Awakening Anew

Yumi sat where he left her, the cloth still in her hand as he shifted and moved away. She bit back the sudden wave of anger that built up in her and looked at her lap. She had been only trying to help him. Sighing she pushed herself to her feet and started to pack her things away. It took several moments but when she turned around, she followed the sound of his claws clicking on the ground. A thought occurred to her and she stared at his body when she caught up with him.

Before she could try it though her body gave a shudder and she gasped as she fell against the wall. Her hands trembled far more than they had a moment before and she dropped her bag and started to madly dash through it, looking for the bag of pills. If she didn't want to fall unconscious here she would need more. And he was expecting her to train more. She pulled out two pills when she found the pouch and considered them. She had been like this before. She hated it. the pills weren't drugs, but pure energy. It was a little something she had created out of a plant she'd accidentally eaten when she was running from the police once. She'd ran out of calling and shouting distance when she'd eating them. She hadn't been hungry for hours after that. The only side effects was if one didn't regulate their use one could get devastatingly addicted. She had found that out the hard way. She sighed and popped them into her mouth and swallowed without water, having dumped the rest on that stupid basilisk that hadn't even thanked her for her help.
 
He paid little attention to Yumi, keeping his attention on wherever he was headed. Following the scents of fresh air as he navigated his way out. Still feeling rather exhausted, he was overjoyed as he felt the cool breeze from the outside air. Collapsing onto the grass with a sigh, he changed form. Embracing the feel of the cool blades against his cheek. Figuring it best not to let the grass get into his cuts, he laid on one side peering out at the blades. After a moment of silence he forced himself up, looking a was now a large hole in the ground and the mountain peek just at it's center. Like a sand castle sitting in a wading pool, just no water. Amazed with himself for a moment he felt his stomach growl.

It was no wonder he was entirely drained, he hadn't eaten at all, and he'd been fighting and using magic almost all day. Shrugging the thought and his empty stomach off, he looked to the tree's.
 
It took a good ten minutes for the pills effects to kick in and allow her to push herself up and jog out of the cave like a girl with all the energy in the world. She sat him getting up and shrugged, brushing passed him towards the woods. How long could she keep on taking the pills before she'd have to get more, or worse crashed? In her mind she calculated the time and winced. She hadn't felt more than six pills left in the pouch. "I'll be back in a little bit Cero," she called over her shoulder before cursing as her bag got hung on something and dropped to the ground, the pills spilling out onto the ground. The something that it had gotten hung on was Kihali.

"No more going away for you Miss weakling!" the tree creature said in all of her ferocity being no bigger than the girls hand. "You stay with Big Shifty-shift. I will not watch you cocoon yourself again!"

"I'm not going to cocoon myself," The girl said, dropping to her knees and searching for the dropped pills as if they were the last pieces of gold on the earth.
 
Cero grunted, hearing the two. Noticing the girl searching for something he got up, swiping his tail around the ground. He felt the little bumps under his tail, knowing exactly where they were as he knelt down and picked them up. "So this is what I smelt on you?" Sighing he stood to his feet, holding them in his hand as he looked them over. Assuming the girl would try to snatch them from him, he crushed them all up in his hand. "I don't like drugs. Thank you Kihali. I'm glad you understand." He squatted on the ground once more, falling over. Literally for only seconds, jumping back up. "Kihali, can you do me a favor and look through that bag for anything else not useful to the girl? I trust your judgment."

Turning around, he looked Yumi in the eye once more. The look of boredom radiating from him once more, a bit of blood still running down his cheek.
 
Yumi stared back at him, grinding her teeth as she tried to come up with some defense as she gripped the one that she had found tightly in her fist. "They aren't drugs. They are crushed up leaves of a plant which just so happens to give one strength and energy," she said as calmly as she could as she saw Kihali dart into her bag. She felt violated--but why should she? he wasn't touching her. He wasn't having others touch her. He was just saying that her judgement sucked. "I've been taking them for years. They help me function when I'm under stress. When I'm tired they let me keep going no matter who is following me."

Kihali dragged out several more herbs that Yumi had discovered over the years to have stamina increasing properties. She dove for them but was held back by a root from the tree nearest her. She looked back at it and then over at Kihali that was glaring at her.

"You heard the big shifty-shift. No drugs!" the little creature said, separating the 'bad' and the 'good' herbs that she could keep.
 
"So then you have as little faith in your body as I do. Seeing as you're relying on drugs to give you all your energy." Cero watched Kihali for a few moments, returning his attention to Yumi only once she started talking once more. "If you can't 'function' when you're under stress, and you don't realize that if you're tired you should either rest, or push yourself harder. You truly are pathetic. You're looking to put something that isn't natural to you just so you can keep going. You're truly acting like a pathetic human." He pushed past Yumi, looking over the things that Kihali was throwing out of her bag.

"If you don't think you can live without this stuff, then your training is going to be a lot tougher than I intended. I'll give you another day to rest, simply because my own energy is depleted and I need to train a bit to make sure I can actually teach you the basics. We'll start at midnight tomorrow." With a sigh he plopped down into the grass. Waiting for Kihali to finish going through the girls back before he let Yumi go. His temper was simply rising, knowing he'd have to keep watch over this girl as if she was a child. That was the point of giving her powers once she turned 18, reaching the age of an actual adult. Sighing he glanced down at his wrist, scowling at her choice of a tattoo.
 
Yumi glared at the little tree nymph. A pathetic human hm? If she were pathetic she would have been caught long ago. If she hadn't learned the way to survive in the wild she wouldn't be here, glaring at a little creature that was digging around her pack. The young woman closed her eyes and bowed her head. there was no way she'd be able to pull her foot away from the tree. "Have you ever been chased for twenty-four straight hours? That's when I take that stuff. Or maybe, say, when some little nymph comes screaming that you are in trouble. You don't know me. You don't know how I use stuff. If you don't like it then get over it. I use those to survive a world that would rather see me sent back to a place that is hell," she spat though the venom she had meant to be in those words melted away quickly as she sat there, staring at the stuff the Kihali was moving around.

When Kihali was done, the little creature stood next to a three inch stack of herbs of different varieties. "All of these are plants that we nymphs call nature's evil. They are like drugs but with little of the side effects such as bad reactions on the inside to humans. They are like your favorite fruit but extremely addictive," She said, looking up at Yumi with a hard face as if she were teaching a lesson to a small child. "You must never use these Yumi! Ever! How long have you been taking them hm?"

Yumi stared at Kihali and then looked at the pile. "Since I ran away at age seven. It was the only way I could go without getting caught," she said with a shrug as if it didn't matter thought inside she felt sick. How was she supposed to know that? She'd never gotten sick. She'd never felt complete withdrawal symptoms. They were just herbs she'd picked up along the way.
 
Cero scoffed at her, shaking his head as he laughed a bit. "Chased?" he kneeled down closer to her. "Have you forgotten, I'm no coward. I never run away from a challenge. Unlike you." Shaking his head, he stood to his feet. "You're such a child. Wasting your energy running away, and you're trying to justify taking such things. Even more so, trying to use a little tree nymph against me. Simply being they were worried, but last I checked you did nothing. Instead stood behind that corner, probably readying yourself to up and run away." It only angered him further, listening to this little girl go on and on, pitying herself as if fate was so cruel to her. It wasn't his interest to go on about the things that went wrong in his life. Her becoming the worse of all things.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. Not wanting to waste his energy on being angry with the girl, or accidentally snapping on one of the little nymphs that were already being such help to him. "Do you ever do anything but whine and complain. You've been alive 18 years. 18 pathetic years, and yet you seem to forget I'm not human. You have no idea how old I am, nor Kihali. Yet you're complaining about 18 years that seem to only have gone so wrong because you let them. You talk about how I know nothing about you. Though you know nothing about me, nor Kihali. How long we've been alive. You're worried about being given a home that you won't like. While Kihali and the other tree nymph's have watched so much of theirs be destroyed." It was obvious he was avoiding speaking of himself. Refusing to let it seem as if he was complaining of his life, so as always he avoided speaking of it. Keeping his calm tone, he took another deep breath. Avoiding eye contact with Yumi as best he could.

"Thank you Kihali," Cero smiled softly at the little one, glad to hear her point on some facts that even he didn't exactly know. As of now he was tired of scolding the young witch before him, feeling it was a pointless feat that was only taking up time that he could be using for more important things. As Yumi spoke to Kihali though, he motioned for a small group of 4 or 5 nymph's he'd seen relaxing in the tree's. Hoping to ask them for another favor. Though he'd prefer not to make this a habit. No matter how helpful their use of magic over nature could be. As they agreed, he smiled with a nod. Stepping past Yumi and picking up the herbs that Kihali had thrown out. He began his tread back toward the mountain, peering over his shoulder at Kihali. "Would you like to accompany me Kihali. These 4 have agreed to." He paused, looking at Yumi then returning his attention to Kihali. "Well, they'll be watching over Yumi as she rest. Seeing as she's so tired from running and being chased and whatever else she was rambling about."
 
Kihali was still glaring hard at the young woman that just sat there looking at the ground. Then the creature flew up to hover next to him. "Yes mister shifty-shift. I would like to come with you. There isn't much she'll be able to do while the tree holds her so we shouldn't have to worry about her getting away," the little creature said scornfully.

Yumi wasn't sure why those words from the small creature hurt so much. They weren't human. They didn't know the horrors that atwo parents could put ont heir child. But could she really say that she had fought at all to survive? She hadn't been force to leave. She could have stuck it out if she had chosen but instead, like a coward, the young woman had run rather than fight. She stopped that train of thought and looked at the bag that held all her belongings. She stretched out and grabbed the bag and pulled it close. Rifling through it she pulled out a small vial. She looked at it and smiled a little. Inside was several lockets of hair. Since she was obviously not going anywhere she leaned back and stared at the vial against the backdrop of the sky. There was no reason to get angry with the man. Neither of them knew each other.
 
"Oh. That's nothing to worry about anyway," he nodded to the small group he'd spoken to earlier. Soon watching the roots of the tree's rise up in a circle around Yumi. Blocking her in in a matter of seconds. "Rest Yumi. Just sleep, and when you wake up go back to sleep. If you wake up after that, just go back to sleep. Get as much rest as possible. I'll be back eventually." One last time he nodded to the group who seemed to take up some strange military formation as they began circling around the little fortress they'd created for Yumi. Chuckling a bit, he put the herbs he'd picked up in his pocket.

"I know I'm probably becoming a bother Kihali, but I need your help again." Cero was walking through the forest aimlessly now. Having no real idea of where he was going, but knowing exactly what it was he was looking for. "I need to find an air elemental, or a nymph. Or just someone who can begin teaching me wind and air magic. As much as Yumi can frustrate me, I plan to keep my word and train her. I just need to know what I'm doing in order to do so," he chuckled a bit, nervous almost for even admitting such a thing.
 
Kihali flew next to him and thought about the request. "There is nothing wrong with admitting you can't or don't know much about an element Cero. The most I can do is to ask trees to move or help them grow more healthy. So I can help when you need to teach her about that kind of control. But I know a few elemental's that could help us--a nymph that comes around every once in a while is due to show up soon too," she said and then smiled. "You don't act like it in front of her, but you want her to succeed. That is sweet. I'm sure she'll come to appreciate what you are doing for her in the end. Human's have that strange quality of never being settled with that they are given with life until they are shown all the good things they do have. I'm sure your actions will reach her eventually." She flew around him as she spoke, stretching and reaching out as trees bent their branches down to her. The forest, after years of run by Abala, were finally awakening to the magic that the nymphs possessed.

"Cero, thank you, it has been so long since the trees have moved on their own," She said with a giggle as she flew around a branch that had shifted to offer a fruit.
 
"For someone like me that's a very big deal." He crossed his arms as he watching Kihali, smiling softly at her. "I'm not sure where you get this strange idea of me wanting her to succeed," he chuckled. "I just need her to get stronger so I don't have to worry about protecting her every second of every day." He didn't mind talking with the nymph. Always having an interest in the small things, or really any of the creatures honestly associated with nature and the elements. Cero just watched her now, smiling softly as she seemed so happy to have the forest to herself once again. As he walked, he ran his fingers across the tree trunks lightly. Looking forward at the long stretch of forest before them. "Showing up soon? How soon is soon. I'd like to get some training in tonight. Thanks to my terrible temper, my anger levels are still high. I'd just like to do something productive with the extra energy before I go back to being entirely wiped out."

Of course his thoughts ran back to having left Yumi alone there. The conversation unwillingly playing through in his mind. "Do you think I was too hard on her? She is still young."
 
"She comes around noon each day. If we hurry we can make it to her meadow. She loves seeing the tall weeds swirl around when she passes by so she spends every day there before moving to the trees in the south of the forest at night," Kihali reported as she flew back to her larger friend. When Cero asked if he had been too hard on her, Kihali took a moment to think it over.

"I think you told her what she needed to hear. There might have been a kinder way to do it, but one can never know with humans. I feel a bit sorry for her--she really didn't have any idea how horrible those plants you have in your pocket are if she started running at the age she says she did. I don't approve, mind you, but for a seven or eight year old--no matter what race they belong to--living alone without any guidance had to have been hard. You are lucky she survived this long I think, but that doesn't give her any excuses to act the way she did today," the nymph said, suddenly becoming serious and a tad bit angry looking as she flew the way to the meadow. "She abandoned you on that field after you were safe and let her emotions take over when she was alone. Then she took six of those pills to get to you on time and help you. She should have stuck with you and helped you move the mountain or something."
 
"That's what I don't approve of. She choose to run. She wasn't kicked out, or told to leave. They've been searching all over for her for who knows how long. She choose to be alone. So I believe there was no excuse," He let out a long sigh, trying to shake the thought from his mind. If her story wouldn't of sounded like it was all of her own undoing, then it might have angered him less. Though from what he'd already known about the girl, and what that irritating voice had told him, she'd done it all to herself. "This life is going to be far more stressful than the last. I was never like this. All this worry, and stress over one human. I'm not sure I even like her. If it wasn't for you and the rest of the tree nymph's I would have long abandoned her. You all terrify me though," he laughed. Only half joking as he said it. He knew he could take one of them on, or maybe even two or three. But the forest was full of them, and full of tree's and other hidden plants. "I'm rather uninterested in seeing what would have happened to me if I kept with my cruel ways. Not that I want to lose them all together."

He followed after the little fairy for some time, peeking around every so often at the tree's that seemed so lively around him now. It was the way he remembered the forest now. Active and full of energy. He hoped to soon see the nymph's out and about soon too. It was at that moment he realized he dwelled on the past too much. Basing this world off of the one he remembered. "Do you think she'll teach me?"
 
Kihali laughed, "We should terrify you, lizard man," She said and made an evil cackle attempt before falling into peels of happy high laughter. "If there is one thing I must say I'm impressed with about Yumi, is that she managed to pull it off for eleven years--and start and such a young age. I've never heard of a human being able to survive so long after running away at the age of seven. She has stamina--or at least she will once she stops using those."

Kihali flew over to a small bush and pulled off a leave and flew it back over to him. "This is what she was taking. It's very easy to mistake as mint so it isn't a surprise that a human would mistake it," she said and held the leaf up to the sky and stared up at it.

"But it does have a wee side effect. Anytime you eat it you lose all sense of hunger. She could go for a week on this stuff and die of starvation if she wasn't careful," the nympoh said with a shake of her head before throwing the leaf away and flying into a large meadow, her giggle and laughter filling ht eplace as she hid inside the tall grass. "The only way we'll know if Arius will teach you is if she likes you. Come on!"

"Nymphie Arius?" her voice called as she popped up suddenly in the middle of the field, her head looking around like a mere-cat before she popped back down and rustling could be heard.
 
"Lizard man?" He laughed, his arms crossed once again as he followed after the little one. His opinion of Yumi wasn't nearly as positive as Kihali. His assumption being that he was. Well for starters he was still irritated with her. Besides that he was still a basilisk, being it from a shape shifting angle, or just all around. The blood of that beast still flowed through him. Giving him the overwhelming urge to either be alone or to kill anyone who seemed to get to close.

His forked tongue flicked out as the little thing came back with the leaf so he could catch the scent of it and the vibe it gave off from his sense's. "Disgusting," he grunted out, shaking his head. Plants were something to look at, not eat. That's how he saw it at least.

The little nymph seemed to be going a hundred miles a minute now. Only making Cero laugh a bit as he came to a stop at the edge of the field. Chuckling again he leaned against a tree, his arms crossed as he watched Kihali. "Are you friends with her as well?"
 
"Kihali is a friend of mine, yes," said a whispery voice next to his head. A nymph in a flowing white cloudlike dress hovered above his left shoulder. "Hush, don't let her know I am here. I have not seen her be so happy in a long time. It is nice to see the nymphs around here awakening. The wind brings me news that that is all thanks to you--an outsider. Or are you an outsider? You smell and sounded familiar. Have you been in these woods before, basilisk? And if so, how long ago was that?"

The woman that stood there was much older than the little wood nymph that was popping up over and over through the grass, seemingly high but was truly just happy. She looked well into her mid-thirties. She wasn't held up by anything--or so it appeared. Beneath her was a little wind cyclone that was just enough to hold her aloft and keep her that way until she wanted to move again.
 
Amazingly Cero didn't jump as she suddenly appeared. Pushing the sense of fear out of his head long ago. Peering over his shoulder at her a bit, he let his arms drop to his side. "I had no idea nymph's could catch a scent," he smiled softly at her before turning to face her better. "Though no, I'm no outsider. But it has been a long time sense I've been in this forest. Things seemed to have changed drastically in that time, so I'm hoping things will return to the way I once remembered them. How long ago though is a secret of mine. I hope that's alright." Soon enough his tail appeared behind him, swaying about casually as he looked her over.

"I'd like to make a request if you aren't too busy."
 
"A basilisk that keeps secrets, how bizarre," Arius said, a teasing smile appearing on her features before slowly slipping away. She slowly turned to look at him, her head tilting to the side slowly as she examined him. "Maybe one day you will tell the wind and that'll get back to me. It would be interesting to know how long ago you crept through these woods, but it is fine not to answer. Most Basilisks that I did get to talk to a few centuries ago when they were common never even told me their names. Speak your request basilisk. I will see if I am able to help you along."
 
"Yeah, when they were common," he smiled softly, shrugging the thought away. He hadn't expected many basilisk to be seen, if they were even still any left. "Anyway, I'd like to learn wind magic if you wouldn't mind teaching me." His hands were in his pocket by this time, feeling he had to keep moving for no real reason at all. It wasn't as if he was nervous or anything of the sort. Just fidgety from his temper being so high.


((Sorry. I'm super distracted, helping my little sis with her homework))
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back