Hidden Temples

(9) Surprise

(Rue)
"So you can't tell me where we're going?" I press.
"For the millionth time, no I cannot."
I pout.
"You'll just have to trust me," he's says.
His eyes do that weird twinkling thing again, when I meet them.

I don't know if he does that on purpose, how can he, that's impossible. But I honestly don't know how to react when he does that, I have no idea what he's actually implying.
One second he's teasing me, then he's popping up of no were unexpectedly, without plans, then saying "nothing," whenever I catch him looking at me, or when he chuckles at me, which is really getting to me by the way. Then he gives me that twinkle in his eye, that makes my heart skip a beat, and th...... oh no, no no no, wait why did I even think that, eww no, again, not that he's a...
"Rue?" Jack asks, pulling me out from my thoughts.

"You okay? You just spaced out all of a sudden."
I shake my head.
"Ya...I'm fine."
I find I can't meet Jacks eyes, as he talks to me, afraid his eyes will do the same thing again.

Oh no, we're going to travel with the wind, all I need is to get closer to Jack, to start thinking again.
So, when Jack calls the wind, I place my hands on his chest, witch is a bad idea, cause when we touch, the same weird sparks erupt between us. Jack must have felt it to because, he catches my eye, and he stares intensely into them.
I'm truly grateful when the wind sweeps us away, dissolving the awkwardness between us, well, maybe only my awkwardness.

We land in a park, not to far from a town ahead.
"Where are we?" I ask.
"London," he says.
"I've never been to this part of town," I say.

"You come here a lot don't you?"
"How'd you know?" He says.
"I figured."
There's a moment of silence, before Jack says,
"Come." He holds out his hand, I take it, and he leads me out the park and onto the streets.
We run along the sidewalk, and turn a curb, that leads to busy streets, and tall buildings.
"What are we going to do?" I ask.
"We have to get there first," he says.

We walk across the sidewalk, and Jack pulls me into a thinner, and more narrow street.
We walk past venders, and store owners, cafes and florists.
Then he stops in front of a tall and old building.
"What are we doing here?" I ask.
"Climbing!?"
"Yep, c'mon, don't look at me like that...believe me, it's worth it."
I glare at him.
"Please?"
"Fine," I say putting my hands on my hips.
He grins.
Then he yanks my hand, and drags me to the other side of the building.
He puts one hand on the ladder, and starts to climb up, he looks down at me, a boyish grin plastered on his face.
"C'mon."
I sigh, then place my hands on the metal bars, and climb, and climb, up to the top.
"Here," Jack says, already on the top of the building, he offers his hand.
I take it and he pulls me up.

"Wow," I say looking up at the sky. Blue clouds swirled, and mixed with the light purple, making the sky look like cotton candy.
"That's nothing," Jack says gently taking my hand, and walking me over to the edge of the roof.
I gaze into the distance.
The city lights in the city ahead, look like a billion fireflies, illuminating the back silhouettes of the buildings.
I sit on the ledge of the building, letting my feet hang of.
"Your not scared that your going to fall?" Jack asks in awe.
"No, why? Are you scared?" I ask turning to face him.
He grins, "not at all."
Then sits down at the edge too.

We take in the view once more, before I ask,
"Is this were you always disappear to?"
He pauses.
"Ya, I just like to watch. This is the best place to see the town."

"Do you ever get to see your parents, or is there a rule that you can't see them ever again, once you leave."
He turns to face me, and I see that dark, and sad features, have washed over his face.

"Your not allowed to see your family ever again, once you leave. It's to risky, and if anyone ever found out about our kind..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but I'm pretty sure what he is implying is bad.
"Then why are you here?" I ask.
"If someone recognizes you, wouldn't that cause a lot of problems?"
He turns back to look out in the distance.
"My parents were both Liths, but mom died shortly after I was born, and my father died of depression one month later. I lived in an orphanage for some time, before mistress recruited me."
"Oh...I'm so sorry." I say, not sure what else to.
"It's fine, at least they can't miss me," he says, forcing a noticeably fake, and weak smile.
I can still see the sadness in his eyes.

"Do you think your parents miss you?" He asks.
"Nah," I say.
"They never really gave a dam for me, they're probably celebrating right now, at the fact that I'm missing."
Jack turns back to me.
"You don't think they miss you one bit? You are their only daughter."
"Not really," I say.
"One time my mom even told me to my face, that I was a mistake, that I wasn't even supposed to be born. And even if they did care even a little tiny bit, they'd probably still not realize I'm missing, they never really payed much attention."

We sit in silence, until Jack gets up.
"Are we going now?" I ask.
"No, I just want to show you something. I did tell you about the mind, spirit, and soul training, right?"
"You mentioned it."
"Well," he says.
"We're going to do that tomorrow, I just want to show you something."
He closes his eyes, and I wait for something spectacular, but nothing comes. He just stands there, like an idiot with his eyes closed.
All of a sudden, A large gust covers him, and his figure goes blurry in the wind cocoon.
What I'm calling it now.

I get to my feet, and watch as the wind unravels, and to my surprise, I see a medium sized light grey dog, though it sorta looks like a wolf. His eye are the same greenish blue, but they look deeper, and somehow older.
I laugh.
"You can turn into a dog?"
Wind wraps around him, in the cocoon like tube, and he turns back to his normal self.
"All Liths can turn into, what we call our animal. The wind allows us to, using spirit. You'll learn about the other two later."
"So I can turn into a dog?" I ask.
"No, but another animal, each Lith turns into their animal. The colour and animal itself, depends on the way you think, act, and your personality."
I grin.
"What do you think I'll be?" I ask curiously.
"Not sure actually, we'll figure that out soon."
"How long does it take to learn?" I ask.
"Took me five days to get it perfect. I'm the youngest Lith that's perfected it. Takes mostly every one at least ten days."
"Maybe I'll beat your record," I say.
"We'll see," he says wrapping the wind around us.
I take one last look at him, before the wind whisks us away.