Disclaimer: I don't own Winx
Unattainable
When Musa awoke, she was alone in the clearing and for a few disorientated seconds, she wondered just what she was doing in the Black Mud Swamp. There was no logical reason that she could see until she remembered how she had gone back for her bag only to encounter Riven and then Darcy had attacked.
Darcy, who had been seeing Riven without any of them knowing. Darcy who claimed that Riven had called out her -Musa's- name during a make out session.
She sat up suddenly. Why would Riven say her name while kissing Darcy? Why would he even think about her? She couldn't see one good reason as to why he would be thinking of her. She hadn't done anything or said anything to him before that day she'd found him injured. She really couldn't see why on earth she would have…
"Oh for shits sake," she quoted a term she'd heard on earth, knowing it was tamer than some she'd heard on the grounds at Red Fountain.
He hadn't been thinking about her at all, he'd been using her as an excuse to make Darcy break up with him. Obviously, he couldn't break up with her; that would be suicide. Darcy would never live it down if she was dumped by a Red Fountain hero. Oh no, that would be a serious social faux pas, so naturally, Riven being the strategist that he was, said Musa's name so that Darcy would believe that he was cheating on her and dump him. Not the smartest thing to do given the fact that she had beat him senseless and tried to do her in too, but Musa supposed that Riven couldn't have known that Darcy would have found them in the swamp together. Nor did he fully understand young females. It wasn't really his fault; he was just being a stupid guy.
However, despite the intelligence of the plan or the lack of it, he had inadvertently pulled her into his harebrained scheme and had got her in trouble. And she couldn't help but feel used by him.
She swept the clearing with her gaze and frowned. Where was the search team? Why hadn't Professor Palladium used the Translocator? Why hadn't she used a spell?
"I am such a dummy!" she declared, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. Her stomach gurgled in protest. It probably thought her throat was slit, she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday and she was getting kind of hungry.
So all she had to do was find that idiotic twit who'd gotten her into this mess and translocate them out of here, right after she discovered what the heck he thought he was playing at. Why would he purposely incur a witches wrath, that was just plain dumb.
Actually, where was he? She remembered falling asleep listening to the crickets and other creatures that dwelt within the marsh but here she was alone. He wouldn't have headed back home without her, would he? No, no, he definitely wouldn't. But what if he had? She'd given him a hard time last night…
What if Darcy had caught him? If she had, he would be in serious trouble. There was no way Darcy was just going to let him get away with what he had done. The strange thing was that Musa felt that Darcy actually had cared about him, to some degree. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been nearly as upset as she was. The opposite of love wasn't hate; it was indifference and if Darcy hated him, then that meant she still cared. And that put Riven in real danger.
"Damn." She'd have to go look for him, rolling up her blanket; she shoved it in her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, checking her bandage briefly to make sure that her wounds had indeed healed. Her back was still stiff and sore from the hard ground and the sucker punch from Stormy, but other than that, she was pretty much back to normal.
She stomped her way down the path that wound between the flowers that unfurled to shoot streams of red sparks into the air. Coming to a large wall with a tunnel through it, she paused and tried to spy through it. White light beckoned her and assured her that the tunnel wasn't long. Stepping inside, she placed a hand on the damp, gritty wall, balancing herself on the curved ground.
Her feet echoed hollowly within the tube before she came to the end, her eyes blinking against the bright rays of sunshine. Blue spots bloomed before her vision and she immediately hurled up her shield until she could adjust to the brightness. She'd learnt her lesson yesterday when she'd almost been attacked by that frog and there were worse things in the swamp.
Deciding the path was clear, she ventured out into the heavily wooded area. Trees, dead and decaying were littered along the path, casting shadows on the path, grass that was more yellow than green grew in clumps along the base of the trees. It was an eerie place and there were so many places for things to hide.
Cautiously she began to follow the worn path, tuning her ears to sounds that were out of place in the noisy swamp.
She bit back a scream as she was yanked roughly into the dense foliage and a hand clamped over her mouth. She could feel someone's hot breath on the nape of her neck and her back stiffened in fear. Something acrid coated the back of her throat and she began to tremble violently.
"Musa, what are you doing out here, you dumb pixie!"
She slumped in relief and a smile curved her lips. Never had she been so pleased to hear that insult, even as her skin tingled as Riven's breath tickled her ear and his chest pressed hard against her back.
Then she realized that the heat at her back was intense and when he shifted, her bare skin brushed… his! Her eyes flew open and she jerked round to face him, stepping back to allow for some breathable distance. He wasn't wearing a shirt was the first thought that landed in her feverish mind before she quickly shoved it away as she averted her gaze to his face. His hair was matted and plastered to his forehead and his face was flushed, his breathing irregular.
"What have you been doing?" she blurted out before she could help herself. Besides it was better than allowing herself to fantasize about running her fingers over those defined abs, because even without getting a good look, she knew his torso was made up of tightly packed muscle.
He flicked his hand and his sword glowed neon purple within its grip. He swung it experimentally before regarding her with those intense purple eyes. "Practicing. Now what were you doing out here?"
Well she wasn't going to admit she was worried about him, because she hadn't been, much. "The air's too muggy out here to be doing anything strenuous." She pointed out in a conversational manner.
He gave a slight nod but didn't reply; instead he was watching her with those deep purple eyes. She bit her lip and looked away. He was making her edgy and that got her back up but… there was just something about the way he was watching her. With those fathomless indigo eyes, it was hard to look away and she needed to. Oh boy, did she need to get away from him.
Slowly, her heart pounding frantically at her ribcage, she began to back away from him. Only to find herself backed up against a tree trunk with Riven watching her the same way a hawk watched a mouse, predatorily and also intrigued. Oh Fergus's balls!
Her hand slipped to the column of her throat and she watched as he caught that movement, an almost imperceptible darkening of his features as they suddenly became solely focused on her. He stepped forward, his hands placed on the tree on either side of her face, as his body caged her in.
"What are you doing to me, Musa?"
She opened her mouth to retort, her eyes blazing with indignation at being accused of something she hadn't done, hadn't even known she'd done when she was stopped abruptly. And quite surprisingly by his mouth on hers. She didn't know what he was up to but his mouth was pressed furiously against hers. There was no persuasion, nothing floaty or romantic about it, which she had figured were integral parts of her first kiss and instead it was hard and brutal.
Exciting.
With a groan, her head fell back, her fingers digging into the rough bark as his body pressed closer; hard, lean and tense. She didn't have a chance to reject it or rebuke his advances and even if she could, she didn't think she would have.
"Open your mouth." he rasped, voice hoarse and heavy with passion.
She tried to shake her head, to clear it in the slight reprieve and yet… When she didn't obey, he punitively bit her lower lip and when she gasped; his tongue glided over the small wound to sooth it. A soft whimper escaped her lips as she tilted her head up higher to give him better access.
He took it.
He plundered her mouth, his tongue plunging in as though seeking something within the moist depths of her mouth. A growl sounded low in his throat as his hands moved to clasp her face, his long fingers threading into her hair causing her to shiver with delight. The friction of his calloused thumbs stroking of her skin caused her to murmur in appreciation as her tongue tentatively slid against his.
Something happened then; to him, to her, she wasn't sure. It was like a lightning bolt struck through her, white hot and lethal and the kiss intensified. Until it wasn't just his mouth on hers, but his lips, tongue, teeth doing things to her mouth that shouldn't be possible and his hands were everywhere!
As the kiss grew dangerously out of control, his fingers bit into her skin and she jerked back but he moved in to follow her.
"Riven, don't!" she gasped; her hands coming up to lie on his chest to push him away.
She didn't manage to budge him very far but enough to get his distracting mouth away from her oversensitive skin. She shook her head to get rid of the fog that had clouded her mind. If it hadn't been for his lips, she wouldn't have forgotten her morals or the fact that he had been dating Darcy just last week. She wasn't a replacement for that witch.
"Sorry." Riven muttered curtly in a tone that said he wasn't very sorry at all, before backing away from her, his face closed and his eyes cold.
"I doubt that." She said softly; turning away from him.
He whipped round, his fists clenched and his face drawn. "What do you want from me!"
She gaped stupidly at him. What did she want? She wanted to be treated with just a little bit of respect. She wanted…him. She realized with a sigh. All of him, moodiness and short temper as well as that small pocket of sweetness that he hid from everyone for fear they would take advantage of it. She wanted him to kiss her like that because he wanted to, not because he was imagining she was Darcy.
"I don't want anything from you Riven. I'm not Darcy." She finally said, unable to really tell him how she felt so she simply said the words she knew would maybe make him think. Judging by his reaction, she figured she'd hit the nail on the head. He stepped back as though slapped and stared at her, almost appalled.
"I would never confuse you with her."
Musa swallowed the lump in her throat. And what did he mean by that? That she was a poor imitation; that she could never live up to Darcy's experience?
"What does that mean?" She demanded coldly.
"Nothing." He spat viciously, turning away from her. "We should go."
"You coward!" she shouted, striding forward and yanking his arm round to face her. "You are such a coward, Riven!"
His eyes sparked with fury. "Leave me alone, Musa."
"No, I want an answer. Why do you do this to me? What have I ever done to you to make you hate me this much?"
"I don't hate you!"
She stumbled back at the force of his temper. Her brow crinkled in confusion. "You don't?" Her eyes searched his for some hidden meaning. "Then why do you do this? Why do you constantly pull me down? Every time I think I'm over you, you drag me right back to square one all over again!"
"Because I love you!" He roared furiously, before his face drained of all its blood as he realized what he'd just blurted out in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Musa was too floored by the statement to pay any attention to his expression.
Then her initial pleasure and surprise turned to fury and her fist whipped out, clipping him on the jaw hard enough to shock him into stepping back. "How dare you!" she seethed. "How dare you say that? You think by claiming to love me that will make me fall at your feet? Well you have another thing coming hot shot!"
Unbearably hurt by her words, by the lack of belief she had in him, he turned away from her. So she thought they were just pretty words to charm pretty girls? Well, that was typical of her. She was just the same as every one else. She just thought he was an emotionless soldier. He had thought she could understand him.
"If you love me, Riven; why were you with Darcy?"
Furious with her inability to see what was right in front of her; Livid with the fact that she probably could but didn't want to see how he felt; he rounded on her. Violence leapt off him in palpable waves, his eyes burned incandescently as he advanced on her, his mouth in a tight line until he opened it and everything spewed out venomously.
"Because you're unattainable to me, Musa. You're out of reach and Darcy was the next best thing."
"Darcy was the next best thing to me? How far away from my personality could you possibly get?"
He rolled his eyes at the immature reply. "She didn't care, Musa. She used me just the same as I used her. Emotions and personality didn't play into it. She was just handy."
"Handy… How can you say you love me when you could use someone in that way? And how the hell am I unattainable? I…" She broke off before she said something she'd regret.
"You, what?" he sneered. "You're a princess Musa; you couldn't be any more out of my league!"
She spluttered at that. Did she look like someone who cared about that? She didn't want a handsome prince, for goodness sake; she had enough of palace life at home. All those rules and obligations could get on her nerves; the last thing she wanted was a Prince to push all that into her private life.
"Out of your league? That's just a silly excuse Riven and you're full of them. You're just scared, you're scared stiff of opening yourself up to anyone and letting yourself care because the problem is, that you care too much! That's why you hide behind your attitude and you pretend you don't care in the hopes that you won't get close enough to anyone to let yourself care about them. You're a coward."
His nostrils flared in temper as he glared at her. "Call me that one more time Musa-"
"What, a coward? So you are. You-" she broke off on a yelp as he pinned her up against the tree. For a second she was seriously afraid that he might hurt her, but she covered it with bravado. "Oh yeah, I'm really feelin' the love right now. Well go on then, hit me!" She dared; her jet eyes becoming cruel as her lips curled in a sneer to disguise the frantic beating of her heart. Whether it was to do with his close proximity or actual fear, she wasn't sure.
Riven stared at her for half a beat, before he let out a sound of disgust and turned away from her but not before she saw the expression of self loathing on his face. She watched him walk away and let out a slow breath. Her eyes burned and deep inside, she felt a sense of loss. What had she done? Did he really… love her? Could he?
"Did you mean it?" she asked, her words carrying to him in the suddenly silent swamp. The muggy air made it hard to breathe as she awaited his reply.
Without even glancing at her, he replied. "Probably not."
"Ooh, Riven you make me so mad!" she shouted after him, before spinning on her heels and stomping away from him.
For a half second, he thought about letting her go but if she got lost, he'd never forgive himself. This made him more pathetic than a guy who had just confessed his love for a girl who didn't want to believe him. It was sickening and just reinforced his idea that it was better to keep your thoughts and emotions to yourself. No use sharing them where they weren't welcome. But on saying that, he chased after her.
"Don't be such a fool Musa, you'll get lost."
"Like you care!"
"I told you I do. So get your ass back here!" He called out to her as he watched her weave through the tree trunks ahead of him.
"Go away. You're such a jerk." Suddenly she whirled on him, drilling her finger into his chest, not minding the fact that there was nothing to separate her skin from his. "Do you like playing with people's emotions, does that give you some sort of cheap thrill?"
"What have I done now?" He demanded gruffly. "And if you poke me one more time Musa, so help me, I'll leave you here to rot!"
"I just bet you would, you jerk."
Moving too fast for her to see, he grabbed her by the elbows and yanked her to him. "Stop acting like a child, Musa. We have to head back to camp or the others won't find us."
"Not until we sort this out, once and for all. We're always dancing around this subject."
"What subject?"
"Do you love me or not? I just want a straight answer so I can move on with my life instead of staying in this limbo you've put me in."
His heart clenched painfully at the words she flung at him, as though they were actually hitting the muscle with force. "Forget about it Musa."
"No!"
"Yes! I've managed to keep my hands off you so far, and I'm-"
"You have your hands on me now and you kissed me earlier." She pointed out triumphantly, moving up on her tip toes to look directly into his eyes. There was great confidence to be gained from knowing you were putting someone else on edge. It was a nice feeling to have the tables turned.
He released her and backed away. "That was a mistake."
Now he was back in control of his emotions, it was easier to remain calm and to dismiss that brief moment of insanity. He had to, she was a princess and he was just a soldier, it couldn't be. No matter what she said, he had to remain the logical one. She obviously wouldn't. She was too passionate, too emotional and certainly not in control of anything. She got furious easily, she got riled up, and excited over the simplest of things. So it was up to him to cut things off now, to push her away and hurt her so that she would give him up because Musa was the type that wouldn't turn away from anyone, most especially him. It was the injuries, which led him to this moment of weakness. He'd allowed himself to rise above his station, to believe he had a chance with her. He really didn't.
"A really hot mistake." She replied pithily.
"Yeah well, what can I say? I'm just talented, comes with lots of practice."
Her eyes flashed now. "Practice with Darcy, you mean?"
"Sure, why not?"
She punched him again and he was getting a little tired of her doing it. If he really wanted to, he could stop her and yet, he knew that if she really wanted to hurt him, she could. He felt the breath explode from his mouth as her fist impacted with his gut. He doubled over slightly before recovering.
"Do that again, pixie, and I will hit you back."
"Whatever, jerk. I just hope the girls find me before I end up killing you." Her breath was clogging in her throat, her nose was prickling and her eyes were burning but she doubted they were suffering from the ball of fire that had suddenly made itself at home in her lungs. Why did it have to hurt so much? Why, if he loved her, couldn't he just admit it? Why did he have to complicate things?
Sky had broken off his engagement with Diaspro for Bloom and Stella was perfectly happy with Brandon who was a squire, why couldn't things be just as perfect for her? Maybe her life just wasn't supposed to be fair or good.
"So that's what Darcy meant." she whispered but the sound carried over the crickets and hornets. "So lemme guess. Darcy was getting too close and you freaked out and decided to just drop my name into the mix just to get her off your back."
He froze; his shoulders tense and his jaw clenched rigidly. "Don't do this Musa."
"I just want a reason for why she attacked me. I don't blame you. Naturally, you couldn't possibly have known I'd be in the swamp and you certainly couldn't have known that she'd turn up just as I retrieved my bag." She declared as nonchalantly as possible despite the hurt that was welling up inside her.
"Leave it alone, Musa. For your own good, just leave it alone." Where were the boys? Didn't they understand how dangerous this was? He couldn't be left alone with her. There was too much temptation. She was so close, he could reach out and touch her, run a finger tip down her cheek. He knew now her skin felt as soft as it looked, that her lips tasted of mulled wine and were completely pliant under his.
There was a strain to his voice than made her body react violently, a thrum of pleasure mixed with anticipation passed through her as she stepped closer involuntarily to see his face. His eyes were dark when they locked on hers and her stomach hopped deliciously. Tentatively, she stepped forward and something wild leapt into his eyes as he stepped back, reminding her clearly of a caged wild animal.
"Musa." he warned, his voice becoming hoarse as she continued to advance slowly on him.
"Anyone would think you were scared of me, Riven." She taunted and he bit back a snarl. She smirked at him and turned away towards the path that led back to camp. "By the way, I was never out of your reach. You were just too blind to ever notice."
"Don't kid yourself, Musa, you were pretty obvious." He drawled, his tone dripping with malignant intent. If she was going to play with fire, she was going to get burned. That was how it was. He wasn't going to let her destroy the distance he'd set up between them. It was there for a good reason and it only had to last until he was graduated and then he would be free of her once and for all. If only she would just let it lie.
Musa didn't bother to glare at him, though his comment stung. What girl wanted to be told that the guy she had had a crush on knew the entire time. I bet he had a right laugh about it, she thought pathetically. Probably made fun of me with his friends, she added snidely before blushing, that was unfair to Sky, Brandon and Timmy. They were her peeps too and they were good guys. They were Riven's redeemers. She had always figured that if he could ensure their loyalty, then he couldn't be all that bad. They were why she had looked harder at him, instead of letting him push them all away.
They were dead!
She had to kill them. It was their entire fault her heart was breaking. And she'd have to kill Darcy too. After all, she was just going to gloat.
Imagine Riven would rather be with a witch he couldn't stand, than be with the girl he liked. That was so whack!
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry for caring. You obviously don't want my emotions, even though I was willing to give them to you without expecting you to reciprocate them. But you want to die alone, so who am I to ruin your life's ambition."
"You can't love someone and not want them to love you back, Musa. You're just opening yourself for a world of hurt." He said wisely, eyes somber and jaded.
Finally, she turned to him. All the fight had drained out of her leaving her empty and numb. Too much quarrelling in such a short expanse of time just wasn't good for her. She was short tempered sure, but there was a limit on how long she could keep the anger going and Riven exhausted her mentally and physically.
"So, maybe I wanted you to love me back, but I didn't expect it. All I wanted was for you to be happy. Whether that was with me or without me. But you don't want to be happy, Riven because you're scared that if you're happy and you let your guard down, you'll get hurt or something will happen that you won't be able to stop." She met his gaze now, her eyes filled with compassion but no pity. He wouldn't accept her pity, wouldn't want it and she could understand because she didn't want anyone's pity either. "But here's a newsflash. The world isn't under anyone's control; you have no power over fate or what happens. Neither do I, nothing, not magic nor will power can change how your life will play out. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride because who knows what's around the corner."
He felt open, laid bare before her as she stripped away all his defenses and left him staring at himself in all his ugliness. It was a scary thing for her to understand him so completely. She knew why he pushed people away, why he hid behind a mask of arrogance and that unnerved him.
"Oh never mind." Musa sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her bejeweled ear. "We better head back. I don't know any translocator spells, well not any that will travel this distance and carry both of us but I'm sure I can conjure a will-o-wisp to lead us to the guys. They're bound to have arrived here by now."
She was babbling to cover up the hurt, he knew her well enough to tell. However, he couldn't ease that pain anymore than he could relieve the constriction in his heart. He had his obligations and his pride and matters of the heart had no place in his world.
So instead of saying anything, he let her lead them back to their camp and he stored the scene that had played out in this swamp into a corner of his mind with the rest of the imprints of Musa he'd collected over the past couple of years.
Well, I'm putting this up because this is taking longer than I thought. Musa and Riven are so bleedin' complex and kind of rebelling against my creativity. And since some people complained about the lack of length, I decided to just put this up. I hope you enjoy it.
