literature

Tumbleweeds--FFM Day 2

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Tree branches, silhouetted by the setting sun, creaked with movement.  Hunkering close to the wide trunk, Addae wiped sweat from her brow, smearing red across her skin.  A large lioness, content with her recent meal, yawned overhead, ignoring the thin girl below.  Giraffes grazed nearby, their long trunks twining between thick leaves.  Blinking, Addae observed the world around her in silence, waiting for evening.  Waiting for the dark.

Clenching her teeth, she peeled a sleeve from her throbbing, bleeding wrist.  The wound was raw, bone and muscles peeking from the inflamed skin.  Adjusting the material, she checked the belt clamped around her arm.  Still tight.  Still holding.  Grimacing, her stomach roiling, Addae glanced overhead.  The lioness was still lounging, eyes closed but ears perked.  Addae studied the feline, searching for signs of aggression--she was an easy target.

Dragging a tumbleweed close, she scrunched her nose, muttering.  Sparks leapt from the brush, hissing, before the dead plant caught fire.  Yowling, the cat jumped from her perch and stalked away.  The  night's first stars blinked at Addae from overhead, taunting her.  Mocking her with their immortality.

"Don't look at me like that, Nicolai," Addae spat, stoking her tumbleweed fire.  "Just hurry up, would you?  I'm bleeding out here."

His laughter wound around her, musical and ghostly.  Shivering, Addae's fingers twitched at the tourniquet.  "What, that little scratch?"

He appeared from the shadows as darkness cloaked the sky, a lopsided grin dimpling his cheeks.  Addae snorted, standing up and thrusting her arm at him.  "You call this a scratch?"

Shrugging, he plucked a leaf from her hair.  "What did you need me for, anyway?  I'm a Nighter, not a Healer."

"You know I can't call them, Nicolai.  I've used up all my sick days."

"Well, your fault for choosing this rotten career.  Can't say I didn't warn you."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in.  I should have stayed a Nighter, but damnit, Nicolai, the night life ain't so fun after a thousand years."

"No.  But it's safe."

A harsh laugh slipped from Addae's lips.  Brushing hair from her face, she caught his eye, grinning.  Full dark; the moon wouldn't rise for at least an hour.  Plenty of time.

Nicolai sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.  "What, Addae?  I don't have time for games, the boss has been watching me like a hawk since our last little rendezvous."

Poking at the fire again, Addae twisted her fingers around the belt's loop.  Her arm was numb; she'd made the tourniquet tight and kept it in place since the crocodile had taken her hand.  "I need you to cauterize the wound."

Caught off guard, Nicolai gaped at her.  "Addae.  I can't do tha--"

"You know, they say when you come to Africa, a part of you never leaves."  Wielding the burning tumbleweed at him, Addae leveled him with her gaze, her irises growing and shrinking--compelling him.  A trick she'd learned since switching out of the Nighter lifestyle.  "If you don't do this, Nicolai, none of me will leave."
:iconglory-be-project: Day is anyone still counting the days for this?!

:iconflash-fic-month: Day 2

    Prompt used: They say when you come to Africa, a part of you never leaves. from ~The-Inkling


Word Count--505

Check out the other pieces here: FFM Links--July 2, 2013

July 2, 2013
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vespera's avatar
"is anyone still counting the days for this?!" HA HA HA no.