The Girl In That Hooded Jacket

W.T.FRICK... HOME?!?

          Wait. WHAT!?! Frick-a-flippin-squirrel-pancakes! What the rock nuggets did he think he was saying!?!! HOME!?! This was DEFINITELY not her house. She stared at the beautifully vaulted ceilings, the tiled floor and the intricate sculptures of butt naked men and women lining the hallway with nothing covering them but a stone towel or leaf or object they were holding. Some had wings sprouting from their backs or crowns set atop their heads. Each was set in some regal position, kneeling or praying or staring heroically into the distance. She CERTAINLY didn't have random stone carvings of MEN in their BIRTHDAY SUITS sitting in her hallway at home! No way this strange, magnificent looking.... Lucien gave her a devilish smile that made her fingertips tingle.... Scratch that, she thought.... Pebble brained man thought that THIS PLACE was her home. Nope. She regained control of her limbs and pushed forcefully at his chest. "Put. Me. Down." She demanded. Her eyes sparked up at him in weary anger and bewilderment. He stopped, looking shocked. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open like he'd just been slapped in the face by a self moving fern leaf. "Now." she added when nothing happened. And then, much to her surprise, he burst out laughing. His shoulders shook and his head was thrown back, tears of mirth pooled at the corners of his eyes. She fastened her hands to his shirt as his arms swayed, hoping with all hope that if he did drop her, that he'd do so feet first. His female companion had stopped by now and was staring coolly at Lucien. "What in the name of Skauque's got you guffawing over?" She said. Looking like she couldn't care less. "I just didn't expect her to be so feisty. I was expecting someone more.... Polite." He grinned down at Faith and shook his head back and forth, chuckling softly to himself. She pushed against his muscled chest again, reminding him of her request. "Okay, little lady." He leaned down, gently deposited her on the ground and she swayed like a baby deer. Apparently just because her arms were listening to her requests, didn't mean her legs were ready to comply. "Can you walk on your own?" Lucien didn't move as Faith used his sturdy arm to steady herself before letting go. Her hand throbbed and she glanced down at it, taking in the fact that she still had the gash on her right hand. She started and glanced down worriedly at her other hand, heaving a sigh of relief when she saw the pendent. The world was still spinning and she tried to take a step, but no matter how hard she tried walking in a strait line just wasn't possible for her. Her hand strayed to her pocket, where she safely deposited the pendant. Lucien, behind her was a constant shadow and the woman ahead of Faith Frowned impatiently. Faith took that as a bad sign. Her cloths were still dripping wet and she shivered again, slowly making her way, zigzag fashion, down the hall. She could feel the boys hand hovering above the space between her shoulder blades, not touching her, but just barley. Suddenly Faith stopped. Her hands out to her side and her feet spread wide for balance. "Are you okay, little lady?" Lucien ducked his head to look into her eyes, and on instinct she averted them. "No!" She sniffed, barley holding back tears as she said. "Of course I'm not okay! And my name isn't Little Lady!" The tears in her eyes threatened to break loose. So she stood straighter and looked strait into his green eyes. "Where in the blue blazes am I?! And how did I get here?!?" she demanded. Something clouded over Lucien's eyes and the hand on her back retreated some as he replied. "You have to understand something, litt..." She was so glad he stopped himself, or she might have smacked him. She was just that confused. "You aren't on earth anymore...." He paused to let her take that in... She didn't believe him. Ya, she'd just fallen from the sky, and the landscape she'd witnessed didn't exist anywhere she knew of, and shure she'd also been caught by a giant pillar of floating, unrestrained water, but come on... another world? Her hand stung and she glared at the floor once more, in shock. Oh crap... She did believe him. "I can't really go into details right now," Lucien continued, "but know this... We are here to protect you, and you are here to protect us. If anything happens and you need help, we'll be there." He ducked his head a little lower to look into Faith's eyes, and when he couldn't, grabbed her chin, forcing her to at least face him. "Okay?" At first she was shocked. No one did that! You only ever saw that move, the move he was using on her right now, in movies!!! Then, stubbornly, she averted her eyes, looking awkwardly behind and to his right somewhere. He sighed and released her and she continued down the hallway, taking in what he just said. He'd said 'We', but who was 'We'? The girl and him? Then he'd said that 'SHE' would protect them. Was he really talking about HER? She didn't know. Her legs wobbled again and she snapped her arms out to her sides as an immense pain split her thoughts in two. She crumpled under the mental impact and cringed as the pain increased. She could barely hear the two people she'd been walking with shout. The cold tile under her shoulder slowly became distant and soon she couldn't feel it under her at all. From a distance she could hear Lucien calling her, telling her to open her eyes and look at him... She didn't remember closing them in the first place. She tried, and when she did her vision was rimed with streaks of color. Lucien's eyes worriedly stared into hers as the colors around the room blended together in her vision, coming together to form a fussy landscape. The pain again ripped at the inside of her scull and she tried to clutch her head, but her body was rendered once again useless. She saw a room, and in front of her, a bowl of food, someone was talking to her as she ate. The view melted and became a night sky, Three bright stars lit the sky and time sped up, revealing a bright dawn, a moon slightly eclipsing the bigger than normal sun. It inched across the sky and the clouds zoomed past. It arched across the sky and, suddenly the sound of a bell gonged twice, loud. It echoed across the land and she was moving towards the ground, not falling, just.... Moving. She floated above the ground, a foot or so, the earth zipping beneath her as she followed a dirt path. It halted and time seemed to stop. In front of her, carnage spred, Lucien lay on the ground in front of her, an arrow buried in his thought, his eyes blank, 5 more buried in his chest. Men hung frozen in time like puppets, their swords moments from impact with necks, backs, heads, and guts. All of which would be killing blows. Then, light flashed across her vision and she saw herself starring back at her, terror in her eyes, blood smudged across one cheek, a knife at her thought and a grimy, dirty, bloody hand holding the crimson dagger. With each change of scenery, another blast of agony, renewed in it's intensity to reap carnage in her thoughts, spreading pain. Slowly the aching in her head calmed and she could take in her surroundings once more. A cool forehead pressed itself against hers and she opened her eyes to find Lucien. His eyes were closed, but after a second the snapped open. They seemed a darker green and all the mischief that had originally been there disappeared, a serious frown spread across his face, all business now. He shifted his position and only then did  she notice his arm around her waist, She was on the floor in a sort of sitting position, her legs curled to one side and her hands limp on her lap.  Her left shoulder leaned against him along with her head, which rested on his chest. He was in a kneeling position too, one foot firmly on the floor it's knee pressed securely on her back, the other underneath him, somewhat under her knees. Without warning he scooped her into his arms with ease and once again set off down the hallway. "Forgive me little lady, but we're in a bit of a hurry... Sybbyl, we're leaving... now! Get Dristan!" The woman nodded once and ran down a separate hallway. Lucien headed strait for the door. It's a good thing he picked her up she thought, or she'd have been left behind.