{Taken 2.0} Semper

Darquess’s eyes were glued to the man who was chasing around one of the young calf’s that I had saved only a few months ago. It was one of the weirdest scene that she had ever seen. Never had she ever thought that she would wake up one morning to a rather buff boy chasing around one of her babies. She was about to but in when the calf sprinted to its mother, cowering behind the large body of the cow. A mother cow was not something that you wanted to mess with; they were tough and extremely protective of their young. I watched as the mother raised her large head, her eyes turning to glare into the eyes of the boy. The mother looked mad and it was obvious by her stance that she was getting ready to charge- if I were that boy she thought to herself I would run.

But then the mother gaze turns to Darquess and she could see that her stance relaxed ever so slightly. Her cows knew her and they knew that she would never let anything hurt them, not ever. The boy seemed to notice the change in the cows behaviour and turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes meeting with hers. The girl didn’t move, but she could feel the anger brewing up inside her, like a storm, a storm preparing to litter a town with its wrath. I felt the anger being to fill my limbs as the boy’s face slowly turned from surprise to embarrassment.

He ducked his face, and Darquess felt her anger ease slightly. Darquess was not the type of girl to hold a grudge. Never in her life had she been able to hold one- and looking at the boy now and his beetroot red face- Darquess couldn’t help byt feel sorry for him… even if he was in her field trying to do god knows what to her baby cow. She stared at the boy a little longer, wandering if her was going to run, going to leave before she had the chance to say anything. But he didn’t move he just shuffled in his spot uncomfortably.

Darquess could feel a small smile play at the edge of her lips at the boy’s nervousness. ”Oh, hi. I didn’t see you there.” The words that fall from his lips were not the words that she had expected. She hadn’t expected the boy to greet her- well she wasn’t quite sure it was a greeting- she had expected him to snap at her with a sharp tongue before running away. She was taken back. Looking away from the boy she climbed over the fence that enclosed her field.

Landing neatly on the other side she turned to look at the boy once more, a small smile planted on her lips. “Well hello there.” Her words are cheery, but hesitancy to move any further held her back. “So I saw that you were- uh- chasing around one of my cows, um I was just wandering if you found what you were looking for?” I ask, my smile slipping from my lips, a frown once again finding its way onto my face.

The wind blew Darquess’s hair across her face and hastily she swipes it away, tucking the stray stands behind her ear impatiently. She was staring at the boy- curiosity glowing in her almond shaped dark eyes. The boy seemed to be confused with Darquess’s reaction and Darquess felt her smile return. Many people have told her that she could be unpredictable, always saying things or doing things that others would not expect. When she was young she used to walk with her father to the markets in the morning. Everyone had known her father- after all he sold the best weed in the whole district- but that’s beside the point, the point was that everyone expected the daughter of this man to be just like him. Charming, polite but also intimidating…But it was made obviously clear when she open her lips that she was nothing like her father- and a lot like her mother. Gentle, loving caring and bright. Those are the words that people used to use to describe her.

Finally pulling satisfied that her hair was going to stay away from her face she drops her hand, her eyes searching the boy in front of her. He was a rather buff guy and Darquess found herself averting her gaze, not wanting to sae at the boy longer than appropriately. She had never ha that touch with other people like her father had. He had been able to easily talk to people and persuade them to do almost anything that he wanted. But Darquess? She couldn’t convince a fly to stay away from her meat even if she wanted to. She was hopeless when it came to talking with strangers, people she didn’t know.

Staring at the ground for a moment longer she brings her gaze back to the boys as words spill from his lips. ”Well I was certainly not about to steal it, if that’s what you’re asking.” He says, his lips curling into a grin, a chuckle rising though his body making the muscles along his neck to tense and untense. The smile on darquess’s lips grew bigger as she watched the boy stretch out his hand in greeting. ”Milo Warsaw, at your service.” His smile seems genuine and Darquess reaches out to shake the boys hand. His hand was warm in her own and almost instantly she pulled away, politely but firmly. She wanted to let the boy know that she still was not fully convinced that he was here for no good. She knew there was something fishy about this boy, she just had to wait, wait and the words would fall from his lips in time. She knew that much- her father had taught her something.

“I would hope not- I mean I would hope not that you were going to steal these guys. They mean a lot to me… and…” She let her voice trail off, her face growing red. She had wanted to sound confident- cocky even- but she sounded innocent and honest. Great, this is really going to intimidate the boy. A girl how is modest and shy. “I mean if you were going to steal these cows I would have to-“ Damit. This was not turning out to be like she thought it would. “You try to steal these cows and I am going to have to hunt you down and – and- do- and kill you or something.” what the actual fuck? wow. She really was digging a deeper hole for herself.

Darquess stared at the ground not sure how to correct her silly words. She couldn’t even imagine what this boy must be thinking. If he was creeped out she wouldn’t have blamed him, she would have been creeped out top.



{OOC: idek what happened in this post. I am sorry it sucks and my next one will be better, promise <3}

The words had just tumbled from my mouth like a fountain of water. Yeah, they were defiantly not words that I was proud of. All my life I have been this girl who has always looked out for the weak, I have always tried not to judge people, I have always tried to get to understand someone before I judge them. And no way in hell was I a girl who threatened people. I was a girl who couldn’t even hurt a fly if I wanted to, I was a girl who wouldn’t even lift a finger against the angry buzzing of a hungry mosquitoes. So there was no way in hell that the threat that had just fallen from my lips was true, not by a far shot.

I drop my eyes to the ground, embarrassed. I have never talked like that to someone before, I knew it was wrong, oh boy was it wrong. I hated people who believed that threats and violence was the answer to problems. Cause they weren’t. You had to speak to one another if you wanted to sort out an issue; you have to communicate in a non-physical way. So why? Why had those words fallen from my lips? Maybe it was just the heat of the moment, nothing more. sweeping the thoughts to the back of my mind I watch as my feet play idly with the blades of grass under my feet.

I should probably ask the boy to leave, to tell him to go home and never come back, but the words don’t make it to my lips. There was something about him, something about him that caught my interest, something that I couldn’t pin my finger on That’s when the questions begin to fly around in my busy mind: Why was he here in the first place? Why was he chasing my bloody cow? Why was he in my field, why was he still here? I just couldn’t understand, understand why he would still be standing here after the stupid words that had fallen from my lips.

”That was a good one,” he says, his laughter slowly evaporating, I try to look up, but I didn’t want to look into his mocking face, I didn’t want to see the amusement that would be dancing wildly in his eyes. I just wanted to be back in my room again, wrapped in the warm blankets of my bed. ”Here, um… how about I make it up to you by taking you out for breakfast or something?” His next words surprised me, and I almost catch my breath in surprise. He wanted to take me out to breakfast? What? After I had just threatened to kill him? was he as nuts? A frown burrowed onto my forehead as I look up from the ground where I had been watching my foot, and into the boys eyes. Was he serious? Or was he just joking around with me? I couldn’t tell, not by a long shot. I have never been good at reading people, people always seem like a closed book to me, one that doesn’t want to be read.

Slowly I walk over to the baby cow that he had been chasing early and ran a gentle hand through his soft coat, my eyes wandering over the multi-coloured fur. Did I want to go out with him, for breakfast? I didn’t even know the boy, but did that really matter? “What do you think, Tiger? Should I accept this crazy boy’s- sorry Milo’s- invitation?” I kneel down beside the small animal, my mouth close to its ear, but my voice just loud enough for Milo to hear. “So what you say?” Tiger nuzzles my face and I giggle, the laughter bubbling though my body. I turn away from the cow, a smile on my lips. “Well. I think it sorted. I think we are going to have breakfast- oh and my names Darquess, by the way, Darquess Chain.” I smile at the boy, hoping that it was enough to let him forget about the words that had fallen from my lips only just a few moments earlier. No one was killing anyone this morning, not yet anyways.

I wasn’t sure I had done the right thing by accepting Milos’ invitation to breakfast. It just seemed so odd to be going out with this guy, one I didn’t know- for Ripreds sake I had only just found out his name! I was not usually the girl to accept such offers; usually I would just pounder the question for a few moments and then decline- firm but politely. I was not totally a social person, one who spent her days out and about mingling and chatting with my friends. I was more of the solidary girl, keeping to myself, minding my own business. Usually I would just spend my days in the paddock here, taking care of Tiger and all my other rescue animals. I enjoyed their company. It was nice. So accepting Milos offer even surprised myself. It was so impulsive of me. I smile despite myself. I liked it, it felt odd, something of a rush really, doing something that I haven’t done before.

His smile grows when he hears my name and I can only imagine the thoughts that might be running though his mind. ”What a ridiculous name! what stupid people would name their daughter something that sounded like a cross between darkness and quest?” For many years I have people have found delight in teasing me because of my name. In class, if a teacher called my name out, other students would laugh and call out to the class, things- harsh words- that would make my checks flush, not with embarrassment but in anger. They would mock me about my parents, and that, that’s was just one of the most hurtful things a person could do to me. I loved my parents, and I missed my father, I missed him so much that just thinking about it made my heart ache… so when people attacked my father with harsh words I would get really angry and it took all I had- all my morals- to not lash out at the person who had spoken out of turn.

”Well, thank you Tiger for convincing Darquess to spend her morning with me.” Milos voices cuts through my thoughts making them scatter. It takes me a moment to regain my bearings as the last of my enraged thoughts evaporate into thin air. Milo is direction a small salute in the direction of Tiger as though he had done him a great deal. He looks at the cow for a moment longer before his eyes connect with mine once again. His whole body seems to straighten up then, so he is standing tall with one arm bent at his side. He stands in the way that the avox’s stand as they wait to be given orders from the people higher up in the chain.

”Well, Miss Darquess, shall we be off? I regret to say that breakfast will nearly be over soon. Can’t miss the scrambled eggs and potatoes, now, can we?” As he speaks he offers me his arm and an extremely formal way. I smile at him, my eyes dancing with amusement. It was funny to watch a rather scruffy boy- one in clothes that were holy and fraying at the edges- stand in such a formal way- a way that a boy in the capitol might stand if he was asking his date to the prom. After another moment’s hesitation I lay my hand gentle on the boys offered arm. His face seems to fill with relief when I take it, as though he thought I was going to leave him hanging. My smile widen, and just like that the boy is leading me away from Tiger and my other animals and down a dusty stretch of road that I knew would lead us to a small dinner. It was not often that I went to the dinner- not with my mother the way she is… But I have been there a few times, and the few times I have the food has been good enough.

”Now tell me, Miss Darquess, what on earth possessed you to name your cow Tiger? I don’t even know what a tiger is.” I take a moment to digest his question, my mind racing to the first time that I had seen the baby calf. It had been suckling on its mother tit when I found him. Both the mother and the calf had been close to death when I found them and it had taken me a whole day to persuade the mother to wander over into my paddock were she has been ever since. So why had I named the calf tiger? And as Milo pointed out, what even was a tiger? To be honest I am not sure why I named him tiger, I guess I just associated the word with determination, a pure determination to survive. Because that what Tiger had done. He had only been very young, and I bet if I hadn’t of found him the day I did he would have died only a few hours later. He was a string calf, and a determined one too.

I shrug in a way of answering Milos question, “I’m not sure really. I guess I just found the name fitting at the time.” I turn my gaze to stare at Milo, my head tilted slightly, “speaking of names, is Milo a nickname? Or, you know, your actual name?”