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 Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:22 pm
Kaimi barely knew where she was. She'd managed to find her way back into civilization, stumbled her way into a park and collapsed against a tree. Tears made streaks down her dirty face and she didn't even notice the mucky cold of the weather. She didn't notice that where her skin touched the tree the bark grew dead and blackened. She wasn't really in any shape to notice anything at this point. All she wanted was to be home, to be safe.
She'd grown, but that was something she hadn't really noticed or paid much attention to either. Her fingernails were broken and she was bleeding from small cuts and scrapes in a dozen different places. Shivering, Kaimi huddled up against the tree and sniffled woefully, confusion still clouding her mind.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:01 pm
In the gathering dusk, it was hard to see the new teenager and people hurried by, moving through the park as a shortcut to their homes or restaurants or clubs. No one paused or looked her way. No one even slowed down.
Not until a slim figure appeared over the small hill that lead to her tree. A familiar form that walked with a hip-swinging, light gait.
Delilah paused on the other side of the tree, not seeing Kaimi, but still struck by a sensation of wrongness. She shivered in her lavender pea-coat and turned the collar up, fussily adjusting the scarf at her neck. When the cold didn't pass immediately, she wrinkled her nose and tilted her head back, bright eyes half-closed. There was something in the air, something beyond the cold damp, and it made her skin crawl and her head hurt.
She sighed and absently reached up to stroke fingers against the flower in her hair. Then she started forward again, moving slowly and silently. Her step went ball-heel, careful as thought. Cresting the tree, though, she paused and stared at the other girl. "... Kaimi?" she whispered, shaken out of her usual coolness by the appearance of her little admirer.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:20 pm
Kaimi
Wraithlike, with eyes too big for her face, she looked up almost blindly. Someone had... it was a warm voice... a safe voice. She knew that much. Kaimi blinked through the fog that her tears had imposed over her vision and it was as if an angel suddenly materialized out of the mist. Letting out a huge, gut-wrenching sob of terror and relief she flung herself at Delilah with all her remaining strength and clung to her, shaking, looking pathetically like an orphaned victim of war.
She tried to form coherent sentences, tried to explain how relieved she was to see someone she knew. That it was closer to safe than she'd felt in what seemed like ages. That Delilah was the most amazing and beautiful person ever. But it all came out in a garbled and damp sobbing-gulping noise.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:36 pm
Non-plussed, Delilah merely stood in place and let the other girl cling to her. A few moments passed and then, gingerly, she wrapped her arms around Kaimi's shoulders. The motion was uncertain but Delilah frowned, anyway, and anyone seeing her face would have been able to read confusion and concern. "Shush, shush," she finally murmured. One her hands lifted to stroke Kaimi's hair a bit. "It's alright. Where did you come from, Kaimi?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:46 pm
"T-They t-t-took me." She was hiccuping between words, making it difficult to understand. But it seemed that the worst of her hysteria was passing and she rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes, dashing her tears away and smearing ash and dirt over her face as well.
Taking a deep breath, Kaimi made a concerted effort to calm down. "They took me, but I got away." She managed without hiccuping or breaking down again.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:40 pm
"I see." She truly didn't but she knew there was no chance of getting anything more coherent out of the other girl. She took a step back to better study Kaimi. Then she sighed and unwound her scarf. "Well, if they took you, we better make sure they don't come looking for you," she announced mildly. She held out the scarf. "Put this on, Kaimi. You don't want to freeze your petals off. I'll take you home unless... Do you want something hot to drink first?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:07 pm
A small smile touched Kaimi's face at the petals comment. It was good to know she could still smile, she thought to herself, obediently wrapping the scarf around herself and noticing, for the first time, the changes in her body. She poked at one of her breasts. "Oh. I dont remember that happening." Running and crying and escaping had left her terribly tired. "I just want to go home." She added plaintively.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:28 pm
"We can do that." Delilah paused, though. "You'll have to tell me where. I've never been to your house." Her face maintained a non-expression as she watched Kaimi feel herself up. She reached forward to adjust the scarf into both a warmer and a more flattering position. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked as she took the other girl's hand and started them walking.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:53 am
Kaimi peered around, feeling much calmer now that she was with someone safe and familiar. She didn't realize that the life she'd sucked from the plants around her was also bolstering her up, didn't notice that wherever her skin touched trees or dead winter grass it left behind charred markings.
"This way." She said, finally getting her bearings. "They... took me. Leeward did." Swallowing, she forced the rest of the words out quickly, feeling sick. "Theylockedmeinacoffin."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:27 pm
"Oh." The single syllable was tight with anger and disgust. Delilah tightened her fingers on Kaimi's but quickly turned her face away as if looking towards the horizon. Something about the contact was starting to send shivers up her spine, a nameless ache starting in her stomach and moving upwards. Resolutely, she held on, though, and kept her pace slow enough for the weaker girl to stay with her. "Well, we'll have to take care of them then, won't we?"
Delilah's eyes focused on the distance, not quite seeing. "They'll have to be punished for picking flowers."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:41 pm
Kaimi shivered a little herself, though she was feeling stronger. Not strong enough to contemplate revenge on Leeward and his gang, but she was feeling better. She didn't realize that some of that strength might be coming from her friend. "Yes..." She agreed faintly, nodding, though her mind was shying away from thinking about it. The cold touches and caresses that may or may not have been real. "Theres my house." She pointed, feeling a great surge of relief overcome her. All she wanted was to be home and safe and to sleep and sleep and sleep.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:29 pm
"Good." Delilah brought her gaze back to the other girl and smiled for her benefit. "I recommend you take a nice hot bath. Then sleep. You look completely wilted, Kaimi." Then she looked at the house and mentally marked the number and location. "Do you want me to stay a while?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:02 pm
Sniffling, Kaimi hugged her friend tightly. "Thanks, Delilah." She whispered. "I think I'll be okay. But can..." Swallowing, she pulled back and looked up anxiously at the other girl. "Can I maybe call you sometime? We can... go do something?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:33 pm
"Of course." Delilah regarded her thoughtfully and then rewarded the bravery with another smile. "Maybe something in the sunshine?" she suggested.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:45 pm
Kaimi nodded, sniffling one more time and trying out a watery little smile. "Thank you." She said again, opening the door and going in to face her family.
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