Thread: Alone...

Reese grunted and scooped the girl back up into his arms. Ignoring the burning, the pain, the tiredness; ignoring it all, he headed further into the forest. He huffed and staggered a bit, his muscles almost at their limit when he finally heard the sound of water.

At last! He had a break! He could cool this girl down! Picking up pace he grinned seeing the river. Falling to his knees he lowered the girl into the icy water , the liquid hissing on contact as it steamed up around her. As he let the water slowly cool the girl, whatever she was, down to a normal temperature, Reese splashed some water up onto his red arms where she had almost burned him. Then with a grimace he reached behind him and felt for the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. This isn't going to be pleasant... he thought. With one quick yank he pulled the arrow and a hunk of skin from his back as he let out a nasty growl. Chucking the arrow aside he ignored the bleeding wound and focused on the girl siting in the water.

Now thoroughly drenched, her scorched dress clung to her tiny frame leaving little to the imagination. "Oh boy..." Reese's face reddened. Although the girl was a good bit younger than he was he didn't exactly want to be in this situation when she woke up.

With a wince Reese lifted her small frame up out of the water and laid her on the river bank. She was a normal temperature for now. Running a hand over his face Reese looked down at the girl hoping she would wake up soon, he wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle.

Tay finally managed to find his way into the forest but stumbled upon a river, blocking his way to the other side. "DAMN!" He munched on his chocolate bar some more and started to walk along the river when he suddenly noticed a big pale buldge in the distance right beside the river up ahead. "Oi, the bugger is that?" He quickened his pace and soon saw that the buldge was a person, a very large man. "Woah, boy"

Tay got up close enough the stand right beside the big man and tap him on the shoulder. "Oi, who are you?..err and who is she?" His face turned a little red at the sight of a girl, drenched from the water. perhaps the man in front of him was a kidnapper.

Reese jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He really was out of it. Normally he was more on his toes, people couldn't get so close with out him noticing. Hewart racing he fell to his butt on the soft dirt hand on his chest. "Damn... You scared me...." He breathed as he tried to calm his racing heart. But as he looked up at the face of a kid that was barely a teenager he couldn't help but feel that stab of homesickness. The kid looked like his little brother. When Reese's paren't found out what he was, they threw him out, affraid he'd eat the younger child, but Reese would have never done such a thing! That's revolting!

Finally the boy's question's registered. Slowly pushing himself up to a squatted position so he was almost face level, and not towering over the kid, he held his hand out. "I'm Reese... I'm not too sure who she is. I sort of rescued her in a town a few miles back. She hasn't woken up since but... she's not exaclty...normal." If Reese's hunch was right, this kid wasn't either. The only reason a kid would be out here all alone was because he was like him and this girl. Perhaps it was his lucky day after all. "what's your name?"

With the introductions over, the girl on the riverbank finally started to stir. Bright blue eyes slowly fluttered open before her body went rigid and she jerked upright. She winced, cradling the knot on the back of her head as she fearfully looked at the two guys before her. "W-what's going on? Where am I?" That's when she remembered the town and what she had down, the fires. The color drained from her face. "Oh no..." She barely mumbled. "I didn't hurt anyone did I? Please tell me I didn't hurt anyone!" But with her last cry for answers, a branch above the newcomers head sparked a bit before falling off the tree and heading for him.

"Look out!" She scrambled to her feet and tackled to boy out of the way of the falling branch, landing on top of him. Luckily they weren't hit with the smoldering branch and luckily she was still wet enough to keep it from really going up in flames. When she finally opened her eyes and saw their faces inches apart, her pale face turned an extreme shade of red. "S-sorry." She scrambled off of him, hanging her head a bit at the sight of the wet body mark she had left on his front. Wake up to a cute guy and you tackle him... Way to go Maggie... Nice first impression. At least you didn't set this one on fire. She tried to argue with herself. "So um..." She tried again. "Are you guys part of the people trying to kill me?"

"Ah, the name's Tay! It's short form for Taylen. But don't tell no one, alright? Nice to meet cha Reese~" Tay took a good long look at the man known as Reese, now that he thought about it, he really wasn't all that scary looking.

Tay rubbed the back of his head. He really did need a brush, the only thing he really had going for himself was his hair and his face. The rest of him looked fragile and weak.

He then looked over at the girl that had just woken up. She had the prettiest blue eyes that he had ever seen. He had a puzzled look on his face at what had just happened. "People trying to kill you? Ha! Look at me i could barely hurt a fly!" Just then, a fly landed on his arm and he instinctively swatted at it, the fly no longer looking like one as he brushed his arm off and chomped away at his chocolate bar.

"Calm down girl." Reese tried to get her to ease up and not set anything on fire. He had seen what she had down to the town. "We aren't going to hurt you." He couldn't stifle back a grin at Tay's little display. "I rescued you from that town a while back. My name is Reese and this here is Tay. What's your name sweetheart?" Reese slowly pushed himself up to his feet, his full height towering over the younger two, but he needed to stretch, hunched over was killing his back.

"M-Maggie." She stuttered as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and cover up, the wet dress was clinging to her. "I guess I should thank you for saving me then." She added softly. Still blushing from her impact with Tay, she could barely get her bright eyes over to meet his. "So uh... What are we doing way out here? Is there another town out here somewhere?" She knew she didn't need to ask why she was soaking wet. Obviously Reese had figured out the key to keeping her under control.

"There's an abandoned town back that way~" He lazily pointed over in the direction he had come from and started to pull some more food out of his pocket. "It's lame really. Not a person in sight!" He waved his hand at the thought. He then looked up at Reese. He was very tall. "Oi, you on steroids or something?" Even though it was getting dark, Tay still had to squint a little because it was just a little too bright for his liking. Well at least the full moon wont be out for a few days..perhaps I'll stick with these guys for a while.

"Say are you two hungry?" He looked at both of them and tilted his head. They looked healthy, and he really wasn't too keen on sharing any of his food. He probably could eat all of the food in an entire store without sharing with anyone. Still, he was trying to be kind.

Reese looked down at the kid that reminded him so much of his brother and grinned. "No steroids I promise. Just a freak of nature.... In more ways than one." he gave the kid a wink and looked between the two younger ones before scratching his chest. "That town actually sounds like a good place. At least we'd have some shelter... And hey, you'd have some company if you don't mind us sticking around for a bit." At the mention of food though, Reese shook his head. He had a good meal hte other day, a nice sized meal of fish in the river. Can't beat that if you're a bear.

Maggie shifted nervously. She wasn't too sure how to act, normally people were terrified of her. She didn't know how to control herself, people feared her. But an abandoned town might be just what she needed, a place with no one around to hurt. "That town sounds nice... I can't hurt anyone there." She mumbled the last half to herself. Hearing Tay mention food her stomach gurgled but she shook her head no, her cheeks burning a darker red.

"Eh? But I've already walked alll the way here. Now you're telling me I'm going to have to walk all the way back? This calls for a snack!" It was amazing at how much Tay ate and never gained a single pound. Even worse, he was not fond of walking or running or any exercise of the sort.

He rummaged though is what seemed to be bottomless pocket and found a small bag of chocolate chip cookies. they were his favorite but he had just recently herd Maggie's stomach grumble. He looked down at his cookies then back up at Maggie, then down at the cookies again. "Aghh, here!" He held out the bag of cookies to Maggie and looked away, puffing out his cheeks like a stubborn child. "Take them you're obviously hungry."

"Well I never said we had to go back right now..." Reese looked over at Maggie. "It may be best if we stay near the water anyway." He shoved his hands in his pockets before glancing back down at the kid. "So what are you doing out here all alone Tay?" He asked him.

Maggie shook her head. "I-I can't. They are yours!" She knew how hard food was to come by and she didn't want to anger the only people she hadn't run off instantly. Maggie had already tackled the kid and he was still standing here talking to her so she didn't want to take his food too. "I'll be fine." She gave him a shy smile.

"Take them!" He put the bag of cookies in his hand and hid behind Reese so that she couldn't give them back to him. "I'm out here cause my family didn't want me anymore." He stated bluntly. He didn't want to get into all of the details of what had happened to cause him to be wandering in the woods by himself.

Come to think of it, Tay really wasn't entirely sure where he was going. He shrugged to himself and reached into his pocket again, pulling out a bag of regular gazed chips. He reached his hand in the bag and started to eat the chips, still hiding behind Reese.

Maggie was stunned when the cookies were forced into her hands. She stared at Tay, red faced as he hid behind the larger man who stood there laughing. "You guys are great!" He chuckled before wincing and rubbing at the wound on his shoulder.

Hearing Tay's story Maggie frowned, her's was similar, but a bit worse. At least he hadn't asked her. Looking down to the cookies she broke off a tiny piece and popped it into her mouth chewing on it slowly. It was delicious, the first real food she had in days. "Thank you for the cookies." She said, her voice soft, but sweet, her cheeks growing redder if it was even possible.

Reese looked down to the kid behind him. "Well, families these day's, good ones, are hard to come by. Believe me I know too." He put a hand on Tay's shoulder. "But friend's can be just as good as family, if we all stick around that is." He smiled, it was warm, even under the patchy stubble he needed to shave.

"Meh, your welcome" Tay folded his arms over his chest and looked up at Reese with his dark wolf like eyes. "Friends, eh? That sounds nice.." In fact, he enjoyed the thought. He never actually had a real friend. He was always locked away in his room, away from the other children around his age. He was kept inside like a caged animal always. Maybe that's why he chose the forest.

"Well then, shall we go back to the town?" He plastered a smile on his face to mask his thoughts and stuffed the rest of the chips he was eating, back in his pocket.

Maggie frowned. He didn't seem too happy that she was eating his food. Staring down at the bag of cookies she pulled a cookie out and closed the bag up stepping a bit closer to the boys. "H-here. You can have the rest." She offered up a smile hoping to get a real one from him. She had only ever caused hate from people. To be the reason someone smiled... that simple little thing was one of her biggest dreams. Even if it was for something as silly as giving them cookies.

With a yawn Reese shrugged. "That's your call since you know the way. We can stay here and chill or go." He eyed Maggie as she made an attempt to be friendly. He felt sorry for the girl who had such a hard time getting close to people. Yet he still worried about taking her away from the water since it seemed to be the only thing able to douse her flame.

"Hmm?" He reluctantly took the cookies back, and put them in his pocket along with the chips. He then looked up to Maggie, looking into her blue eyes. "You don't care much for yourself, do you?" He scolded his self right after he said it.

He didn't mean to sound ignorant, it just came out that way. He quickly spun around and started walking off in the direction that he had come from. "The town's this way!"

Maggie's cheeks burned and she averted her eyes. "I uh..." What was she supossed to say to that? She was so used to having people hate her and try to kill her. She finally had the oportunity to try and have friends and she was already screwing it up. Letting out a sad sigh she ate the cookie she had kept and quietly followed the boys on whatever path they were taking. Slender fingers played with one of her long golden pony tails as she walked, trying to take in whatever path she was on. At least she wasn't alone any more. That was a plus right? As long as she didn't kill them...

Reese looked from one kid to the other and rolled his eyes. Kids... He cleared he throat. "So Tay... You said this town was abandoned?" He scratched his head. "There isn't anyone else out here?"

"Not that I saw. But then again, I didn't exactly check every single house to see if there was anyone there. It looked like a ghost town. Very creepy actually." The town had reminded him of a movie he once watched called silent hill. Very creepy movie. And if he existed, as a were-wolf, then maybe those freaky monsters existed too. He shivered at the thought. "Better not be real" He muttered under his breath and continued walking.

That thought didn't sit well with Reese. If he was going to settle down somewhere for a while he wanted to know who was in the area. "Maybe we should check out the other houses when we get there. Just in case. Don't want to be invading someone else's home or anything... I've had enough of being hunted and and chased for stupid things" He glanced over his shoulder just to make sure Maggie was still with them.

"I don't want to pry or anything Tay... But obviously you are out here for a reason. I take it you're like me and Maggie back here... not exactly normal." He glanced down at the boy wondering what particular ailment he was cursed with. "What's your deal?... If I'm aloud to ask that." Reese didn't want to over step any lines, he was just curious. He figured out Maggie pretty quick, although what she was he had no idea.

"Me? I'm a big scary were-wolf! No really though, From what I've herd I'm about as big as a bear. Although i can't say i remember ever being in that state though..Waking up naked isn't exactly a good reminder." He had totally forgotten that there was a girl with them so he just kept going on. and by the time he was finished her suddenly remembered Maggie, his face wet about as red as a tomato.

"Err..sorry for that visual" Tay rubbed the back of his head and smiled apologetically. He was also flabbergasted at himself. Why was he being so open to this guy? "What about you then?" Tay looked up at Reese.

Reese broke out into a smile as he listened to Tay go on. It was nice to have the kid open up. Maybe they really could stick together for a while. It was nice to be around someone his age again. It was like being around Jason... He shook his head to focus.

Maggie on the other hand couldn't keep herself from blushing as she listened to the boys talk. She had woken up naked once. Incinerated her clothes clean off. That wasn't a nice experience. But just the thought of Tay naked caused her face to turn crimson.

The big man chuckled, not noticing the girl's fluster. "Odd you'd say bear... I'm a shifter. Grizzly bear shifter to be exact. Since I'm abnormally large for a human I'm abnormally large for a bear too... " He wasn't sure exactly since he lost most of his ability to measure when he shifted, but he'd say close to ten or eleven feet tall.

"No way! Really? That's so cool!" Tay couldn't help but smile up to Reese. He was beginning to admire this guy a lot.

Tay looked back at Maggie and apologized again for the bad visual. "Oi, it should be just up ahead past those trees" He pointed into the forest, gesturign that they would have to leave the river's side.