SECTION III - The Stories

Legend of the Rose
Chapter One
In Lieu of the Situation

        The winds whipped around in the strong gaze of the summer sun, the humidity built in layers to stagger everything but the moving woman. With wild red fire hair of volume and length to trail to her hips, the well-tanned skin glistening from the recent jump into the sea, her eyes were a true blue of a perfect calm of the waters surrounding the small island.
        Unaware of the new activity down by the ship dock and only interested on finding her foster father, Clef Stanson, she made a turn into the small port village to crash into a warm, hard body.
        The result had sent her backwards, for she had been moving in quick haste but the man only staggered back a step. With emerald crystal eyes, thick, unruly black hair pulled messily to the nape of his neck, he was towering her by a good foot. He was well-built, visibly trained in movement and strength. He dressed in a dark brown short length vest, where a black shirt stretched over his chest to end slightly loosened at the point above his bellybutton as well as loose at the short ends of the sleeves. He wore black pants that fell down to his ankles, where dark brown boots clunked heavily. His belt was dark brown with a golden edged clasp of white.
        She looked up with a momentary look of shock and then annoyance followed. "Excuse me, why don´t you watch where you´re going?" She barked. She stood up and leaned a hand on her hip, doing her best to look menacingly.
        He eyed her and looked back as several more men approached.
        "Captain?" A dark-as-night male moved. Dressed in a loose tunic of silvery blue, and thigh length pants of white wrapped around his knees by silver blue hard fabric, the clean-shaven head gleamed as dark eyes, too dark to tell its color, looked over the other, much paler man.
        "I´m coming," he moved around the girl.
        "HEY!" She grasped his bicep with a glare. "At least apologize!"
        "You were the one who was running, not I," he said calmly. He attempted to pull her fingers, now currently digging harder, off his person. "Let go." He ordered.
        "Don´t you -ever- tell me what to do," she hissed. Her eyes turned a stormy blue, bordering on dark navy blue.
        "Hannah? Oh, it´s you, I´ve been looking all over the place for you, luv!" Hattie gushed. A luminous woman of great girth and merriment, her age drifted in the gray streaks in her once bleached blond locks. She dressed in simplicity and convenience, rather than for showing off the buxom form of her body. She considered herself anyone´s mother and thus was always on the lookout for Hannah. "Come here!"
        Hannah winced. Though with good intentions, Hattie had lately been more interested in playing dress up when Hannah was here. She turned to the man only to see him and his crew far away. She glared despite that it was useless when he didn´t even notice.
        "Aunt Hattie.." Hannah began only to wince as an earlobe was grasped in eager forefinger and thumb. "Ouch, ouch, ouch.."
        It didn´t take long to dress her in the various clothes. One of which was a delicate piece of work, of thin satin that felt cool to the skin. It was very revealing and Hannah thought it´d make a good bathing suit.
        "Hannah?" A familiar voice called out. A gruff, deep voice of her foster father echoed dimly down the hall. An late middle-aged man with gray white hair cut short, he was short and stocky with a left leg missing, attached to a peg leg for limited mobility. His cool ice blue eyes were still as bright as when he had first entered life.
        "Coming!" Hannah ran out as Hattie yelled something incoherent. "Yes, Clef?" She asked politely before noting the man from earlier.
        Clef was momentarily at a loss, chewing his tongue in surprise. "Ha..Hannah, what are you doing?"
        "Trying on swimwear," she answered and then a frown slowly blossomed. "This.. is for swimming, right?"
        "Hannah!" Hattie hissed, her face red with the poor attempt of keeping her laughter in check. "Get back here!"
        She felt a grasp on her arm. Clef was gently, firmly shoving her in the doorway with a pointed look. "Get dressed in something.. less revealing."
        She came out in the outfit she´d been wearing earlier. She had a golden bandana wrapped around the top her head to tie below the hairline. She wore a black top that hugged to her breasts and revealed her shoulders and cut just under the breasts with a red tie. The shoulders and around her neck were edged in gold frills and were cuffed at the elbow, the fabric then loose and ruffling to her wrists with a slit on the insides. Her brown leather pants hugged her hips with a thin narrow belt with a small white clip of a red heart with an arrow through it etched on it. Her pant legs billowed out slightly to be cut jaggedly at the knees. To finish it, she wore men´s shoes, of heavy red boots with a gold cuff at the tops.
        Clef didn´t know if this was any better, as her breasts were more fully pronounced than before but he left that topic alone. "I want you to meet someone, Elijah Cupid."
        "We´ve already met," Hannah waved her hand airily. "He has yet to apologize."
        "For you crashing into me?" The man quipped. He had a sultry voice that was almost not lost on Hannah who then noted the slight smirk on the other´s face.
        "At least you weren´t at all a gentleman for helping me up!" She retorted.
        "You weren´t exactly a damsel in distress," he answered back. She glared at him, infuriated.
        "He´s just from the capital of Seendra, Chosu. Which has news from Glawe and the war in process of there."
        "And what does this have to do with me?" Hannah asked dryly.
        "Let me see your necklace," Clef waved his hand.
        She frowned. "Not going to keep it, are you? It´s all I have."
        "Just to see something," he spoke reassuringly.
        She climbed the stairs and carefully unlocked a hidden cabinet in the long wall. Inside were trinkets but her prize, a solid gold clasp locket with a red rose etched delicately in its front, was what she was looking for. She carried it down, taking little note of the heavy weight.
        Clef opened it and pulled out the old photo. She watched, becoming worried for this was a delicate piece of herself that if anything happened to it, it´d break her. At least, that´s how she always explained it whenever she was angry for anyone else BUT Clef touching it.
        "It´s like looking at a mirror," the man murmured. "He looks just like King Loren."
        Hannah frowned. "That´s my father in there," she stood next to the two men, jutting a finger in agitation. "And that is my mother. They´re both dead." She explained coldly.
        "If this is true," Elijah ignored her. "Then this may be solid proof of it."
        "I´m not.." Clef finally noticed Hannah. "Here, take this with you and go outside for a while."
        "I´m twenty three years old, not five!" Hannah frowned. "What´s so secretive?"
        "I´ll tell you later," Clef turned away.
        "But.."
        "I said go," he said firmly.
        She stomped out and began to walk down the brick pavement. The houses spaced unevenly with thatched roofs and stone brick walls, the island Grove looked quite pleasant and peaceful. She was still surprised sometimes that this island was once a layaway for rogue pirates. Some of the lineage even still existed.
        She turned over a corner´s edge, her thoughts drifting inward. She instinctively moved to stand at the docks, a single ship of great width and simple design floating along the slow moving swells of the sea. Its mast with its flag stood proud against the blue skies as she noticed the bleeding red heart with a bone sticking through it like an upward pieced arrow. She wondered who came up with a strange design.
        She wandered as life quieted. The shops closed as people called goodbye to neighbors and friends. Soon, Hannah was left alone to stand on the strip of beach near the docks. She took off her shoes to wiggle toes in the cooling sand, her eyes peering up to gaze at the long span of glistening water. In the dusk´s light, it shimmered with an ethereal glow as she breathed in deeply the scent of the salt and water.
        She unclasped the locket, looking down at the two smiling faces. Gray-scaled, she couldn´t the color of hair or eyes but the joy written on their faces, his lean, slightly hardened features, her delicately sculpted features, was something hard to miss.
        She pulled it out carefully to turn it over to read the scribbling, ‘Hannah Isabel Loren, our Legendary Rose.´
        Her eyes misted over. She could not remember her parents, who they were and what they were like. Once she had been desperate to know them but now, that need had dulled. They had been long gone and she knew that she had to let go at some point. But those two words ‘Legendary Rose´ always seemed to make her heart swell with indistinguishable emotion.
        A bell rang out, a long trill that signaled that Clef wanted her home -now-. It had been created for that sole purpose, of the days both in the past and present when he couldn´t find her or didn´t have the energy to go looking for the mischievous girl.
        She loped home, the door open as light spilled out. The open door of welcoming and feeling of being home swept over her as she entered and then glared.
        Elijah sat at the dinner table, nonplussed over her hard stare.
        "Why is he here?" She asked, jutting a finger at Elijah. Clef noted it and gently grasped the hand, lowering it.
        "No secrets," Clef reminded her.
        "But does he have to be here?"
        "Of course, I hired him."
        "Hired.. for what?"
        "To be a bodyguard."
        Hannah mused on that for a moment. "But Clef, your life isn´t in any danger, what are you so worried about?"
        "It´s not for me."
        "Oh.." Hannah attempted to think of anyone else but no one came to mind. "We´re a peaceful people, we don´t need.."
        "He´s for you."
        It took her another moment to digest this. "That´s not funny."
        "You´ll pack your things tonight and be out tomorrow afternoon at the latest. You cannot stay here anymore."
        "I.. wait, what? I don´t.."
        "King Loren has sent an army for Grove Island. I´ve already sent a message for the townspeople to leave tomorrow as well, by any ways possible."
        "What does he have to do with..."
        "He´s your uncle."
        Hannah´s jaw dropped. "Come again?"
        "He´s looking for you."
        "Why do you make that a bad thing?"
        "Because," Elijah finally spoke. "He killed your parents and thought he killed you when he left you to drown. Now that he knows you´re alive due to his seers, he´s going to finish you off."
        "I didn´t do anything!"
        "You are the one, Hannah. The one rumored to be the downfall of the tyranny of King Loren and all those affiliated with him. You are the Legend of the Rose."
        Her eyes darkened. "That´s a child´s tale."
        "It´s true and the proof is in your locket," Elijah pointed at it. "That woman there, she is a Mera, a powerful one. Because of her blood, you can do great things. You are the one, the only one, who can summon all the seas to do your bidding."
        "Me..Mera..." Hannah covered her face. "Shut up.. don´t talk about my mother, my family like this!"
        "Hannah," Clef murmured.
        "I thought Mera were also made up, if that´s true then.. I´m not.." Hannah faltered, unable to figure out what she wanted to say.
        "You are Hannah Isabel Loren. Your parents loved you enough to save you from Death´s touch, do not forget that. We all love you and we´re doing this for you. Please, Hannah.." A gnarled hand touched her cheek with gentleness. "Run and find out the truth. We will have faith in you, no matter what."
        Dinner was somber though. Hannah pointedly ignored Elijah. He didn´t seem to care, talking adamantly with Clef.
        She finally excused herself, seeing that neither of them were paying attention to her. She went to her bedroom where she paced in agitation.
        "Either stay and be killed or go with someone hired," she muttered darkly. She settled in bed, looking up at the ceiling. She made sure to stay awake. It took a long time for the two men to retire and she waited still, just a little more before rising. Already packed because she was told to, she attached her cutlass to her hips, limberly climbing out and down the window to land nearly soundlessly on the ground.
        "I´ll find out the truth but I don´t need some pig telling me what to do," she muttered to herself. She lumbered off down the night dark street, the houses meshing together until she couldn´t tell when where one started and another ended.
        She came the hidden inward pool of water. A long width, a single, very small boat bobbed in the dark waters. She climbed in and began to ready the ship.
        A hand grasped her as she reemerged from below the deck. She nearly screamed as Elijah calmly hauled her out.
        "You lousy bastard!" She panted as he dragged her off the ship and to the sand. A bit got lodged in her boots, agitating her skin as she kicked feebly.
        It was a sudden and strange burst of furious energy. She lifted him a good five feet and threw him with wild aim. He crashed and poked his head out as she jumped back to the ship.
        "That´s enough!" He jumped in after her as it began to bob from their scurrying. "Clef said you might try this. Good thing he told me about your boat."
        Hannah stopped struggling for a moment, momentarily in shock. "He -knew- about my boat?"
        "I think everyone knew. How else would it be this well-built?" Elijah grunted as she jammed the heel of her boot in his foot.
        "Stupid fucker, you don´t think a woman could build this? I -did- everything!" She howled. The wind whipped up, dredging up the salty slap of the sea and sting of the grazing sand.
        "You´re not leaving until morning and that´s with me," he began.
        She attempted to knee him but he seemed to know what she was going for before she did and began to drag her back to her home. It took a long time, he didn´t slow down and she didn´t stop fighting until Clef emerged and wrapped arms around her, though she was shaking with visible rage.
        "This is the way needed," he told her sternly, holding her chin to force her to meet his gaze. Clef´s eyes softened. "I´ve told him to treat you like a team member, like the rest of his crew."
        "I´m not having him boss me around!" Hannah hissed. "Not when he´s a pompous prick!"
        Clef sighed as he picked her up. "You just need to get to know each other better. Trust me."
        Locked in the room on the bottom floor, where the window was too small to even think of escaping, she allowed exhaustion to hit and she fell into a disturbed sleep.
        "Here you go, hun," Hattie had come over in the early dawn, to make a big breakfast. Hannah munched heartlessly. "I´ve packed up a good amount of my rations. In case you get to craving something good to eat." Hattie winked at her.
        Hannah looked away, pain filling her. She saw the people already out and about, with luggage and bags strewn over shoulders. People were really leaving. "What if this isn´t true?" Hannah asked Hattie nervously.
        "It is," Elijah hefted a heavily weighted bag off his shoulder. "My crew and I saw the four ships ourselves. If the ships weren´t so heavy, they´d been here already and you´d all be dead."
        Hannah swiveled her gaze to outside the window, pointedly ignoring him.
        "Listen, you´ve made it clear that you want nothing to do with me. And trust me, I want -nothing-  to do with a little snot like you but I was hired and I will protect you," Elijah stated rudely.
        "I don´t need you to protect me, I´m fine on my own!" Hannah turned her stormy eyes toward him. "I´m not going to be some weak-willed prissy bitch, you know? I take my stand and stick to it!" She slammed her hands on the table as she stood up in a single motion. The resounding crack as the table split in near perfect halves echoed in the room.
        Hattie didn´t make any motion or show any emotion on her face. She turned away carefully before speaking. "Hun, we all need someone. Sometimes it´s those we don´t realize or don´t want. Believe that he´s honest and earnest."
        "But I don´t want to! He‘s very badly behaved. He has yet to apologize for making me fall!"
        "I saw that and it was your fault, Missy," Hattie waggled a stumpy forefinger with a gentle smile. "Stop blaming him."
        "He thought I didn´t build my boat," Hannah continued.
        "Don´t be a whiny child, now. You´re an adult," Hattie shook her head. "We all know of what you can do but you have to show it too. Don´t expect people to know until you show them that you´re just a good a man as any other actual man."
        "Fine," She crossed her arms. Elijah raised an eyebrow.
        "Ready?" He asked coolly.
        "No but it´s not like I have much of a choice, do I?" She stomped past him.
        "It´ll be fine," Hattie called out, unable to fully hide the trickle of worry engraved on her words. "We believe in you!"


....Return to Section I - The Beginning?
....Return to Section III - The Stories?

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      Worlds Within (title/site) 2003 - 2009 Wildnature. All stories, characters, writings by and (C) Wildnature.