"The Girl"
Summery: Dash awakes from a dream one night and takes a walk to clear his head. Walking down the cool streets of his suburbia the young super recalls a mysterious encounter back on Nomanisan.
Ptwista: Hi! I'm pretty new to this part of FF (seeing as I only saw The Incredibles about two weeks ago) But I'm going to take a shot at writing...Well, a one-shot, which I've never done before. I hope y'all like it!
In a small tropical forest, a dark, eerie night had fallen. The calm, warm breezes subsided to none. The forest floor, colorful with it's collection of various flora by day, was darkened so much they went unseen by anyone. The palm trees stood bizarrely still, frozen to their roots. The birds were all asleep and no insects were heard.
Suddenly, a dim white light fell onto the ground, turning the flowers an ethereal blue. They glowed as though they were lights and formed a thin road. Whoosh! A creature rushed across the path of flowers faster than a bolt of lighting. It could not be identified as anything but a ray of light, rushing as fast as it could possibly go. Not stopping for anything or anyone. Behind it, another creature followed. It also was formless but unlike the being it was after, it was a dark creature. Its body dark as the night surrounding it and its red eyes cut through the air like a blade through flesh.
It zoomed after the white creature and gained ground following the same path of flowers. The creature looked back and saw its stalker. It began moving faster as did the dark creature. They both ran at the same speed and remained the same distance from each other until they came to a large wall. A full moon barely shone, illuminating the whole scene. The chase was over and the creature was cornered. It had barely turned around and saw the red eyes zoom toward it.Its green eyes swelled with fear and a piercing scream broke the silence of the night.
At that instant, Dashiell Parr awoke in shock. His eyes flashed open and he let out a small yell, barely audible, despite the fact he was lying down face up. He quickly surveyed his room. He rolled his eyes to the left and saw his window locked with the yellow curtains closed. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and saw his light with the planet filter and his glow-in-the-dark green and blue stars that made the room look like space. He rolled his eyes to the right and saw his red alarm clock which read one o'clock on a small brown bureau along with his 2nd place track trophy. He couldn't help but smile. It was his first trophy he had ever won in any sport. His mom and dad helped him train and he went to compete in his first track city finals. They said he could always compete as long as he promised to always finish, at most, second and he agreed.
The dream Dash had had was still fresh in his mind. It was the most recent repetition of a dream he'd been having ever since Nomanisan, when he met...her. Dash had never even thought to tell Violet or his parents about...her. The girl with a secret he'd never know. The girl who fell out of his life just as fast as she fell in. The girl who could've been a danger to him but he took a risk ...That night.
Dash crawled out of bed and rushed out of his room. His feet pattered softly as he ran around the house, pressing his ear against every door, checking that everyone was still asleep. Then he ran to his closet and pulled out his jean jacket and his sneakers. He put on the jacket and put on his sneaks without any socks. Then he quickly, but quietly, snuck out his bedroom window. The drop was steeper than he expected. He landed on the pavement, hard, but managed to keep silent. He got up uneasily and rubbed his sore behind. He looked back up at the window and started walking.
He walked down the cracked, gray sidewalk eventually gaining more and more distance from his house. Dash usually wasn't the thinking type, (Dash: Hey! Ptwista: "Hey", what? You know it's true!), but for some reason she'd been on his mind for quite some time. The neighborhood was deadly quiet and the sickly, orange streetlights were the only light that guided him. Dash put his hands into his pockets and slowed down his pace even more as he came to the neighborhood playground. Even with their bright colors, the equipment was barely visible under the streetlights. However, Dash was able to see the swing set for two at the other end and went in.
"Looks like they forgot to lock the gate again," Dash said, thinking out loud. He made to the swings and sat in the first one, slowly, as to not agitate his aching bottom. The cool spring air fell softly upon his now sweating face. He swung lightly to bring the feeling to his back and increase the feeling towards his face. He gripped the chains on either side of him and stared at the grass under his feet with two grooves of dirt that formed from kids stopping the swings with their feet. He sighed heavily. Then he looked up. A full moon, with a pale white color, was shining, just barely brighter than the stars. He seemed fixated upon it. It never left his gaze as he continued his swinging and let the memories of her flood back.
'It was three months ago,' thought Dash, 'You'd think I would've forgotten about her by now. Vi and me followed Mom after she said she had to leave for a day. We stowed away on the jet she was riding and then we almost died from a bunch of missiles somebody sent on us. We survived just barely and found cover in a cave. Mom told us that the bad guys on the island would kill us if we let them. She told us to stay hidden and stay safe. I got bored after awhile watching Violet practice her powers and told her I was gonna look around then she got all emotional and told me that Mom and Dad's lives could be in jeopardy or worse and then she whispered all dramatic their marriage. I asked why the bad guys would wreak their marriage and she said I was immature!'
"Huh!" he said out loud. 'I still kinda felt like I had to save her when I saw the "cave" was gonna fill up with fire, though. I mean she is my sister. After that she found a good spot where we could sleep but I just lied awake. I sat up against a tree waiting to somehow fall asleep...and that when it happened.' (A/N: Dash just described the whole scene and I'm picking up where he left off)
Dash leaned against a tree trunk and he fought to make himself sleepy but to no avail. He slunk down slightly, bored and looked around. He saw nothing. He felt an there was an unusual silence around him until it was broken by an unfamiliar sound. It made him snap to attention and he sprung to his feet. He listened carefully for the sound again and began to follow it but then he looked back at his sister. She had already fallen fast asleep. He hesitated and then went after the sound.
It didn't sound like anything he had ever heard before. It couldn't have been a bird or any kind of animal because has he kept walking the sound was more like... singing. He didn't understand the words. It sounded like another language. It kept getting louder and it started giving off a faint echo through the jungle. Then, Dash saw dim streams of light pouring through a distant bush. He walked closer to it and heard another sound—rushing water. He pushed the bush's leaves aside and his eyes winced from the sudden flash of light. But then, he eventually could open his eyes wider and that's when he saw, sitting on a smooth mid-high cliff...the girl.
Dash had never seen anyone like her before. From what he saw, she looked about his age. She had white hair that fell past her shoulders like water. She was wearing a silvery dress and she almost looked like she was glowing. She stood up and Dash heard the sound again. It was her singing. Dash didn't take his eyes off her for one minute. It was almost as if he was hypnotized, simply entranced by what he thought was real beauty. If anything was more beautiful than her, it was her voice. Her song was like a dream he didn't want to wake up from. Now he knew the meaning of the phrase "love at first sight".
She stopped singing and leaped off the cliff onto a nearby tree branch. She seemed almost weightless as the tree hardly flinched when she landed. She held her knees in her arms and look up at the sky. Dash saw her looking at the moon. It was full and he heard her speak.
"I hope you both can hear me," she said staring and the moon, "I've looked everywhere, except where you could be. If you're not here, maybe that's where you are."
Dash walked closer to the silver pool of water. His foot hardly hit a rock and the girl broke out of her trance. She gasped and looked around for a sign of life.
"Who's there?" she cried but Dash didn't answer. "WHO'S THERE?" she yelled in terror. She lost her hold on the branch and fell. She landed on her feet on a smooth rock but didn't regain balance soon enough and fell backwards.
Dash finally came into plain view and the girl froze on the spot. Dash slowly walked towards her, as the pool only came up to his knees. They both gazed at each other, with both fear and fascination.
"Are you okay?" He asked her. She remained silent.
"Do you want some help?" He asked in a softer voice.
"I don't think..." she began, her lips hardly moving when she spoke, "I could hold on to your slippery hands."
Dash slowly took off his gloves and stood over her on the rock. He bent over and reached out his hands towards her. She looked at them, then up at him, and he smiled. She smiled back at him faintly and took both his hands. He swiftly pulled her out of the shallow water and they stood on the rock, motionless, inches away from each others faces. She turned out to be a little bit shorter than Dash. Her eyes came up to his nose and she still glowed like she did on the cliff.
"Um...," said Dash trying to strike up a conversation. "W-what were you doing on that tree branch?"
"I was..." she looked down then back at him, "I was...talking to someone." She sat onto the rock in the same position she was in on the tree.
"Who?"
"I don't know...if I should tell you."
Dash sat beside her. "If you're sad, it could help."
She looked at him and said, "I don't think I can trust someone who hides behind a mask."
He took off his mask and his face looked swollen.
"Your face, it-it looks red," she said. She dipped her hand in the water and traced her fingers around the lines where the mask had been. She dipped in again and repeated her action. She did it on his hands as well. She massaged them softly. Dash had to fight to keep his eyes open. It felt so relaxing that he let out a soft moan.
She stopped and asked him why he was here. He told her about everything that happened and even showed off his powers for her because he saw it was cheering her up. She laughed a couple of times. Dash thought she had a beautiful smile. However, it would be the last time he'd ever see it.
She smile fell from her face and she looked around, cautiously.
"What is it?" he asked.
She ran toward him and tried to speak calmly but Dash could hear the fear in her voice.
"Dash, I think you should leave."
"What?" He was shocked. They were having so much fun together. Why did he have to leave?
He couldn't even ask. She snatched his hand and they took off running. Dash heard a faint noise behind them.
"Dash, please you have to go."
"Why? What's goin' on?"
"I can't tell you."
Dash rolled his eyes and walked closer to her. "You still don't trust me?"
"No!" yelled the girl. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Trust me! You have to leave! You and your family aren't safe here! I don't want you to...Oh!" she threw her arms down in frustration at loss of words. "Please..."
She was practically begging him. The noise came closer. "Please!" Dash was confused he didn't know what to do.
"RUN!" she screamed. "RUN! Get as far away as you can from here!" He ran fast but not super fast. He could still hear her voice screaming at him to run faster and he did faster and faster and faster. BANG! Until he hit a tree and he fell unconscious.
A little later, the girl found him lying on his back across from another girl she assumed to be the sister he had mentioned. She fell on her knees in front of him and stroked his face with her knuckles. She sighed sadly and caressed his hands and then she took his gloves and put them back on. She began to put his back on his mask but paused and looked at him, one last time. She ran her fingers through his soft blond hair and watched him sleep. She leaned over him but thought she would regret what she almost did.
'I'll never see him again,' she thought, trying to convince herself to do it. It wasn't hard. She kept looking at him. How could anyone be that handsome?
'It could be my only chance.' It was final. She leaned over him again. He was still sound asleep. She leaned closer to his face and tried hard to keep her breathing silent. She could see the pale, but lively blue color underneath his eye slits. She was softly touching his nose... And Dash managed to sleep through it all.
"I should've looked for her," said Dash angrily to himself.
"I should've tried to find her!" He scrunched up his face and shook the swing chains.
"Find who?" said a voice that made Dash jump from the swing. It was Violet she was standing by the swing's pole the whole time. She was in her blue pajamas, black jacket and black boots.
"Who were you talking about, Dash?"
He glared at her. "None of your business! And what were you going hiding there, anyway?"
"I saw you sneaking off and I followed you. Are you ok?"
Hesat up and folded his arms.
"I'm fine," he muttered
She held her hand out to him and helped him up. "Are you sure?"
He wasn't as angry anymore and said more calmly, "Yeah..."
"Come on," she said patting him on his shoulder, "We better get home before Mom and Dad wake up." She walked ahead of him. Dash followed at a snail's pace but took one last look at the moon and sped up.
Off in the tree above him, a small creature watched him leave. Its hair blew softly in the wind and although it was small it was too big to be a cat...
Ptwista: Wow, this took me about three days to write! Well, read and review. Please! I need to know what you think!