[OOC] Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

[xivyxx]

The next four years had gone extremely well for the three of them. Lucien was quite happy with the life he was living, and after they had achieved their goal of visiting all forty-eight states, he quite liked their new way of spontaneously choosing their next destination, it was fun in a way, and Aurel quite enjoyed doing so.

Over the years some of Aurel's snake companions had come and gone, but the one that had first found him had always stuck by his side. The most notable addition to his friends had been a large yellow python that the younger man had stumbled upon when he was a little younger. The encounter had almost given Lucien a heart attack, seeing the constrictor snake having wrapped itself around the boy, but had meant him no harm. She had grown fond of him rather quickly, and had joined them on their journey. Honestly.. his connection with the creatures had always been a sight to behold over the years.

Now Aurel was fifteen. He had grown plenty over the years, and there wasn't any sign of the young fragile child they had once found. He was growing taller, and while he still kept some of his smooth features, he was certainly more fit and well nourished, thanks to Faolan's training. The two had certainly grown a lot closer after all this time.

Aurel's artistic skill had also increased over the years, though his style had grown to become more abstract. He was certainly skilled in drawing nature but.. he had never gotten the hang of drawing people. Perhaps it was how long he had spent in such settings.

Lucien's eyes were watching the landscape pass them by until they had arrived at their crossroads.

Aurel glanced at both directions as he let out a hum, trying to contemplate which way to go. Both directions looked relatively the same, so he wasn't sure where to choose this time. It was here that Lucien rose to his feet and stepped forward to lean over the seat.

"Hmm, how about we change things up a bit, toss a coin?" He suggested, taking a quarter from his pocket. "Heads, right, Tails, left?"

Aurel turned to look at Lucien before then shifting his gaze to Faolan. "Sure! I honestly didn't know which way to pick. Both paths look the same." He said.

Lucien wasted no time in tossing the coin into the air, and then swiftly catching it, before flipping it onto his hand. "Heads, right it is." He told Faolan with a grin.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan glanced over his shoulder to Lucien and nodded in agreement to his suggestion. Usually, Aurel was quite quick to decide, using the landscape as a big factor in every choice. He was glad for Lucien's input this time, as they had been on the road for several days and Faolan was looking forward to some work, but most of all a shower. They were at the tail end of a rather nasty heat wave and the days they had spent driving and camping had certainly taken its toll on the three of them.

"Right it is." Faolan echoed, smiling up at Lucien before releasing the break and turning the bus onto the road to the chosen path.

It was a bright, clear day, but it was rather warm as the late-afternoon sun beat down on the metal box the three of them called home. Faolan was dressed in a tank-top and had the window down, the warm air blowing his hair back from his face as he drove them onward. The glasses he had used since Lucien bought them for him four years ago were sitting on the dash, he found them more useful at night and when he needed to see long distances, and besides, they gave him a headache if he wore them for too long.

If he had been wearing them, he may have seen the lone figure trudging along the side of the road, but alas, from here it looked like another blotch on the landscape.

[xivyxx]

Aurel was satisfied with the decision that was made, and had paused his drawing to look out the window to see where it would bring them. It was through this sequence of observation that the teenager took note of a figure on the road.

"Hey... I think there's someone walking on the side of the road." He commented, causing Lucien to rise from his seat to look at what he was pointing at. Faolan wasn't driving particularly fast, so it was easy to spot the figure that Aurel had spoken of approaching. It wasn't easy to make out at first, but the closer they got, Lucien realized that it was someone small, a girl. Upon realizing this, Lucien was quick to speak up.

"Faolan, stop the bus." He said, his voice a bit rushed. As soon as his partner had done so and opened the bus door, Lucien stepped out of the bus. Faolan had pulled off to the side of the road, and they had passed the girl, but not by much.

"Miss, are you alright?" He called out, loud enough for her to hear. The closer he got to the girl however, he noticed just how not okay she was. She was a small girl, with a ragged, dirty dress, torn in some parts, limping along the side of the road in the grass. Her hair looked to be filthy, and the composition of her in general seemed.. weak and weary, and definitely sunburned. This immediately concerned Lucien, but he didn't quicken his approach. For her to be like this.. he didn't want to scare her. He would only be a strange man on the side of the road after all.

Aurel hadn't gotten out of the bus, but he had peeked out the door to see what Lucien was doing.

"It's a little girl.." He said to Faolan, furrowing his brow.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan's eyebrows had furrowed on hearing Aurel's comment. He leaned forward a little over the wheel and squinted a bit harder, but still couldn't quite see what he was talking about. There were some undefined shapes on the side of the road, nothing moving that he could identify. Nonetheless, he trusted Aurel's vision over his own and let his foot off the gas a little. Though the bus could not move very quickly, it could still achieve a good 45 miles per hour on the highway, and the Irishman did not want to miss whatever they were pointing out.

The alarm in Lucien's voice was what caused him to break, more than anything. There was no hesitation and slowly the bus ground to a halt on the side of the road. As they got closer, Faolan did take note of something moving and the splotch did look to be person-shaped. Once he'd opened the door for Lucien to step out, he reached for his glasses and put them on. Everything clarified, and he looked over his shoulder and out the window to see what was happening. Now, he could see the small figure walking along several yards behind them. He still couldn't make out much from here, but the person did look very small, child-sized, in fact. Normally, he would not want Lucien to investigate this alone as he had heard of some desperate scams to pull unwitting drivers from their vehicles, but he also did not want to leave Aurel alone on the bus. Lucien could not be harmed, and he was smart and weary, so Faolan trusted him not to put himself in danger.

The girl, who had not noticed the bus stop, nor had she reacted when the man walked out to the side of the road, had been staring at the ground as she slowly forced herself to move forward. She was limping, and her arms swung limp like the leaves a willow at her sides. Her hair and clothing were coated with dirt and oil, and her skin was a bright almost fiery red. Her breathing was labored and shallow, her eyes were dry and itchy and sunken. She wore a simple dress, almost tattered, and a backpack that looked nearly empty. There was a scarf wrapped around her head, and oily curls of orange hair exploded out from beneath it. She looked like the walking dead.

She only reacted once the wind had carried the sound of his call to her ears. Startled, she immediately stopped in her tracks and looked up at the man with wide, scared green eyes. He was clean and tall, with dark hair and strange, but kind eyes, but she felt as though her heart had stopped. She'd heard the words and knew that she understood them, he was speaking English, but none of it had registered. She rose her arm slightly, as much as she could, as if to shield herself. Her lips parted, but her throat was so dry and her lips were so cracked...she couldn't speak, and she didn't know what she would say if she could.

"It's a what?" Faolan said, his voice slightly raised as uneasiness settled on him. He didn't like this...He stood and exited the bus as well, standing next to Aurel and sniffing the air, glancing about. He could sense no other people around, and the uneasiness in his gut was not coming from their surroundings, but from the girl herself. He sharpened his gaze on her and Lucien but kept his distance for now, knowing that he would only serve to complicate things if he joined his lover before her.

[xivyxx]

It seemed his voice startled the girl. That made Lucien stop his movements. He raised his hands a little to show that he meant her no harm. It was clear she was afraid, and it made him hesitate in his next course of action. Faolan had told him about scams like this before but.. there was no one else around, and even if this was some sort of scam, this child looked too roughed up for him to just leave her be. It looked like she was trying to say something, but was not able to.

"It's alright, I don't mean you any harm." His voice was gentle. "Are you lost?" He asked. It was possible she hadn't been originally alone. Maybe there was some sort of accident and she had gone ahead? Or she was simply a wandering child.. he wasn't sure, but at least it was a start.

"A little girl." Aurel repeated, squinting a little to try to get a closer look. He wasn't sure what was happening so he found it best to stay near the door of the bus.

"She doesn't look so good.. Her body temperature is very hot.. Even compared to you." He said in a worried voice as he looked up to Faolan. It was a very hot day, but taking a look at Lucien and the girl, it was clear that she might be going through heat stroke, considering the difference in temperature between the two.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan's brows lowered as much as they possibly could as he surveyed the scene and listened to Lucien speaking towards the girl. He could hear what the Nephilim was saying, but did not hear a response from his quarry. Because he smelled and sensed no other presence in the area, he was no longer worried that this was a scam, unless her accomplices were hiding very well. He would be sure to stay on high alert until he was sure there was absolutely no danger.

He noted what Aurel had said. Even if this was no scam, something felt very off about all of this...

The girl's mouth closed and then opened again and her eyes bulged like a fish drowning on oxygen. She was confused and obviously frightened, but her legs felt so weak and her skin was on fire, she felt as if she had been dipped in tar.

She'd had no warning of this, no vision, she didn't even know if anything that was happening now was real. She had been walking and walking and walking for so very long...she just wanted to sit and rest, close her eyes and fade into unconsciousness. But she coudn't, she had to keep walking until she found who she was looking for. She had to see her again, she just had to, no matter what it took.

She wanted to say all of this to the man, to tell him everything...there was something about him that was calming. But she was scared still and knew that adults were not to be trusted. Around the man there was a bright golden aura, like pure sunlight reflecting from a mirror. She hated the sun, but this light was not strong and harsh and hot, it was cool and comforting...maybe she could lay down in it.

All of this flashed through her mind in an instant, and she took a small step back, her legs worked on their own. She opened her mouth again and a small sound, somewhere between a gasp and language, escaped her before her eyes rolled back in her head and her entire body went limp.

[xivyxx]

Lucien's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly as the girl continued to struggle to speak. He grew more concerned as she took a step back, clearly frightened, but she hadn't had a chance to say much. The nephilim reacted quickly, and closed the distance between them as he noticed the girl's stance begin to falter, and reached her just in time to catch her before she fully fell to the ground. On contact, her skin was hot, and red. It was clear she had endured severe sunburns. Now being able to take a closer look, he could see small cuts and bruises on her hands, arms, legs.. they didn't seem to be inflicted by a person, from travel perhaps?

Regardless, Lucien had swiftly picked her up, seeing the girl was now clearly unconscious, his legs moved quickly toward the trailer. Just from the looks of her he could tell she was severely dehydrated. Faolan and Aurel quickly moved out of his way as he headed back to the bus and went inside. He carefully set her down on the couch and looked to the other two men.

"She's severely dehydrated, Aurel, please get me some cool water in a bowl, and a cloth." He said to him, taking more of the composure he had when he was treating people. His eyes scanned the girl carefully, gently opening each of her eyes and checking her for any serious injury. She didn't have any sprains or broken bones.. everything else seemed okay. A lot of these injuries seemed like they might have come from falling or tripping over outside, based on the scrapes and cuts she had on her body.

Aurel had quickly gone to get what Lucien asked, and handed them to the nephilim who seemed to be making sure the girl was alright. He tried not to hover, but he couldn't help his worried gaze as he looked over the girl.

Lucien thanked Aurel before he soaked the cloth in the water he was given. Carefully, he unwrapped the scarf that she had around her head, likely to keep the rays of the sun at bay, and set it aside. As he pushed the girl's bangs out of the way, Lucien was startled to see what appeared to be another eye socket. His eyebrows raised, but he gave it the same treatment, and gently opened it. He hadn't actually expected to see another eye there, a purple iris with a dilated pupil. He didn't.. really know what to make of it, not having seen anything like this before. He shook his head, and closed it, before placing the damp cloth on her forehead. It wasn't really the highest priority at the moment.

"Is that.. an eye?" Aurel asked, having caught sight of it when Lucien had opened it, but unsure if that was what he had seen.

"Yes.. it seems so." Lucien responded, glancing over at Aurel and Faolan. "Perhaps she got lost? Everything else seems normal. She seems about.. eight? She's also well nourished, and her clothes are relatively nice despite being torn up.. I'm not sure, but I'm going to start healing her." Lucien said before he shifted his attention back to the girl, and began to focus on healing the sunburns from her body. They looked like they were certainly painful.

"Faolan, you didn't hear or smell anyone else around?" He asked his lover, knowing he was alert for it.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan's entire body tensed as he watched the girl's legs wobble and give out beneath her, and he would have rushed forward to help if Lucien had not gotten there so quickly. It was clear that whatever was going on with this child was serious, and the look on Lucien's face confirmed this as he made his way over to them. Faolan stepped out of the way and put a hand on Aurel's shoulder to guide him. The lad was conscientious, but he was curious and worried, and the Irishman wanted to make sure he understood the gravity of their situation.

After Lucien passed, Faolan guided Aurel onto the bus and followed suit, then quickly closed and locked the door. He glanced at the girl as Lucien laid her on the couch, it was clear that she was in a very bad way. Her skin looked worst of all, bright red and angry from overexposure to the harsh light of day. Her collapse had been a result of utter exhaustion and probably dehydration...

In order to not hover, he busied himself with checking their surroundings. Though his instincts, which were rarely wrong, told him that there was nothing to fear from the outside, he had to be sure. This was a dire situation, and had come as a surprise and Faolan was not looking to be caught off guard again today. He paced the walkway of the bus and looked through all of the windows, closing the ones that were open and drawing the curtains he had installed for privacy. He doubled-checked that the door was locked and did one final glance about, there was no movement outside and no one on the road...they appeared to be safe, at least for the moment.

He made his way back to Lucien's side just as he was checking the girl's forehead. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed that Lucien was lifting her eyelid...the one on her forehead, to inspect the eyeball beneath. He raised his eyebrows, completely taken aback, and heard Aurel voice his very thought. He had never seen anything like this before...what were the odds that this child would also be special in some way? Nearly zero, or so he thought...

He pushed these thoughts way for the time being, they weren't important as long as this girl's life was in danger, and it was clear now that she had not been faking. Though she appeared to be sleeping, the expression on her face did not appear restful and even almost looked...pained.

"No, we're alone." Faolan answered his beloved's question with no hesitation. Now that so much time had passed and he felt not so much as a tiny hair raise on the back of his neck, he was sure that they were safe. There main priority would be getting this girl to the nearest town and finding out what had happened to her. They would get on the road soon, just as soon as Lucien had done some healing, it would be much harder for him to perform in the bus if it was moving as it was loud and unsteady.

[xivyxx]

Lucien nodded slightly at Faolan's response. It was good that there was no present danger but at the same time.. it really made him wonder how far this girl had come, considering there was no one in the immediate vicinity.. and her state. All they could really do was wait for her to awaken before inquiring further. He began the healing process on the girl, starting with her sunburns. With how bad they were.. he could tell she had been out in the sun for a while. Had he not been the one to treat them, they would most certainly have left scars behind.. or worse.

Once he had healed the damage the sun had caused, he focused on the scrapes and cuts she held, especially the ones around her feet, until she had been fully healed. He replaced the cloth at her forehead afterward, and made sure to have a separate bottle of water nearby for her to drink as soon as she awoke. He also asked for additional cloths to place along her arms, hoping it would at least help begin to cool her body temperature.

When he was finished, he sighed and rose to his feet, but his eyes still reflected his concern.

"Is.. she going to be okay?" Aurel asked worriedly. He had done his best to not hover to much, but he couldn't help but worry. He knew what it was like to be out there on your own.. and this girl seemed to be much younger than he had been when Lucien and Faolan had found him.

"Once she gets some water and food she should be fine but.. if we hadn't found her.." He trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence. There was no way a child this young would have survived out on their own in the heat. Granted.. Aurel had proven it possible.. but his circumstances were completely different.. not to mention he at least had snakes to look after him. What.. exactly had happened to this girl?

"The eye iss strange... but she ssmells normal.. The snake at Aurel's shoulder stated, having been eyeing the girl curiously.

"Well it's not like I'm all that normal looking either.." He muttered in response to the snake, before looking over to the girl's backpack that lay next to the floor. "Do you think there might be clues in her backpack? It doesn't look that full though.." He said. Normally he knew it wasn't good to look through other people's things but.. surely this was an exception?

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan watched Lucien go through the process of healing the girl, occasionally glancing around just due to his protective nature. He would never be too careful, not with such precious cargo. It was clear that this child was in awful shape, and Faolan knew before Lucien stated it that if not for them she would be dead. How she had managed to continue walking in this state was beyond him...and that eye. Of course, it was unsettling to see, but nothing that frightened him. It was something he had never seen before, and though his curiosity was piqued, he knew that none of them could talk about what was "strange" and what was "normal". What mattered now was getting this girl to safety and healthy again, nothing more.

When Lucien spoke, the Irishman could sense the pain in his voice, so he laid a hand on the Nephilim's shoulder for reassurance but did not offer any opinions of his own. It was not the time.

Aurel's comment drew his attention and he did look down at the backpack the girl had left. Normally, he would scold the lad for suggesting that they go through someone's personal belongings without permission, but Faolan knew that this was not Aurel's intention. This was a dire circumstance, and the backpack looked nearly empty. If anything, it was possible that it could point them in the direction of finding out what was going on.

Faolan grunted before picking up the bag and turning so he could lay it on the counter opposite Lucien. He was frowning as he unzipped the pack, making his displeasure at this activity known to all without so much as a word. He peered inside and found it just as empty as it looked. He pulled out a canteen and shook it gently, empty. He opened it and sniffed, but it has held only water and nothing more. He set it on the counter gently and reached in again. Mostly he found old pieces of paper used to wrap morsels of food, but not much, maybe two meals worth. It was clear by her state that the girl had been out and about for longer than that. Next, he withdrew a small book which looked even more minuscule in his grasp. He looked at the spine and his eyes widened as he read the title. It was a "pocket encyclopedia" of animals and plants of the Northeastern United States. He hummed, and as he went to set the book down a slip of paper fell out of it.

He was about to lean down to get it, but Aurel's reflexes had beaten him to it. Faolan turned back to the bag and withdrew a scrap of some material that smelled old but had the faint scent of flowers still embedded in it. Last, he took out a small pencil that was worn down to almost a nub and a tangled ball of string. There was nothing in the bag to indicate where the girl had come from aside from the book, so Faolan began replacing it all from where he had found it.

[xivyxx]

Lucien reached and gently squeezed Faolan's hand on his shoulder, before he released it as Faolan went to go look through the girl's backpack.

Aurel knew looking through someone's belongings wasn't something one should normally do, he knew this because over the years he had learned just how much Faolan and Lucien valued their privacy.. but in a time like this he figured it would be the only way they could get clues.

He watched Faolan pick up the girl's backpack and look through her things. It didn't seem like there was anything extremely telling, up until he noticed the slip of paper that had fallen from the book. He instinctively reached out to grab it before it hit the floor, and turned it around to see that it was a photograph.

It held two adults, a man and a woman. Between them stood a child who looked like the girl they had found, smiling. Each parent had a hand on her shoulder. At first glance it looked like a normal family photograph, but Aurel noticed the picture was actually folded. Carefully he unfolded it, to reveal there was another young girl, exactly like the other, but this one looked much less happy. She was holding hands with the other girl, but there was no contact with her parents. Aurel's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked up at Faolan.

"I think this is her.. she doesn't look too happy.." He commented, which brought Lucien over to them. Aurel turned slightly to show him the picture.

Lucien frowned slightly as his golden eyes scanned the picture. It was clear that there was a difference in treatment between the two girls. The mother was slightly turned away from the unhappy looking girl, and there was no physical contact between them. A typical family portrait would put both girls would be in the middle, with a parent's hand on each shoulder, but clearly that wasn't the case here.

"Perhaps... she ran away from home?" If she was unhappy with her family it would make sense, but she didn't seem like she had prepared well for the trip.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan finished replacing the girl's things as the other two examined the photo that had fallen from the book. He saved the small tome for last, thumbing through it quickly. The print was small, far too small for him to read even with his glasses on, but otherwise he noticed scrawling in the margins in pencil. The girl had annotated an encyclopedia...judging by her size, she couldn't have been older than ten, and Faolan guessed even younger than that. Her brain was too big for her body, it seemed...

He closed the book again, not even trying to read the notes, but kept it in his hand for when they were done with the photo. He looked over Aurel and then Lucien's shoulder to spy what they were looking at. He noticed particularly the look on the further girl's face when compared to her sister's and the body language of her mother. It seemed the woman was even turned away from the second girl. Faolan glanced at her face and back at the photo, then nodded almost imperceptably.

"That's her, see her mouth...and they look like twins to me, but my eyesight is horrible." He paused a moment and glanced back at the pack, "She doesn't have enough in here to have run away from home...unless someone stole something from her. She would have brought more with her if this was her choice." Having run away more than once as a youth, Faolan knew this for a fact. A girl this smart would not only bring a single canteen and some errant snacks if she was planning on hightailing it. "It seems to me like she's been on the road longer than what this bundle allows for, judging by the state of her." No, this girl had to have been kidnapped, or lost somehow unexpectedly. Either way, she had not left home of her own choosing.

[xivyxx]

Aurel's eyes shifted over to the girl as Faolan spoke, his eyes continuing to hold his worry as he listened to what Faolan was saying. If she hadn't ran away then he wasn't sure how many other possibilities there were... but he really hoped she hadn't been abandoned... Seeing that Faolan hadn't put the book away yet, Aurel handed him the picture, just as he had found it.

Lucien couldn't deny the things Faolan was saying. He had glanced at the cover of the book he held, it was certainly not something he would expect a girl this young to have.

"Yes, they are certainly twins." He muttered. The possibility of someone having stolen something from her was likely, but she was only a child. There was no reason a thief would leave behind the backpack if they thought it might hold something valuable. He watched Faolan put the picture back in the book, and put it away before placing the bag back where it had been at the girl's side.

"Well.. if it was kidnapping or something of the sort, we can help her get home. If it was something aside from that.. we won't really know until she awakens." He said, glancing over at the girl. He walked over and removed the cloth from her forehead to dip it in water again, wanting to keep it cool before placing it back on her forehead.

"Should we um.. go to the front?" Aurel asked, referring to himself and the snake he held around his neck. Knowing how children had used to react to him in the past, he figured it would be best if he wasn't around when she woke up.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan grunted in agreement with Lucien, nodding as he replaced the photo that Aurel had handed him and put everything back into the pack. He set it by the bench where the girl lay and took a step back.

At Aurel's question, he nodded and stepped out of the way so that the lad could pass. "We should get back on the road. She needs a real bed and real food, a bath...and so do we," He said this to Lucien, placing a hand on the man's shoulder once more and giving it a squeeze before letting go and making his way back to the driver's seat. "You stay back, in case she wakes up while we're moving."

He took a seat next to Aurel and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before turning the key in the ignition. "Isn't the way I thought today was going..." he muttered as the engine roared to life. He glanced over his shoulder as the bus rumbled loudly, pots and cups and cutlery tinkling together in their cupboards with the quaking, making sure this did not wake the girl. He doubted it though, she needed the rest of many men.

[xivyxx]

As Faolan moved out of the way, Aurel was quick to make his way back to the passenger seat, since he wasn't sure when the girl would awaken.

"Well we did decide to live spontaneously." He told Faolan, in a small attempt to raise the mood.

Lucien watched Faolan go, giving him an appreciative glance at the reassurance he attempted to give him. Once the two had settled up front, the nephilim took his seat at the end of the couch, keeping a watchful eye on the girl for any signs of her awakening, also ready to act if Faolan came to any sudden stops. He had a water bottle in his hand, which he planned to give her when she awakened, after he made sure she knew she was safe. Waking up in a trailer with a stranger was probably the last thing she would be expecting, but it couldn't be helped. On occasion he would replace the cloths, wanting to cool her down as much as he could. He wished he could do more for her, but for now this was all he could really do.

[FreckersFrog]

Faolan nodded as he replaced his glasses, which he had hung on his shirt as he exited the bus initially. "That we did..." he said, amused at the lad's attempt to add a lighter tone and then immediately recognizing that it had worked. He checked his mirrors, put on the blinker and pulled back onto the highway, pointed to the nearest town.

It turned out to be a place called Middletown, New York. Apparently, at some point after they found the little girl, the bus had crossed the Pennsylvania border, but not by much. They'd parked just outside of town, noting that they could not let the girl walk around town with them in the state she was in to bathe and purchase new clothes. They would have to wait until she had awakened, get her dressed in something cleaner and have her wash herself in their makeshift "sink", then come into town with them. Two grown men and a young boy walking around with a female child in that state would look good for none of them.

Faolan had wasted no time in volunteering to go to town, and even offered to take Aurel along but the lad was too curious about the girl to leave. The Irishman was glad to be away, hopeful that the child would wake before he returned. Although his experience with Aurel had taught him that children could be more accepting than one would first imagine, he did not want to assume that with this girl, especially given her state. It was best if Lucien was the first presence she sensed when she awoke, especially given the photo they had found and what it suggested about her parents.

He kissed Lucien on the cheek, knowing that after the girl awakened it would be much harder to do this with him, patted Aurel on the head, and made his way out with a pack on his back to bring back anything they needed. He was tasked with purchasing food, clothing, and another book for the girl, as a gesture of good faith. With his shopping list in hand, he made his way to town.

-----------------------------------

Just as he had predicted, the child had awakened several hours after he had left. It started quietly, as the girl came to consciousness her brow furrowed and her lips parted to make a dry, rasping moan. It was quiet, but enough for the two occupants of the bus to clearly hear in the silence. A tremor went through her eyelids as they struggled to open, and it was several long agonizing seconds before she was able to.

Her vision was blurry, her head was pounding, her legs were sore, her lips were so chapped that they felt about to burst, her fingers were raw, her feet were battered, her skin was tingling and tender...but she was alive. It was a couple more seconds before she realized that her eyes were watering...this was the most moisture she had seen in days. Where was she?

Looking up from laying down, but not at the harsh blue and cloudless sky...it was dark brown...wood? A ceiling. She flexed her fingers and felt material under them, rough but soft at the same time. She smelled incense...no...fresh air, but not the oppressive fresh air of the wasteland she had just traversed, it was more pure than that. There was light coming from somewhere...and music? Soft choir music...like angels singing? It was so far away though, she couldn't understand the words. She had to be hallucinating.

Slowly, she reached up to her forehead and touched something cool and damp. She hadn't been expecting this...her third eye awakened and rolled in its socket, searching for something to see. But not right now, she was so tired...so drained. All she wanted was water and bread...

[xivyxx]

Lucien had spent the next few hours watchful. When they had reached the next town, he had gotten up to stretch his legs, and paced for a little while before looking through their food stock to see what he could offer the girl upon awakening. He wasn't sure if he had time to prepare anything, so it was probably best to wait for Faolan to return with food. He settled with jerky, before taking his seat again and continuing to wait. Aurel didn't say much, not wanting to end up startling the girl for any reason if she awoke.

Lucien glanced down as he heard a small moan, a signal that the girl had awakened. He straightened up, and allowed the girl some time to register her surroundings. It was when she had reached up to touch the cloth that she had made eye contact with him. Immediately he noticed her tense, though weakly, and attempt to shift to move away from him. He raised his hands ever so slightly to show her he had no plans of touching her.

"Hey.. it's alright. You're safe, I'm not going to hurt you." He tried to reassure her, his tone gentle. "You're dehydrated, please have some water, it's nice and cool." He told her, extending the water in her direction.

Aurel had immediately peeked behind the seat when he heard Lucien begin to talk to the girl. He wasn't so obvious that she would notice her, but it was just enough to see what was happening. He hoped that the girl wouldn't have too negative of a reaction to Lucien. He knew firsthand what the fear of strangers was like... but there had always been something about Lucien that had made him feel at ease.

[FreckersFrog]

The girl saw the man and immediately her eyes widened in fear and confusion. The cloth that she had touched slipped from her forehead and fell to the floor, leaving a wet streak in her hair and exposing her secret. This was not her main concern, however, as the man raised his hands to show her that he meant peace and began speaking. Without a second thought, the girl struggled to slide away from him, but her arms were so weak that they trembled as she pushed herself back until her head touched something hard. Her chest heaved as she stared at the man, fear plain on her face as her eyes darted around the space to see if there were any other threats.

He had black shaggy hair and kind golden eyes. His voice was gentle and soothing, and something glittered above his head. Every time the girl tried to focus on it, it faded away, but once she looked at something else, she could see it floating there just out of the corner of her vision. It looked like a golden ring, made of light...a halo?

But all of this was less concerning than the fact that the man looked familiar. She had seen him before, and not just before on the road. She could feel her third eye rolling violently in its socket but willed it not to open. How much had the man seen...?

Then she saw the water and a drop of it rolling down the side of the canteen. The man's fingers had left an impression in the metal, so she could tell it was cold. Her mouth and throat and eyes and nostrils ached for it, and she could not stop herself from reaching for it while she pushed herself into a sitting position.

The girl reached forward slowly and snatched the water from the man's hands quickly, careful even in her haste not to let their fingers touch. She grasped the canteen in both hands and gulped down the precious liquid, closing her eyes in satisfaction as it touched her tongue and filled her mouth. It was delicious and beautiful and her body immediately felt regenerated by its addition. Before she knew it, the container was empty, though she was determined not to waste a drop and tilted the canteen all the way upside-down over her open mouth to savor every drop of it.

[xivyxx]

Lucien didn't speak as the girl snatched the water from him. Clearly she was afraid, so he didn't want to do anything unnecessary that could end up frightening her further. Seeing that she was getting through the water fairly quickly, he went to their icebox to grab another bottle to give her, and simply set it down for her to grab when she was done with that one.

"Feel free to have more." He told her with a small smile, being sure to not stare at the closed eye socket in her forehead. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"Would you like some jerky? I'm afraid it's all we have at the moment." He added as he set down the jerky next to the water bottle, wanting to prioritize getting her hydrated and getting at least something into her stomach for now.

Lucien kept his body language fairly neutral, though was sure to lean away from her and not seem like he was hovering, being fairly respectful of her personal space.

[FreckersFrog]

The girl has scooted up against the wood behind her, pressing her body into it to get as far away from the man as she could. Her eyes followed his every movement, but she did not speak. How was he here...? That vision had been about him and some other people...so had she seen her own future? She'd thought at the time that she'd been seeing someone else's life. What else had she seen about herself? Could she have avoided this...? There were still many things she did not know about her abilities, despite having them since birth. She had no one to help or show her and so was stuck figuring it out on her own. It had been harder than she'd imagined.

Immediately, her mouth began to water as she saw the food and she swallowed the lump in her throat. No matter how scared she was, she could not deny how weak she was, how dehydrated and how injured...

Come to think of it, she wasn't sunburned any more? Her skin didn't feel like it was on fire, and though she was exhausted and in pain, the cuts and bruises on her knees and ankles and hands were gone. How was this possible? How long had she been unconscious...where was she? How far from home?

The answers to these questions could not be willed into existence, and the girl's throat was so dry still. She reached for the water before she could stop herself and took the jerky too. She opened the bottle and drank, a little slower this time so as not to make herself vomit. She sniffed the piece of dried meat and her stomach growled loudly, but she did not take a bite. She was still weary, though the man was calming. There was too much she needed to know before she decided to trust him.

Finally, she opened her cracked lips and a small, dry but mousy voice issued from her, "Where am I?" This was her number one question. Was she farther from her destination, or closer? That would determine what she was going to do.