Films About Ghosts Part 2 (Forsaken)
May. 18th, 2008 10:52 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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writing_shadows((Apparantely the background is too large for one post... so here is part 2. Same rules apply.))
***July 7, 1998***
“Are you sure this is a good idea Ragna?” Xenophon asked as the pair of them stood at the border of her mentor’s territory. He was frowning as he spoke, eyeing the area with definite suspicion.
“I have to know what the vision meant and besides, I have standing permission to enter their territory unasked. On the other hand, you better stay here. I’ll yell if I run into any trouble.” Sheena responded, her own expression one of intense worry.
Xenophon nodded curtly once and motioned to the rest of the pack to wait as Sheena went on without them.
Carefully she entered the territory, looking for signs that something was out of place here. Her vision spoke of violence and she wasn’t sure whether the warning would come too late. All attempts at contacting the pack had so far failed and there was a feeling of unease in Sheena’s stomach which suggested to her that whatever the vision meant, it had already occurred.
Nothing seemed wrong except for the lack of someone coming to greet her, usually by now one of them would have noticed her presence, but there was only silence. Sheena walked on until she reached the house that served as their pack headquarters. There was no sign of the door having been forced so she let herself in and carefully started searching the rooms, not calling out as the silence that met her felt wrong somehow and giving her presence away to potential enemies was never a good idea.
When she headed upstairs she finally encountered horrific evidence of what had occurred here. Scarlet Whisper’s body lay across the top of the landing, cut almost in half, his brown eyes staring lifeless at the ceiling. Outrage and anger filled her as she headed through and checked the other rooms where the pack mostly slept. Most of their bodies were there and few looked like there had been any signs of a struggle. That they had died by violence while they slept meant only one thing in her mind: treachery. There was no way a pack of experienced and well trained Blood Talons could be taken down in their own territory as they slept any other way.
Her mind flashed back to the vision that had led her to this place. Suddenly part of it seemed to make more sense to her, what she had taken to mean one of them was injured as the skin had melted off his face, she wondered now if what that had meant was that one of the pack had betrayed the rest of them.
She stood for a moment, swearing silent vengeance against whomever the two-faced traitor was who had done this to her friends. No matter how long it took, she would see that they paid for their betrayal of the tribe. She turned then and headed out of the house, quickly moving to warn her pack of what had occurred here.
***March 26, 2000***
Anger still bubbled through her system as Sheena walked briskly through the parklands near her home. Once again she had had to leave to prevent herself from causing any damage to her family; she didn't want to think about what would happen if she lost her temper fully with them.
The evening air cooled her temper a little, though she still boiled internally with frustration. How could she fix the issues in her marriage when so much of it hinged on the lies she had no choice but to tell? It wasn't as though she could just explain to Ruraidh about being an Uratha and all that it entailed, he wouldn't believe her and she couldn't prove it without breaking the Oath and risking his sanity.
She sighed, sitting down and idly throwing stones into the distance, it helped a little.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Sheena looked up surprised into deep blue eyes and a somewhat mischievous smile. They belonged to a man who, while not exactly handsome, had a definite attractive quality that made her stomach lurch in response and a smile unwittingly start to play across her face. The wolf part of her had an almost irresistible urge to lean in and smell him; there was definitely something there that was causing sparks all through her system.
"Sorry, just working out a bit of frustration. I'm Sheena." She offered her hand, still smiling.
"Alexander, though people call me Sandy." He reached down and shook her hand firmly, causing a shiver to run up through her spin and make her whole body tingle and Sheena found herself desperately wishing that he was not having this strong an effect on her. "Want to talk about it?"
Part of her brain started screaming no at her, but the rest of her was not listening and she spoke before she could really think about what she was saying, "Sure."
Sandy smiled again and helped her up to her feet, Sheena grinned back, feeling all her worries slide slowly away in that smile.
***February 12, 2002***
The very scent of him filled her whole world as she lay in his arms, her heartbeat slowly returning to normal. A pang of sorrow ran through her as she knew that her time with him would soon have to end for good, if she was to have any chance of saving her marriage then this affair had to end. She just wished that this whole thing didn't feel so good, so right, like it was meant to be. Her feelings had gotten rather caught up with this man, stranger in many ways though he might be and leaving him was going to hurt, more than she ever would have expected.
"You seem very thoughtful my dear, what's wrong?" Sandy's blue eyes regarded her curiously. Absently she rubbed at the rings on her left hand, not even realising that she was doing it.
Sandy sighed, suddenly seeming both upset and annoyed, "I think I can gather where your thoughts are going love, you're not very good at hiding your feelings. I just wish you would realise that he will never understand, can never do so. It would be kinder on him as well as yourself if you just left him."
"It's not as easy at that and you know it, I have a family to consider and that just wouldn't be fair on them." Sheena replied, sitting up slightly so she could look at him better.
"So instead you are going to throw this away and make yourself miserable. Fine, if that's what you want then do it, just remember that I warned you. It won't work; you'll just tear each other apart. With me you don't ever have to hide any part of you, with him you will always be lying." He stared at her then, blue eyes almost pleading with her to see things his way.
Her heart caught in her throat. When all this had begun she had convinced herself it was nothing but passion, that all she was doing was taking comfort when she needed it. Slowly this man had crept closer to her and he meant more to her now than that. It had felt so good not to have to hold the wolf quite so much in check, to be able to talk a bit about her other life and not to have to lie to him with every other breath. A part of her whispered that he was completely right, but the part of her that followed duty told her what she was doing was wrong, and in the end that part of her always won. She hoped that perhaps Sandy would be able to forgive her for this.
***July 19, 2003***
She woke drenched in sweat, practically screaming herself awake. The rest of the pack stirred instantly at her distress, the vision still burned into her mind with all the dreadful clarity of a Cahalith's foresight. The pack were all staying in a safe house that Xenophon knew of, waiting for the dawn when they intended to attack a group of Azilu who were causing a serious threat to the far eastern areas of their territory. That time was very close now.
"What did you see?" The voice was Xenophon's and Sheena was suddenly aware that many of her pack were looking at her with apprehension, worried no doubt that she had seen some imminent disaster to do with their current mission.
"My family…" She paused, trying to collect her thoughts enough to explain what she had seen, "They are in danger from the Pure. I saw… I saw blood and screams."
A deadly quiet fell over them all, not a single one unaware of the terrible choice that faced them. To go and try and save Sheena's family from what might occur would risk the terrible consequences of allowing the Azilu to continue their predations and grow yet more powerful.
Sheena didn't need to ask, she already knew what Xenophon would decide in this and a part of her felt like screaming because of it. "We have to go on, if we turn back now the consequences would be damaging to a lot of people."
She nodded her face ashen and her spirit feeling like it was being torn in two. Silently she pictured the faces of her daughter and twin sons, praying to them to hold on. She would get there as soon as this was over. All they had to do was hang on…
***July 19, 2003***
The blood was everywhere; it seemed to cover the entire house, coating the furniture, the walls, so much blood. The rest of the pack had stayed outside, leaving their packmate to her grief which seemed to have turned into blood-curling cries that sounded like the human equivalent of a howl.
Her baby boys were both dead, their bodies mutilated almost beyond recognition. Ruraidh looked as though he had been ripped apart as he hopelessly tried to defend his family from forces he couldn't even have understood.
And then there was Siobhan…
She sat in the middle of the carnage, her body covered in blood, but otherwise unharmed, just staring at her surroundings in shock. At only ten years of age, she made a small figure amidst the chaos.
When Sheena spied her she ran to her and picked her up, hugging the girl tightly to her, tears of relief coursing down her cheeks. Silently she made a promise to herself, no matter what the consequences to the rest of the world, there was no way she was going to allow anything to take her daughter away from her.
***August 9, 2003***
Quite a few people had looked askance at the figure standing like a statue as the coffins containing the bodies of her husband and two young sons were lowered into the ground. Her lack of tears or any outward display of grief disturbed many of them, most already unnerved by her presence. Some probably inwardly wondered if she had had anything to do with their deaths, not that any would say such openly for fear of what she might do.
For Sheena, tears would have been wholly inadequate as she watched a large part of her life being laid to rest, gone from her forever. The ache left inside her, the pain that she could not turn off or ignore ate away at her, but she had duties to her daughter and her pack and that meant there was more important things to do than losing herself in her own pain.
"Sheena? Can I talk to you?" It was Isla's voice, sounding nervous. Sheena looked round, regarding her younger sister whose body was now rather obviously displaying her pregnancy, attempting not to freak her out any more than her presence always did.
"Sure, what's wrong?" She answered, trying to bury the flare of impatience that welled up inside of her.
"Well, um, it's just that…" Isla paused, obviously trying to collect her thoughts and Sheena's frustration rose another notch. "Considering everything that's happened, don't you think it's a good idea if maybe, um, Siobhan came to stay with us? I think Charles and I would be in a much better position to care for her now that Ruraidh's gone…"
Isla stopped speaking as she realised the colour that her sister's face had gone. Sheena felt her anger rip through her and had to bite it down hard to stop her from shifting forms and tearing her sister limb from limb. "You callous, calculating little bitch! You have the gall to tell me how to look after my own daughter?! I practically brought you up, just because you are about to be a mother does not mean that you know everything about being one. If you ever try and take any member of my family away from me again you will regret ever being born!"
The terror on Isla's face was very evident as she ran off to get away from the abnormal anger of her elder sister. As for Sheena, she desperately fought to retain control of herself as a part of her screamed out for her war form, to let herself get lost in her anger, just for a little while.
***22 August 2003***
The hour was late but Sheena trudged southwards towards Pure territory anyway. The vision Luna had sent her had contained a sense of urgency and if there really was a young woman in need of help on the outskirts of the city then she had better find her quickly before the Pure did.
Finally she came across the figure of a young woman, collapsed in exhaustion amongst the trees and carefully approached her. She could sense that she was uratha, but there was no sense in taking chances, this could be a trap set by the Pure after all.
The girl, who didn’t look as though she were out of her teens, obviously sensed her too and scrabbled, trying to get to her feet. Sheena blinked, impressed by the girl’s spirit, she was in no condition to stand let alone fight, but she was trying anyway. "It’s alright girl, I’m not here to hurt you. You can feel that I am like you, yes? Well Luna sent me to help you, so if you’ll trust me, that’s what I will do."
She looked back with hurt, angry eyes and an expression of suspicion on her face. Sheena could feel her anger rise; this girl had obviously been emotionally scarred in some way. A flash of how Siobhan looked when she had found her after the attack passed through her mind, but she pushed away the associated grief. Now was not a time to indulge it, now she had a task to do.
Sheena knelt and offered a hand to the girl, careful not to get too close and startle her. "If you come with me I have food and shelter. I can also perhaps answer any questions you have, offer you some training." The girl still looked suspiciously at her and Sheena sighed, "If you stay here you’ll likely die and I don’t think you want that, I certainly don’t."
Blinking for a moment, there was a look of indecision and worry that crossed the girl’s face then; slowly she reached out her arm and took the offered hand. Sheena tried to pull the girl to her feet, but she swayed unsteadily for a moment before collapsing against her. Carefully she swung the girl easily into her arms and hurried back towards her house before any of the local Pure caught wind of their presence.
***2 November 2004***
Looking at the young woman in front of her filled Sheena with an immense sense of pride. She had come a long way in the period of time since she had met her. She was fit and healthy now with new muscle growth and tone from all the physical training she had been doing. Not only that, there was a confidence in her that hadn’t been there before, the indomitable spirit she had shown when they met shone through all the time now.
"Sheena? I have something I want to say." She said, looking a little nervous.
Sheena smiled in return, "You want to leave." There was a shocked look in response and she couldn’t help but laugh, "I figured it out. You know everything you need to survive now, you have found a purpose and a family, but this still isn’t your home and you want to find where that is. I understand and I’m not upset, but I do want you to know that you are family now Harmony, and you will always be welcome here. Just remember to let me know you are coming, I don’t always react well to surprises."
Harmony laughed in response and gave her mentor a hug and a broad grin, "I’ll keep in touch and come and visit."
"I’m glad to hear that, otherwise I’d have to track you down and be cross at you" Sheena winked and hugged her back tightly; she’d grown very fond of her student in the time she had spent with her. In some ways the experience had healed them both, Sheena’s grief had lessened with the responsibility of training Harmony and Harmony’s past had been pushed back by a sense of achievement and self-worth.
As Harmony left Sheena said a silent prayer to Luna, thanking her for bringing the two of them together, feeling the usual sense of purpose and unity fill her. Their mother might be a little changeable, but she was usually right.
***26 February, 2005***
The blood from the wound to her guts was trickling down her legs in a rather uncomfortable manner. Sheena was trying not to think about it, her arm carefully folded across her stomach, trying to keep her intestines roughly where they should be until she could get to someone who could fix her up since if she let her system heal then then her internal system would be all screwed up.
Her alpha hobbled along next to her, his face was ashen and screwed up with pain. "Hey Xenophon, can you grab hold of my other arm? I could do with the support." Her words were a lie and they both knew it, but Sheena could sense that he was unlikely to make it under his own steam and she was in no condition to carry him. The lie would salve his Storm Lord pride and such a sacrifice was no hardship on her part, they both knew the truth and that was all that mattered.
He nodded in response and grasped her arm firmly; Sheena used what strength she had left to support him, propelling them both away from the Infirmary and towards Craigmillar Castle where they would be able to get through the Locus there without the complications that emerging inside the Hospital would bring.
The walk seemed to last forever, the hisil spreading on unending and she prayed hard that nothing would try and attack them on the way, the state they were in they would be far too easy prey for any spirit with some strength in them. She also tried not to think of the empty space where the feeling of the others should be, but they were all gone. Torn away by a beshilu infestation much stronger than any of them had expected. Most of the rats were dead now, dead or scattered but the cost... the cost may well have been the breaking of the pack.
***5 March, 2005***
It had been some time since she had last spoken to Feisal, so Sheena had been quite surprised by the phone call. It was almost two years since she had seen him last, not too long after the funeral, his attempts to make peace between her and Isla had led to him practically being thrown out of the house.
Part of Sheena wondered whether agreeing to meet up with him had been a bad idea, after all she had decided even when she had calmed down that distance between her and her sister was a good thing, that way at least some of her family were unlikely to be used against her by the Pure. That being the case, better not to have contact with Feisal either, keep him at the same distance she kept Isla and let the pair of them get on with their own lives, far apart from the world she inhabited as Forsaken. Such thoughts were a bit late now of course as she stood in the spot where they had agreed to meet as he would be here soon enough.
As she waited she suddenly felt the presence of another uratha nearby, she spun, instantly on guard and called out a challenge in fluent First Tongue. After a moment a very astonished looking Feisal emerged from some nearby foliage and the two of them stared at each other for a very long moment, their senses clearly telling each other that they were both uratha.
Sheena smiled at him, "It would seem we have a lot to talk about."
***July 7, 1998***
“Are you sure this is a good idea Ragna?” Xenophon asked as the pair of them stood at the border of her mentor’s territory. He was frowning as he spoke, eyeing the area with definite suspicion.
“I have to know what the vision meant and besides, I have standing permission to enter their territory unasked. On the other hand, you better stay here. I’ll yell if I run into any trouble.” Sheena responded, her own expression one of intense worry.
Xenophon nodded curtly once and motioned to the rest of the pack to wait as Sheena went on without them.
Carefully she entered the territory, looking for signs that something was out of place here. Her vision spoke of violence and she wasn’t sure whether the warning would come too late. All attempts at contacting the pack had so far failed and there was a feeling of unease in Sheena’s stomach which suggested to her that whatever the vision meant, it had already occurred.
Nothing seemed wrong except for the lack of someone coming to greet her, usually by now one of them would have noticed her presence, but there was only silence. Sheena walked on until she reached the house that served as their pack headquarters. There was no sign of the door having been forced so she let herself in and carefully started searching the rooms, not calling out as the silence that met her felt wrong somehow and giving her presence away to potential enemies was never a good idea.
When she headed upstairs she finally encountered horrific evidence of what had occurred here. Scarlet Whisper’s body lay across the top of the landing, cut almost in half, his brown eyes staring lifeless at the ceiling. Outrage and anger filled her as she headed through and checked the other rooms where the pack mostly slept. Most of their bodies were there and few looked like there had been any signs of a struggle. That they had died by violence while they slept meant only one thing in her mind: treachery. There was no way a pack of experienced and well trained Blood Talons could be taken down in their own territory as they slept any other way.
Her mind flashed back to the vision that had led her to this place. Suddenly part of it seemed to make more sense to her, what she had taken to mean one of them was injured as the skin had melted off his face, she wondered now if what that had meant was that one of the pack had betrayed the rest of them.
She stood for a moment, swearing silent vengeance against whomever the two-faced traitor was who had done this to her friends. No matter how long it took, she would see that they paid for their betrayal of the tribe. She turned then and headed out of the house, quickly moving to warn her pack of what had occurred here.
***March 26, 2000***
Anger still bubbled through her system as Sheena walked briskly through the parklands near her home. Once again she had had to leave to prevent herself from causing any damage to her family; she didn't want to think about what would happen if she lost her temper fully with them.
The evening air cooled her temper a little, though she still boiled internally with frustration. How could she fix the issues in her marriage when so much of it hinged on the lies she had no choice but to tell? It wasn't as though she could just explain to Ruraidh about being an Uratha and all that it entailed, he wouldn't believe her and she couldn't prove it without breaking the Oath and risking his sanity.
She sighed, sitting down and idly throwing stones into the distance, it helped a little.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Sheena looked up surprised into deep blue eyes and a somewhat mischievous smile. They belonged to a man who, while not exactly handsome, had a definite attractive quality that made her stomach lurch in response and a smile unwittingly start to play across her face. The wolf part of her had an almost irresistible urge to lean in and smell him; there was definitely something there that was causing sparks all through her system.
"Sorry, just working out a bit of frustration. I'm Sheena." She offered her hand, still smiling.
"Alexander, though people call me Sandy." He reached down and shook her hand firmly, causing a shiver to run up through her spin and make her whole body tingle and Sheena found herself desperately wishing that he was not having this strong an effect on her. "Want to talk about it?"
Part of her brain started screaming no at her, but the rest of her was not listening and she spoke before she could really think about what she was saying, "Sure."
Sandy smiled again and helped her up to her feet, Sheena grinned back, feeling all her worries slide slowly away in that smile.
***February 12, 2002***
The very scent of him filled her whole world as she lay in his arms, her heartbeat slowly returning to normal. A pang of sorrow ran through her as she knew that her time with him would soon have to end for good, if she was to have any chance of saving her marriage then this affair had to end. She just wished that this whole thing didn't feel so good, so right, like it was meant to be. Her feelings had gotten rather caught up with this man, stranger in many ways though he might be and leaving him was going to hurt, more than she ever would have expected.
"You seem very thoughtful my dear, what's wrong?" Sandy's blue eyes regarded her curiously. Absently she rubbed at the rings on her left hand, not even realising that she was doing it.
Sandy sighed, suddenly seeming both upset and annoyed, "I think I can gather where your thoughts are going love, you're not very good at hiding your feelings. I just wish you would realise that he will never understand, can never do so. It would be kinder on him as well as yourself if you just left him."
"It's not as easy at that and you know it, I have a family to consider and that just wouldn't be fair on them." Sheena replied, sitting up slightly so she could look at him better.
"So instead you are going to throw this away and make yourself miserable. Fine, if that's what you want then do it, just remember that I warned you. It won't work; you'll just tear each other apart. With me you don't ever have to hide any part of you, with him you will always be lying." He stared at her then, blue eyes almost pleading with her to see things his way.
Her heart caught in her throat. When all this had begun she had convinced herself it was nothing but passion, that all she was doing was taking comfort when she needed it. Slowly this man had crept closer to her and he meant more to her now than that. It had felt so good not to have to hold the wolf quite so much in check, to be able to talk a bit about her other life and not to have to lie to him with every other breath. A part of her whispered that he was completely right, but the part of her that followed duty told her what she was doing was wrong, and in the end that part of her always won. She hoped that perhaps Sandy would be able to forgive her for this.
***July 19, 2003***
She woke drenched in sweat, practically screaming herself awake. The rest of the pack stirred instantly at her distress, the vision still burned into her mind with all the dreadful clarity of a Cahalith's foresight. The pack were all staying in a safe house that Xenophon knew of, waiting for the dawn when they intended to attack a group of Azilu who were causing a serious threat to the far eastern areas of their territory. That time was very close now.
"What did you see?" The voice was Xenophon's and Sheena was suddenly aware that many of her pack were looking at her with apprehension, worried no doubt that she had seen some imminent disaster to do with their current mission.
"My family…" She paused, trying to collect her thoughts enough to explain what she had seen, "They are in danger from the Pure. I saw… I saw blood and screams."
A deadly quiet fell over them all, not a single one unaware of the terrible choice that faced them. To go and try and save Sheena's family from what might occur would risk the terrible consequences of allowing the Azilu to continue their predations and grow yet more powerful.
Sheena didn't need to ask, she already knew what Xenophon would decide in this and a part of her felt like screaming because of it. "We have to go on, if we turn back now the consequences would be damaging to a lot of people."
She nodded her face ashen and her spirit feeling like it was being torn in two. Silently she pictured the faces of her daughter and twin sons, praying to them to hold on. She would get there as soon as this was over. All they had to do was hang on…
***July 19, 2003***
The blood was everywhere; it seemed to cover the entire house, coating the furniture, the walls, so much blood. The rest of the pack had stayed outside, leaving their packmate to her grief which seemed to have turned into blood-curling cries that sounded like the human equivalent of a howl.
Her baby boys were both dead, their bodies mutilated almost beyond recognition. Ruraidh looked as though he had been ripped apart as he hopelessly tried to defend his family from forces he couldn't even have understood.
And then there was Siobhan…
She sat in the middle of the carnage, her body covered in blood, but otherwise unharmed, just staring at her surroundings in shock. At only ten years of age, she made a small figure amidst the chaos.
When Sheena spied her she ran to her and picked her up, hugging the girl tightly to her, tears of relief coursing down her cheeks. Silently she made a promise to herself, no matter what the consequences to the rest of the world, there was no way she was going to allow anything to take her daughter away from her.
***August 9, 2003***
Quite a few people had looked askance at the figure standing like a statue as the coffins containing the bodies of her husband and two young sons were lowered into the ground. Her lack of tears or any outward display of grief disturbed many of them, most already unnerved by her presence. Some probably inwardly wondered if she had had anything to do with their deaths, not that any would say such openly for fear of what she might do.
For Sheena, tears would have been wholly inadequate as she watched a large part of her life being laid to rest, gone from her forever. The ache left inside her, the pain that she could not turn off or ignore ate away at her, but she had duties to her daughter and her pack and that meant there was more important things to do than losing herself in her own pain.
"Sheena? Can I talk to you?" It was Isla's voice, sounding nervous. Sheena looked round, regarding her younger sister whose body was now rather obviously displaying her pregnancy, attempting not to freak her out any more than her presence always did.
"Sure, what's wrong?" She answered, trying to bury the flare of impatience that welled up inside of her.
"Well, um, it's just that…" Isla paused, obviously trying to collect her thoughts and Sheena's frustration rose another notch. "Considering everything that's happened, don't you think it's a good idea if maybe, um, Siobhan came to stay with us? I think Charles and I would be in a much better position to care for her now that Ruraidh's gone…"
Isla stopped speaking as she realised the colour that her sister's face had gone. Sheena felt her anger rip through her and had to bite it down hard to stop her from shifting forms and tearing her sister limb from limb. "You callous, calculating little bitch! You have the gall to tell me how to look after my own daughter?! I practically brought you up, just because you are about to be a mother does not mean that you know everything about being one. If you ever try and take any member of my family away from me again you will regret ever being born!"
The terror on Isla's face was very evident as she ran off to get away from the abnormal anger of her elder sister. As for Sheena, she desperately fought to retain control of herself as a part of her screamed out for her war form, to let herself get lost in her anger, just for a little while.
***22 August 2003***
The hour was late but Sheena trudged southwards towards Pure territory anyway. The vision Luna had sent her had contained a sense of urgency and if there really was a young woman in need of help on the outskirts of the city then she had better find her quickly before the Pure did.
Finally she came across the figure of a young woman, collapsed in exhaustion amongst the trees and carefully approached her. She could sense that she was uratha, but there was no sense in taking chances, this could be a trap set by the Pure after all.
The girl, who didn’t look as though she were out of her teens, obviously sensed her too and scrabbled, trying to get to her feet. Sheena blinked, impressed by the girl’s spirit, she was in no condition to stand let alone fight, but she was trying anyway. "It’s alright girl, I’m not here to hurt you. You can feel that I am like you, yes? Well Luna sent me to help you, so if you’ll trust me, that’s what I will do."
She looked back with hurt, angry eyes and an expression of suspicion on her face. Sheena could feel her anger rise; this girl had obviously been emotionally scarred in some way. A flash of how Siobhan looked when she had found her after the attack passed through her mind, but she pushed away the associated grief. Now was not a time to indulge it, now she had a task to do.
Sheena knelt and offered a hand to the girl, careful not to get too close and startle her. "If you come with me I have food and shelter. I can also perhaps answer any questions you have, offer you some training." The girl still looked suspiciously at her and Sheena sighed, "If you stay here you’ll likely die and I don’t think you want that, I certainly don’t."
Blinking for a moment, there was a look of indecision and worry that crossed the girl’s face then; slowly she reached out her arm and took the offered hand. Sheena tried to pull the girl to her feet, but she swayed unsteadily for a moment before collapsing against her. Carefully she swung the girl easily into her arms and hurried back towards her house before any of the local Pure caught wind of their presence.
***2 November 2004***
Looking at the young woman in front of her filled Sheena with an immense sense of pride. She had come a long way in the period of time since she had met her. She was fit and healthy now with new muscle growth and tone from all the physical training she had been doing. Not only that, there was a confidence in her that hadn’t been there before, the indomitable spirit she had shown when they met shone through all the time now.
"Sheena? I have something I want to say." She said, looking a little nervous.
Sheena smiled in return, "You want to leave." There was a shocked look in response and she couldn’t help but laugh, "I figured it out. You know everything you need to survive now, you have found a purpose and a family, but this still isn’t your home and you want to find where that is. I understand and I’m not upset, but I do want you to know that you are family now Harmony, and you will always be welcome here. Just remember to let me know you are coming, I don’t always react well to surprises."
Harmony laughed in response and gave her mentor a hug and a broad grin, "I’ll keep in touch and come and visit."
"I’m glad to hear that, otherwise I’d have to track you down and be cross at you" Sheena winked and hugged her back tightly; she’d grown very fond of her student in the time she had spent with her. In some ways the experience had healed them both, Sheena’s grief had lessened with the responsibility of training Harmony and Harmony’s past had been pushed back by a sense of achievement and self-worth.
As Harmony left Sheena said a silent prayer to Luna, thanking her for bringing the two of them together, feeling the usual sense of purpose and unity fill her. Their mother might be a little changeable, but she was usually right.
***26 February, 2005***
The blood from the wound to her guts was trickling down her legs in a rather uncomfortable manner. Sheena was trying not to think about it, her arm carefully folded across her stomach, trying to keep her intestines roughly where they should be until she could get to someone who could fix her up since if she let her system heal then then her internal system would be all screwed up.
Her alpha hobbled along next to her, his face was ashen and screwed up with pain. "Hey Xenophon, can you grab hold of my other arm? I could do with the support." Her words were a lie and they both knew it, but Sheena could sense that he was unlikely to make it under his own steam and she was in no condition to carry him. The lie would salve his Storm Lord pride and such a sacrifice was no hardship on her part, they both knew the truth and that was all that mattered.
He nodded in response and grasped her arm firmly; Sheena used what strength she had left to support him, propelling them both away from the Infirmary and towards Craigmillar Castle where they would be able to get through the Locus there without the complications that emerging inside the Hospital would bring.
The walk seemed to last forever, the hisil spreading on unending and she prayed hard that nothing would try and attack them on the way, the state they were in they would be far too easy prey for any spirit with some strength in them. She also tried not to think of the empty space where the feeling of the others should be, but they were all gone. Torn away by a beshilu infestation much stronger than any of them had expected. Most of the rats were dead now, dead or scattered but the cost... the cost may well have been the breaking of the pack.
***5 March, 2005***
It had been some time since she had last spoken to Feisal, so Sheena had been quite surprised by the phone call. It was almost two years since she had seen him last, not too long after the funeral, his attempts to make peace between her and Isla had led to him practically being thrown out of the house.
Part of Sheena wondered whether agreeing to meet up with him had been a bad idea, after all she had decided even when she had calmed down that distance between her and her sister was a good thing, that way at least some of her family were unlikely to be used against her by the Pure. That being the case, better not to have contact with Feisal either, keep him at the same distance she kept Isla and let the pair of them get on with their own lives, far apart from the world she inhabited as Forsaken. Such thoughts were a bit late now of course as she stood in the spot where they had agreed to meet as he would be here soon enough.
As she waited she suddenly felt the presence of another uratha nearby, she spun, instantly on guard and called out a challenge in fluent First Tongue. After a moment a very astonished looking Feisal emerged from some nearby foliage and the two of them stared at each other for a very long moment, their senses clearly telling each other that they were both uratha.
Sheena smiled at him, "It would seem we have a lot to talk about."
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