See A/N at the Bottom...:D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Maleficent, I only own Talia and anyone you don't recognize

Chapter 5

Diaval made sure to keep himself glued to my side as we walked in silence.

It seemed as if he were mentally debating whether or not to clutch onto my arm or not, but in his indecisiveness, his shoulder became attached to mine, making my strides go in a diagonal because of his weight.

"He's probably afraid that I'm going to run," I thought with an inward smirk. "How funny he doesn't trust me."

It was both funny and extremely aggravating that he was so untrusting of me because his cautious closeness would make it difficult if I tried to flee him; something of which I fully intended to do once I found a chance to.

As I tried to plan my quick escape, I suddenly felt a pair of eyes on me which made my skin erupt in a series of tingles.

I jumped at that, and hesitantly looked up at Diaval with an odd look, only to have him immediately turn his head away, as if pretending he wasn't just staring at me.

"That's a bit unsettling," I thought. "He must be thinking about me."

And how much I hated to admit it, my thoughts involuntarily kept wandering to him in contrast.

"He's both a raven and a man, yet he knows how to retort my statements like a politician. He says he wishes for my forgiveness, yet he forces me to do things that he knows will anger me greatly. Why does he insist on this?! Why does he care so much; it isn't right," I thought, my head whirling.

I planned to ask him one of my many questions to break both the silence, and his vigilant stare, but I suddenly felt a chilling gush of wind collect around my body, making me shiver.

"It's never this cold in the summer," I thought, bewildered.

It was then I noticed how dark it was during the night.

At home at least I felt at least somewhat protected behind unsteady walls, but out here with not even a lantern to light the way, there was nothing to shield you from danger.

I had never felt this unprotected before.

"We should've stayed by the fire," I whimpered, thought inwardly slapping myself for sounding so pathetic.

This made Diaval falter, as if surprised I'd spoken, and gently move his hands to grip my upper arms.

Though it was a rude and uninviting gesture, I reluctantly paid no mind to it, though I wish I could slap him for it.

"Are you frightened?" He asked, concerned.

"No," I said, a little too quickly. I could've sworn I saw a smirk cross his lips, but it was too dark to be sure.

"I'm just cold is all," I assured with a glare, though my violent shivers were enough to keep him wondering.

"Are you not?" I asked in disbelief.

"I spend all my nights here. My body is used to it," Diaval said. "Though my body is used to it, I cannot remember a time where summer nights were this cold. I can understand why you are shivering."

I watched his eyes then narrow, as if deep in thought, his cool hands then absentmindedly beginning to rub up and down my upper arms.

This startled me as it was bordering on an affectionate action, but as I frantically began to pull away, I felt the heat radiating from his palms and onto my arms because of the friction he was creating.

He was trying to keep me warm.

"Mother used to do this when I was younger. Before William was born," I remembered, though immediately felt disgusted at the fact that once William was born, my mother's warmth was only reserved for her him.

"Can we just build a fire?" I asked somewhat rudely, snapping away from my thoughts.

Diaval ignored my unfriendliness, to my annoyance, and continued to warm my arms.

"I'm afraid that if we build a fire it will attract other animals to us," Diaval said in almost a condescending way. "Unless you can fly like me, which obviously you cannot, I highly doubt that I could protect you from another animal if one attacked."

"I don't need your protection," I spat at him, angered that he refused to comply with my wishes. It was his fault I was cold in the first place.

Had I been on my own, I'd have been smart enough to stay by the already built fire.

"Perhaps not," Diaval shot back arrogantly, "But I suspect you would be thinking differently if there were a bear with us right now."

"I wou-" I started confidently, before I was interrupted.

"Or a wild boar maybe? A pack of wolves?" Diaval continued with a raised brow.

This made me both falter, and realize that having no weapon, Diaval was the only shield that I had if we were attacked by animals, which was highly unlikely.

"That will never happen," I retorted, refusing to give him the pleasure of letting him know that I somewhat depended on him. I then heard him chuckle, heavily amused.

"What a cliché thing to say," he poked, making me bristle. "But maybe you're right. That will never happen, if we don't build a fire."

"Well I'm not moving another step until we do," I stated stubbornly, crossing my arms while the wind continued to howl.

"Oh?" Diaval mocked, as he stopped rubbing my arms.

"So we want to go back to this conversation? I've already told you, I will carry you Talia," Diaval threatened in almost a scolding way.

I couldn't even think up a response I was so shocked. This only deepened my scowl as I stood grounded, ready to slap him if he tried such a thing.

We stared at each other for several moments, each refusing to comply, until Diaval finally rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

"Why are you so stubborn?" He asked with a slight groan.

"Why are you so aggravating?" I countered sharply, making him roll his eyes all over again.

"You do know that I would simply let you on your way if you would just forgive me," He said with a wild gesture.

"Well you make things difficult for me!" I stated.

"I make things difficult?" He asked, shocked.

"Yes!" I answered with growing anger. "You get me forced from my own home, follow me, aggravate me, and now make me follow you! You expect me to forgive you for this when you've done nothing to earn it from me."

"So how do I earn it?!" Diaval asked, completely flustered.

"Well you could start earning it by giving me warmth!" I exclaimed.

"Fine!" Diaval shouted, before he came at me, making me shrink away in surprise.

I stood completely frozen in my trembling as I was suddenly forced into his gentle embrace.

I quickly found that I couldn't move as I was brought close to his chest, my cheek on his shoulder. His arms were gently placed around my upper and lower back, making it seem as though he were giving me a hug while gently cradling me to his body.

My shock turned to complete fury in a matter of seconds, my anger blinding the fact at how warm his body was.

With an amount of strength I didn't even know I had, I violently shoved him off me, making him stumble back in surprise, but not before slapping him across the face as hard as I could.

"What the hell was that?!" I demanded with a loud shout, but got no answer.

I had pushed Diaval back a good few feet, but even from a short distance, I could see the look of complete and utter shock on his face.

His hand quickly moved to rub his cheek where I'd slapped him, but when my eyes were directed to the left side of his face, I myself was surprised to see the long scar that ran from his face and down his chest, but even more surprised to find that I hadn't noticed it before.

"Where did he get that?" I thought, though quickly diminishing my concern and remembering my anger.

I watched Diaval's shocked expression change from shock, to hurt as he still massaged his cheek.

I then felt my eyes widen as I froze. I had gotten him away from me! And that was all I needed.

Diaval seemed to grow alert to this as he caught my widened stare. I didn't hesitate.

I frantically whirled my body around and leapt through the trees that laid innocently next to me.

"Wait!" I heard Diaval shout after me before I heard the loud "SQUAWK!" quickly follow in pursuit.

"He's changed back!" I warned myself as I began to sprint.

I didn't look back as I crashed through the brush, practically running blind on account of how dark it was. I felt several branches scratch through my skin as I tore past them, wincing at how it stung my arms.

I felt my legs quickly beginning to tire as I tried to continue on, the loud "CAWS!" becoming an effective incentive for my legs to keep moving.

My knees were suddenly reminded of their soreness as more and more pressure was put on them. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had started to bleed again.

Sweat clung to my body, making my dress stick to my skin in some places, while the wind relentlessly whirled around my body, freezing my sweat to my skin making a cold layer of numb over my limbs making it even more difficult to keep moving.

My lungs and feet continued to burn in contrast to my frozen limbs, making it difficult to breathe.

"Diaval was right," I thought over my sub consciousness screaming for rest. "I'm too malnourished to keep this up for much longer."

I made it as far as the next clearing before I felt my body collapse to the ground on its own account. I could hear the flapping of wings over my heavy breathing as they seemed to stop next to my shuddering form.

"I also seem to remember me telling you that I would catch you if you ran," I heard Diaval say arrogantly, now apparently back in his human form.

I ignored his taunting response as I forced myself from my stomach to my back so that I could obtain more oxygen. I coughed heavily as I continued to shudder and writhe on the ground, too exhausted to cry, even though I greatly wanted to.

"Why do this to yourself?" I heard Diaval ask gently, the hurt in his voice open for me to hear. "Why do you run from me?"

It was then I realized that I couldn't give him an answer straight away.

"Why do I continue to do this?" I thought to myself as if I were trying to solve an athematic problem. It took me several moments of thinking to come up with a valid answer.

"Because I decided not to return to my house so that I could have my freedom," I stated. "When you came along, it was as if you took that freedom from me."

This made Diaval fall absolutely silent as I continued to tremble and pant on the ground, the frozen sweat on my body becoming more apparent.

"That wasn't my intention," I heard him mutter softly after a few moments.

"I know," I responded instantly, too tired to give a sharp retort.

It was silent for another several minutes, the only sound being the wind and my quieting breathing.

"You putting your hands on me didn't help my wanting to stay either," I pointed out after a while.

"But you said I could earn your forgiveness by giving you warmth," Diaval said, confused.

"Yes, warmth from a fire," I specified as though it were obvious.

"Well," Diaval started, somewhat sheepishly, "When I was young and it was cold, my mother would gather me and my siblings to her body so that we could share her warmth."

At my lack of response Diaval continued.

"Since ravens cannot build fires, we get our warmth from each other. Forgive me for not remembering your morals before trying to give you what you wanted."

This made me instantly sit up and roll my eyes at his crossed figure just beside me.

"You state your apology and yet you find a way to weave your sarcasm through it," I pointed out with a grin.

"I've wasted enough sincere apologies on you," he said, returning a grin.

As we sat in another silence I felt a pleasant stir within the air, the mutuality coming from the both of us giving off a rather peaceful vibe.

I knew I still didn't forgive him, because of my stubbornness I don't think I would anytime soon, but at the moment, I felt content that he was here with me.

Though I'd never allow myself to become too attached to call him 'friend,' I reluctantly allowed myself to enjoy his company, for one can't be alone all the time.

"So your mother was a raven?" I asked changing the subject, now referring to his powers.

Seeing that we were between arguments I didn't know how long the opportunity to ask would last, though instead of the straight remark I was expecting, Diaval gave me a strange look.

"Yes," he said slowly with an odd expression. This made me frown in confusion, his expression making me falter.

"So your mother must have been from the Moors," I explained trying to understand. This only made Diaval more confused.

"No," he said, giving me an even stranger look. "My mother laid her eggs here in the forest."

"So it was your father who gave the inheritance," I said, relieved that I had found the answer.

"Talia, what on earth are you talking about," Diaval asked, extremely confused.

"Your powers!" I explained, now growing frustrated at my own confusion. I had thought I was making this quite clear.

"If neither your mother or father had powers then how did you get them? Were you cursed?"

I suddenly saw Diaval's expression change in an instant to that of surprise, his brown eyes widening in realization.

"Oh! Oh, oh no I wasn't cursed-" He started.

"But then how-" I tried, but he quickly interrupted me.

"The power is not mine. It was given to me. This afternoon," He explained slowly, as if carefully thinking before speaking so that I could understand.

I felt my words becoming caught at the back of my throat.

"Wait, so you couldn't become a human yesterday?" I specified. Diaval nodded.

"That actually makes a sort of sense," I thought, mentally face palming at how idiotic I had been thinking.

"I can see that must have been confusing," Diaval smirked almost apologetically.

I opened my mouth to agree, but was suddenly interrupted by a loud howl, one of which I was sure wasn't the wind.

Several more howls followed the first making me feel uneasy. I felt Diaval immediately tense next to me before scrambling to his feet.

"Come on," I heard him say frantically, roughly pulling me to my feet.

"Are those wolves?" I asked fearfully, trying to move only to find my legs almost useless on account of how stiff and sore they were.

"Yes," Diaval answered, still frantically trying to pull me along behind him. "And they've just caught our scent!"

"What!" I exclaimed in fear as I stumbled along clumsily behind Diaval, his grip on my wrist nonmoving. "How can you tell!"

"Humans can understand other humans, so it's only natural animals can understand other animals," Diaval explained. "We've got to hurry before they catch up! Come ON!" He shouted impatiently at me, frantically tugging at my arm.

"I can't go any faster!" I wailed. "My legs are numb!"

"You're serious?!" Diaval cried as I winced, still trying to keep up.

"Do you know how I got this?!" He suddenly shouted at me over the loud howls and yips of chase echoing loud through the trees.

I looked at him fearfully to see that he was pointing to the long scar on his body.

"Wolves EAT ravens! I almost got eaten once and I'll be dammed if it almost happens again!" He cried, now pulling nearly all of my weight through the trees.

This only made my fear turn into horror, for I had never seen Diaval act in such a way.

It was then I realized that Diaval was afraid of wolves.

"But your a man now!" I tried, panting heavily. "Surely they don't recognize you're a raven!"

"I may be a man but I still hold my scent!" Diaval explained fearfully. "The wolves won't notice the change in my appearance as long as my scent is the same!"

"Well what do we do!" I whimpered. "I can't run for much longer!"

Diaval suddenly stopped in his tracks and was silent for a moment, the only sound being those of the wolves persistent howls. I took this time to catch my breath.

"What are they saying?" I asked nervously, not really wanting to know. I watched Diaval as he gulped.

"There saying that they're going to eat you first because they can sense you're easy prey, and then they'll come after me," Diaval breathed, before pulling me along once again.

"They want to eat me?!" I cried out in horror as I began to stumble behind him once again.

"They say that their pack is starving," Diaval explained, still trying his best to pull me along even though I felt as if I were about to faint.

"I won't let them get you," Diaval stated, determined, though I wasn't so sure.

The trees and surrounding area suddenly became a large blur to me, the only sound I could hear being those of the yelps and howls of the wolves that seemed to be growing closer by the second. My arms and neck were quickly becoming as limp as my feet and I felt like I wanted to collapse.

Diaval suddenly stopped to a dead halt once again, though this time I was in too much of a daze to realize it in time, and so I felt myself tripping over him and falling to the ground with a loud thud!

"Jesus, Talia!" I heard Diaval swear as I felt him lift me up my the arms and place me back on my feet as if I weighed nothing.

"Come on we're going to climb the tree; I'll help you up alright?" Diaval told me quickly, trying to stay calm.

I watched him then change to a raven and fly up to the first branch of the tall oak tree just in front me before changing back to a human and offering me his hand.

"No-" I tried to protest, knowing that we'd simply be treed if we didn't keep running, but Diaval didn't give me any room to resist.

"Now is not the time to be stubborn," He told me in almost a threatening tone which made me halt in my protests.

Hearing a loud rustling behind me I turned round only to let out a loud scream as I saw one of the wolves leap through the brush and barrel straight towards me, snarling.

"Talia, now!" I heard Diaval demand desperately, outstretching his hand out to me.

Without hesitation I jumped up and grabbed his hand just as I felt the snap of jaws clench down on my skirts.

"He's got hold of me!" I cried out hysterically as I felt Diaval trying to fight against the wolf's pulling and yank me up to the branch.

The wolf growled and let out muffled barks as it tried to pull me back down to the ground by my skirts just as the other wolves crashed through the brush in pursuit of the first.

I fearfully counted 7 of them in all, the lot of them snarling and growling to each other, the first wolf now pulling harder than before.

"Talia you've got to kick him away! I can't pull you up if he's still got hold of you," Diaval shouted down to me. I didn't have to look up to know that he was struggling to hang on to my hand.

"I can't-!" I sobbed, my fear clouding my mind of its usual sharpness.

"They're saying their going to jump up and grab hold of your feet!" Diaval suddenly yelped. "If they pull you down I can't fight them all! You have to kick him NOW!"

I felt my adrenaline race through my veins as forced myself to stare down at the growling animal as it refused to let go.

With my last bit of courage I took my free foot and started wildly kicking at it, trying to make it let me go; however, this only seemed to infuriate the others as they barked and snapped their teeth together ferociously.

My heart was beating like a drum as I raised my foot and kicked the wolf right on his nose which made him yowl and yelp, letting go of my skirts in the process.

Diaval then immediately pulled me up to the branch the second he was given leeway as the others snarled and snapped underneath the tree.

I let out a shriek as they began to jump and claw under the branches, as if trying to climb the tree.

The tears I'd been trying to hold back silently began to fall down my cheeks. I then felt Diaval's hand hesitantly pat my shoulder as I quietly cried, most likely because he was afraid to do anything else.

In that moment, all I wanted was a mean of comfort, the only one of which being Diaval.

Still crying, I reluctantly allowed myself into a sort of vulnerability as I tentatively turned to wrap my arms around his neck and tremble.

I felt him instantly stiffen, as if unsure what to do, but eventually returned my wanting for comfort and wrapped his own strong arms around my back tightly, silently letting me know he wouldn't let me fall as the wolves continued to growl and bark at us from below.

At being so close to him, I suddenly felt Diaval began to shake almost as hard as I was.

"It must be the wolves," I thought with a pity. I could only imagine what they were saying.

"I am so sorry Talia," I heard him suddenly murmur, ashamed. "We should've built the fire when you said. It would've scared them away."

I could almost feel my heart let in all of the guilt I had been ignoring throughout the day at his words. Though I wanted to answer and tell him that I was the one who should be sorry for running, I just couldn't.

All I could do was lie still and wait for the wolves to leave.

And even with the deadly danger below me, in that one moment, I had never felt more safe or protected.

Hey guys! So a little more action in this chapter, hopefully you liked the sweeter part at the end because my heart was melting while I was writing it.

However, things won't be spiraling right into a romance after this, so it's not too cliché I promise!

Thanks again to everyone who has stuck with me, I LOVE you all!