Rowan Cross's Story

Rowan Cross

Rowan sneezed and blew his nose with a tissue. Jared was right; I shouldn't have gone out to the park right after I'd taken a bath. he thought irritatedly, blowing his nose. He added the used tissue to the small pile beside him and shivered, drawing the blanket closer around him. He reached for another tissue, scowling. The others had wanted to stay, but he had managed to get them to go to school after he reassured them that no, he wasn't an invalid, it was just a cold and all he needed to do was sleep it off, go to school already before you're all late. And now he was at home alone since they all had something to do for the whole day, which was fine by Rowan.

In retrospect, maybe Rowan should have asked Fin where the sleeping pills were. He already tried counting sheep and even tried playing soothing lullabies on his phone, but it just wouldn't work. Which was why he had currently migrated to the living room with his blankets and a veritable amount of tissues and was currently trying to find the remote. Rowan figured that since he couldn't sleep, maybe watching his favorite movie might help. Others might say it was a bad decision since his favorite movie(Brave) was an action movie and was therefore more likely to keep him awake, but Rowan's feverish, sleep deprived mind said screw them, they didn't know what they were talking about, movies always help with sleep.

Aha. Rowan allowed himself a small, victorious grin as he pulled the remote out of the sofa. Now he just had to make sure that everything was in place before he started the movie. He mentally recited the list of items he needed, ticking them off with his fingers. Blanket, fever patch, tissues, large cup of honeyed lemon tea, remote, dustbin close enough to throw tissues in, all checked. that done, he went to grab the CD waiting on the table.

Rowan placed the CD inside the VCR, sneezing into another tissue as he did so, then went back to his spot on the sofa and huddled grouchily in his blankets, shivering. He sipped his tea, which did wonders to stop the shivering. Rowan absently noted that it tasted like the brew Da - Prof. Smitherson had made every time one of them was sick. Maybe he taught it to Jared, he thought, sneezing. He took another sip, the warm, sweet tea going smoothly down his throat.

As the movie played, he continued to watch, sneezing and coughing at regular intervals. Gradually, he grew sleepy. The mixture of the tea and warmth from the blankets, as well as the movie being played on low volume was enough to send his already tired mind into a trance. The fact that he had a slight fever helped, too. By the middle of the movie, he was already fast asleep; head lying back on the sofa and curled up in his blanket, the half-full mug of tea on the table.

Harmony in her family was finally restored after the spell had been broken, the bond between mother and daughter finally restored. Merida lived a much happier life now that her and her mother saw on the same level, now that she was free to be herself. Her mother still tried to teach her lessons from time to time, but Merida didn't feel so overwhelmed as she did before.

Today, Merida was out with Angus, roaming the fields and exploring, while firing off arrows at any target that caught her eye. She often loved to explore the lands around the kingdom, looking for any sign of more mythical beasts, all while improving her archery skills. She rode hard and fast through the forest, pushing Angus to run faster and faster as she fired off arrows at tree knots and high-hanging pieces of fruit.

Angus skidded to a stop suddenly, knocking Merida off his back. She braced herself for the fall, expecting to hit the hard ground, but instead she just kept on falling. The feeling surprised her and her head spun for a moment until she felt herself land, surprisingly soft, on a cold floor.

She looked around her, springing to her feet quickly to get a good look at her surroundings. The room was strange, filled with objects she didn't recognize. A box showed images that quickly changed from one moment to the next. Surely this was witchcraft. A light haired boy lay on a couch, apparently sleeping. Merida looked around for Angus, and when she did not find him, she grew the courage to speak to the boy.

"You, what is this sorcery?"

Rowan Cross

A loud thump on the floor woke Rowan from his slumber, and he shifted slightly, still half asleep. He felt better and more refreshed now that he had some sleep, although the blankets he was cocooned in made Rowan feel as though he were encased in a furnace at high blast. He threw the blankets off him onto the floor and turned, eyes still closed and trying to get back to sleep. Then Rowan heard a voice, and his half asleep mind suddenly became very awake.

Wait, what?! Rowan's eyes cracked half open, and he winced at the bright lights, squeezing them shut again. Rowan slowly went into a seating position, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his hand while his mind raced trying to figure out what was going on. He had seen a girl with what seemed like red hair standing near him, and his brother and the others didn't seem to be home yet, so what was she doing here?! What should he do? Stall her? Find out what she wanted? And how on earth did she even get in here? His brain jumbled up with questions, Rowan finished seating up on the sofa and coughed harshly, staring at her in the now bearable light; irritation and confusion on his face.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked her hoarsely after his coughing fit had stopped. Rowan winced at how scratchy and rough his voice sounded, reaching for his now cold mug of tea and sipping it, wetting his throat. "I have no idea what you're going on about." He stated, voice now sounding more normal, albeit still a bit bad. He nursed the cup of tea in his hands as he sat there, wary and confused.

She stared as the figure started to stir within its nest of blankets. Merida stood on edge, watching the boy carefully and examining his bright eyes and dark blonde hair. The boy began to cough, and she flinched and stepped back. Sickness was never a good thing, and she had no idea what kind of diseases this stranger may have or if her clan would even be able to treat her.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She could not place his accent. He didn't sound like her, nor did he sound like the invaders from the North that had attacked her home and force the alliance of the clans.

"I have no idea what you're going on about."

"This, here." She said, making a motion towards the television with her hand. "What sorcery traps these people?" She moved towards the television, always the curious one. She reaches behind the screen, moving the television to get a look behind and see if there are any people. Perhaps it was all just a puppet show. But she finds nothing and convinces herself that the screen with the moving pictures must be magic, poor souls trapped inside a box, forever doomed to play out the same scenes over and over again. This broke her heart as she wondered if they had made a deal with some witch as well that they now regretted.

She continued to poke at the television a bit more, still curious. After one poke too many, the set came crashing to the ground, causing a crack in the screen and the picture to go out. Merida beamed. She had just saved those poor people from eternity repeating the same scenes and actions! But her heart raced as she realized the witch who put them there would want a replacement.

"Are you the witch that put them there?" She raised an eyebrow questioningly, a bit surprised that she had the courage to stand up to a witch herself. She had never seen a male witch, but she supposed there was a first time for everything and who was she to judge his Fate? "I'll not let you have me too!" She reaches behind her back for her bow, only to grasp at air. She must have dropped it when Angus threw her off his back, and now she didn't have it in this strange place. She looks up, certain she must have fallen through a hole into a witch's lair. "Angus! Angus!" She shouts, hoping to capture the horse's attention and convince him to come forward.

Rowan Cross

Rowan raised an eyebrow as she gestured to the television. "...It's a TV," he said, confused. "You know, a television? People act, the camera catches it all on tape, and we get a show. No sorcery is involved, unless you consider electricity and pixels magic."

He frowned, taking another drink of tea and placing the now almost empty mug on the table. Now that Rowan was feeling less sick (only the cough and sneezing remained) and surprised, he was wondering how the strange girl got in. And why she didn't know what a television was, and why she looked vaguely familiar, among other things. He sneezed and reached for a tissue, glancing around the room as he did so, ignoring her poking of the television. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The windows were closed, so was the door, and everything seemed untouched... It was almost like she had appeared out of thin air. Which was impossible, since magic shouldn't exist...

But what if it did? the tiny part of his brain which still believed in Santa Claus and magic and innocence with a stubborn, childish will that he had thought died years ago said. That's ridiculous, the rest of him scoffed. Magic doesn't exist. If it did, we would have known, somehow. the small side continued stubbornly, undeterred But what if it did exist? What if it did, and you're just now seeing it? Blowing his nose, Rowan was interrupted out of his musings when he heard a crash. Startled, he look up just in time to see the strange girl beaming and... the television... on the floor... broken...

For a moment, Rowan just stared in disbelief. Then... "AAGH!!" Rowan yelled, leaping out of the sofa. The yell triggered a coughing fit, and he covered his mouth with his hand, running to the television and examining it anxiously. Ignoring the girl (why on earth did she do that?!), Rowan groaned when he found the crack on the screen. Sure, they were planning on replacing it anyway, but they didn't have enough money to pay for a new one so soon! And did she just call him a witch?! What the hell?!

Suddenly angry, Rowan whirled around, glaring at the girl. First she had broke into his home for seemingly no reason, then she destroyed their television, and now she was calling him a witch when she was the one who had appeared out of nowhere. Really, Rowan should be the one complaining, since he was the one who sick and suffering property damage. Also, her constant yelling for someone called Angus was getting on his nerves and was beginning to give Rowan a headache. Actually, the whole situation was starting to make his head hurt, and that; in combination with him being sick, the trouble of how he was going to explain this to people and the confusion and mild fear over how she got here and what she was going to do (rob the house? Kill someone?) made his already thinly stretched temper snap.

"Shut up!" He yelled at the red headed girl, beginning yet another coughing fit again. Rowan glared at her, coughing into his hand. "I'm not a witch or a warlock or anything like that," he said angrily between coughs, still crouched beside the cracked TV. Rowan's voice rose as he continued, growing more indignant with each word, "If anything, I should be asking you if you're one, since you suddenly appeared in my living room out of nowhere!" Rowan meant to continue on about how on earth did she not know what a television was and what on earth was she trying to pull, but his coughing fit overwhelmed him and Rowan bent over; unable to do anything except wait for the harsh, deep coughs he was making to stop.

"...It's a TV," he said, confused. "You know, a television? People act, the camera catches it all on tape, and we get a show. No sorcery is involved, unless you consider electricity and pixels magic."

Television? Camera? Tape? Electricity? Pixels? Yes, she did indeed consider all those strange words, whatever they meant, to be sorcery! She had never heard of anything like this, and her mother had made sure her schooling was quite intensive. Even if Merida seldom listened, she would have remembered the mention of something so interesting and mystical as the television.

"AAGH!!"

The yell from the boy after the thing called a television falls to the floor startles her and she instantly springs into a defensive position. Without her bow, she feels quite vulnerable and defenseless, so she looks around the room for something to use as a weapon. She eyes a strange stick illuminating a glow, almost like a torch, but the light does not dance as if caused by fire. She grabs the lamp from the coffee table and pulls hard, able to yank the cord from its tether and holds the lamp out in front of her. The glow has now disappeared from it, but she can still use it to strike the angry boy if he comes closer to her.

"Shut up!"

The ferocity and finality of this shout causes Merida to pause for a moment. She can feel the frustration coming from the other boy, but then, why shouldn't she be frustrated as well? She had been thrown from Angus' back, only to land in a strange place like this with a not-so-friendly stranger. She holds the lamp out in front of her again, ready to make a move should the boy attack her.

"I'm not a witch or a warlock or anything like that."

He claims not to be a witch, but isn't that what most witches claim? That's certainly what the old woman from the glen had said before Merida caught her in the act of using magic. How can he believe this boy, especially when he is surrounded by so many strange things she has never seen before?

"If anything, I should be asking you if you're one, since you suddenly appeared in my living room out of nowhere!"

The yell and effort has thrown him into a coughing fit again and she backs away, not wanting to catch what he has. Who knows how sick he is? His words sting her for some reason, and she throws the lamp to the floor, shattering the bulb and causing the lamp shade to roll away, before bolting for the door. She feels the need to get away from this angry boy. She reaches the door and turns the knob, throws the door open, and runs out into the backyard.

Rowan Cross

Rowan looked up, still coughing, when he heard something crash onto the floor with a loud shatter. He stared in disbelief at the red headed girl as she ran for the door, lamp shattered on the floor. Did she just break my lamp?! he thought, cough finally receding as the crazy girl wretched the door open and ran into the backyard. For a moment, he just stood there, staring at the lamp, getting his breath back. His throat felt hoarse from coughing so much (that crazy girl was probably the cause), but Rowan was too angry and confused to care right now.

As Rowan was getting his breath back, a thought struck him, and he moved from a crouching position to a standing position. He had no proof that she was the cause for the broken tv and lamp, which meant that they wouldn't believe Rowan even if he said that a crazy red headed girl had done it. They'd be disappointed and make him pay for the damages she had caused instead, and Prof Smith would be disappointed in him for breaking the stuff even though it wasn't his fault and crud, they might even make him pay up for the rest of the money for the new tv! Add that to the lamp, and Rowan's savings would be emptier than a black hole.

Unless Rowan catch that crazy girl, and forced her to wait until his brothers had come home and made her admit that she was the one who broke the lamp and the television, in which case they could get her to cough up the money for a new tv and lamp... And Rowan could still run pretty well even with the sickness he had...

Rowan walked purposefully to the door, avoiding the shattered glass. He could clean it up later. First, he had a certain someone to catch. And yell at for causing so much property damage and lock away until his brothers came back. Also, she had, in order - break into his house, called him a witch, broke his tv, broke his lamp, and run out of the house. Like hell Rowan was letting her get away without an explanation. The backyard was enclosed within a white fence which reached his shoulder and was currently locked; she was trapped and Rowan could use that to his advantage. And he also wanted to know why the redhead had sounded and looked so familiar. It was kind of freaky, since Rowan couldn't remember ever having seen her in his life

Hurriedly pulling on a pair of slippers and quietly locking his door behind him, Rowan took a deep breath and began to run towards her, yelling "come back here, you crazy redhead! You still need to pay for the stuff you've broken!"

In the backyard, Merida looked around her for a way to escape. The yard was lined with a tall fence that seemed to have no footholds she could use to propel herself over. Her eyes darted around, searching for a way to escape. She ran to the fence and looked up, but the top was too tall for her to reach, even when jumping. Anxiety and panic rose in her chest, her heart betting faster and faster as the seconds ticked by and she couldn't get away from this crazy place.

"Like hell you're getting away."

The sound of the boy yelling only strains her more, making her wildly search about for an escape route. She needs to get out of here, get away from this boy and this crazy situation and get back to Angus and her family. How did she come to find herself in such a situation? There was no way that she could have fallen through a hole, because after going through the house she ended up on ground level, but there was no change in elevation. So what exactly happened?

"Get back here, you crazy redhead! You need to pay for the stuff you've broken!"

She hears the yells getting closer and decides to run over to the side of the house, looking for a door or some kind of break in the fence. There's a door, but when she pushes it, it doesn't open. She throws her entire weight against the door, but it still doesn't budge. She looks through the cracks in the fencing to see a pad lock on the other side and sighs. Of course it would never be this easy.

She doubles back to the other side of the house, hoping that there is some way that another door would be open. The other side of the house proves to be a bust, however, and there's no door and no foot holds to help her climb over the fence. She goes back to the middle of the yard, wondering if she should risk going back through the house and possible confronting the boy in order to escape.