Disclaimer: I don't own it. Not even in my dreams. I can have my entire room decorated with Pretender posters and such, but I'll never own it. (Yes I do have my room decorated with Pretender posters. Hey, I may be a hopeless Pretender fanatic, but I'm a hopeless Pretender fanatic with style.)
Summary: You know what's going on if you've been following the story. In this chapter, the journey of Elf 17 and Broots will finally begin, and both will realize that it's not going to be as easy as they thought it was…
Rating: PG or PG-13 for a few cusswords.
Feedback: (Shadow Elf stands in front of crowd of poor peasants that have assembled in the town's center) I welcome you poor townspeople and thank you for coming to take time off from working for your meager restitution to hear my story. But before we get started I need to tell you about what my food, my air, my very life is composed of. It's a wonderful thing called feedback! (as Shadow Elf rambles on peasants begin to lick their lips and whisper excitedly at the thought of 'food'.) …So, now that I have explained why I need feedback so much…(she pauses as she hears two people whispering in front of her.)
Peasant one: I'm hungry.
Peasant two: Me too.
Peasant one: Lets eat her.
(Shadow Elf mentally curses herself as crowd advances on her.) I knew there was a reason that there were no other bards in town…
Author's Note: Love the Feedback given to me and I am very surprised that there are actually people who want me to continue writing. Well how about that? Oh, and as to Elf 17's decisions about the Centre and Broots' role in helping her make it, well, it's a long way to Los Angelus, and there's much in this world that can change one's mind…
To the Story!!!!
********************************ShadowElfBard***********************************
10:00 PM
Cedarville, Utah
Mountain filled area
Elf 17 and Broots' campsite
Broots and Elf 17 had decided that for the night, they would stay in Utah before beginning their travel towards Los Angelus in the morning. Broots had wanted desperately to rent a hotel room but had finally agreed with Elf 17 that it might be best just to camp out. Elf 17 had created a shelter of sticks and carefully placed stones for support, and Broots had brought out the air mattress that he'd packed in case of emergency. The shelter was large enough to fir the both of them, but Elf 17 had refused and said that she'd rather sleep outside. Broots had grumbled a bit about her decision, still seeing her as a teenager and worrying for her safety, but she'd finally made him remember that she was better equipped than most teenagers.
But it had been the conversation they'd had earlier that worried her and that had caused her to sit out where she was now on the branch of a tree, gazing into oblivion. They had begun chatting about Jarod an their plans for finding him and such, when Broots had asked her a question that had caught her off guard.
"Elf 17, you're states and states away from the Centre, we aren't being followed, and there's absolutely nothing to hold you back. Why don't you just run from the Centre? Leave like Jarod did."
"Why would I want to?" She'd responded in complete surprise.
Broots' eyes widened. "You mean you don't want to leave the Centre?"
Elf 17 shook her head. "I have no reason to. Sure he Centre isn't all that wonderful a place and I absolutely loathe Raines, but I'm an orphan. I have no parents and no ties to the outside world. I have absolutely no reason to want to join it, and, from what I've seen and felt in sims, the outside world isn't all that great a place anyhow."
Broots had looked at her like she had grown a second head and then had realized that it was probably no use. He knew nothing about this girl and her past, and in a strange way, what she had said made sense.
They'd both said goodnight and Elf 17 had set up a campfire while Broots went in the shelter to sleep.
But little did Broots know that his question had prevented Elf 17 from even thinking of sleep. She was puzzled by the question he'd asked and curious as to her own answer. Would she really want to live her entire life at the Centre? Or would she ever want to experience the normal world and live, actually live, like the people there do? Would she ever get another chance to decide?
She sighed and then tensed her well-trained muscles when she heard the almost silent sound of footsteps. She counted the footsteps ,measured the intervals of time between each one, and the sound that they made. It was then she realized with sudden horror that it wasn't a human, but, (judging by the region that she and Broots' were in), a cougar.
She cursed under her breath and then scanned the area with her eyes. Thank whoever's up there that I have nocturnal sight.
She saw the cougar about three yards off by the edge of the trees. It was a young adult, male, and it definitely looked as though it had claimed this area as territory without much trouble, because there were only two small signs of battle on its gray-brown fur. It had its head lowered and was stalking methodically towards the shelter that Broots was sleeping in. It hardly even noticed the campfire, which Elf 17 had known wouldn't deter it. Elf 17 winced though, as she realized that though the cougar was strong, it seemed to have been having trouble finding food, for its belly was rather thin. The bad thing was that because it was now so hungry to even consider attacking a human, she was going to have a much harder time scaring it off. Oh well, duty calls.
She leapt down from her branch and landed in a crouch, purposely letting her body's weight make a thud on the hard dirt ground. The cougar whipped its head around at stared at her with spliced yellow eyes. Elf 17 transformed and stared back with her own.
Elf 17 knew that it would be even more dangerous to let Broots continue sleeping, so, as the cougar was wondering what to do about her,(obviously confused by how like other cats she smelled), she moved carefully in front of the shelter, never once turning her back on the cougar.
"Broots!" She loudly whispered.
"Huh?" Came a sleepy reply. There was a loud yawn and he poked his head out slowly, still half-asleep. "What is it? Is it time to g-" He snapped awake as he saw the cougar. "S--t" He cursed in surprise.
Elf 17 nodded her head in agreement. "Look, this cougar's hungry enough that he's going to try and attack us both very soon. I am going to attack it--"
"Whoa! Hold up! What small match will you be against a cougar?"
She looked back at him with a sad, world-weary smile. "A lot more than you know."
He stared at her for a second and when he realized she was telling the truth, he became very frightened. "Um…okay. What do I do?"
"I need to know Broots, did you bring any sort of protection?"
His eyes widened comically. "What?!"
"You know, weapons?"
He calmed down considerably. "Oh. Um, well, yeah I brought a gun. Not one of the fancy new guns though." He looked at the floor in embarrassment. "Actually its practically an antique musket. With gunpowder and everything."
Her eyes twinkled in the firelight. "Perfect. Now, do exactly what I say…"
After she'd told him what to do and she was sure he had his backpack on, she leapt at the cougar. The cougar was caught off guard for a moment, but then gave an almost war-like cry and moved to meet her attack. Elf 17 saw the cougar in mid leap and ducked and rolled to dodge it. The cougar landed on his paws and turned in one fluid motion, lowering its head and giving a deep-throated growl. Elf 17 was swept up in the transformation and she bared her teeth and gave a growl just as menacing. Her nails, (which were really more claw than nail), were outstretched and ready.
The cougar crouched and leaped again, with all its power and might, and she was knocked to the ground with it on top of her. It had its paws on her shoulders and its claws were imbedded in her flesh. Its back legs were on the ground luckily, but that was not what Elf 17 was trying to avoid. She had both arms raised and pressing into the cougar's neck as it tried to close its jaws around her throat. The cougar wasn't even coming close though, thanks to Elf 17's enhanced muscular power. It became agitated and lifted a paw to bat away her arm, but Elf 17 moved just as quickly and blocked it.
Elf 17 had come into the fight just wanting to keep the cougar at bay and not actually harm it, but that was quickly fading as an option. She held back a tear as her eyes began to water. Forgive me.
She brought her knee up in a swift, hard motion and caught the cougar in the underbelly. She had aimed for a bone and gotten it, dead center. She had gotten it so well that it was now probably bruised. The cougar howled and jumped off of her and she stood and then without wasting time, sent a kick to its head. The cougar took a few steps back, dazed, and didn't even realize Elf 17 was moving until she had leapt upon the cougars back and had dug her own claws into its shoulders. The cougar roared in pain and fury and then tried to throw her off. It purposely fell onto the ground and arched its back, and Elf 17 released her hold to prepare against its next attack.
Broots was sitting on the lower branch of the tree Elf 17 had told him to climb, and was furiously putting together the 'weapon' she'd given him instructions on. He took out a handful of gunpowder, and then poured it onto the piece of computer paper he'd gotten out. He rolled the paper so that it vaguely resembled a large and oversized joint, and then, saying a prayer with his eyes closed, brought back his arm and flung the package towards the flames of the campfire.
Elf 17 and the cougar had just been circling each other by the fire, both wounded by the other and losing blood. But neither cared. Elf 17 had just sadly and reluctantly made a decision to end this battle, since it seemed that Broots wasn't able to carry out his task, when the campfire exploded.
The cougar jumped straight into the air with a howl of fear and then ran off as fast as it could from the campsite.
Elf 17 gave a choked sob of happiness, happy that she wouldn't have to kill the cougar, that the innocent blood wouldn't be on her hands, and she silently thanked Broots. Then she unwillingly collapsed on the ground, and let her fatigued muscles rest as sleep claimed her as its own…
7:30 AM
Cedarville, Utah
Mountain Filled Area
Elf 17 and Broots' Campsite
Elf 17 blinked one, twice and finally three times to clear her vision. She'd dreamed last night, which didn't happen very often, and for once it hadn't been a nightmare. In the dream it had been sunny and she'd been by a river and she'd jumped in, feeling the cool water rush over her. Then she'd laid in the dry green grass and let the warmth of the sun wrap around her. Oh it had been bliss…
She sat up suddenly, though the movement made her bandaged shoulders scream in pain. I must have pulled at least ten muscles last night.
She suddenly realized that her top half wore no clothing except for a bra. Her eyes widened in alarm. She rolled off of the air mattress she was on and grabbed her gray Centre shirt that was on the ground beside the bed. She was about to pull it on, when she noticed that her wounds from last night had been bandaged.
There were small bandages for the tiny cuts she'd received from the various twigs and rocks on the ground, and there was first-aid tape over gauze and thick bandages protecting the skin that had been broken open by the cougar's claws. She winced and realized that many of the gashes had also been treated with iodine. It was the proper way to bandage of course, but that didn't stop the sharp, stinging of the iodine.
She carefully pulled on the shirt and then stood up and limped her way over to the door of the shelter. When she went outside she saw Broots, packing up the stuff. He'd doused the campfire last night and was right now preparing all of their stuff to leave.
She called out to him. "Morning Broots!"
He jumped as though Ms. Parker had called him, and then realized that it was only Elf 17.
"Oh," he said in relief. "Good morning." His face suddenly flushed red. "Oh, uh, about last night I only--"
"Yeah. I never knew that you knew how to treat wounds so well." She praised him smiling, her green eyes mirroring her mirth.
"Well, when you have a daughter you try to learn everything you can. But what I'm trying to say is that in order to tend your wounds I had to…um…well."
"Its okay. I understand."
He let out a deep breath. "Thanks. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. If you hadn't bandaged them they could have become infected or let in a large number of bacteria and germs that could have seriously damaged my system." She smiled. "By the way, good timing with the weapon you made." Her voice softened. " I was afraid that I'd have to kill him. He didn't come back last night did he?"
"The cougar? Nope. He didn't show at all."
She let out her own sigh of relief. "That's good. Here, let me help you with this stuff. "
The two took apart the shelter and packed up all their supplies. They were going to have to walk to town and check out a car rental.
Luckily though, the two ended up hitching a ride in the back of a pickup that had kindly stopped and offered them a ride in the direction. After they were dropped off they asked around and finally found a small but adequate rental place.
8:15 AM
Cedarville, Utah
Middle of Town
Jerry's Car, Truck, Jeep, and ATV(All Terrain Vehicle)Rental.
"Well howdy there, what can I do for you?" a slightly overweight man in classic western dress asked the two in an exaggerated cowboy accent.
"We would like to rent a vehicle for approximately one week. We need one already filled with gas and that has not had repairs done within the past two days. If possible one with only three to four thousand miles on it. It needs to be new but at least have been driven five to six times. Oh, and we are not picky about the manufacturer but a Volvo, Ford, or any brand of jeep will do us just fine." Elf 17 paused and thought for a moment. "Oh, please." She smiled.
The man had his mouth agape and Broots was suddenly very interested in a dumpster across the street.
"Well I'll be run over by a monster truck, you sure have raised your daughter well sir!" Jerry said, completely forgetting his fake accent that he kept up for the tourists, which these two undoubtedly were. The girl's gray, almost prison-like clothing was very strange, and her father was almost definitely a computer geek. You didn't find to many of them in Utah, no sir.
Broots jumped at the man's assumption. "She'd not my--" He began.
But a gentle elbowing from Elf 17 steered him off of that track.
"Uh, I mean thanks." He finished lamely.
The man quirked an eyebrow but didn't comment. He turned his attention to the girl. "Well you've definitely narrowed the selection down a bit. I think I might have something for you."
He led them around back and showed them a sparkling red jeep. Elf 17 nodded in approval after scrutinizing the Jeep.
"How much?"
"For a week?" He pretended to look at her with narrowed eyes, as if it were hard to decide. "Well, little lady, I guess I could let you have her for…" His eyes gleamed. "One hundred?"
Broots suppressed a gasp. That was cheap!
Elf 17 had also been expecting more. "Thank you!"
The man beamed at her. That man sure is lucky to have such a fine daughter…
They went inside and signed the papers and though Jerry sputtered a bit when he was handed a crisp hundred-dollar bill, along with a thousand extra in cash to insure they returned the vehicle, he didn't comment.
But after the two had driven away and he'd he waved them goodbye, he went inside and decided that he really needed a drink.
10:33 AM
Utah
Nearing Border Line
Indeterminable Position On Road
"That Jerry was very nice." Elf 17 commented casually, the wind whipping back the black hair that she'd washed in the river that morning. Because of her wounds and bandages she wouldn't be able to bathe or shower for at least another day, but she had been able to wash her hair in the water.
"I think it had something to do with the thousand one hundred you gave him in cash," Broots muttered.
Elf 17 just laughed.
"So," Broots said, starting a conversation to try and ignore how much she reminded him of his fourteen-year-old daughter. "How are you treated at the uh, Centre." Upon hearing silence he added quickly, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to though."
"No," she said finally, "it's okay." She seemed lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "Well, the room isn't all that great, but I'm glad it has an air vent in it. Angelo comes to visit me a lot and I look forward to it every time. He's sweet and though I pity him so much, I sometimes envy him."
Broots' nearly swerved the jeep off of the road. "Envy him?! How could you envy him?!"
She then answered quite calmly and simply, "his ignorance. No one takes notice of him for it, he isn't considered a threat, and even though his mind is so screwed up that if he were offered freedom he'd hide in the vents cringing in terror, he is able to be kind, and nice and friendly and thoughtful and…and help people." She finished the last part in a quiet voice filled with a sweet sadness that Broots' had never seen before.
"I-I'm sure you help people," He lied. Actually, he had no idea if she could or not, but for some reason her sorrow and longing pained him unlike anything he'd ever felt.
She gave a small laugh. "Thank you Broots, but I know the truth. And I am sorry that my sadness hurts you so much." She bit her lip. "If you want I will gladly change the subject."
"No, no it's okay." He stared at the road. "How did you know that your…your feelings of sadness hurt me?"
Her eyes turned to him and she wore such a blank expression that he was taken aback.
"I smelled it."
"Oh." Was all he could say in response.
They drove on in silence and three hours later, they had entered Las Vegas Nevada.
1:34 PM (Eastern Time)
Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre
Sydney's Office
"Syd?" came a voice that Sydney recognized instantly.
"Yes Ms. Parker?"
She entered in her short, professional, but stylish black suit. "I was wondering if you'd heard anything on Broots and the…girl, he went with."
Sydney raised his eyes from the papers he'd been going over. He gave a small look of awe. "Are you…are you worried Ms. Parker?"
Her eyes flashed with sudden fire. "Of course not! It's just that the sooner that the lab rat is dragged in and thrown in his cell, the sooner I can leave this hellhole, and I want to know how soon he'll be coming back so I can pack up and go."
"Well I'm sorry but I don't have any news."
Ms. Parker stood still for a moment and then nodded in understanding. "All right.' She turned and started to leave his office but Sydney's voice stopped her.
"Ms. Parker!" She turned around and Sydney gave her a smile. "I'm worried too."
Ms. Parker looked at the ground for a moment and then back at him, trying futilely to hold back the tears that were brimming in her eyes. "Thanks Sydney."
"Your welcome Ms. Parker."
************************************************************************************
And so ends chapter three. Oooh, maybe the ice queen isn't as evil as we all thought hmm?
Well, anyhow, the next chapter will be appearing soon and perhaps there'll be some fun to be had in Vegas. You never know…
I'm afraid I have to get back to traveling the kingdom and spreading my tales. Hopefully my next crowd won't be as hungry. [ShadowElf winks and travels down the road off into the sunset…]
P.S: Feedback is wanted, desired, and all around LOVED!!!