Releasing the Chains[Cassie]

[Deleted]

Music was something Lance enjoyed, and he was pretty sure almost anyone could find some kind of music they liked. It was the main reason he enjoyed it and had a tendency to find the good in all genre’s of music. That feeling of his carried over to a lot of things, from people to the gods. Today he wanted to hear the soft sounds of a river, not the normal whim for him but it wasn't something he felt wasn't needed. He had a rather fruitful conversation with some people, and he though maybe sitting down without absolutely forcing everything from his mind wouldn't be so bad right now.

Lance was a bit skeptical about going into the woods alone, bad things could sometimes happen even if you believed you were safe. In fact that was when the worst things happened, but he was alone and even if he did end up dying at least it wouldn't have to be someone else. He'd never be able to keep going if he had 2 lives gone from his own stupidity. He smiled a bit as he made his way out of camp and into a near by forest, fond memories poured into him, and the one that had plagued him for the several years did not rear it's ugly head.

The wind blew lightly across his flushed face, it was a good degree colder now than it had been last week. The cold was nice though, you could always put more clothes on to hold your warmth, taking them off only got you so far before getting in huge trouble. Lance wished some people would suffer the heat, because he really disliked the small patches of clothing people wear in summer. A gust tousled Lances hair and pierced his light coat and he bundled himself up tighter.

The air near the lake was no warmer, but being out from the shade of the nearby trees and instead in the sun made quite the temperature difference. Lance took a deep breath of clean fresh air and opened his neck and shoulders up to the sun above. The smooth steady sound of water rushing over and around rocks blended with the seemingly random pitch and base of the harmonious wind and leaves. The subtle sound of branch against branch that came with the strong gust all aided the symphony around him. It was just what he was looking for.

[cassandra]

Ugh. Cassandra never knew why exactly she had to practice at the coliseum every single day. Yeah yeah, there was all the crap about being a good Roman soldier, practice made perfect, etc. etc. Back when she was a trainee in the wolf-house with Lupa, they’d decided that with her “condition”, the most advantageous weapon she could use was a metal staff. The obvious reason was because the metal was a way to extend her lightning reach and pretty much meant no one could get close at the risk of being electrocuted painfully. Even hand to hand combat was a risk for anyone else, which meant that she was an incredibly unpopular sparring partner and she got the feeling that she was probably used as a punishment for other campers when they didn’t listen to their cohorts.

Now she usually practiced with different variables since she’d received the silver chain from her father. Sometimes she wore it to practice simple combat without electricity, which admittedly she hadn’t been very good at at first without the use of her electricity to keep people away from her, but she’d since improved quite a bit. Still, it was always at the training exercise parts of her day that Cassie felt the most alienated from everyone. Sure, she was pretty much unstoppable because of her curse in a real fight against another camper, but she was sure she’d trade a little more vulnerability to not be looked at with fear by most everyone. It always meant that afterward, she’d seek solitude and try to forget those looks for the thousandth time, and mulling over to the river seemed to be one of the best ways to do so.

Which was why Cassie was currently trudging down the worn path through the trees, pulling her thick lacey hoody a little tighter around her slim form as the wind bore down on her through the branches. She wasn’t particularly a fan of the cold, but there were worse things in life than feeling a little chilly. She could hear the river up ahead and was actually kind of excited about her alone time out here to think as she neared the water, but didn’t realize that it was too late to back up and leave that she had company. A young man that she’d probably seen around the camp before now but assumed was probably one of the masses of people who thought she was freaky. With a weary sigh wrenched from her lips, she hadn’t realized that she’d said aloud: “Gods, I thought I was going to be alone out here, too.”

Notes: dun dun dunnn
Word count: 437
Tag: lance ^^

[Deleted]

Lance was immersed in the symphony of sound around him, and it drowned out the sound of someone approaching. He was normally pretty good at picking out the tell tale sound of a human trudging through the forest, even trained ones sounded far less graceful than anything in nature, but Lances mind was other wise preoccupied, until the foreign sound of a female voice all but shattered his conscious. He turned to look, with a startled rather alarmed look on his face. It nearly resembled the look of a wild animal that had been startled, large eyes, a posture that seemed to make him shrink away from the newcomer, but still poised to run if needed. The sound of her voice, while natural, was so out of place in his current state of mind it seemed artificial. He had not understood what she said at first, but it soon sank in as he began to feel embarrassed for his odd behavior. A warm feeling flooded his face, leaving a soft pink color across his cheeks and around his ears.

“S...sorry, I wasn't....I didn't know. I just, I ...thought the same thing. You know...alone and all. Not many people come...I mean even if they did...the odds of....” Lance was trying to get his thoughts together, but his mind was working again and much faster than he could speak. “My name is Lance and I am sorry if I intruded on something miss...?” the last part was more of a question since he did not know many peoples names. Sure a rumor or two floated by him once in a while, the manner people acted around others was obvious most of the time, but Lance tried to ignore those kinds of things. You never know a person, you can't even know yourself.

Lance had not moved from his spot, it was almost as if he was rooted there, and it's not like it would have been polite to leave her without being dismissed. It would have been rude to run away, even if he wanted, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact his legs wouldn't move. Nope, nothing to do with that. He tried to shuffle a bit so that he would be better turned to face her, instead of leaving her with his side and back. Trying to make sure he kept eye contact Lance had to resist looking at the ground, though his head was still pointed in it's general direction making him unknowingly give a kind of puppy eyes. His fingers of one hand clenched onto the hem of his shirt, while the other hand lightly gripped his arm.

[cassandra]

Startled by her cloud of brooding being shattered by the advent of running into a near stranger, a young camper Cassie was pretty sure she hadn’t talked to before has appeared before her as she’d stepped out of the trees. Her body immediately responded by getting into a defensive position, sure that whoever he was probably had heard nothing but bad things about. She had come to expect when she met strangers, whether her reasoning was faulty or not, because she’d been conditioned for most of her life to shy away from people and expect them to fear or dislike her because of her condition. In a nervous habit, her hand flew up to her neck, clasping the thick silver chain that sat there like a collar, a reminder of the thing that set her apart from others in a way she didn’t like.

Seeing his defensive stance come on, looking like a wild animal, Cassie was absolutely convinced that the boy probably thought she would smite him with her lightning or something ludicrous like that. Her heart clenched a little bit as she assumed it was another relationship ruined before it began, and it didn’t let up much even when he seemed to relax. It didn’t escape her notice that he blushed as if embarrassed to be caught with whatever he’d been thinking. He started speaking to her and his words seem to trip over themselves. If she wasn’t in the state of mind she already was she might’ve laughed, but that probably would have been rude. Instead she considered him for a moment before tentatively opening her mouth.

“No, don’t worry about it. I come out here to get away from campers when I’m upset, and I’ve never seen anyone out this way alone before. Name’s Cassandra, but you can call me Cassie. Although I guess I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of me before…” Her voice was soft and she trailed off, her eyes flashing a vulnerability that made her feel irritated at herself for betraying, but could do little about. She started walking towards him a little bit, but only with the intention of approaching the water, breaking eye-contact with the boy as a sort of mercy. He seemed uncomfortable enough as it is. “Don’t suppose you came out here to get away from something as well…?” She ventured the question, hoping to ease some of the tension since she didn’t feel like just leaving the boy there and solidifying the perception that she was someone everyone ought to avoid.

[Deleted]

Lance saw her hand fly up to her necklace, a rather thick silver chain necklace he could recognize from several rumors he had come across. The only thought that came to his head was that she thought he was going to steal it, even the rumors he had heard did not poke at his conscious. Lance ignored such meaningless things, though he did try to listen to some in case they could prove useful for birthday presents. He couldn't think of anything he needed to know about this young lady, and honestly he couldn't even remember her name. Luckily she was kind enough to tell him, though he could still not place a name to any likes and dislikes for the young lady. He had been trying to hard to learn more about people recently too.

“I'm Lance, it's nice to meet you. I try not to pay too much attention to second hand...well information. Um...I'm not going to take your necklace you don't have to...protect it..” he said meekly hoping he had not made too terrible an impression. “I was just out here to listen to the river, and...I guess see if I could clear my mind. It seems like it's been cluttered lately.” he didn't want to lie, and didn't like lying in the least, despite the fact a man going to listen to nature was not too manly at all. Lance tried to forcibly adjust his posture, and it only made him look more awkward. He picked his head up to much, stood up a bit too straight, but still had his hands clasp tightly, fingers fumbling with the edge of his shirt. Still he was able to look the person in the face, and he was rather proud of himself for not looking at the ground.

“Do...do you mind if I stay here? I know you were trying to get away from people....and I'm sorry for intruding...but...maybe you can rant to someone about....it? I can leave! If you want I'll leave...” he spoke with as much courage as he could, after all he was trying to get to know people and make friends. It was a work in progress and he couldn't run away every time someone came up unexpectedly. Lance was bend on making himself talk to people openly again, to not be so awkward and hoped that this would be a good chance to get passed the rapid heart beat and adrenaline that came with his fight or flight response. Currently reading as flight of course.

[cassandra]

Quietly, Cassie appraised the boy who was still standing before her in spite of her less-than-social attitude and his obvious fear. Her electric blue eyes seemed to glow as some sort of emotion rose in her chest, then quieted down with a little effort. Her fingers unconsciously toyed with the chain in a way that looked like a nervous habit, which it was. She felt obscurely bad for not being able to place the boy at all. He was someone who seemed to like to stay out of the public eye, so he likely wasn’t discussed as much as some of the more social-mongering campers around here. That automatically gave him a few brownie points in her book. Luckily he saved her from her floundering as well.

“Lance. It’s uh… Nice to meet you.” She smiled a little bit at the assurance that he didn’t listen to everything he heard, but she frowned a moment at his supposition that she thought he might try to steal her chain, he fingers stopping their restless motion that she hadn’t consciously realized she’d been making. Yet, It was such a ridiculous notion that she couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to laugh at you. Just… I’m not worried about anyone stealing it. It’s just a nervous habit.” She chortled again at the thought of someone even trying to touch the chain while it was around her neck, imagining the shock they would receive if they even touched it.

She quieted down when he started trying to explain why he was here, though. It sounded almost like the reasons she’d come out there as well, a little lost and confused about something. And suddenly, company didn’t sound so bad after all. If anything, deep down Cassie was exceptionally lonely. Without another word, Cassie dared to get a little closer and then just… sat down. “I.. I don’t mind. I don’t really get much company that’s not trying to goad me or tell me I’m a freak. If you want, you can even sit down. I promise I won’t bite.” She tried to smile at the boy in a nonthreatening way, but she thought it probably came out rather shy and timid because she was extraordinarily unsure of herself. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, toying with the strands and enjoying the relative quiet of the area, exactly what she’d been seeking when she found herself wandering here before being confronted by another person. But maybe, just maybe… This wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

[Deleted]

She seemed to not be as terrifying as he initially thought she would be, after he had seemed to ruin her dreams of being out here alone. He had felt a little bad about that, about being here. Like his existence should be forgiven, though that was a fairly familiar feeling and he had a tendency to move on despite it. He noticed her eyes, they seemed to stand out against the rest of her face and especially against that dark heir. Such a fiery blue, standing out more than normal for only a moment before they seemed to hush to a more cool hue. Smiling slightly he nodded and held out his hand. It was customary to shake hands when meeting new people after all. As per usual he had been told by his father to never be rude, and certainly not to a lady.

"Oh! Then I'm sorry for misunderstanding!" he said taken aback slightly from her explanation. Her hand had moved rather quickly to her chain, though he supposed she had merely been playing with it, twiddling with her fingers as he tried his best to not do with the ends of his shirt. Still her laugh was lovely to hear, and cheered him up greatly. Smiling much easier now he was able to relax at least a bit, his posture being the most obvious change. Though it was probably his entire demeanor that seemed to light up with joy at her laugh. "You can laugh at me as much as you want if it allows such a lovely sound." Lance handed out compliments as they should be, in endless supply. He loved looking for the best in people, and telling them about it. Though more often than not he was too nervous to speak about it.

Lance watched her carefully as she moved closer to him, taking a seat near by. He wondered if he was allowed to stay, allowed to sit also, or if he should leave. His answer came soon enough, and the brief time he had to fiddle with the edge of his shirt gave way to him placing the same hands on the ground as he took his seat. "You say freak like it's a bad thing" Lance knew most people didn't feel that way, and it certainly wasn't a nice thing to be called, but maybe a little spin on it could help. "Would would poke fun at you? You seem like a very nice girl. You even promised not to bite!" he smiles warmly at her as she sits there, trying to ease away the bits of her sentence that seemed to bother her.