Sword Fighting Show Down

We got back to camp a few minutes later and I sat the deer on the ground, then started to cut it up with my sword.

As Jonathan cut the deer into pieces, I got an old cloth out of my bag and started wiping my sword off. It was silent for a few minutes, before I spoke up again.

"So...." I started, trying to start conversation.
"What exactly was your nightmare about? When you woke up screaming the word "no", I mean." I asked casuaully, my eyes on my sword, my hands concetrating on cleaning the sword.

I had tried to forget about the dream, but blushed a little when she mentijoned it. I had finished cutting up the deer, so I was just sitting there. I couldn't just lie to her, so I decided to tell the truth, like the hopeless not-a-liar I am.

"Um....it was about......" I started, trying to go as slow as I could. "Um....you.." I said, the word "you" a whisper.

(This is getting funny...it's fun to make Jon squrim! )

"Me?" I asked, half shocked, half confused. I looked over at him.
"What about me?" I could feel myself blushing a little, so I made myself look down at my sword, cleaning it again, though it was already as clean as it would get....

It took me a moment to answer, mostly because I really didn't want to.

"Well....um, you were on the ground.....and that guy from earlier, the one who hurt you...he had his sword raised above you.....and he was bringing it down on to you, and that's when I woke up..." I said, staring at the ground.

"Oh," was the only word I could get out of my throat. I blushed a little more, and I'm not really sure why. I could just feel my face heat up.

"And that's why you screamed 'no', I'm guessing...." I let my voice trail off. Then I put the cloth I was using to clean my sword back into the bag, and I put the sword back into it's sheath. I wouldn't allow myself to look up at Jonathan, afraid my face would be red....

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, my face bright red. I made myself look up once and saw that her face was red as well. I looked down again, not sure what to say.

(Hmm, I'm debating whether or not I should have Jonathan tell Lynn that he likes her, or wait till later on......what do you think?)

(Doesn't matter to me. Jonathan's your character; so you decide )

I wasn't really sure what to say. I was wondering if Jonathan was blushing too, but I didn't risk looking up. Though he could probably see that I was blushing anyway.
But finally, I forced myself to look up. Only to find that Jonathan was looking down just like I was. I sighed with relief subconciously, not even realizing I had actually sighed until the small noise came out of my mouth.

(Then I shall!(Do it now....maybe) This should be funny...)

I looked up again, only to find Lynn looking straight at me. I decided that I had to do something. I got up and walked over to her, then sat down next to her.

As Jonathan walked over to me, I looked away quickly. I waited for a few seconds, to make sure my face was it's natural color again. Then I looked back over, only to see that he was now sitting next to me.

I took me a few minutes, but I finally gained the courage to speak. I turned to her, and took her hands in mine.

"Lynn......I like you. A lot." I started, hoping I was saying this right. "But...I need to know that you feel the same way about me that I do about you." I said.

As he took my hands in his own, I knew he was about to say something that would probably make my face turn a complete shade of red. And, of course, I was right....

I listened to what he said closely, and I could feel my whole face heat up. At first, I was speechless. I had no idea how to respond to that....

"Would it help any if I said that I did?" I asked, my voice just a low whisper. My face was probably as red as an apple now.

I laughed a little, both at her answer and at the fact that our faces were probably the same color.

"Y-yeah," I said, smiling.

Somehow, I managed to crawl my way to camp, and by the end of it, my under dress was filthy. Luckily, my very expensive dress had come to no harm except my pale hand crushing it while I dragged myself along with the other hand.

I laughed aloud, mercilessly at the sight of the two people perched near the embers of the burnt-out fire. They were sitting close together, faces red as tomatoes. "Wariness can turn to luuuuuurve, my mother used to say," I taunted, crooning and emphasizing the word love. The two figures; Jonathan and Lynn; spun to face where the words had originated. I grinned sheepishly, and held up a silencing hand, fitting in a sly wink at Jonathan. That was before I noticed what they were eating and laughed hard, harder than I had in my life. They were eating food that they... hunted... and I had perfectly good food in my pack.

Lynn and I had been eating in silence when all of a sudden somebody said something. We both turned to see who it was and found that it was Elandri. All I could think was if she had been there before when I was talking to Lynn. I really hoped not. I frowned a little at her, then turned back to the way I was sitting. I spoke, not looking at her.

"Glad you're finally back." I said flatly. Truthfully, I WAS kind of glad she was back, but I was still a little mad at her.

I sat in silence when that Elandri girl came back. I ignored her, and continued to eat my food, staring into the fire as I did so. Well, it wasn't really a fire; the fire had died out. But you know what I mean....

I sat there, eating, thinking about what I had said earlier. I had no idea where the courage to say it had come from, but I was glad I had. I used my sword to pick at the embers where the fire had been, trying to get the fire to start up again. I thought about just using my powers, but I figured someone would notice it.

I had finished eating, but I just sat in my place. And I was quiet and unmoving until the noise of flapping wings came from behind us. I sighed, standing up and slowly walking towards the messanger hawk....

I looked up when I heard Lynn stand up. I noticed the hawk from earlier and sighed. I got up and walked towards her and the hawk, past Elandri.

"Another letter?" I asked.

"Yeah," I said, sighing again. I reached down and got the letter out. To be honest, I'd forgotten all about Zuko until just then. I read the letter to myself slowly.

I didn't want to be nosey, but I couldn't resist.

"So, what's it say?" I asked.

"He just says that he misses me..." I lied, re-reading the letter. He actually put "All you can do is run away from your fears," and "You're nothing but a lowely peasent girl", and such. Low-self-esteemed jerk, I thought to myself.

After I finished re-reading the letter, I handed it to Jonathan so he could see what it really said. Then I walked over to my bag and got out a piece of paper and my pen. On the paper, in my best handwriting, I simply put: 'You can have this back, Zuko. You'll regret it one day. ~Lynn'
Then I yanked my necklace off, happy when I noticed I had broken the thin, golden chain. I walked back over to Jonathan and the hawk, necklace in one hand, paper in the other.

I began to read the letter, getting angrier after every line. Finally, I finished reading it and spoke to Lynn, who was putting the letter and her necklace in the thing that was on the hawk's back.

"How could he say that?!" I yelled, really wishing right then that I could meet this guy....and punch him out.

"Oh, that's Zuko for you. He's got a low self-esteem most of the time, and he can get really angry. He thinks that everything should go his way, just because he's the Fire Lord's son," I replied calmly, and truthfully. Then I held up my now-broken necklace.
"But he can take this as a reminder than I don't belong to him anymore," I said, smiling.

I smiled too, then watched as she put the necklace ith the letter. The hawk flew away, and I knew that was the last we would hear from this Zuko guy. I looked over at Elandri, who was staring at us. I was really hoping we were somewhere else right then, away from the forever sarcastic and rude Elandri.