Say What You Need to Say [Serenn]

You'd better know that in the end
Its better to say too much
Than never to say what you need to say again

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Hands in pockets, bangs in her face, a young woman stepped from the school and looked at the path to the village. Was she really going to go? She could just stay in her room and listen to music, or read, or write. She almost did. She turned to look at the door slowly closing behind her, and brought her hand up to stop it from closing. Her fingers folded, her hand came to rest on her shoulder, and she shook her head. She may not like people, but she wasn’t cruel. No, she would go.

A big breath and an exhale later, Clara turned and jogged down the stairs towards the village. Dust scuffed her sneakers, gently caking her calves, turning them a reddish tone. It didn’t bother her, because she didn’t notice. Her mind was wandering, taking in the scenery around her. Her mind played with notes, her lips formed sentences, an anonymous song that would never escape her mind.

Clara could feel her shoulders warming in the summer sun, and somewhat regretted ignoring the sunscreen on her desk. The red tank top was going to do nothing when it came to blocking sunburn, but she liked it, so she was just going to have to deal. It was too hot to get dressed up, and she had a feeling they would be outside the whole time anyway. She did wear her bathing suit underneath, just in case the beach seemed too irresistible.

When she reached the village, she made her way to the docks, sitting on the edge and feeling the sea’s breeze play with her hair. She adjusted her sunglasses so she could see better, and watched the boats sailing or speeding through the water. It would be nice to have a life like that; sailing through everything like it was water. But water could turn to ice at any moment. You can’t sail through ice; you have to chop it up, piece by piece, until you can slowly make your way through. That’s how everything was, though, wasn’t it?

Jared was beyond anxious, and as he made his way through the village his whole demeanor suggested nothing else. At the time being his hair was a light brown-ish sort of color, shaggy for the moment and his eyes were pale green. Adjusting his belt on his narrow hips, the young man wandered around the village square for a moment until he spotted the lady he was looking for over near the docks.

As he walked over there, he quickly brushed off his white button up t-shirt - his dark jeans seeming to add some appeal the boys appearance. The only thing that of course was out of place was as usual the overly large belt he had that he wore around with him everywhere. As he got closer to Clara, he yelled out her name and waved - attempting to swallow some of his nervous-ness at their what he considered and assumed was a date.

Finally, upon being closer to her Jared smiled down at the girl. "Did you miss me?" he asked her with a small grin.


[ooc; Sorry, it fails. D: I just wanted to get a post to you.]

A disturbance made Clara tense up. She could feel his happiness radiate from him before he had even made it to her yet. Ah, he’d be there soon enough anyway. Jared was like a puppy; inconceivably happy all the time, and dangerously curious. There had only been one time she saw him upset, and she hadn’t liked seeing it. He was not meant to be an unhappy person.

Turning at her name, she gave him a little wave and smiled. Of all the things that had happened to her throughout life, she was glad she had met him. He was a good person, and she needed good people in her life. When she surrounded herself with good people, good things seemed to happen to her.

“I did, actually,” Clara said, standing up. She studied him, his always changing look, and hugged him. There was more to her than most people cared to see. Jared was one of the only people who actually took the time to get to know her, for no other reason than he wanted to. “How have you been?”

As Clara stood up, Jared grinned at her response to him. "Oh, I've been here and there... and well over to that one place once," he pointed off in the distance jokingly for a moment before turning his attention back to her. "I've been happy, that's how I've been. Were you wanting to go anywhere special today?" He asked her curiously, tilting his head and letting his eyes just for a second look her up and down.

She was so gorgeous to him, more than gorgeous... it was like she was his opposite but the same as him at the same time. The young man couldn't help but feel excited at that, folding his hands together in front of him he chewed on his lips anxiously for a moment.

She watched his mannerisms with a soft, amused expression. So much of him was that of a child, searching the world for adventure and feeling nothing but joy. She envied his peace of mind; Clara had moments where she was happy, as all people did, but it didn’t compare to Jared. Jared reminded her of her cousin – always so lighthearted, finding the good in every person and wanting nothing more than to give and feel happiness.

“I didn’t have anywhere specific to go, do you? I figured we could just walk around, look at all the shops, maybe get something to eat later?”

Clara shoved her hands in her pockets, feeling Jared’s eyes on her. She hated when people looked at her; it was even worse when Jared did it. She could practically feel him thinking about her. Ever since the last time she listened into his thoughts, she had sworn it would be the last. The headache she had received afterward hadn’t been something she’d want to experience anytime soon.

Instead, she kept her mind to herself, giving Jared a small awkward smile. “Where do you want to go first?”

Jared smiled at Clara as she shoved her hands into her pockets, listening to her speak before voiced his opinion. "We can just wander around, if that's what you wish," he said to her in an excited tone. He was sorely tempted at the thought of buying her something if she seemed to bring her attention to an item while they meandered around the shops.

Turning to the direction of the Market place, he held his arm out for her to take - a gentlemanly sort of action and slightly carefree. His belt on his hips slipped a tiny bit though and with his other hand he adjusted the large carrier, the all the items he had in the pockets and the glass containers rustling around a little bit. "Let's just walk," he said to her finally after a pause - his green eyes at the moment twinkling merrily.

[ooc; we can skip ahead to something xD i dunno, whatever you wanna do.]

She wasn’t use to this awkward, shy feeling running through her body. Everything felt too hot, as if the sun was forcing all its energy on her. Nobody, especially a guy, had ever had this effect on her; Clara was used to controlling her emotions, but there was no controlling this. It was the way he looked at her that did it. He looked at her with such… she didn’t even know what it was. Such a powerful emotion rolled off of him whenever he looked at her. It was…frightening.

Clara slowly linked her arm with his, offering a smile to him. They must look like such an odd couple – a pale, skinny, black-haired girl and this tall boy with all these bottles attached to this large belt… Ah, oh well. Who cared what people thought anyway? Clara was only worried about what Jared thought of her.

The pair had been walking around the village for about an hour or so, laughing, playing, people watching. The more time passed, the more relaxed Clara became. She had bought a very worn-looking, brown leather journal, the cover of which etched with writing (which seemed to be Italian…) The bag dangled from the arm unoccupied with Jared’s; yes, had Clara kept her arm in his.

She gave him a genuine smile when her stomach gave an audible rumble. “I, uhm, guess I’m a bit hungry,” she laughed, feeling her face tint with a faint blush. She scanned the area and saw a small restaurant, with chairs and tables outside. “W-would you like to get something to eat?”

Jared had been enjoying himself for quite awhile, everything about this day just was... wonderful in the purest since. He couldn't help this giddy feeling that seemed to rush through him every single time he remembered that her arm was indeed still intertwined with his.

As her stomach grumbled, Jared's mind simply snapped back to attention at the present. Looking to her, he nodded "It'll be my treat - there's a little cafe place down the street if you would like to go?" he asked her plesantly. It was getting to be evening now, and as they walked their direction passed by quite a few entry ways to darker alleyways. Jared had a strange feeling about this, and as they continued to walk he lightly sniffed a few times - the smell of smoke in the air seeming less dominant as they continued - this made Jared feel a little bit off. He passed it off though as just the scent in general seeming to fade from the air.

[ooc; you can do the mugging unless you want me too! xD]

Clara was about to say something when a very strange feeling overcame her. It was much the same as when Amy’s power kicked it, and yet much different. It always felt the same: as if something very important had been taken from her. She came to a complete halt, her body tensed, and she looked around for her cousin. Why would she be here…Or use her power?

It was then she felt a hand cover her mouth, yanking her back into an alleyway. Her body arched as she began to thrash about, fighting whoever was holding her, until they jerked her head to make her stop, flashing a knife before her and placing it securely at her throat. The man moved the hand covering her mouth to pull her arms behind her, tying them with what she suspected to be just a normal rope. Her eyes searched for Jared frantically, but she couldn’t see him; her ears caught the sound of scuffling, and she heard a man curse, followed by an audible Oof. God, she hoped Jared got away. He was too sweet of a person to be robbed. Clara could hold her own, though.

A woman stepped from the most shadowed part of the alleyway, snatching the bag from Clara’s hands. “What’s this? A diary? How pathetic! I thought you kids from that school had all kinds of money and shit. Boyd, check their pockets, empty ‘em of whatever they got. Check ‘em for jewelry, anything that looks like its expensive. Charlie, what the fuck you doin’ with that kid? Knock ‘em out then take his shit!”

Clara, realizing Jared hadn’t got away, frantically began fighting the man holding her, kicking, throwing her head back. The man (Boyd?) took a step backward as her head hit his nose with a loud crunch; he cursed, and Clara felt her knees go weak before she felt the ache in her side. The woman smacked Boyd upside the head, saying something about, ”Just leave him, let’s go!” and running off. Clara couldn’t reach to her side, but she knew what had happened.

Every breath she sucked in was racked with pain; it felt as if she were drowning, trying to breathe but never getting enough air. She lay on her back, her legs kicking out as if trying to get away from the fate she knew was imminent. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes as she let out a gasping, choked cough, feeling the iron taste of her blood on her tongue.

Jared had been momentarily seized as his senses seemed to disappear almost in a sense, he felt momentarily disoriented at this - the sudden change making his mind reel but as the man who had grabbed him started putting his hands on his belt - Jared quickly over powered him. "You should be careful about touching that," The young man ground out as he slammed an elbow into the man and with his other hand grabbed a potion bottle out of his belt to crack it open. In a short second with some strange manuvering - the situation went from Jared being the victim to the man who had grabbed him being the victim. With this so called Charlie person on the ground, Jared leaned down and yanked the man's mouth open - with one hand pinching the man's nose with his thumb and pointer finger and with the other one pouring the liquid he had in the man's mouth.

In a second, the mugger started to choke and foam at the mouth - but as seconds passed on longer Charlie's eyes glazed over and he rolled to his side holding his knees to his chest. "I told you, my things are dangerous," the young man muttered as he looked to see what was happening with Clara.

The man who had stabbed her was in the process of running off, the woman quite a bit farther ahead of him. Acting as quick as he could without his normal senses that he could rely on, Jared grabbed the man by the back of his shirt - drawing out another potion bottle. "You see that man? You're going to be worse off than him." The man at this tried to throw a punch at Jared, but instead Jared caught his fist with the potion bottle in question at hand - allowing the bottle to shatter in between their hands, the one being more affected by was of course the Boyd fellow. The man seemed only briefly surprised for a moment, that was until he realized that there were a few bits of glass in his fist and blood running from his hand. "You ever heard of snake venom, man? It sucks, I have the antidote... you don't. So, kindly fuck off now."

As Boyd hit the ground, Jared simply walked away and ended up getting quickly over to Clara - falling to his knees beside her to acess the damage. She had been stabbed, and if he acted quickly enough it could be fixed without any permanent damage. As his senses came back to him though, Jared was momentarily disoriented again - his head reeling and his memory seeming to intensify in a devasting manner.

Everything seemed to flash through his head at once, and with speed and precision the young man started whipping out several different bottles with several different things in them. "Clara, it'll be okay. You'll be fine here soon, just bear with me."

Taking one bottle that had a large strange looking leaf and another one that had a thick sort of ointment, he rubbed the green like substance onto the leaf "I'm sorry for this next thing... it's going to sting for a moment and you're not going to like me but I have to do this" Quite softly, Jared pulled Clara's shirt up enough to where the clothing wasn't covering her wound and gently laid the leaf covered in ointment on the wound.

With that done he grabbed a bottle with some clear orange-like liquid and place the opening at Clara's lips, "This will help you, I promise just drink it."

As the woman ran off, the effect of her gift left the two of them. All at once, Clara felt a surge of energy race through her body; a flash of white passed before her eyes, and she felt the rope behind her snap, her arms finally free again. She didn’t have the energy to run, cry, do anything but lay there, her hands trying to grasp the wound at her side.

Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, her brow furrowing, teeth grinding as she tried her best to hold on. There was only so much a body could take before it eventually gave up. All around her, things were breaking, smashing, crumbling into itself. A trashcan crumpled down to the size of a soda can; glass bottles cracked and broke into thousands of pieces; Clara had lost control of her own mind, but could feel everything happening around her.

Jared’s voice cut through the pain rushing around her head. She wanted to smile, but the gash on her side kept her from it. Her eyes were closed, yet she could see everything around her, like a bizarre out-of-body experience. Whatever Jared had put on her side only intensified her pain. Clara, becoming weaker by the moment, her power slowing down as her body did the same, tried pushing him away from her, the hand not clawing at her side gently nudging him, trying to make him move. A strained sob left her throat, and her eyes opened, just enough to look up at Jared. Jared…

The last thing she wanted was to drink something when she already felt like she was drowning, her throat too tight to cry, let alone drink. She shied from the vial, her mind pushing it away from her feebly. Her body jerked, her breaths became shallow, and her eyes closed again. Her breathing stopped, the fingers still trying to push Jared away fell limp on his knee, and her eyes closed once again.

Jared stared around him as he just realized that with his power, Clara got her's back as well and of course everything would go haywire. Staring down at her, the pain twisted his face in a sort of depressed manner - if she'd just get a little bit of the potion he had for her down her throat she'd be okay and he knew that after a few minutes the pain from her wound would eventually stop. He was esentially trying to speed up the process of healing for her stab wound and also attempting to clear out anything bad on the inside and close up anything that shouldn't have been opened along the way.

Tapping his fingers anxiously as Clara suddenly became still, Jared had a thought that he felt like he would regret later. Taking the bottle he was trying to offer Clara, Jared instead poured the liquid in his mouth - and with one hand opened up Clara's mouth while the other crept to where the back of her head and her neck connected. Tilting her head up gently, Jared's lips touched against Clara's a little forcefully - as he pushed the liquid into her mouth with his own.

When the heart stops, the brain keeps living for four minutes. That’s why, when you’re performing CPR on a person and you can’t feel their heartbeat, you keep going. They haven’t died yet; they’re still alive. For many people, they speak about bright lights, feeling as if they’re going home, and want to go back to the place they’ve just been once they are revived.

When Clara’s heart stopped, it felt as if she were no longer connected with her body; she felt like air, whisping through every memory she’d ever had, every place she’d ever been, every person she’d ever known. A wave of calm overcame her as the faces of those she’d leave behind came before her. Yes, she’d miss her family, the friends she’d met here at school... Jared. His face was the last she saw before she was snapped into a bright, pulsating light. The calmness over her broke and she felt desperate to be back in the world she belonged. Panic, fear, desperation clawed at her, pulling her downward, towards an empty blackness where nothing would be certain ever again.

Gasping in a breath, she began coughing, turning over on her side. Her eyes fluttered open, and it took her a second before she realized she was back in the alleyway. Her side felt tight and sore; looking down, the stab wound was no longer there. There was some taste in her mouth, something fruity but bitter. She gave a soft shake of her head, which only made her groan with dizziness. That was when she noticed Jared beside her. “J-Jared?” Her eyes pooled with tears, as she pulled herself to sit in his lap, her head buried in the crook of his shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she failingly tried to fight the tears from her eyes. “I thought I’d never see you again…”

"Oh," Jared said surprisingly for a moment as Clara pulled herself into his lap, and the young man couldn't help but blush for a second. "I'm here," he said to her gently - lightly patting her back with the same hand he had used to til her head up just a few moments ago. "You'll never die with me," he said jokingly with a hint of teasing despite the utter serious-ness of the situation.

Sighing lightly though, the young man continued to rub Clara's back - despite having just forced his mouth on her's Jared was still embarrased about this whole interaction.

His hands on her reassured her that she was indeed back in the real world, back in her own body where she belonged. Clara’s mind swam with emotions; coming back to life was taking a toll on her power. She could make out little bottles breaking, small rocks skipping around them, and had to calm herself down. Jared, rubbing her back, was helping her more than he could know.

After a few minutes of soft sobbing, Clara felt something in the air, something…something that made her want to shy away from the world. She realized then that she was feeling Jared’s embarrassment. Clara practically leapt off his lap, standing so abruptly she had to lean on the wall to keep herself up. “I-I’m so sorry, Jared. Jesus, we’ve never even really hung out other than today and I-I-I… I’m sorry.”

Looking down at the ground, Clara kept her face hidden from him, brushing the tears from her eyes. This was the exact reason she didn’t get close to people. She always, always scared them away. She was just too much for most people to handle.