~Memories~
By Ola
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A/N~ oh oh….
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Part 19~
"Aaaahhhh!!" The scream echoed all around her and chilled her like the screech of metal on glass. She crunched her head in her shoulders and squeezed her eyes reflexively; her heart stopped and her hands tightened painfully on the torch, as one thought stood out in her mind. Sindarin! Except that the scream had come from in front of her, not behind. Maybe the tunnels do connect and we are only a few hundreds of yards apart…But what if it's just an echo? Can't take the risk. Her mind was a jumble of half coherent thoughts as she tried to remember her way back. Had she just stepped into the left passage? No, I don't think so. Another scream cut through the air, all the more blood chilling because of the surrounding silence that followed it. A whimper escaped Lanea's lips. Quick! All the right tunnels. No no! The left now, the left!
She ran. How many had she passed on her way down? What if she missed one in her hurry and lost herself in this deadly maze? No! ALL the left ones…She gasped for breath, her eyes roving the walls, searching for the next split in the tunnel, and the next...and the next. God, Sindarin…
It seemed years before she finally saw the far away circular glow of sunlight, and the second branch of the tunnel, the one Sindarin had taken, now on her right. She took it without thought, without slowing down. Still all the left ones…all the left. This part of the cave was less musty and the walls did not glisten with dissolved minerals and water droplets. They were rather dusty and dry as Lan pressed her hand on them to keep from stumbling. Where is he? Did I miss him? No! I couldn't! He's got to be somewhere in front!
She was alerted of his presence by a dull scraping sound as she took another left turn. It ended in a cul-de-sac, and there he was, his back turned toward her, his torch lying in the dust, extinguished. For how long? How long has he been in the dark? What happened? She took a few steps toward him.
"Sindarin?" Two more steps. A glance at the wall from behind his shoulder. A gasp. A grab at his shirtsleeve.
"Sindarin! Stop it!" He pushed her back and she stumbled, falling on her back, with trouble keeping the torch from going out. He only glanced at her. With haunted eyes that did not see. And went back to scrapping the tunnel wall with his fingers. The torch propped against a pile of debris, out of danger, the girl came back to the tall figure, slipping in between him and the coarse wall. Between the rock and the dark place, she remembered the saying, grinding her teeth in determination and fear, wondering if he would hurt her.
"Si! What's wrong with you! Stop it!" But he only moved a little to the side and continued digging his nails into the rock, dust settling on his arms and sleeves, while sweat covered his brow. He trembled from exertion. Lanea's vision blurred as hot tears of desperation and panic filled her eyes. She quickly blinked them away and dried the rest with dirty fingers. Again, she placed herself in front of him, in between his arms, using her own little ones to bring his head to her level and claim his lips with hers. Beyond her hope, he froze in place, and she heard nothing except the rapid pounding of her heart.
For a long moment, she wondered if he was still out of it, if he would go back to his crazy digging as soon as she let go of him, if her…His large hands found themselves behind her head and he kissed her back, coming to life like a flower after the rain…only to wilt back again, as he broke off, his head fell on her shoulder, his arms dropped to her back and he hugged her. She felt him shaken by silent sobs, while his heart beat loudly against her. Then everything calmed down, and the oppressive silence once again surrounded them.
"Let's get out of here." A whisper, but loud enough.
They walked back in silence. Outside, nothing had changed. It was as if they had been gone for a few minutes instead of the hours it felt like. They sat under a tree, a little way off from the entrance.
"All right. What happened down there? I heard you scream, so I ran up then back down your side, to find you scrapping the cave wall, with your fingers, in the dark." She looked at his stony face questioningly, but he wouldn't meet her eyes nor provide any explanation.
"Sindarin. Please. I'm sorry the way I've been acting those past few days, all right? I'm really worried. Si?"
For a long moment, he looked off into the distance before bitterly saying: "I got scared okay? I'm claustrophobic. Is that a good enough answer?"
"You are claustrophobic…" she said that word slowly, as if testing its trustfulness "…and you went into a cave…all by yourself." He gifted her with a look, although maybe it would have been better if he hadn't.
"Maybe life would be easier around you if you didn't act like a macho all the time, you know? I'm hungry. Let's eat." The girl unloaded all her anger on the wrappings of her sandwich, until she noticed that Sindarin was gingerly rubbing one of his palms.
"What's wrong?" she asked, mid-bite.
"Nothing." She caught his hand before he could hide it behind his back, and was surprised by his hiss of pain, until she turned his hand palm up and noticed the fingertips and the cushions of his palms scratched to raw flesh; not much skin was left among the dirt that clung to his hands.
"Nothing!?" She almost choked on her bite before swallowing it with difficulty. "That's nothing? Jeez, Si! It's a wonder you can bend your fingers! Come. We've got to find water." She walked off to the north, choosing a random direction, while he went the opposite way.
"This way." She raised en eyebrow, but followed him without comment. Sure enough, they soon reached a little stream with clear, running water. Lanea's eyebrows rose even higher if possible.
"How did you know it was here?"
"I've been in those parts before."
"Ah" she said, as if that was answer enough, while curiosity gnawed at her heart.
Sindarin plunged both hands into the shallow water. A curse escaped him and he squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, Lanea had stepped across the stream and was now crouching opposite him on the other side, with pity in her eyes. The young man clenched his teeth and moved his hands in the cool liquid, determined not to look like a pussy. Yea, better look like the macho guy she said you are? Said a little voice in his head, but he didn't want to pay attention to it. His father had not overlooked his sons' upbringing. Even if he had forgotten love and affection as one of his fatherly duties, he had made sure that all three of his sons were true men, in every sense of the word.
"Need some help with that?"
"What? Err, no." He realized he had stopped moving his hands. He took them out and closely inspected the wounded pads. Dirt still clung to the raw flesh, especially on the sides, where it had gotten under the flaps of skin. He thrust them back into the cool fluid. The coolness spread to his fingers, and the pain ebbed away. But there was a drawback to the pleasant numbness: ha had a lot less control over the nimbleness of his fingers, and it made it all the harder getting the dirt out. But he couldn't think of doing it any other way.
Ha. Father would be damn unpleased at finding his youngest son such a wimp. But I really don't care. He's not here. And even if he was, I'm not about to try to pick the dirt out while I have any feeling left in my hands. I kind of don't feel like squirming from pain, even i… his train of thoughts was interrupted by what he thought was a touch. His suspicions were proven correct when he opened his eyes. He glanced at Lan, then at her hands, holding his, but didn't comment. She kept looking down, not meeting his eyes, while carefully tending to his right palm.
"You should take those off, there's a ton of dirt under them," she motioned to his wrist guards, looking for a way to untie them.
"NO!" He hadn't meant to shout it at her, not retreat his hand like that, but it was a reflex he had acquired over years and it was hard to get rid of it. "I'm sorry. But it's better not to take them off."
She didn't say anything, and continued her calm ministrations vigilantly. After she was done, she starred at his hand for a long time before bringing it up and planting a gentle kiss right in the middle. A shiver went through him.
"Did it hurt?"
"No." No. your kiss would never hurt, unless it was one of departure. Then you might as well shoot me, for it would hurt the same.
She kept her eyes down and busied herself with his other hand. When she was inspecting it in its turn, he took hold of her wrist.
"Lan?" A quick glance before her eyes once again went back to roaming the depths of the little stream. "I want to show you something."
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A/N~ Wow, how's that for a long chapter? Yea, I know, can't be compared to some of the fics of other authors, but well, compared to MY other ones, I think it's pretty long. Isn't it worth of a little review? Eh? =)
~Ola~
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-Sweetie pie- hope you don't have arthritis…cause you're definitely right, here =)
-little mermaid- lan didn't have anything better to tell him (ran out of ideas I guess, poor girl ;P) , and he just wanted a reason to kiss her, so he did, which WOULD make him seem like he was gay, but he really doesn't care…if that makes sense…
oh, and thanks for that error thing, although *looks sheepish* I don't remember where it is, and I'm a bit busy *cough cough*lazy*cough cough* right now… =)
And thanks so much everyone who reviewed!! I really appreciate it! Makes me grin like a stupid idiot, and that makes people stare at me, probably thinking I'm a bit deranged, but what the heck, I love it!!!! Yeay!!!
Ok, got to go now…and will post the next one soon…hopefully, with Sindarin's surprise. (might have to up the rating a bit thought, but don't know, so there's going to be a little spoiler at the beginning, about the rating, and why…so skip the first author's note if you still want the surprise…althought there's still a bigger one at the end….
Wow, ok, I'll really go now!
~Ola~
