Corrina

Did I mention it was Scottish?

When noon came around, kunta woke me, and we decided to get going immediately. With help from Thaddeus I was able to climb onto Kunta's back, refusing Shylock's offer to carry me.

"Not after last night," I told him scornfully.

According to Shylock, we had around forty minutes before we would reach our destination. I fell asleep, shivering and aching, and missed a lot of the journey. Don't expect a grand finale, because there wasn't one other than the fact that I got extremely sick before we arrived, and threw up multiple times. Somehow I could feel Thaddeus worrying, and I tried not to think about it, because I needed strength just to stay awake. The sun was burning my shoulder, but I barely noticed, because I had a splitting headache that was so bad that I couldn't see.

I was awake when we skidded to a stop, and I fuzzily heard Shylock say he smelled cat. He was talking to Thad in a sad voice, and I felt myself being transferred from Kunta's back to Thaddeus's arms. My heart wrenched as I realized what was going on, and I somehow managed to say a full sentence.

"No... Shylock.... Don't go.." I felt my face contort in sadness and hot, searing tears fall down my cheeks. He was leaving me. I would probably never see him again, seeing how fast-paced my life had become. I hadn't realized how much sentimental value he had to me. He and Kunta both. Thaddeus hesitated, and then I felt a hand on my face. it was calloused and rough, but the palm was soft. I let Shylock wipe the tears away, even though I knew he was just flirting. His life was just a movie to him. He wanted drama, so he made it. I let him have it this once, just to feel his hand one more time.

I still had feelings for him down somewhere in my soul, and I could feel them, bubbling up like letting out a breath underwater- they wanted to escape, but I wouldn't let them. I loved Thaddeus, and that was that.

Thaddeus turned around and began walking away from my past. since when was that his descision?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was suddenly a mountain before me, and I could see clearly. My headache, although not gone, was suddenly bearable, and I realised I was on my feet, walking toward a little rock alcove. The only reason I could think of going there was because something was glowing inside.

As I approached, the mountain seemed to flicker and wave like an open flame. Then I realized I was melting. It started at my shoulders.

I woke yelling in pain, unaware of where I was- or when, frankly.

"Shh! It's fine, just hush! You'll be okay!"

I stopped yelling and looked over to see a man tending my wounds carefully. he was applying something to my shoulder, but it was so badly burned from my journey that I couldn't turn my neck to look at it very well. I winced and twisted my face tightly, tears falling again. Jeez, i was a wreck.

the man continued his work for about ten minutes, tenderly helping me turn over to lay on my back and propping me up so I wasn't laying on my burn. We didn't speak, but once I could see him, I was shocked to see a bleach blonde young man with a deep scar on his collar bone, just above where the shirt would've covered it. He looked gaunt, with pale skin and purple bags under his eyes. His hair was slicked back in a way that reminded me of Marvel's Loki*, although this man seemed much too tender to be a villain. He wore simple clothing, the likes of which I'd never seen. His jeans were normal, but his sweatshirt... it was plum purple, and all the thread was sky blue. It was sort of like a hoodie, but instead of a hood, it had a bag attached to the neck.

It, in my own words, was a backpack nurse sweater.

I finally spoke, asking "How- ahem- how old are you?" Although my throat felt like sand paper, I managed a few words. His face remained blank as he grabbed a wooden cup and put it to my lips. I tentatively sipped it, then realized it was just water with a bit of flavoring, and took a nice sized gulp.

"I'm 31," he said. His voice shocked me so much that I choked on the water and began to cough.

It was deep- almost too deep for his body- but still complimented him nicely, making his kind-but-serious appearance even more likely to be true. Oh, and did I mention he had a Scottish accent? his Adam's Apple bobbed slightly, and I gulped up some extra spit that had magically appeared in my mouth. I nodded in response. I think that was all I could've managed. He turned and left the tent, leaving me frowning sadly. When he came back, I looked up with hope, and what met my eyes made a smile split on my lips (and also made my lips split, but I didn't mind at the time) and a laugh slowly and roughly bubble out of my throat. It was Thaddeus, followed by Shylock and Kunta. Thad came over to me and hugged me as though he'd been waiting to for days. He kissed my cheek and I kissed his, while beckoning the other two to my side. They came without hesitation, joining in with the hug.

After a moment, I broke the embrace, saying with a scared face "did I just almost die?!"

"Yes," Kunta said, slightly shaken. There were tears in her eyes, and she suddenly asked if I would excuse her but she had to leave and she would be right back. She was weird about crying in front of people.

Shylock smiled at me, saying "told ya' I'd come back, didn't I?" then he left to go after her.

Did he say that? I couldn't remember at this point.

Never mind that.

I was too immersed in Thaddeus to care.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1,  Marvel's Loki*: Loki, a villain from Marvel Comics and the god of mischief in Norse mythology

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REEEAAALLY short chpt., so sorry :( forgivveee meeee. at least i was able to post it at all! i swear, my ipod is coming, and i'll post faster then!