5 Present

Present

Naomi stands around the campfire, witnessing the jovial atmosphere to be sure, but it's the fire that captures her attention most. She sees herself reflected in it, and sees the consequences of her actions. This place will offer her solitude by way of group protection, a different kind than she has lived before. But thoughts of Eve are ever spewing into her mind. Why did that woman have such an effect on Naomi? She does not know, no one would.

It's been two months now since that fateful day Naomi escaped from the K.N.I.G.H.T Clinic. The people here have been the best to her. She still wakes up at night near-screaming from the transgressions the past delivered unto her. Yet even now, no one questions the details of what she went through. They simply offer themselves as bastions to catch her where she falls. Life is simpler here than in the cities she was used to.

Here, technology is kept at a minimum to reduce any risk of being found out. Most foods are grown or hunted by the pack as to keep the reserves high. On the occasion that certain things are required but only obtainable from outside sources, the pack village quickly learned to rely on Naomi as she had significantly more experience in dealing with humans.

She is, as they all are, very cautious in her return. Some trips may take weeks if she feels as if she is being followed. But no human would follow her for long or too great a distance, as they are much more vulnerable in nature.

Naomi made sure to keep herself attuned to local gossip related to the "Kindness Clinic" she had been taken to. At some point, it was discovered by locals to have been closed down and abandoned. That is to say, the headquarters are still around. Just this specific facility was shut down supposedly for all kinds of violations. Naomi can believe that wholeheartedly.

"Naomi."

A strong voice cuts through her reverie and she redirects her attention towards the young man, one older than herself however.

"Bartholum. It is good to see you have returned. I trust your hunt went well?"

Quickly in the coming couple months, the pack came to trust Naomi. She was wise beyond her years they would say, as if something shaped her. They whisper how rain can shape mountains, and so too must something natural have shaped her.

She, herself, thought little of such things. Though it was true she could deal with the humans better and that is why she was their go-to for those interactions now.

Reaching out to grasp her forearm, he tells her the hunt was as good as ever, but that he had other news.

"I heard from passing hunters-"

"You know you shouldn't be around the humans. It is dangerous!" Naomi can't help but chastise him.

Ailen rubs off on her more and more every day. For that reason, and many others, some speak of Naomi taking over the tribe within the next decade or so as their current leader, Ailen, continues to age.

Bartholum winces, and lets a whimper escape his throat. "But they passed through the old trail while I was on a hunt. I hid, I promise. But they were boisterous and made no show to hide their conversation. And they spoke of people, survivors apparently, of the Kindness Clinic you are so fixated on. Apparently they are being spread out far and wide amongst the human cities, basically anywhere that will take them.

The mention of the Clinic, however good the news, makes Naomi internally wince. For just a moment, her eyes dart to the overhead sky. Even during the daylight, it has become customary for Naomi to occasionally check overhead, to see if Dorian Grey's eyes were upon her.

However, beyond that primal fear of the devil, lies a hope spoken. Survivors! Survivors they said! Eve could be out there! Perhaps that is why she could never be found! Mayhap something occurred and it was Naomi who had actually been the one left behind!

Oh so joyous the news! Naomi would never, ever hold it against Eve if she was the one left behind. She would find Eve, reunite with Eve, and thank Eve for saving herself!

Something in her countenance must have given her away, as Bartholum turns very giddy at Naomi's reaction. Yet as with every question and reaction from the others to the interest she has in the Kindness Clinic, she dismisses him.

But now, Naomi sat at another crossroads. Once again, a fifty-fifty split lays before her, both paths playing out endlessly within her mind. She abandoned not just Eve, but the small ones when she ran away from there. While she could never make it up to the small ones, or to the world, she could perhaps make it up to Eve.

She would have no problem spending the rest of her long life with Eve; indeed, she would outlive Eve so it would be more appropriate to say she would live out the rest of Eve's life with her. The thought of that makes her elated. The gods, Ailen must be correct in that they smile down on Naomi. Her Home… she could chase after it, and find it. She could settle in it, and be content.

But then there is the other choice. To look for Eve, she would have to leave, go on an adventure, one that may take the rest of her long life, one that she may not return to due to the dangers still present in the world. Disregarding the humans who still have contempt for her ilk, there is the K.N.I.G.H.T Clinic to worry about even still. Sure, if hearsay is to be believed, her corner of hell was misappropriated and disbanded.

But… Naomi casts her eyes to the sinking sun. Something still tingles at her. She still feels, even now, those eyes upon her. Sono me, dare no me. "Who's eyes are those eyes," the saying goes within the pack's ancient tongue. But she knew… they were his.

They couldn't be, but they were. There may never come a day that she doesn't feel that odious stare. That feeling she had that first day, perhaps it really was him siphoning her soul away. In the coming months she had questioned a lot of what transpired during her time in that facility and she can't be sure even now, how much of those cocktails still cycle throughout her body.

Dorian Grey, that man, that monster. Who was he? She never saw him again after that first time. But the impact he left will last for time immemorial.

She can never right the wrongs done to the others, but she could make it up to Eve. But then again, she would have to wrong the pack and the home of now. So many would suffer without her. None of them can interact with humans well; and with their intent on her taking pack leadership eventually, she has an obligation to them.

But again she has to decide if being selfish outweighs hurting so many others.

Lost in this train of thought, Ailen approaches Naomi's side.

"You have to go, you know." She brings up.

Shocked, Naomi questions her meaning and intentions.

"You're looking for someone aren't you Naomi? We can see it you know. That small wanting twinkle in your eye. We've all known there may come a time when you would leave us. And that time is now."

"But-" Naomi tries to protest but is met with a bop on the head from Ailen's stave.

"Just promise you will be safe, and to return with your Luna when all is said and done. There is much work to do. I may be old but I will have no problem holding out until my rightful heir has returned." She tells Naomi, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Her face is craggy, showing years longer than the deepest valleys. Her hunched posture tells of so much work throughout her life. So much so that not even our regenerative powers could curb the onset of a bent and broken stance. Yet within her green eyes is a youth spilling forth.

Naomi wants nothing more than to argue with her. To demand she tells Naomi to stay. Naomi knows the correct choice here and she needs to be told to do it. But this mother of theirs, pushes her down the wrong path, the incorrect path, the selfish path. There is nothing to be gained from this, Naomi knows.

For in truth, it is impossible that she will return before this old woman's end. Yet the way she speaks, all Naomi can do is nod. For in truth, she told a small lie a moment ago. There is something she wants more than to argue to stay; she wants to go.

Night approaches quickly while Naomi packs all her belongings, the very many articles she owns. So much so, that she surprises herself when she realizes much will have to stay. A few months is not enough time to collect much, yet it is more than she has ever had.

With more joy, more elation, more happiness than she has ever had before, she steps out of that cozy hut, leaving behind those precious memories, all in the hope of creating even more precious ones.

And so, she closes the door behind her, and begins her walk, her escape into the night…

Or so it could go, and so we wish it so. But before she even leaves the campground, an unusual sound strikes the within. At first, no one can place it for it was that rare. At no point in the few centuries here, has this sound been heard before. Stamping feet surround the village suddenly. Hundreds, perhaps more, of boots meet clotted earth.

Twigs break, trees topple, and people scream. Some shift and try to run, others cower in their huts, hoping to weather the storm.

But Naomi? Naomi can only look to the sky, and stare into the moon, and the twinkling of the stars that surround it. Within the moon, He stares back, with but one question upon his lips:

"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moon-light?"