About Crystals and Stars (On hold)

7-1

A/N: *cough* 8284 words... I don't know what's wrong with me. Anyway the first part is rather short, the middle is almost half of the chapter though and I could not cut it so we'll have again three parts this time.

Listened to WithinTemptation and Florence + The Maschine to get someinspiration for this chapter. It worked.  

7

Warmth. It was the first thing she noticed while her mind smoothly shifted into consciousness. With a sigh she pulled the blanket closer and was welcomed by an earthy and salty smell spiced with something foreign but soothing which made her feel secure. She wanted nothing more right now than to savor this state between slumber and waking and cuddled closer into the material. The blanket scratched against her skin sensually. For a second she wondered when they had changed the silk of her room's interior with coarse linen but scooted the thought aside to bathe a little bit longer in this comfort.

Savoring the warmth, Mayura held her eyes closed. Her heart beat strong and slow.

A brush of wind tickled her nose and she scrunched it. It was odd to feel the wind inside her room. Slowly her mind tripped over the idea that she wasn't in her room. Had she fallen asleep on the veranda perhaps? With half a mind locked in the savoring state, she focused more on her surroundings.

There was a loud rush in the background, resounding at a rhythmic pace. The ground beneath her felt cool against her skin, hugging her cheek. As her consciousness slowly returned to her she remembered the past events in a rush. Pictures of prisoners in small cells, her necklace with the splinter of the crystal leaving her hand, a wall of water dark and dangerous coming closer and swallowing her. A faceless soldier of Tsuchimikado reaching out a hand for her. Her upper body jerked upwards with a shocked gasp.

Something fell off from her and she looked down blinking in wonder. Her heart was still racing while she tried to contemplate what was going on. A brown coat was draped over her legs like a blanket. With furrowed eyebrows she touched it. Her hand grazed over the rough material as if it would tell her, what had happened. And then she realized that it was his coat. Her fingers buried themselves into the blanket. The rough texture scratched against the numerous wounds. Wounds of the past. Ignoring the pain, she held onto the piece of clothing and looked up. Her eyes were searching for him.

She spotted him, sitting at the fireplace, where embers were glowing among the last bits of wood that hadn't turned into aches and coal, piercing the burning remains with a bright stick.

Gulping, her drowsy mind swirled around one idea: He hadn't killed her. He would have had the chance to do so; but he didn't. Her gaze skipped to the coat again and Mayura bit her lip. Instead he gave her time to rest and had covered her with a makeshift blanket. Perhaps he didn't lie when he said, they needed to work together. Perhaps she should be more open to the idea of working together with him.

Again she looked over to his figure. He had not shown any sign that he'd noticed her waking up yet. Maybe he was giving her space for she did not think he could have missed it. Without his coat, she could see more of his shape and uniform. The sort of jacket he wore broadened his shoulders and made him look impressive. The hair looked unruly and glowed in a deep red, that was odd but interesting. Yesterday she hadn't let herself think about him, after he'd ruined their food. But she remembered her slight surprise when he'd been there at the fireplace with his hair dried and standing up high instead of hugging his head. He was admittedly handsome, yet not in the ideal way. The color of his eyes was too sharp like the sting of ice. The color of his hair too demanding. It was as if he had been painted with extremes, as if the Crystal had drained thousands of people from their color and had given it to him. It had to be the foreigner-thing, Mayura concluded, that was making him attractive. She didn't know, if he was considered handsome in his homeland, too. The aura coming from him was undeniable though.