Strangest

THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF MY PREVIOUS STORY. Read the other if you want I don't care :)

There the sun was, a blot of rose gold and amber peeking between the mountains on the eastern horizon. In a cancer of light and warmth, spreading like thick paint to the surrounding sky, the morning came. 

Tommy hated it. The sunrise to him was nothing more than a reminder. The reminder of the passage of time, the ticking timer of one month set on his and Toby’s lives. 

Why? Tommy could hear Toby’s echoed question in the back of his skull, stabbing him like a knife because Tommy knew the answer.

It was him. 

“Tommy, focus,” He tore his gaze from the sunrise and locked on the blade spinning between Toby’s fingers rather than his eyes, “We need to decide what we are going to do,” 

“What can we do?” He glanced back at the sunrise, “Time is ticking,” 

“Run,” 

“We both know that isn't an option,”

Toby sighed, a noise of stress and exhaustion and replied, “Fight,”

“No,” Tommy could not fight. It was not his physical capabilities (even though he had none) or moral standards that made him fear combat as much as he did, it was something deeper, something more- 

“I’ll train you,”

I can’t afford that either. “It wouldn’t make a difference, me and you can’t possibly stop the whole army,” 

Toby’s eyes flashed to the town behind them, still asleep, “It won’t just be me and you, we could, I could, train them too,” 

Tommy just shook his head. He knew it would never work with absolute certainty, he could never explain to Tommy how he did. But he could tell that Toby agreed with him. A stray beam of light from the sunrise caught in Toby’s blade and his eyebrows raised, “It’s morning,” He murmured noticing the source of the light, “We have been here all night...” And accomplished nothing. Tommy could hear his unsaid statement, and the emotions infused in it.  

“I have to go,” Toby said. To that Lady’s house. Tommy hated how he knew that. He nodded his goodbye and watched Toby awkwardly walk back through the town borders. 

When Toby vanished from his sight, he released a sigh of relief, amongst other things. He sighed of exhaustion and stress, loss and apprehension. Lastly, after hearing a shuffle behind him, he finished off the sigh with a gasp of fear. Whisking around towards the source of the sound he found it. 

But he was too late. 

Within seconds he was out cold, his last moments of consciousness were flooded with blurry images of a caramel-skinned girl with somehow familiar green eyes leaning over him with a sickening sneer. He didn’t think that he imagined the small glistening blade she held in her hand, ready for use, or the words “Hello Tommy,” coming from her mouth. 

“Nice to finally meet you,” 

~~~~

The first thing that Tommy heard through the ringing of his ears was ructuous and deafening roaring. It might have a pattern, a rhyme, a reason, but he couldn’t tell. When there wasn’t roaring there was ringing, but one thing that was always consistent was darkness and pain. 

The darkness was his own fault, he refused to open his eyes. There was something comforting about it, he felt that he would be more afraid if he allowed himself to see where he was. As for the pain...he wasn’t sure who’s fault it was. 

Maybe the blame belonged to the dark-haired girl with the striking green eyes. Tommy could see her clearly in his mind now, the half-smile full of a dark emotion adding to the overall self-confidence her body emitted. Tommy never stood a chance. 

He could feel the drowsy edge of his consciousness fading as the reality of his situation sank in. He fought hard to control the rate of his heart and breathing, he might be physically incapable of everything, but he was smart. There was no way the girl was not with him, and if she thought he was awake…

He had to figure this out without making her suspicious. 

Touch. He was laying down on a cold surface, arms pinned behind his back with a rope-like material, legs free, and face pressed against the floor. 

Sound. That was useless, there was only roaring. He was pleased to notice that the ringing had subsided to a faint buzz in the back of his skull. 

Taste. Opening his mouth inconspicuously, he took a deep breath letting it wash over his tongue. He was shocked as the only taste that registered was the prominent one of salt. 

He knew exactly where they were at that moment, a seafront cave. Tommy had grown up by the shore, he knew this taste by heart. The taunting roars he could now pin to a source, waves, seemed to mock him as they crashed against the cave walls, boasting their freedom. 

The ties around his wrists burned as his thoughts brought other things to his attention. These included a feeling of cold. Coils of wind raced down his loose shirt, wrapping around his chest in an icy embrace; the feeling soaked into him. He fought against a shiver. 

From where? His breathing pattern stuttered as a voice that wasn’t his own echoed through his brain. The voice was back. It had been oddly silent since the arrival of the girl, leaving only traces of emotion and feeling, and a certain smugness that Tommy couldn’t quite decifer. 

Why was it suddenly back? 

From where? 

Front. He replied immediately, the importance of this information sinking in, this was where the mouth of the cave was. 

Opening to the ocean. 

Home.

That too, Tommy thought, images of Toby appearing in his head, he supposed this must be his escape…

No. 

What? He winced at the sudden flare of malice the voice inflicted. 

Wake up.

Tommy’s eyes snapped open on their own and as if on cue, a silky voice shattered the silence. 

“Tommy! Welcome back!” A pair of familiar green eyes shone through the darkness like...the word was on the tip of his tongue, what did her eyes remind him of? Lifting his head off of the cold cave floor, he could see where he was now, an empty cave with the opening directly in front of him. The sky outside was overcast with clouds, the waves were nowhere to be seen, yet they raged on.

He was so busy observing that he didn’t hear what she said, “Sorry can you repeat that?” 

Her shocked face stirred a feeling of triumph in Tommy. He felt his charm coming through. 

“Really Tommy, you should be paying attention,” Fighting the urge to laugh for whatever reason, Tommy bit his lip, “I kidnapped you after all,” 

“And did a terrible job,” He twirled the rope that had previously been bound around his wrists in his fingers, sitting up comfortably. He pulled it off easily, the tightness of the rope allowing an easy way for him to break it. He yawned absently and stood up. Pins and needles shot up and down his legs, he hid his grimace with a sigh, “Care to tell me what sea cave we happen to be at? The ambiance is terrible, no lighting, beds uncomfortable-” he gestured towards the stone floor, “Overall I have to give you one star,” 

She struggled to keep her face emotionless, but Tommy could see the underlying fear under her tranquil mask, “I’m not messing around anymore,” She hissed, “I’m going to cut right to the chase,” 

“You get right on that,” Tommy strode towards the cave exit, walking past her. 

“Don’t take another step,” Her voice was infused with anger, Tommy felt drawn to it, and the power within it. He turned around naturally.

Many things happened at once. Firstly, a roar louder than any other wave Tommy had heard erupted from somewhere behind him. Then, their eyes locked, his a liquid sapphire, and hers...

-Through the corner of his eye he could see a mass of icy water, suspended in limbo above the cave entrance. Pigments of deep blue and a somehow familiar-

Sea green…

Everything clicked at once. 

Tommy’s eyes were a liquid sapphire, and hers were a sea green, a glowing sea green. This might have shocked a normal person, but Tommy wasn’t a normal person, neither was she, both of them knew this. 

He was no longer afraid of the wall of water behind him, for the commander of it was right in front of him. 

Caught in limbo inches above one of her fingers, water flowed freely in an invisible cage. Her fingers twirled in the air, the water mimicking the movement inches above. Spinning her pointer finger in a tight circle, the water formed a sharp spike reminding Tommy of an icicle. With a flick of her wrist, the water was flung through the air, hitting Tommy in the face. Letting the liquid stream down his cheeks, he stared. 

“My name is Nathalie,” Her voice cracked with emotion, eyes shining like hot coals, “And I am cursed with a gift, much like you,”