out of the hole, Demetra realised she had to use both hands to hoist the thing out of the water. Finally out, she dropped the fish onto the ice, no longer able to hold it suspended, and used the toe of her boot to nudge it away from the hole as she stared at it. She was barely able to believe what she was looking at, and was barely registering the cheers around her as she did.
"Good job, buddy!" Ian cheered with a huge grin as he reached out to give Demetra a congratulatory slap on the back.
"Yea, not bad for your first try, I guess." Bryan teased.
"Biggest one so far." Spencer added with a smile. "Probably the biggest we're gonna catch today. Good job."
"Just look at that childish awe." Kai teased with a smirk. "How precious."
"Oh shut up." Demetra muttered, feeling her face heat slightly. This made the guys laugh.
"Yea, yea. Hard part's over." Tala said suddenly, a strange glint in his eye. "Now you've gotta finish the job."
Demetra looked at the redhead and stared to see him holding a thin knife out to her handle first.
"This is a fillet knife." He said with a wicked smirk. "You know how to use it?"
Silver eyes glanced from the knife, back to the still wriggling fish and bit her cheek. She was by no means squeamish, and while the thought of taking a life - no matter how small - did disturb her slightly, she had little problem doing something she knew was so necessary. However, she had never gutted a fish in her life, nor ever seen it done, and looking at the beautiful specimen at her feet, she knew she'd probably absolutely butcher it if she attempted it now.
Eventually, after what felt like ages, Tala released an amused snort, and Demetra looked back to him just as he did a fancy flip of the knife so he was holding it properly again.
"I didn't think so." He said cockily. "Well we can't wait all day for you to grow a backbone. It's cruel to let it suffer."
Tala approached Demetra's fish and crouched down, back-on to her, but just as he placed a hand on it and the knife to it's belly, Demetra's voice gave him pause.
"Wait a minute." She said with a frown, stepping closer to look over his shoulder. "How am I supposed to learn how to do it if you're not going to at least show me?"
Tala looked up at the brunette over his shoulder, and his icy blue eyes weren't the only ones to blink at her in surprise. He'd thought she'd simply been squeamish and 'too much of a girl' to be able to gut the fish, but he realised then that she just didn't know how. Now, normally, he would have milked that for all it was worth; yet another simple thing the sheltered princess didn't know how to do. But as he looked up into her face and noted her reluctant and grudging expression - it was obvious she didn't want to show him another weakness, but clearly her curiosity and thirst for learning and new experiences won out - he couldn't bring himself to do it this time.
Resisting another snort, this time of annoyance with himself, Tala turned his head away from her.
"I must be going soft..." He grumbled to himself under his breath so no one heard.
"Fine." He said aloud as he scooted slightly to the side to allow her to see what he was doing. "Just don't cry like a little girl when it stops moving."
Demetra rolled her eyes.
"I'll try to resist the temptation." She replied sarcastically.
To Tala's surprise, she crouched beside him and watched his movements intently without a flinch, even going so far as to ask a few questions. Experimentally, he lifted the fish and handed it to her when he was done, and he was ever so slightly impressed when she reached out to take it and hold it up without batting an eyelash.
"Well!" Ian said enthusiastically. "Now that Demetra has learned how to catch and gut her own fish, I say we beat her record!"
"Yea!" Bryan cheered. "Don't you think your beginners luck will hold out, missy! Wait til you see the whale I'm gonna catch!"
Demetra smirked as she placed her catch back on the ice and picked up her rod again.
"We'll see about that."
That said, everyone turned and went their separate ways to try and outdo the catch of the day.
-;-
Despite what he'd promised, Bryan did not catch a bigger fish than Demetra. In fact, when the group decided to call it a day, it seemed Demetra's catch remained the biggest. Leading the score however at an even dozen was Bryan, followed by Spencer and Kai who'd each caught ten respectively, then Tala with nine and Ian with just seven. Lastly was Demetra, who'd only managed to catch three more besides her big one, and of course not nearly as big. However, she did manage to surprise and impress the guys again when she this time gutted and cleaned her fish all on her own.
"So, how does it feel to be outdone by a girl, Tala?" Ian teased as they all headed back to their dogs and sleds with equipment and catches in tow. Tala snorted humorlessly.
"Beginners luck." He replied bluntly.
He did his best to make it sound annoyed, but truth be told; he'd actually been charmed by the beautiful brunette, and her combination of childish awe and willing adaptability to something he was sure would make most girls squirm with disgust.
However, it was yet another admission he fully intended to take to the grave.
It seemed like they'd only just begun their trip, even though Demetra knew they'd been running for hours, but eventually the group reached their destination and this time came to a stop beside a modest looking old cabin. After settling their teams inside a massive kennel attached to the side, they collected their things and moved to enter the building.
"I hope you know, princess, that this isn't some luxury hotel." Tala taunted. "Are you sure you can handle a night in some old run-down shack like a commoner?"
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Demetra gave the redhead an unamused look.
"I'm sure I can handle it." She replied tonelessly.
She might not have as much experience as the boys did with these sorts of trips, but she had spent her share of nights out under the stars.
Snorting in amusement, Tala made no further comment as he moved past the brunette to enter the cabin. Demetra made a face of disgust as she watched him before eventually moving to follow him inside.
Once she'd entered the quaint little building however, Demetra quickly forgot all about her annoyance with the bane of her existence, as she stared in awe at the interior.
The 'shack' as Tala had referred to it as, was in fact fair sized and cosy looking, and was by no means run-down. It was easily twenty-by-thirty, and although it looked decades old and a little worse for wear, upon closer inspection, Demetra could tell it was built well and would likely last another few decades.
Against one wall was a large shelf lined with all sorts of pots, pans and other ancient looking cooking utensils. On another wall there was a small wooden counter with a large wash basin set into it at its end. There were several wooden frames around the space, barely a few inches off the ground, and Demetra reasoned these were beds. All around the walls were hung skins of all shapes, sizes and colours, and in the very centre of the cabin was a large stone fire pit surrounded by four large bear skin rugs. Looking up, Demetra made note of the hatch in the ceiling and figured it was meant to be opened when the fire was lit.
All in all, Demetra's impression of the cabin was favourable, and it made her imagine she'd just stepped back in time.
"So, which one of these commoner beds is mine?" She asked the guys, earned chuckles from them all except the redhead.
"Whichever one you want." Ian said with a grin. "You can go settle in if ya want and we'll start a fire to roast some of the fish we caught."
Demetra decided to take the small teen up on his offer and made her way to one of the wooden frames in a far corner. Dropping her sleeping bag and luggage onto the bed, she paused as she looked around thoughtfully. The entire cabin was an open concept, which left very little room for privacy. She wasn't exactly shy, but the thought of stripping down within eyesight of the Blitzkrieg Boys was not a pleasant thought. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked around thoughtfully as she considered.
"Oh, right, you probably wanna change, huh?" Ian said thoughtfully after doing a double take in her direction. "There's some old skins and sheets and stuff over there in that chest against the wall. We can help you hang some of them up around your bed if you want."
Demetra approached the mentioned chest and opened it. She shifted through the contents for a minute before eventually pulling out a large heavy sheet of canvas and holding it up for inspection. Satisfied that it was heavy enough and unable to be seen through, she deemed it appropriate and nodded to herself once before closing the chest again and getting to her feet.
"That's fine, I can manage." She said simply. And nothing more was said on the matter as she made her way back to her corner and proceeded to do just that.
-;-
Although his head was bowed as he pretended to be soully focused on the task he'd been appointed, Tala's eyes were trained on a particular corner as he looked up under his lashes at the heavy sheet hung around it. He tried to tear his gaze away - he tried really hard - but his icy blues were glued to the scene, and no matter how hard he tried to will himself to look away, he just couldn't quite bring himself to.
Demetra had indeed managed to hang the heavy canvas sheet on her own, and she'd done a good job. Unfortunately for her, she obviously didn't realise that the window behind her bed was casting just enough of the remaining daylight on her and said sheet to create a defined silhouette of both her very attractive form, and every move she was making behind its cover. Judging by the dead silence in the cabin, and the glances the rest of his friends were stealing towards the corner - though they were all trying very hard to pretend they hadn't noticed - Tala knew they'd noticed Demetra's predicament as well. Of course, there was no way either of them was going to say anything.
Tala's eyes were helplessly glued to the silhouette, and something increasingly familiar stirred inside him as he watched Demetra's perfect form go about stripping off her heavy outside clothes in exchange for something more comfortable. While her perfect silhouette was extremely defined, there really wasn't much to see because the canvas was in fact sufficiently thick. However, when Tala superimposed the image in his mind of the brunette from the pool a short while ago over the silhouette before him now, a violent shiver ran through him, and that stirring inside him immediately intensified.
"See something you like, Tala?"
Hearing a quiet, rough voice beside him, Tala was finally able to tear his gaze away from the image before him and looked to his right to see Kai crouched beside him.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Tala fixed his face in a disgusted expression and expelled a matching snort. It was a feeble attempt to hide the obvious, but he wasn't about to openly admit aloud he'd been ogling the enemy yet again - even if this time it was painfully obvious.
"Yea. My dinner." He replied with a low growl.
Kai's face split into a knowing smirk.
"Right..." He drawled in amusement.
It was at that moment that Demetra finally came around her canvas covering and moved to approach the guys around the fire.
"Mmm... that is quite possibly the best thing I've ever smelled." She said as she lowered herself to sit among them. Noticing their silence though, she looked around at them all and frowned.
"Did I miss something?" She asked in slight confusion, noting that neither of them were able to meet her gaze.
Receiving way-too-quick responses in the negative, she narrowed her eyes on them all, but before she could comment again, Ian cut her off.
"How do you like your fish, Demetra?" He asked a little too quick and too loudly.
Again, silver eyes narrowed further on the small teen, and he sweat-dropped and squirmed under her scrutiny, but to his - and the others' - relief, she eventually let it go.
"As long as it's not raw, I'll leave it to the expert." She replied bluntly. "Whoever that might be."
"That would be me." Tala replied cockily. "Glad to hear you acknowledge my superior skills; when it comes to cooking over the open fire, I'm the best there is."
This caused a riot of good-natured bantering to flare up among the Blitzkrieg Boys, and Demetra felt a tug of affection for them, as well as one of longing for her girls, pull at her heart. She knew being without her team, her sisters, for nearly a whole year would be one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do, but she was also starting to realise it might be just a little more tolerable than she'd thought after all.
The smell of their fresh caught fish was enough to make Demetra's mouth literally water, and although she tried her best to hide how much she was anticipating a taste, her stomach ended up giving her away.
Being the closest one to her, Tala looked at her with a smirk.
"Was that your stomach or a wild animal?" The redhead asked. Demetra felt her face flush hotly as her companions all chuckled.
"Shut up..." She mumbled in annoyance, not looking at any of them. "It's the first time I've ever had fish over the fire, and it really does smell amazing..."
Tala snorted in amusement and turned away from her.
"Yea well, it is good." He said matter-of-factly. "This isn't your mother's caviar and fancy fish cakes."
While the others laughed in what they thought was good-natured fun, Kai was the only one who noticed the dark look on the brunette's face, and he frowned at the sight.
"So, Demetra, what's your impression of Russia so far?"
Demetra's expression softened when she looked at the blunette across the fire from her, and not for the last time, she was forced to admit how terribly handsome the young man was. One hand leaning on the ground, and the other casually resting across a raised knee, Kai was the picture of cool.
"I'll admit, I'm pleasantly surprised. " She replied softly. Her expression softened further as she looked into the deep brown eyes across from her. "Needless to say, it's not nearly as terrible as I was prepared for... And I am enjoying myself much more than I'd expected."
A small smile tugged at the corner of Kai's lips then and his own expression softened as he stared back at her.
"Well, ya know; it helps to have good company." He teased in response. "And really, you don't get finer company than ours."
"I don't know..." Demetra replied with a teasing glint in her eyes. "If you lot are the finest Russia's got to offer, I must say; I don't see the appeal."
She actually laughed lightly this time when her comment aroused faux-angered responses all around. But even so, her gaze was still locked with Kai's, and the blunette seemed more than content to keep it that way.
A short distance away, Tala ignored the goings on around him in favour of staring at the two across from him. He had no idea why, but watching Demetra and Kai gazing into each others eyes like a pair of drunken, lovesick school runts was enough to make him want to vomit. He knew it shouldn't bother him to see them take such an interest in each other (after all, her very existence boiled his blood most days), but for some reason, it did - very much.
Knowing it was childish, and knowing he was stupid for feeling that way, Tala was unable all the same to resist breaking the little moment up.
"Here, try this."
Demetra started slightly at Tala's grumbled words and turned towards him, blinking once at the roasted fish on a stick he'd all but shoved in her face. Leaning back slightly to get a better look at it, she reached out to tear a piece off before popping it into her mouth.
Tala watched in anticipation, feeling stupid for it, and waited impatiently for the brunette to reply. Soon enough, Demetra hummed in approval.
"Wow." She said simply. "You're right, that's delicious. Well worth the wait."
Feeling his chest swell with pride, Tala convinced himself it was due to having received approval on his skills and not because Demetra had been the one to do so.
"Obviously." The redhead replied cockily. "You said it yourself, I am the expert."
Demetra rolled her eyes.
"Don't let your head get too big, we don't want to strain the dogs."
Once again, a comfortable conversation arose around the fire, and Tala settled back in satisfaction as everyone shared out the roasted fish and dug in. He was acutely aware of the hard look and slight glare a certain blunette was giving him, but he pointedly avoided it. He had no idea why he was so pleased with himself all of a sudden, but he told himself under no certain terms did it have anything to do with stealing Demetra's attention away from the oh-so-perfect Kai.
He was just pleased with himself for a job well-done with the fish, that's all.
Yea, that was totally it.
-;-
The sun had begun to set by the time the group had finished their meal, and they were sitting around enjoying tea and sweets before continuing their night.
Demetra looked around thoughtfully at the Blitzkrieg Boys as she sipped her tea. Some people considered tea to be a 'woman's' drink, and she had to admit that she wasn't much of a tea drinker herself - not that she didn't like it, she just usually preferred coffee. That being said, she couldn't deny that Tala made a fine cup of tea, and she made made a face as she also had to admit it annoyed her to note that it was yet another thing the irritating Russian was good at.
"What's with the stupid face?" The redhead in question asked suddenly.
Coming out of her thoughts, Demetra looked around at the boys and took the time to take another sip of her tea before answering.
"I was just thinking..." She said thoughtfully. "It's strange to see so many men drinking tea; most men I know are coffee drinkers."
Before anyone could express their offence to this, Demetra took another sip and continued.
"But I have to admit... You Russians certainly know how to brew an exceptional pot of tea. You must drink it a lot."
This seemed to subdue the backlash and her companions all looked like proud peacocks.
"You think Tala's tea is good?" Ian said with a huge grin. "Wait til you try mine!"
"Pft!" Bryan scoffed. "Your tea tastes like pond scum compared to mine!"
"Come on, guys." Spencer added, taking his turn at peacekeeper this time. "Tala makes the best tea, and you know it."
Demetra looked at the redhead then, who was making no effort at modesty.
"It's true." He replied, only half jokingly. He turned a cocky grin on Demetra then. "Just wait til you try my skills with speciality teas. One sip and you'll be begging me to marry you."
This tickled the brunette's funny bone for countless reasons, mainly because she couldn't believe she was listening to the normally rough and surly redhead bragging about his tea brewing skills.
"I doubt that very much." She replied bluntly, lifting her cup to her lips to hide the smirk she couldn't keep at bay.
The group chatted and talked until the excellent tea was gone, and Demetra placed her cup in the cluster with the others before looking up around at everyone.
"So, what now? I can't quite picture either of you sitting around the fire singing campfire songs, so how do you normally pass nights here?"
"I'll have you know I've got a beautiful singing voice!" Ian replied teasingly.
This earned him amused snorts all around, including an amused smirk from their new brunette friend. Grinning wide, the smaller teen continued.
"Actually, I brought along a little something we usually use to entertain ourselves!"
Demetra lifted an eyebrow and looked up at her companions questioningly as they all exchanged mysterious grins and stood up as one to leave the cabin. Eyeing them suspiciously for a moment, she eventually stood up and followed them outside.
When everyone was outside and standing around Ian's sled, the small teen grinned wide before reaching down to grab hold of the cover.
"You all ready for this?" He asked, pausing for effect.
Demetra crossed her arms and gave him a look in response as she waited. His grin widening, Ian yanked the cover back and Demetra lifted an eyebrow again as she looked at the odd assortment of objects in his sled bed.
"Ta-da!" Ian said, waving at the items with a flourish. Demetra blinked at it.
"What is it?" She asked bluntly.
"Paintball gear!" The small teen exclaimed enthusiastically.
As she looked around at her companions and their countenances, she couldn't help but think she was the only one not expecting this reveal.
"You all knew about this, didn't you?" She asked bluntly.
"Well, we might of expected it." Spencer said with a playful smile.
"Yea, Ian always brings this stuff on our trips." Bryan said with a huge grin.
"I've even got a gun and some gear for you too, Demetra!" The teen in question said enthusiastically. "You ever played before?"
Demetra eyed the equipment for a moment before looking up at the boys again.
"No, never." She replied simply. This earned grins all around.
"Huh. And here I thought you were a spoiled rotten little brat who'd done it all." Tala taunted. "Turns out there's a bunch of stuff you haven't done."
Demetra lifted her nose and crossed her arms as she gave the redhead an unamused look.
"I might not have played before, but I'm sure I could still recolour your outfit, Ivanov."
The guys, save Tala, all exchanged amused looks at this before looking back at the pair.
"Well, we're glad you feel that way Demetra." Ian said with a huge grin.
"Yea!" Bryan added, a matching look on his face as well. "Seeing as you guys will be partners."
This earned the two scathing looks as both Tala and Demetra snapped their heads away from each other to glare at them.
"What?" They snapped in unison.
"Well, it makes the most sense." Kai replied with a smirk. "Spencer and I usually team up, and Bryan and Ian are usually partners. You're the one who usually partners up with the underdog, Tala."
Tala clenched his teeth at this. It was true, he liked to partner up with the inexperienced players because he knew that when they won, it was mostly to his credit, and everyone knew it. However, looking around at his friend's faces, he knew they fully expected this time to be different - they expected Demetra to be the weakest link, and that in turn, meant they expected her to cost him the game. Tala had to agree.
"You've got to be kidding!" The redhead argued. "At least my partner usually has some experience! I say we have teams of three!"
Demetra released an indignant snort.
"What's wrong, afraid I'll show you up?" She replied with a challenging expression. "Don't worry about it, Ivanov; you hide behind your friends, I'll win the game on my own."
Tala turned to her with a seriously offended and irritated expression then.
"Dream on, princess!" He snapped angrily. "You wouldn't last three minutes out there on your own! Get over yourself!"
The other four all watched, highly amused, as the two bickered back and forth.
"This is gonna be so easy!" Ian snickered under his breath to his partner.
"We're totally gonna beat him this time!" Bryan snickered in response, lifting his hand to fist bump the smaller teen.
"Why don't we give you a few pointers?" Kai said, reaching into Ian's sled and pulling out a gun. He quickly set it up and filled it with paint balls before turning to toss it to the brunette, who easily caught it.
Demetra looked at the object in her hands and frowned as she noted how real it looked, nothing like any paintball gun she'd ever seen before.
"You can take a few practice shots while we set up the rest of the guns." Kai offered her.
Demetra looked up at him and lifted her chin.
"Fine." She replied confidently. "What should I practice on?"
"These." Bryan said from a short distance away.
Demetra turned to the side to see that he had already set up a few targets and was looking at her expectantly. She looked down at the object in her hands for a moment before lifting it and taking aim at the set up. The guys all exchanged another glance, and Bryan and Ian lifted their hands for high-fives, each figuring they had the game in the bag, but when Demetra pulled the trigger and popped off several shots, five jaws slackened as their owners looked on in a stunned stupor.
Lifting the gun to rest casually on her shoulder, Demetra cocked her head slightly to the side as she observed her handiwork.
"I might have pulled to the left a little on the last one." She said casually. "But all in all, not bad if I do say so myself."
The five young men behind her all gawked at the targets, each one peppered with near-perfect bullseyes. After a few moments silence, Bryan and Ian released loud groans of annoyance.
"Aweee man!" Bryan exclaimed, reaching up to angrily ruffle his hair. "I thought we were gonna beat Tala for sure this time!"
"I changed my mind!" Ian added. "I wanna trade partners!"
Tala blinked at the targets for another moment before turning a look on his partner.
"I thought you said you've never shot before."
"I didn't say that." Demetra replied simply. "You guys asked if I'd played paintball before, which I haven't. However, Breal and I have been having shooting competitions nearly every weekend for the past few years."
The teens gawked at her again but against everything anyone expected, Tala smirked in satisfaction and offered the brunette a hand.
"Looks like this calls for a temporary truce, princess."
Ignoring the annoying nickname, Demetra looked around at the others and noted their faces, then smirked herself and looked back at her partner.
"Agreed." She replied, taking the redhead's hand. "Consider this a temporary cease-fire."
This received groans all around as the others realised that their plan had severely backfired.
"Well, that didn't go as planned!" Ian said playfully as they moved to collect the rest of the gear.
"Doesn't matter who your partner is, Tala." Kai taunted with a smirk. "You're still going down."
"Dream on!" The redhead replied with a huge, taunting smirk. "You haven't beaten me yet, Kai, and tonight's not going to be any different."
Demetra watched the guys move off, all playfully bantering back and forth, and a small tug of affection pulled at her heart. She had expected and prepared for the worst prior to coming to Russia, and she'd expected to be completely alienated from the Russian team, to be forced to miss her girls like a lost limb, and to spend the next few months miserably lonely. It was something she'd resigned herself to, so as a result, she was completely unprepared for the shock of being so quickly and readily accepted into the Blitzkrieg Boys' circle. Truth be told; the thought warmed her heart more than she'd ever admit, even to herself.
"Hey Demetra! You comin'?"
Having been shaken from her thoughts, Demetra looked up at Ian, who'd addressed her, and noted the five young men all looking at her enquiringly. The sight nearly made her melt, making her hope desperately the stupid ooey gooey feelings weren't visible in her no doubt soft gaze. Resisting an affectionate smile, she nodded once in confirmation.
"Yes, sorry." She apologised, moving to follow them. "I was just thinking about something."
The guys waited for her to catch up, holding the door for her as she entered the building, before following her inside to get ready for their game.
Tugging on her gloves, Demetra listened carefully as Ian finished up explaining the rules and details of their game. When he turned to ask if she understood everything, she merely gave him a single nod, which seemed to satisfy him as he turned away from her.
"Well, that's it I guess." The small teen finished thoughtfully. "Any questions?"
Demetra knew he was asking mostly for her benefit but even so, she looked up at him when he did.
"Yes." She said simply. "How are we to see each other in the dark? And how do we know if we hit our target? Or are we just going to wing it and count the shots afterwards?"
"It's a clear night, and there's a full moon tonight." Ian replied informatively. "And it'll be up soon, so we should have lots of light to see by. If not, we've got these."
He handed her a smallish light, which seemed to have an odd attachment, and Demetra lifted the tool to give it an odd look when he placed it in her hand. After staring at the object for a minute, Tala sighed from his place beside her.
"Gimme that." He said in slight annoyance.
Demetra allowed him to take the light from her, and she stared in slight surprise when he stepped directly in front of her and reached towards her. She had to resist the reflex to step backwards and simply stared at his shoulder as the redhead reached up to attach the light to hers. When he was finished he stepped back and eyed the light.
"There, that should do it. I know you're not used to the area, but don't use that unless you really need it; otherwise you're as good as a beacon screaming 'Here I am, shoot me!' Just stick with me and you'll be fine."
"I understand." She replied, unable to believe how civil the redhead was being. She wasn't sure if it was his competitive drive to win that was affecting his attitude, but she couldn't help but wish that things between them could be that easy all the time.
"Alright, Spencer and I are ready so we're gonna go dig in." Kai said, lifting the strap of his gun around his neck and shoulder. "Game starts seven o'clock. See you guys on the battlefield!"
"Us too!" Ian seconded. "And may the best team win! By which, of course, I mean us!"
"Not happening small fry!" Tala replied with a smirk.
"Au contraire, my friend!" Ian replied over his shoulder with a huge grin. "Tonight's the night, you're goin' down, buddy!"
Demetra rolled her eyes at the two but she made no comment as she watched the four turn and jog away towards the woods in the distance. Shouldering her own gun, she made to follow them, but a hand on her arm stopped her, making her turn towards Tala with a questioning look.
"You can't go in there dressed like that, you'll be a dead give away." The redhead said bluntly. "And I don't feel like ruining my perfect winning streak just cause my partner sticks out like a sore thumb."
Demetra looked down at herself and noted her black snow pants with a bright red, white and black coat, and had to admit he was right. Looking up again she frowned.
"This is all I have." She replied hesitantly.
"I figured as much." Tala replied bluntly. And to her surprise, Demetra watched as he shrugged off his own white camouflage coat and approached her to drop it over her head.
Lifting the hood out of her eyes, Demetra blinked up at the redhead in stunned surprise.
"What about you?" She asked, staring at him.
"Don't worry about it, I've got another white jacket." He said dismissively. "I'll be fine, I can just layer up."
Silver eyes blinked, still stunned, as Tala turned to disappear back into the cabin. After staring at the open door for a minute, she chewed her cheek before lifting her arms and pushing them through the heavy coat. As she reached to pull the jacket around her and zippered it up, Demetra was suddenly extremely aware of Tala's intoxicating scent permeating the article, as well as the warmth still captured in it, and it made a hot wave of something she was becoming uncomfortably familiar with wash over her. Biting her cheek again, she forced back the heat rising inside her and readjusted the gun around her neck just as Tala reemerged from the cabin.
"Here, put this on too."
Looking up, Demetra started in surprise, and her hand reflexively reached up to snag a thick white piece of material out of the air before it hit her face. Lowering it and moving to untangle the object, she stared for a minute at what was apparently a huge and thick white scarf. After hesitating a moment, she lifted it to wrap around her neck and shoulders. Hearing the crunch of Tala's boots in the snow approaching her, she looked up and was yet again surprised to see him now directly in front of her once again.
"I didn't give it to you just to keep you warm." He said, sounding slightly annoyed as he reached for her again.
Tala adjusted the scarf so it covered her hair and lower face, leaving only her eyes showing. However, when he spread the material across her nose, Demetra's breath hitched and her heartbeat sped up to an almost painful thundering in her chest as the deliciously masculine scent captured in the scarf completely overwhelmed her senses and made her head spin.
Reflexively, she pulled back from the redhead, attempting to put some distance between them, and escape from the heady, tantalising distraction completely muddling her consciousness. This made Tala pull his hands away and lean back from her slightly.
"What, you one of those people who can't stand stuff around your face?" He asked as he stared at her.
Demetra felt the heat in her body rise again and was suddenly glad the scarf was covering her face, even if it was probably too dark to see her flush.
"No..." She muttered, unwilling to admit what had actually gotten to her. Tala sighed in annoyance.
"Then grow up." He said irritably, stepping away from her now. "Fix it yourself then! Just hurry up."
Tala turned away from her and proceeded to adjust his own clothes and equipment, check pockets and look over his gun. Demetra watched him for a moment before sighing in annoyance herself and turning away from him as well. She reached up to try and adjust the scarf so it sat further from her face and yet still covered everything, but it made no difference. She reasoned the redhead must wear the scarf often, and close to his body, because it was completely and utterly permeated with his intoxicating scent.
"Alright, ready?" The redhead asked eventually as he zipped up his own new jacket.
Looking up, Demetra opened her mouth to reply but once again her breath hitched as she actually looked him over. He was wearing a pair of white camo pants and another, this time all white, jacket. The jacket was zipped all the way up and it covered most of his face so only his eyes were showing, and she was forced to admit once again how very cool he looked, particularly with the tuque he was still wearing. On top of all that, his covering made his already captivating eyes pop.
Tala absently glanced at Demetra, seeing as she hadn't replied, but noticing her staring at him, he did a double-take and lifted an eyebrow.
"What's your problem?" He asked, sounding annoyed again.
This time it was impossible to force back the flush that shot up her neck and face as Demetra turned away from the redhead and pretended to fix her strap instead of looking at him.
"Nothing." She said a little too quickly. "I'm ready when you are."
Tala watched her for a minute or two, his eyes narrowed, but eventually he shouldered his own gun before turning towards the woods.
"Whatever." He muttered. "Let's go."
Relieved, Demetra took a huge, laboured breath before wordlessly jogging after her partner towards the woods.
She hated to admit it, even if it was just to herself, but Demetra found she was more than a little glad Tala had lent her his heavy coat and the scarf; it was almost unbelievably freezing, and she knew her own coat wouldn't have been sufficient that night, particularly seeing as how she was hunkered down in the snow and knew her's would have been soaked through by now. She even had to admit that the scarf really was practical for more than just warmth and camouflage; she'd noticed that it was also doing a spectacular job at masking her breath in the subzero temperatures as well.
"Alright, so maybe he's got a few skills other than blading, after all..." She considered grudgingly. "I hate to admit it, but it's actually quite impressive just how good he is at this."
Her bright silver eyes glanced down to the gun in her hands and stared at it for a moment. She frowned as she again considered how realistic it looked. This, in turn, made her thoughts wander in wondering just why and how Tala, and the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys were so good at these sorts of games. While she couldn't quite imagine them actually hunting people lethally, she couldn't help but wonder just what the hell kind of training they'd been doing over the years.
Just when she was beginning to entertain thoughts of the hardened teens in uniform, running drills and obstacle courses alongside the Russian army, a red flash in the corner of her eye snapped her back to the present and she turned her head to get a better look. After a few moments of staring into the darkness, the flash returned and Demetra was able to confirm that what she'd seen was indeed the sign she'd been waiting for; Tala's red laser telling her an opponent was approaching.
Lifting her gun now, the brunette looked through the scope and scanned the scene before her carefully. It was still rather dark and although the moon was up and it was a fairly clear night, said bright orb was currently obscured by what the brunette was sure was the only cloud in the sky.
Not seeing or hearing anything noteworthy, Demetra was just beginning to wonder if Tala had been mistaken and began to lower her gun, when suddenly the area brightened immensely as the cloud moved away and the moon reappeared. At that moment, Demetra saw a faint movement down the slight incline below her and once again lifted her gun. Sure enough, this time she saw a barely visible shadow creeping along the forest floor among the bushes and small smile came to her face.
"Gotcha." Demetra thought, once again impressed with her partner.
Even now she could barely see the shadow, and admittedly she had no idea who she had in her crosshairs. It was almost mind-blowing to think the redhead had known anyone was coming; if it wasn't for the moon and her partner's giveaway, Demetra knew she never would have known anyone was there at all.
Taking aim, Demetra took a long, deep breath before squeezing the trigger and making sure to get in as many shots as possible. She was pleased to hear the faint sounds of her paint balls hitting their target, and she had to bite back a small laugh when she heard her target curse colourfully. Apparently it was Bryan who had crossed her path.
Demetra watched in amusement as he swung wildly around, his gun waving around aimlessly as he tried to locate where the shots had come from. Her heart jumped when he suddenly rounded on her and promptly began to stalk up the small hill she was hidden on. Wondering if she'd done something wrong, if she wasn't hidden as well as she'd thought, or if the teen was just running on a hunch or instinct, Demetra bit her cheek as she watched, not really sure what she should do.
Bryan was mere feet away from her, and Demetra held her breath in anticipation, but just when she was sure he would find her, there was a loud crack somewhere in the woods and her opponent whirled around and bounded back down the hill towards it.
Demetra released a heavy, relieved sigh and relaxed. She never imagined in a thousand lifetimes that she'd be out in the woods in the dead of night playing paintball of all things, but she had to admit, it was the most fun she'd had in a long time. The only thing that could have possibly made it better was if her girls were there too.
A small smile came to the brunette's face as she thought this, and a mix of emotions swirled inside her. She knew they would enjoy the game too, and it would be interesting to see how a game between Vilikosto and The Blitzkrieg Boys would pan out. Surely it was something they'd have to consider in the future.
Completely lost in her thoughts, Demetra nearly jumped out of her skin when, out of nowhere, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Rolling over quick as a lick, she whipped her gun up to point at the newcomer. However, seeing a pair of familiarly beautiful blue eyes practically glowing in the moonlight as they looked down at her in amusement, she released a heavy sigh and lowered her weapon again.
"You scared the hell out of me." She hissed in annoyance.
"I can see that." Tala replied quietly with an amused smirk on his face. "Must have been some serious thinking happening in that thick head of yours."
"You're one to talk about thick heads..." Demetra muttered in annoyance as she shifted into a sitting position and lifted her arm to rest on a lifted knee.
Ignoring the comment, Tala spoke again.
"You're a pretty good shot." He said approvingly. "That wasn't half bad. See what you can do when you actually follow someone else's advice."
Ignoring the flutter in her chest and stomach at the redhead's approval - and her anger at herself for feeling it - Demetra gave the redhead a droll stare.
"I have no problem following advice." She replied bluntly. "When it's good."
Tala's smirk widened and he again ignored her comment as he got to his feet and held a hand down to her. After hesitating a moment, Demetra took the offered hand but stood on her own. Releasing the redhead, she brushed herself off before looking up at him again.
"So." She said simply. "Now what?"
"Now we go find our next target." The redhead replied, turning and gesturing her to follow him.
Demetra noted that it was the first time she'd seen him looking like he was so thoroughly enjoying himself. Her expression softened as she watched the redhead walk away, and she was unable to resist a ghost of a smile as she made to follow after him.
The two trekked through the woods for a while, and Demetra was unable to take her eyes off of her partner as she watched him. He was completely caught up in what he was doing, and she was reminded of an experienced hunter tracking his prey. It was truly an amazing sight to see the way Tala moved, and to observe his undeniably extreme skills.
Tala had just stood up from a crouch where he'd been observing some broken sticks on the ground, when he felt a pair of eyes on him and absently glanced at the brunette. For the second time that night, he did a double-take as he saw her looking at him and noted the look on her face. His brows furrowed as he addressed her.
"What now?" He asked, once again sounding annoyed.
Demetra forced herself to wrangle in her emotions and forced an emotionless expression.
"Nothing." She also replied for a second time, then gestured to the ground. "What's that? What are you doing?"
She was relieved when Tala seemed to brush the moment aside, and watched him as he crouched back to the ground and gestured to the spot he'd been observing.
"See those sticks? You can tell they've only been broken recently because of the colour of the inside and their state. Ones that are older are faded and more brittle."
He then stood up again and gestured to the snow.
"And see here, the snow all around is fresh and smooth except this area. It's obviously been disturbed." He lifted his hand and gestured in a sweeping motion away from him. "If you look close you can see that the disturbed snow continues that way in the distance. Someone's trying to cover their footprints."
Demetra blinked in stunned disbelief.
"Trying? I'd say they succeeded." She thought in awe. "That's bloody amazing! I never would have noticed that if he didn't point it out... How the hell did he notice that!?"
"I see." She said, not really sure what else to say. After hesitating a few moments, she eventually decided to give the redhead his due. "I'll admit... that's impressive."
Fully expecting a cocky response, she was slightly surprised yet again when Tala simply lifted a single shoulder for a shrug.
"Not really." He replied bluntly. "It's actually extremely basic tracking. I'm sure whoever it was, they probably expected me to find their trail, they were just hoping I wouldn't. Or at least that it would take me long enough for them to get far enough away to pick out a good vantage point."
Demetra looked over the trail, still only barely able to pick out what he was talking about, even after he'd pointed it out, and shook her head.
"I suppose now we follow this trail?"
Now the cockiness she'd expected from the redhead earlier appeared on his face and Demetra had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.
"That's the idea yea." Tala replied sarcastically. Before Demetra could respond, he turned and began heading in the appropriate direction. "Come on. Try to follow in my footsteps and keep away from the trees and brush."
Once more doing as she was told - and marvelling at herself for being able to do so - Demetra followed after the redhead as he carefully picked his way through the brush.
"Why does that matter?" She asked curiously in a soft tone. "Not touching anything?"
"Because it's the same thing with the trail." Tala replied softly as well. "An experienced eye can tell if the snow on or around the trees has been disturbed. The snow is still heavy around here, and you don't have to knock much off before it's easy to tell."
Once again, Demetra found herself unable to resist being deeply impressed, but her pride wouldn't let her say so a second time. Saving her the trouble of a response, Tala continued
"Ian is probably the best tracker I know, and aside from me, Spencer is the best shot... Kai's not bad either, I guess." There was no air of bragging in his tone, just a simple acknowledgement. "Spencer was my only real competition back in the days of the Abbey; he was the only one who ever came close to my scores. I have no idea how Kai got as good as he is... probably 'cause Kai Hiwatari is good at everything, I guess."
This time there was a slightly bitter edge to his sarcastic tone, and Demetra lifted an eyebrow. She wondered if the redhead had added that last bit unconsciously, as he was still muttering slightly under his breath. Demetra wondered if it was jealousy she picked up on in the redhead's comment, and couldn't help but wonder what he was jealous of. Was he jealous of Kai's skills or of the blunette himself? And more importantly; why?
She was just wondering how best to tauntingly milk the redhead's rare glimpse of a weakness, when suddenly Tala came to an abrupt halt, making Demetra almost stumble as she too came to a startled stop. She lifted her gaze to pin the redhead with a glare, but the next few moments were a blur and happened before she could even think to react; one moment she was about to step out into the open, and the next Tala had clapped a hand over her mouth, snagged her waist to pull her tight to him, and backed them both against a massive tree and under a deep shadow.
Demetra's eyes widened and her heart immediately began thundering wildly, but time seemed to stop completely when the redhead pressed his back tight to hers and leaned down to place his lips directly next to her ear.
"Shhh..." He shushed, barely audible.
Though it was a barely audible whisper, it sounded like thunder in Demetra's ears and sent a violent shiver down her body. She frowned deeply at the wicked heat and goosebumps that instantly arose in the wake of the tremor, from the crown of her head all the way to the tips of her toes.
The hush was completely unnecessary because Demetra didn't trust herself to speak, and if she were honest with herself she didn't think she would be able to anyway - or to move for that matter. A small part of her reasoned that Tala had obviously merely heard or seen one of the others, but the rest of her screamed that it didn't matter; the effect his actions were having on her were utterly chaotic.
Finding it extremely difficult, Demetra eventually managed to pull herself together enough to at least focus on the rest of their surroundings. As it happened, the moon had been hiding behind a few clouds again for some time, but these were wispy and although it was darker there was still enough light to see by. However, where Tala had stopped them was directly in front of a particularly dense area. Silver eyes blinked and squinted, but try as she might she couldn't see into the inky blackness before her. Straining her ears to listen, Demetra had to admit she couldn't hear anything either - unless of course one counted the war-drum-like thundering of her own heart in her ears.
She scanned the blackness for some time, once again wondering if Tala was mistaken, when suddenly the moon reappeared, and it was once again considerably easier to see. As soon as her vision focused, Demetra's eyes widened. Just disappearing into the brush a good ten or fifteen feet away was a single black boot. Looking down, she balked to see a set of footprints in the snow. The prints passed merely inches from where she was standing.
"What the-" Demetra thought in a stunned awe as another shiver ran down her spine - this one for a completely different reason. "How can anyone have passed that close by me without me hearing or feeling a thing?!"
The thought greatly unnerved her.
When she'd finally managed to pull herself together, Demetra counted several minutes before Tala eventually whispered in her ear again, only ever so slightly louder this time.
"Spencer usually scopes ahead while Kai hangs back and waits around to sneak shot anyone who might be following. I know their patterns so I'll swing around and draw him back here. As soon as you see him again, shoot him. I'll get him from the back and when he turns on me you run to the west. I'll catch up."
It was all Demetra could do to nod numbly.
Without another word, Tala stepped from behind her and slunk off after Spencer, and in a moment he had disappeared into the underbrush.
Demetra forced herself to resume breathing and get it back under control as she crouched down and began to scan the area - more to give her something else to think about other than the previous few moments.
Thankfully, before long, a figure reappeared in her field of view, and Demetra took a deep calming breath before lifting her scope towards it. Sure enough, Spencer's silhouette caught her attention - only recognisable due to his size and stature. She waited until the silhouette was close enough to ensure she'd get in the maximum number of shots before eventually squeezing the trigger. The shadowy figure whirled towards her, but before it could make another move, Demetra heard the faint popping sound of her teammate's rapid fire. Whirling around again, Spencer took off in the direction of his attacker.
Waiting until the shadow was good and gone, Demetra turned and headed west as her teammate had said, hoping dearly she didn't run into Kai.
She had no idea where she was going, she just knew by the compass clipped to her belt she was heading in a general westerly direction. After running for what she was sure was a good ten or fifteen minutes, Demetra spotted a massive pine, with large branches that swept the snow around the bottom, and dove in under it. Crawling to the edge of the branches, Demetra stuck the barrel of her gun out among the branches and got comfortable as she waited.
"I wonder if Spencer got him." She considered thoughtfully. But she quickly discarded the idea. "What am I saying? Of course he didn't. If nothing else, Tala's sheer competitive drive is enough to keep him clean."
She then made note of her own footprints clearly visible in the snow and sweat-dropped. They were painfully visible, and it was embarrassing to admit that a child could have followed them straight to her hiding place.
"Let's hope my partner finds me before anyone else does..." She thought ruefully.
Her thoughts then wandered back to the redhead in question and she had to frown. She'd never imagine in a thousand lifetimes that she'd be so dependant on another person, never mind that that person would be Tala Ivanov. But dependant on him she was; she was depending on him to find her, depending on him to lead them to victory, and depending on him to guide her back out of the dense, unfamiliar forest when the game was over. Really, if he wanted to get rid of her, all he had to do was go home.
Demetra growled under her breath and opposed herself for this. She was Demetra Nakamura! She didn't need anyone to rescue her! Sure, it might take a little longer on her own, but if she was forced to find her way back, then she'd damn well do it! No way would she be one of those fools who froze to death all helpless and alone in the harsh elements.
Forcing herself to banish these annoying - and perhaps ever so slightly narcissistic and foolish - thoughts, Demetra released a silent and heavy sigh before focusing back on her surroundings again. She had to admit; this game was much more intense than she'd expected, and certainly more intense than she'd ever imagined a game of paintball could be. In some ways; what with their superior skills and the surreal authenticity of their guns, she almost felt like they were playing soldier, and it was more than a little unnerving to once again consider just how these boys got so good with these skills in the first place.
These thoughts forced her to consider her partner, and Demetra's expression softened slightly as she thought about the redhead. What with the thorough loathing and resentment they'd obviously accumulated for each other since their meeting, it was truly a wonder that they were able to form such a fine team, and get along as well as they had been that night. But as she replayed the last couple hours, Demetra knew that the fact was; they did make a good team, no matter how strange a concept it was. So far, they'd managed to sneak attack Ian, Bryan and Spencer, that she knew of. The only one she wasn't sure they'd managed to get was Kai, but if anything she knew about Tala was correct, that would probably change soon.
Her thoughts had just began to wander again when suddenly a barely noticeable crunching sound caught her attention. Focusing on the area she'd come from, Demetra's eyes scanned the scenery furiously, looking for any sign that she wasn't alone. She had convinced herself that one of her opponents had found her, and she was expecting to feel the splat of a paintball any second, when suddenly a presence beside her and a voice in her ear nearly made her jump out of her skin a second time that night.
"I'd say good job again, but your stealth skills are pathetic to say the least, no matter how good your hiding place is."
Demetra's head whirled to she side to see Tala crouching beside her on one knee beneath the tree. Once again she was both impressed and disturbed over the fact that the redhead had approached her nearly undetected. She quickly got over this however due to the annoyance of his comment.
"Are you talking about my footprints?" She asked irritably. "Yes, I'm fully aware how painfully noticeable they are."
"Not just those." Tala replied with a smirk. "You also either broke or shook nearly every branch in your path on the way here. It was like following a big old Alaskan bull moose through the brush."
The comment gave Demetra pause, and she was sorely tempted to laugh, but her pride wouldn't allow it so she narrowed her eyes at the redhead instead.
"Hilarious." She said bluntly. "Excuse me if I didn't grow up playing soldier."
This time Tala's expression darkened and it made Demetra wonder.
"And be thankful you didn't..." He muttered with a strange look on his face. Demetra furrowed her brows as she watched him avoid her gaze. She considered for a moment questioning him on it, but something in his eyes made her decide against it, so she instead turned her attention to his clean jacket.
"I see you got out unscathed." She commented, reaching out to lightly tug at his pristine white sleeve. This time Tala's cockiness returned.
"Of course." He replied bluntly. "There's a reason I'm undefeated, you should be grateful you're on my team."
This time Demetra was unable to resist rolling her eyes, but her expression did soften as she looked at her partner.
"Speaking of teams." She began thoughtfully. "How are the others doing? I mean, I know we got Ian, Bryan and Spencer, but did we get Kai?"
"No, we didn't." The redhead confirmed. "And we'll need to if we want to win. It's safe to say Ian and Bryan are gonna lose; because we peppered both of them, but we only got a few shots in at Spencer, and Kai none at all. We're both clean but I don't know how many shots Spencer and Kai got in, so we'd better get him just in case."
"Alright." Demetra replied, fully trusting his paintball skills by now. "How do we do that?"
Tala turned to absently look back out over the scenery.
"Right now, the best thing for us to do is wait."
There was a long silence, but it was a comfortable one, as both partners were consumed in their own thoughts. Eventually however, Demetra broke the silence as something she'd been wondering all night came to her mind.
"How are you so familiar with these woods?" She questioned as she turned to look at the redhead. "You must have spent a great deal of time here."
She watched Tala's expression darken yet again and frowned at the sight.
"We used to train here back in the days of the abbey." He muttered softly. "I spent more hours here than I spent in my own bed... though I guess that doesn't say much, we didn't really do much sleeping in those days..."
Demetra stared at the redhead in a sort of speechless stupor, watching him as he seemed to be looking back into his memories; seeing images before his eyes that only he could see. She watched as he glanced out through the branches and looked absently around at the other trees and shrubbery without really appearing to see them.
"These trees have just as many scars as we do." He said, his voice softer again this time. "Some from beyblades and bitbeasts... some from things much worse."
Tala lowered his head and looked down at the gun in his hands as a complicated expression Demetra wasn't able to decipher appeared on his face.
"Back in those days... a paintball gun wasn't exactly a weapon of choice..."
There was another silence, and this time it was heavy and stifling, and Demetra found herself both unable to speak, and barely able to breathe, as she watched the redhead intensely. She'd never seen such a tortured expression on someone's face, never seen such torment in someones eyes, and never seen a body so reflexively tensed and coiled in anticipation that it looked like it could explode into action at the blink of an eye.
"Just what the hell happened to them...?" Demetra found herself wondering uneasily. "I remember hearing horror stories about the Russian team and some of the things that went on behind the scenes but... there's no way any of it was true, right...?"
But the more she watched the redhead beside her and saw the violent storm of emotions in those entrancing blue eyes, the easier it was to imagine, and the thought made something wretched twist in her stomach.
The urge to reach out and touch the redhead was overwhelming. Her heart screamed at her to sit up and just close the minimal distance between them to wrap the redhead in a hug, place her hand on his shoulder, take his hand, something. But a combination of her personality and her stubborn pride rooted her in place, leaving both her heart and mind to look upon the young man beside her helplessly.
Still, despite her inability to physically comfort the redhead, Demetra simply couldn't just sit there and do nothing. So, looking down at the snow before her, she chewed the side of her cheek a minute before finally breaking the stifling silence.
"I heard rumours, but I never imagined any of them were true..." Her voice was a soft whisper that had nothing to do with their game. When she spoke again, her whisper was barely audible. "I'm sorry..."
This time it was Tala's turn to look at the brunette beside him in surprise, and he stared at her with one such expression, mixed with something else, for a long time. Eventually though, he sighed softly and looked away from her as his eyes slid shut.
"Yea well... the thing about rumours is; even if they're not true, they always get their start somewhere, and most times you find there's a lot of truth mixed in with the lies."
Demetra snorted humorlessly at that.
"That is one concept I know all too well..." She muttered. A lopsided smirk appeared on Tala's face then.
"I bet you do." He replied simply.
Before anything else could be said, a movement some ways away caught both teammates gazes, and both sets of eyes locked on it. They were easy to miss, but creeping along the shadow of the trees, the partners could pick out a pair of extremely camouflaged figures creeping along the brush and shadows dangerously close to their hiding place. Upon close inspection, they could tell the figures were obviously Spencer and Kai, but only due to their sizes.
Tala looked at his partner and lifted two fingers to point to his eyes, then gestured towards the approaching silhouettes. Demetra nodded and Tala then gestured for her to stay put, making her nod again. She watched as he slipped soundlessly out from under the cover of the pine and crept along the brush to conceal himself among a cluster of silver birch trees.
Peering around the tree, Tala watched the approaching pair for a few moments before glancing back at his own partner, pleased to see her looking at him. This time the redhead pointed to himself, then gestured to the huge figure they both knew was Spencer, before pointing at her and gesturing towards Kai.
Demetra nodded once again and lifted her gun towards her target. It was a little hard to ignore the unpleasant feeling in her gut at pointing such an uber realistic weapon at the blunette, but she somehow managed.
Now in position and ready, Demetra looked back at Tala again and the redhead nodded. He then lifted a hand to her; an indication to wait for his signal. She divided her attention between her partner, and the approaching two, as the former silently counted them down on bending fingers. Demetra took a deep breath as Tala folded down his fourth finger, and when finally he closed his hand in a tight fist then opened it to make a slashing motion towards the other two, she immediately took aim and popped off as many shots as she could.
It was clear that they'd managed to surprise the approaching two - if their colourful curses were any indication - and Demetra smirked as her chest swelled with pride. She watched them duck behind a pair of huge trees, and noted with satisfaction that both her and her partner had managed to land several shots on the other team. Kai and Spencer muttered back and forth in rapid muttered Russian for a while, and Demetra was sure they were going to charge her hiding place. Probably thinking along the same lines, the movement of Tala stooping to pick something off the ground made her look back to her partner again. Silver eyes bugged to see the redhead hoisting a massive log over his shoulder, and she balked as she watched him sort of shot put the thing through the trees. The effect was astounding, and Demetra turned her attention back towards the other two, watching their reactions to the chaotic sound of the log tearing through the trees; ploughing through branches and making a general racket before colliding with the forest floor with a colossal bang when it fell. Unable to resist a small smile of amusement, silver eyes watched as the other team turned as one and lit off towards the commotion.
Looking back to Tala now, she was a little surprised to see him running back towards her.
"Get out, quick!" He hissed as he ran.
Startled, Demetra quickly scrambled out from her hiding place, and the redhead surprised her again when he snagged her hand on his way past and began to pull her along. Stumbling at the sudden jolt of his sharp tug, Demetra tripped a few times before eventually falling in to step behind the redhead.
She knew it was a game, and a part of her wondered why the guys were taking it so seriously, but deep down she knew that it probably wasn't a choice; they'd probably been forced to play soldier so often for so long that it was simply second nature to them by now, even if they were just playing a game.
The farther and faster they ran, the harder it was for her to keep up with Tala. She prided herself on her fitness and her physical prowess, and she knew she was more than a match for Tala in that department. But clearly her heavy snow boots were not made for running, and Demetra was so convinced falling on her face was inevitable she could see it in her minds eye and was mentally preparing herself for it. Feeling herself stumble a few more times, Demetra debated on expressing her concerns to her partner, but when she tripped over a huge risen tree root she knew it was unnecessary.
With astounding reflexes, Tala simultaneously halted and shot his hands out to steady his partner. Her face flaring for multiple reasons, Demetra looked up at the handsome Russian to thank him, but the action of him lifting a finger to her lips silenced her. He seemed to be listening, and when the sound of cracking branches and raised voices was audible, even Demetra knew they were being followed.
Looking into her partners face, Demetra knew Tala was well aware that she was slowing them down, and they wouldn't be able to keep ahead of their pursuers much longer. But instead of looking annoyed or put-off at all, Tala merely released her and hastily looked around. After a few moments he seemed to find what he was looking for and darted towards a massive tree. Demetra watched as the redhead lifted both hands and sprung upwards with a powerful force, causing her to lift both eyebrows. When he had disappeared into the thick boughs, she wondered what she was supposed to do, knowing she'd never be able to copy him. She was debating on running to hide in some brush when a gloved hand appeared from the cover of boughs. Silver eyes stared at it for a moment, causing the hand to impatiently wave her over, and finally Demetra jogged over to the tree.
Hesitating a moment, Demetra eventually reached up and grabbed hold of the hand. A loud gasp escaped her when she was instantly yanked off the ground and into the cover of trees. No sooner had her foot disappeared into the branches then a pair of huge silhouettes burst through the trees below them.
"They went this way, we gotta be close now!" Spencer's unmistakable voice called to his partner.
Both him and Kai ran past the tree the other two were in in little more than a blur, and in mere seconds, they were gone.
All of this barely registered to Demetra because her body was frozen stiff in shock. Silver eyes were wide as saucers as they stared at the hard white chest before her. Tala had her pinned tight against him with one arm around her waist and one cupping the back of her head. Being so close to the redhead, she was able to both feel and hear his racing pulse and heartbeat, and she wondered if it was due to their strenuous run, or something else - like her.
It seemed like hours as they sat there, neither one moving, and Demetra had no idea how much time had passed, but after eventually shaking herself out of her stupor, she decided to allow herself the moment. Letting her eyes slide slowly shut, Demetra leaned into her Russian partner ever-so slightly and rested her cheek against his chest. She was sorely tempted to wrap her arms around him and pull herself close, to bury her face in his chest and just breathe in his delicious scent. But somehow she resisted the temptation and instead just reached up to place her hands on his chest, hoping to pass it off as simply steadying herself on the branch.
For a moment Demetra allowed her mind to wander. She wondered what it would be like, what it would feel like, to have someone hold her like this; someone who really loved her and whom she loved back. She'd never been one of those girls who fantasied about princes and happily ever afters, but that didn't mean she didn't think from time to time about having someone. Unfortunately, the thought of love was both alien and terrifying to her. Besides, who would honestly love her other than her family? Not like she made it easy for anyone to love her. After all, what was the point of love anyway? From all accounts, it seemed to her like it was far more a nuisance and heartache then it was worth.
At least, that's what she tried to tell herself. But as she sat there in that tree with Tala's arms wrapped tightly around her, it wasn't so easy to silence her pinning heart. She figured there'd be someone, someday, who would come along and 'sweep her off her feet' as they said - or at least attract her attention enough to agree to share her life with them - but she was embarrassed to find herself wondering when? With whom?
Without her permission, her mind began to wander again, and this time she was unable to stop it as images of the redhead wrapped around her began to plague it. But unlike usual, this time her thoughts were not about their mutual loathing of each other, but instead of several moments since her coming to Russia; particularly ones from that night. Demetra considered how well they'd been getting along that night, and not for the first or last time, she couldn't help but wish things between them could be so peaceful all the time.
"Don't get too used to it, girl." She warned herself wearily. "He's only being this civil because he doesn't want to ruin his perfect winning streak."
Forcing herself to believe this, she was unable to resist a soft, weary sigh. So it was only a moment, they were just hiding in a game. So what? Was it really such a bad thing to just enjoy the moment as it came? Surely they'd be back at each other's throats soon enough, so she figured she might as well enjoy the truce while it lasted.
Chewing her cheek for a moment, Demetra eventually forced herself to relax and, though slightly unconsciously, leaned further into the redhead. Much to her surprise however, she started a bit when she felt Tala's arms tighten around her ever so slightly, and had to pause a moment to wonder if she'd imagined it or not. Eventually she decided it didn't matter and simply let her mind go blank as she waited for the bubble to pop.
It seemed like they'd been in the tree for hours, but if she were completely honest with herself, Demetra knew she would have been completely satisfied to stay there for several more. Eventually though, she felt Tala shift slightly and thought; this was it, the moment was over. But against all her expectations, the redhead merely broke the silence without moving again.
"You really are a pretty good shot." He said quietly, and the low tone made a shiver run down Demetra's spine. "You said you and your brother have shooting competitions. What kind?"
Demetra lifted a shoulder for a small shrug.
"Nothing like you've all been doing, I'm sure." She said quietly as well. "Mostly just target practice; stationary and mobile. Breal likes us to have a wide range of skills, although I'm really the only one who took to this particular pastime; Keisha and Victoria have no time for guns and while Kage's not a bad shot herself, she doesn't have much more than a mild interest either."
"What kind of guns do you practice with?" Tala questioned next and Demetra couldn't help but smile, suddenly glad he couldn't see.
"A wide range." She replied, enjoying the ease of their small talk. "I'm even a pretty decent archer."
"Really?" The redhead questioned with interest, sounding a little amused. "Now that I have to see. Pampered little princess, playing Robin Hood. I bet that's a sight."
To her surprise, the extreme annoyance that would usually accompany such a comment was absent this time, and in fact, she was more greatly surprised to feel a tug at her heart from the teasing remark. However, she quickly brushed it aside, angry at herself for feeling it, and reasoned she was merely caught up in the moment, nothing more. Still, she knew she had to give the redhead a worthy reply - couldn't have him thinking she was going soft.
"Very funny." She replied, doing her best to sound annoyed. "If I'm Robin Hood, then that clearly makes you the deranged Prince John."
Despite what she expected, Tala once again surprised her by releasing a soft laugh.
"Well, it's not the first time someone's called me deranged." The redhead replied somewhat playfully. "Probably won't be the last."
Once again Demetra's heart jumped at the sound of his laughter.
"Hmm... that's a nice sound." She thought, another smile coming to her lips. "I think that's the first time I've heard him laugh without any hints of malice or taunting... He's got a nice laugh..."
Suddenly she realised what she was thinking and quickly mentally shook it away.
"Dear God, what is wrong with me?!" She thought, appalled by herself. "Alright, that's enough! I've got to get the hell out of here before I start to convince myself I've actually got feelings for this loathsome pain in the ass!"
"Anyway..." She said eventually, forcing herself to pull away from him - instantly she felt cold and lost and she was once again angry with herself for it. "What now?"
Looking up into his face, she noted a strange look on the redhead's face, but before she could guess what it might be, it was gone and his usual complicated expression returned.
"I think we've pretty much got the game in the bag now that we got Kai." The redhead replied tonelessly. "But it probably wouldn't hurt to get in a few more shots."
Demetra felt suddenly empty when Tala pulled completely away from her, and she again scolded herself for it. She watched him jump down and land effortlessly on the ground in a crouch. When he got to his feet, he immediately turned around and held his arms up to her.
"Come on, I'll catch you."
Demetra lifted an eyebrow at the redhead.
"How sweet, prince charming." She replied, only half sarcastically. "I think I can manage."
That said, she slipped off of the branch until only her hands were connected to it, and after a slight hesitation, she dropped to the ground beside the redhead, also in a low crouch. When she got to her feet she crossed her arms and gave her partner a look.
"You really do think I'm completely useless, don't you?" She asked with more than a hint of annoyance. Tala rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't say completely." The redhead said with a half-arsed smirk, causing the brunette to make a face at him. Before she could reply, he continued. "Like I said, I think we've pretty much won the game, but just to make sure, it wouldn't hurt to get in a few more shots. Let's split up and see who we can find."
This made Demetra a little uneasy but she tried her best to hide it.
"Alright, but... I still have no idea where I'm going, remember."
Fully expecting him to taunt her, she simply frowned when the redhead have her a steady gaze.
"I know, but at this point, eveyone'll be getting desperate and we'll be easier targets if we're together." He stepped towards her then and she noted his expression soften ever so slightly, so much so she found herself wondering for the second time if she'd imagined it. Tala continued. "Don't worry, there's absolutely nowhere you can go in these woods I won't find you. Promise."
Her eyes stared into his deep blue ones for a few moments, considering, and to his credit, Tala matched her gaze confidently. Eventually she sighed heavily.
"Fine." She said simply. "Which way should I head?"
"Doesn't matter. Pick any direction and I'll catch up to you."
Turning around, Demetra debated for a few minutes before deciding to head North. With one last look over her shoulder towards the redhead, she eventually turned forward and headed off without another word.
Admittedly, going off alone had been more than a little nerve wrecking at first, but as Demetra ventured further into the woods, the smell of the fresh air, the fragrant trees and the crisp clear night was enough to drive away her unease. Deep down she knew that even if Tala suddenly reverted back to his resentment towards her, the guys would never leave her behind.
With this certainty in mind, it had been much easier to manoeuvre through the area alone. A proud smile came to her lips as she remembered a short while ago; when she'd happily stumbled upon Bryan and Ian with their heads huddled together and whispering furiously back and forth. Thankfully they hadn't noticed her, and thanks to the number of skills shed picked up from her redheaded partner that night, she was able to pepper them each with several shots before sneaking away back into the brush before they could catch her.
She was currently wandering aimlessly through the trees, not knowing where she was going, but no longer entirely worried about it either.
"It's getting late now, surely the game can't go on much longer, can it?" She wondered after taking a quick glace at her watch. "How much more do they plan to stalk and shoot each other? I hope they're not planning to keep playing until they get Tala and I..."
If that was the case, she might just have to consider surrender for the first time in her life.
Her thoughts wandering again, purely for amusement this time, Demetra nearly tripped on something solid in the snow, and cursed under her breath as she stubbed her toe hard on the object. Looking down and giving it a kick, she furrowed her eyebrows when it didn't move, seeming to be something huge and heavy. She crouched down and brushed the snow off the object, and her brows furrowed further when she saw that it was a massive, precision-cut stone, looking to be part of a wall.
"What on earth is this doing way out here?" She thought curiously.
Turning her head to scan the area, her gaze almost immediately fell on a huge mass through the trees. Her eyes narrowing, Demetra got to her feet and moved towards the sight. As she pushed aside the trees and stepped into the open, both her brows lifted this time as she looked over then scene before her. Looming in the near distance was a massive and foreboding looking building with several out buildings surrounding it. For a moment, Demetra wondered at the seeming lifelessness of it, but as she approached she understood; the structure was obviously abandoned and looked like no living soul had walked its halls in quite some time. Even one side of the big old iron front gate was laying pockmarked on the ground by the meters high old fence.
Her interest thoroughly piqued, Demetra took the time to take in the entirety of the building, decided it still looked structurally sound enough to explore, and took a step forward to approach it. However before she could get much farther, a hand on her arm made her jump and whirl around. Seeing a familiar face behind her, she gave the newcomer a dull stare.
"You know, you sneaking up on me is getting really old." She said bluntly. Tala wasn't amused this time, and indeed as she looked at him, she thought he looked like he was looking at a ghost.
"What are you doing?" The redhead almost growled, but despite his tone, Demetra almost got the impression he was growling at the building itself instead of her, as he was staring at it with a cold gaze and seemed unable to tear his eyes off of it.
"I'm exploring." She replied simply. "I think it's safe to say the game is over, we've been playing for hours."
A deep frown creased Tala's face, deeper and darker than any expression she'd ever seen adorn his fair features - which was saying something where she was concerned.
"This place isn't worth exploring..." He replied, his voice laden with emotions she could only guess the origin of. "There are far more interesting places in Russia you can explore. Let's go."
Demetra looked back towards the building for a moment, and much to Tala's dismay, she began walking towards it again.
"Oh come on, Tala." She drawled in boredom. "Where's your sense of adventure? Not scared are you?"
Fully expecting a reaction from her light teasing and sarcasm, Demetra paused and looked back over her shoulder a few moments later when she didn't get one. When she saw the strange expression on Tala's face now - one that looked like he couldn't decide whether to be surprised or offended, and perhaps a little of something else - she furrowed her eyebrows again.
"What?" She asked almost defensively. Several emotions crossed the redheads face then before he eventually spoke.
"Pretty sure that's the first time you've ever called me by by given name." He said before his expression finally settled on a half-weary smile in spite of himself. "I guess I thought it'd be a lot more unpleasant."
Ignoring his little jab, Demetra blinked at him.
"Is it...?" She replied softly. After staring at him thoughtfully for a moment, a half-smirk crossed her face as well. "I suppose it's official; we're acquainted."
Tala didn't reply this time, but he watched silently as the brunette turned forward and once more began to approach the building. After she'd gone a fair distance, Demetra looked over her shoulder again for a moment as she called back to him.
"You coming?"
She still didn't pause in her step as she looked forwards again and closed the distance between her and the building without pausing to wait for him. Tala watched her with another deep frown until she'd reached the front of the building, and when she finally disappeared through the front door, he sighed heavily and ignored the violent shiver that ran down his spine before reluctantly forcing himself to jog after her.
-;-
Tala's skin was crawling and his pulse was racing uncontrollably as he was unwillingly forced to follow the brunette down the dark and eerie halls. Every time the beam of his shoulder light fell on something other than Demetra, he was assaulted with violent flashbacks. He'd tried to keep his eyes on the brunette in front of him, but that turned out to be a bad idea as well; seeing her only brought up more images, and while perhaps not entirely unpleasant, they were also extremely unwanted.
He then tried to focus on a spot on the floor but quickly abandoned that - Tala Ivanov was not a stare-at-the-floor kind of guy, he was a chin-held-high kind of guy.
So, that only left him the option of looking around again. This time his stomach twisted, and not for the last time, he wished to hell the gun in his hands was real, just so he could help convince his mind into thinking he was safe. But deep down he knew; there were no guns that could ever shoot the ghosts of his past, or the vivid and almost nightmarish memories embedded in that wretched place.
"I don't understand what this place is supposed to be." Demetra said aloud thoughtfully. "Is it some sort of research centre or something? Or was it some sort of training facility?... Or some secret school or something? This place just makes no sense to me at all..."
Seeing as she didn't seem to be asking him a question directly, or like she was expecting a response, Tala decided not to answer. The truth was; it was all of those things and so much more, but he had no desire to tell her about it. He tried to tell himself it was because he didn't want her to think she had something to hold over him for knowing a weakness, but deep down he knew better; he just didn't want to relive the moments.
Tala followed Demetra through nearly the entire length of the building as she explored virtually every nook and cranny of the place, and before long he had developed a cold sweat and shot nerves.
Forcing a hard swallow, Tala gripped his gun harder, merely for comfort if nothing else, and tried his damnedest to get a reign on his emotions. He thought he'd finally managed to get a hold of himself enough to function properly, when Demetra came up on a certain door that made the redhead's blood run cold. Stopping to look at the slightly ajar door, Tala felt his stomach twist sickeningly. He watched the brunette reach out and open the door as another shiver ran down his spine.
"Hm, looks like its just another bedroom or something... " Demetra muttered, about to step inside. But a firm hand on her arm stopped her, and she looked over her shoulder again. She was deeply shocked at the hard expression on the redhead's face.
"Not that one." Tala almost growled, and Demetra furrowed her brows deeper than ever as she turned back to face him.
"Let me go. What's the matter with you?" She asked, half annoyed and half alarmed. When Tala hesitated but eventually did release her, she was still looking at him wearily but her expression did soften slightly. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
When he didn't reply, but merely looked away from her, Demetra frowned deeply as well.
"Where are we?" She asked softly. "How do you know this place?"
Tala looked at her out the corner of his eye for a moment, and was mildly impressed she held his gaze so confidently. Eventually he closed his eyes again, and a flash of something dark crossed his face for a moment, before he finally released a heavy sigh and opened his eyes to look back at Demetra.
"This is an old training compound..." He said, his voice a little hoarse. When he spoke again it cracked ever so slightly. "And that was my room."
Demetra stared at him for a long while, seemingly studying him, and Tala felt himself squirm. It was hard to force himself not to look away, but just when he thought he might have to cave, she looked back at the room and spoke again.
"What do you mean, your room?" She asked softly. "And what kind of training compound? Like the one we're staying in now?"
Tala snorted in spite of himself.
"No." He said bluntly. "Nothing like that one at all."
He looked around at some of the other rooms in the hall and his deep frown returned.
"The place we're all staying in now is like a five star resort compared to this damn place."
Demetra looked around again as well, her eyes now finally taking in the finer details of the decrepit old building.
"Sounds like this place was just as ugly when it was still functioning as it is now..." She said, and Tala couldn't help being mildly touched when he picked up a slight hint of guilt in her voice.
Working his jaw for a few moments, Tala eventually sighed and looked away with a sour look.
"This place has been the source of most of my nightmares for a long time..." He admitted reluctantly, trying to make it sound merely like it was muttered casually. But it was easy to pick up the truth behind his statement.
There was a heavy silence between them for a while, and finally unable to take it anymore, Tala eventually looked back at the brunette. However, nothing he expected prepared him for the range of emotions on her face, and admittedly it shocked him, though not nearly as much as her following words and actions.
"I'm sorry, Tala..." She almost whispered softly, pinning him with a complex look in those alluring and seductive silver eyes.
Hearing her say his name that time, in that tone, was considerably more pleasing than the first time, and it made something increasingly familiar stir inside him.
And as if that wasn't a big enough slap across his face, her next words and actions threw him completely for a loop. Tala's icy blue eyes stared unblinkingly, completely unable to move, as Demetra stepped towards him with that same complicated look on her face. There was barely any space left between them, and Tala watched; half wearily, half transfixed, as she lifted her hand, hesitated for a moment, then finally reached up to place that hand to the side of his face. He searched her eyes for any hint of the identity of some of the emotions displayed on her face, but he was unable to pinpoint exactly what sort of look she was giving him.
"There are shadows of a thousand dark memories on your face..." She said softly. A deep frown came to her face and she returned his searching gaze as she spoke again. "You really hate this place, don't you...?"
Tala felt another violent shiver run down his spine, but though it was a combination of the unpleasant place there were in, his terrible memories, and even the cold, he knew that those things weren't the only causes; it was also caused by the intense look those entrancing silver eyes were giving him - not to mention the unexpected gesture of her hand on his face.
All of a sudden, there were loud thundering and whooshing sounds roaring through the place, and it took a few moments for Tala to realise that it was the sound of his rapid pulse thundering, and the sound of his suddenly heavy breathing in his own ears. The side of his face cupped in Demetra's gloved hand was burning, and he knew it wasn't her heat that was heating him but his own. Even with her gloved hand, the simple touch was still the tenderest and most innocent gesture he'd ever received, and Tala couldn't help but imagine, just for a second, what it would be like to have a good woman who really loved him to touch him like that.
Just then, Tala had the ridiculous and almost overwhelming urge to reach up and pull her glove off so he could nuzzle the brunette's palm. The urge was so strong he actually released a deep and heavy sigh as he reached up and placed a hand over hers. Forcing himself not to follow through with his stupid thoughts however, he closed his eyes for a moment and attempted to reign in his haywire emotions. If there was a woman out there able to love someone like him, it certainly wasn't Demetra Nakamura; nothing so beautiful could possibly ever blossom through a mutual loathing like theirs.
That's right; he despised the woman before him, how could he forget? And more importantly, how could he ever allow himself to imagine anything beautiful with her. She was the enemy.
As he considered the last few hours and how pleasant the truce between them had been - as well as the multiple moments they'd unintentionally shared that night, Tala found it much harder than usual to convince himself of this. Still, he refused to let himself believe that the animosity they'd developed towards each other evaporated overnight, simply because they'd shared a few moments.
So, his frown deepening now, Tala opened his eyes. After a slight hesitation, he forced himself to curl his fingers around the ones beneath his and remove Demetra's hand from his face. But he couldn't bring himself to release her just yet.
"There's very little I hate more then this place." He said quietly, finally replying to her previous question. A small lopsided smile tugged at one of the corners of Demetra's face at that.
"Even more than me?"
Tala released an amused snort at that and couldn't hold back a small smile in spite of himself.
"Yea, even more than you." He replied, lifting his chin to look down his nose at her. "But just a bit more."
Demetra released an amused snort as well, but before she could reply, the sounds of familiar voices cut through the silence.
"Heeeey! You guys in there?!"
Both turned towards the large broken window across the hall they were in. Staring for a moment, Tala reluctantly released Demetra's hand and approached the gaping hole. He did his best to ignore the empty, lost feeling that instantly washed over him, and the sudden pang of something unfamiliar not so deep inside him, but it was much harder than he expected.
"Looks like they found us." He told his partner, seeing his team standing outside the gates of the building. He expelled an unamused snort as he noted that three of the four were standing a good ways off from the heavy old iron and giving the building dark and disturbed looks, as if they were the gates to hell itself.
"Yea, we're in here." Tala called through the window. "We'll meet you out front in a minute."
Tala watched his team, except Kai, visibly relax and looked away with a weary expression. He knew his friends liked the place about as much as he did, and he knew they were about as keen on entering the source of their nightmares as Tala himself was. Fortunately, they didn't have to.
Lucky dogs.
Turning back to his partner, Tala tilted his head towards the direction they'd come.
"Come on, let's get out of here." He said tonelessly. He turned and began to head back down the hall until a hand on his arm stopped him.
"Tala...?"
A warm wave washed over him when he heard his name on Demetra's lips again, and something in her tone tugged at his heartstrings. Looking over his shoulder at her, he didn't answer her as he watched several emotions cloud her beautiful face again before she finally continued.
"I really am sorry..." She said softly. "I never meant to-..."
He watched her chew her cheek indecisively for a moment, obviously unsure how to continue, and Tala was sure he could feel a thick layer of ice melting away from his hardened heart. Finding it suddenly hard to swallow, he tore his gaze from her and looked forward again. He too chewed his cheek for a few moments before eventually frowning deeply.
"Let's go." He replied quietly, his voice a little hoarse this time.
Tala didn't look back again as he continued walking, and once he'd gone a few feet, he heard footsteps behind him as Demetra followed him out of the building.
-;-
The first thing Demetra noticed as her and Tala exited the old building, was that the Blitzkrieg Boys were all standing at a measured and deliberate distance from the front gates - all except Kai, who was casually leaning against one of the old bent posts that had once held the massive wrought iron frames up.
The second thing she noticed, was that the three boys who were keeping the place at a distance were all wearing much the same dark expressions that Tala had been when he was inside, and it made her frown deeply as she watched them.
"Just what the hell kind of place was this?" She asked herself with a mix of disgust and pity for the young men. "And what happened to them here...?"
"Dude! You must be a masochist!" Ian said to Tala when the two had reached them. "You couldn't pay me enough to go back in there!"
"Me either." Bryan agreed with a withering look towards the old place. "Just lookin' at it now makes my skin crawl!"
A look of extreme annoyance crossed the redhead's face then, but now that they were back outside under the bright full moon, Demetra was sure he looked a lot paler than usual.
"Yea well, I didn't really have a choice." He replied bitterly. "My idiot partner felt like exploring, and I didn't feel like being responsible for her disappearance - if I'm gonna be the one to do that, then I'll make sure no one knows it's me."
Demetra turned a look on the redhead then. So much for their civil truce; apparently their temporary peace had been due to the game after all.
"Excuse me?" She asked with a low growl. "I'm a big girl, Ivanov! I'm pretty sure I could have managed by myself! Perhaps it's you who was afraid to be left alone."
Something flashed in Tala's eyes at that, but quick as it had come, it was gone and he instead gave a indignant snort.
"Not the first time I've been alone, princess." He said simply.
More annoyed with the redhead then she'd possibly ever been - admittedly, mainly due to the fact he had so quickly burst the pleasant bubble between them - Demetra turned to Kai, who was still leaning against the gatepost.
"You look comfortable enough." She said bluntly. "Your nightmares of this place not quite as scary as everyone else's?"
A deep frown creased Kai's face and he straightened from the post, and suddenly he looked like a little child who'd been shamed about disrespecting someones grave.
"I didn't spend much time here..." He replied quietly.
"Yea, he wasn't as lucky as the rest of us." Ian cut in playfully, but Demetra didn't miss the slight flicker of resentment in his eyes as he looked at the blunette. "Ol' Kai here was raised in the lap of luxury!"
"I'd hardly call it the lap of luxury..." Kai muttered under his breath. Demetra thought she saw something on his face, something that looked an awful lot like guilt, and it made her wonder.
"Knock if off Ian." Spencer piped up with a frown. "We all know Kai had a rough time of it too."
"Yea, right. Rough." Bryan grumbled sarcastically. "I'm sure growing up in a big old fancy mansion, and a big old fancy school was way worse then this hellish place!"
Now the guilt in Kai's expression was unmistakable as he looked away from them all with a frown so deep it threatened to crack his face.
A heavy stifling silence blanketed the group then, and for a long time no one looked at anyone else as they were all consumed in their own thoughts - all except Demetra, who was observing the boys around her carefully with a thoughtful expression. As she stared around at them she noted their broken expressions, the mix of pain heartache and even betrayal in their eyes, and traces of the sort of scars that never really healed, but were just accepted as their owner eventually learned to live with them. Seeing these things, something tugged at her heartstrings, and she was suddenly reminded of her girls and how she always felt when they were in pain. And like her girls, Demetra found it painfully difficult to see these young men hurting so badly and stand by doing nothing. But the fact was; she wasn't much good when it came to comforting others, and she was more painfully aware of it just then than she'd ever been in her life.
Eventually, realising no one else was likely to break the silence, she decided to attempt to ease the tension. She wasn't normally the peacekeeper, so if she were honest with herself, she wasn't really expecting stellar results.
"So... who won the game?" She asked bluntly.
To her relief, three of the five guys turned to her with amused smirks and expressions - Kai was still looking away from them all lost in thought, and Tala seemed to have completely reverted back to his old self.
"You know, gloating is unladylike." Ian replied playfully with a huge grin. That was an interesting notion, to say the least, and Demetra raised an amused eyebrow at him.
"I wasn't aware I'd ever been particularly lady-like to begin with." She said bluntly. "And besides, I thought it was a perfectly reasonable question."
"I think you know very well who the winners are." Spencer said with a small laugh as he reached out to give Demetra's shoulder a playful push.
She was unable to resist a small smile as she righted herself after the blonde's playful shove. Looking around at everyone; she noted that her and Tala were the only ones completely clean. And while there were a number of blue and green splatters on the others, most of them were peppered in red splotches - her's and Tala's colour.
"Just look at what you did, missy!" Bryan said, feigning anger as he reached up to pluck at his red paint covered clothes. "This was my favourite coat!"
This made everyone chuckle in amusement. Bryan and Ian were easily the most paint-covered as they each looked like a child's splatter art project; nearly covered from head to toe. Spencer had quite a few splatters as well but not nearly as many. You could probably easily count the splatters on Kai, but there were still enough on him to say he'd been hit enough times to make it count.
"How do you know it was me?" Demetra asked coyly. "It could have been my partner."
"No way!" Bryan replied with a huge grin. "Tala always goes for the kill shot, and he never misses!"
Demetra furrowed her brows at him.
"Kill shot?" She repeated questioningly. In response, she watched Spencer reach up and pluck at his own coat where there were several red splatters distinctively over his heart.
"Yea, kill shots. Like these." Spencer said. "As in, if they were real bullets, we'd be toast!"
Demetra looked back and forth between the four guys, and now that it was pointed out to her, she was able to pick out what she knew was her shots versus Tala's. She had felt more than a little uneasy about targeting heads and hearts - even if it was just a game - her shots had all been body shots; arms and legs, shoulders, chest and stomach. But every one of Tala's shots were dead centre head and heart shots, only distinguishable from each other due to their mere fractional spacing, and Demetra had a feeling this was only for the purpose of telling how many there were. She was sure that if they weren't shooting for numbers, it would have been impossible to tell how many shots he'd landed because every one would have been dead-on on top of each other.
A violent shiver ran down her back now as she yet again considered the Blitzkrieg Boys and what they'd gone through; and not for the last time, wondered just how much soldier mentality had been beaten into them. She honestly doubted they'd have much left to learn if they were indeed ever drafted; and the thought both impressed and turned her stomach all at once.
"I see." She said simply. Looking around at them all one last time, Demetra eventually smirked and closed her eyes. "Well then, I suppose next time I'll just have to be more ruthless."
"You better! We won't take it easy on ya next time just cause you're a newbie!" Bryan said with a smirk. Spencer reached out and gave him a playful shove that actually made him stumble.
"Who are you kidding, Kuznetsov?" The blonde asked with a grin. "You brought what you had and it wasn't enough!"
This caused a good natured fight to break out and Demetra felt herself relax. She shook her head as she watched the Russians roughhouse for a while.
Eventually the area began to grow dark and Demetra looked up to see that the moon had begun to retreat.
"It's late, we should head back." Kai said suddenly, voicing Demetra's thoughts.
Once everyone had sobered up, they collected any and all fallen and discarded things before turning as one and finally heading back to the cabin.
"Hey! You're pretty good at that Demetra! You look like you've been building fires all your life!"
Demetra felt her face heat slightly at Ian's compliment, but it had nothing to do with the smallish teen. Looking out the corner of her eye at the redhead a short distance away, she had to resist a growl of annoyance to see him looking at her with a taunting smirk and challenging expression. Knowing she'd never get away with a bluff with him there, she looked back towards the fire and didn't look at anyone else as she struck a match to light it.
"It's actually a skill I learned pretty recently..." She muttered reluctantly.
It annoyed her to hear Tala release a snort of amusement, but she was surprised he didn't elaborate, and figured he was just taunting her. She had no idea that the redhead was keeping his mouth shut because their little moment in the safe house was not something he wanted his friends to know about, for multiple reasons - it was hard enough to keep himself from thinking about it.
Once the fire was lit and roaring, and the cabin was nice and toasty, the group went about their business changing out of their paintball gear and getting ready for bed. Demetra was twisting her long locks into a braid over her shoulder when a hand appeared in her field of view with a mug in its grasp.
"Here." A familiar voice said simply.
Demetra's gaze trailed up the length of the arm to look up at Tala.
"Should I get someone else to taste for poison for me?" She teased, only half jokingly. Tala smirked.
"Don't worry, if I want you dead, I'll get a lot more creative than that."
Demetra smirked as well in spite of herself and reached up to take the mug.
"Thank you." She said simply.
Tala watched as she lifted it to her lips, pausing a minute to breathe in the delicious aroma before taking a sip. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the tea seemed to be a special blend this time; a mouthwatering blend of winter spices that warmed her to her very soul.
"Mmmmm..." She hummed, sighing in content when she lowered the mug. "That's really nice..."
Tala smirked.
"Of course it is, I'm a man of many and skills and talents." He replied cockily. He then tipped his head towards the others gathered around the fire in the middle of the cabin. "The guys wanted me to come get you. Come on."
Lifting an eyebrow, Demetra watched as the redhead turned and walked back with the others. These guys certainly were a bossy bunch with next to no manners. Then again, who was she to talk? She wasn't usually one to hand out pleases and thank yous left and right either, and she knew she could be quite demanding herself.
Looking away from the Russians, Demetra replaced the rest of the things she'd been using into her bag before taking up her cup and getting up to join the others.
"How nice of you to grace us with your presence, your highness." Kai said with a smirk as she sat down. Demetra narrowed her eyes on him.
"Putting up with that from one pain in my ass is enough." She grumbled at the blunette. "I'm not taking it from you too."
Kai smirked in amusement and the others laughed.
"Hey, tell us about yourself, Demetra!" Ian requested the next moment.
"Yea, we don't really know much about you." Spencer seconded.
Demetra took the time to sip her tea before replying.
"I'm not sure how interesting it'll be." She confessed simply. "But I suppose I could tell you something..."
And so, a little reluctantly, Demetra began to share some of her life with her new friends. At first she was a little reserved, but once the boys took their turns filling her in on themselves as well, it was a little easier to open up and share just a little more with them.
For hours, and over countless cups of tea, the group chatted and took turns passing stories and self-information around until eventually the fire began to die down, casting a soft glow around as it started to turn to embers.
"Wow, so you didn't actually grow up in that big old house you live in now, huh?" Ian asked over his seventh cup of tea.
"No, I didn't." Demetra replied simply. "I was eight years old when Breal showed up at the orphanage for the first time."
She could feel a pair of eyes staring at her intently, and through her peripheral she could tell it was Tala, but she refused to look at him.
"So were you happy when your brother showed up to rescue you?" Spencer asked curiously.
"I didn't actually see it as a rescue back then." She replied, a glint of amusement in her eyes at the memory. "Actually, the first time Breal showed up to meet me and told me who he was and that he was there to take me home, I refused to go."
"Really?" Ian asked, surprised. Demetra nodded.
"Really. In fact, he kept coming back for months before he finally managed to convince me to leave, and that was only after he agreed to adopt the girls as well."
"Why didn't he just force you to leave?" Bryan asked. "He's your real brother isn't he?"
"Yes, he is." Demetra confirmed, looking into the dying fire. "I asked him that once too. He said he wanted me to come with him by choice, he wanted me to feel like he was taking me home, not dragging me away from it."
"How come you ended up in an orphanage in the first place?" Bryan asked then.
Demetra looked down at the floor and stared at it as a pained expression adorned her face. It wasn't something she liked to talk or think about, and it wasn't a question she wanted to answer just yet. Thankfully, Kai saved her the trouble of having to do so.
"It's seriously late." The blunette said bluntly. "And we've got an early rise tomorrow. Probably a good idea to head to bed."
"Agreed." Demetra readily seconded, relieved at the dodged bullet. She drained the last of her tea before getting to her feet, avoiding all eye contact as she did. "I think that's enough excitement for me for one night. See you all in the morning."
That said, she turned amid a chorus of nighttime farewells and made her way across the cabin to her sleeping bag. When she'd zipped herself inside, she settled in and closed her eyes, and her mind instantly wandered to the events of not just her day, but also the moments she'd had since arriving in Russia. It was hard to believe how quickly she'd become fast friends with the Russian team, and certainly it was something she hadn't counted on. But she knew the credit for the broken ice was theirs entirely and she was extremely grateful for the pleasant surprise.
As she listened to the sounds of the Blitzkrieg Boys' quite conversation a ways away, a small smile came to her lips, and it was these sounds that eventually lulled her into a peaceful sleep.
Bright icy blue eyes stared into the darkness as Tala's mind ran wild in the silence. The fire had gone out long ago and everyone had retired for the night, and as he listened to the snores and sounds of deep breathing around the cabin, he knew he was the only one who was still awake.
Releasing a deep and heavy sigh, Tala reached his hands up to rest behind his head as he stared into the blackness above him.
Needless to say; his day had been full of firsts and surprises, most of them all thanks to a certain brunette. It was maddening to think just how much he'd let her worm her way into his life, even more so when he admitted that she did so without even trying. His teeth clenched as he pictured her beautiful face in his minds eye, particularly the way she had looked at him back at the old complex, the way she'd spoken his name in that soft tender whisper.
"Damn it! It didn't mean anything, you moron!" He scolded himself angrily. "She was pitying you, that's it! Like a stray mutt!"
When his stomach twisted at that thought, he felt his blood boil.
"And who gives a damn what Demetra Nakamura thinks of you anyway?!" He reasoned mentally. "You can't stand her!"
Again his stomach twisted sickeningly and this time he audibly growled, though thankfully no one was awake to hear him.
It was an effort to force his annoying thoughts under control, but when he managed, he was only successful in putting them on the back burner. With a heavy sigh of irritation, Tala closed his eyes in attempt to sleep, knowing it was useless and knowing he was in for a long night.
"This is going to be a long damn year!"
