Sword Fighting Show Down

I watched the hawk fly away.
Then I followed Jonathan's gaze to find Elandri sitting there, staring at us. "What's her problem?" I whispered, hoping she wouldn't hear me.

I whispered back.

"I wish I knew."

I shrugged my shoulders, walking back over to my bag, and sitting down.

I sighed. A deep, slow, melancholy sigh. How good it felt to get that out of me... but those two buddy-buddies failed to realize that I am indeed a human being with real feelings. Of course, I heard them ask what my problem was, and I felt like screaming at them.

Have they ever been wounded by their own father for not being good enough? Have they ever been beaten for not fighting well enough? Have they ever been injured by their own family for not being the best scholar? Have they tried guarding the grounds of my mother, the empress' land every day for six years? The thoughts whizzed round in my mind, and I shuddered involuntarily.

I remember saying to my father, 'I do my best to please you,
but my best is never good enough...' I felt his hard glare on me, but I continued. 'Why are you only able to see what I'm not?'
I remember my child-like innocence in delivering that well thought out statement. But the fire and anger burning in Father's eyes...

I shake my head slowly, squeezing me eyes shut tightly.

I watched the hawk fly away until long after it was out of my sight. I sighed and turned around. I glanced at Lynn, then at Elandri who had her eyes closed. I sighed again and sat down near my stuff. I reached into my back pocket where I kept my wallet, and found that it was actually there. I grabbed something out of the wallet then threw the wallet into my pack. I had taken out the group picture of myself and my friends. I stared at it for a while, both wishing that I could go back to the way things were before, ad wishing I could stay here with Lynn. I looked where my best friend was in the picture and wondered what he was doing right then, if he had even realized I was gone.

I lay down on my back, looking up at the bright sky. My mind went into a million different directions at once. Eventually, I closed my eyes. I was feeling a little malaise....But I was reveling the silence. It gave me time to think. That's when my thoughts snapped to my parents. Why they did, I have no idea. But an image quickly snapped through my head. No, it wasn't an image. It was...a flashback? There I was, about 2 years old, and my parents....I quickly snapped upright, my eyes wide open, trying to clear my head. "No, no, no", I whispered, trying to clear my mind.

I looked up, noticing Lynn looking kind of freaked out. I put the picture in my pocket and spoke.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing..." I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "I...I think it was a flashback, but I'm not sure...." I explained, still trying to clear my head. I honestly wasn't sure what I'd just seen. I'm pretty sure it was a flashback, though.....

"Oh." I answered simply, seeing that she probably didn't want to talk about it. I looked between Elandri and Lynn, then spoke.

"So, where do we go from here? We can't just live here in the forest for the rest of our lives." I said.

"You've got a point," I stated, thinking it over. "But I have no idea where we could go.....I guess we could all split up and try to find a way back to where we came from..." I suggested, knowing it be impossible to me, thanks to the reason I was here in the first place. But at least Elandri and Jonathan would be happy if they were where they're supposed to be....

I looked away, thinking about what she had said. I spoke a moment later.

"But where would you go? You obvisouly can't go back to that jerk."

"True...." I replied, thinking about that. "But I can find my way around; it wouldn't be too hard to find a new place to stay...." I said, not really liking the sound of that.

I didn't like that. Who knew how long it would take for her to find somewhere else to stay, if she did at all. But I didn't say anything, just sighed and stared at the fire, thinking about what I should do. I pulled that picture out again, wishing I could have both my friends and Lynn. I knew it wasn't possible, but a guy can dream, can't he?

I tried getting off of that topic quickly. I don't know why, but it made me feel a little malaise. I noticed Jonathan looking at some picture, so I decided to ask. "What are you looking at?" I asked casually.

I looked up, smiling.

"Oh, just a picture of my friends and I." I said.

"Oh," I replied simply, standing up and quietly walking over to him. Then I looked at the picture of he and his friends. I don't know why, I guess I was just curious....

(Picture: Cyborg on the left, then Starfire, Robin, Jonathan(With his powers ON, meaning his hair is yellow...),Raven and Beast Boy.)

I almost didn't notice her walk over at look at the picture. I didn't really care, it was fine with me.

I examined all of the people in the picture. They all looked quite....strange. The boy in the middle looked a little familiar....Was that Jonathan? I decided not to bring it up, to drop it, not knowing how he'd react if I asked. I just nodded my head, looking over the picture again. Then I pointed to the dark-looking girl.
"Who's that?" I asked, my finger lingering over the picture.

I answered her question, deciding to point out everyone.

"That's Raven. The guy next to her is Beast Boy, then myself, my best friend, Robin, his girlfriend, Starfire, and that's Cyborg." I said, pointing to everyone as I said their names.

"Oh, okay..." I replied, noting when he confirmed my theory that the boy in the middle was him. I still didn't say anything about it, though.

I wondered why she didn't say anything about my appearance, but I wasn't about to say anything. I looked to each of my friends. Cyborg, crossing his arms and smiling. Starfire, floating about an inch off the ground and her smile about a foot wide. Robin, smiling more than he had in a long while. Myself, my own grin almost as big as Star's. Beast Boy, standing on the tips of his toes so he could make bunny ears behind my head. And Raven, a very, VERY small smile on her face. I wondered what they would think if I never went back. I knew I had to, but I almost wished I didn't have to.

Jonathan seemed to be thinking hard about something, and I decided it best not to bug him. I just continued to look at the picture, still wondering why they all looked so strange....

(I think now would be a good time to stop and let El post next. Also, I REALLY have to get offline.)

(Okay! Yeah, I have to get offline, too. So I guess we'll just wait for El to post, then....)

(Eep, sorry for holding you up! Just keep posting, pretend Elandri's doing something. I have to dash, 'coz it's dinner time, but I'll be online tomorrow around 8:00 am on this clock (the forum's clock).)