Atlantis Dreaming

run

Run
Do not stop
Never stop
Just keep going
Run

The mantra kept repeating in my head. Over and over. It was the only thing that kept me sane after all these years. The only thing that kept me alive. And for some unknown reason, it was so important that I stay alive. I'm not sure why. It would have been so easy to just give up and accept death. Many times I wished I could. But something always held me back. What, I really don't know. But it was powerful enough to motivate me to keep running, to keep fighting, even in the most dire of situations. And right now, it was telling me to run.

I ducked beneath some low hanging branches and turned sharply to the right, avoiding a cluster of old stumps. My legs were burning but it was a familiar feeling and I knew I could keep running at this speed for another two hours before I'd need to slow down. I sucked in a deep breath to fuel me and pushed on harder, weaving through the labrynth of trees and shrubs that provided my escape. Hopefully.

The crackle of leaves and twigs being crushed underneath boots behind me made my heart skip a beat. They were closing in on me! How was that even possible? Even if the wraith following me was a higher level wraith, there was no way they could have caught up so quickly. I pushed myself harder. If it wasn't a wraith chasing me, I wasn't sure I wanted to find out what it was. If it could move that fast and track me that quickly, it couldn't be good.

I hesitated for a millisecond before leaping towards the large tree on my left and scaling the branches until I was about halfway up. Holding my breath, I paused and waited. Moments later, footsteps below gave away my pursuer. Due to the thick foliage I was unable to see them, but I heard them pause below, then utter a curse under their breath as my trail seemingly disappeared into thin air. I resisted the urge to chuckle as the danger wasn't past yet. As I waited, there were more footsteps and voices calling out to my pursuer.

"Did you find them?"

"No. The trail just disappeared."

"How could you lose their trail? They must be good if you can't track them."

There was a low growl in response to this comment, before the speaker quickly tried to backtrack and take his words back. I resisted the urge to chuckle again. Despite my determination to avoid these people tracking me, I was intrigued by their conversation as they sounded completely normal. Not monsters intent on tracking me down and killing me, which made for a nice change. I waited a moment longer in my tree, listening as the footsteps moved away.

Instead of climbing down again, I nimbly began to climb across the branches to the tree next to me. I continued this as far as I could before climbing back down and landing softly in the brush. This should confuse them even more. Grinning to myself, I turned, wanting to head back to the stargate and find a new address to go to before the wraith actually did find me. However, I turned and ran smack bang into a hard, muscular chest dressed in warm leather and crossed with weapons slings.

I slowly looked up and followed the strong jawline, outlined with what looked like soft brown hair; the perfectly kissable lips with the lower lip slightly fuller than the top; to the dark brown eyes, so dark they were almost black, currently narrowed in my direction, with wild, thick dreadlocks pulled back from his face. My lips parted as I took his features amd I subconsciously licked my lips. His eyes darted down to my mouth as I did this and I felt an immediate pull low in my belly. Looking back up at my eyes, a slow smirk crept across his face.

"Going somewhere?"

The words jolted me out of my revere with a panic. I had to get away. I knew the wraith were going to find me and I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me. Buttoning down my emotions, I stepped back and drew my eyebrows down, frowning as I lowered into a defensive crouch and pulled my dagger from its sheath on my back.