Storms of Fury

Storms of Fury::Chapter 5 [pt.1]

Recap:

Her eyes shot open at the sound of someone clapping their hands behind her. She whipped around ready to fight the intruder, but stopped flat when she saw who it was. There, leaning against a tree with a cocky grin spread on his face as he slowly clapped his callused hands together, was Justin.

* * * * *

"Not bad, Clash." Justin stopped clapping and walked toward her, his mouth smirking with arrogance but his eyes holding something that made Adira crouch back into a fighting stance.

Hate. Hostility.

He began to circle her, his hands folded neatly behind him, and Adira followed his movements so she never had her back to him.

"I've known someone's been watching me for some time now. I thought, hey, they aren't telling anyone, so what's the harm in passing on a little knowledge? I came out here to see just how much you have learned, and maybe even to teach you more."

He stopped and looked her in the eyes, practically glaring holes into her. The smirk on his face had disappeared, replaced with a loathing grimace that made Adira

shiver.

"But then I saw what you were." His eyes flashed to her naked arm where her silver Clash tattoo was glinting in the light. "A nomad wanting to learn? I have no problem. But you? A Clash?" The name of her clan spat from his mouth, as if it were a curse and burned against his tongue. He moved closer to her, his face but two inches away from her nose. Adira was too shocked to move as she stared, speechless at Justin. "Never." She could feel his hot breath on her nose and she stumbled back, trying to get some distance between them. "Now get off of my land, and if I ever catch you here again, I'll personally kick you back to whatever hell-hole you came from." He never raised his voice as Adira expected with anger, but instead it was low and cold, the chill from its frigid hostility almost tangible. He hissed every word out between his teeth, a silent curse behind each syllable. His words made Adira feel something she had never felt before.

Fear.

With his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides, he turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Called Adira. Justin stopped but didn't turn back to face her. "I just wanted to learn. I haven't told anyone and don't plan on telling anyone either. I swear." The muscles in his back stiffened as his head slowly turned so she could see one of his amber-like eyes.

"I could never trust the word of a Clash." He began to walk again, the muscles in his back tight and his shoulders rigid. She ran after him, forgetting the pain in her side.

"Wait!" she called. "Wait!" In her pursuit her foot caught on a root and she tumbled to the ground. When she stopped rolling along on the hard stony earth, she placed her hand to her side where she could feel blood seeping through her cloths from her newly opened wound. She was too busy with checking for other injuries to notice Justin standing above her. His eyes flashed to her side and widened slightly when he saw the red stain that was soaking through Adira's shirt.

"You're bleeding." He stated.

"Yes...it was a training accident..." his eyebrows scrunched as he stared at her wound.

He let out an aggravated sigh before saying, "Lift up your shirt."

"What?" Adira could feel her cheeks flare up in an embarrassing blush.

"Come on, you're losing too much blood. I fix it for you."

Adira didn't know what to do or say so she wordlessly lifted up her shirt to reveal the gash along her ribs. He prodded at her side and she jerked away in pain. "Stay still." He hissed at her. After examining her side some more, he bent down and placed his hand on the ground, using the technique Adira had just learned to coax water to the surface. When he had collected a good-sized puddle he stuck his hand in the middle, completely submerging it in water. Adira's eyes widened when he raised his hand from the puddle...because the puddle had risen with it. The water had formed around his hand like a clear-glass glove. It rippled around his fingers and down to his wrist as he advanced his hand to her side. She jerked away again.

"Didn't I tell you to stay still?" His face was hard and blank, so unlike the joyous expression he held when teaching the children. His lips were flattened into a straight line and his brow was furled over his eyes. His eyes were the only thing that gave away his emotions. The deep amber held such a mix that Adira had a hard time deciphering what exactly they were, but some of the ones she caught were much the same as before. Hate, anger. But she also saw something that she didn't expect. Concern, empathy, sadness, pain. As she was staring at his eyes, he went back to work on her side. The watery glove touched her and she gritted her teeth as the cold seeped into her bare flesh. A strange tingling sensation seeped over her wound and was quickly replaced by itching. She longed to scratch at her side, but she resisted the urge, afraid of Justin's anger. The itching sensation receded as he stood and brushed his hands together. "Now go. And don't come back."

Adria looked down at her side, expecting to see the tear in her skin but saw...nothing. She brushed her hand along where her wound used to be only to feel the

large pink scar that now took its place. "How did you...?" Her eyes traveled up to meet Justin's, who were staring down at her as well, obviously waiting for her to leave. "How did you do that?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"That, Clash, is none of your concern." And with that, he stalked off past the bushes and trees, and left Adira all alone, staring, wide-eyed and opened mouthed, at her miraculously-healed side.