A/N: Real update this time, tried to make it a bit longer to make up for the wait. Thanks for your patience. A longer note at the bottom. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 42: A moment in Time
For a while they walked in silence, listening to the rhythmic shiver of the waves on the sand. The bright silver of the moon lit both land and sea in an array of monochrome.
Without warning a sound came drifting on a breeze, like the echo of a hunting horn. Soft but clear, as if the notes would never die. Lily froze.
James looked around in confusion, "What the-"
The sound rung in her ears like a familiar tune, one she had heard every night for the past few weeks. Though she did not know it, it was midnight. As quickly as it had come the echo began to die away.
"Wait!" Lily shouted, whirling round.
Immediately she felt as if she had gone deaf. She clapped her hands over her ears and turned to look at the sea which had suddenly gone silent.
Lily gasped and made a choking sound. The sea was not only silent but still. She turned to James and was about to ask him what he made of all this, but he too was motionless, his expression frozen in a state of mild confusion that almost made her laugh. Some part of her was telling her that this wasn't normal, that she should be more than just a little worried about all this, but she felt calm, serene almost. And powerful, just as she did when she most keenly felt the liquid power of the Huntress flow through her veins.
She lowered her arms and felt her left hand bump up against something cold. Her horn. It was strung across her chest, the horn itself hanging down to rest against her hip. Light danced and sparked in and on the diamonds that studded the engravings on the silver surface of her horn.
Picking it up she felt the familiar bite of the touch of the otherworldly metal as it met her skin. This time it didn't feel as painful, more bearable. Instinctively, she unstrung the instrument and lifted it to her lips. The clear call echoed oddly in her frozen moment in time, the sound carrying whole and without fading out towards the seemingly endless sea and the distant mountains.
Lily felt rather than heard the reply. It came from the mountains.
She hesitated a moment, glancing back at James, but the call of the Hunt was strong within her, and he looked safe, even though he was frozen. Unable to stay any longer she took flight, bare feet treading swiftly over the sand, the blanket falling from her shoulders to the ground, not even raising a dusting of sand as it landed.
Reaching the cliff face she saw a thin gully than ran down between; a slender sandy trail leading the way. Raising the horn once more she listened more carefully for the answering tremor. There. She resumed her chase, sprinting down the path. Aware of nothing but the dull thudding of her feet and her short, rhythmic breaths, Lily flew over the dusty ground in pursuit of her prey.
The scenery changed as the gully emptied out onto a wide barren expanse of land, gently sloped down to the narrow path Lily ran along. She raced along through a never-ending scene of dusty ground and patches of arid patches of grass. Still the moon hung overhead, motionless in the sky.
Turning a corner she skidded to an abrupt halt. As if from nowhere an oasis lay just before her, the arid ground giving way to a patch of green verdure, tall palms, that leaned their branches towards the ground and a waterfall tumbling down a brief drop into a pool of crystalline water.
And there he stood, waiting, gleaming brilliantly in the moonlight.
The air shimmered beside her and Saffron appeared.
"Saffron!"
She grinned at Lily, before turning to gaze at the moonlit creature drinking by the pool.
"Oh," she sighed reverently, "he's beautiful!" She stared for a moment, mesmerised before giving her head a quick shake and turning back to Lily. "Here," lifting her hand she proffered a gleaming bridle to Lily, "You'll need this."
Lily, reached for it, her eyes wide, "Where did you get this?"
"Not too long ago," Saffron replied. "I would have told you about it, but I couldn't remember."
"Didn't remember don't you mean," Lily corrected absently, her eyes on the glittering bridle in her hands.
Saffron shook her head, "No, couldn't. I had no memory of even being to the Tower of Eiglos until I appeared here, and then they were as vivid in my mind as if I had only just been there." She stopped and looked around her curiously, "It's strange here isn't it?"
"Sorry?" Lily looked up, trying to pay attention.
"In this moment in time."
Lily looked confused.
Saffron gave a short laugh, "Didn't you know? You stopped time, Lily, I don't know how you did it, but you did. We're both outside time! That's where Pegasus lives most of the time."
"Pegasus?"
Saffron looked amused, "Who did you think that was? An albino Granian? That's Pegasus, the one and only. He's yours if you can tame him, well as much as a wild animal ever could be."
She looked like she was going to say more, and Lily was about to ask her a question, but the air shimmered around her and she faded away, back into time.
When she turned from gazing at the place where Saffron had just disappeared she saw Pegasus regarding her with his large black eyes. She froze, not wanting to make any sudden movements that might startle the creature. In her mind she rapidly tried to dredge up any knowledge she had about taming wild animals.
Are you playing some kind of game?
His voice resounded as clear as a bell in her mind. Her jaw slackened and she stared in bewilderment as he turned to face her, downy wings flexing as he turned.
"I'm sorry?"
His eyes crinkled as if in amusement. You huntresses are all the same, always looking to dominate. He paused and flicked his ears. I might as well save you the trouble and tell you that I can't be caught. Not by anyone.
Lily frowned, was this some kind of a test? She gripped the bridle in her right hand.
Oh that, Pegasus said, regarding her coolly, that's only for show really, it doesn't do anything. Artemis always was one for ostentatious show, all those glamours. He snorted and tossed his proud head.
Her eyes flicked to the bridle which shimmered and glittered in her hand. Useless? She didn't know whether she should believe him.
Alright, now we have that out of the way, what have you to bargain with?
"Bargain?"
That's what I said. His voice was tinged with amusement again.
"I…" she didn't have anything to bargain with, how was she to have known what to offer even if she had known?
I require the blood of your first-born child.
Lily gasped in shock, a cold shiver running down her spine.
Pegasus laughed. I'm only joking! You huntresses never have a sense of humour do you? He shook his head, his eyes glittering in amusement. You'd think the fates would give me a break every now and then.
"Then I don't-"
No, huntress, you don't have to give me the blood of your first-born child. I really was only teasing. It's really rather dull to spend my life in a dreamless slumber or dancing to the tune of whichever huntress happens to be in ascension.
Lily didn't really know what to say to this. "I guess I never really thought about what it must be like for you. How long has it been this way?"
Time is meaningless to me. I am neither young nor old and I was not "born" and I rather think that I will not "die" either. I simply am.
Lily tried to think about what this must be like. To exist in a place where you did not grow or age, to never experience the new-found delight of seeing the world through the eyes of a child, or through the experience of age, such an existence was pitiable indeed. For short as a human life-span was, it was rich and surprising and no matter how old you grew- new.
I only have one thing to ask in return for my service. Pegasus said, crossing to stand in front of her. His coat gleamed like the untouched snow on the highest most remote mountain, his wings folded neatly on his back.
"Ask it."
To share you life, to see and experience your life from your first memory to this, all of it.
Without question she bowed her head in acquiescence. Later she would wonder why she had given her consent so willingly when she barely knew what she was agreeing to, but at the time she had only been aware of two things: her deep sympathy for Pegasus and the existence he had to lead, and the need to do whatever it took to get him on her side.
After a moment she felt a warm breath stir her hair. Without warning she felt herself rocketing backwards with the speed of a falling star. Too bright lights streamed and sparked behind her closed lids and her breath came quick and hurried as if she were running a race. Colours and sounds and fleeting sensations bubbled and frothed and swirled inside her in a confusing life-cocktail.
And then everything was still.
Lily gasped and fell forwards onto her knees. Her body was shaking and she felt as though she had run several marathons. Her head pounded and her eyes were tired and sore the way they are after being awake beyond the point of exhaustion.
Come, my sister, Pegasus's gentle voice said, I will wear the bridle and take you home.
Barely aware of what she was doing her hands fumbled to slip the glittering mesh over Pegasus's gleaming head, bright pin-pricks of light sparked in her vision. As the bridle slipped into place she suddenly found herself upon his back.
Rest now. You have done well, young huntress.
Lulled by his voice she surrendered to sleep. Unconscious of the fact that the world had gone back to normal and that she flew silently through the sky towards the beach.
James blinked and looked around to see where the sound was coming from-except there was no sound anymore, and no Lily.
"Lily!"
He drew his wand and conjured a dazzling orb of light which illuminated the beach. It was empty.
Saffron bit her lip as she stared at her feet, head slightly turned away from the boy, young man really, sat next to her. Neither of them had spoken since Lily and James had left. An awkward silence filled with the sound of their own hearts pounding in their ears had descended and neither had known how to break it.
Sirius cleared his throat and shifted in his seat causing his arm to brush lightly against hers. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes against the tingling shivers that rippled across her skin.
Faking a yawn she stood rather abruptly, "Time to roll out the sleeping things, don't you think?"
She didn't look at him as she walked to pick up the bags they'd brought down and started to empty the contents onto the sand. Behind her Sirius sighed heavily before coming to help her. Between them they spread out the large canvas that was to lie beneath all the individual foam rolls and started to lay out pillows, sleeping bags and a large number of blankets.
A slight breeze blew small clouds of sand over the edge of the canvas.
"What do you think- wind-break?"
"Hmm?" Saffron looked up.
He grinned at her, "Do you think I should put up the wind-break?" he repeated, unnecessarily stressing each individual word.
She pulled a face at him, then shrugged, "I guess."
While Sirius set to hammering the poles so that reams of rather overly colourful fabric were stretched in a circle around the sleeping area, Saffron paused and for the first time since they had done this felt uncomfortable about the sleeping arrangements. They were laid out just the same as normal with James and Sirius on the end and herself and Lily in the middle. After the boys had insisted on being on the edge, some sort of misguided chivalry she thought, it had seemed natural for Lily's sleeping bag to lie next to James.
Saffron looked up to watch Sirius's back as he worked, her eyes watching how his muscles tensed and flexed as he forced the wooden poles into the ground. She shivered pleasantly before shaking her head. She really needed a cold shower.
Flopping back onto her pile of blankets she gazed up at the stars above. Whatever was she going to do about him? Oh, she desired him, she wasn't stupid enough to lie to herself, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. It was all some horrible ironic mistake. She who prided herself on being different, hated to be labelled, stereotyped was pining after the most sought after boy in school just like the rest of its female population. And on top of which this was the biggest cliché of all, falling for your brother's best friend. Of all the people to have a schoolgirl crush on…She sighed and sat up to pull her shoes off.
It wasn't that she couldn't understand the attraction, she wasn't blind after all. She knew he was beautiful. Saffron grinned to herself, not that he would necessarily appreciate being called beautiful, but he was. Dark eyes, soft locks of hair that flopped over his eyes which her fingers always itched to push back; a ready smile that always had that hint of mischief about it; broad shoulders and a narrow waist and the understated grace with which he moved. Oh, she was in no doubt that he was deeply attractive. Perhaps that was it, just her misguided teen-age hormones playing a joke on her.
It was as she stood to drop her shoes at the edge of the mat that she suddenly felt dizzy. The pendant round her neck grew hot and heavy. A bright light made her blink and she found herself standing by a lush green oasis, the gleaming white form of Pegasus reflected in the moonlit pool.
Her brief words with Lily over before she knew it; her vision clouded and her head began to swim. She swayed and gripped at her head before she was caught be a pair of strong, warm arms.
"Saffron, are you alright?"
She mumbled something incoherently. Her body felt like it had just been compressed between two very large sheets of steel and her throat was dry and rough. She stumbled along beside him as Sirius helped her back to her blankets were she sat, her breath coming in shuddered gasps.
"Here, drink this."
Saffron reached out with shaking hands to grip the offered water bottle, coughing a little as she swallowed large mouthfuls. Blinking, her eyes focused and she was suddenly aware of being cradled in Sirius's arms. She closed her eyes. Why did it always have to be him?
Opening her eyes she looked up and shrank back a little at the intensity of his gaze. She dropped her eyes, "Thanks, Sirius, I'll be alright. I just felt a little faint, probably just tired."
"If you say so," he replied, somewhat dubiously.
"Sure," she smiled brightly, "I just need some rest."
Wriggling her legs under the covers she lay back and closed her eyes. Unlike the others, Saffron didn't have a sleeping bag. She hated the way it always twisted round her and confined her.
Her words to Sirius hadn't been a lie, she really did feel tired and she soon found her mind beginning to drift. Distantly aware of a warm hand gently smoothing back her hair she thought sleepily that she was definitely going to have to do something about her inappropriate crush.
"Alright, don't panic," James reasoned with himself, running a hand through his hair agitatedly, "I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this."
He took several calming breaths and held his wand up high, scanning the beach once more. His heart pounded nervously in his chest and he felt as if someone was gripping it hard. If anything had happened to Lily-
"Don't think about that!" he told himself sternly. He turned his head this way and that, pacing up and down. Think James, think! Lily's entirely capable of taking care of herself. You're fine- if there had been some kind of attack surely you wouldn't be standing here completely unharmed.
Somehow reasoning with himself wasn't as useful as normal and he began to call for her. "Lily!...Li-ly!"
His feet slipped over the shifting sands as he ran back towards the camp, heart pounding. It wasn't any good, never mind how hard he told himself that Lily was strong, smart, gifted with ancient powers and more than able to defend herself she was still his girlfriend. And that made him worry. She may be all those things but she was still only young, newly come into her powers and despite the fact that he knew better- small and vulnerable looking. He cared very much for her, in fact most of the time he couldn't understand what he could have done to deserve someone as amazing and beautiful as her for his girlfriend.
A sharp gust of wind caught him off balance and he fell to his knees. Whipping his head round he gaped at the sight before him. Illuminated brilliantly by the white light of the moon a huge white winged horse was steadily pumping large outspread wings as it made to land on the sand. Astride its back sat Lily, her hair, whipped up in the air currents floated around her face and her brilliant green gaze that he loved so much looked directly at him.
A soft cloud of sand rose up around Pegasus's hooves as they touched the ground. Lily slipped off his back to be immediately engulfed in a tight hug.
"Don't you ever do that again!"
She was about to reply but was silenced by his warm, demanding lips on hers, kissing her with a fierce, possessive passion that wasn't hard to surrender to. Her arms slid over his chest and up to encircle his head, moulding her body against his.
Don't mind me, Pegasus said dryly.
Gasping, Lily pulled away, "James," she said breathlessly, "James-" her breath hitched in her throat as he lowered his lips to her neck.
Oh never mind, you're obviously enjoying you're welcome back. I'll come back lat-
No wait! "James, James, just stop a second," she pushed him away, grinning.
"Sorry," he apologised a little sheepishly. His eyes slide to where the creature was gazing at him, looking for all the world as thought it was amused. "Where did?"
"James, I think we have to talk," Lily interrupted a little nervously, her eyes flicking between him and Pegasus. "Just give me a second to talk to Pegasus."
"Ok- wait, Pegasus? As in the Pegasus?"
Oh, it's nice to be famous, Pegasus said tossing his head and flexing his feathered wings.
"Stop showing off," Lily told him absently, "Yes, James, the-"
Just as I said, no sense of humour-
"-I do too have a sense of humour," she retorted, turning to glare at the animal.
James was looking at her as if she'd gone mad, "Err, Lily?"
She took one look at his expression and turned back to Pegasus with a sigh, "Can he not hear you?"
Well, no as a matter of fact. Although he does think you might be hearing voices.
"Well, can you make it so that he can?"
"Lily, are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, James," she waved a hand at him in what she hoped was a placatory manner. "Well?"
Oh, alright then, Pegasus responded grudgingly.
"Right," Lily turned back to her boyfriend who had a rather worried expression on his face. She gave a short burst of laughter, "It's alright, James, I'm perfectly sane!" He made a non-committal sound. "James, meet Pegasus, Pegasus, James."
Charmed I'm sure.
James gaped at the animal, causing Lily to giggle uncharacteristically, before remembering his manners, "Err…nice to meet you."
Pegaus whinnied in amusement, Well, unless there's anything else, I'll be off. Think I might go and visit the girls.
"The girls!" Lily echoed in astonishment, "what girls?"
I'm sure Rowena will be pleased to see me, she always did have rather a soft-spot for me.
Lily shook her head, grinning; only Pegasus could call the other Huntresses "the girls". She wondered where they were, she'd only ever met Rowena, perhaps they lived behind that archway she'd seen that woman come through when she was in Rowena's portrait. She realised with a start that that girl must have been another of the Amazons Saffron had mentioned.
Call me if you need me. Pegasus spread his large white wings and pumped hard, throwing up huge clouds of sand that made Lily and James run backwards, covering their noses and mouths and squeezing their eyes tightly shut. Tiny grains pelted at her face before Lily felt herself being drawn into James arms, her face pressed against his chest. When the sand had settled they drew apart, coughing a little and brushing sand off clothes and hair. Pegasus had gone.
"Well…well…" he was rather at a loss for what to say.
Lily smiled and took his hand, she hadn't intended to say anything to James about this for a while, but suddenly she wondered why she waiting. What she was waiting for. She didn't really know how she was going to tell him, let alone what he would say, but she trusted him and was tired of having to lie.
"James."
He turned to her, three-quarters of his face silhouetted in silver, moonlight sliding over the panes of his glasses. Her breath caught in her throat and she reached up to take off his glasses. She would tell him, but first there was something else she wanted to do. Brushing the last residues of sand from his face she gently, teasingly brushed her lips against his before whispering in his ear.
"Kiss me, James."
He didn't need to be told twice.
A/N: I bet he didn't naughty boy! Hehe! Ahem, right…over that. As usual comments, questions, feedback, thoughts etc are appreciated, just click the button!
Tried to balance the chapter a bit more this time between L/J and S/S, did I do better this time?
Umm, and don't forget to let me know who you got if you take my quiz www. quizilla .com/users / QueenMelian (but without the spaces) it's a quiz that's supposed to say which character you're most like. There are 8 different results. In case you were wondering I took it recently and apparently I'm most like Lily, which was a surprise really I would have said Saffron, but really only for certain aspects of her personality and opinions.
Mandarina Ballerina- Thanks for all your reviews, I don't mind them being long although they are perhaps the longest reviews I've ever seen! As for a few of your questions (can't promise I'll have remembered them all) chapter 38 is called 'Memories' just because they talk about some memories from when they're little really- it's lame I know, I did realise that at the time, sorry about that! As for Lily and James, well you got some snogging! And I do know what you mean I do neglect them sometimes because I find it easier and more enjoyable to write about Saffron and Sirius I get a bit carried away. But I do aim to rectify this problem in the future.
You also anticipated my little view into Saffron's problem with the thought of dating Sirius that was in this chapter. Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now, not necessarily as to why on earth anyone would want to turn down Sirius (!) but into her reasonings behind the whole thing.
Right, off to get ready for bed, trying desperately to get rid of this awful flu-like virus I've had for about a week now. I will make my seminar tomorrow- I defy you virus!...yeah, ok so maybe I'm going a little mad, but it's one of my children's lit ones and we're either doing Alan Garner's 'Weird Stone of Brisingamen' or Le Guin's Earthsea books- I want to say quartet, except originally it was a trilogy…but now there are five books, so I don't know what to call it now, maybe series. Anyway I'm doing an essay on the Earthsea series soon so it'd be bad if I missed it. Ok, rambled enough, take care everyone!