Snippet #1430591

Iris was standing by the riverside tending to Madalene and Seamus.

“I’m afraid my place is in the forest I will however visit you in the garden after you all rest up.”

The dancer’s fast beating heart slowed down, remembering Nim’s words made her feel a bit disappointed. She came to adore the lively little creature and something inside her was aching to stay by its side. “I’ll never get Nim to go back home with me”, she thought as she was caressing Madalene’s forehead tenderly. The woman was breathing slowly. Even in her sleep with her clothes ripped on her beautiful body she was still looking like she was in control.
Iris liked the red haired woman and she felt strangely attached to her. Because her mother passed away when she was still a child Iris couldn’t find the motherly affection she lacked until she met Ms. Sparks,her agent. On the other hand, being as cold and rigid as she was, Ms. Sparks never filled that empty place in the dancer’s heart completely. Now she found this strong, sarcastic woman and Iris felt hope making its way into her soul once again. Although it was still too early to call it “friendship” Iris couldn’t help but feel the bond between them getting stronger and her devotion for Madalene grew in intensity.

The girl looked at the man lying next to her. The Irishman was peaceful and with his features relaxed he was almost handsome. She tried not to look at his body as he was still in his underpants and searched for his clothes instead. She was happy to have found them not far from them near the river, still wet from the rain. Seeing the two of them together like this she thought they look like brother and sister. Iris brushed off the dirt from his cheeks and felt his hot skin on her hand. It was fever. The young girl felt fear taking over again when she realized she was all alone in the forest with two people in need of medical care. The sun was about to set, the night would be upon them soon and she didn’t know how to act from now on. Nim went off searching for help, but who knew if she could bring any of the others back here. Some might scare her off or get scared themselves; others might even try to hurt the creature. She send away the last thought with haste : “All of them are good natured people, no one would hurt Nim.”

She couldn’t search for the others on her own, leaving the two in the dark. It was a bad idea to begin with: Iris didn’t know the forest and if she got lost it would be a big problem. Then there was Ezreal who went chasing off something dangerous and never came back. She looked fearful at the arrow still lodged in the tree, thinking of its owner. This was no Amazonian forest, nor were they somewhere in Africa. So why would anyone have such a thing and even use it against another human? Nothing made sense anymore. She was hoping, dreaming for a piece of Heaven when she first heard of the Ruins, but this wasn’t what she expected to find. Nim’s existence didn’t surprise her as much as it would have been normal because she always believed in mythical beings, just never thought anyone would ever meet them. But this was different. Iris only believed in good elements of the fantasy world, fairies, angels and anything else of the sort. That arrow and whoever sent it towards Ezreal was not part of that belief.

Still worried for what was about to happen next, the girl gathered small branches and dried leaves putting them together for a fire. Before getting it started – how would she even do that? – she gently took Madalene’s ripped dress off of her body. Iris wouldn’t leave her to catch a fever like Seamus because of the wet clothes and when she turned the woman over she saw the mark on her back in the form of a griffin. It didn’t look like a tattoo and it wasn’t a scar either. Iris looked at it curious and touched it with her finger as if to see that it was really there. She didn’t know what to think of it and assumed it was some kind of birthmark, designed almost too precise. She laughed at the thought of something in the forest giving her that mark, but then again, she just saw someone like Nim.

“You know Maggie,” she said thinking of her friend from the dancing school, “I think I was right when I told you that this is going to be an adventure.”

She couldn’t believe how close she was to her fantasies coming alive. This place had everything: chosen ones, fairies, strange events and a magical forest, not to mention the lady from her vision and the powerful words she heard coming from her beautiful lips. Who was that and what was the mission they all had to fulfill? She didn't thought of it as a hallucination anymore, now she believed that everything she saw was real. Realizing how incredible all of this was, her fear melted away like ice under the summer sun. She felt empowered and happiness filled her core. “I am living in a story!” she shouted with glee and turned Madalene on her back again, kissing her forehead gently.

"Fair and graceful like flowers in bloom
Were the daughters of men by the light of the moon."
Singing the verses from her vision Iris took Madalene’s and Seamus’ clothes and hanged them from a branch near the setting for the fire. After that she gathered dried leaves from the ground and green ones from the bushes near the river and covered the two of them to keep them somewhat warm. The dancer giggled at the sight; they looked so funny under the leafy blanket sleeping soundly.
The sun was setting filling the sky with beautiful shades of peach and rosy colors.
Feeling the cold air around her Iris went searching for tinder : dried mosses and cedar bark and after finishing the nest she got two sturdy sticks, making sure they were dry enough. She rubbed them together as fast as she could, but nothing happened. She had no idea how to do this further. She remembered seeing a survival guide on Discovery Channel sometime ago, but the explanations were just too complicated. The soldiers doing the show had some kind of a bow and a socket made of wood or bone, but form there on everything got really confusing. Hoping that the “Looney Tunes technique” would work, she tried again.

“Please God, please let it work!”