A scout in the woods - Twilight promises They arrived at the edge of the path. The small clearing that they stepped into ended abruptly on a sharp cliff. Kaela stepped forward. Janus watched her approach the edge, but made no effort to stop her. Whatever reason she had for coming here, to this small patch of green on the edge of a steep cliff looking out over the vast sparkling waters that extended to the horizon, this was very important to her. Kaela stooped down on one knee, and picked up a small stone spearhead, lost in the grass. Janus slowly approached her, trying not to disturb her as he knelt beside her. "Janus..", Kaela mumbled. This spearhead brought back so many memories. She finally had a full picture of that moment. And she was with Janus. He should know. Sighing, she turned away from the cliff and motioned for Janus to sit facing her. "Janus.. I suppose you're wondering..", Kaela said slowly, her hand clasped around the spearhead. Janus just nodded solemly. "Let me tell you.. a story.", she began. "It was when I was eight summers old.." "I was on a hunting trip with my parents.. We were along the path.. behind us.." "I was crouched in some bushes, my bow on my back..", she said, as her hand went slowly to the polished wood slung around her back. "My father was ahead, with a spear.. And my mother.. Ah, she was always so worried about me.. She was right behind me." Janus nodded. His mind flashed back to his own mother. After Janus's father had died, she had barely paid attention to him. Only Schala and Alfador had cared about him. Also, no one else understood him, so they didn't even bother to try to understand his feelings. It's as if they hardly cared. At times, Janus even overheard remarks from them about him that he didn't care to repeat. "Then, a big animal jumped onto the path. I don't know.. what.. it was.. My father left his hiding place and ran after it." "Of course, being the adventurous little one that I was, I immediately followed without even taking the bow off my back." Her hand left the stringed weapon, to rest on her knee. "My mother was behind me. The path went for a short time. I was brushing branches out of my face, as I had never been in this area of the mountain before. Then, I reached that big bend over the rock.." Janus nodded. That big bend looped up a small grassy hill on top of a rock, then sloped at a great angle down around the other side. "And, suddenly.. I heard the most unearthly howl. It made me shiver through my body and soul.", she said, as she gave a convulsive shiver. "My mother immediately ran around the bend, no longer paying heed to me. I unslung my bow off my back, fletched an arrow in the string, and drew it back as hard as I could. Then I ran around the bend and down the other side of the hill." Kaela paused in her story.. Her memory was less clear here, and she didn't know if she could continue without breaking down. She looked into Janus's eyes. Janus took her hands, folded them around the spearhead, and held her hands in his. Kaela smiled bravely and continued. "I came into this clearing, and stopped. My father was standing.. right here..", she gestured to the ground below her body. "He was covered in blood. My mother was holding him up. I could see the genuine shock in his eyes, and my mother's worried look. He was holding his spear. It took me several moments before I noticed the tip was splintered and the spearhead missing." "I ran forward, my bow still in my hands and the arrow still drawn." "Out of the corner of my eye, I saw bushes rustle. Suddenly, before I could react, an animal leapt out of the bushes at my parents!" "All I remember then, was my foot hitting a root. My hand slipped, and the arrow rocketed from my bow." "I laid there for... I don't know how long..", Kaela faltered. She dropped her head, and a tear fell, staining her leather tunic. Janus crawled on his knees to Kaela's side, and embraced her. Resting her face on his shoulder, she wept a few years of mourning. Janus looked up at the sky. It was darkening noticeably, and would soon be totally pitch black. In his involvement in listening to Kaela's story, Janus didn't even notice the sun go down. "When I finally got up, I approached the edge of the cliff..", she said, tearfully. "I didn't look over the edge. I didn't want to. All I found was.." "This.. spearhead..", and she fell silent once more, overwhelmed. Janus blinked in the coming darkness, trying to adjust to the dim sky, as he tried to grasp all this. He was completely awestruck. This poor girl had spent the last few years of her life, some of the most important ones to the development of a healthy mind and body,.. alone.. Janus looked down at her sad face, and silently made a promise to her. He couldn't let anything more happen to this poor girl. She had been hurt enough already in her life. "Kaela..", Janus said very softly. "Uh..?", Kaela mumbled, lifting her tear-streaked face from Janus's shoulder to meet his eyes with hers, red and dry. "Kaela.. I won't let anyone.. ANYONE..", Janus said gravely, his expression serious and worried, ".. hurt you.. ever!" Kaela was speechless. This was totally unexpected, even coming from Janus! "I promise you, Kaela.. I promise..", Janus whispered. His hand slowly came to her cheek, to caress it gently, in the growing darkness. Kaela looked at him silently. A trickle of warmth touched Janus's finger. Kaela bent forward once again, and embraced Janus tightly. "Don't.." "Don't you ever leave me!!", she cried, desperate and vulnerable, tears once again beading in her eyes. "I won't.. I won't..", Janus whispered,stroking her jet black hair, almost invisible against the darkness that was setting down in the wilderness around them. He could hear and feel her breathing slowly return to normal, and he let her calm down. Just as the last light died from the horizon, Janus spoke, a voice in the increasing volume of the night.. "Kaela.. we should get some sleep.." He felt her nod, and as one they gently settled down on the ground, Kaela not even bothering to use her tunic as a blanket. They fell asleep, curled together, sharing body heat as well as the warmth of their hearts. --------- Kaela awoke first. She opened her eyes, and blinked in the bright sunlight. How different the ledge was, now that it wasn't dark. She remembered last night, and looked at Janus. He was still asleep, and she took a moment to contemplate his features, while he was still captured in the innocence of rest. His eyes were lightly set into his head, and she knew his eyes to be full of life and laughter. What a great feeling it had been to see his eyes sparkle like that. She lifted Janus's long blue bangs out of his face, and his eyelashes flickered, trying to hide his eyes from the sunlight. Kaela let Janus's bangs down gently, and rose to her feet. Turning away from the gentle tableau presented by Janus's sleeping form, she faced the cliff. The cliff that had been an instrument in her parents' deaths so long ago. Kaela paused to reflect. It felt like a long time, though it had only been four years.. Something was not right. She could feel the tension and danger in the air. Something was calling, enticing her, daring her to come to the edge. The wind began blowing, a strong harsh breeze towards the open air on the other side of the rock face. Kaela bent down and shook Janus's shoulder. "Janus! Wake up!" "Uh..? What's going on, Kaela?", Janus said sleepily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "Janus, there's something very wrong here. I can feel it.", Kaela said, anxiously. It became stronger. Kaela was being called, urgently. Unseen forces were trying to draw her away from Janus out onto the ledge. Janus stood up, and took Kaela's hand. She squeezed it tightly. "What do you feel?", Janus asked, worried. This was realy serious. Kaela said nothing. Instead, she kept her grip on Janus's hand and slowly approached the ledge. Janus followed her carefully. Kaela walked up to the edge, hand in hand with Janus. She bent over and picked up the stone spearhead that remained resting there. She let go of Janus's hand and turned around. She opened her mouth to speak, about to express her concern for the forces she was feeling.. Janus felt movement under his foot. Big movement. "Kaela! Look out! the cliff!!", Janus shouted, grabbing Kaela's hand and trying to pull her away from the edge. The cliff under Kaela's feet gave way and disintegrated, and she plunged downwards with a scream. Janus was yanked to the ground onto his belly from the weight of Kaela's body falling. Janus was half over the cliff, only feeling solid ground from his waist and below. One hand was gripping the cliff edge, the other was tightly holding onto Kaela's wrist. With great effort, he began backing his way up onto the cliff. "Janus!!" "I.. promised.. I.. wouldn't.. leave you, .. didn't.. I..?", Janus said, spacing his words out because of the effort to not let go. Kaela was shocked. Janus had risked his life for hers. She had discredited those events last night as being emotionally-triggered, and had disregarded them so. She knew now that Janus had been quite serious, and he was proving it. She saw the beads of sweat start to accumulate on his forehead from the strain, which was also evidenced by the white-knuckled grip he had on her forearm and his clenched jaw. Janus finally managed to get a majority of his body above the cliff, and he was able to use his other arm to pull Kaela up even harder. He got a grip on her elbow, and despite the pain, she didn't move, for fear of complicating Janus's hold and possibly making him lose his grip. Janus finally had gotten Kaela high enough so that she could reach the cliff with her hand. She grabbed the edge, testing it a few times, and he slowly let go with one arm, and took Kaela's other hand, which was still grasping the spearhead. "Kaela.. Hand me the spearhead..", Janus said, his face red from hanging onto her for so long. She slipped her hand into his and let go of the spearhead. Janus put it on the ledge and guided her arm to hang onto the edge of the cliff. He then hooked his arms under her shoulders and pulled. For the first time in what seemed an eternity, Kaela's head rose above cliff level. Kaela grasped onto the grass on the ledge, and Janus made sure she had a stable grip. He then reached down and pulled her leg up sideways, onto the ledge. With great effort, he got the other leg up, and she rolled onto the ledge, once again back on terra firma. Janus was kneeling, and Kaela crawled into his arms, exhausted. Janus felt considerably worse, having been a midpoint for her weight and taking the shock of stopping her in free-fall. Gasping for air, they sat like that for a long time; Kaela from the shock she had just endured, Janus from the exertion of lifting Kaela back up. When Kaela had her composure back, she looked up and wiped Janus's brow of the sweat, and lifted his bangs from his brow. Janus's hair was wet and sticky in her hand. She looked into his eyes. Through the exhaustion and pain, a flash of recognition and intense joy passed through Janus's face, and he bent down and kissed her forehead. Giggling, she lifted her face and met his eyes with hers. The silence was almost overwhelming. Kaela raised herself to her knees, taller then Janus now, as he was bent over, and hugged him to her breast, tightly. Janus slowly caught his breath, and his heart returned to normal as the adrenaline filtered out of his system.