Unwanted

TJ: Stupid FFNet isn't agreeing with me.  At least, wasn't, for most of the day.  *growls*

Lief: Haha, you can't write more chapters.

TJ: Actually, I can, and you know what Lief?  I think I'm going to make you go pretty close to all the way with Amy.

Lief: No!  Why me?

TJ: Because.  I don't like you.  I like Ranesh, remember?

Marilen: Hey!  Ranesh is mine!

TJ: *Growls at Marilen* No, MINE! *clings to Ranesh*

Ranesh: *sweatdrop*

Barda: She's fighting over book characters now. The Japanese Anime characters I can understand, but BOOK characters?

TJ: You shut up Barda.  Because *takes a deep breath, then sings* Nobody loves you, nobody wants you, nobody loves you, everybody hates you!

Barda: *glares*

TJ: If I started 'adopt-a-Barda' how many people do you think would want him?  Hmm?  I'm asking you reviewers (mainly Pen2 and QuickSilver).  One of the lines in a song I was listening to is: "Love is your hand that covers my breast" and it made me laugh.  Sorry, I'm very childish around that sort of subject.  Ech…

CHAPTER XI

~*~*~

An hour or so later, Lief was still making out with Amy.  Her bedroom door was closed, and she had Lief on top of her, his shirt was off, and hers had been pushed up to just under her chest.  Lief's hands were placed on her sides, and Amy's hands were rather low on Lief's stomach.  Slowly, Amy undid Lief's pants, at least, she started to…

She stopped when Lief became very tense and seemed uncomfortable.  He pulled away from Amy, rolling right off her, and fastening up his pants again, adjusting the Belt of Deltora around his waist, and pulling his shirt and cloak back on.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"I totally forgot about Jasmine, I really have to see what's wrong with her or it will eat me alive.  She's probably angry with me for not coming to find her earlier, she is my best friend.  And I don't think I'm quite ready to go as far as you were implying," he added, as he bolted out of the room to find Jasmine.  He left Amy's house, searching for Jasmine.

"Jasmine?  Jasmine where are you?" Lief called.  By now it was raining, hard, and Jasmine was nowhere in sight.  Lief checked the alleyway they had been in earlier, and all the other alleyways, but she was not there.

Lief found her, near the gateway of the city.  She was laying on the ground, her eyes were closed, and she was breathing.  Lief ran over to her.

He knelt down beside her, and shook her slightly, but she did not open her eyes.  He then picked her up into a sitting position; a small pool of her blood was underneath her.  How could something that was to bring harm get into Tora?  Unless, it had already been in Tora.

"Jasmine, come on, wake up Jasmine!" Lief said, holding her up so that she was sitting.

Jasmine did not wake, and so Lief picked her up, and carried her to the new place they would be staying until they left.  It was a house that nobody was currently living in, and there were enough rooms for all three companions.  Lief took her to the room that he would be using, and lay her on her stomach on his bed.

Lief didn't think Jasmine would appreciate it, but he knew that it had to be examined, and so, Lief made Jasmine kneel, and, standing so he made sure he was watching only her back, he removed her shirt.  He lay her down on her stomach again softly, and then looked at her back.

All along her back were wounds, deep cuts that had been caused by claws.

Lief found himself lightly running his fingers over the deep and bleeding wounds, getting blood on the fingers of his right hand, but he did not seem to care, that is, until Jasmine winced.  Lief jumped slightly when she did so, but then realized what he had been doing was probably very painful for her.

"Sorry Jasmine," Lief said softly to her, whether she could hear him or not.  Jasmine opened her eyes weakly and glanced back at Lief; head still down on the pillow.  "I'll fix these up… I hope." He said, searching through his pack, which he had brought with him, he looked for anything that might help.  The most he could find was a cloth, and so he wiped the blood away with that.  The wounds looked even worse that way.

There were dozens of scratch wounds on her back, all of them were deep and bleeding, and all of them were swollen and blood red, and were obviously causing Jasmine more pain that she would allow herself to show.

"Easy Jasmine," Lief said, as she winced when he used the cloth to apply pressure to a few of the wounds, so the bleeding would stop.  Jasmine kept herself from yelling in pain, and shut her eyes tightly, a tear or two falling from her eyes.  "Easy… sorry Jasmine, but we can't leave these wounds bleeding…"

Jasmine gasped in pain when one of Lief's fingers slipped and burrowed into one of her wounds.  She had not yelled out in pain though, even though she had wanted to.

"Sorry!" Lief said, removing the finger and trying to avoid that happening again.  "Good girl…" Lief said as Jasmine seemed to calm.  "Good girl…"

Once Lief got all the wounds to stop bleeding, he gently rubbed Jasmine's back with a clean cloth.  "What happened Jasmine?" Lief asked, but, as he looked at her face to get a response, he saw she was asleep.

Lief moved his hand, but Jasmine woke and looked at him, seeming worried when his touch had left her, so, Lief put his bare hand on her back, and Jasmine nearly instantly fell asleep again.  Lief watched her for a long moment, using his free hand to tuck her in, trying to keep one hand on her back at all times.  Once she was tucked in, he softly rubbed her back with one hand again, and she fell into a deeper sleep, arms folded under her head.

My poor girl, Lief thought to himself.  Wakes up if I'm not touching her back, and won't speak to me right now.  I don't want to push her, because she'll get more mad at me than she is probably.  At least, I think she's mad at me for not coming to find her earlier.  I should have, then she wouldn't be like this… she has enough scars mentally and physically, she doesn't need this.  She's my girl.  She's my best friend.  What would I do without her?

~*~*~

TJ: The fluff, so much, drowning…

Lief: Wow, it's ankle-deep fluff, big whoop.

TJ: *glares at Lief*