[center][h1] [color=9e0b0f]James[/color] and [color=8493ca]Elyra[/color] [/h1][/center]
collaboration with [@Shadow daedalus]

 Elyra had awoken to find the camp still quiet and she had gotten up and repacked the travois and her own things that needed to be. She took out her hair brush and brushed her hair. Her mind was tired of thinking about why they were here. She wasn't sure it mattered. She looked around the camp and noticed that the assassin wasn't back yet. She wished he had not been added to the mission at the last minute he was hurting Jamie and she didn't like that. Her eyes glanced over her sleeping companions and landed on James. She smiled softly and her mind drifted off to happy memories.

James's sleep was restless, despite his body laying in perfect motionlessness. A sharp eye might have seen the small movements, but most were hidden underneath his red-tipped hair. A hazy image kept replaying in his mind, of featureless figures, a man and woman with blood red eyes and a building in flames until everything went black. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked once before he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Without a word, he seemed to glare at something in his palm before his eyes flicked over to the elven healer, lost in her memories, and his features softened. He turned quietly, picking up his bow and strapping his quiver onto his lower back and stepping away from the camp as quietly as he could.

 Elyra reached for her slingshot and realized it wasn't there. [color=8493ca]"Oh, I must have dropped it last night."[/color] She remembered it in her hand when she had gotten to Jamie. She headed out to the lake taking the same trail she took last night. [i]It must be by the lake[/i] she thought to herself. When she got to the spot she had been at she started looking around. Her father had given it to her so it meant more than just any old slingshot.

The string of James's bow groaned as a single red eye lined the steel tip of an arrow with the soft area between a young doe's jaw and neck. A single, long breath was inhaled. James let the bowstring slip out of his fingers and a single arrow flew straight at its target, the sharp tip easily penetrating the soft flesh. The young dear fell with a strangled cry and a few birds took flight as the black-haired hunter approached. Something knocked against his foot as he crossed a worn path, and looked down to see a small, but finely made slingshot. It didn't take him long to place it as Elyra's. [color=darkred][i]'She dropped this? She's probably quite worried about it...'[/i][/color]. He quickly put the weapon in his pocket and made his way over to the fallen doe. Pulling its weight on to his shoulders, he began to make his way back to the camp until something caught his eye. [color=darkred][i]'A lake?'[/i][/color]. He walked towards it until he came to the waters edge. Setting the animal down a little further up on the shoreline, he took a single, calming breath before he began to remove his clothes and dove straight into the water.

Elyra was starting to panic. She had to find it. She heard a splash and she looked up and saw someone in the water swimming. She wished she had found it so she could do that too. Upon closer inspection it was James. A smile automatically appeared and she felt herself blushing. 

Elyra was becoming disheartened at ever finding her slingshot. She decided to ask James if he had seen it. She walked over towards where he was when she first saw him and she saw part of it sticking out of his pocket. She smirked and picked it up. 

Swimming was a past-time not many people knew that James enjoyed. It was a good for him to burn off stress, but he wasn't someone that liked an audience. Treading water for a second, he turned on the spot and dove back towards the shore. As relaxing as it was, he couldn't spend much longer until the people at the camp began to wake up and start making speculations. As he was pulling himself onto the shore, he became acutely aware of two things: Firstly, a beautiful elven woman was standing nearby his clothes. Secondly, he wasn't wearing any of those clothes, so he was completely exposed. He did the only thing he could think of. He blinked. [color=darkred]"Can you please pass me my trousers?"[/color]

Elyra had been looking at the slingshot and noticed she needed to change out one of the cords soon. She was suddenly startled as James asked her for his pants. She automatically looked up and saw him. She blushed and covered her eyes. [color=8493ca]"Um, yes of course!"[/color] She looked down and grabbed his pants and stood up and walked to him. Her eyes covered so that she could only see the ground in front of her. She quite literally walked until she saw his toes on the ground. 

[color=8493ca]"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to invade your privacy. I was looking for my slingshot."[/color] She watched his toes as he put one leg in then the other. Her eyes still covered. She tilted her head up and removed her hand from her eyes. She was standing about a foot from him and she was suddenly reminded how short she was. She had to look up at him otherwise she was staring at his exposed chest. She blushed all the way to her toes.

[color=darkred]"It's fine. I'm sorry about... this. I wasn't expecting anyone to be out here so early..."[/color] He waved a hand at his discarded clothes, not quite meeting her eyes. He leaned down and began to pull his undershirt onto his dripping torso.

Elyra stammered and turned. [color=8493ca]"I-I should go. I'm sorry I..."[/color]

James's hand closed softly around her wrist, stopping her from leaving. [color=9e0b0f]"Not yet. Stay, please?"[/color] Emotion swam behind his eyes, but he managed to keep a slight smile on his face. [color=9e0b0f]"I want to talk to you for a bit."[/color] He let go her wrist and spread out his coat along the ground. He sat down and made a space for her, giving her a small smile.

Elyra had stopped as soon as she felt his touch on her hand. She nodded and sat next to him. She felt her heart beat start racing and butterflies in her stomach. [color=8493ca]"It's a beautiful morning."[/color] She looked at him a little closer. [color=8493ca]"Are you well? Is your neck bothering you?" [/color]She touched his shoulder as if looking for something visible. When her eyes went back to his she smiled softly. [color=8493ca]"What is it?"[/color]

Red met blue for a moment before whatever left of his walls finally cracked. James was usually a closed person, but around Elyra he always seemed... softer. [color=darkred]"It's... not that."[/color] He looked away, a pained light in his eyes as he watched the lake in the light of the early morning.[color=darkred]"I'm... afraid I guess. Afraid of losing the person I care about, again."[/color] His voice dropped to barely above a mumble. [color=darkred]"Afraid of losing you..."[/color]

Elyra's entire body started to tingle and she thought she misheard him for a moment but the look in his eyes was clearly telling her that she had heard correctly. She was a little scared so she moved slowly to face him and she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. 

It took a second for James to register the soft sensation against his lips, but slowly he moved to deepen the kiss. His arms slowly wrapped around her and pulled her closer as his eyes drifted shut. Soon, the only sensation he could feel was the soft warmth of her lips, the warmth of her body against his and soft lapping of water from the lake's edge.

Elyra gave into his kisses. She had had feelings for him for a long time. She had just never thought anything would ever happen. As their kisses deepened she got lost in him and it was going to be up to him to pull away. She wasn't sure she could now that it wasn't just a dream.

James's lungs began to beg for oxygen but he refused to stop and pull away. He was afraid that if he did, and he let go, she would fall from where he could reach her. Finally, he couldn't hold it any longer and he slowly separated from the elven beauty's lips. Almost fearfully, he opened his eyes to see Elyra's own flutter open. A fire started behind the blood red as he mentally resolved himself. [color=darkred][i]'I've finally got someone to fight for, and like hell am I going to let anyone take her from me'[/i][/color]. His eyes softened again and he gave a small but genuine smile. A smile he hadn't worn in years. 

Elyra's lips left his as he pulled back. She clung to him and hugged him tightly to her. [color=8493ca]"I'm not leaving you." [/color]She whispered near his ear. She didn't want to let go of him yet. She wasn't sure what to say so she just told him the truth. [color=8493ca]"I've been waiting a long time for you." [/color]She said quietly but clearly to him as she became acutely aware of the sun rising higher and others making noise at the camp. She groaned at their timing and looked up at him smiling. 

He caught the sound of the camp off in the distance and he narrowed his eyes in the direction before he turned back to Elyra with an apologetic expression. [color=darkred]"The others are awake, and I'm still wet. As much as I never want this moment to end, we should head back soon."[/color] He slipped his arm under her legs as he stood, shifting her body into a princess carry while smiling softly to her.

Elyra was surprised and she chuckled as he picked her up. She rested her head on his shoulder and then she kissed him once more as she was put onto her own feet. She smiled and waited for him to get ready.[color=8493ca] "Do you want me to go ahead or wait and go back with you?"[/color]

[color=darkred]"Grab my bow and go on ahead, I'll grab this morning's meal."[/color] He said, pulling the doe onto his shoulders.

[color=8493ca]They headed back to camp.[/color]


[@caits][@gareth][@venku][@dabombjk][@ashevelendar]