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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 1, 2009 7:05:46 GMT -5
”Please don’t do that.” She had taken his hands in hers, stopping his movements.
Caleb blushed, the red staining his face now clearly illuminated by the growing glow of the fire. He just sat like that for a few seconds, not knowing what to do or how to react. But her hands were warmer then his so, sliding his hands out of hers, he wrapped his cold fingers around both her hands. He brought both her hands close to his chest for a second before bringing them to his lips and blowing between his fingers. The air would warm her fingers. This is what one would do in Canada, right? He hadn’t been here very long and this was his first winter in Noatak.
He kept that up for a few minutes, making sure her hands were warmed, before he let her go. He switched focus to his knee, taking the back in his hands and leaning more towards the fire to illuminate the cut. Yes, it would probably need stitches. The gash looked as if it had sliced his knee in half and it was caked with blood, dirt and whatever other foreign objects that made its way in there. He cringed, making a pitched whimpering sound when he tried to dislodge a splinter of wood from the cut with his nail, but without success. The fabric of his jeans were stiff around and mostly below the knee, and what used be blue had turned a rusty colour.
Putting his knee down, knowing he couldn’t do much else for it, he leaned into the flames, now flickering brightly. He was warming his face, but out of the corner of his eye he regarded Melissa curiously. She looked cold still, as if she might catch a chill soon. Caleb wondered if there was any other way to keep her warm, or get her warmed up quicker.
Well, might as well get that gauze off her arm anyways. Rummaging through his bag until he found the supplies again, he leaned more towards Melissa and took her bad arm. Caleb undid the pin that held the bandages together and began to unwrap it. Since he was so fragile, he would often need to do this himself… And often meant quite often in his case.
The night was growing darker, which only increased his paranoia. His hands were beginning to shake a bit, either out of fear or cold. Either way, his fingertips were beginning to discolour and turn a bit blue. His black hair was dry now though, so it was the one up-side among the many downs in his day.
Once he had finished replacing Melissa’s bandages, he turned back to the fire the best he could, placing his hands near the flame.
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 3, 2009 15:24:53 GMT -5
Instead of calming Caleb down, Melissa felt like she was only making him more withdrawn and embarrassed. His blush attested to that, a blush that she reflected back at him as she reacted. She hadn’t meant to embarrass him, only comfort him as she wished to be comforted. She made a mental note to not get so close in the future, though she knew already that she’d have a hard time following through with it. It would be made more difficult since Caleb had intertwined their hands, pressing his cold palms against her much warmer ones. Even his chest was cold, and Melissa held her breath, stiffening her body as he pulled her hands there. For the second that they touched, she pressed her hands down gently, trying to warm him as much as she could before he pulled them to his lips. She’d resumed breathing normally, but it stopped again at this new contact. His breath was warm, probably the warmest part of him at the moment, and it felt good to her, though she felt bad that she wasn’t doing it for him.
The light of the fire he’d created cast eerie shadows on the trees around them, but Melissa was more frightened by the extent of Caleb’s injury for the moment. She herself was already much warmer, as the warmth cast by the fire had dried the remaining water from her clothes. Caleb’s breath helped too, seeming to warm her from the inside out, though it was actually only because she was blushing. Her focus remained, even though she was surprised by what had just occurred, and she turned just as quickly as he did to examine his knee. Her cheetah sniffed the air and caught the metallic hint of blood, becoming excited. Blood to it usually meant a kill and a meal, but Melissa scolded it. He’s our friend, remember? We aren’t going to eat him. With that it settled down to sulk in silence, though it grudgingly acknowledged that she was right.
While she was arguing with her counterpart, Caleb was rummaging through his bag, looking for yet something else. He really needs to be more organized and stop forgetting where everything is. She smiled at him, but the smile disappeared instantly when she saw what he was holding in his hands. It was a good thing that he didn’t give her time to react; it didn’t give her enough time to try to resist. Before she could really think past what he was holding he was close, too close, and if that wasn’t enough, he was touching her again. Try as she might to hide it, her wide eyes and careful stillness gave away her nervousness at having him taking care of her. Caleb’s hands felt experienced and gentle, as he had been in everything so far, but when pulling it off her arm, the gauze caught on a couple of the stitches and she winced. Her cheetah would have bit him by now, and it despised her patience with him.
The cut, well, gash really looked really deep, and there was dirt and other things in the opening that she didn’t want to think about. Caleb had obviously noticed that there were objects in the slice too, for he tried to pull something out and ended up moaning in pain. That’s not a good idea. You’ll just make it dirtier. Here, let’s clean it out so I can see better. After rummaging around in the first aid kit, Melissa pulled out a pair of scissors, water, disinfectant, a roll of gauze and some tape.
Hesitant now, she cautiously inquired to him, asking for permission. May I touch you? Another blush crept across her cheeks once she realized the many ways that her words could be taken in. Err . . . I mean, your knee? She gestured to it, hoping that he would understand and agree. She didn’t know how much longer she could stand to sit beside him when he was so bloody and mangled looking. It hurt her to examine the careful way that he sat, to minimize the pain, so she tried not to think about it too much. His thin hands looked cold to her, but she was afraid to touch him again. Melissa waited a slow minute before reaching her injured arm out carefully to touch his ice cold hands, gauging his reaction carefully. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 3, 2009 17:41:22 GMT -5
”May I touch you?” Melissa blushed as she seemed to realize the awkwardness of her words. ”Err . . . I mean, your knee?”
Caleb’s eyebrows knit together in concentration as he tried to figure out what she was saying. Everybody, and that meant everybody, in Noatak knew how to speak English but him, probably. He was trying to learn, but there were to English teachers in the small town and online courses were confusing. For now, the only English he was learning was from experience and listening to others talk.
Before he could figure out exactly what she was saying, Melissa had placed her warm hand on his, waiting for some sort of reaction or answer. He stared back at her; his signature deer-in-headlights look was plain on his face. He felt it the moment she touched him; something weird, almost dangerous. It was kind of like licking a battery; it was the sudden jolt, like a shock that didn’t really hurt. She must have had a talisman, or she was a Hunter or something. To tell the truth, he was getting sort of scared. It wasn’t exactly of Melissa, but it wasn’t exactly not Melissa either. Maybe it was just Caleb’s deer-like wariness of just about everything, or maybe his paranoia was actually founded on something. Either way, he felt a sort of tightening in his chest and a burning in his ears that indicated panic.
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and, biting his lip, he nodded at Melissa. He had no idea what he was agreeing to, so he trusted the woman’s judgment. Anyways, she had stuff like disinfectant and gauze, so he could only guess that she wanted to help him with his cut. Caleb leaned a bit more towards her, holding the back of his knee in both his hands to steady his nervous shaking. He didn’t want anything to slip, Melissa was holding a pair of scissors and he didn’t want that embedded in his knee too, or worse, his thigh or shin.
Biting his lip, almost hard enough to draw blood, he stared up at the sky. The stars were bright tonight, and so was the moon, without a single cloud up there. He remembered, when he was maybe 4 or 5 years old, his mother told him how the sky could see everything and anybody, no matter where they were. Caleb had, at first, actually believed it, but the belief faded as he grew older. 17 years later, now 22 years old, he found himself wondering if there was any truth to what his mother had said. Maybe, or maybe not. He couldn’t help but mull that over, thinking of people he hadn’t seen or talked to in a long time.
The first person that popped up into his mind brought tears to his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away on his shoulder. He wouldn’t think about that, he often tried not to anyways. It felt as if a lump of something had blocked up his throat, and he made a coughing sound to clear it, but it only half worked. He missed Reyes. He missed him, feared him and loved him all at once. Reyes had killed his twin brother in a horrible way, and he loved him. Wasn’t that kind of like seeing the person you murdered every day, over and over again?
Caleb hadn’t realized he was staring at Melissa until his eyes began to sting because of the smoke from the fire. He hid the fact that he felt as if he was about to be sick, not wanting to scare the woman off. Eerie shadows danced around them as the fire flickered; whatever wasn’t touched by the glow was shrouded in gloom. His deer talisman nickered at him, telling him to calm down and not let every shadow get to his nerves. Then his talisman gave Melissa a pointed look, urging him to ask her if that would help calm his nerves.
”Mel..?” His voice was shaky. ”Y-you’re have a… Animal?” This time he pointed to himself, eyes questioning and curious. ”Animal like mine deer?”
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 9, 2009 15:57:01 GMT -5
The whole communication thing they had needed some work, that was for certain. At Caleb’s expression Melissa felt bad for pressuring him, though she hadn’t intended it that way. It was an almost comical expression, and she would have laughed at it had they been in different circumstances. She sensed that she was making him nervous because of her close proximity, but it couldn’t be helped for the moment, and she was relieved when he cautiously nodded his consent, though he still appeared to be very suspicious of her.
After letting him take deep breaths and have time to steady himself, Melissa began. She was no doctor, but by golly, she was going to do the best job that she could until they could get him to a doctor. Instead of making a fuss about his hands being somewhat in the way, Melissa decided that it was simpler to just work around them. I’m starting now, and I’ll be as gentle as possible, I promise. Her own voice quivered with suppressed nerves, but she tried not to show her own rising panic to Caleb. She needed him to be as calm as possible.
Using the scissors, Melissa carefully cut the ragged, dirty portion of his jeans off, making a neat hole. She let the bloody scraps fall to the ground, not really wanting to touch them further if she could help it. After that, the scissors went away, and she pulled out a water bottle from her own bag. This could be tricky. After rolling his pant leg up past the knee, she poured water on it, trying to rinse as much dirt as possible from the wound. Several objects that she didn’t care to look more closely at washed out, and the cut had already begun to appear less angry. You’re doing great. This part won’t hurt nearly as bad. After ever so softly dabbing the area dry with her sweatshirt, Melissa carefully placed the gauze over the wound and proceeded to wrap the entire knee before securing it with medical tape. She rolled the jeans back down over it and smiled, pleased with herself. There, you’re done!
So pleased with herself, Melissa was startled to see Caleb wiping tears onto his shoulder. Ordinarily, had it been someone she was more familiar with, she would have questioned him about them, comforted him had he told her. In this case though, the best course of action was probably not to ask. Trying to be tactful -which wasn’t one of her strong points- Melissa stared into the fire, letting it play tricks on her eyes, making shapes appear in the tongues of flame as they licked the wood. She let Caleb gather himself, and wasn’t surprised when he spoke again.
“Mel . . ? Her eyes slowly passed over the dark trees until they rested on him. Caleb’s question surprised her, because she hadn’t thought that he was so straightforward. She was caught off guard and thought for a second before replying. Umm… yes, I do. I’m not a deer like you though. Would telling him mess up everything? After all, he was prey and she predator. I’m a . . .a cheetah. Honestly, Melissa wasn’t sure at all that he would understand what she was saying, but if he didn’t, she’d just have to show him.
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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 12, 2009 17:50:41 GMT -5
…A cheetah.
Caleb’s expression changed from shock, to horror, to joy and about a million different emotions mixed into one. Melissa’s talisman was a cheetah! He felt as if he would begin laughing and crying at the same time, it was so unbelievable.
“Takagui… He was cheetah too!” Takagui was his twin brother... Who was currently deceased thanks to Reyes. He had no idea if he should feel happy about meeting another cheetah, or sad because it brought the horrible thought back into his mind at full force. He and his twin brother had been very, very close before he was killed. ”Takaugi is twin. He is my twin.” Caleb managed to say without too much fault, his heavily accented voice was both excited and longing.
Without much reason and probably driven by the excitement, he leaned forward and hugged Melissa tightly, not caring how much his knee protested. ”Arigatougozaimasu!” He said happily and released her, a smile still apparent on his face. He had no idea why meeting another person with a cheetah talisman made him so happy, but it did. Caleb felt better now, despite what happened earlier, and a little less afraid of the dark.
Actually, his knee was feeling a bit better now that there weren’t random objects sticking out of it. Most of the dirt had been cleaned away, along with bits of other foreign objects. His knee had been wrapped in gauze and secured with some medical tape; it didn’t look so bad anymore. However, either way, he knew that he would need to go to the clinic for it and get more professional medical help. Despite this fact, and his hate of clinics and hospitals, he still found himself grinning like an idiot at Melissa.
Caleb took another glance around; the woods seemed a bit less spooky now that his spirits were lifted. “You’re being okay too?” He pointed at Melissa’s newly wrapped up arm. She was nice enough to take care of him, so at least he could ask if she was doing alright.
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 14, 2009 17:15:29 GMT -5
It was good to be able to share her secret with someone who could understand. Thankfully for her, Caleb understood immediately, though his reaction was baffling. Her surprise turned to alarm as he looked like he was horrified, to looking like he was going to cry to going to laugh. To be on the safe side she pulled back to get some distance, in case he freaked out or something.
Takagui . . . He was a cheetah too! Who the hell was Takagui? It didn’t matter, not really, since Melissa was more excited that there was someone out there who was a cheetah like her, until she noticed the past tense Caleb had used. More emotions, strong emotions, passed over Caleb’s face, each lasting only a second before being replaced with the next. Melissa casually wondered where the kaleidoscope of emotions would stop as she listened to Caleb talk about his twin, the aforementioned Takagui, but now in the present tense. It was pretty confusing, trying to figure out what he actually meant, but Melissa didn’t blame Caleb at all for the language barrier between them. He was improving the more that they spoke too, which was encouraging to know.
The whole twin story was bothering her too, since she wanted to find someone with the same talisman as her. Melissa hadn’t consciously figured out what exactly she was looking for, but now she knew that she needed to meet someone who could completely, truly and utterly understand what she was going through. Trying not to seem callused, Melissa timidly asked the question that was burning in her mind. Why isn’t he here with you? I mean, twins usually stay pretty close don’t they? Melissa had wished sometimes for a twin, but had discovered that she liked not being compared to anyone else and being her own person. Still, it intrigued her that Caleb had a twin, and she wondered if they were close as twins stereotypically were.
In his excitement Caleb leaned close and enveloped her in a firm hug. The last time someone had hugged her had been before her mother had died, so the close contact was unexpected to say the least. Still, Melissa enjoyed the feeling, though probably more than she should have, leaning into Caleb’s body and holding him just as tightly as he held her. Seemingly out of nowhere, Caleb said a long word in whatever his native language was, confusing her. As they both pulled away from each other, Melissa’s curiousity got the better of her. What does that mean? Arigtoogosamoose? She knew that she’d butchered the word, though she’d tried her best not to, and laughed a little at her bad imitation.
Though Caleb’s knee appeared much better, and didn’t appear to be hurting as much she knew that he needed to see a doctor, and soon too. The morning would be fine as long as he knew where to go to get out of the woods, because she sure as heck didn’t. Melissa was useless in the woods unless she had a map and compass, because all the trees looked the same to her. She flinched as Caleb pointed at her, but tried to hide it. You’re being okay too? With a shrug, which pulled at the stitches in her shoulder, Melissa struggled to answer positively. I don’t think that the stitches were supposed to get wet. We can both to go to the clinic in town in the morning and get checked out. She was unwilling to complain about her discomfort when he was obviously hurting more than her.
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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 14, 2009 21:26:41 GMT -5
”Why isn’t he here with you? I mean, twins usually stay pretty close don’t they?”
His joyful expression melted away immediately, replaced by one of grief and emotional pain. Yeah, he understood what she meant this time; he had been asked this before. How would he be able to explain without breaking down into tears like he did every other time? He knit his brows together in concentration and tried to put together the words to explain his sorrow. How the heck was he supposed to explain his twin brother -- whom he was extremely close to -- was killed by his ex that he had some feelings for?
“Takaugi is… Oh, we are… Were are very much love each other.” Did that come out correctly? Maybe not, but he was getting quite tired and didn’t want to think much anymore. He bit his lip to distract himself from the stinging in his eyes that pretty much indicated tears. It was inevitable; he was going to start crying again like every other time.
Another deep, shaky breath and he continued. ”We are twin. He is killing in Japan when traveled when go into Aokigahara…” He wiped tears from his cheeks and tried not to overreact, if that was even possible. He didn’t want to say much more, lest he become completely inconsolable. He hoped Melissa would, could, understand and not get upset at him. ”Aokigahara is… Forest. Forest of dead.”
” What does that mean? Arigtoogosamoose?”
He couldn’t help but smile faintly, even through his grief, at Melissa’s attempt at Japanese. ”Arigatougozaimasu… Thank you.” He didn’t laugh though; Caleb knew he probably sounded equally as clumsy with English. When he was in Europe and Reyes was still with him, he remembered how Reyes used to recite more advanced English that confused him horribly. He didn’t remember exactly what it was, but it had two names; one started with an E and the other with an S. Whatever it had been, it had confused so much more then normal English. He remembered, rather clearly, one scenario where Reyes had gotten on one knee and held out a rose to him in a rather crowded cafe and began to prose in the other English. Everybody had stared at them and some awwww’d and whispered, but every single person had watched and waited for his response. He had blushed so badly in embarrassment, sitting there and looking from Reyes to the rose and back, trying to figure out what he wanted him to do.
The offer of going to the clinic together sounded nice, but he wondered if they actually should. He didn’t exactly want to pester Melissa any more then he had already, so he simply shook his head and looked down at the fire. Caleb would be able to find his own way out of the woods tomorrow morning; the earlier the better.
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 16, 2009 12:26:32 GMT -5
When Mel realized the reaction her question had prompted, she was stricken with quilt. Idiot. Now look at what you've done! Why couldn't you just mind your own buisiness for once? Her talisman scolded her, and Melissa hung her head in shame. Never had she felt so bad about something she'd done, even if it hadn't really been her fault; she should have minded her own buisiness. I . . I'm . . I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have asked; it's none of my buisiness. Her gaze dropped to the ground, studying the soft dirt around her.
Caleb looked like he was choking on the words, and Melissa continued to regret asking about it. She knew what her mothers' death had done to her, so she could only imagine how Caleb's twins' death had affected him. Mel's curiousity burned to know how Takaugi had died, but after the reaction she'd just gotten wasn't about to ask. She didn't want to upset Caleb further.
Her hand moved to rest ever-so-lightly on his back, staying motionless for a minute before making minute circles over his shoulderblades. It was the most comforting gesture Melissa could think to give Caleb besides another hug; she wasn't sure how he would take a hug, so it was better not to chance it. Mel vaguely wondered how long ago Caleb's twin had died, because he still seemed really torn up about the whole thing. How are you supposed to get over the loss of something like that? A person who's closer to you than anyone else, a person who can practically read your mind. She didn't know if that was something anyone could really ever get over.
”Arigatougozaimasu… Thank you.” At least he was somewhat smiling, though his eyes were still shiny from his recently fallen tears. She hoped that he would go get medical help, though she knew guys usually didn't unless it was something very serious. Caleb hadn't behaved like an average guy so far though; crying wasn't a usual thing guys did, especially in front of others. Pulling back into herself, Mel carefully lowered her body on the ground, remaining on her back to better view the stars that were now shining brightly above. It was something that made her hopeful, knowing that no matter what was happening on Earth they were always there, lighting up the sky.
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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 17, 2009 7:25:07 GMT -5
Caleb sighed deeply, his breath hitching from the recent onslaught, with a few stray tears still making their way from his eyes. He curled his legs close to his body and placed his head onto his knees as he tried to relax with Melissa now making small circles over his shoulder blades. He always broke down when his brother was mentioned, which made him seem like wuss to other guys. That was probably also a reason he was pushed around so much, but another part was because of how naïve he could get. It was probably his fault that he got into such bad relationships after Reyes had left him, and it was also his fault that he didn’t leave immediately once he realized it was turning abusive.
Melissa had lain down beside him and was staring up at the stars that littered the sky. It was beautiful up there; bright dots against inky blue with nearly no light pollution to mar that appearance. The stars who’s light was reaching your eyes are long dead though, but their light remains because it is still traveling through space. It was quite odd once you thought about it; the light reaching your eyes were over a million years old. Caleb’s astrology and astronomy went as far as his biology though, and he couldn’t pick out or name any stars he saw.
Caleb stretched his arms up and yawned before rubbing his eyes. He was beginning to feel rather sleepy, which seemed to always happen after he cried or after stress had washed over. The warmth of the fire didn’t seem to help either, he got sleepy too when he was warm. Another yawn before he buried his head in his knees and closed his eyes to get a few seconds of jarred sleep. He was getting more and more tired as the night wore on, yet he didn’t feel completely safe to have a good sleep. He really did want to go to sleep just about now, but his deer side was still alert and at that rate, the best he could ever get was a few seconds of slumber before he was jerked awake because of some tiny noise or slight movement Melissa made.
”You sleepy?” He looked over his shoulder slightly at Melissa staring up at the stars. After a day of hiking around the woods, climbing trees and a near-drowning incident, one was bound to be exhausted. Caleb scuttled to the other side of the fire so as to give her some personal space, he knew he didn’t like his own personal space to be intruded on so he treated most others the same.
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 20, 2009 14:31:44 GMT -5
For all of her confusion about what had happened that day, Mel was just too tired to think it all over right now. Ordinarily she would have had difficulties sleeping, would have stayed awake for hours pondering what had happened and why. However, right now she was exhausted, partially because she hadn't been sleeping well lately. The stresses of losing her mother, running away from home, and being completely on her own had been building up inside her like a dam. Her injury hadn't helped either, making sleep uncomfortable and unattractive.
She was worried about Caleb, who was jumping at her slightest movements. He was edgy to say the least, which meant that he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. And after the day that he'd just had, he needed rest too. His voice seemed to come out of the dark behind her, when she turned her head half of his face was hidden. Shadows from the flames flitted across Caleb's angular features, giving him a distinctly dangerous appearance. It was enough to make Melissa sit back up again, just in time for him to ask her a question.
"You sleepy?" It was sweet of him to care, just as it had been sweet of him to take care of her first, though he had needed it more than she. Sleepy? No, I'm exhausted right now. You? I mean, you must be pretty tired yourself after your little adventure today. Caleb moved around the circle of fieto sit on the other side, and Mel was as isolated as ever again. Back to square one I guess. Mel sighed and carefully lowered herself back onto the ground, gazing at the sky again. It looked like someone had dropped a bucket of glitter into some black paint. It timelessness and beauty comforted her, allowing her to relax. Too tired to keep up a guard against Caleb or anything else that might be lurking nearby, Mel's lids became heavier . . .
and heavier . . .
and heavier.
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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 22, 2009 17:44:41 GMT -5
"Sleepy? No, I'm exhausted right now. You? I mean, you must be pretty tired yourself after your little adventure today."
Caleb only nodded at her question; he was indeed very, very tired, but too on edge to sleep. Anybody would be tired after a long hike followed by a near drowning experience. Melissa had lowered herself back onto the ground and seemed to already have fallen asleep herself, so he decided that keeping watch would be a decent idea for the time being. He slowly, very slowly, got back up to his feet and cringed slightly when his knee was stretched out. Caleb's clothes slowly seemed to turn brownish and course fur began to sprout on his skin, along with his hands and feet turning stiff. His bones fused and the tissues in his body melted down as horns grew out of his skull. Again, the transformation was anything but pretty for him, but it got the job done in the end and that was what mattered.
The young Japanese man, now a sika deer, stood over the fire. The flames turned his formerly brown pelt a nice tinge of gold, however that worked, and reflected in his black eyes. Caleb looked... Bigger, in the dark and standing before the flames. His sensed had been sharpened, especially in his hearing and eyesight category. Now in his deer form once again, he felt more secure with himself and made his way back to Melissa's side of the fire. Caleb nudged at her with his nose to make sure she was okay first before looking back out into an endless stare.
An owl hooted off somewhere in the distance and the deer turned his head towards the sound, ears flicking this way and that to pinpoint the exact location. When the bird did not make any further sound, he turned his antlered head back to the fire. His bag still lay just to the left of the fire from where he was standing, and he was leaning over Melissa like a large foreshadow. Now, when all was silent, he finally had time to think some things over.
First off, though he wasn't exactly here in Noatak for the longest time, he had certainly learned most of the faces in the small town. Melissa had either been new as he was to the town, or she had kept herself obscure for the time. Caleb himself had come to Noatak as he was traveling and trying to continue after the trauma and devastation of his twin being murdered and Reyes leaving him. It was a long and complicated story, to say the least. For now, he was just trying to make something of his life as he traveled from place to place. About one year ago he had landed himself in Noatak and had actually planned to leave pretty soon.
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 24, 2009 15:53:17 GMT -5
Melissa was standing in a clearing, the same clearing were she'd helped rescue Caleb. Wait! There he was in his talisman form, standing on the ice covered lake. A smile flitted across Mel's face; he looked so powerful and gentle. An ominous crackling sound disturbed the silence. She ran towards him, yelling a warning, but it was too late. Within a millisecond Caleb plunged into the icy water, thrashing about wildly. Try as she might, Melissa couldn't get close to him. No matter how fast she ran, Caleb didn't get any closer. In fact, he moved away from her, quickly disappearing into the surrounding darkness.
After that the dream morphed into something else, and by this time Melissa was consciously aware that it was a dream, but unable to stop it. She’d had the same nightmare for the past couple of months, but that didn't stop it from being terrifying. Within an instant she was back at the house, her old home, where she and her mom had lived after her parents had gotten divorced. The front door was open, which Melissa thought was strange because they never left the door open. Something must be really wrong. Bolting through the door, her mother was standing there. Mom? Her mother looked up and smiled, and at that instant Melissa felt whole again. Mom! Oh my gosh, I thought you were dead. Melissa ran to her mother, arms spread wide. Her mother laughed and replied, You must have been dreaming and they embraced. But as Mel's arms wrapped around her mother's petite frame, her mom's body went limp. Mom! Mom! The body crumpled in her arms like a piece of paper, and the house disappeared, leaving Melissa alone in the darkness.
Her eyes opened, and still the darkness remained. She slowly sat up, covering her face with her hands and allowed the tears that were coming out of her eyes to softly fall on the earth below her. Mel was breathing deeply, trying to stop the twitches left over from her body's writhing motions. Whenever she dreamed, Mel's body moved somewhat according to what was happening in the dream. If she was running her feet twitched, and it only added to her frustration. A few sobs managed to sneak through her hands, but the rest were muffled by her fingers. A gentle touch on her arm made her jump, but she relaxed upon realizing that the gentle brown eyes belonged to Caleb.
Caleb’s transformation had been so smooth and silent that she hadn’t heard a thing. Now Melissa cursed her own inattention. Note to self: Be more careful in the future. She was still trembling about the nightmare, but she was also glad that Caleb was there with her. Even if he was a deer at the moment, the intelligence behind the eyes was undeniable. As she finished wiping her eyes off Melissa gave an embarrassed, nervous laugh. I suppose you think I’m crazy, huh? I don’t blame you. It’s just that, well my dreams are . . . um, vivid. I thought they’d gone away, but apparently they haven’t. Her eyes welled up again as she spoke; just remembering the dream was terrifying for her. They were all horrific, but that was one of the ones that kept recurring when she slept, something that scared her out of her mind.
With a careful hand, Melissa reached out to gently stroke Caleb’s face. Were he human she would never have been so bold, but it was different when he was a deer. What kind of deer are you anyways? I don’t recognize your breed. Is it native to your homeland? These thoughts inspired another embarrassed laugh. I don’t suppose you can answer me right now, but maybe you’ll answer once you’re human again. She hugged herself and leaned closer to the flame, letting the warmth wash over her. Try as she might, she couldn’t relax; the nightmares always made her edgy, and being in the middle of the woods wasn’t helping. It wasn’t out of her comfort zone per say, but it was too open, to easy to be attacked out here. She hoped that the nightmares stopped, and soon. It was bad enough that she had to suffer alone in her new apartment; to scare Caleb with them too was just unfair. The cheetah was worried too, and it mentally nuzzled her, trying to offer some measure of comfort, but the little voice inside her head, the other little voice that is, was questioning her hope. What if they never stop? What then? She didn’t even want to consider the option.
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Post by DesperateDark on Jun 26, 2009 13:34:45 GMT -5
"I suppose you think I’m crazy, huh? I don’t blame you. It’s just that, well my dreams are . . . um, vivid. I thought they’d gone away, but apparently they haven’t."
Melissa looked like she had begun crying, and the last thing he wanted was a crying girl under his care. He didn't like to see people shed tears, and one of the reasons why was that he was a sympathetic crier... Which meant that when somebody cried, he would also begin to tear up, which, very plainly, sucked. With only a bit of hesitation and a thought towards how awkward this would be if he were human, he leaned down and began to lick the salty tears from Melissa's face. What else could he have done? He didn't have hands at the moment, and smashing her in the face with a hoof while trying to wipe away tears didn't seem like a great idea.
The woman had reached out and gently began to stroke his face, which felt soothing, to say the least. It made him relax a bit, and reinforced the idea that he may be able to trust her. "What kind of deer are you anyways? I don’t recognize your breed. Is it native to your homeland?" She questioned, followed my a short, discomfited chuckle. Caleb made a grunting noise before remembering that he couldn't speak while in his talisman form. It was an odd thing, a human in talisman form couldn't speak to another human, but a human in talisman form speaking to another human in talisman form could understand each other, even if they aren't the same animal. Caleb would have loved to answer her if he had human vocal cords, but alas, at the moment he didn't.
Melissa huddled herself closer to the fire, probably to warm herself again. She looked a bit sad and anxious; whatever dream she had, it must've alarmed her quite a bit. He wanted to say something to help, but he couldn't think of much to say since they barely knew each other in the first place. He only knew that her name was Melissa and she had a cheetah talisman, but outside of that, not much else. Caleb squeezed his eyes shut and made a soft sound, close to a deer adaptation of a sigh. He wished he would have somebody by his side to tell him what to do in a situation like this one. He knew he was never good in situations involving other humans, and at one point in his life he remembered that he was actually too shy to function socially. Thankfully he had gotten over that phase somewhat, though traces still remained.
Deciding that, while Melissa was awake, she would need some company, Caleb again began to phase from deer to human. Again, the transformation wasn't the prettiest thing to watch, so he did it behind her back so she wouldn't see; he didn't need to go and scare her even more. Once he was human again, he felt the same feeling of hopelessness seep back into his mind. Favouring his other, not-so-mangled leg, he limped towards Melissa and sat down beside her.
"I am... Hokkaido Sika." he answered her previous question on what species of deer he was. "Native to Japan." At this point, seeing her so upset, he wondered if he should reconsider accompanying her to the clinic. Maybe he should try and get her to talk about it, so she wouldn't feel so bad about it. He knew he had to be careful with this though, since it worked for some but made things worse for others. "You are being okay?" he questioned, concern showing in his voice. "Want to speak?" He tried to make the words sound right despite his heavy accent. He hoped the state of affairs wouldn't deteriorate any more then it already had.
He forgot to knock on wood. Caleb turned when he heard something rustle heavily behind him, back under the foliage somewhere. He held his breath and prayed to whatever that something wouldn't come bursting out and attack them. In his condition, he couldn't do much to fight off an attacker. He didn't know if Melissa could do anything, but for now, he had to assume she couldn't. As quickly as he was able, he grabbed his bag and rummaged through it again. It wasn't for medical supplies this time. "You know to use Fukiya?" Caleb took out the length of hollowed out bamboo and a few of the darts and showed them to Melissa. She needed to know how to use it right, because plenty could go wrong if you didn't know how to use it.
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Post by Melissa|Tristan on Jun 29, 2009 12:22:01 GMT -5
Now that they'd both cried, the air felt clearer, fresher than it had in the minutes before. The deer that was also Caleb had walked over softly, it's hooffalls almost inaudible. He carried himself with as more grace as a deer than he did as a human, she noted. She could feel his body heat, helped along by his thick fur. What almost made Melissa shrink back was when Caleb shoved his face close to hers. She could see no intent to harm though, so she just held very, very still. Cheetahs were patient creatures, so she had some experience with stillness. Caleb's eyes were just as gentle as they were on his human face, and the angularness of his human face was smoothed and filled out as a deer. The talisman suited him, whatever the talisman was. Her eyes closed, a reflexive action, when Caleb's tongue reached out of his mouth to gently stroke her face. She could feel his warm breath and velvety soft nose on her face, as he gently lapped up what remained of her tears.
Funny sounds emanated from Caleb's chest, like he was trying to speak. A minute smile appeared on her face as she listened to the strange, gurgling noises. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought he had indigestion. Before Caleb could fully pull his head away, she opened her eyes, gently stroked his cheekbones, paused to hold them softly, and finally kissed him ever-so-softly on the nose. With a shrug, she whispered Thank you. before removing her hands carefully from his face. She definitely felt more comfortable with animals than she did with people.
Caleb had turned to walk away, and fearing abandonment Melissa had turned away from the fire to see where he was going. She watched, fascinated, as Caleb's features gradually became more human. Caleb's transformation wasn't frightening or grotesque in the least to her, since it was just Caleb underneath all of the changes. She wondered what she looked like as she transformed, but had been too chicken to look in a mirror and find out. After all, what if she looked horrible? Melissa didn't know if she'd ever have been able to transform in front of others again. Yes, she was better off not knowing at all.
Caleb's limp was more pronounced now than it had been before, and the frostiness outside the ring of fire probably wasn't helping him much. "I am... Hokkaido Sika. Native to Japan." That explained why she'd never seen or heard of his breed of deer before. So you're from Japan? What are you doing here then? After realizing the questions that had seemed to jump from her mouth without permission, Melissa blushed and quickly continued. Sorry! I didn't mean to pry. It's none of my business after all. You don't have to answer. Her talisman just shook it's head at her uncoordinated brain and mouth. It gave her a look that pretty much said, Just shut up. you're making things worse than they already are! Frankly, Melissa agreed with it.
"You are being okay?" Despite the language barrier, the concern in Caleb's voice was unmistakable. No one had shown concern for Melissa in a long time. Not counting Aras's mountaintop rescue and subsequent mysterious disappearance, that is. If they ever met again, a likely scenario in such a small town, Mel had a few more questions for him. Questions that could only go unanswered for so long. A soft sigh escaped Mel's lips, and she smiled thankfully at Caleb. No, that's alright. You've got to worry about yourself. I'll be alright. I hope. The silent addition only emphasized the lack of confidence in her voice, try as she might to disguise it.
A rustling in the bushes sharply contrasted with her words. Both humans in the clearing froze at the sound, so out of place in the quiet night. After another eternity, Caleb snatched his bag, and began rummaging through it again. Melissa was about to tell him that maybe this wasn't a good time to put some more bug spray on, but he'd already pulled out a long, thin, hollowed out tube and some sharp looking darts. As he inquired whether or not she knew how to use the scary looking object, Mel's eyes widened and she mutely shook her head no. She had no clue, only instincts. The bushes continued to rustle, like something out of her nightmares, and Melissa pushed herself closer to Caleb, taking a defensive stance between him and the bushes, not fully ready to take on whatever nightmares were lurking behind them, but willing to do it for Caleb since he probably couldn't defend himself. Really, the world was just so unfair sometimes.
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Post by DesperateDark on Jul 2, 2009 22:03:56 GMT -5
Melissa shook her head, saying no, she didn't know how to properly handle a fukiya. Well, if she didn't know how to use a fukiya then she definitely wouldn't know how to use a kusarigama... Or at least not without killing or hacking down everything and everybody within the vicinity. Nobody seemed to know how to use traditional weapons, these days it seemed to be all about guns. Caleb dumped the fukiya and darts back into his bag and began to rummage around again when, out of nowhere, Melissa put herself between him and the bush. His mouth fell open slightly and he only stared at her back, not knowing why she was doing something so... Selfless? Noble? However, his thoughts went along the lines of 'what the hell is she doing!?'
He didn't have much more time to react when the animals came loping out of the bushes and surrounding wood. There were actually only two of them, but that was enough... Actually, only one would have been way more then enough. They just had to be cougars, didn't they? Well (knock on wood), at least they weren't wolves or bears or something of the likes, but cougars were about just as bad. Caleb was about to scream but quickly bit his lip, knowing that rather embarrassingly, he sometimes sounded like a little girl. No point in being scared anyways. Being scared never helped any type of situation, though it was often hard to control fear.
The two big cats didn't look to be menacing, but he could still hear the low grumbles in their throats as he watched them. They watched the two humans back, their eyes glowing in reflection to the light of the fire. If they were attacked right now, they were both equally as dead. Of course, cougars just had to feed on deer too, which panicked his talisman and, in turn, panicked him as well. The duo looked to be about a hundred kilograms apiece, and with two hundred kilograms of muscle and bone staring down at him, he was bound to get nervous. Just today, within a 24 hour time period, the unlucky young man had already nearly drowned, cut his knee open and now was face-to-face with a pair of dangerous animals.
"Mel, put you down." He said in a hushed tone, wanting to tell her to sit down and not move. He didn't want any those two cougars to get curious and come closer. Caleb reached up grabbed her wrist, gently tugging at it to get his message across if his English didn't do the job. His eyes had gotten that wide-eyed deer look, as if he was going to have a panic attack any moment. It actually was plausible, but he didn't want to think about that. The cougar to his left had begun to eye them, and he was tempted to believe that animals could smell a person's fear. Either that, or the two cats could somehow sense his deer talisman... Which sucked, either way.
If he had known what he would get into when he was out in the forest, he probably would have never come out here. He was glad he had met Melissa and everything, making a new friend was always nice, but the cons seemed to outweigh the pros in this case. He didn't know what Melissa was thinking or what she was feeling, but he was plenty scared enough for one evening.
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