Just My Luck

The hiss of the waves on rocks muted the sound of her clinking metal as she closed in on the cliff side. She looked down the edge, looking at the rough rocks and sea foam.

She didn’t have long. But she couldn’t move too well; not with the extra weight on her right foot. She looked down at her foot, the orange, rustic teeth grinning back at her.

Just her luck.

A bear trap enclosing her foot. The teeth sit threateningly on top of her silver armor. It weighed a ton.

She doesn’t really remember when it attached itself to her. She was running, that’s all she remembers. The forest was scarcely filled with them. She happened to find the one that stood out the most.

A slow clicking comes from the forest behind her. She’s suddenly alert. She flips out her knife, but it flicks out of her hand and plummets down to the ocean below. She curses under her breath as she much more carefully pulls out another knife. She holds it at her side as she nonchalantly awaits for that black Kelpie to poke its head out of the forest.

The glowing lilac colored eyes showed first, then its shining black armor came to view next. Its nails scrape the ground, picking up leaves and seeds on its moist skin. Its night purple mane sways like water.

Kelpies are the kingdom of Clayden's transportation. Their land, surrounded by water, is the perfect habitat for one. And once you calm a Kelpie, they're yours. The rider comes into view next, his onyx lined armor sparkling like his mount’s.

“Brave little tree, hm?” His voice is pitchy. Not like he’s been screaming orders for hours.

She doesn’t respond, but tucks her right foot behind her left as if to not show the rusty weight. It was embarrassing.

“Ran away from your own squad. No captain to protect you now, little tree.” He was trying to sound rough, trying to take dominance. But, this wasn’t his win.

Before he killed her squadron, her’s killed his.

They were both lonely.

The man hops off his horse and stalks menacingly closer.

She takes a step back, her grip on the knife tightening. He looks down, then smirks on his cracked lips. “I see you ran into a trap, little tree.” He holds out a hand as if for her to give him her foot.

As if.

Take advantage of their foolery.

She wipes forward her knife, aiming for his open wrist, but at the last possible second, her muscles strain, and her arm cramps and goes limp.

Just her luck.

The knife tumbles to the ground as she curses herself. Her arm goes numb to her side as she backs further towards the edge. “Good strategy, little tree. You had more for a moment. But, your misfortune is entertaining.” He chuckles, growing closer.

His pale brown eyes match his scarred tan skin. His eyes dilated and unfocused. She couldn’t figure out why. He stops a foot in front of her, staring her down. “Tell me, little tree, what is your next move?”

She gasps awake, her stomach aches and her back groans. She blinks awake only to be thrown off of the back of an animal. She groans, unable to move. Her arms are tied to her sides, and her legs are limply tied together. Her limbs are tired and tingle.

She now lays on her back, staring up through the moggy sky. She sighs out a breath, her eyes half lidded.

Something touches her foot. She flinches, but can’t pull away.

She can’t feel what touches her through her armor, but she knows they aren’t mindless. Her leg is shifted, lifted and set back down. She hears the clinking of metal as she tries to see who’s at her feet.

Suddenly, there’s a snap, and her foot is released from the weight that had burdened it. She moves her ankle, the one joint that hadn’t moved since she was trapped. It cracks as she rolls it.

The figure near her feet stands, his head coming into view. He throws the disengaged bear trap to the side, then looks to her. “You’re lucky it didn’t cut through your armor, little tree.” He pulls out a knife and flips it in his fingers. He kneels down once more, and she holds her breath.

She can’t see him but she hears the sawing of rope on a blade. The loose rope around her legs falls away and her eyes widen. He moves up to her side and slowly cuts one rope away at a time.

It takes all too long for her to be free from her bounds. But once she is, she pushes off the muddy ground, jumping to her feet. She twists to look at him, as if to fight, but when her feet touch the ground, they lose grip and fall from under her. She lets out a small cry as she lands once more on her stiff back. She sees stars for a moment too long.

A short laugh escapes the man as he walks over and looks down at her. “Your luck is miserable, little tree. You happened to land on the only mud puddle in a ten foot radius.”

She groans, but before she can get up, the man kneels down and drags her by the arm to her feet. He does it like she weighs nothing. He holds her arm as she finds her feet on the solid ground. “Now,” he groans, “Take off your armor.”

She snaps her neck to look at him.

“Last thing I need is to not be able to kill you if I need it. And having two bodies in armor is too heavy for Nile.” He looks over at his Kelpie, who stands not too far away, motionlessly glaring at her. “You’ll grow used to her.” He tells her.

The Kelpie no longer wore its armor, so its black scaly skin glints back at her. Its hair moved and looked like it had just risen from a bath of water.

No one spoke for a long moment. “Go on, I assume you have something underneath?”

She glares at him for a moment before nodding. She carefully turns her back to him as she slowly reaches for her side. She unbuckles her chestplate and takes it off over her head. She does the same to her forearms, then her legs, her stomach, and her shoe covers. She’s left in a loose white shirt and baggy tan trousers, both looking worn from years of use.

Reaching up, she removes the cap on her head, her hair falling long over her back. She tosses it to the pile of her armor. She turns back around to look at him. His eyes stay on her hair for a long moment; he looks away when he realizes. “How did you fit that much hair in a mere cap?”

She shrugs.

He looks at her with narrowed eyes. “You’re very quiet for a front-line soldier. Isn't it your job to scream?”

Her eyes harden and she looks firmly away.

“Did I hit something, little tree? Good.” Quickly, and before she can react, he goes behind her and grabs both of her wrists behind her back. He ties them together. With one hand on her shoulder, the other grabs a handful of her hair. She braces for him to pull it, but he merely feels it. He seems distant at the moment.

After a second, he coughs and lets it go. He grabs her upper arm and drags her towards Nile, the Kelpie. She struggles to follow, her feet being dragged too fast for her to catch.

He stops when they make it to Nile, and just when she finds her balance, he picks her up from her arms and throws her on the Kelpie’s back, stomach down. She groans, the rough vertebrae of the Kelpies back stabbing her stomach.

He hops onto Nile's back, a small mat under him. She lays on the Kelpies rump, behind the man. He twists his torso and picks her up without struggle. He sets her in front of him, her back to his chest. “Don’t try anything funny, little tree.”

Days and nights they spend together, he lounges against Nile and she lays on the other side of the Kelpie. She stares at the stars at which she had mesmerized in her cold nights. Each day, the man works to break away her outer walls, and each day, she breaks down her own.

He told her how he hated her people. Why he decided to become a soldier. Her people blocked out the other kingdoms for years. Her people were safe and secluded. They provided for themselves and didn’t make contact with any other culture. But this led the outside world to fall to famine and disease.

Eight years ago, the outer kingdom broke down the walls, literally, and started an all-out war. She knew this, but was on her side of the wall, and stayed there.

She had her own demons to deal with, she rarely had time to worry about outside of her kingdom’s walls.

But now her past haunted her like a devil on her right shoulder. Never gone, always loud.

She curls in on herself, pulling her knees to her chest as she lays against Nile. She felt so cold.

She joined the army to get away from what her past held. She joined the army to learn to fight, but ended up being cursed with the luck of a raven. She can’t fight, she won’t talk, she doesn’t have a friend. She’s being sent to the enemy kingdom to be put to death.

Maybe death was what she needed. A relief from the life she grew up in.

She hears a scream, and jolts to a sitting position. She frantically looks around the dark forest but doesn’t hear anything but an echo in her mind. She’s trembling beyond her control, her breathing erratic.

She hears rustling, but barely processes it. Her nails dig into her knees.

A hand touches her shoulder and she flinches violently. Her head snaps to look at the tired, yet worried eyes looking back at her. He says nothing, but slowly wraps his arms around her.

She doesn’t fight back as his arms clumsily go about her shoulders, or as he pulls her to his chest. She still trembles, but his warmth is combating it.

He leans his head against the top of hers, his breath quiet. His heartbeat reverberates in her ears, a constant medium in her own shaky rhythm. “Relax, little tree,” He says in a tired, yet comforting voice, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but you can relax now.”

The black castle looms over them as Nile trots along the cobblestone roads. He keeps one hand around her waist to keep her steady, she grew used to the feeling when he first did it.

They go to the courtyard between the castle doors and the front gate. There, his hand moves off of her waist and to her shoulder, it bites down.

Nile halts, her heavy armor clinking sharply. The man gets down, and roughly drags her down with him. He pushes her front against Nile’s side, and she gasps. He forces her hands behind her back and ties them with a rope. She watches him from the corner of her eye, confused. He leans closer to her ear. “The king will judge you, little tree. If you survive, I’ll remove them, if you die, well, it won’t matter.”

Her eyes narrow, and he pulls her back. They walk, him holding her arms while walking at her flank. The large doors of the castle open, and her eyes widen. They open straight into the throne hall, where the king sits on a throne, raised a few feet above the floor they walk on.

The king's eyes widen when he sees them. “Captain Hollow,” he breathes out, almost in relief.

A week spent together, and only now has she learned his name. Hollow. Quite a name.

“Who hath you brought fourth, captain?” The king bellows.

Hollow pushes her roughly down to her knees, and when the energy of the floor presses against her, her mind flashed with memories. Terrible memories. She keeps quiet as her chin falls to her chest and her eyes closed.

Breathe in. Hold. Breath out. Don't let them see you when you're dealing with yourself. Don't let them see the demon that lurks in your past.

“... Really?”

“Quite.”

“And what of her name…?”

She blinks, as if she had fallen asleep in her own conscious mind. She's still staring at the odd marble floors under her. She picks up her head to stare into the dark green eyes that look to her. “Is she derangered?” He asked Hollow.

“No, your majesty.”

His face falls as if disappointed. “You have brought me another servant?”

Servant.

“No, I have brought you proof.”

“Of what?”

“That her people aren't selfish.” Hollow's voice rings around in the room, leaving it silent for a moment.

“Hollow, my brother, you do realize I respect your input, but I do not need it to understand.”

There's a pause of silence, of confusion.

“While you were out finding mute soldiers, I found proof that her kingdom isn't all terrible,” the king stands in front of his throne, looking as old or maybe younger than Hollow. “They're culture makes lovely vanilla soup.”

Even the guards posted in there furrow their eyebrows. “You aren't serious-”

“I am. And, I've tried to get my chefs to cook it, but it just isn't the same. So I'll postpone the war and form an alliance as long as they provide me with my soup.” He grins happily as he picks his pampered nails.

“Of course, your highness.” Hollow sounds annoyed, but she doesn't blame him.

“So you can release your mute tree and be on your way.” His grip on her arm tightens as he forces out an agreement.

He picks her up, and when she sets her feet on the ground, she slips, but Hollow stops her from falling. “Come on,” He hisses before dragging her out. She follows the best she can.

They go outside between the castle and the gate to a small swamp looking area, where Hollow then whistles. Up from the puddle, Nile takes shape. From a puddle to a figure, to a solid Kelpie. She trots over, her eyes solely locked on her.

Hollow quickly undoes her bindings, and jumps onto Nile's back. He reaches down and picks her up before setting her in front of him. He seems rushed, like how he urges Nile to a sprint. They leave as the city fades to the countryside.

They make it to a forest, then Hollow guides Nile to a spot he seems to know well. He abruptly stops and drops down, taking her with him.

He takes her hand roughly and leads her hurriedly. They round around the forest until making it to an opening filled with a mighty Willow tree, where lightning bugs flirt around. He marches under the swaying leaves and spins her. He pins her back to the trunk of the tree, and comes all too close to her. His breathing is rough, and his brown eyes bore into hers.

“Why don't you talk, little tree? You have nothing to lose. I know you're not mute. No matter what my brother says. What are you hiding under your skin?”

Her eyes widen, but like always, she doesn't say a word.

“Speak!” He demands.

She flinches, shrinking away from his larger form.

His eyes soften slightly, as if connecting dots in his head. His eyes widened after a moment. “That's why you don’t…” he breathes out.

She watches him with still scared eyes.

“You shouldn't have to be scared of me. I'm just frustrated. Even without your words you've pulled forth a part of me I buried when I was younger. And I don't understand it. But I love it.” Carefully, and while searching her eyes, he brings a hand to her hair, and tucks it behind her ear. She doesn't flinch away.

“I know we've only known each other for a week now, but… Some things happen without a sense of time.” He draws himself closer to her. “And you didn't have to say anything for me to know that I…”

She waits for him to speak, but before he finishes. He kisses her. Not bitter and hard like the lies of her past, but sweet and soft like the truths of the future. She gasps, not reacting. But she knows the flutter in her chest isn't a lie.

“I love you, Willow.”

Just her luck.

She didn't expect it to turn up like it did. Well, she didn't know what she expected after three weeks of wandering around with a man she's fallen for.

But, he's fallen.

Literally and figuratively.

His blade cast aside, his blood pooling around him like a bath. It soaks his armor and under clothing.

She's at his side in seconds, ignoring the warfare around them. She sets his head in her lap as his eyes weakly open. He looks up at her. “My little tree,” he hums, as if at peace, “I guess, your luck is better than mine.” He chuckles before coughing, blood spilling from the side of his mouth.

“I love you, Willow. And I'll see you again. I promise.” He closes his eyes. “Could you… say it…?”

She pauses before brushing his hair away from his forehead. She lets out a laugh, a mad, desperate laugh. Her heart contracts as his skin goes cold.

“I love you, Hollow.”