ISN'T IT TIME, TARRAN.

[hazel]

it was getting dark, and if the girl with flaming red hair had a watch, she would know the time was ticking away. the day would end soon, and the stars would light up the sky as they did most nights. her pale green eyes flickered upward, gazing at the gloomy sky. it would at least be a clear night, no clouds blemishing the pink hue. smiling softly to herself, the pale girl bent down, her flexibility clear as she reached to her feet without a grimace on her face. she laced up her untied boot, recently realizing it had come undone in all her walking. straightening, she brushed her thick hair out of her face, eyes glowing as they scanned the ruined city she had arrived to. with no luck in the world, she found her shoulders slumping and her eyes rolling. she hated the dark, and it seemed that a ruined city would have, well, no lighting. let alone people.

still, it would have shelter. with a sigh, the girl slung the light-weight bag over her shoulder and started walking down a small slope that lead into the destoryed village-like group of buildings. moss and rogue plants had begun to grow, and little animals scurried in the shadows. well, at least life could be sustained. hair having fallen back in her eyes, she didn't bother to brush it away again. looking like some sort of elven creature out of a storybook, the four foot eleven girl paused halfway down the road, blinking as she felt a strange sensation watch over her. it was instinct, the feeling of being watched. slowly, she let her feet swirl the dirt underneath her in a turn, her gaze sharp as it flickered about her, looking for a sign of movement.

and then something, well someone, jumped out. it appeared to be another person, a man. albiet, a tiny man with frail limbs. he groped for her bag, obviously in need of what she had inside it. or what he thought she had inside it. her bounty hunter training kicked in, and the fragile looking girl tensed, her eyes narrowing as she slowed down the situation for her mind to pick apart. the man had no ill inentions it seemed, he didn't even have a weapon. he looked malnourished, and he looked desperate. she had no need to seriously injure him, in fact no need to injure him at all. her arm darted to the right, her fingers clasping around his wrist. with her other hand, she braced herself, ducking her head low and letting the man jump to land on her back. the free hand she had went to grasp his legs. she flipped him onto his back in a swift motion, before blinking down.

she dropped a pack of crackers by him, leaving the man in the dust kicked up by the scuffle and hurrying down the road, stopping only when she was a good distance away. she sighed, slowing her pace to a leisurely walk and letting her bag slip around so she could peer into it. inside lay a small flashlight, some crackers and a bottle of water. she replenished this before leaving each town, and now she was about to enter peony. well, it was the nearest one. she looked up, her gaze scanning the area before she plopped down on the side of the street, sitting indian style and reaching for the crackers. unwrapping one of the packs, she munched on the crispy and somewhat salty snack, hunching forward and stifling a yawn. her hair fell over her shoulders, hiding her face from whatever else may be out there.

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[TARRAN SEREN EDWARDS]

All day the sun had been hot, beating down on him and tormenting his skin. He had kept covered to the best of his ability, wearing long jeans and keeping a straw hat over his head that he in one of the old apartment buildings. So, naturally, the hat was kind of squished and discolored but when it came to keeping himself safe he always did it no matter how ridiculous he usually looked in the end. A surgical mask covered the bottom half of his face like usual to keep out any dust and he wore a dirty gray tank top, allowing his pale arms to be kissed harshly by the suns rays. Eventually though that was coming to an end as the sky begin to darken and everything around him began to cool. Even in the dimming light he worked though, wanting to fill up the bags that he had found with as many goods as possible. The more he had the more he could gain, you know? And the more usefulness that other people could get out of these things that were going to waste. Besides, he had nowhere to really go after this point so there was no reason in bothering to hurry himself up or anything. This kind of work was all he really had. It was all that kept him afloat.

There was a large brown ruffle bag sitting near his feet, slowly being filled with any random thing that he was able to carry from here to the towns. He was currently crouched down in a bit of rubble, digging around where a building had once stood, a building that he was beginning to think was some kind of jewelry store because little bits of gems and stones and even entire necklaces were being found in the spot. He grinned behind the mask as he plucked out a silver ring, made intricate and beautiful with swirled designs spread out over it. He only looked at it for a moment though and then dropped it into the bag to worry about later on.

The young man finally pushed himself up from the spot and slung the brown bag over his shoulder. His eyes squinted as he looked around, straining to see if there was anything around that he should be worried about. Night was coming and that meant it would be a little harder to see. That was one thing he hated… he already couldn’t hear anything so he kind of wished that God had helped him out and given him night vision or something. But that would be just too good to be true. So he made do with his fading sight and lack of hearing.

He climbed out from the rubble, getting on what used to be one of the main roads. Even it was covered in debris and garbage though. From here at least he could see things around him better and know where he was headed. He stopped when he noticed a bit of a scuffle happening up ahead of him. He couldn’t clearly make out what was going on but in a brief moment there was someone on the ground and another hurrying forward. At least the attacker was the one who had fallen… at least… he thought it was.

Tarran hurried forward to see if the person who had been thrown to the ground was alright. When he had got there he carefully edged by, sucking in his lips to hide the remorse that he felt for the thin man who was laying there in a bit of shock. But he did have some crackers it looked like. The person who had taken him out obviously couldn’t have been that bad if they had left him something… Tarran looked back ahead, following the dot of red hair that he could make out.

It wasn’t exactly a rushed decision but he also decided that it probably wasn’t the brightest to go after her. Oh, he’d decided it was a her from the size and length of the hair that he could see. It could have been a small, skinny boy but for now it would be a she. And he followed this she until he eventually found that he was getting closer and she wasn’t getting further. Now he found himself hesitating a little bit but he still carefully stepped toward her.

She was hunkered forward on the ground, munching away on some crackers. Crackers were all she had? He tilted his head at her and then he squatted down before her, not too closely though. He dropped his bag in front of him and started searching through it. It wasn’t long before he produced a tin of canned chicken. He offered her a grin and then held it out toward her. He dropped it in front of her and then pulled the bag back shut. He gave her a thumbs up, considering he didn’t want to speak, and then got up from his spot on the ground. He gave her a small wave and then turned on his heel to leave her to it.

TAGS!? tamsin - hazie
WORDS!? 857
NOTES!? -thumbs up-

[hazel]

"carlisle?" a high pitched voice broke the silence of the night. the voice of a little girl, her flaming ginger hair splayed around her as she lay on the grass, facing the sky with wide green eyes. next to her was a taller and older blonde boy, sitting indian style with his hands cupping his knees, his own matching green gaze staring at the same sky the little girl was. he looked down at the little girl, blinking as a flash of grief crossed his face. she turned her innocent gaze to him, and all he could see was his sister eloise in the little face of tamsin. and he hated her. he loved her too, and each time his gaze swept the tiny figure up, he felt the conflicting emotions panging in his chest. "have you ever seen a shooting star?" little tamsin asked. the blonde boy shook his head, his gaze curious despite himself. the little girl blinked in all the innocence of her eight year old self. she looked back to the sky. "me neither. i know what i'm gonna wish for when i do." the slight lisp of her voice made the boy- carlisle- sigh, and he smiled a little. tamsin would know. of all people, she would.

tam blinked at the stars above her head, twinkling at her as if they knew something she didn't. the moon was a waxing crescent, gleaming down at her and washing her in it's milky light. she had no love for darkness, but she couldn't bring herself to dislike the dots of light in the sky. they were like the many tunnels of opportunity one could come across in their life. they were like little beads of glowing hope, or something. swallowing the last of her crackers, the ginger sighed, crumpling the wrapper up and shoving it in her bag. and that's when movement caught her eye. in a sort of excitement from remembering the moment she had with carslile, a brother of sorts to her, she wondered if a shooting star was now crossing the sky. when she turned, though, her pale green eyes fell on nothing but a boy. he seemed to be about her age, maybe a little older. in the gloom it was hard to tell, but he seemed calm. friendly. she watched as he crouched in front of her, reaching into a bag of his own. her eyes blinked a few times when she saw his hand place a can of chicken in front of her.

she smiled when he gave her a thumbs up. "er- thanks." she said, reaching for the tin and grasping her tiny and pale hands around it. she found it odd that he didn't speak, and she watched as he turned about with a small wave. was he a mute? she shoved the can into her bag, her stomach growling a little in anticipation. she let it subside. she wasn't starving, she would be able to wait a moment to chow down. quick to get to her feet, she was also swift to hop around in front of the boy. she paused, standing in front of him dumbly for a moment. what was her purpose in stopping him? well, not everything needed a purpose she would suppose. "thanks." she repeated with a small smile. "i'm tam." she held her dainty hand out, blinking up at the taller boy and keeping her face politely gratuitous. the gratitude was genuine, of course. she was never starving, but traveling from town to town was certainly something to make her hungry enough. the chicken would have protein, something that seemed key in all the walking she had done. and the crackers were filled with peanut butter, though she had her fill of them.

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