Help [Open]

I was about to flee. Yeah it was pathetic, not manly at all. But I wasn't just going to sit there and die.

Too bad I had to glance towards Kaya before making my dash. She had stood up, yelled for me to grab the girl. And at that moment I involuntarily began to betray my instincts.

Without thinking I shoved myself up from the ground. The pain that shot through my arm was still unbearable, but I was going to have to use it if I ever wanted to get out of this situation with my heart still beating. With my other had I grasped my stick [my not-so-useful weapon] with a firmer grip. If this is what would save me, so be it.

I had reacted a bit too slowly. The two girls made impact with each other and Kaya was slammed against the tree behind her. I jumped back. There went my instinctive thoughts again. Run, run! They seemed to say. But my legs would not move. My heart raced as my eyes stayed focused on the scene unfolding in front of me. The girl had lunged her head toward Kaya's neck, or somewhere around that area. She was biting her flesh. I felt myself grow sick from the scene. Why hadn't I run? Would have been better than watching this. But the act was over so soon. The girl had pulled back. And she sounded confused.

My mind buzzed with the words she had spoken to Kaya. So she did talk human. To me her words were distant and mumbled, but they were there. And they were strange. Kaya? Familiar? Looked like I was going to have to stay now. My instincts were going berserk. This girl was odd, this girl was deranged. But this girl was interesting, and so was Kaya. And I do admit that I wanted to see what would happen. "Wait - do you know her, Kaya?" If this got out of hand, definitely I would run for it. Probably chuck my stick at her, too. But for now I would wait, keep my distance and watch.

OOC: I am giving first person a shot because I want to be able to mirror your posts. I'm not very good at first person, but, here goes.

Of all the things that could have happened today, this was not among the things that I had prepared myself for. True, the wolf wasn't predicted either, but he did not come as much of a shock in the long run. I made a mental note to buy herbs for the wound from the apothecary before going home later. The pain had dimmed to a dull throbbing which was by far preferable to the striking pain from before.

My head hurt from where it had hit the bark of the tree and I thought that I could still trace the faint outline of Tammy's teeth against my throat. Absentmindedly, my fingers find the spot as Tammy crumples to the ground, apparently overwhelmed by this bit of information. For me it was shocking as well, but my mind still can not register it quite as fast as Tammy's apparently can. When had we stopped seeing each other? Was it when we were twelve? I believe it was twelve. But we had been practically sisters back then.

People would laugh and smirk when they saw us climb trees together because although we were so alike, they were also so very different. Where I had pale skin, Tammy was tanned. Where I had the strange hair color, Tammy had the strange eyes. Both of us had always gotten into great amounts of trouble in school and with our folks. Hell, even with the Peacekeepers there had been trouble. I remembered then when I had lent Tammy my favorite bow and arrow...

I watched, eyebrows furrowed in consternation as Tammy struggled with my bow. It was really not her skill since she was by far more accomplished with the sword and the bow just was my weapon of choice. Nevertheless, on that beautiful sunny evening, I held out my prized possession, my hand made wooden bow and a single arrow and said, "here, you have a go." Judging from the expression on Tammy's face, she was a little unsure whether I was being serious or not. Finally, she gave in and grabbed the arrow in her slender, tanned palm.

I watched as Tammy tried her best to brace the arrow on the string and at the same time trying to find a target. Finally she pulled back hard on the string, with a remarkable force and all of the sudden, let go. Tammy looked surprised and I guessed that she hadn't meant to let it go just yet. There was no stopping the arrow now as it soared through the air noiselessly and lodged into the thick thigh of a Peacekeeper. He had been standing a little further away, grimly patrolling peoples' catches of the day. He let out a shout of pain and whirled around, his hand instinctively pulling the arrow out of his thick leg.

With all that fat, I doubted it would do much damage to his nerves, but I did believe him when he gave another shout of pain and then discovered both of us in the thicket. "I'll teach you, lads!" he shouted, apparently mistaking us for boys. "Oh! You'll be right sorry when I grab a hold of you!"

I turned to look at my best friend, eyes wide with fear and discovered that my older, supposedly wiser friend was also frozen, staring in surprise at the bow in her hands. "Run, run, run, run, run!" I finally shouted and we took off, running madly into the brambles, wincing as thorns cut our legs.

We ran for what seemed ages and only stopped when we finally reached a clearing and were completely out of breath. "Let's rest... for a while," I suggested and collapsed onto the soft ground. Tammy followed my lead. After a moment of just lying there, panting, I quickly crawled over to Tammy's side. "Did you see the look in his eyes?" I whispered, my mouth close to Tammy's ear. And then we laughed. Child's laughs, loud and jubilant and full of mirth. We laughed for what seemed forever.

And now here she was. Standing in front of me, eyes wide, just as they had been back then. When Tammy reached out to touch my face, I flinched involuntarily and felt bad immediately for having done so. "I... yes, it's me. Wh- what happened to us?"

I had noticed the arrow a little too late, and I hadn't expected Tammy to save me from it. I sat for a moment stunned, my neck hurting a bit from her sharp tug on my collar. I hadn't wanted to help the girl, and I still don't really. But now as I rubbed my neck realization hit me. I didn't really have much of a choice anymore. I owed her now and, well, I guess I'd have to help her even if I didn't want to.

I glanced towards the two girls as I realized that they both agreed it was best to run to my house. Fine. "Alright." I replied to Tammy. I felt a bit agitated at her commands; I don't like being bossed around, but it would have been really stupid to rebel against them. We'd probably just end up dead if we stayed in the clearing anyways, and I'd really like to just get somewhere that was probably at least a little bit safer than the woods.

A frown had formed on my face but when I looked over towards Kaya I couldn't help but grin at her protests. Oh, I'd love to see her try to beat me off. "Sorry Kaya, looks like you're gonna have to let me help you." I bent down rather quickly and lifted her up. She wasn't too heavy, so I figured I could carry her to the house. She had just better not make a grand fuss over my help. "Just try not to squirm too much." I hissed through gritted teeth. With a fast jolt I set off. My movements were more like a fast walk rather than a run, but I don't think anyone would expect me to sprint while carrying someone opposed to my aid in my arms.

I let out a cry of indigination when I see Malachi's grin. "Don't you dare," I threaten, throwing a look at Tammy. If she surivives this, I'm going to kill her. I try to walk away and back to my friends' side, but he's faster and of course he is stronger than I am.

My feet leave the floor as he scoops me up and I find that I am staring, or glaring, at his face. Immediately I kick, although I am in a rather unfortunate position to kick anything. So instead I struggle, trying in vain to make him drop me so that I can get back and help Tammy. When my efforts suddenly prove useless, I stop, throwing one last punch at his shoulder.

"I hate you," I hiss, mirroring his own hiss from before. I cross my arms over my chest and pout, ignoring the throbbing in my foot for pride's sake. e was fast, albeit he wasn't running. I was still surprised that he could walk and carry me and fend off my attacks from before. But then again, this is the same guy who threw himself at a lone wolf.

We reach what looks like a house and I guess that it must be his then. It looks nice enough, but I'm still angry with him and with Tammy. "Put me down," I say evenly. What he doesn't know is that I plan on running back the second he drops me. There is no chance that I'll just wait here with Malachi and see what happens. So what if my foot feels like it's going to drop off. "Put me down," I repeat, in an overly sweet voice.