After a long car ride Luna pulled onto a road not marked on many maps, it wound its way through the woods and Connor couldn't help but feel connected to the trees outside his window.
"Where are we?" She smiled as she looked at him, pain evident in his eyes.
"I'll show you." She drove for a few more minutes and soon she parked. "We walk from here." He strapped his bag to his back, following as Luna found a path headed east towards the sound of water. After an hour came to the crest of their path, the view opening up below them and Connor felt his chest tighten and his stomach knot, they were headed to the Davenport Homestead. He started down the hill and Luna rushed to keep up with him as his long legs moved instinctively. He started heading over to where the path crossed the river and Luna ran to get to his side. He stopped at the bridge and Luna could see him having a difficult time not seeing it how it once was. He pointed at the river, smiling slightly.
"I saved Terry from downing in the river just there. It was winter and the snow was thick. When I made it back to the manor the old man had me sit in front of the fireplace for over an hour to warm me up." He felt Luna next to him and his smile faded, looking down at her as she looked over the water and bridge.
"I wish I could have seen it." He started to walk over the newer bridge, surprised that he could see the old saw mill just on the other side of the water. He started to jog across, but one of the boards gave way and his foot went through. He fell, the bridge engulfing his leg up to his thigh and soon Luna was next to him, offering him a hand. She helped pull his leg free, but the damage had been done. She could tell he was hurt by how he was standing, and she immediately tapped into every skill her mother had taught her.
She threw his arm over her shoulder and her arm went around his waist as she lead him the rest of the way over the bridge. Soon they had gotten to the house that Godfrey and Catherine had once lived in. Just as Luna was going to have him sit down, he pushed the door in, his emotions getting the better of him. He looked around the house using his eagle vision to try to see something, anything really from his time but the pain from his legs was demanding all his minds attention.
"Connor please, I need to look at that leg, make sure you aren't bleeding internally or that anything's broken. Sit please." He found a chair and tested it before sitting down. Luna started pulling at his jeans and he put his hand on her wrist. She knew she made have blown any chance with him and now seeing how he was looking at her broke her heart again. "You can take them off or I can cut them off. I need to get a look at that leg."
Connor let out an annoyed sigh as he pulled his jeans off his hips, letting Luna pull them down far enough to look over the abrasions on his leg.
"It looks like a contusion as well as some slight abrasions. I'm going to feel for knots and swelling, tell me if there is a spot that is more painful than the others alright." He nodded as her hands moved over his skin, her touch gentle as she felt his leg, her eyes watching him though. His jaw would flex along with the rest of his muscles when she would touch a tender area but he never made a noise. She pulled at the backpack she had brought, pulling out some of the contents looking for something. She then pulled out a can, spraying the small scrapes with Lanacane before tossing the can back in her bag.
"You're going to be fine, nothing looks broken or sprain, but you'll have a nasty bruise. You must tell me if you start to develop a bad pain or a deep ache, alright." Connor stood up, pulling his jeans back up before holding a hand out to her wanting to help her stand up. Luna took his hand as she stood, looking up into his eyes before he looked past her.
"We should continue, it's not far at all." She followed him as they walked along a well beaten path and she could see he was haunted by images of how full of life this place had been. She walked slowly behind him, watching him, how his eyes traveled all up and down the path. As they slowly rounded the top of the hill he stopped, looking around as if something was out-of-place.
"I cannot believe the house is gone." He looked around again for a point of reference then he started walking. Luna was afraid to go with him, but when he noticed she wasn't behind him he stopped and turned to her. "Please, I'd like for you to come with me." She nodded slowly as she started moving over to him. After a short walk they were standing in front of three headstones and Luna couldn't help but cry. Connor stood talk as he looked at Achilles plot, suppressing his own emotions as he stood there.
She could see the battle going on in his heart as he stood there with his minuscule head movements and his shifting his weight between his feet. She stepped closer to him, their bodies nearly touching before she let her hand slithering into his. He closed his fingers around her, using that connection as a grounding point to keep him from falling apart. They both stood in silence even as the sky darkened.
As the wind picked up Luna moved closer to Connor, the air growing cold. She scanned the horizon and she pulled at his hand. Connor looked down at Luna, her brows knit in worry as she watched the western skyline. He turned and watched the dark clouds rolling in and then he scanned the homestead. he spotted something a few yards away and he pulled at Luna, dragging her behind him.
They came to a small brick structure and Connor reached down, pulling at something until it finally broke free. He then slid himself down into the hole he had opened up and Luna looked back at the sky one last time before sliding in with him. She felt her feet hit the floor, but she hadn't fallen. Connor let go of her once she had her feet planted and he backed away.
"This used to be the armory beneath the manor. It survived somehow." Luna took a few steps, following him into a large dark room. The air was damp as she looked around, wondering how it survived, or how no one had seen the small window before. As she let her eyes adjust to the darkness Connor checked the pillars holding the earth above them up, making sure they wouldn't get buried alive during the storm.
"Do you think we're safe? I mean it won't flood will it?" He walked around the room, picking up a few pieces of odd and ends, looking them over.
"The rain coming in will be minimal and the structure looks secure." Luna pulled her phone out, looking at the screen trying to find a good signal. She walked back under the window, but still no luck. She shut her phone off and walked over to the middle of the room.
"By the look of the sky outside, we could be down here a while, let's talk about how to find this book she wanted us to find." Connor stood there watching Luna as she sat down in a chair. He tried to stop her, his voice coming to late as Luna fell onto the floor, the chair just crumbling beneath her weight. He rushed to her side, reaching a hand out for her and her eyes traveled up his body before she burst into laughter. Connor even smiled as he pulled her to her feet, the warmth of her body feeling good from the cool air.
"Are you alright?" She was still laughing as her hand landed on his chest, nodding at him.
"I think so. I'll make note, furniture that has sat around for two hundred and forty some years is not meant to be sat upon." The look in his eyes changed, the thought of how long it had been since he had last been there eating away at him. If he was being honest with himself, it was all he had thought about since moving out of her apartment. The world had moved on, but he wasn't sure if he could. Now that they had put an end to Juno he felt like he had no purpose anymore, like he was useless. He still knew nothing of technology and he had no desire to. He wasn't fond of movies and he didn't understand modern music. He just didn't belong, not in this time.
"You should be more careful." His cadence had changed, sounding much more like the Connor who had come to them at first that the man she had shared an apartment with, along with his stance change. He stood taller, more rigid as she read his pain in his eyes. She really looked at him now, he'd stopped shaving the sides of his head, his hair starting to grow out. He'd also taken the bead and braid out of his hair and Luna missed it. He pulled away from her, taking pieces of the broken chair and arranging them for a fire in the center of the room.
"Tell me about this place." Her heart felt like it had just been ripped from her chest, he had slowly adjusted to modern life, but he confused that adjustment for loosing himself in it and he was scared. She slowly moved to his side, squatting down next to him where he was hunched down trying to start a fire from the old chair and other pieces of wood he'd found. She could see the torment in his eyes, even in the dim light of the room they were in. His jaw flexed and his muscles tensed up, but she didn't back away, not caring how uncomfortable he was talking about his feelings. She knew he had to confide in someone, anyone, so he could move on. "Ratonhnhake:ton, please, you can talk to me. I know you may hate me right now, and I know that I can't possibly understand what you're going through but I am here for you. Please."
His eyes ran over her, she hardly used his given name and it sounded so foreign to hear it now, but it soothed him. He returned working on the fire and she let herself sit back on her bottom while she waited by him. It took him a few minutes before the sparks ignited the small pile of wood he'd created. He then moved lower, softly blowing on the hot embers until the flame was growing steady and hotter. As he sat back Luna touched his arm again and he knew she was some one he could talk to without fear of judgement.
"This is where I come from, but it no longer feels like home. All that I knew is now gone and I am stuck in a time that I know nothing about." Luna shifted so that her back was to the fire and she was sitting hip to hip with him, listening as he talked. "I do know how I can continue to live in that hell you call a city. The sounds and smells alone are overwhelming when one is accustomed to the woods and open sea. I cannot seem to forgive Edward to talk to him, and my father was dead long before I came here, to talk to him now would feel as if I was speaking to a spirit." She had no clue what to say, there was nothing she could think of that could be comforting to him so she remained quiet, taking his hand in hers and slowly running her fingertips from his palm down his arm and back, just sitting there with him while he watched the fire.