Autumn's Beginning, Autumn's Breeze [2]

Christian

"I'll keep first watch," I vollenteered. I had the feeling that she would bolt if she got the chance, I wasn't going to give her that chance.


Kayla

"Bu-" I sighed, resigned. "You win," I agreed, "who am I to decide what's best for you anyways?" I said with a shrug.

He kissed my forehead.

"But don't say I didn't warn you!"

(to help Ariel)

Kayla

Caspan chuckled, "you did at that, but it was a needless warning."

Cara----

Cara frowned but nodded, she curled up against Fire's warm fur and fell into a light sleep. That was all she could manage to get right now with her mind thinking so much.


***:'(***

Caspan-

I took Kayla back to the camp and made her lay down next to me so I could keep an eye on her. She reluctantly agreed and finally fell asleep (or so I hoped). I stood silently and walked over to Ramere, shaking him roughly.

He opened his eyes a fraction, only so that they became glittering slits, reflecting the glow of the fire. Ababella was asleep by his side, and I could tell he had been too.

"What?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Will you wake me up if Kayla makes another break for it?"

He snorted and closed his eyes again. "Your girlfriend, you deal with her," he mumbled.

I resisted the urge to strangle him. Unlike some people (Here I glared at him), I stuck to my word and would wait until he was able to put up a fair fight.

I went back to lay by Kayla and fell asleep almost instantly.

A few hours later I woke again and yawned. The sky was still dark and the moon was still visible, so I couldn't have slept long. I stretched and was about to fall back to sleep when a sudden thought made me sit bolt upright.

Kayla was gone. Again.

I cursed and sprang up, preparing to run and find her. I turned to Ramere angrily, though he was still asleep, and ran over.

"Ramere," I whispered furiously. "Where is Kayla?"

He opened his eyes again, though I noted with some reluctance. He gazed past me and smirked before glaring at me. "Have you looked next to you recently?"

I turned to see Kayla sleeping peacefully, right where I had left her when she had fallen asleep.

Oh.

"Er...sorry. I guess I must've rolled over..."

"Huh," he grunted.

I bit my lower lip and went back to lay beside Kayla, falling asleep yet again.

Kayla

When I woke I felt the need to stretch my legs, I had never slept more than a few hours at a time before, I never felt safe enough to do so. I stood up and paced around the fire a couple times.

Feeling better I went back and laid down next to Caspan. His arm came around me holding me still.

"I wasn't going anywhere," I whispered.

"I know," he said back.

"Then..."

"I like having you close."

"O-oh."

Caspan-

I yawned and pulled Kayla closer to me, kissing her hair softly. "Are you still tired, or ready to wake up?"

I glanced up at the sky. Only the very first slivers of light were beginning to shine over the tops of the mountains to the east. Still early, in my book.

Cara--


Cara woke up in the middle of the night to whispering. She looked around to see Caspan lay back down. She slowly stood up careful not to wake Fire. Slowly moving to the woods she tried to clear her mind. She wasn't going to leave. She just needed to think. She walked around a tree and felt something tighten around her ankle and she felt herself fly up.

A game trap! Her mind screamed. She tried to get free but she couldn't and the blood was rushing to her face now. She couldnt' scream, for some reason it just wouldn't come out.

Christian

I woke to see fire sleeping alone, Cara should be sleeping there! I stood up and went in search of her. It didn't take me long to find her, she was stuck in a trap. Fear for her gave him the necessary skills to free her.

As soon as she was free she collappsed into him and he carried her back to the fire. "Fire!" he said to the wolf. "Wake up!"

The wolf opened his eyes and was there in a second.

what happened?

She got caught in a trap...I-I don't know what to do, Ramere might be able to do something

Try!

I rushed over to him, "Ramere!" I shook him. "Look cousin I know you're exausted but I need you to help Cara!"


Kayla

"I'm good either way," I said, "I've just never felt safe enough to sleep as long as I did last night."

"So you feel safe with me?"

Slowly I nodded.

Ramere-

I didn't know whether or not to feel flattered or extremely annoyed. I chose to be flattered, for their sake.

I opened my eyes to see Christian holding Cara gingerly in his hands.

"What happened?" I asked slowly, noticing bitterly my voice was going out. Already it was husky and slightly hoarse. I winced.

"She got trapped in a game snare. I cut her lose, but...I don't know what's wrong!?"

I sighed. "Oh, come on, Christian, you of all people should know. The blood simply rushed to her head and made her pass out. She'll be fine within the next few hours."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!" I laid my head back heavily against the trunk of the tree and heard Christian walk away. I sighed. Perhaps now I could rest...


Caspan-

I smiled. "Well, good. You know I wouldn't let anything hurt you, right?"

Arabella--

I was startled by Ramere's sudden movements. As he sighed, and leaned back again, I sat up slightly and touched his face.

"Is everything all right dear?" I asked softly. His eyes opened a little, and his smiled softly at me.

"Everything is fine," he assured me, his voice no more than a whisper. "Go back to sleep," he leaned forward and kissed me gently before pulling me back to lean against him.

Cara--

Cara slowly woke up tucked in someones arms. Her head was lightly pounding but she wasn't thinking about it. What if Christian hadn't found her? Who was she next to? She pushed her eyes open and sighed when she saw Christain sleeping next to her his arms wrapped protectivly around her. She closed her eyes again and snuggled deeper in his arms.

Where do you think you were going? Fire demanded,

To think. I didn't mean to get stuck. She replied, Let me sleep, please.

Kayla

"I believe you, I don't want to...but I do."

"Why are you so afraid?"

My eyes must have held sadness that he didn't understand because he pulled me tight against him. "I'm afriad I'll forget again, that I'll lose everything and break someone else's heart along the way."

Christian

I made sure Cara didn't move the rest of the night. Which was simple concidering she was sleeping very heavily.

Cara---

Cara woke up still in Christian's arms. She could feel his even breathing against her hair as he was still asleep. She slowly tried to slip out of his grasp without waking him, but didn't succeed.

"And where do you think you are going?" He asked smiling at her.

"I wasn't running off last night." She said defensivly, "I promise, I wouldn't have left Fire."

Christian

"I didn't ask where you were going last night, I asked where you were going now."

"To get a drink of water so I didn't cough and wake you up."

"Ah."

Cara---

Cara smiled and quickly went to where some water was. She quickly got a drink and went back over to where CHristian was. She sat down in front of him and smiled. "You can go back to sleep now."