ROV (ADD AS I EDIT NEW VERSION)

Chapter 5

Ellie jolted awake, the sense of drowning overwhelmed her as the cold seemed to set into her body. She hissed at the pain radiating within her right shoulder with each movement, her body feeling heavier by the moment as the sand beneath her stung her open wounds.

Her heart raced when she remembered why she had jumped and quickly she tried to scan the skies, her body barking in pain as she twisted upwards hoping they did not follow. She nearly screamed as she saw a male figure run towards her from across the beach, her legs feeling useless beneath her made her want to cry as she shuffled through the thick mess. She was going to die, she wasn't ready to die. She was barely able to keep steady until a hand grabbed her arm, keeping her from falling on her face and only to her knees, but as she tried to pull away the grip tightened. "Woah, careful now." The hand said. The voice was gruff and youthful but his strength was uncanny, making her scream as she tried to back away.

"Let me go!" She met eyes with the stranger and they both froze, their eyes widened as they took the person in. His eyes on hers made her body stop pulling and suddenly the grip loosened causing her to fall backwards, her hands barking in pain as she felt rocks and water below them. She took in the hand that was now in front of her, her heart racing as her eyes had broken away taking away the trance. He looked handsome, and all words and thoughts escaped as she drank him in. Even her fear started to lessen as the man tried to come closer to her.

Ellie noted his chin was peppered with a slight stubble of dark hairs that seemed to twitch with his widening eyes, his look full of concern and yet knowing it seemed.

Somehow she felt as if she had seen them before-seafoam emeralds staring down at her and she knew she had known them; but how? The man raked his free hand through his black hair. The style was odd with the sides of his hair being shaved and yet it made him look stronger, more authoritative and she couldn't stop staring. "Are you alright?" His voice broke her stare, feeling suddenly foolish. "You shouldn't have tried to stand up so fast."
She hissed, backing away as he tried to come closer, ending up in a crouched position halfway in the water. "Who are you?" And why was he half naked? As she was assessing that his body was toned and the muscle line going down to his pants was enticing to be in front of she gritted her teeth as the cold water brushed up against her. "Where am I?"

"I'm here to help you. I found you here and I was about to go into the water and help you. Now, what are you doing here?"
She looked at him in utter surprise, mouth gaped. He's asking her when he found her unconscious on the side of a river? "Here? I don't even know where 'here'. How the hell should I know? I jumped, that's all I remember."
He didn't have the look of pity of a broken memory loss induced girl but as a person as she took in what she had said. "It's okay. You're safe here. Why did you jump into the water though? Are you mad?"
"I was running..." If she told him the real reason he would think she was crazy and leave her out here to defend herself. If the people in their cars couldn't see them as they chased her, what made her think that this stranger would believe a word she said? "I jumped because I wanted to." Not a good lie.
His look was telling her he didn't believe it. "Let's get you some clean clothes and some food." His hand was out, a smile that made her want to do the same. She took his hand without thinking, helping herself up slowly as she winced in pain.

She turned her head towards the bridge noticing the bridge was further away, miles she must have floated down this river. "Where are we going? I think my home is that way."
He shook his head. "I will bring you to my home first then we will see where you want to be."
She was baffled by what he had said. "Wait, I don't even know who you are. I can't follow someone I don't know and not even back to my own home."
He froze, his head bowed but turning towards her she noticed his eyes still searching hers. "My name is Tavol." Even his name made her weak at the knees. Gods what was happening to her? "Now will you come?"
"Well, thank you, Tavol." Even saying his name she noticed his breath hitched, his smile widened. "But I must be on my way. I think I'll try and find my own way home."
"Wait!" His hand caught hers as she turned and the shock that went through her made her shake, a light sound escaping her lips. "You can't leave just yet." He was tripping over his words. "You need fresh clothes." She looked down following his own eyes showing her gray shirt was now see through and cut low revealing the top of her chest and black lace bra. She was steaming, feeling humiliated and angry that he didn't say anything sooner. "You look like someone I used to know when she was mad. " A whisper, maybe one she was not meant to hear when his eyes grew wide with worry. "What is your name?"
She stood there dumbfounded. It was a good question, one she had been wondering for days now. "I was named Ellie. Though I don't believe I am."
Another movement, another twitch in his shoulder and the way his eyes looked at her, seemed to look into her made her feel naked-hell she practically was

"You were named Ellie but don't believe it? So what is your name not Ellie?"
"I don't know. I was in an accident a few days ago and I woke up with memory loss. I don't know who I am but when I woke up they kept calling me Ellie." She wanted someone to know about her crazy life, about what had been happening though she dared not talk about why she jumped off the bridge and into the strong arms of this Tavol. "And how do I look familiar to you? We just met."
He quickly looked away, rubbing the back of his neck, something even her father seemed to do when it was an uncomfortable situation. "It's nothing. You looked like someone I knew a long time ago. What do you think your name is then?"
His face was saddened, looking away from her as he went to a nearby tree and grabbed a long gray tunic from its branch. "I know this must sound crazy. I must be the weird girl who admitted to not knowing her own name but I truly feel that I am not who they say I am. I feel like the name I came up with in the hospital. I named myself Falencia though no one called me that." The last thing she wanted to tell Tavol was that she also heard the name whispered in the night breeze, but whenever that breeze came it wasn't pleasant, it was dark and twisted as the demon she saw in the woods every night before she went to bed.
His breath caught, he looked into her eyes only for a moment before he turned away tossing the shirt in her face before she could see a tear escape. "Put this on. It will keep you warm on our walk." His voice was breaking, clearing his throat before turning to a path ahead. She stopped, deciding it would be smarter to have less wet clothes underneath so before sticking her arms into the sleeves she started to pull the wet shirt over her head through the neck of his shirt. "What are you doing?" she heard him rasp. He swallowed hard when he saw her bare stomach, covered in some bruises but still small and pale.
She adjusted the shirt and pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail. "Changing. Taking off my wet clothes. Your shirt won't stay dry if I keep all of this on underneath."
Shaking his head he led the way through the woods, Ellie trying to keep warm as she wrapped her arms around herself still feeling her pants sticking to her legs and her boots dragging her along the tough wooden floors. "How much further?" At this point she just wanted clean clothes. She shouldn't even be following a stranger no matter how nice his back was- that tanned skin and muscles for days that she just wanted to rake her hands over- She tried to mark the trees and plants as she went, to remember certain markers on one trunk compared to the others but she was falling apart the further they walked. He was moving too fast, her breathing harder to keep up as she shivered.
The brush thinned, walking out onto a large field and ahead what came into view was anything that she would have imagined. Her jaw dropped as she looked upon a dream in reality.

"I know this place." She was frozen as she looked at the large structure yards ahead of her. The white castle stone walls reached high and she could see white birches that were a part of the inner workings of the roof and sides of the castle. The trees made the side of the castle walls strong and beautiful as it grew over the stones. It was as if the building was made of stone and trees, one with nature but still man made at the same time. She looked to the woods then, worried and wondering if she would appear once more. What if this was all a dream? She looked to the man beside her, one she felt she could not imagine a world without and bit her lip at the sudden pain of losing this, of losing him. Turning towards her with a smile and welcoming jesture he said, "This is Vallinor."