storm of tranquility (STORY) - Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE


The rain poured, and the wind blew strong. As Gwalinna watched the waves crashing from a high tree branch. Jumping down she landed on her feet. Running, as fast as she could her dark redish hair swayed.

“Athelwolf…” she called into a dark cave. All that was heard was her echo in response.

Traveling into the cave, a small flame could be spotted towards the back. Slowly walking towards it, careful not to make a sound, although it wasn’t much use since her shoes squished loudly.

There the human man, lied next to the fire fast asleep.  Gwalinna sighed, and sat next to the fire. She knew it was late, and that Athelwolf would be up early the next morning ready to continue their travel. However, she was not a morning person and preferred to be up at night, always aware of her surroundings.

Athelwolf was much like her, always aware of surroundings, among other things.  They looked out for each other. Since the day she came home and found her town burning… She was just a young child then, and Athelwolf just a little older than her took care of her. All they had was each other.

Memories of the fire came back to her as she watched the small fire burn. She wasn’t sure how the fire had started, or how Athelwolf got out unharmed, because he never explained it to her. He said it didn’t matter how he got out, that he was all she had left now, he promised to look after her. They were different than each other, never really got along before that day. She often wondered why he decided to look after her.

That seemed so long ago. She had grown up quite a bit since then; and although she was more than capable of taking on almost any enemy, she stayed with, and continued to travel with Athelwolf. He took care of her as a child even though he himself was but a child; they grew up together and helped each other.

A sound at the entrance of the cave interrupted her thoughts. She grabbed her sword, and silently moved towards the entrance.

When she reached the entrance she found nothing there. She turned around to head back, but Athelwolf was standing there, looking at her.

“Is everything okay, Linna?” He asked.

She nodded, and yawned. “I just heard a noise that’s all.”

Athelwolf took her sword from her and escorted her to the back of the cave. “Gwalinna, staying up so late is never good for you. You need to sleep. Get some rest, I shall keep watch.”

Gwalinna couldn’t argue with him, she was tired. So she merely nodded, and laid down on the fur that was sprawled out near the fire, and quickly fell asleep.

Athelwolf watched Gwalinna as she slept, he raised her, even though he himself was just a child. For a while they went from town to town, never finding a place to call home, never wanting to accept handouts from people. They worked hard for food, and the weapons, and what little money they had.  She learned a lot from him, and he learned from her as well. Just because he was older didn’t mean he was always right, that was one things he had learned from Gwalinna as time went on.

He sat there thinking  about her strengths and weaknesses. Where she lacked in strength, she made up with speed which lead to powerful strong attacks. Instead of throwing her emotions away, Gwalinna embraced them, and let them empower her, only making her stronger.

Himself on the other hand, had the strength, and powerful attacks, but lacked in other areas, Gwalinna filled those areas and together, they were almost, unstoppable.

As the night went on into early morning he thought about many things, one was their power and the things that could happen with their power. The only problem was he knew Gwalinna would not subject herself to what he was thinking. She would not use her abilities if she felt and knew something was wrong. This, to him was indeed a dilemma…