» Best part of [M.E.], open

[Amelia Silva]

What am I supposed to do, when the best part of me was always you?.

more lyrics here.

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It wasn't too rare of a day for Amelia to be out in the middle of no where searching for some kind of plant that would heal someone. Today, she was just out gathering plants for the fun of it. No one had stopped by her home today, probably because it was so far out in the middle of nowhere and no one wanted to walk the entire way and see whether or not they would even find her. It had snowed heavily the night before, and the snow was past her knees now. She loved the snow, but she wished that it would stop for a little while, at least so that she could get some company every now and then. They wouldn't let her live in the village, probably because they all still thought that she was some kind of witch. Well, technically she was, but that wasn't how she wanted to be thought of. If she was a witch, then she was one that walked the line between good and evil, and shouldn't be thought of any other way. Her magic was most definitely gray, because she could harm just as much as she could heal. But that was the only way that she could protect herself in days like this, so she made certain that she would be able ot stop someone if they wanted to hurt her. It was practical, something that Amelia couldn't claim she was more then a few times in her life.

But she enjoyed being outside, and since the snow had stopped the clouds had finally gone away. She tilted her head back so that she could catch some of the rays on her face. Her skin was so pale from living here all her life, and she would give anything to have a bit of the tan that she had seen on a few peoples skin before. It was so pretty to see a tan on people, something that was so rare in these parts. It was exotic, and maybe then some of the local boys would look at her with anything other then expressions of disgust. Most of the people her age refused to believe that she could do any good, and most would call out to her in the streets, naming her as some kind of freak from the rest of the village. She wasn't a freak, and she wasn't even different then anyone else that lived around here. Amelia had always been a little quiet, but that was no reason to treat her like she was nothing better then dirt! With a sigh, she trudged through the snow, hoping that her skirts would last a little longer and stay just a bit dry. When they got wet, the weight would pull her down even farther into the snow. Most days, when the snow had crusted over with ice, she could dance on top of it because she was so light. Not with the snow that they had gotten last night though.

She tripped and landed on her knees in the snow, which really meant that she was up to her neck in the soft, fluffy flakes. With a sigh, she simply rolled over onto her back and stared up at the sky. She always felt warm in the snow, some kind of insulator she had heard, but knew that it was dangerous to get too comfortable. A few minutes wouldn't hurt though, and it was so nice to see the sun. She had heard that some people could get tans from just sitting around and staring up at the sun. Was it possible you think? She would have loved to try it out, but from the looks of things that just wasn't happening. She'd lived in this kingdom her entire life, and had spent most of that life outside, and she had never gotten a tan. Her skin was just as white as the snow around her, and if she had been naked well she would have blended in with the snow itself. But her dark clothing stood out in stark contrast to the snow, and that gave her away to anyone that would be walking by. With a smile, she fingered the ragged cloth that covered her body. There were so many layers of different colors, it was hard to tell what exactly the skirt was made of. But it was comfortable, so she wore it as much as possible. She sighed again, staring dreamily up at the sky. It was such a nice day.

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NOTES: <3 CREDIT TEMPLATE TO fantôme AT CAUTION 2.0

[Kingsley Rorden]

Cranky and tired. Kingsley was cranky and tired that day. Yes, he was cranky every day but today he was far more tired then normal. It had been over a full day since he had last eaten. Part of that reason came from the fact that he hated to eat in his beastly form. He couldn't easily eat in his beastly form. His fur caught fire when it came to close to the stove or fire pit and the smell of burnt hair and flesh only made him lose his appetite. When he was in his beastly, wolf-like form, his body craved the food that a wolf would crave; fresh, blood dripping, meat. He could get some small pieces of cooked food or bread down. Sometimes an occasional vegetable to tide him through the long hours of the day but never a full meal.

That was why he had decided to eat incredibly large meals at night. He wanted to save his humanity. He didn't want to give into the wild, feral parts that called to him. He was born with the ability to growl and spit at people, now he could do it with sharpened claws and drooling teeth. It was far more impressive but also a bit scary to Kingsley. His father, or the man he called father, had taught him about humanity and given him a reason to try but now he was dead and it was mostly Kingsley's fault.

The other reason for Kingsley's notable annoyance and extra the rumble in his growl was that he broke his arm. It hadn't happened in some creative amazing way. He had simply been standing at the edge of a ravine, looking down into it and watching a small stream of water move over and around rocks when a particularly strong jolt on his organs made him double over and stumble. He fell and rolled most of the way down the side and, to be honest, he knew he was lucky to have walked away with such minor injuries. But he had also been knocked unconscious and when he awoke, he was in human form and in a lot of pain.

The climb out of the ravine had taken most of the night. It had hurt. He had fallen many times but he had to get up to his house and care for his wounds before he turned back. Everything was more difficult when he was the beast. It was that simple. If he wanted to take care of these scrapes, it had to be done now. The arm, well, he wasn't exactly sure what to do about that. He would have to improvise in getting it set, whatever that meant. His father had taught him that lesson but he hadn't really been paying attention. Maybe it was written down somewhere.

It wasn't. And the transformation from human to beast had been particularly difficult when the addition of a broken bone was added onto everything else. It had been bad. The jagged edge of the broken bone grew into nerves before the nerves could find the right places to be. He howled and sweated all through the five minutes and when he was finally changed, he laid on the floor of his little hut, the fire roaring at his back, shivering as tears rolled down his fur covered face. It took him a while to get up from that spot but he did. Cranky and tired.

He ate what he could and set off, knowing that snow and cold would help the throbbing pain in his arm. Or rather, hoping it would. He went to one of his favorite places, where the sun shone through the tree tops. He carefully covered his arm with snow and settled in, thankful that the sun was at least warm enough to help keep his body from dropping to dangerously low temperatures. He was sure he didn't need to add hypothermia onto the entire mix. At least, he fell asleep for a while.

He smelled the girl before he heard her and he heard her before he saw her. He'd seen her before but he had been in human form then. He knew who she was and that was why he spared her life. She was his father's daughter. The one lucky enough to actually be his child. He had taken the gun and shot it over her head instead of right at her. He wanted her to leave, no one should ever find him. He had spared her for her father and yet, here she was again, in his domain.

Mind still clouded with sleep, Kingsley forgot that his arm was broken and under a pile of snow. When he went to stand, his arm met with an encasement of ice. He gave out a pain filled yelp and lowered himself back to the ground. He was trapped. That damn girl needed to be scared again. She needed to leave his land. For her own sake. Why didn't she seem to understand that?

[Amelia Silva]

A smile on her face, Amelia stared up at the sky as the clouds formed and shaped themselves into pictures. She loved days such as this, days when she could relax and stare at the world around her. Perhaps she should have been somewhere else. Perhaps she should have been in the middle of nowhere, gathering herbs and flowers for her mixtures. Most likely she should have been back at her home, waiting patiently for someone to come to her with an injury. That was all that she was good for anyways. At least, that was what the villagers always said. They claimed that she should stay where they could always reach her. The kind of people that made her want to scream with horror, because she was so much more than just a witch that could heal people. She wanted to tell all of them that she was a person with a mind, with feelings, a person that thought and felt just like the rest of them. She wasn't a horrible person that danced around fires naked while they weren't there. But they only saw her as a witch, the kind of person that made them cross their hearts in hopes that they could somehow get rid of the feeling that she was cursing them. She wasn't cursing them. If she had been cursing them they would have been writhing on the ground in pain. But Amelia wasn't a black witch, and she refused to allow herself to stoop that low.

She heard a sound from the woods, making her snap into a sitting position as she looked around the clearing. She didn't hear the sound again though, something that surprised her. If there was a creature out there, it would most likely continue moving in a bit. She should have startled it when she moved so fast. But when the sound didn't come again, she cocked an eyebrow and thumped back onto the ground. The snow was soaking through her skirts, making even her legs wet. The last thing she wanted was to get sick, she honestly couldn't afford that. With another sigh, she rubbed her face with her hands vigorously. But the cold was quickly getting to her, and she knew that it wasn't the best time to be outside with hardly the correct clothing on. She didn't even have boots! Her thin slippers did nothing to warm her feet, even though they were hardy. With a sigh, she slowly stood. Amelia placed a hand against her back though, groaning at the ache that was there. She had been bending over far too much, and her back was complaining about it.

Moving through the snow, she realized how long she had been outside. Surely it had been more than an hour. What had originally been a trip that was supposed to be a few minutes, had someone turned into longer then an hour? Freezing for a moment, she shook her head in disbelief. But there the sun was, about an hour further towards the other side of the earth then she was expecting it to be. Groaning, she swung the herbs she had tied together over her shoulder. At least they would be fine from being out in the cold for this long. But she wasn't surprised that her feet were freezing and that water was slowly freezing her legs. Amelia was certainly not wearing the kind of clothing that one would expect from someone making a long trip in the middle of winter. She rubbed her hands to heat herself up, and then continued walking. It was still a few minutes from her home, but at least it was all downhill. She wouldn't have to struggle to get home, but she wouldn't get to heat up because she wouldn't be working as hard.

And then she heard that sound again! Spinning on her heel, she froze and waited for the sound to come again. There, in the corner of the clearing. Determination on her face, she walked towards the sound and hoped that it wasn't a poacher. She didn't do well with poachers, and she was certain that if it was that horrible man that had been around her home she was going to hit him. That man had no right poaching on her fathers land, and it didn't matter that he was dead. But she froze when she saw what was actually making the noise. A creature, a beast unlike any other that she had ever seen stuck in a block of ice. With a gasp, she dropped the herbs from her back and stared at the creature. Fear made her chest clench, but then she chastised herself for being so incredibly rude. Really, Amelia, she told herself. It's a creature that needs help! So she walked towards it slowly, hoping that somehow the creature knew she wasn't trying to hurt it and that it wouldn't attack her. "Easy. I'm going to try and get you out of that darling." Her voice she kept smooth and easy, moving closer and closer until she could drop to her knees within an arms length from the block. "Easy, darling. I'm going to try to get you out of here."

[Kingsley Rorden]

Kingsley was trying his damnedest to keep calm and not jump completely into the beast that consumed him during daylight hours. He knew he could keep parts of his humanity when he tried but it took a lot of concentration. That girl had to stay away from him and so he tried his best to take an intimidating air to his stance, knowing that being stuck under a arch of ice was far from scary. He also knew that he his appearance was a bit intimidating on its own and he was hoping that that would be enough. Had he not been stuck, he could have growled and howled without a problem. He could have snarled and slobbered and bard his claws and teeth. He would have terrified her but he couldn't.

Instead, he was hunched over, trying to keep his balance and scare her at the same time. At first, he thought he was being successful at what he was trying to accomplish. She wasn't moving closer to him very quickly and so he added a few of those slobbering snarls at her. Kingsley felt a little bad about it. There was a part of him that didn't want to scare this girl. It was her father's daughter. Why in the world would he want to hurt her or scare her? For his father though, Kingsley would protect the girl from himself. He wouldn't let her come near him and he wouldn't let the cold that was now soaking his fur deter him from being that fearsome beast.

She kept coming closer though. She didn't stop and Kingsley started to panic. That animalistic instinct was taking over and humans were dangerous. This girl was not worthy of trust yet and it was only that connection to his father, the one who had cared for him through everything that was saving her. When she kneeled down in front of him, Kingsley froze. He pulled on his arm again, hoping that the ice encasing would give but it didn't. He just felt that sharp pain move up his arm again, all the way through his shoulder. He had to growl, had to.

Then she started talking and the man's pride. He was no one's darling. He was a beast, a monster and occasionally, a man but he was not a darling. Not someone meant to be cooed at. Cooing was for little wolf cubs. He felt the beast begin to take control of him. He growled low before moving his lips. He wasn't able to form words perfectly because of the way his lips formed but he hoped it would at least get his point across. "I am not your darling." He lowered his head closer to the ground. "If you want to help me fine but don't call me darling." Kingsley wondered if she could understand him or if his speech was just too jumbled to understand. It was a possibility.