Chapter 3 - When the Heart Beats

When his velvet eyes met Sabrina’s she felt her cheeks flush slightly and her heart skip a beat. “She’s going to be fine. I promise.” - Secrets 3

F

umiko!” Sabrina was able to catch Fumiko before her limp form hit the mud.  Sinking to the ground, she held her unconscious friend in her small arms, calling out her name.  She could hear the men still on their horses murmuring to each other.  Lifting her brown gaze from Fumiko’s pale face, she shot them all glares.  She watched the man standing before them take a few remaining steps toward her and Fumiko.  Fear began crawl its way up her spin, festering deep within her stomach. “Don’t get any closer!” He disregarded her order and took another step toward them, “I mean it!  Stop right there!” her voice cracked and she pulled Fumiko’s torso closer to her. “I won’t let you touch her!”

          The black haired man stopped inches from them and simply crouched to where he was almost eye level with Sabrina and quietly said, “Will you please let me help?”

          Taken aback by his sincere plea, Sabrina stared at Fumiko’s face, unable to answer.  Brushing back stray hairs from her friends paling face, she cooed pleas for her to wake up.  Seeing sweat begin to bead on her brow, worry clouded her heart.  Fumiko was getting worse.

          Looking up to meet the armored man’s emerald gaze, Sabrina blew out a sigh through clenched teeth and tightened her hold on Fumiko. “I don’t trust you.  But since Fumiko’s sick and needs help, I’ll let you to take us to this camp of yours.” She paused and narrowed her dark brown eyes before she continued. “But I’m not leaving her side.  Where she goes, I go.”

          Running a gloved hand over his face, the man sighed. “Fine, but I can get her help faster if you would let me carry her.”

          Sabrina frowned, “And why would I let you even touch her?”

          “Because I’m higher off the ground and capable of getting her on my horse.” He said in a matter of fact tone. “You, on the other hand, are small and will most likely need assistance getting on the horse.”

          She looked at him blankly for a moment.  Was he being serious? “Look jerk-face, Fumi might be a little bit more passive, but I will punch you in the face and have no guilt.”

          Resting his elbows on his knees, he lowered his green eyes to Fumiko.  Sabrina saw something flicker in his gaze, but was unable to decipher it before it was gone.  She watched his large hand stretch out and brush stray pieces of Fumiko’s hair from her face.  When he spoke, she almost missed his quite words. “I meant no insult; I was simply speaking the truth.” His eyes seemed to be glued to the dark bruise on Fumiko’s face. “I do wish to help you.  Both of you.  We see too many outsiders die around here anymore…  It would be nice to actually save a few.”

          Swallowing a snarky comment and subconsciously smoothing Fumiko’s hair back, Sabrina lifted her chin, glaring at the armored man. “Just because you’re a man doesn’t mean you get to be a prince.  I’m only going to let you carry her, because I can’t even lift her…” Mumbles to herself, “Because her b***s are so freaking huge…”

          The wanna-be prince lifted a dark eyebrow, “What was that last part?”

          Sabrina rolled her eyes, “None of your business.  Just shut your pretty mouth and help me get her up.”

          Without another word, the man reached to take Fumiko into his arms.  He handled her like she would break if he held her too tightly.  As if she was made of glass.  Sabrina followed him to his horse, and with much effort, struggled to get on.  She heard a few of the other men laughing as she tried to climb on the horse and bite back insults. 

          “The wee little thing can hardly get on the horse Boss.  Why not have her ride with one of us?” A man with peppered hair asked, fighting back a laugh.

          “Because, Brock, she wishes to be by her companion.” Said the man holding Fumi. “Hook your foot into the stirrup, and haul yourself up.”

          Sabrina looked over her shoulder at him with narrowed eyes. “I’m from New York buddy.  What the hell is a stirrup?”

          Rolling his eyes, Prince-boy shifted Fumiko’s body, so that one arm was holding her weight, while he used the other to push Sabrina up onto the saddle.  Gently passing Fumiko to Sabbi, he lifted up the foot strap and said, “This is the stirrup.  If you had put your foot in it, you would have been able to pull yourself onto River’s saddle.” He then pulled himself onto the horse’s saddle and reached to grab the reigns.  “Hold on to the horn if you can.” When she didn’t answer, he added, “It’s the bump in the front of the saddle.” When they started moving, Sabrina wrapped one arm around Fumiko, making sure her friend didn’t fall, while her free hand grasped the horn of the saddle.

          It seemed like they had been riding for hours by the time they reached the camp.  Tents were spread out along a river and surrounded by tall, red flowered trees.  Sabrina was surprised to the dramatic change in life from the area where she and Fumiko had arrived at, compared to their current surroundings. “So this is your camp?  What’s with all the flowery trees?  Not very manly if you ask me.”

          As they entered the camp, prince charming stepped off the horse and took Fumi from Sabrina, gently cradling her close to his chest.  The man with peppered hair �"which she remembered him being called Brock- stepped off his horse and walked over to them.  Flashing Sabrina a toothy grin, he wrapped both large hands around her small waist and lifted her off the horse.  He held her in front of him and simply laughed.  “Lass, you have such a wee body!  You should eat more, if yee want to survive in Burminea.” His golden eyes twinkled with humor as he gently set her on her feet.  She doubted he was expecting a kick to the shin as thanks though.

          Glaring at the tall brute name Brock, Sabrina crossed her arms over her chest and held her chin high. “I am not something you can manhandle.  Touch me again, and I’ll make your face and internal organs bleed.” Following pretty-boy into a tall black tent, Sabrina was cautious and kept her eyes on Fumiko and the man carrying her.  Once inside the tent, she was surprised to see seven cots neatly spread about the quiet large area and a large assortment of different kinds of bottles filled with different colored liquids. “Is this a little clinic or something?”

          Pretty boy gently set Fumi on the cot closest to the desk sitting in the corner of the tent, pulling a grey blanket over her. “This is the medical tent.  Noland will be informed shortly that we have an ill guest and have a look at your friend.”

          Sabrina tilted her head and leaned against the bookcase of bottles. “Fumiko.”

          Pretty boy looked up from Fumiko’s face to look at Sabrina in question.

          Rolling her eyes and walking over to the cot and said, “Her name is Fumiko, so stop making titles for her.”

          He crossed his arms over his armored chest and returned his green gaze to Fumiko, glaring at the nasty bruise on her pale face.  As the both looked at the unconscious Fumi, someone entered the tent, bells jingling at their approach.  Pretty boy moved to the foot of the bed to meet the new comer, while Sabrina sat next to Fumiko, resting her hand on her forehead.  “You’re getting hotter.” She said with a slight smile, worry coating her words, “They’re going to make you 100% in no time babe.  Don’t you worry that pretty little head yours.” As she smoothed back her friend’s hair, she heard the new comer’s bells ring as he moved to stand over Fumiko.

          She watched the bells man pull back Fumi’s covers and looked over her body, feeling every inch to insure nothing was broken or damaged.  Pretty boy kept his eyes on Fumiko’s face as he asked, “Noland, what’s wrong with her?  You look troubled.”

          The man named Noland sighed and straitened and said in a smooth voice, “Her body is just going into shock.  All she really needs is rest.  She should be up and running in a few days.”

          That voice was all too familiar to Sabrina.  Looking up from Fumiko’s face, she was left speechless.  His once white hair was now its natural black and now hung in a long loose pony tail.  Looking at Noland she knew there must have been a mistake, because the man standing before her was Jiao Long.  After dealing with two long years of his absence, Sabrina couldn’t tell whether she wanted to cry, or scream.  His once narrow body was now defined muscle.  She could see easily through his shirt and his eyes…  His velvet eyes looked like they had seen so much. “Where have you been?!” She was on her feet and glaring up at him, her brown eyes blurry with tears. “Do you know how long I waited?  How long I thought I did something wrong or scared you away?”

          Jiao looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise until he recognized her. “Sabrina?”

          Sabbi rolled her eyes, “No, Buffy!  What the hell Jiao!” she shoved at his chest pissed that he hadn’t recognized her right off. “Do you know how worried I was?  Or how angry I got at myself for believing everything you said?” She searched his face for answers, but only saw guilt and regret.  She shoved at his chest again, this time taking a step back from Fumiko’s cot and sank on the one next to her.

          Pretty boy looked from Jiao to Sabrina, waiting for an explanation.  Jiao walked around armored guy and stood a respectable distance from Sabbi.  It looked like he was trying to formulate a way to explain his disappearance, but Sabrina didn’t care.  She knew she shouldn’t be angry, but with everything that had happened recently, she felt the right to be upset.

          She looked up at him and once again couldn’t decide if she wanted to cry and wrap her arms around him, or scream at him in frustration.  Finally she concluded that neither would be appropriate. “I know it probably wasn’t your fault…And I’m sorry I yelled.” She smoothed her little hands over her face and kept them over her eyes. “I’ve just had it pretty rough for the past two years and needed to vent it out.” She heard her voice crack at the last part resented the fact her body was so tired and emotional. 

          His bells gave his approach away.  As he walked toward her, Sabrina felt her anger slowly melt away.  In the end, she was too tired to be upset for more than a few minutes.  She watched him crouch in front of her, and gently take one of her small hands into his.  He turned it over, palm up, and examined the small cuts that marred her skin.  Everyone kept quiet as Jiao cleaned the small cuts and wrapped her hands.  She felt it was total over kill, but kept the opinion to herself.

          Sighing, Jiao met Sabrina’s gaze and tilted his head to the side slightly. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

          Sabrina shook her head and touched a hand to her forehead, feeling warm all of the sudden. “Don’t believe so.  Fumi gave me a good look over once we got out of the rain last night.”

          “How do you feel?  Any light headedness?  Nausea?”

          She shook her head. “Nope.  Just feeling a little warm and hungry.”

          Pretty boy’s eyebrows creased as he looked at her, “Noland, check her forehead.  The other one said she was feeling warm before she fainted.”                  

          Sabrina’s brown eyes narrowed.  “That ‘Her’ crap is irritating.  Her name is Fumiko.”

          She jumped slightly at the touch of Jiao’s hand on her forehead.  Turning her gaze to his face, she was lost.  Jiao blew out a breath and looked at pretty boy. “Yep.  She’s got a fever.”

          Rolling her eyes she crossed her arms over her chest. “And?  Guarantee I’m better off than Fumi.  She gets sick all the time.  I don’t.” She looked over to Fumiko and slightly smiled. “She’s a handful, but someone’s got to look out for her…”

          Jiao stood and glanced at pretty boy. “Sabrina and Fumiko will be fine, Landon.  So stop worrying.”

          Sabrina tossed her arms up and feigned surprise, “You mean your name isn’t pretty boy?  I was way off.”

          Landon gave her a look and said to Jiao, “You sure this is the same Sabrina you talk so highly about?” He lifted his lips in what looked like a teasing smile, “Could have sworn you said she was cute.”

          Glaring at Landon, Sabbi lifted her chin and stuck her tongue out.  What a jerk.  No way in hell was she going to let Fumi get anywhere near the man.  Something about him just pissed Sabrina off.  She watched him turn and leave, sparing Fumiko a parting glance and disappeared though the tent’s entrance.  Clicking her tongue, she stared at the dark entrance and frowned.  “Why did he keep calling you Noland?”

          Jiao was sitting at his desk writing.  Sabrina caught herself staring at his profile when sat next to Fumiko, running her fingers through her long dark hair.  He said, “The portal just dropped me off in the middle of a lake.  Of all the possible places I could have ended up, it was in the middle of a lake.” He slightly smiled and dipped his pen tip into a container of ink. “Landon saw the whole thing and ended up dragging me out of the water.  After that, he pretty much watched my back and made sure no one took advantage of my ‘outsider’ status.  I ended up getting the nick name No-Land, which got misinterpreted as Noland, and bingo.  Noland Jiao Long was born.”

          Sabrina just looked at him and laughed. “Really Jiao that is the most-”

          He smiled, showing perfect white teeth. “Amazing story I know.”

          “Bizarre way to drop in I guess.  Fumi and I just had to find shelter from the rain, not swim to the nearest landmass.” She smiled at him as she settled herself down next to Fumiko, who was still quiet warm and unconscious. “You’re sure she’s okay?”

          The bells fastened to his pony tail rang as he stood from his seat and stretched.  She admired the way his longer hair swayed with the slightest movement.  For someone who was born in the twenty-first century, Jiao pulled off the long hair very nicely.  When his velvet eyes met Sabrina’s she felt her cheeks flush slightly and her heart skip a beat. “She’s going to be fine.  I promise.” Smiling at her, the action making his eyes warm and welcoming, he said very quietly, “Good night Sabbi.” 

          Sabrina watched him sit back down and begin his writing again.  With Fumiko’s steady breathing and the rhythmic scratch of Jiao writing it was hard for her to fight the urge to fall asleep.  By the time Jiao had finished writing his reports, she was fast asleep with Fumiko’s hand gently grasped in hers.

The one with the pale blue eyes,

Will bring forth the end of wars.

The one with the dark brown gaze, 

Will fight to protect the weak.

The dancers will mend the shattered hopes, 

And bring forth a new found light.

For love will guide them toward the light.