Not always so simple // Lifie!

It did not take long for Ravena to set her gaze on a person who could help her. She had figured she would have to look for an hour or so to find someone, but here was a stranger, right in front of her not far away from the fence. It was out of habit that she froze right then and tensed nervously, in case she needed to run. The best lesson she had ever learned was to be cautious of everyone, even people she trusted. Standing in front of this stranger she naturally took a step back out of surprise, but not fear. It took a lot more then seeing a random stranger on a hike to scare her.

Even so, this stranger's appearance was nothing but intimidating. He had dark hair and he was tall. If Ravena thought that she looked tough with her grimy clothes and face that always had dirt on it, this stranger looked even more so. Of course, he was actually clean. However intimidating he looked, every uncertainty that had crossed her mind a moment before was erased as he spoke. "Hi. I'm Max. You want some food? And maybe a bath?" He asked her, even before the thought of asking for his help ever crossed her mind.

Well that was easy.. She thought to herself, but something stopped her from stepping forward and introducing herself. He seemed too nice, maybe that was it. No one was ever nice to her before she said anything; she usually had to work to get people to even talk to her. Someone actually offering to help her immediately? She was in shock. She only stood there for a moment, cautious and unsure of herself for once, but then with a moment's thought she stepped forward just one step and spoke anxiously, so unlike her normal voice. "I-I'm R-Rave, and.. umm.. sure.." She said, sounding scared and nervous.

Something must have seemed funny to him, because she heard him chuckle. The defensive side of her instantly thought he was laughing at her, but she shrugged away the thought as he walked through the fence where she had just come from. She followed him cautiously, because he could very well be someone who could hurt her. Out of habit she never trusted anyone, a stranger no less. Even so, she was hungry and she did need his help, so she had to follow along. Without another thought she slipped through the gap in the fence behind him and followed him for a small distance until he finally stopped and set down the sheet, cooler, and backpack in the middle. It was then that he finally said something again, breaking the silence that she hadn't realized had been going on.

"Sorry I didn't bring a lot of food. Wasn't expecting another person to be here. I'm not real hungry though, so help yourself." He said to her. He was unusually kind for someone who looked so tough, and Ravena still wasn't sure of him. It seemed that he truly did want to help her; it seemed that he was actually nice instead of pretending to play the part- and if he was actually pretending, he was doing it well. He hadn't been lying about the picnic, he really did have food. There was every reason to trust him, and yet Ravena could not bring herself to get rid of the caution she felt. People were never nice to her, it had to be a trap.. somehow.

Realizing that she wasn't paying attention to her helper or the food, she looked up from where she was staring into blankness and saw that he was staring at her intently. Again her defensive side jumped to the conclusion that he was staring because of the scars on her face and how filthy she looked. She frowned angrily for a moment before she turned her attention to the food. She was so hungry.. Why did it even matter what this stranger thought? She had food, she was being helped. That was the whole point of this excursion anyways. She picked up a sandwich and took a bite hungrily. How many days had it been since she had eaten?

Then he spoke again, and she saw that he had looked away from her face. "Sorry for staring." He said. He apologized! So he was staring at her horrible scars and the dirt on her face. Why do people always have to be so rude? She asked herself, but of course she didn't have the answer.

Even so, she had to defend herself. Her pride would not let this rude stranger silently make fun of her appearance, like everyone else always seemed to do. She was tired of it.

"Okay, I know my face looks weird and all because of the scars, but that's no reason to stare. It's rude and insulting." She said defiantly, giving up her 'Oh I'm so weak!' facade. Weak she might be, but she would never act like it, unless she was pretending.

Liar..

That was the first thing that popped into Ravena's mind when she heard him speak. There was no way in heck that she was beautiful, at best she was average. She had scars and dirt and just about every imperfection you could think of, and this stranger (No, he wasn't a stranger, she knew his name) was sitting there and calling her beautiful? What lies he was telling. A no good, pretentious, lying idiot, he was. And he was convincing, too. His smile looked so kind, his words so seemingly true that even she, the master of all things manipulative and sly, was convinced.

If there was one thing she had ever been so sure of, it was that there was no way on earth that she was actually beautiful. She had been told so probably a billion times before, and she was sure that that hadn't changed at all. She had always been ugly, people had always called her ugly, and that was that. It was how it was, and that would never change. And this stranger was sitting there and calling her beautiful? She didn't believe it for a second.

Even so, Ravena tried to hide this thought from showing on her expression. She had to hide her new annoyance, because after all, she was still in need of help and a good meal. Food had become so rare to her that she couldn't very well storm off in a huff because of some silly lie. Taking a bite of her sandwich, she took her time before speaking again, looking as cool and in control as possible.

Taking a second look at his scars, she asked curiously,"How did you get your scars, anyways?"

Maybe he'll lie about that too..