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Post by The Crystal [Hope] Catacombs on Sept 29, 2007 13:49:18 GMT -5
CHAPTER ONE
Mom was screaming and pushing me against the back wall of the house. My dad was out on the street, fighting for our lives. My baby brother was crying in Mom's arms. The entire front of the house was lit up in flames. I was sweating and pressing myself against the stone. Tears were streaming down my mother's face. Finally, she used her bending to blast a hole in the wall, just big enough for me to slide through.
"Go!" she cried. "I need to wait for Dad. Go, and I'll find you! I promise!" I began to cry, but she looked so frantic that I ran from the burning town and into the forest. Suddenly, Jet jumped from the trees and into my path. He smiled a lopsided grin that made my heart skip a beat. I ran forward to hug him, to feel safely escaped from my flaming village, but just as I reached him, fire engulfed his body. Everything around me was crackling, burning to ashes.The fire leaped from Jet as he began to reach for me.
Sparks caught my sleeve and he caught hold of my hand. I felt no pain, but I could see the flesh peeling away from his fingers as they clasped mine, curling and turning reddish brown with the heat that I couldn't feel. He leaned in to kiss me, and as his lips met mine, a horrible agony pierced them and I cried out.
The treehouse was dark and comforting as I jolted awake in the night. Four years since that fire, and it still haunted me. Four years since I first met Jet, and I still hadn't won the attention that taunted me in my dreams.
I was sweating from head to toe in my heavily armored outfit. My heart still slamming against my rib cage, I stripped down to my underclothes, a black skin-tight top and a pair of loose-fitting shorts. Quietly, I draped a blanket over my shoulders and slipped out of my empty treehouse.
The wooden bridge creaked as I walked across it. A catowl stared at me from above with big yellow eyes. I felt exposed, standing there in my underclothes, makeup washed from my face and hair mussed from fitful sleep.
Across the way, Jet's treehouse stood hard and proud, like Jet himself. It was the best-built treehouse in the whole hideout. Cautiously, I stepped inside.
Clothes were strewn about haphazardly. A girl was curled under Jet's blanket, her bare shoukder touching his. A rush of jealousy coursed through me, but I pushed it away. Everybody knew that Jet often slept with the girls in our hideout, especially the tree identitcal triplets commonly called "The Tree Sliders." They were as nimble as they were beautiful. Only Jet and the Duke could tell them apart.
Ignoring the Tree Slider, I shook Jet's shoukderr gently. His skin was warm to my cold hands. "Jet," I whispered. He stirred. "Jet, I had another nightmare." He groaned and sat up.
"Okay," he mumbled sleepily. "Let me get decent." I turned and covered my eyes while he put his pants on. My face heated up with an embarassed blush. It wasn't an abnormal routine for us; I had been having nightmares since I was nine and Jet first found me in the forest. But now that the Tree Sliders had joined our gang, he was "indecent" more often than not.
He put a hand on my shoulder. "Ready." I nodded. He led me from the treehouse, his arm safely around me. His body heat warmed me, comforting in the cool darkness of the night.
Dim, dappled moonlight made patterns on the floor of my tiny treehouse as it crept through the doorway. He led me over to the pile of blankets that substituted my bed. He sat down next to them and I curled up beside him.
"The usual?" he asked, referring to my dream. It wasn't the usual, though. It was the first time Jet had actually kissed me in my nightmares. But I was too ashamed to admit that my obvious crush on him had grown at an alarming rate over the past year.
"Yeah," I answered quietly. He nodded understandingly.
"Don't worry. We'll beat the Fire Nation. And you're never alone," he attempted to reassure me. It was the same old thing he always said.
"I was alone after the fire," I murmured.
"Yeah, but we found you," he insisted.
"It's like you always say, though. The Fire Nation will never stop. They took everything I loved away from me," I said. I looked up at him. "What if they take away you, too?"
"It won't happen. They'd like to get me, but they never will. The Fire Nation will never take me from you." He kissed the top of my head lightly, tickling my hair and sending tingles all over my scalp. "I promise."
I pulled my covers up and laid down. he left, leaving me alone in the darkness. I turned onto my side and cried, knowing he would always think of me as a little sister. I was too young, too tomboyish. Not the type Jet could fall in love with.
But I worshipped him all the same.
Mom was screaming and pushing me against the back wall of the house. My dad was out on the street, fighting for our lives. My baby brother was crying in Mom's arms. The entire front of the house was lit up in flames. I was sweating and pressing myself against the stone. Tears were streaming down my mother's face. Finally, she used her bending to blast a hole in the wall, just big enough for me to slide through.
"Go!" she cried. "I need to wait for Dad. Go, and I'll find you! I promise!" I began to cry, but she looked so frantic that I ran from the burning town and into the forest. Suddenly, Jet jumped from the trees and into my path. He smiled a lopsided grin that made my heart skip a beat. I ran forward to hug him, to feel safely escaped from my flaming village, but just as I reached him, fire engulfed his body. Everything around me was crackling, burning to ashes.The fire leaped from Jet as he began to reach for me.
Sparks caught my sleeve and he caught hold of my hand. I felt no pain, but I could see the flesh peeling away from his fingers as they clasped mine, curling and turning reddish brown with the heat that I couldn't feel. He leaned in to kiss me, and as his lips met mine, a horrible agony pierced them and I cried out.
The treehouse was dark and comforting as I jolted awake in the night. Four years since that fire, and it still haunted me. Four years since I first met Jet, and I still hadn't won the attention that taunted me in my dreams.
I was sweating from head to toe in my heavily armored outfit. My heart still slamming against my rib cage, I stripped down to my underclothes, a black skin-tight top and a pair of loose-fitting shorts. Quietly, I draped a blanket over my shoulders and slipped out of my empty treehouse.
The wooden bridge creaked as I walked across it. A catowl stared at me from above with big yellow eyes. I felt exposed, standing there in my underclothes, makeup washed from my face and hair mussed from fitful sleep.
Across the way, Jet's treehouse stood hard and proud, like Jet himself. It was the best-built treehouse in the whole hideout. Cautiously, I stepped inside.
Clothes were strewn about haphazardly. A girl was curled under Jet's blanket, her bare shoukder touching his. A rush of jealousy coursed through me, but I pushed it away. Everybody knew that Jet often slept with the girls in our hideout, especially the tree identitcal triplets commonly called "The Tree Sliders." They were as nimble as they were beautiful. Only Jet and the Duke could tell them apart.
Ignoring the Tree Slider, I shook Jet's shoukderr gently. His skin was warm to my cold hands. "Jet," I whispered. He stirred. "Jet, I had another nightmare." He groaned and sat up.
"Okay," he mumbled sleepily. "Let me get decent." I turned and covered my eyes while he put his pants on. My face heated up with an embarassed blush. It wasn't an abnormal routine for us; I had been having nightmares since I was nine and Jet first found me in the forest. But now that the Tree Sliders had joined our gang, he was "indecent" more often than not.
He put a hand on my shoulder. "Ready." I nodded. He led me from the treehouse, his arm safely around me. His body heat warmed me, comforting in the cool darkness of the night.
Dim, dappled moonlight made patterns on the floor of my tiny treehouse as it crept through the doorway. He led me over to the pile of blankets that substituted my bed. He sat down next to them and I curled up beside him.
"The usual?" he asked, referring to my dream. It wasn't the usual, though. It was the first time Jet had actually kissed me in my nightmares. But I was too ashamed to admit that my obvious crush on him had grown at an alarming rate over the past year.
"Yeah," I answered quietly. He nodded understandingly.
"Don't worry. We'll beat the Fire Nation. And you're never alone," he attempted to reassure me. It was the same old thing he always said.
"I was alone after the fire," I murmured.
"Yeah, but we found you," he insisted.
"It's like you always say, though. The Fire Nation will never stop. They took everything I loved away from me," I said. I looked up at him. "What if they take away you, too?"
"It won't happen. They'd like to get me, but they never will. The Fire Nation will never take me from you." He kissed the top of my head lightly, tickling my hair and sending tingles all over my scalp. "I promise."
I pulled my covers up and laid down. he left, leaving me alone in the darkness. I turned onto my side and cried, knowing he would always think of me as a little sister. I was too young, too tomboyish. Not the type Jet could fall in love with.
But I worshipped him all the same.
!!!
