Chapter 3
"Hey, Ari?" I heard Eva say and I slowly opened my eyes. Clouds rolled through the pale blue sky and disappeared behind the thick, coarse canopy of the jungle foliage. I could faintly hear birds squawking and bugs buzzing by my ears.
"Great, you're awake, now can we get moving." said Reno and I propped myself up on my elbows.
"That's a nice thing to say after I saved your ass." I said and pushed myself up off the ground. I stumbled to the left a little before managing to regain my balance, using Eva's arm for support. I looked at Reno who stared at me with a gaze that was all too familiar. I could tell from his eyes that he was disgusted with me, that he thought I was a freak. I looked down at my feet before closing my eyes and turned away from Reno.
"We're close to the Temple of The Ancients, about an hour by foot," said Rude as he looked down at the coordinates on the small, silver flip phone in his hand, "we should get going." He said and set off into the thick underbrush of the jungle. I followed after him and Reno and Eva took up the rear. As we walked I could hear Eva and Reno actually having a civil conversation for once.
"Eva?" he asked.
"What do you want?" Eva growled. Ok, so maybe it wasn't exactly civil but at least Eva was trying to kill him.
"What the hell happened on the chopper with Ari?" he asked and I bit my lip as I heard the aversion in his voice. I clenched my fists together and keep quiet as I listened to their conversation.
"You best not stick your repugnant nose in business where it doesn't belong, asshole." Eva snapped; her anger flaring as her baby was being brought into the shooting range of Reno's curiosity.
"Hey, I want to know what the hell she did to me." he shot back in a low whisper. I felt my chest tighten. Did he think I was trying to kill him?
"As I said in the chopper, she was trying to help you so you didn't die." Eva snarled. Reno was quite for a few seconds before Eva let out a sigh.
"You really want to know what that was about?" she asked.
"Yes." Reno replied.
"Before Ari and I were born, our parents were part of the ShinRa Science Department. When our mothers were pregnant with us, the scientists injected the babies with different types of DNA. I was injected with the DNA from a fox and a raven while Ari has wolf and snake DNA within her. We were both enhanced with powers, like what you seen in the chopper. She has been able to do that since she was little." Eva explained. There was a long silence before Reno spoke again.
"I knew there was something wrong about you two, yo."
I heard one of them stop. I stopped as well and turned around. Eva stared at Reno and I stared at Eva. Her mouth was drawn in a stern line on her face and her eyes held a fire that wanted to destroy the red head for what he just said. I shared that fire but I tried to extinguish it.
"What did you just say?" Eva said as she closed that space between her and Reno with only a few footsteps.
"I knew that you two were different than the people in the Slums, yo." He said as he looked at Eva who stood only a few feet from him. I could tell Eva was getting mad just by how she curled her hands into fists. I was hoping that she would be the first one to lash out at Reno but when everything started to go black again, I knew that I was going to hit him.
Eva's POV
I wanted to strike out and clip the red head square in the face but I knew Ari wouldn't like that very much so I curled my hands into fists instead. I stood there for a few seconds, staring at the red head with contempt in my eyes. I hated him now, I wanted to slap him, punch him, kick him; anything that would cause him pain. Suddenly, there was a flash from my side and I watched as Ari grabbed Reno by the collar and tackled him to the ground. The youngest Turk straddled his hips and slammed his body against the ground.
"What the hell would you know?" she yelled angrily. The red head winced in pain as his back collided with the ground. Ari drew her fist back and punched Reno in the jaw. "It's not like we had a choice." She said with another punch, "do you think we wanted to be born like this? Do you think it's any easier on us?" Ari asked, her fist repeatedly striking Reno in the face. "What the hell gives you the right to judge us? What makes you so high and god damn mighty?" blood began to come from Reno's face as Ari's knuckles split open his skin. Her punches began to get softer and softer as her emotions got the better of her. Tears began to streak her face and she let her hands drop onto Reno's chest.
"Ari…" Reno said as the younger one began to wipe the tears away with her sleeve.
"You wouldn't know what it's like to be like this. For me, every day is a struggle to keep the other side of me from breaking loose," she said through the tears, "that's why I said what I did on the chopper. I can tell from the way you look at me that I'm nothing more than a freak, a failed experiment." Ari said and I walked over to her, my hands lightly touching her shoulders.
"Come on Ari…let's get going." I said, trying to coax her off of Reno's lap. She was about to get up when Reno slowly lifted his hands and placed them on top of mine. With a little squeeze, he looked up at me. He lifted my hands away from Ari's shoulders and replaced them with his own, almost like he was being possessive of her. He slowly slid Ari off his lap and titled her head up with his fingers. Feeling a little left out, I opted to leave the two alone.
Original POV
I could feel Reno move underneath me as he slowly slid me off his lap. I kept my gaze focused anywhere but his face but when he slipped his fingers under my chin and forced my head up, I found it harder to keep from looking at his aquamarine eyes. From over my shoulder, I heard Eva make her way to find where Rude had ended up. Fucking traitor! I swore at her in my thoughts.
"Ari…" I heard Reno whisper and I felt him move forward to hug me but I brought my hands away from my face and shoved him away. He fell backwards a little as I curled myself up into an upright ball, I could feel myself cringe on the inside. Curling up into a ball was a habit I had for trying to shut out the world when I was upset; it made me feel somewhat childish and naïve. As I held myself tight, I could hear Reno get up off the ground. I shivered a little and focused on stopping the tears that were slowly making their way down my face.
"You should get up…Rude and Eva are going to wonder if we're ok." Said Reno and I looked up from my ball. Reno stood with his hand out stretched to me, a small smile on his split lips. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and slowly grasped his hand. With a yank, I was pulled to my feet.
"There ya go, yo." He said happily and I stared at him. He was acting like nothing happened, like I didn't just beat the shit out of him. He looked at me with a smirk and winked causing my gaze to drop. With a turn of my heels, I followed in the direction that Eva went.
