Running, Silence, and Flowers[James]

[kyla]

Kyla ran through the city of Paris, her heart beating fast and her hair flowing in the wind behind her. She had been stupid to think that she could really just go to sleep like that. Without her nightly run? Not likely. Though, she had been running all day and night before this. You'd think her feet would be run off by now, but no she could still manage to run, needed to run even.

Running had always been Kyla's escape, and had always ultimately led her to the places she needed to be. Running had led her to her love, which had inadvertently led her to Paris itself, and the pack of wolves residing there that Kyla had somehow found herself joining. This run had yet to lead her anywhere, except of course for the flowering garden she suddenly found herself in.

The moonlight shone on the many night-blooming plants and Kyla slid to a stop, quite literally, and took a deep breath. Jasmine, dahlia, and camellia assaulted her senses and she let a smile grace her features. Now this was something she could get used to about being in Paris. Coming to this garden nightly would surely help her get used to a new city and a new life. Not to mention it would provide a good escape from Patrick's seeming crusade to turn Kyla into a social butterfly.

[*James Silvius]

James had been out on this fine night. Sleeping? That was for the morning. The night was when the werewolves lived and he would not waste it just because he was a little drowsy. Besides, there were bloodsuckers to be catching. So far he'd torched two. Not bad for a night's work. He caught them trying to take a bite out of a couple of kids. There would be none of that.

So now, shirtless and scarred from battle, blood dripping from puncture marks in his shoulder and a nasty scratch across his face, James found himself passing a garden. Who he saw flashing past him and into it made him do a double take. Kyla? Now there was a night owl. James followed in after her and immediately the scent of various types of flowers flooded his senses. Needless to say, he sneezed.

James had a small tolerance for pollen. At this moment his eyes started watering and he found himself sniffling uncontrollably. What hell is this! Though the flowers were quite beautiful, they were giving him a headache. Also, a shirtless and wounded 18 year old boy walking though this garden who seemed to be in tears was a strange sight indeed. People around him parted like the Red Sea and smartly decided not to bother with a trouble-maker.

Approaching Kyla, his cover was blown with yet another sneeze. "Ugh." he scowled at the culprit, a sunflower smiling happily at him. "Hey Kyla, whatcha doing here?" he sniffled.

[kyla]

Kyla quirked an eyebrow when the scent of blood suddenly overtook the scent of the flowers, and a sneeze broke the silence. She started at the second sneeze, which seemed closer and turned to see James, beaten and bloody. "James." She said, shaking her head. "I hope you got them as good as they got you." Poor kid seemed to be having some trouble with the flowers she personally loved inhaling.

"Come here." She said, beckoning him to take a seat on the soft grass. She didn't wait for him to do so and instead began to examine the plants around the area. Finally she found what she was looking for. She pulled an aloe plant out of the ground and then moved further down, pulling out a chamomile plant. She walked back over to him and set the plants down. She bent down and tore a stip of cloth from the bottom of her skirt.

"I feel your hatred for vampires, I really do, but you should be more careful." She looked down at the plants and the strip she'd torn. "Would you mind if I patched you up a little?" She asked, figuring that he might not appreciate her simply mothering him without permission. "These plants will help the healing, and I can stop the bleeding with this. It's not much but it will do for now. And it will even enable you to take down a few more tonight." Her features arranged themselves into another soft smile. She wouldn't dare deny him the ability to hunt down more vampires.

[*James Silvius]

James forgot for a second who he was talking to. Kyla was one of the more serious wolves. She was older than him, she knew more than him, and she had every right to scold him. James obeyed her and took a seat and the scolding began. She began gathering plants and James was about to question her when she explained.

"Yeah, you can fix this beaten up body of mine," he confirmed. Good thing she asked. He wasn't comfortable with anyone touching him unless it was himself or Patrick. But the plants seemed harmless. But then again, a poison dart frog seemed like a colorful little friend. "They were after a couple of kids. Had them under mind control. I torched them," he informed her.

[kyla]

Kyla nodded and began to patch him up, tearing up the leaves of the plant and using the sap to salve his wounds. She mopped up the extra blood with more strips torn from her clothing. She looked up at his words and smiled. "Good, they deserve nothing less. More of their kind need to burn, and will burn." She wrapped a long strip around his shoulder and tied it tight.

Her eyes traveled up to his face and she sighed. "I don't know what to do about this." Her fingers probed at the wound lightly as she tried to figure out how bad it was. "You should really be more careful, you can't go getting yourself killed, we'll be needing you soon." She let her arm fall back to her side and stood up, her clothing in tatters from all the strips she'd pulled off of it.

She reached down a hand and offered him help getting up, wondering if the puncture wounds on his shoulder were as painful as they looked. "Alright, you should be fine for a few more fights as long as you don't get ambushed. However, as soon as you're done you should go see an actual doctor. Plants are good for home remedies but you should get these checked out. Especially your face."

[*James Silvius]

Whatever plant Kyla was using on the puncture wounds, it didn't hurt at all. It cooled the burning down and reduced the bleeding. He couldn't help but cringe. Not from the wounds, but from Kyla's harsh words. He would have to set things straight with her.

"Ok..." he began uncertainly, "So you smell that female vampire scent on me? Well I'm going to have to ask you to please not kill the vampire that belongs to that scent. Is that too much to ask?" James braced himself for her response. What would she say to that? Kyla was a die hard vamp killer, but she couldn't kill his girlfriend. He would see that every wolf in the pack house was familiar with that scent. If they ever crossed Litte... well he promised her she didn't have to worry about them.

[kyla]

Kyla halted all movement at his strange request and couldn't help but disguise a shudder at the knowledge that the scent on him was not one of the vamps he'd killed. Inter-species relations seriously bothered her. She glared at the ground as she considered his request. James was a strong wolf, he might be able to take her in a fight, so that was something she needed to think about.

Another consideration she had was that she simply didn't want to have to fight James. She didn't want to hurt him and that fact scared her a little.

Kyla returned her gaze to him. "As long as I am not attacked first I will do no harm to your vam....woman. I will not seek her out and if I run across her I will not attack. That is the best I can give you." She tried to keep her eyes from becoming anything less than the hardened steel they usually were but she knew they were softening. "You are a pack-mate, so I will do my best to follow your simple request. There are other vampires that I can kill."

[*James Silvius]

James gulped. Well, her response was more than he could ask for. He decided to nod and drop the subject. What he really wanted to do now was lighten up her mood a little. Kyla was quite solemn and a very serious wolf indeed. She need a soft spot and someone she could just laugh with. James didn't know if he could do this for her, but he would try his best.

"Thanks for fixing me up. Who knew plants could have so many uses! Where did you learn all this?" he wondered. He wasn't the best conversation starter, but this topic seemed gentle enough.

[kyla]

Kyla shrugged at his question, unsure why he was interested. Most of the other members of the pack took Kyla's personality as a constant and ignored her, yet here he was asking questions. "I grew up on a farm in Egypt. There wasn't much for me to do there but the woman who had taken me in after my family died was a midwife. She had hundreds of books lying around about plants and their healing properties. She only used a few of them for her work but I read all of those books many times over." She had had so much time to waste since she had never been able to fall asleep in that house. "I memorized the properties of the plants and the way they looked so I could treat myself if I ever got into trouble."

She laughed lightly, "Which I have done many times. Knowing plants like I do has really come in handy. On my trek here from Egypt I knew what plants I could eat and what plants would kill me. I knew what plants to chew on to take away the headaches I got from running for so long. It was extremely helpful. I could probably teach you sometime, if you wanted to learn. Maybe not all of the ones I know but the ones you would fine most useful perhaps."

[*James Silvius]

He listened intently. She seemed somewhat surprised that he asked her this. Didn't the other wolves question her? Kyla has been here way longer than James. He could never be her equal. It was strange, though, he was a recent addition, maybe he was just what the doctor ordered.

"That seems like a lot to remember. All I know is plants make me sneeze," he joked. "But I'm always willing to learn new things. I think your lessons will be quite useful to me," he told her. James marveled at how the hot sting in his wounds had faded to nothing. This worked much faster than Advil or any other painkillers he took.

James studied the plant she had used, memorizing it. He would collect this plant, grow it even. It was a lot cheaper and more environmentally friendly than drugs.

[kyla]

Kyla nodded. "Alright. Maybe we'll even see if we can figure out a way to cure that little allergy. Sometimes it can be done." She picked up the two plants she'd used and showed them to him. "Okay, so this one is aloe. It can heal wounds, ulcers, and burns. It also puts a protective coating on the wound and speeds up the rate of healing. It's also used to pull the sting from sunburns." She joked. "It's an excellent start in the healing process."

"This one is chamomile. It pretty much does the same thing but it adds the pain relief that you're probably feeling right now. So if you're in trouble just find these plants and they'll help you." She smiled. "I think two is enough for today, don't want to overload you."

She looked at him and then stared at the ground for a few minutes. Then she looked up at him again. "How can you stand to date a vampire?" She asked. Completely serious, she wanted to know how someone who was on the side opposing vampires could possibly be with the very thing they opposed.

[*James Silvius]

He listened acutely while she gave him his first little lesson. So aloe and Chamomile. Got it. James knew her other question would be coming at some point tonight. He would have to explain it like he had to for everyone else. Kyla wouldn't like it, but it was the best he could give her.

"I don't see a vampire when I look at her. She's human to me. It's easy to forget... Anyway, she's and animal eater so you don't have to worry about her. She's a good girl," he laughed. How could he be serious when he was rambling on about Litte? He could have gone into more detail, but he figured he would bore Kyla.

[kyla]

Kyla struggled to hide the look of disgust that was sure to be passing over her features soon. He didn't see a vampire? How could he not? How could he not smell the same foul stench that led all werewolves to know vampires on site? How could he ignore the fangs in her smile and the fact that she sucked life out of another being? Human or animal it was all the same, and no matter what they said, all vampires craved human blood on some level. It was only a matter of time before they lost control. Or that was how she believed it to be.

"You need to be careful James." She said. Kyla didn't care about many people but for some reason she found herself caring about what was going to happen to James if things went south. "You're in to a whole new kind of trouble now. This 'good girl' could be the end of you if you aren't careful." She simply meant that if the girl ever lost control she could kill James easily.

[*James Silvius]

James aprreciated her concern, he really did, but he just couldn't believe that Litte would do that to him. He made it clear to her before he began dating her that if she ever hurt another human being, he would hunt her down. James could take care of himself. His life was spent murdering those bloodsuckers.

"I'll be careful, Kyla. I may be incredibly reckless but I know how serious this can be" he told her. He said it half-heartedly. If he had to be careful of anyone it would have to be that vamp Sevanni who really wanted his head. He was beginning to be a problem, this vampire.

[kyla]

Kyla nodded and tried to calm the part of her that still managed to worry about this wolf who could obviously take care of himself. It was strange that she was worried, she hadn't been worried about someone in a long while. Well, that wasn't really true but she'd like to forget about the other worry also. "Alright James. I believe you, and I'll trust you to take care of yourself."

"But please...if you find yourself getting in too deep. Please tell me. Let me help you." This was a side of herself that even Kyla rarely saw. This was the mothering side of her, the sisterly side of her, the caring, nurturing side that she'd always been sure didn't exist. "Promise."