Needed to write

[Clara]

((I'll update this as the plot unfurls in my mind, and I haven't thought of names, so for now, her name is X))

The trees whizzed by on the lonely dirt road. Lleona Lewis blared in X's ears as she stared ahead. Her mother's mouth was jabbering away and she was making gestures in her direction, trying to talk to her probably. X didn't care, she turned up the volume o her Ipod, she didn't want to listen to her mother right now. Did it matter what she was saying anyway? Most likely some crap about making new friends, or re-connecting with nature or about a million other excuses she had heard for moving out here.

It wasn't neccessarily the act that she was moving that bit into her, it was where. They were moving to the middle of the forest, which just made everything her mother said hypocritical. friends? What friends? The squirrels weren't much for decent conversation. And re-connecting with nature? Just one of the drawbacks of having a botanist as a mother and zoologist as a father. X couldn't care less about nature, as long as she had plumbing, she just didn't care.

She stared into the mirror. Her crystal blue eyes met her reflection. She sighed, and the lack of buildings in their vacinity did little to help her mood. She switched her music to something a bit more classical. She loved slow music, music that flowed and bent like a river. She hated the rock and rap that seemed to dominate the radio today.

They would be arriving soon, entering this new isolated hell. She wasn't exactly sure what the house, house, that wasn't exactly a good word to describe it, it was supposed to be more of a cabin, would look like. Still the mental image that hovered in her mind was one of rotting wood, outdoor plumbing and hard beds. She pressed her head against the glass and turned off her music, exposing her ears to the babble of her mother's voice.

Her mother was annoying her lately. Not just because of this whole moving thing, but because she was so different from X, yet she couldn't accept that. She always tried to press nature in around X, and whenever X pulled back, Marissa would just push harder, almost oblivious to her daughter's disdain. "Now I know you'll love the trees out here, they're evergreens, they'll be this lush all year round, and the floor plants around here are just amazing...." X tuned out her mother as they turned the corner, the house came into view.

[Clara]

It wasn't exactly what she expected, though she couldn't say if it was better or worse. The cabin was made of dark brown wooden logs, that looked as if they were covered in splinters and begging to be infested with termites. There was no out house, one good sign, but there was no pavement, only a walkway of jagged rocks. The dark door hung sort of at an angle, and the whole building looked somewhat unstable.

X grumbled under her breath as she got out of the car. Her parents were already busy, with her mother eyeing some bush and her father analyzing some animal tracks. How they could get so into these things was beyond her. It was just a stupid plant, and probably a stupid squirrel who had already gotten itself eaten.

X sighed and headed into the house. It wasn't much more appealing inside then it was from the exterior. The house had been home to an old hunting lodge. The animal bodies had been removed, something about her father not wanting to desecrate the animals. The furniture was mostly wooden, with a few cushions and pillows on couches and chairs. A small television was in the center of the den, just in front of the fireplace. The rest of the house was pretty much the same, with the exception of one room, the bathroom. At her and her mother's pleas the bathroom had been completely re-done. It was modern and shiny, making it stick out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest of the house.

She walked into her small room and threw her luggage on the floor and threw herself on the bed. She heard her parents enter the house but she didn't get up, she refused to get up. She didn't even cover herself, the arid summer heat was more than enough to keep her warm. After a few minutes of staring at her ceiling, she found herself drifting to sleep.......

She awoke the next day to find a note on her door. In her mom's handwriting was the message "Honey, I left some some schoolwork on the table near the window, I expect it done when I get back. X scowled and headed to the bathroom. She quickly undressed and jumped in the shower. She felt a lovely rush as the cold water splashed against her skin. There was something about water that just soothed her, made things clearer.

After she was done washing, she wrapped herself in a towel, and walked out into the den where her work was waiting. She loved the way things looked after she had bathed or swam, everything was sharper, more distinct, it was like her vision had gone to 20/10 instantaneously. She stared down at the work, ugh, she thought, Algebra. She tried to focus her attention outside where her mother was working.

Her mother was looking at some sort of flower, writing down something in her notebook. She took the flower by the stem, and plucked it from the ground. Then something caught X's eye. It was just a flash, a quick movement in the forest. Probably nothing, but something about it alarmed her. She stood up and moved toward the window. there it was again, a quick lash of amber, almost invisible among the tree trunks, but she saw it. The trees started to rustle as the wind picked up. Her mother turned and started heading toward the house. X turned and tried to focus on her work, what ever it was, it was gone, for now at least.

[Clara]

X waited for her mother to come back inside, silently working away at math problems, mostly to pass the time and keep her mother happy. When Marissa walked in X perked up, and casually asked "what was that thing outside?" She kept her tone calm, trying to act like it was no big deal. But it was a big deal, SOMETHING was out there, and it gave X goosebumps.

Her mother's face brightened up at the question, "Oh that was a rare northern marsh, I'm surprised they grow up here." Her mother went on explaining how the conditions made it hard for that particular plant to grow but X cut her off mid-sentence. "No, not the stupid plant that thing that was in the forest!" X sounded a bit more harsh than she expected, and it kinda shocked her.

Her mother's face hardened, her expression was a mix of disappointment, pity, and worry. "I have no idea what you're talking about dear." Her voice was soft as if she was speaking to a 5 year old "The only thing out there was me, me and my stupid plants." The last two words were laced in heavy sarcasm.

X looked out the window, slightly annoyed and slightly embarrassed. The crispness of her morning shower was gone, and the forest was a blurry green lump in the distance. "Now, now" X's mother beckoned, "let's see how you're doing with those math problems." X groaned but turned back to the table, she would have to forget about that bear, or wolf, or whatever it was. Maybe she would see it again, but what could she do if she did?

The sightings turned into a near daily occurrence, the shower, the work, the flash. As the days went on she began to notice a pattern, it was only when her parents neared the forest that this flash of amber would appear. They would go out nearly every day, always to sample some dirt, or pick some plant, or pick up some poop (Much to the disgust of X) and when ever they did, it would show up.

One day after all her work had been done, she went outside (to the great surprise of her parents) and neared the forest. She bent down near the edge of the trees and picked a flower, trying to provoke the thing into appearing. She saw nothing, only the slight rustle of trees in the wind. She looked into the forest, looking for something. She saw a small patch of white, and entered the forest.

She neared the white patch and bent down to touch it. It was cold, soft, and felt like slush. Frost, she thought. But what was that doing here? The icy mush melted on her fingers. The water on her skin enhanced her senses. Of course, she thought, She placed her hands on the frost, and splashed the melted water on her face. The world instantly became clearer, then she heard the whispers.

They were barely audible, even now, and the words were undecipherable. She looked around, gazing in the direction of the voices. They apparently saw her, for the whispers ceased. The trees began to rustle, someone was up there. X ran after the noises, losing most of her sense of direction. Then she saw the thing, scratch that, the boy, running through the trees. She slowed to a halt, stunned by his image. His clothes were all brown and seemed to be made of plants and leaves, his hair was a dark brown, matching his eyes. His skin was dark as well, a creamy caramel color. He disappeared into the trees, not looking back.

[Clara]

X stood there for a moment, not sure whether to pursue the boy into the forest or turn back, to the warmth and indoor plumbing of the cabin. She had all but lost her bearings, if she went any further, she could get lost. She took one last look, watching the small movement int the trees, and turned around heading where she thought the cabin was.

She carefully moved throughout the trees, still causing a large amount of noise. Her arm hit a bush, driving thorns into her arm. "Ahh!" She gasped, yanking her arm back. She kept moving, bracing against the pain. She soon saw a good clearing, "finally" she thought.

She entered the clearing seeing the brown cabin in the distance. A brown lump, not much more inviting than the dark forest behind her. She moved forward nonetheless, glancing back every now and then. She walked into the cabin, she was dirty, cut, and sweaty. Her parents stood up, stunned at their daughters condition.

She looked past them, and muttered something about taking a shower. She went to her bathroom and took a quick shower. The bath soothed her, and after she finished, she was more tired than ever. She crept into her room and crashed onto her bead, soon she drifted into sleep.

The next day she looked out the window as usual, saw the boy, as usual, and stayed inside, as usual. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to go after him again. Who was he? What was he doing here? Questions flooded her mind as she sat on the cold wooden bench working on Shakespeare.

This continued for awhile. She tried to not let the boy enter her mind, but something about him, about the forest was calling her. She wanted to go out again, go into the forest, go looking for this boy, try to figure out what was going on here. One thing was for sure, that kid had something to do with her parents and her, he only showed up when they were outside, and even then only when they neared the forest.

Even with the boy, it left one thing unexplained, namely, the frost. That was definitely out of place. All these thought's raced through X's head until she could barely think of anything else. This lack of focus alarmed her parents, whose only solution was to push zoology and botany on her. This of course did very little to help her overall mood.

She eventually decided to go back into the forest, she couldn't stand it anymore. After her morning shower, she followed her mom outside where she was examining some flowers. X tried to pretend to be remotely interested while her eyes remained glued to the forest. The crispness of her shower lingered, and she saw him coming from a good distance away.

Hew was running toward them, a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. Then he turned, bow cocked. X told her mother she was going to look at some plants, and followed him. He raced through the branches, looking left and right. A powerful gust of wind roared through the trees. The boy turned and shot an arrow in what seemed like a random direction.

X watched from behind a tree watching the boy fire arrow after arrow into the trees. Finally the arrows ceased, and the wind along with it. A body crashed through the trees, and landed a few yards away from X. She peeked out from behind the tree, and the boy jumped down from the trees.

The body was as unusual as the boy. It was a young girl, not much older than X. Her hair was a deep gray, and her clothes were a mix of white and light blue. She was wearing some sort of gown, with wispy strands of silk coming from it. An arrow extruded from her chest, an ugly blemish in an otherwise beautiful picture.

The boy came to examine her. He knelt down and looked at the body. He sighed, looking frustrated. "Glazura!" He yelled into the trees "Come over here." Another girl moved into view. Her hair was white, and her skin almost as pale. Her clothes were all white and very angular. Frost was forming at the girls feet. Frost, X eyes widened as she peeked from behind a tree.

[Clara]

Glazura walked over to where the gril's body lay. She got on her knees and examined the body for a second. She let out a sound of disgust. "Damn, not her too. Arbor, go to her parents, you can travel faster than I can, make sure you kep an eye on both them and her brother. They were really close, he might be involved with them as well, and we can't be too careful."

He nodded, stood up, and started off. X shuffled around the tree to avoid being seen. Her foot caught a branch and a shapr snap sounded off. "Who's there?" commanded Arbor, bow cocked faster than the eye could see. "Come out." Glazura, an ice sword formed in her hand. X remained still for a second, then bolted.

"Get her!!!" She heard Glazura yell behind her. X bolted in what she thought was the right direction. A soft sound was heard, and an arrow implanted istelf in her boot, forcing her to the ground. They were coming, she had to get out of there, she had to run. She reached to dislodge the arrow to be met with a blast of white. She hand was forced to the ground, held in place by a cuff made of pure ice.

X panicked, she pulled with all of her might. She didn't ralize it, but the cuff was getting thinner, the frozen water being pulled in unconsiously by her skin. In a breif show of strength, she broke the cuff, and sat up, to be met with an icy boot to the forehead. She barely felt it, she was out before she even hit the ground.

When she awoke, she was in a haze, her eyes would barely open, but she could hear their voices. Both of them were there, arguing. "Glazura, we have to take her the elders, she broke through your hold, that has to mean something!" "I don't give a damn if it means anything, she's human, even if she's strong, she has to die." "You shouldn't, that would make you one of them!" "No, they kill humans because they think it's their responsibility, I will kill to protect my home and my people."

X's eyes opened slowly, Glazura looked at her and addressed her. "Ah, good, you're awake, too bad I'm going to have to kill you now. This is for the village." Ice formed at her fingertips, forming reddy Kruger claws. She brought the claws down, and X closed her eyes and screamed. X was vaugley aware of the claws passing through her body. Oddly, she felt no pain, just a numb feeling. She opened her eyes, un-harmed. Glazura now looked at her with a mix of wonder, and fear. Slowly she sputtered. "Who, Who are you?" X breathed and passed out again.