Cruel Fates

Chapter 2

By: Kiana Darkk

Disclaimer: I don't own BJT. I just own characters from my own head....

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"Ahhh!"

Silvara shot out of bed at the sound of someone screaming at the top of their lungs. It sounded female. Running out of her room in nothing but a shirt that luckily came past her butt, she stopped short when she saw Jade running down the hallway still fully dressed.

She shot out an arm and caught her.

"What? What happened?" She barked.

"S-Ss-Ssl-Slugs!!! Slugs in my bed! Eeew!" Jade screeched and tried to run away again. Silvara's grip held her in place.

"Jady, calm down. Let's go back and see these slugs." Silvara had to drag Jade back to her room, while the other girl was trying to run the opposite way. Finally she got to the doorway and looked in.

At first Silvara thought her good friend was insane and hallucinating. Then she saw Alex in the corner scooping up slugs.

"Jady, it's just Alex. Playing a prank."

Jade swung around so fast all Silvara saw was a blur. Next thing she knew, Jade was on Alex's back, trying to choke him to death, and Alex was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Silvara sighed and went back to her room. It was far too early to be up, and the halls kept tilting at unexpected angles.

Sarai walked past her in the hall, determined to find the origin of all the noise. She looked in Jade's room, sighed, and walked away. Best to leave them to their sibling rivalry.

~*~Later That Day~*~

Jade sat outside in the backyard of the rented house, looking very peaceful.

Silvara studied her from afar, curious as to what she was doing. Jade appeared to be saying something, but Silvie couldn't hear it from her seat.

Finally she moved from her statuesque pose, only to reposition herself. Jade stretched carefully, while thinking to herself, I better not pull a goddamn muscle.

Deciding enough was enough, Jade positioned herself on her stomach, getting her white tank top full of dirt. She enthusiastically began doing pushups, counting in her head until she got to thirty.

Silvara watched Jade as she kept on working out tirelessly.

God, what is that girl on and where can I get some? She thought to herself.

Jade finished her pushups, and started running. She ran around in circles in the yard. Silvara lost count at forty-seven. On one pass Jade finally noticed her.

"Hi, Silvie!" She shouted as she ran past.

"Hey! What're you doing?"

"Exercising!"

"Why?"

"To stay in shape. I don't wanna be fat. Do you?"

"Not particularly."

"So work off some pounds. Run with me."

So Silvara ran alongside Jade until, completely exhausted, she collapsed to her knees.

"How..." She panted, "Do you do that? And live?"

"I had an assassin for a mother. She trained me to fight," Jade told her, and walked up beside her. She held out a hand to Silvara.

Gratefully, Silvara accepted the offered hand, letting Jade pull her from the ground.

"Come on. We'll start with something easier."

So Jade proceeded to go through the parts of her warm-ups, the easier ones that is. Soon Sarai came out to join them.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking down at the stretching Silvara and Jade.

"Stretching," Silvara answered with a bright smile, "Wanna join?"

With a shrug Sarai plopped down and joined them.

Soon after Alex came outside, and joined. Pretty soon, they had almost the entire Circuit outside exercising.

And so they first came up with the health and fitness program. Jade was dubbed to be the fitness instructor, with Silvie as back-up, and Sarai overtook the health end of the spectrum.

*2 hours later*

"I'm exhausted," Sarai gasped as she literally crawled onto a couch.

"Me too," Silvara said and plopped down in an armchair.

"Really? You guys must be really out of shape. I guess I have my work cut out for me," Jade said with a smile, as she walked calmly and sat on a loveseat. "You did good for beginners though, really good."

"I'm so glad we met your qualifications," Alex quipped as he flung himself over the back of the loveseat and landed next to his 'sister.'

"You should be," Jade said, frowning at him.

"I'm hungry," Silvara complained.

"Hm, well, c'mon Sarai. We've got to make a healthy lunch for the munchkins." Jade sprang to her feet and pulled Sarai up.

The two walked off towards the kitchen, to do whatever it was they did, leaving Alex and Silvara alone.

"So why'd you put slugs in her bed?" Silvara asked abruptly.

"I was bored." Alex smiled suddenly, "Why else would I do something as stupid as risking Jade's anger?"

"For kicks," Silvara supplied.

"That too."

"You are strange..."

"I'm well aware of this," Alex answered. "So how do you like your newfound freedom?"

Silvara smiled widely. "It's great! I can do whatever I want, and not worry about getting criticized for it."

"That's how I felt too," Alex said with a nod.

"What do you mean?" Silvie asked, confused.

"I ran away from home too," Alex confessed.

"Does Jady know?"

"Of course she does!" Alex said indignantly. "I tell her everything."

"Oh do you?"

"Yes I do."

"Does she know about you and Sarai flirting endlessly?" Silvara asked, intensely curious.

"Not exactly..." He said, "I don't want her to feel all weird around Sarai because of me, and you know she will."

She nodded wisely. "I understand. I won't say a word."

"Thanks," Alex said gratefully. He got up then, and walked out without a word.

Silvara sighed, and walked out too.

*In the kitchen~ Sarai's POV*

"So how do you think she's doing?" Jade asked, while chopping carrots. She handled the knife expertly, dicing without worrying about her fingers.

"I think she's just peachy, except for the homesickness." I answered while adding the corn to a big pot.

"Yeah, but that's to be expected," Jade pointed out, "We all went through it."

"Point taken. Except for me." I answered, dumping in celery to the soup.

I had grown up in the Circuit. My parents, ex-slaves from Terreille, had joined almost immediately after the Purge. They'd stayed with the Circuit even after I was born, dragging me with them across the Realms.

I didn't have any homesickness when I left my parents and joined this Circuit, because I'd never had a home. Even now my parents wander around with their Circuit, while I stick with my own. We hadn't spoken since I left home.

"Yeah, except for you," Jade murmured. I knew she was thinking about her mother then, because that's the tone of voice she always took when she did. "Hey," She said suddenly, "Weren't the guys at the last bash cute?"

I knew that she was trying to distract herself, because it wasn't often that she said 'guys' and 'cute' in the same sentence.

"Um... yeah, I guess," I answered, even though I thought one of them was totally cuter than the rest. God, what was I going to do? Falling for your best friend's brother just wasn't cool.......

I didn't really get what the attraction was. I'd known Alex for years, and never before had I thought of him that way. Maybe my hormones were finally kicking in.

"Yeah, I had fun. The music was slammin'. The drinks were great too," Jady babbled. She only babbled when she was hiding something important.

Jade finished chopping all the vegetables, and moved on to slicing bread and cheese. "Sweetie," I interrupted gently, "What's the matter?"

She sighed suddenly. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only because you're babbling," I told her honestly. Honesty was always respected with Jade.

"Well, it's just... Look, I know you like my brother," She started.

My jaw just about hit the floor. Had we really been that obvious?

"But it's kind of weird for me. I mean, I want both of you to be happy. Happy is good. Still, we've all been friends for years, and if you two get together I guess, this is going to sound really self-centered, I'm going to feel like the odd man out," Jade said in a rush.

"Oh, honey, you'll never be the odd man out. We both love you, and we won't stop paying attention to you, either way." I said.

Sometimes being in a Circuit was sort of like being in a family. You all had to be really delicate with each other, especially where romances were concerned.

Jade smiled. "Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear." Silence spread out between us, not uncomfortable, but not exactly comfortable either.

"If you want to go out with Alex, then go for it," Jade said suddenly.

I smiled at her. "Thank you for the permission," I told her, "I was going to ask, but now I guess I don't have to."

We finished making lunch in the comfortable silence that I was used to. Jade was one of those workers who hardly ever talked.

Thirty minutes later all twenty-seven of us sat down together and ate a happy meal. It consisted of chicken dumpling soup, bread, cheese, and wine. God, I was stuffed afterward.

Later on, I took Alex outside and hesitantly- I mean hesitantly- asked him out. He said yes, of course, and gave me a kiss. Let me tell you, it wasn't one of the quick, brotherly ones he gave Jade.

I fell asleep that night smiling, because next Tuesday I had a date with Alex. Oh my God, what was I going to wear??



AN: That's all for now. I hope you liked it. I know this isn't a really Silvie-centered chapter, but I still wrote it. Sorry, no Kaeleer in this chapter either. Next time, though, I promise. Review, please! Make me happy! Review!