Title: Learning To Hunt
Chapter: Section 4
Fandom: The Tribe
Author: PinkTribeChick
Summary: Sometimes, love is just right under your nose . . .
Extended Summary: An alternate-universe Series 4 romance story, from the point of view of Pride, Jack, and an original female character.
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Jack-Original Female Fiction Character, Pride-Original Female Fiction Character, Jack-Ellie, and Bray-Amber, with a few mentions of other pairings.
Author's Notes: Massive thanks to Ariannya and Whit for their thoughts and proofreading on various sections over the years! Enjoy, and please review! Feedback is much appreciated!
Disclaimer: All characters, situations, and song lyrics remain the property of their respective owners. Any original characters are sole property of me, PinkTribeChick.
Learning To Hunt
Section 4
Jack sat at the kitchen table, eating a small bowl of oatmeal while reading a book on solar power. A few of the others sat around him, eating breakfast as well and talking amongst themselves. He looked up from his book momentarily to see Liliana coming into the room. She smiled shyly when she saw him, then walked over to the cabinet.
Jack was amazed at how different she looked from when he had seen her earlier. Her glasses were gone, and her hair was pulled into twists that fell into loose curls about her shoulders. She certainly didn't dress like the other Gaian girls did. She wore a rose sleeveless, knit dress that came to her ankles and strappy brown sandals. In the old world, she would have been considered normal, which made her stand out from all the other girls in the new world. None of the girls in the new world were average or normal, but Liliana was. The virus seemingly hadn't changed her. Jack found it refreshing.
Liliana fixed herself a bowl of dry cereal and a glass of water. She grabbed an apple from the fruit bin and then walked over to where Jack was sitting. She stood in front of him, smiling.
"Is this seat taken?" she asked. Jack noticed that her eyes sparkled when she smiled, making it a little harder to see the sadness that lurked beneath. He pulled out the chair beside him.
"Sure," he replied. She gingerly sat down beside him and started to eat her cereal. As he observed her for a moment, Jack noticed something else was missing beyond her glasses. "Where's Samuel?" Liliana swallowed her mouthful of food before speaking.
"He's taking his morning nap, so I get a little break, for now at least," she responded. She took a sip of water, and then spoke again. "Did you actually get any sleep last night?" Jack smiled and looked down at his empty bowl timorously.
"No," he said. "You?"
"Not a wink," she answered. She went back to eating her bowl of cereal. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Listen . . . I, um . . . I volunteered to go in Pride's place to get more water today, but I have absolutely no idea how to get to that lake he told me about. Do you know how to get there?" Jack asked finally.
"Yeah, I know how to get there." Liliana nodded. She'd finished her cereal and was taking a large bite out of the apple she had.
"Well . . . would you like to come with me and show me the way there? Samuel can come, too, of course. I wouldn't expect you to leave him here all day. There's really no one else to take care of him, besides Trudy, and she's got her hands full taking care of Brady and Amber," Jack offered. Liliana munched on her apple for a moment, thinking. A smile crept across her face slowly.
"Alright," she said, nodding. "I'll go with you. Just let me get finished eating and get Samuel ready, and we'll go. Oh, and I'll have to tell Pride where I'm going, in case anyone asks for me or anything."
"Cool. Meet me out front in about thirty minutes?" Jack responded. She nodded again. "Great!" He stood up, grabbing his empty bowl and his book. "See you then!"
"Yeah . . . see you," Liliana said as he waved and walked away. She quickly finished off her apple, then threw the core away and washed out her empty bowl. Smiling, she headed off toward her room to get Samuel dressed for the day.
Please review? Pretty please? I'm dying here . . . reviews are love. So gimme your thoughts, for the love of all that is holy! And thanks for reading!