(Flashback) Poetry Can Be Telling

[Blythe]

55 Spring 509 AV

Blythe was leaning up against a tree, her journal resting in her lap, tip of the quill pen resting against the bottom half of her lip. "Now what was that other line I kept getting?" she said aloud, but to herself. "If only Briar would be quiet whenever I get something, I could possibly remember it all for once."

Blythe looked down at what she had already written:

On salt-stained tears,
it will ride the waves
of time
and appear
before you
in a forest of spotted light.

Her written word made no sense to her, and was sure not to make any more sense no matter how long she stared at it. But only time will tell she thought to herself as she sighed in frustration. What on earth was the rest of the poem? she thought silently to herself. What did it have to do with? Was it a reference to whatever the poem had already spoken of? Whatever would ride the waves and appear in the forest? Or did it allude to something or someone else? Perhaps another one of the elements? Blythe could not for the life of her seem to remember.

[Blythe]

Blythe sighed in frustration, which was directed inwardly, and entirely at herself. "Why is it that I never seem to understand?" she whispered into the morning air as she shut her book and got up.

Perhaps a walk along the beach will help calm my nerves she thought. Blythe started to walk slowly in the direction of the sea. The light breeze carried the fading scent of sea salt to her nose. Pretty soon, it would be as though she could taste it upon her lips.

Excited, Blythe began to walk a little faster, clutching her journal tightly in her arms, holding it against her chest. Within a few minutes, the beach became visible, and she broke out into a run.

Pretty soon grass became course sand, and it kicked up underneath her feet behind her. Leaving dusty sand clouds, and sloppy prints behind her.

Blythe began to slow down, her breath was getting shallow, she was panting a little, like a dog. My that felt good, she thought, as she continued to walk along the beach.

[Blythe]

As Blythe kept walking, she looked down at her feet, before looking slightly ahead of her to make sure that she didn't bump into anything, she had a nasty tendency to be clumsy at times. It wasn't as though she expected to see anyone or anything in particular, but she felt it best to always be at least remotely vigilant.

As she continued to walk along the beach, listening to the crashing of the waves, and the faint and nearly inaudible bubbling of the foam, Blythe found that her mind was mainly blank. There was nothing going on up there. She was just walking ahead, essentially numb, kicking up small sections of sand along the way.

[Blythe]

Suddenly, she saw something lying on the beach approximately 100 feet away from where she now stood. She couldn't make it out, not exactly. But she could tell, for certain, that it wasn't something you'd normally find in this area. It was obviously not a giant shell, or a rock, or some floating debris, no, this was something else. Something that seemed to be strangely lifeless, yet alive at the same time.

Whatever it was, it shook Blythe up a bit, and a chill ran up her spine. Her breath caught in her throat, and a few tears welled up in her eyes, but didn't fall down her face. What was going on? she wondered, as she quickened her pace and continued down the beach in the direction of the mysterious object.

[Blythe]

When she got close enough to see it, she saw the creature for what it truly was, a small black lab puppy. It was lying on it's side, it's chest barely rising and falling, it's eyes were closed, startled, Blythe ran up to it and knelt beside it. She rested her journal in her lap as she knelt beside the puppy so close to the foam of the rising sea that it wet the portion of her dress that she was kneeling on.

Slowly, she reached her right hand out and pet the puppy's head. The fur was wet yet soft, and as moved closer, and got a better look at its face, she realized that their were two red lines coming out of the puppy's eyes, that ended at the side of it's nose. Tear lines, she thought to herself as she brought her hand down to the puppy's neck. There was a pulse. Well, that's good, she thought.

Blythe sat beside the puppy, wondering what to do, should she bring it home, and try to restore it there? Or leave it here, after all, the journey may be rough, considering she wasn't sure how sick or injured the puppy was.

Blythe continued to pet the puppy, relieving the poor creature of a lot of the moisture that clung to its back, she patted its stomach lightly, and some water dripped out of the puppy's mouth and onto the sand. It seemed to cough a little, and it slowly, weakly began to open its eyes.

The puppy's eyes were a deep blue, and when it saw her it got up and stood shakily before her. Did she startle it? she wondered. The puppy simply stared into her eyes, before turning away and darting off into the woods.

"Wait, don't go!" she called, as though the pup could understand her.

The puppy's departure made Blythe feel both sad and lonely. Slowly, she got up from her knees, and walked in the direction of the woods, maybe she could find it if she looked hard enough.

[Blythe]

When she got to the edge of the forest, she pushed away some underbrush, and low-lying twigs, stepping lightly along on the dirt. She could vaguely make out the footprints of a small animal. To her, the paw print looked like that of a dog, walking along the dirt path of the forest. She must be headed in the right direction, she thought.

Blythe followed the path along for a short while. She walked alongside large trees with both bright and deep colored green leaves. She figured the trees must be a mixture of pines and firs, but she couldn't be sure, her grandmother was far more gifted in the field of flora and fauna than she could ever hope to be. Letting the thought flee from her mind, she nearly stumbled over the puppy. Startled, and clutching her free hand to her chest, (her left hand still holding her journal), she said, "well, hello there," in a breathless sounding sort of way.

The little black lab puppy just stared at her some more, it didn't seem to happy to see her. Saddened, Blythe looked up through the tree-tops. Bright white light from the sun was filtering in through the leaves, by the time it had reached the ground area, however, the light seemed to be nothing more than little splotches of light here and there, like fireflies.

Blythe bent down so that she was more level with the puppy who was sitting silently before her. She stuck her hand out towards the puppy, it sniffed it, and then gave her fingers a little lick. Blythe giggled, "it's nice to meet you too."

[Blythe]

A breeze swept through the forest and rustled Blythe's hair. The puppy let out a low yelp. Blythe giggled, I guess the wind startles it, she thought to herself, as the little puppy started barking and ran off, even deeper into the woods. Blythe sighed, she didn't know why she felt the need to follow it, but she did. So she got back up, and slowly walked in the direction she saw the puppy going in.

Yet, this time, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find any tracks. All she saw were scattered stones, low-lying plants, and the occasional bird. Disheartened, after a few minutes, she turned around and started to head back in the direction in which she came.

After walking for a few minutes, a strong breeze carried the scent of smoke. That's odd, she said, as she sniffed the air again, just to be sure. There is definitely smoke in the air. Deciding to investigate, she walked in the opposite direction in which the wind was blowing; essentially, to her left.

Within 100 paces of where she had first smelled the smoke, Blythe came to a clearing, in the middle of which there was a large bonfire. The smoke stretched about five feat in the air, and was crackling. A few embers flew out at her with the breeze, and Blythe had to step away from it periodically.

Yet, as she looked around, she realized that she couldn't find anyone. It seemed as though the fire had simply sprouted out of no where.

Blythe looked up at the sky, as smoke swirled around the tops of the trees and into the sky. I wonder how this got here, she thought, as she heard a noise coming from behind her. "Who's there?" she said, as her body tensed, and she slowly turned her head so she was looking over her right shoulder.

[Blythe]

The bushes behind her rustled, and a large figure appeared out of them. He stopped short as soon as he saw her watching him.

The figure was a taller man, about 6 feet tall. He had long, straight black hair that ended at his waist. He was wearing a tan pair of pants with a belt, and gladiator-like sandals. He was carrying a pile of wood in his arms. The man stepped forward another few feet until he was out of the underbrush, and then dropped the wood at his feet.

"Who are you?" he snarled, exposing rather large canine teeth. His eyes, mean little deep blue eyes. Pools that reflected hatred; an angry sea.

Blythe turned to face the man who was approaching her. "I'm Blythe," she began, "and who might you be, and what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'll be asking the questions," the man snarled as he walked a little closer to her. "And I may ask you the same thing," he began, "what are you doing here?"

"Well I live here," Blythe began, but he cut her off, "in the woods?"

"No, in Mura silly, it's nearby." The man walked even closer until he stood just before her. Correction, until he stood in front of her, towering over her, and stared at her, his eyes still little blue slits. He didn't seem pleased. He started to circle her. She didn't bother to follow him with her eyes. Instead, she just held her journal more tightly against her chest.

"Well what were you doing in the woods then?" he asked.

Trembling slightly, despite the heat of the fire against her back, Blythe replied, "I was on a walk along the beach when I saw a little puppy on the shore. He seemed like he had been washed ashore by the sea. When I got him to wake up, he ran away into the woods, and so I followed him."

"You honestly think I believe that?" the man snarled. "No, I don't suppose I do," Blythe replied as she stared down at the ground. This game of 20 questions was getting to be a little ridiculous. But then again, what could she do about it, she wasn't exactly skilled with a blade, or any other weapon for that matter.

[Blythe]

The man continued to circle her. Blythe could feel little beads of sweat forming at the top of her forehead. THIS. IS. RIDICULOUS. She thought. I ACTUALLY LIVE AROUND HERE, I should be able to ask at least one question and receive an answer to it as well.

The man stopped for a moment, when he was standing directly behind her, just out of sight. "Something wrong?" she inquired, just a hint of sarcasm in her voice. The man didn't answer, and circled to the other side of her, grabbing her right arm, and staring into her eyes, his mouth slightly open in a snarl. It reminded her of the face of an angry wolf.

The man's grip was tight, and it hurt her a bit, she tried to pry her arm away, but it was no use. "Please get off of me," she said as sweetly as she could, hoping that it would get the man to unhand her. But it didn't, he simply growled what Blythe assumed to be his name at her, "Lucius."

"That your name?" she asked, simply wanting to verify, he nodded, and let go of her arm. He sat down on the ground next to the fire he had built, and stretched his hands out to it in order to feel the heat.

"Sit," he instructed her. Blythe sat down, her knees tucked into her chest, her journal resting against them, in between her chest and her legs. It made her feel like a dog, the way he spoke to her, and for whatever reason, she felt the urge to obey.

[Blythe]

Blythe sat quietly by the side of the fire, looking up at the smoke that swirled around in the windy sky. It was strangely calming to her.

For a long time, neither she nor Lucius spoke. After a while, Blythe asked him what he was doing here, alone, and in the woods no less. But Lucius simply shrugged, apparently, he wasn't much for talking, or so it seemed.

Some more time passed, and the sun began to sink in the sky. Neither she nor Lucius had moved in all the time they spent together. He hadn't spoken at all to her since they sat down, and she hadn't said more than a sentence to him either.

As time continued to pass, Blythe continued to wonder just how much had, and whether or not her family was getting worried, for some reason, she doubted it, given their heightened sense of intuition, they were bound to have at least a slight notion as to what she was up to at all times. After all, it's not like she was able to hide anything when she was a kid, so why should she be able to now?