Zen wasn't sure how she had gotten here, but there she was surrounded by hundreds of people welcoming her home. After a number of weeks of being in her bed and having Donte carry her around though Zen had enough. She demanded that he stop carrying her and instead Zen wanted him to help her start to walk again. At first he protested against it but eventually gave in.
When she first tried to walk she felt like a toddler trying to stand up without falling down. But it wasn't just Donte helping her. There was Sabrina who always stopped by her room to help get Zen out of her room, and Kane who she had resolved from kissing until she knew what or who she wanted. Everyday he would try to take her outside and drawl her powers out but there was almost no progress so far. And then there was Rex who she also refrained from kissing. He helped her by just being there. Everytime he was around Zen felt herself wanting to walk to him and it was almost easier around him.
After a while after trying Zen started to feel steady on her feet. And when that happened she knew that she had put off seeing the people who missed her long enough. That was how she found herself in the middle of all those people who were giving her gifts or pushing her into a hug. Over the last few weeks being home, Zen had learned that her people were hidden inside a cave and most of them were terrified. She was supposed to answer for them.
But her powers were still scarce, even with Kane trying to help her. Zen didn't want to disappoint them but she wasn't sure how to help anyone when she could barely help herself. But she knew that had to try. At least for them she did.
Donte wasn't making her task to get better any easier either. Yes he agreed that she should try and regain her strength but slowly. He wanted her to take her time getting back on her feet, but with the war coming she knew that it wasn't an option. But when Zen told him told that she wanted to help in the war he told her a flat out no. No she was not risking her life to fight, he told her. Zen wasn't ready to give up on fighting though and her brother knew she would never back down. Not from this.
The war was going on at a steady pace. Everyday there was more news about how the specials were dangerous and deadly, or how they needed to be killed on sight. But right now they were all hidden with the warriors preparing for the war. Everyone predicted that sooner or later someone would find them and then they would be forced to fight or flee depending upon how much the humans would bring to battle.
Zen knew that something was going to happen any day now. She could feel it as if the earth was calling out to her. That's why she continued to fight for her life and her people's lifes.
Now Zen was thanking all the people who welcomed her back with open arms. She felt so grateful to know that they had loved and missed her, but also a little overwhelmed. She had no idea how to be a princess anymore or how to keep everyone happy. All she knew was that they were sure she was going to save them all. Zen wasn't so sure that she could.
After a while of everyone welcoming her back, she had to leave to go with Kane. They had a training session each day now and even though it seemed pointless, he insisted on it. She knew the real reason why he had insisted but would never called him out on it. Since she had told him that she couldn't be with him right now, he had been extra grumpy. So she told everyone goodbye and that she'd make time to see them later. Then she walked off to find where Kane was at.
It never took her long to find him. She could always just sense where he was. He was waiting by the waterfall inside the cave, the one that looked so out of place. The cave was dark in some places but there was a big hole on the top where sunlight got in and sometimes there were patches of grass where Zen could sit to relax.
Zen walked up to him and he didn't say anything at first. He just stood there not looking at her and Zen wondered what he was thinking. When they were younger she always knew what he was thinking. But now she could never tell and it killed her.
"Kane what's wrong?" Zen asked him. "Why are you so quiet?"
"I have to cancel pratice today." He told her. "Something urgent has come up."
Zen instantly panicked. "What is it? Is is about the war? Have you found out some news yet?" Kane turned to her and instead of looking p*ssed, he cracked a smile.
"Zen calm down. It is about the war but just so they can recruit other men in the cave. No one's here yet." Kane assured her.
Zen took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just so scared that I...that I'm not..." She trailed off as he moved closer. "Kane please don't." She pleaded. But it was too late and before she knew it he wrapped her in a hug. A hug she knew she needed. With everything going on Zen had told him that they were just friends and even though they were just hugging feelings were involved. And when feelings are involved all bets are off.
Especially when Zen was thinking about how warm his arms felt wrapped around her and how secure she felt being close to him. Like when they were kids. When everything was so simple and easy, just the two of them. But it only lasted a minute before he was stepping back to leave.
He had the widest grin on his face as he told her goodbye and walked off in the other direction. Zen on the other hand was not so much happy as she was conflicted. Why had he hugged her like that? And why had she let him when she knew things were so screwed up? Did she want him more than she wanted Rex?
Zen shook her head and pushed those thoughts out. She had no idea what she wanted so how could she possibly make up her mind?
Now that she had free time she decided to go see what Rex was doing.
******
Rex had become a village favorite in a matter of weeks. At first people were wary of him because he was human and they tended to avoid him. But once he started coming out of his room and people started to talk to him, everyone was instantly in love with him. Even the girls which Zen didn't like very much. In fact she hated it.
Now he was always surrounded by people that would talk or beg him to do something with them and Zen couldn't help but note how carefree he looked whenever he was around them. It made her heart race whenever he would smile at someone or whenever he would look up to see her and then he have the smile he reserved only for her. Like now.
Now there were several girls surrounding him as he was telling a story and making hands gestures. Until he looked up and saw Zen. Once he saw her he said something to the girls before heading over to where she was. Once he reached her he decided to pick her up to his chest and cradle her like before she was able to walk on her own.
Zen punched his chest. "Rex put me down! I can walk now! I can't believe I have to tell you this everytime I see you." She kept trying to push him again and frown but she could barely hold back her smile.
"I know that you can walk." He told her with a grin. "You tell me that everytime and I tell you the same thing." Zen rolled her eyes but she was still smiling. "I tell you that if we have to be friends for now then I'm going to find anyway to touch you." He empathized on the now. "And if this the way I get to touch you then I'll carry you everywhere. I want to show you somewhere. Okay?"
"Okay but put me down." Zen demanded but he ignored her and started walking. "Rex!" He still ignored her but she saw his smile. She could have pushed him away and gotten down herself but she found that she didn't want to. Instead Zen let him carry her to wherever he was going.
While they were walking Zen found herself studying Rex. His dark mop of hair had grown longer and crazier since they come to the cave, and his eyes were shining brighter than she had seen since they met. She then noticed how soft and pink his lips were which caused him to look down at her and smirk. Zen instantly blushed and looked away.
"Zen you don't have to be embarrassed." Rex told her. "I still want to kiss you too." But his words only made her blush harder. And just as he was about lean down, Zen pulled away. She knew that she couldn't kiss him right now and yet there she was about to kiss him! She closed her eyes for a moment and inwardly cursed at herself. Rex wasn't affected by her pulling away though. In fact as Zen opened her eyes back up she saw that he was still grinning at her.
Before she could ask why she was still smiling at her they stopped walking. Zen looked up and found herself gasping as Rex gently set her down. They were in some part of the cave she hadn't seen yet, and in this part of the cave trees surrounded them. But the trees seemed to glow a luminous blue which made the cave walls look almost like the ocean. Where Zen longed to go and see.
"Rex it's beautiful." She reached over and touched one the glowing leaves, remarking on how they were when she ran her fingers over one of them. "Where did you find this?"
"This girl Sam showed me, and I knew you'd love it." Rex nonchalantly told her and Zen suddenly found herself seething. She was p*ssed that he would even try to and bring her here after that f*cking wh*re.
"Really? Am I really not that special to you?" Rex looked confused for a minute but then he shook his head and smiled. That only made her even more angry.
"Zen it's okay. She's ju..." But he didn't get to finish because Zen was now even more p*ssed. How dare he smile at her and act like nothing was wrong? "Zen calm down." He tried to talk to her but she wasn't having it.
"Are you f*cking her?" Zen suddenly growled out. "Is that why she brought you here?" Zen eyes suddenly blurred with tears, no longer angry she started to walk off. But Rex wasn't having it.
"Zen you don't understand." He chased after her. "Will you just come back here and talk to me? Let me explain?"
But Zen wasn't listening anymore. Because all of a sudden there was something coming towards them and she could sense it. It wasn't a human, no it was something else. A wild beast that had heard them fighting and was on it's way.
Rex was behind Zen and he noticed her stance. "What's wrong?" But she didn't have a chance to explain before they heard slithering above them and as she looked up she heard Rex curse. There on the walls on the cave was the biggest black spider she had ever seen and it was looking right at them.
"Rex don't move." Zen whispered to him. The spider looked like it was going to pounce at any moment and she had no idea what she was going to do.
"Wasn't planning on it." He responded back but he looked like he was going to try and run if that spider dropped down.
For the longest moment of her life, Zen stayed still. She tried to see if the spider would move on and leave them alone. No chance. Now the spider seemed to move only closer which Zen knew would only lead to jumping down on them. She had to think of something, anything before this gigantic thing ate them alive.
In her head she tried to call Kane or Donte with telepathy. It only sort of worked before her head would go fuzzy and she would curse at herself. And then just as Zen knew it worked and she called them for help, the spider decided to drop down right in front of them. "Now what do we do Zen?" Rex whispered, his voice shaky.
"Now we slowly back away..." He copied her movements as she tiptoed backwards."...and RUN!" Zen and Rex ran as fast as they could but the spider was just as quick. Zen only wished she had superspeed again so they would run faster than the spider. But it was too late for that now.
As fast as they were going, the spider was there right behind them and Zen wasn't sure how they were going to get out of it alive. She had to believe that Kane and Donte had heard her calls to them. Zen knew it was only a matter of time before the spider grabbed one of them.
And sure enough behind her she saw Rex trip over a branch which caused the spider to stop moving. He noticed Rex and then preceded to grab him with one of his legs. But instead of trying to do what spider's usually do, which was wrapping their prey up in a web, the spider was going to eat Rex directly.
Zen felt everything inside her stop. Her mind went blank and all of a sudden all she could think about was Rex, the boy who saved her in more ways than one and she couldn't let him die. She couldn't let him die. Zen felt something stir inside her, something she hadn't felt in years since before the pod and it sent a rush throughout her body. As the spider was about to put Rex in it's mouth, she heard herself yell no and then flames were shooting out of her fingertips.
The spider made a screeching noise dropping Rex in the process and tried to run, but Zen didn't care. All she wanted was to kill the spider and see it burned to the ground. She could feel the power inside her now, consuming her from head to toe. Zen never wanted it to stop.
The spider was backing away and trying to climb the walls but Zen was prepared to go after it. She never wanted anything to hurt Rex again, especially this spider. This spider needed to be dealt with and Zen was prepared to do whatever she had to.
All of a sudden she felt arms wrap around her from behind. "Princess It's okay. I'm safe now." Rex assured her and she felt herself stop as she fell in his arms. Zen turned around to look into his eyes and then she reached up to touch his face, just to see if he was real. If this was real.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. Zen thought she'd be embarrassed but it only made her want to kiss him again. And this time she didn't want to pull away or run away. This time she was leaning in...
"Zen!" She heard someone call as she was inches from Rex's lips. She heard Rex softly groan but nevertheless pull away from her. Zen looked up to see her brother and Kane standing there. They looked shocked and Zen knew it was because of the singed trees behind them. But Kane looked a little more than shocked, in fact he looked p*ssed.
"What happened?" Her brother asked. Zen briefly explained the spider and how she saved Rex, but Kane's face never changed. It made her stomach twist and turn because she hated seeing him this way. She wished so much that she could know what he was thinking.
After she was done explaining, Donte nodded and turned to Rex. "Can you come with me? I need to talk to you about something important." Rex looked shocked for a moment before he found the words to respond.
"Yeah. Sure." He said to Donte. He turned to Zen and grinned. "See you later Princess." He told her before he moved closer to Donte and they disappeared with a flash, leaving Zen and Kane alone.
"F*ck this." Kane looked at her and started to walk away. But after a moment of him walking with Zen looking after him not knowing what say he stopped. "F*ck this." He said again and then off all sudden he was storming back towards her. And before she knew what was happening he was kissing the sh*t out of her.
Zen squealed as his lips moved furiously against hers and she felt his hand on the small of her back pushing her. She stumbled into him and caught herself by grabbing on to his shoulders. He bit her bottom lip which caused her lips to part open in a gasp. He took advantage of her lips parting and slid his tongue inside her mouth.
Zen could feel his anger through the kiss, as his tongue massaged hers. Zen moaned at the sensation, and moved her hands at the base of his neck to pull him closer. He groaned into her mouth as she pulled on the hairs on the back of his neck. "F*ck..." She heard him murmur against her lips.
They continued to kiss, but there was less anger and more intensity as their lips continued to meet. Her whole body tingled with every touch, and every brush of his lips against hers.
And then his fingers were skimming the bottom of her shirt. It felt so good she didn't want to stop him from pulling her shirt over her head and doing whatever else he wanted. But she knew she had to stop. Because of Rex and so many other things.
So she gently pushed him away and then leaned against him. He sighed deeply as if he wanted more than could give him, but Zen knew she couldn't. Not right now. Not in this moment when everything was so f*cked up. So she stayed with him in this moment, where everything and nothing made sense.
It was only a matter of time before things got even more complicated.
******
Happy Saturday.
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