~Memories~
By Ola
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A/N~ Now it's Sindarin's turn to mess things up. Ah, guys will always be guys…
****HERE IS THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT*****
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Part 16~
Oh no, not sword practice again!
Lan stood stiffly, her sword in her right hand, a bandage covering her left. Facing her stood Dareel, his teeth shining in the morning sun. they had changed partners so as not to get overly used to one fighting style. At the captain's signal, they began a bout. Dareel was good and his long hands allowed him to penetrate deeper into her safety zone, so that Lan was always on the defensive, unable to take a chance at a single offensive blow. What's more, her chest and stomach hurt, as newly knitted skin was stretched and pulled when she lunged and rebounded.
At least I'm still in the game ten minutes later, not like at first with Sindarin.
But she spoke too soon, as the flat side of Dareel's sword hit her arm so hard it made her loose her own blade. His grin got even wider, until she zigzagged around him, rolled under his attack, and picked up her weapon in her other hand.
Ah, now it will end quick.
Because of the bandage, her left hand grip wasn't as strong, and while trying to parry an especially vicious attack, she felt something tear in her lower chest. She valiantly tried to ignore the pain and continue fighting, feeling each and every of Dareel's fierce blows jarring her whole arm as she tried to parry them. For a fraction of a second, she finally saw an opening for an attack of her own, and without hesitation, she took her chance. The tip of her blade prickled Dareel's throat, just as his was pressing against hers. They stood like that for a moment, heaving from exertion.
"Good job." Lanea didn't have enough breath left to answer. Her sword fell from her numb hand, while she used her right to gingerly pat her stomach, where a small crimson stain was slowly growing.
"You are quite the little warrior. I didn't expect you to last that long, especially since you're not in your best physical condition today." His teeth showed even when he talked. Lanea nodded as an acknowledgment.
"Come on, let's get you a new bandage."
A few yards away, Sindarin's own bout against Tuck suddenly ended with his first defeat ever, as the older man's sword prickled Sindarin's chest in between two higher ribs during a moment of inattention during which his eyes had been following two people leaving the clearing, one of which was helping the other to walk.
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She sat around the fire between Dareel and Amt, huddled in her cloak. Their laughter reverberated under the trees. For the first time, she was a part of their happy group, she shared their jokes, and participated in the conversation. For the first time, she truly forgot all her problems and her pain. And thus, the shock she received when she went to her tarp to sleep was all the greater.
"Enjoyed throwing yourself at them? Do they know you're a girl, or do they think you're gay?" the voice that escaped from the shadows was strangely altered from the one she knew.
"Err, what?" she didn't understand.
"Don't play that game with me." He growled.
"You…you think I…with them?! It was cold! We were sitting together to keep warm! I…" she didn't know why she was trying to explain herself to him.
"You women are all the same."
"What!" she had trouble keeping her voice low. "You are an asshole Sindarin. You don't know what you're talking about. Did you drink something, or did you just loose it?"
"Go to them. Go to them you whore." She slapped him as hard as she could, unloading all her anger on him. For a long time, she could see the distant firelight dancing in his eyes.
"You even slap like a girl."
"Don't ever talk to me like that again." He didn't say anything. He just left.
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Lanea couldn't sleep, but she didn't feel like rejoicing the group by the fire either. She trembled from anger, sitting on her blanket, looking into the dark. What did he think I was doing? The bastard. Just as I had finally gotten to know Dareel and Mat, and how funny and nice they are, that idiot had to ruin the evening. What's gotten into him? And even if I did do something with one of them, does he think he owns me or something? *$%@!#! I don't understand the guy. He was always trying to help me, and suddenly he's accusing me of…of...being a whore?! Arrgg! What a bloody idiot! I hate him!
Outside, the clouds opened and the rain fell down, at first slowly, then faster and faster. The fire was covered by a quickly put together lean to of branches and leaves. Its light lessened. Sindarin didn't come back, and for a time, Lanea was glad he didn't. Her rage lost its glow. Why did he say that? He was my friend, and my partner. I never thought he would purposefully hurt me. Ha! And now I care about what he thinks of me?
The rain increased even more. The wind picked up. Lan shivered and covered herself with her blanket, glancing at the empty one on her left, worry tickling into her mind like an icy rivulet on her neck despite her fury. He hadn't come back.
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She was woken up in the middle of the night by lightening striking nearby. In her sleep, she had pushed away her blanket and she was now rolled into a ball, shaking from the cold. She glanced at the empty space near her and after a minute of deliberations, pocked her head out from under the tarp. The fire had gone out, but the frequent lightening provided more than enough light to see by.
She found him lying behind their tarp, his knees drawn to his chest, and soaked to the bone. She couldn't see his face and wondered whether he was awake. Should she bring him a blanket? Should she tell him to stop acting like an idiot and come under the tarp? After all, he's my friend...but he started it! And if he want to catch pneumonia, that's his problem! She scowled and went back to a dreamless sleep.
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A/N~ what did you think? =) =)
