Title: Learning To Hunt
Chapter: Section 13
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
The next morning, four unhappy lovers sat around one of the tables in the kitchen. Each ate their cereal, looking somewhat forlorn and sighing at intervals. The two girls saw side by side, with the boys across from them. No eye contact was made.
Liliana was immersed in her own thoughts, staring out the nearby window at two birds sitting on the porch railing outside. May was paying close attention to her cereal, which she kept putting more sugar on every five minutes or so. Jack was pretending to be intensely involved in reading a book on solar power, and had already accidentally spilled cereal on this lap twice because he was so out of it.
Pride stared straight ahead, Liliana sitting across from him. Liliana could feel his eyes on her, as much as he seemed to be looking right through her. She knew exactly what was bothering him, but chose not to say anything. Now just wasn't the right time.
After the fiasco the night before, Jack and Liliana weren't speaking, much less looking at each other. Both were equally embarrassed at what had been said. And what hadn't. Jack was still at a loss as to what he'd said wrong, so it was hard for him to apologize. Liliana stifled the urge to laugh as she heard him grunt when he spilled cereal on himself again. But she didn't turn her eyes away from the two doves on the railing.
Liliana wasn't really sure why May and Pride weren't speaking. She had noted an odd sort of tension between them when they had entered the room, and that Pride looked like he hadn't slept a wink. Something was definitely wrong, but she hadn't asked what. Maybe later.
She turned her thoughts back to the two doves outside. She remembered hearing somewhere, maybe in her high school biology class, that doves mated for life. And in watching those two doves, sitting close together watching the sun come up, she wondered if the same was true for humans. She hoped that it wasn't. She wasn't sure if she wanted to spend the rest of her life chasing after someone who didn't love her back. Or, more correctly, couldn't remember that he ever had. She sighed, momentarily thankful that Samuel had slept late, and that he was still sleeping. It gave her time to think, to be at one with her thoughts.
"Morning, everyone!" she heard Amber say, and looked up to see Bray carrying Amber into the room. Everyone chorused their greetings, as Pride stood up.
"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked, forcing a smile.
"You can only look at the same four walls for so long before it gets really old," she said with a laugh. "I needed a change of scenery, so I convinced Bray to let me come sit in here for a little while. Besides, I'm hungry." Pride laughed, offering his chair to Amber. Bray set her down in it, and then he and Pride each grabbed chairs for themselves.
"What do you want to eat, madam?" Bray asked, putting his hands on her shoulders. She giggled.
"Cereal will be fine, monsieur," she said in a mock formal tone.
"Alright," he responded, kissing the top of her head then walking off. Amber looked around the table at everyone.
"So . . . how are all of you?" she asked cheerily.
"Fine," Jack said with a smile, looking up from his book for the first time that morning. "Aside from the fact that my pants are soaked with milk." Everyone laughed, but it didn't succeed in breaking the heavy tension that hung in the air. Liliana spoke up.
"I'm doing alright. Samuel's fine. He's actually slept late for once, so I'm getting a bit of a break this morning," she said.
"Good. I haven't seen Samuel in ages. You'll have to bring him to visit me this afternoon or something," Amber said as Bray returned with two bowls of cereal. He set one down in front of Amber and then sat down beside her.
"Thanks." Bray nodded and began eating. Amber looked around the table again, a confused expression on her face. "What's with all the sad faces? Did someone die or something?"
"What are you talking about, Am? No one's sad. We're all just really . . . ," Pride fumbled for a word to fill in the blank. He looked anxiously to Liliana for help.
"Tired," Liliana offered. "We're all just tired. That's what Pride means." Pride nodded, giving a fake smile. "There's just been so much going on around here lately, with all the new people, and all the chores, and we're all just exhausted." She smiled at Amber, though she was sure Amber would see right through the lie.
"Oh. Okay," Amber said. She started to eat. May leaned over to Liliana.
"Tired is not what I would call this, hon," May whispered. She put a smile on her face. "If you guys will excuse me, I still have some unpacking to do. And some sleep to catch up on." She gave Pride an annoyed look before standing up. "See you all later." She took her empty bowl and stormed off. Pride sighed, pushing back from the table and standing up.
"I'm off. I've got chores to do around here," Pride said. Amber waved and the others just nodded as he left the table. Liliana looked to the window again. The doves were gone. Maybe it was a sign that she should leave, too. Then she heard Samuel start to scream from down the hall.
"I guess that's my cue to leave," she said with a smile. "I'll bring Samuel by later on, okay, Amber? 'Cause I have some stuff I want to talk to you about anyway."
"Okay. See you," Amber said cheerily. Liliana got up and left, walking down the hallway to her own room. Walking past Pride and May's room, she could hear shouting coming through the closed door, but ignored it. Samuel was a little more important than finding out what May and Pride were arguing about.
That's all for now, folks! I apologize for taking so long to update this story again – I was just being lazy! Thanks again for reading, now please go and tell me what you thought of what you read! I love reviews – they keep me going! Toodles until later . . .