Unravelled (Unplanned Sequel)

Chapter 1- A Dream Within A Dream

The rain was coming down in torrents, but the heavy foliage of the forest kept Maebh and her company safe from the worst of it. Still, the incessant pattering of raindrops pelting the leaves as they fell down was almost defeaning. The dark fabrics of the fighting gown she was wearing clung to her body because of the water, and various pieces of her hair were plastered to her face. A single raindrop splattered itself onto her foredhead before sliding down to her chin and dropping to the earth.

"Running is futile." Maebh said, breaking the deathly silence around her. "Which coward taught us that this was the solution? We cannot outrun them. We are strong. We must stay and fight."

"Our escape is almost complete, my queen." a voice drifted out from behind her. "Why stop now?"

Maebh turned around to find the owner of the voice, and was relived to see that her good friend had been patched up. Ardan stood leaning against a tree with his own blonde hair slightly matted down from the rain. A ghost of a smile flickered across his face, and she knew that if the situation weren't so dire that he would be smiling completely. She did not miss the glare that Aillil pointed towards Ardan, but she did not address it. The two had been at their own war for ages.

"What honor would we have if we did not fight them now? They would only follow us, and become more of a threat if we lead them towards the villages and kingdom." she replied, hoping to reason with him. She glanced around the trees, her gaze landing on the seven men before her. Ardan, of course, along with Aillil, and Argent with four of his hunters. It wasn't new for her, to be the only female in a group of men. She had been training with them her whole life. She was not to be outdone now.

The irony of this fight was not lost on her. Blood would be shed, violence accumulating more violence in a constant battle for peace.

Maebh walked to the edge of the forest, just a few yards away. It came out to a cliff that overlooked the rolling grassy hills around them, a typical landscape for their homeland. Large splotches of water sat here and there where small lakes had formed, and the occasional rocky outcrop, like the one they stood on, could be seen from their height.

She knew that distance wise, the wolves were at least a day behind. But she knew how fast they could run. It wasn't...human.

"Men," she said, knowing that they all could hear her. She didn't turn around, but if she had she would have noticed that they all stood up at her words, treating her commands as an equal. "Get some rest. We attack at dawn."

~~~

"That will be $8.87, miss." the kind old lady at the cash register informed me. She looked like the storybook rendition of a perfect grandma with her curly white-gray hair, and her motherly smile. If it wasn't so weird I probably would have spontaneously hugged her right then. Instead, I shuffled through my wallet and got out a ten dollar bill and silently promised myself that I'd get more sleep tonight.

See, after the formal, Stiles had been basically living at the hospital, which means that I was also basically living at the hospital. Not because I was a needy girlfriend who always had to be with him, but because even as a sixteen year old boy, he still didn't know how to take care of himself. Actually, he did, he had just forgotten in light of some recent events which was completely understandable. So, I was there to bring him food and Netflix and force him to go home and shower when he started to smell weird.

The lady rang me up and proceeded to hand me my change. She dropped it into my palm and I stuffed it into the back pocket of my jeans as she put all of the food in a bag. I had gotten a burger and a bag of frosted donuts for Stiles and a giant thing of chocolate pudding for me. I had a weakness for hospital pudding. It was always the best.