-Howdy wussy.
Edward couldn't help but glare over his shoulder at the owner of said greeting. He was wearing sunglasses and a hood to keep the sunlight to a minimum but he would recognize that damn skin crawling voice anywhere.
And the nickname.
Jor, The Major, had grown to call him that. From Mind Reader he went to wussy and he wasn't sure which one was worse. He refused to call him by name much like he didn't speak Alice's or Renesmee's names. Though he guessed their nicknames were less insulting.
-Howdy Major.
The Major couldn't help but smirk at that.
-Ah knew you'd sense of humor in ya golden boy.
-What do you want?
-Ah came ta apologize. Ya know, for tryin' ta kill ya an' all that.- Despite his words Edward could tell he didn't mean a single word in that sentence.
Still .
For once he decided to not rise an argument out of it. If he was being honest? He was willing to let it slide for The Major had a lot of reasons to want him dead.
He didn't take back the fact that The Major was a killer.
But he did take back the words of the world being better off without him. That he deserved to die. Or that he enjoyed the pain.
Even so, he only took those words back because of Jasper.
The world wasn't better off without him. He didn't deserve to die and he sure as hell didn't enjoy the pain Maria brought him. Edward had seen enough flashbacks from him through the years to know that no one could ever enjoy the kind of torture Maria put him through.
The Major?
He still had mixed feelings about him.
He was a killer and it was clear he could still pull off violent acts upon the slightest provocation. But he also knew that in a twisted sense he could also be civil. His morals were confusing. Biased.
He would just have to wait and see if he wouldn't regret giving The Major the benefit of the doubt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Major didn't found Rosalie.
Rosalie found him.
He was sitting on a branch pondering if he should have spoken more with the Mind Reader. Jasper didn't told him to speak a lot with them. Just talk . He apologized so that had to be enough right? Not that he actually felt sorry. He still didn't like the Mind Reader and his damn gift.
No one was ever meant to see what haunted their minds. His mind. He was meant to keep the worse in storage. From Jasper . What if the Mind Reader went on and mentioned something he shouldn't? What then? Jasper could never know of the beheading. Of Peter's stupid actions as that of offering himself to Maria in exchange for leaving Jasper alone. Hence. Why he broke his arm.
A reminder that they didn't need protection and much less of that kind or even like that.
Footsteps caught his attention and as he looked down black met gold. A smirk tugged at his lips.
-Flower. Long time no see.
She didn't smirk back and he couldn't help but sigh. Was she gonna apologize too? What for? At the end he had to admit she hadn't said a single thing that wasn't true. He was a beast. Not that he cared much about that nickname. He had heard worse. It had stung at the moment but frankly? He couldn't bring himself to care anymore.
-If you're gonna apologize dun't bother. Ya weren't lyin' 'bout yer opinion on meh. Not even J.J. can stand meh most of the time. Ya can be at peace though. Ah won' crawl from under yer bed ta kill ya in yer sleep, figuratively speakin' ya know? Cos' sparkly vampires ain't fit for sleepin'.
-You know? I'm still trying to figure out how did I not realize who you were all things considered. You are practically arrogance incarnated. And you have awfully questionable train of thoughts.
-But ya still lac meh better over the Mind Reader.- The Major said as a statement of fact. He would have hesitated over that statement if her emotions were less... calm.
Her little smirk was answer enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Emmett found exhilarating the idea that The Major had been beating him to a pulp. Yeah. Rosalie thought it was stupid how that's what he focused on but come on! No one could brag about having survived a fight against The Major.
Plus. The dude was great at tracking down bears. His obsession over wanting to pet a bear was wonderful for it meant Emmett could get two bears when The Major came along.
He found it amusing how the so called terror of the South was so obsessed over catching animals to pet them. He even a caught a mountain lion once and had refused to let Emmett kill it. He had treated as if it was a friggin' house cat!
The dude was terrific when he was pissed and/or out of it but Emmett had never been able to fear him. If Alice trusted him so bad why shouldn't he?
He was brought back to the present when he felt a presence at his side.
And there he was. The Major . Walking alongside him while holding a fawn.
He.
Was.
Holding a fawn.
As if it was nothing but an oversized dog. And the fawn wasn't even screaming as it definitely should be doing.
-Did you just kidnap Bambi?
-No. He was drowning in the river, no deer in miles. No one is gonna miss it.- The Major told as a statement of fact shifting the fawn just enough for this one to rest its head against his arm. There was something soothing about feeling such frail bones in his grasp. Such calm and silence in a living being's emotional signature. No appetizing scent.
He had to admit he had grown to like the idea of a weak thing trusting him. A weak thing that didn't pose a threat. Weak. Frail. Breakable. He found animals enticing. Things he could trust and take care of for he didn't need to fear them. Didn't need to feed off them. Animals were weak. Compared to a vampire even an hippopotamus or a lion or a shark were weak.
He liked helping the weak survive. It was something he had learnt to come to terms with.
-You do realize Esme won't like you bringing a fawn home right?
-He's food. Think of it as raisin' a chicken for chicken soup. Even so. Since when are you Mr. Training-a-batallion-of-raccoons allowed ta judge the kind of animals others pick up? At least Bambi here won' rip the furniture ta shreds.
Emmett smirked. How was he suppose to take this dude for real when he went around acting like a friggin' Disney princess?
A Disney princess able to turn psychotic in seconds but who was he judge? Speaking of which.
-You trained Alice.- He spoke out loud. That sudden realisation hadn't even crossed his mind until now.
Alice.
Small sweet Alice.
Had suddenly become more badass.
-Of course ah did. Someone needs ta make sure she doesn't git killed.- The Major stated bathing Bambi with a wave of calm as he heard this one make a little sound. To be honest he wasn't even sure what was he suppose to speak with Emmett about.
Jasper didn't tell him what to do thus it was better to just appear to them individually and let them decide what to say.
-Train me.
Well that took a not so unexpected turn. He couldn't help but smirk at the request. Train Emmett? That was like a dream come true. He was huge and impulsive and stronger than the average vampire. Sometimes he reminded him of a newborn.
Training him to be a lethal fighter... Even without a gift The Major had to admit that that would turn Emmett into quite the formidable opponent even against him. His size alone was troublesome as it was during their "wrestling" matches. He was impulsive. Unpredictable.
But Jasper had banned him from daring to train Emmett.
-Cain't do. I've been told ah can be... too rough. Either so J.J. is the one who does most of the trainin'. 'm jus' the backup plan.
"One hell of a backup."- Emmett couldn't help but think. The Major was like the best fighter to ever exist. Or well. Perfect assassin. The South's terror.
-You are The Major. And Jasper is The God Of War. Right? But which one of you has the South's Terror title?
-Both. Sort of... 'm not sure. Sometimes it feels lac that one may break off into another annoyin' voice. That was what fought against the mutts. It was us but it wasn't us. Sort of.- He added as an afterthought.
Emmett raised an eyebrow at that. The idea that a third personality could raise was... He wasn't sure how to feel about that. But the fact that this one was the one who fought against the wolves made it a bit unsettling.
The kind of power displayed. His gift. It had made Emmett more glad than ever that Jasper was on their side. When he made a recap of all of Jasper's badass moments he had to admit it wasn't an exaggeration that of The Major/The God Of War/South's Terror having the South shaking in its boots.
He was a force to be reckoned with. One of the most dangerous of their kind.
-Oh no sir.- Esme's voice caught Emmett's attention and he couldn't help but grin at how mortified she looked. Renesmee fleeing past her with excitement clear in her face.
-Can I pet it?- Renesmee plead as she came to a halt infront of them. Her gaze fixated on the fawn.
-Sure.- The Major knelt for the girl. Biting back a smirk as he felt the waves of shock and surprise from Bella. Disbelief and disapproval from Esme. Amusement from the angel. Resignation and amusement from Rosalie and the coven leader. Disbelief from the mind reader.
-Young man, I expect you to return that deer where you found it.
-Drownin' in the river? Humans raise chickens for chicken soup. Ya can raise Bambi for a Capri Sun.- He told as Renesmee scratched the fawn's ear as if it were a dog.
-That's not the same. And it's still a no.
-Why?
-Because for starters it's illegal to keep wild animals as pets. A deer is not a chicken nor a pet. Deer leave their fawn alone at times but that doesn't mean it has been abandoned, he looks quite healthy to me to have been abandoned. Go put it back.
The Major scowled at it. He didn't want to put it back. He wanted to keep it. It was small and he liked its coat's patterns.
-Young man. Don't give me that look. Go put him back, now .- Esme warned. The Major glared even more at her but she didn't bend to him. He could be all intimidating but she refused to let one of her children intimidate her and much less step over her authority.
And as expected he was the one who bent down to her.
-Fine. - The Major huffed almost like a child harboring an internal tantrum.
Esme knew it wouldn't be the last time he brought some random animal home. He had so far brought over a dozen squirrels. Rabbits. A bear cub. A mountain lion's cub. A fox. A snake. A woodpecker. An eagle. A lynx. A bobcat. A seagull. A calf. A goat. A piglet. A cow. And he had even brought a tiger's cub once which no one had been able to decipher from where did he get it.
And since no one wanted to answer questions Carlisle had left it in a box infront of the zoo when no one was looking.
He seemed obsessed with animals for some reason and not for the first time Esme wondered if she should talk with Carlisle about getting him a pet. With some luck that would deter him from bringing home the most unsuitable for pet animals.