The best view comes after the hardest climb

LOCATION Oneiroi mountains, Calming trail
DATE 8th of June 2021
TIME afternoon
WEATHER bright, sunny, warm
OUTFIT Link
TOPIC FOR: @Elijah x
_____________________________

She thrived being outdoors, and seeing summer was finally here, the best view was really at the top of the mountains. Back when she had lived in Manchester she had loved going to Black Chew Head to hike. The last year she hadn't really liked the forest, mostly because all she recalled was the fear of dying. Actually dying. Talking around close to the forest without understanding what had happened, or recalling her days in Heaven till months after. She had stopped at the academy, shortly after Caroline's sister had been murdered close to the academy. It was perhaps just Elena's way of saying death was too close, and it hadn't helped Caroline had returned to Manchester, and Ajax had his own thing going on. She had no one left at the academy back after that, student wise that was, not anyone that she was that close with. So, luckily she had friends outside the academy - few at least. Grapping coffee with Zadkiel time to time, and she had thought about calling him if he wanted to hike with her. Elena had texted Diego that she was out hiking, just in case he would wonder why she got home late, also given all the events happing around town.

Elena stopped for a second catching her breath while looking over the sea, it was almost shinning in the sunlight, and the waves washing up against the rocks down at bottom, the soft wind carrying the salty breeze. The sun had been baking on her skin since the moment she had started the hike, and she was thankful for sunscreen and the fact she had remembered her water bottle. There was still a bit of way to the top, when she chose to take the beaten path, go of the recommended route. Who didn't like a little adventure once in a while? She stepped down on a more rocky path, feeling the small rocks slip underneath her shoes, making her almost fall but she didn't fall. Elena laughed a little at herself as she kept down the unsteady road. It wasn't the clever move. Adventure was never the most clever move, it was about taking a few small risks for the stories.

She noticed the beautiful scenery from a bit further down on an edge, trying to get closer to it, walking slowly sideways down the mountain side, when she slipped on one of the rocks and fell down, sliding down the mountain side, a scream left her in the moment of shock, as she tried to reach of for something - anything. Finally, she managed to get a hold on a looser root hanging out with her left hand. Her body hanging over the edge of the cliff, and she tried to get a hold on some ground by digging her fingers from her right hand down into the dirt, trying to use her legs to hopefully stabilize her feet, but there was no where for her to stand. She could use her powers, but they were just as dangerous using in the state of panic, so much panic they didn't even come up as ideas for escaping the situation. All she could do, was hanging in. So much for going to get a nice look at the few. The waves underneath her washing up threating to swallow her whenever her arms would get too tired.

ATTIRE: Right here!

Elijah sat by one of the three stumps. He had just chopped down a tree and was taking a small break, enjoying the silence and the wildlife before he would continue and chop the tree into some portable pieces, so he would be able to maneuver around in the trees in the mountains. But for now, he observed a hare and its offspring, while he fidgeted with the daylight-ring on his left ring finger. Not that he wasn’t wearing it, but he just kept rotating it around the root of his finger. Something happened somewhere nearby, and the person screamed, which made birds fly up from the trees, scaring the hare and its offspring. It made Elijah sigh and close his eyes. Damn beginner hikers. He should really get back to work anyway, so he got up from the stump and was just about to pick up the axe he had been using when he could smell blood. Angelic. Holy. He licked his lips and turned towards the smell and suddenly, he wasn’t near the fallen tree.

He stopped close to a cliff where the small trail of blood stopped. Had the angelic figure fallen off the cliff? He saw a hand which tried helplessly to get a grip on something. Clearly the person was trying to save themselves from a falling death. Who wouldn’t?
Numbers. Calculations. Percentages. Everything was going on as he started to approach, not recognizing the smell of this person. As he reached the hand he squatted down and looked over the edge, but what the brown eyes saw, wasn’t just someone random. It was Elena. Without a thought he reached down to grab her right forearm and started to pull her up. As soon as she was up, he made sure to support her, so she wouldn’t fall onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around her. “Everything is fine,” he whispered, hoping she couldn’t recognize neither his voice nor that she had gotten to see his face.

She could feel her hand slipping, and once again she felt like the past year she had lived passed by her. Everything up to her coming back to life, someone touched her arm, making her look up. The sun was lighting up his face, making him look angelic for a moment as she panicked reached her eyes even further. Now there was hope. Or maybe the angels were just pulling her back. She felt the pull as he helped her up, and finally she had the ground underneath her feet again making her breath out, with the arm wrapped around her, she shortly just placed her forehead against his shoulder as she caught her breath. Elena needed to breath, feeling like she saw angels, people she had known before. Dead people. Everything is fine, she frowned a bit still with her eyes closed. It was the sound of a voice she hadn't heard for so long, not since the goodbye. She had repeated that day in her mind ever since she had heard of his death. It had torn her apart that he had died so young, and she had wondered if it would have been different if she had made him stay with her.

Elena pulled her head a little back, looking into his eyes. "Griffin?" She breathed out looking slightly out of it. It was perhaps just the shock, or the fact that it crossed her mind that she could be dead. She clearly recognized him, but a small fear formed on her face. "Don't tell me I'm dead again?" She whispered fearfully, and took a deeper breath in. If he was here. He couldn't be here? But they were still standing right here, they weren't up in Heaven. They were standing, right here. "How are you here?" She didn't step away from him, afraid to trip and fall closer to the edge again.

She pulled her head back, and they could see each other in the eyes. Shit. That old name. He hadn’t heard someone call him by that name for approximately 11 years. It was straight out crazy to think about. And his cover about being dead was crumbling underneath him. He had to figure out of some way where he could continue to live freely and somewhat undisturbed in the mountains. It was the best for everyone, right?
He opened his mouth to reply but it only turned out to be an inhale. Don’t tell me I’m dead again. He chuckled, forcing the air out of his lungs, and shook his head at her. “You’re very much alive,” he replied, not really believing his own eyes. He had seen her lay dead, confused when he had found her, he had tried to save her – no turn her even though it had been too late for that.
“I…” he tried to figure out how he could explain that he had faked his own death. The calculations started to run in his mind. How likely was she to accept the fate he had chosen? How likely was she to step backwards?

Enough for him to take a few steps back still holding onto her. “I didn’t die… Or… I did… I-” he took a deep breath in. He didn’t know how to explain this to anyone. He had never done it. He licked his lips thinking. “Surpriiiiise! I’m alive,” he smiled, trying to lift the mood. Interactions with other people wasn’t something he had done a whole lot the last 11 years, unless it was because he needed to go for groceries. Having an actual conversation that didn’t contain the ‘Reciept?’ ‘No thank you’ was actually quite overwhelming.

He confirmed she was alive, lifting a huge burden off her shoulders. The last thing she wanted was for Diego to come out here trying to find her, only for her to have been taken by the sea, never to be found. Nightmare fuel. He looked just as confused as her, she wondered why, she hadn't seen him since back then. It was ages ago. Too long ago. The wait for him to answer her question seemed dreadfully long, even as he tried to pull words from his mouth it seemed like there was a longer explanation. He hadn't changed since last time she saw him. Elena had seen a bit of everything lately. The supernatural didn't scare her, and she wasn't as critical about sudden species as Diego - even if he would prefer she would be.

I didn’t die… Or… I did… I- She narrowed her eyes a little bit, taking a sharper breath, looking to the side for a short second. His little attempt to lift the mood made her look back into his eyes. "That is surely a surprise," she licked her lips a little bit nodding to confirm it mostly to herself. Dead, but not dead. The pale skin. It seemed so unreal. But she should know, sometimes dead really didn't mean gone. "So, we are both alive and kicking. That should be good sign, I should have tried to fall over the edge ages ago then," she lifted her brow a little with looking back shortly over the ocean. Elena sighed a bit then returning her gaze towards him again. "Have you.. Are you living out here all by yourself?" Elena frowned a bit slightly compassionate, wondering what he was doing out here. Maybe he was just hiking like she was, who really knew. It could have been just pure luck he had heard her, or smell the blood that ran from her knees as the rocks had made some gentle cuts up her leg.

She looked away, which made the calculations go crazy, but as she looked back, the calculations got better, and he could feel how he felt somewhat calmer. “Yeah,” he exhaled, trying to resist to look at her lips as she licked them. She had after all been his girlfriend, and the only reason it had ended was because he had to kill himself… Which he didn’t do. He had to fake his death.
He couldn’t help but chuckle as she mentioned she should’ve tried to fall over the edge ages ago. He wanted to agree, but if it had been earlier, he might’ve killed her without even realizing it. Even now, it was difficult not to just act like a dog and lick her wounds. “Totally,” he said with a wide smile, even though he didn’t agree fully.
As she looked over his shoulder, he pressed his lips together, and looked in the direction of the sea. He did his best not to look down at her blood. He wasn’t really sure if he would be able to handle it. After all, he had lived mostly on blood from the wildlife, and it had only been very rare occasions that he had gotten it from a humanoid body or flask.
She looked back and he pulled on a slight smile, before he raised his eyebrows a little and clicked with his tongue, “No, no. Me, myself and I,” he said quite confident. “What were you…” he pressed his lips together. It wasn’t like she had a big wound or anything, but the small pebbles of blood was more than enough. “What were you doing out here all by yourself?” he wondered.

Elena felt herself becoming calmer by the second, her heart was racing anymore and the shock had worn off. When they had been together she had been human, it had been before anything crazy had happened in her life. Griffin had been the first person she had loved, not the first person to break her heart - but he had broken heart back then. She had healed and moved on from it, but the scars felt sore again standing here in front of him. Elena narrowed her eyes a little bit, as he mentioned he was just him. "You always did want to just go away to a place where no one knew who you were," she chuckled a bit while shaking her head shortly. Elena couldn't help but think it was quite lonely as well. The days up to her death had been the most lonely, horrifying moments of her life, watching that confident smile on Calvin's lips. She pushed the thought out of her head, perfectly in time for his next question. "Me?" Elena breathed out with a small shrug. "I just wanted to go down the trail, but just like you I always had the urge to explore the path no one else takes," she added folding her lips together.

"Remember when we just took off to different hiking places in Manchester and outside, just exploring England's different hidden gems? I've missed that, just running free without fear, so I wanted to come out here, just be in one with nature again," she confessed looking into his eyes again. Elena didn't want to fill him in with her entire death thing, she had no idea he even knew about it. She was still scared that Calvin would realize she was alive one day, and make sure she actually stayed dead. For now, there hadn't been any cases and she had stayed away from Southside or any bar areas where she didn't know anyone. It had taken her some time to even convince Diego to let her go out again, not that she blamed him. It wasn't everyday someone died and was chosen to come back, and he had found her dead and cold. She couldn't even imagine how that must have been like. "So, yeah, that is just me, pinning for adventure - got a bit too much of a thrill for my own good." Elena couldn't help but giggle a little bit, getting the best out of the situation. "But the scenery is incredible, if you take out that near-death part but keep you coming to my rescue as a big plus, then I would say its been pretty good hike so far."

Elijah smiled as she reminded him that Elijah always had been wanting to go somewhere unknown, where no one knew who he was and just live there. It had always been a dream of his. And he had gotten just what he wanted, even though he had wished to be able to go outside without the stupid ring on, and had hoped for just some kind of company and that he didn’t have to hide.
“No I’m talking to the birds,” he said and frowned at her. He was joking and shortly after softened his gaze at her, “Yes you,” he confirmed. She had wished to explore the path no one else took and he smiled a bit. “Well with the right gear it might be achievable,” he said and looked at her hands for a moment.

He continued to smile as she mentioned different hiking places in Manchester and the hidden gems in England. He nodded and licked his lips, “Maybe one day we can do it again,” he mentioned. He had done a lot of climbing, now that he was alone in the mountains. He had to do something at all times. He had even gotten an interest with carving wood into figures. He gave a slight chuckle as she mentioned she had gotten enough thrill. “I’m glad I was close enough to save you this time,” he said looking softly at her, not really realizing that he mentioned that he had actually seen her dead.
He looked over his shoulder thinking about whether or not if was a good idea to take her to his place to make her aid her own wounds. He was quite positive that he wasn’t able to aid her wounds. He took a deeper breath in. “I got a first aid kit at home if you-,” he was almost about to look at her legs, but he redirected his gaze to her eyes again, “If you wanna clean your legs?” he offered. Things would be way better if she wasn’t bleeding. It would make it easier for him to control himself. Yes, he had lived quite a long time as a vampire and had exposed himself to wander around other species when he was grocery shopping, but direct exposure to blood wasn’t something he did that often – especially not when it came to her, sweet, sweet blood.

At least he hadn't lost his sense of humor. People always said it was the first thing to go, it had been close for her last year to lose her sense of fun. It was at least like that the first few months after her return, she had been so scared and paranoid, fun hadn't really been able hang onto her. And with not living with Austin more after than either, they had split, did he even know she was alive? She pushed that thought away. Luckily, Diego hadn't given up on getting her back to at least this version of her former self. Maybe one day we can do it again, he mentioned quite direct. She had always liked how direct he was, just going straight to it instead of sidetracks and too many speculations. "That could be fun," she replied to statement, making sure he knew it wasn't impossible.

I’m glad I was close enough to save you this time.
Elena frowned a bit to his words, this time, it echoed in her head. Her heart skipping ahead of her for a while. It took her back for a second, back to how she had run away, trying to get away from Calvin. Thinking she had just gotten away, having a brief moment where she had thought it was okay, only for him to have taken that hope away within seconds, ending her life. Elena breathed out. "Yeah," she licked her lips looking away shortly. She had often wondered what would have happened, if someone had found her while Calvin had left her out to play hide and seek. If someone just had found her. She knew Diego already blamed himself enough for not being able to find her in time. Elena had been missing for a week. Once again she pulled her mind back to reality as he spoke again.

Elena looked down at her legs, first realizing now how some of the fabric from her sports bra and her shorts were ripped a little, her skin was slightly red from the fall, but her legs had taken most of the fall. The blood running down from her knee and her shin. "Yeah, that does sound like a good idea," Elena breathed out. First now that she saw the wounds it was like her brain signaled to her body that she was hurt, making her jaw tense up. Elena took a step forward, grabbing his arm as she felt a rock almost making her trip yet again. "How long from here do you live?" She asked curiously.

He smiled when she replied that it could be fun to go climbing and exploring again. He just had to make sure he stayed undercover. The world couldn’t know that he was alive because that would be the sure death of him. His family would know of it and he would get hunted – and they wouldn’t rest until he was dead. “Much fun,” he said smiling at her, though his brain was already calculating every fault and action they could do on such trip.

It had been a fault of his to mention that he had been close enough to save her. She already knew more than she should’ve. She shouldn’t have any clue that he was passing by and had discovered her. Right now, the probability of her thinking about what he meant with his sentence was way too high. He could even up the probability, just by hearing her heart rate. She replied with a yeah only making him know that she at least had heard some of it.

He redirected her attention to the damage that she had, and it seemed like she had been too shocked to even realize that she was hurt. Stupid idea. He should’ve just asked if she wanted to see his place – but no, he had to make her aware. She almost tripped and he made sure to catch her, even though she grabbed onto his arm. The reaction also made him look at her legs by accident. Though he was already dead cold, he felt like all blood left his face by the sight. Suppress, suppress. He looked back up, swallowing once, sending her a warm smile. She wondered how far away he lived from this place which made him look over his shoulder thinking. “Just a small hike from here,” he teased, looking back at her, before he supported her to get properly onto her feet so they could start walking. It wasn’t that far away if he had to be honest. “I can carry you if it hurts to walk?” he suggested looking at her as calm as he could.

Just a small hike from here, she could handle a small hike, right? They began to walk in the direction, her legs and entire body quite sore from the tumble she had taken down the mountain side. Carry her, she looked up at him for a second and took a sharper breath in. "No, it's alright. I'm just a bit sore that's all," she replied with a warmer smile. Blood and vampires weren't the best combination, and too be fair she felt best on her own two feet. But it did hurt to walk the tension build mostly around her knees and her left hip, it also seemed to be the places that had taken most of the damage from the fall, along with her arms that had a few scratches. She had been lucky he was there. Despite not wanting to be carried, she had her left arm curled up around his still even if they did walk away from the steep area. Elena made a small grimasse to mask the pain, but it wasn't a kind of pain she couldn't handle. She told herself she just needed to clean it up and she would be fine. Everything would be alright, and she wasn't alone. At least she wasn't scared or alone.

Elena still though about how he had used his words earlier, how he had known she had been dead. Just like she wondered how had managed to live his life out here, all by himself with the birds. She couldn't think about as anything but a bit lonesome. Up in the mountains all by yourself. Elena didn't really say much on the walk there, she didn't feel like she had too, which was a blessing on its own. There was something about sudden people, where you could just walk in silence, because you didn't feel a need to fill it with words. It was a comfortable silence, that mainly was caused by her many thoughts on him being alive. "I reckon that's the place," she spotted it from afar finally. "Funny, it's just how I pictured it. It screams you," she chuckled a bit to herself as she moved her eyes to him with a tender smile on her lips.