Lone Sylvana
Sylvana snapped the fragile twigs
with her boots and didn’t bother to lean down to help whatever she injured in the process. She glanced around every so often, expecting someone to interrupt her hunt with an unexpected attack. She was prepared for anything especially the elements of nature fighting against her. She heard rustling in the bushes and reached for the knife she was already grasping.
“Hey, Hunter Girl,” the culprit of the rustling called at her. She glared,
“It’s just you,” she complained. He clutched his red cloth clad chest with his hand
in feigned hurt.
“Yeah, just me, Hunter Girl.” She rolled her eyes and began to walk deeper into the forest.
“Hunter Girl!” he shouted to her. “Wait up!”
Sylvana sighed knowing how this was going to end. The idiot she always ran into---she only knew him as Charmer. ---- was going to keep following her until she got angry and left the forest for the evening. He was excessively attached to the
forest critters, in her opinion.
“Fine, Charmer. What do you want?”
At this point Sylvana was seeing red and it was not from the crimson blood-like substance from her previous kill. She thought that would have faded by now since this boy had shown up
thirty-nine moon cycles prior to their current encounter.
Charmer cocked an eyebrow, this was the first time she had actually spoken about what he wanted. They both knew that neither were enjoying this but they lived with it to accomplish what was on their respective agendas.
“I want you to think about what you’re doing. I want to know why you feel the need to do those things.”
Sylvana looked at him. He had a point. She did the same thing day in and day out and had no idea why.
“Like you’re any better,” she snapped after she thought about his question a few minutes too long.
“I could tell you exactly why I do what I do.”
She looked at him expectantly. “I just won’t. I want you to think what you wish of me.”
“Anything else?” Sylvana was angry at this point. She didn’t want to deal with him.
“Your name.”
“Not a chance,” Sylvana wouldn’t share any personal information with this lunatic she called an acquaintance. “I’m headed home. See you later, Charmer.”
“Evin!” he shouted after her. “My name! It’s Evin.”
Sylvana rolled her eyes and continued walking to her small town, Coup De Sylvan. Her mother named her after the town; it was something she had gotten a bit of grief from.
Sylvana sat down on the porch and looked around everywhere. The town that was once alive and fearless was now a dark and cold sandy ghost town. The only time she ever saw other people was when she was in the woods hunting, or trying to.
Her thoughts quickly turned to Evin; he was someone she spoke to every day. She trusted him—sort of. She reminded herself a thousand times that his name meant nothing to her. She didn’t need it to talk to him. They had been speaking for 39 moon cycles. She knew that out in a larger city that would just be a few years but for t
She fell asleep every evening listening to the
dead quiet. Most would have found this creepy, but Sylvana was used to it. It
was almost all she knew. She woke up and saw the sun was higher than she was
used to, foretelling her that she had slept longer than normal.
Evin, she thought then chastised herself reminding that to her he could only be known as Charmer.
She pushed the old worn blanket off her, debating whether to investigate where it had come from and trekked towards the forest.
Evin was already there sitting on a single patch of dirt that wasn’t soiled from Sylvana’s hunting.
“You’re late, Hunter Girl.”
“Deal with it,” she snapped.
Evin raised his hands up in surrender. “You sound like my brother,” he told her. Usually, the two had entire conversations and never once addressed any vague point. The only thing Evin knew about Sylvana was that she lived in the village
that was the farthest thing from easy walking distance.
“Brother?” Sylvana asked.
“Yeah, we aren’t the only people on the planet, you know.”
“May as well be,” she muttered quietly enough that Evin wouldn’t hear her.
“What?” Evin asked.
“Nothing, Charmer. Just go home.”
“No.”
“Do you not understand? Go home. This is my place. Always has been!”
Before
Sylvana could get much further into ranting, Evin interrupted her.
“You
can’t own the forest. You’re such an idiot!”
“If
I’m an idiot, then you are just a stupid tree hugger!”
“Murderer!”
“Hypocrite!
I hate you! Leave me alone!” with that Sylvana ran out of the forest not
realizing that she had just broken everything that was the one person who still
cared for her.
/Hypocrite?
/ Evin wondered then saw that in her haste the strange girl he semi-befriended
had dropped her knife.
“Hunter
Girl!” he called after her as he followed the path in the dirt she had
made with her shoes. He didn’t dare think what creature they were made of, it
would just anger him more than he was. He didn’t know what made him so mad at
her. Why he had yelled at her. He had a sinking feeling he was the only person
she really spoke around.
He
saw a shadow that looked to be humanoid and called out for his friend.
“Stand
still!” the voice called. It was masculine and though Sylvana could be harsh,
this person didn’t sound much like her.
Evin
obeyed the order, unsure of what was going on.
“Good,”
a small figure stepped out of the trees. “Hi, I’m Officer Jonas”
“Hey,”
Evin called still standing completely still and fighting the urge to laugh at
this tiny man having such a deep voice. “Can I help you?”
The
officer shook his head. “We thought you were a Celeritate. Sorry, sir. Need a
lift anywhere?”
Evin
shook his head. He knew exactly what the officer meant. These weren’t officers
meant to help people. They were meant to kill creatures that were seen as
monsters. He was just glad it was hard to tell who some sort of creatures were.
He was a Celeritate. However, when Celeritates were around humans they looked
human. Despite not being human at all.
“No
thank-you. I’m actually looking for someone. I don’t know her name. She has
really dark hair, blue-ish eyes and she dropped her knife when we were hunting
together this morning.”
“Try
the deserted village about 20 miles that ways,” Officer Jonas pointed to the
opening of the forest that Sylvana always ran out of.
“Thanks.”
