A farewell to arms. (Forrest, PG13 Pm to Join)

Declan staggered away from camp, surprised at himself for even being able to walk. Leaning heavily on his cane, he followed the trail leading away from that retched arena and into the woods.If this path was what he thought it was, he was going towards Zeus’s thumb/fist. Only pausing to adjust his darkly framed glasses once, he swung is cane/walking stick in front of him, sort of like a radar for any obstacles. While he was silently trudging along, he remembered the days events. It wasn’t a good thing to remember, and the scar on his neck slightly burned, as if his own body was warning him against the thought. But Declan was never one to let other things control him.

Declan had been training, the small arena the perfect place for him to once again begin training his body towards health. He owed it to himself, right? After all, being at a disadvantage for sight, he had to make it up in every other way possible. So he worked solitary, punching and kicking in the air, practicing the mixed martial arts that he knew. Once in a while he picked up his walking staff and swung it around, making use of the long rough wood, like an extension of his body. Then suddenly he stopped, a memory flashing before his eyes. One that he swore he had forgotten; instead it had only been sleeping in the recesses of his mind.



He closed his eyes, standing with the staff at his side, and saw the face of someone he only saw in dreams these days. His mother. He watched as she slowly shook her head, in a disapproving way. Declan instantly knew what he had done wrong, and she was calling him out on it. So he tried to explain, frantically telling her what he had done, but she just kept shaking her head. Then there was a flash of light, and two knives appeared at her neck, but she wasn’t holding them. Next the evil face of his dad came into the eerily pale light. He looked exactly the same, except he had no eyes. instead were hollow sockets. Declan rushed towards them, and they fell farther back, his mother shaking her head, and drawing blood to her neck. Finally as he fell to his knees, she slumped over, and they disappeared from sight.

Declan awoke to find himself clutching his side, laying on the ground. He felt the sticky substance on his side, the open blood of a cut. He smelled the horrid smell, and staggered to find his staff. Crawling around, he found a small dagger that felt like the one he kept in his boot, covered in the same substance. Dumbfounded, he crawled more and found his staff, and slowly stood up, clenching his teeth at the pain of his wound. Tearing part of his shirt off at the waist, he tightly wrapped the wound as he slid his slightly bent glasses on his head. Declan didn’t know what had happened, but he really didn’t want to know now, and instead staggered away from the site, and into the woods.


Declan felt his staff turned cane hit a rock, and carefully felt around it, still clutching his side. He believed that he had made it the the summit, and carefully set his glasses down on the strange landmark. Stripping the rest of his shirt off in the cool air he felt the crevasses of the cut to his side. It wasn’t too deep, he figured as he applied small amounts of pressure through the makeshift bandage. But it was long, like someone dragged the knife from his bellybutton to just around his back. He silently wondered how he even got the cut; trying out various scenarios in his head. After making up and rejecting several of them, he realized that what happened simply wasn’t logical. the only things that made sense were that a stranger did it to him while he was remembering things, or somehow he subconsciously did it to himself. Scratching his head, he padded over to a nearby tree, and felt the rough bark. Whenever he was confused as a kid, physical training helped him, but limited as he was, he decided that he just needed to vent something out.

He punched the tree hard with his right hand, not daring to left the other one above the cut. The tendons pulling would surely cause him to pass out. So he stuck to the one hand, striking the tree over and over again until his knuckles were bloody. but he didn’t stop. He had to figure out. away for the scenario to make sense. He had to. And with gritted teeth he continued to strike, the sound of the blows covering up the footsteps coming behind him.

Forrest dragged herself out of bed. She looked around and saw that she was the only one in her cabin. That wasn't a hard task as it was only her and this other girl. Forrest felt a twang of guilt as she realized they had never actually talked. According to everyone, they were very different people but she was still her sister. Forrest still shuddered at the thought of sister. She wasn't her sister, Emily was her only real sister.

They hardly ever saw each other, she was off with her friends all the time and Forrest was off .....with her few friends if they even counted, or else she was slumped away in the woods, by herself, finding time to think. She was always asleep when Forrest came in. Despite her father, Forrest liked the dark. She liked how deserted the camp felt then.

She yawned and looked at the extra bright sun. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about the cabin's windows made the sun brighter. It was probably around noon. Grabbing a quick bite to eat, Forrest grabbed her bow. She hated how alien it felt in her hands, she wanted to knock that feeling out. Knowing the arena would be packed, she headed strait for the woods. A fair ways in, she began to practice. Arrow after arrow; not a single one landed exactly where she wanted. In frustration, she threw her bow down angrily and ran off farther into the woods. She fished her knife out and fingered it. She knew that wasn't smart while running, but she didn't care.

She wouldn't have stopped running, but she came to a clearing. She caught her breath and as she did so, she saw a cluster of rocks that looked like a fist. She had heard of this place, but she had never actually been here before. Suddenly, she heard a rhythmic beat. Without even realizing it, her mind had followed the beat and then when it was a little off Forrest furrowed her brow. She realized that the sound wasn't exactly very cheerful it sounded sickly actually. She jogged around the rock cluster until she saw Dec awkwardly punching a tree. He wasn't even raising his other fist so that made it look rather awkward, but that wasn't what really bothered her. He was shirtless, but on the side that he wasn't moving was a bloodied bandage. Forrest immediately wondered what would have caused it, but she decided to focus on the current situation. By punching the tree, he was obviously venting, something Forrest had done so many times. She didn't want to alarm him or pry about the wound just yet so she walked nearer to him. Still a little behind him she cleared her voice to make herself known. "You know, if I were you, I'd stop in a minute or so or else you might break your knuckles. And being at a demigod camp where you fight a lot, your probably going to need them."

((sorry, it's pretty short compared to yours....))

((It's ok, I just had a lot of muse for starting the thread. XD))

Declan pratically jumped when he heard a voice rise above the repeated thumping of fist on tree. And when he jumped, the tendons in his sides stretched. Gasping, he clutched his side with his other hand and closed his already unseeing eyes. It sounded familiar, one of the only voices he knew in this so called camp. It was Forrest, he confidant and pretty much only friend. Slowly he turned around to the voice, still clutcinhg his side, and vaguely wondering if he had made this whole situation awkward; him being shirtless and all. Declan spoke slowly to her, so she made no mistake of what he was saying.

"What on earth are you doing here Forrest?" He simply asked, takign a moment to stretch the bloodied hand on his side. Declan felt weak, unstable; at any moment he might fall to the ground. He suspected that bloodloss was to blame, but i nhis heart he knew that he was. It didn't make sense, it just wasn't freaking logical, but in his gut, he kenw that somehow he had done this to himself. After all, who else would? He had no enemies at camp, not really. He was quiet, reseved, and cold to everyone...well except for the few close peopel who had taken the time to actually get to know him. Declan suddenly realized that he had just been particularly rude to Forrest.

Wincing a bit, he spoke again. "I mean, what brings you to the fist? No one usually comes up here." Declan asked quietly, taking a step towards her for no apparent reason. He decided that he should probably put the glasses back on, lest the lifelessness of his eyes practically scare her away. It had happened before. Someone always asks to look, and the next thing he knows they had severed contact with him. He didn't want that to be the case with Forrest, though he belived that it wouldn't affect her much at all. He staggered over to the rock formation and groped around for his glasses, awaitign an answer from Forrest in the prosess.

Forrest noticed that he had jumped at her voice. He bent over slightly because of his cut. "Oh I'm so sorry!" She said truly worried, the cut didn't exactly look mild. "I didn't mean to startle you!"
Soon after Dec said a little harshly, "What on earth are you doing here Forrest?"
She scrutinized him, he didn't sound very happy at all. But she knew she could only blame herself, she did after all intrude on a venting session of his. "Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I go into the woods a lot to disappear. I'm not exactly the Aphrodite type!" She crossed her arms and in that moment, she locked eyes with Dec. Well, she found his gaze but he would never find hers. They were murky and lifeless. Forrest caught her breath. She realized she had never seen them before and she was reminded of his dark past. Guilt hit her rather hard. Her reply had been a little harsh and she had absolutely no reason to be mean, she was the one who had intruded.

"I mean, what brings you to the fist? No one usually comes up here."
"I'm sorry." She said a little quietly. "Well, I was attempting to use my blasted bow, but I gave up and threw it down somewhere..... but then I came here." Then tentatively she added. "Sorry if I'm intruding. I can go if you want..." She lifted her arms and gestured back behind her and then dropped them. She knew that she was going to break that habit soon.

She noticed that he was searching for his glasses. She glided over to them and then held them out to him. "Here." She said. She kept having the feeling resurface that she shouldn't be there right now. When he took them she stepped away from the rock a little.

Declan immediately shook his head no when she said that she could leave. That was the last thing he wanted. Forrest was actually the bright spot in this whole freakin' day. Makes sense, she's a daughter of Apollo, brightness is what she does best. He concluded as he continued to grope for his glasses, leaving some blood on the rocks as he went about his business. "Here." he heard Forrest's small voice say. He figured that she was holding his glasses, and turne to the voice, reaching his hand out until he found the glasses resting on her palm. He slid the slightly crooked dark glasses over his useless eyes and blinked a couple of time, for nostalgia sake. THen he heard a footstep, right where her voice had come from. She had taken a step back.

Taking the bloodied hand from his side, he shook it from side to side, as if to say no, and wiped it off on the already bloody bandage on his side. "Forrest, thanks for you know.." He stumbled over his words, mind a jumbled mess as he strerched himself to continue on. "Finding my glasses, and thanks for showing up here, I probably would've broken a knuckle if you hadn't shown up. This is going to sound selfish, but I don't want you to leave okay?" He stated, a sort of sad smile shown on his face as he took ahold of his walking stick and faced her. Declan knew that the only way to keep control on his anger was if someone else was near, making him consider his actions more thoroughly.

"It will be better for me if you were here, so we both can keep an eye on me," He tapped the bandage lightly, "and whatever this is. Besides, I enjoy your company." He pleaded as he turned and sat down on the fist. Suddenly, out of no where, he wondered who his godly parent was. If they saw him when he fell, if they cared about him now. He felt some sort of resentment against his parent; he was never there when Declan needed him most. His mother, adopted as he was, could still be alive and he didn't know. But his parent knew. His parent let him go blind, they let him almsot bleed to unconsciousness today...did he even care?

Right as Forrest mentioned that maybe she should go, Dec shook his head. Forrest felt more reassured but not completely. Declan groped for his glassed a little and when he grabbed them on immediately. Forrest couldn't help but wander if he was afraid to show his eyes. She wouldn't blame him, but still he shouldn't hide from everything. He wiped the blood from his hand on his bandage. The simple movement almost went unnoticed by Forrest. She bore a blank expression and stared off a little she was lost in thought but didn't even realize it. However when she saw how much blood he had been spilled, she breathed in sharply and almost bubbled over and asked what happened. He seemed pretty casual about the wound but Forrest didn't want to pry yet. She did after all still feel like she was intruding.

"Forrest, thanks for you know... Finding my glasses, and thanks for showing up here, I probably would've broken a knuckle if you hadn't shown up. This is going to sound selfish, but I don't want you to leave okay?" She straightened up slightly and let a small smile come to her lips. She really did want to stay but she wasn't really sure if it was just one of those days. Even with Emily, sometimes Forrest would want to shut her out. Shut everyone out, especially the world.

"Okay..." She repeated the last word he said she really said it to herself more than anything. To her it signified that it was okay to be there. "Your welcome.. its nothing really...."

He began to speak again. She smiled again when he said that he enjoyed her company. And when he tapped the bandage, Forrest could hold it in no longer. "Sorry if -if you don't want to talk about it, but how did you score that wound? An Ares kid? Or did is it one of those things that your never really sure what happens then randomly your like wow when did that show up?" She was purely jokeing around at the last part. She knew that that wound was too massive to have just showed up but she didn't want to sound rude so she felt it was safe to add in a small bit of humor at the end.

She looked back at him and he seemed to have trailed off again. Forrest felt guilty. She knew she shouldn't have brought up the wound. She winced a little and hope he wasn't offended.

Declan looked at where her eyes should be, as serious as ever. "It was exactly like that. Besides, I'm pretty sure not even the Ares kids mess with the 'disabled.'" He sat down on the rock, not really knowing if it was out of necessity or because of the fact that when he thought of these things, it was best for him to sit down. After all, if he blacked out again, what would happen then? No, it was better to stay sitting. Declan motioned for Forrest to sit too, just because he felt that it was a nice thing to do, and plus the fact that her standing could get awkward. If Forrest was sitting next to him, he'd have a better grip on his surroundings, and it be easier to pinpoint her face. Everyone really appreciated being looked in the eye in this material world. And even though he had an excuse to forget, he made it a point to really try, because it was a challenge, and because it made Declan feel, human inside.

"I mean, I guess it was probably self-inflicted at one point, though my memory is consequentially skewed from falling. Remember how I fainted in the armory? It was kind of the same thing. One minute I was training, you know, with my staff," Dec made a motion over to where he thought it was, though he had a sinking feeling that he guessed wrong. Declan was suddenyl flustered, and he didn't know why. His perception of the world around him was messed up, and all he could bear to concentrate on were minimal things, like who he was, and the pain in his side. Forrest too. Concentrate dummy, and tell what happened, she wants to know! Declan thought, and forced himself to continue.

"And suddenly I was standing there, seeing the face of my mother in my closed eyes. MY father had a knife to her neck, and he had no eyes. She was shaking her head no to me, dissaproving, and I felt so guilty. She was drawing blood against the blade, he was laughing." Declan stopped to catch a jagged breath. Remembering it the first tiem was hard enough, this time was killing him. Dec's side throbbed dully, and he remembered the last details. "I remember running after them, and they faded away. After that I had woken up, laying on the ground, and my side was stinging. Turns out, somewhere during that whole escapade, I had managed to cut myself with my bootknife." He paused for a breath.

" I don't know how, but I can hardly fathom the idea of someone else cutting me this badly. No one knows this time. No one." Declan mumbled the last part, shaking slightly. The loss of blood was making him slightly delusional, but he had to keep it together! So he gritted his teeth, and Dec set out to focus everything into a sharper image. "Now you know, Forrest. It keeps happening. I remember soemthing, like a living dream, and the next moment I'm passing out. It's so weird."

((Sorry its so late, I actually got pretty sick, but I'm better now.))

"It was exactly like that. Besides, I'm pretty sure not even the Ares kids mess with the 'disabled.'"
When Declan said this, Forrest did a double-take, she was not expecting anything like that. When she made that simple statement, she meant it purely as a joke. She furrowed her brow knowing something was very very off. Forrest kind of stared off into space awkwardly, she didn't know what to think she hated the feeling but it resurfaced all too often. Suddenly, her mind went dark, a wave of depression overcame her. At first she had absolutely no clue why but then she realized that whenever she felt vulnerable like this, she was usually having an option thrust in her face: to inflict harm upon her self, or to push everything aside. It was always much much harder to push these things away. These emotions would overcome her body, control her body. Half the time she was in that situation, she had no recollection of anything in the morning. She looked back up at Dec, she didn't want anything like that happening right now.

She realized that Dec had offered her a seat a few moments ago. Feeling slightly stupid, she walked over a little slow and sat down but her mind still lingered.

He began to talk again as if he was convincing himself that he had to tell her. His voice strained, and it was almost unbearable. "And suddenly I was standing there, seeing the face of my mother in my closed eyes. MY father had a knife to her neck, and he had no eyes. She was shaking her head no to me, dissaproving, and I felt so guilty. She was drawing blood against the blade, he was laughing."
Forrest put her head down. She wanted to hide her face from unseeing eyes. She would see her sister like that often, she would follow her wherever she could. Forrest never slept anymore, Emily always woke her up and she would sometimes turn into a bloodthirsty monster. Forrest remembered vivid flashes of last night: Emily had turned into a monster and Forrest ended up killing her, but she knew deep down that it was still Emily.She had ripped her own sister apart. She had woken up crying, eyes blurred.

When Declan finished and mentioned how he must have cut himself. Biting her lip, Forrest had an idea of what might have happened but she didn't mention it.

"Now you know, Forrest. It keeps happening. I remember soemthing, like a living dream, and the next moment I'm passing out. It's so weird."
"It's all right! On the streets, I would pass out a lot from loss of food and what-not. But in those moment I would have overwhelming visions. It's nothing abnormal .....I think."

((sorry it took a while :/))

"But mine aren't from food or anything. All I was doing was training. I think something set my sub-counscious off and it in turn gave my brain a seizure like state." Declan starting thinking of all the braille books he'd read on brain functions and other scientific abnormalities. Then he realized something, and it was already too late. "Forrest?" He asked, as if having to reassure that she was there. "You know, I'd hate to burden this talk with things that are best left for something else. Like, private talks." Declan winced slightly and continued. More than anything, he didn't want to burden Forrest with more morbid details about himself. Yeah, he knew that he was a pretty serious guy sometimes, but he didn't need to drag others down with him. Declan knew in his heart that it only hurt people i nthe end. So even though he still felt like crap, he was going to turn this around, and somehow make it a lighthearted talk. More than before, Declan was starting to believe that he needed it.

"And more than anything right now, I think it'd be best to forget about some things. Care to help me brighten my mood?" Declan held a hand up, and nodded his head a bit,"yeah I know, it's a selfish plea and I usually can't tihnk of happy thoughts, but a little pick-me-up, something to remember about the joys of living can't hurt anyone right? And I always was a curious fellow...." Declan trailed off, letting his hand fall and setting a mindset. He was going to make her laugh today. Sure he can't see her or see anything for that matter, but he wanted to try.

"I mean, from what it feels like, it must be a pretty nice day. Look at the sky, what is it like Forrest?" He asked, a smidgen of hope in his voice. Declan closed his eyes, and wanted to imagine it too. Like a little lad on a swingset, he soared high, trying to touch the sky; only this time he couldn't feel the rush of crisp air.

"Hmmm, seizure-like state. Sounds believable." She joked. She believed him but she knew if he had gone to anyone else they would have just laughed.

Declan called her name thoughtfully. "Mhmm?" she replied curiously.
He began slowly and Forrest wasn't particularly sure where he was going with that. But then he ended off with a simple question. "...Care to help me brighten my mood?"

"Not at all." She smiled. In that instant she realized many things. That, before that fateful day in the Amory where they talked earlier, she hardly ever smiled. She was always hiding in the shadows. She never showed her faith and she never trusted anyone. Now, now that she had opened up to him, she had something to live for again. At first this scared her, she could not relive her life, she never wanted to face the past, but she knew she had to. She had already taken a great leap of faith. She also realized that she didn't want to go back, this leap couldn't be retraced.

He kept on talking and Forrest knew that she wasn't going to live in regret today, she had to stop holding her life back just because of her sister. "No, this is not a selfish plea, and I know, I probably need it just as much as you."

"I mean, from what it feels like, it must be a pretty nice day. Look at the sky, what is it like Forrest?"

Looking up, Forrest took in the sky, took in the moment. It truly was a beautiful day out. "The sky .....the sky is bright blue. Not the boring blue you see every sunny day, no, the kind of blue that strikes you right away. There are few clouds scattered here and there without any traces of gray. The slight wind is pushing the trees ever so slightly it seems peaceful." She thought of something more to say, but she decided that was good enough for now.

"The sky .....the sky is bright blue. Not the boring blue you see every sunny day, no, the kind of blue that strikes you right away. There are few clouds scattered here and there without any traces of gray. The slight wind is pushing the trees ever so slightly it seems peaceful"

Declan's first thought was that he didn't even see a boring blue everyday. But then again, he was blind. He felt it rather than saw it. It felt like a nice day; a day for happiness and fun, not the sort of day that you sit brooding in the dark. That was why Declan was out training. today felt like a different kind of day. Declan felt the tiny breeze caress over the bloodied bandage on his side; calming his scattered body spasms immensly. It was as if the very world itself was trying to make Dec feel good. And it's working, He concluded.

Dec opened his eyes, feeling the air rush to greet them. "I don't know, I think it's something about this day that has be determined to be happy. And I think my mind agrees with nature. " Declan smiled as a sudden thought pierced his brain. And for once in his life, Declan listened to his instincts. "I know this is completely random, but Forrest?" Declan asked, smiling crookedly, the pain in his side non-existant, "do you want to play a game? I...uh... w-we played it back in the home, you know before...events."

I forget the name, but basically you ask each other questions, like 'favorite color and why?' or, 'have you ever been in a fight?' sort of thing. Sort of like an ice-breaker. And I'm pretty sure the dryads wouldn't mind." He smiled. Declan hadn't smiled like this in a while, and the thought of even playing a game sounded like the perfect thing to do on such an uplifting day. The weather had changed Declan's mood 180 degrees, and he couldn't say whether he liked it or not.

((sorry it took a while and it's short, but I have no muse, and I'm at school. XD))

((I'm sorry, this has got to be one of the worse posts I've done in a while, my muse has left me.))

"I don't know, I think it's something about this day that has be determined to be happy. And I think my mind agrees with nature. "

Forrest hadn't really thought about it, but taking one glance around her, she shook her head. "It is..." she trailed off feeling stupid that she had nothing else to say. She thought back to Declan's last comment, he said something about having 'fun.' Forrest sighed knowing that this camp was not fun. She had done nothing that was fun in over a year.

Out of the blue, Dec turned to her and asked if she would want to play a game. "Sure." She said before she even knew what it was,she had to do something, she felt so cooped up here, it was driving her crazy. Then her mind flashed to the bloodied bandage on his chest. "Wait, what kind of game, this isn't going to hurt or anything right?" When he said game, Forrest's mind immediately thought of running around or something. However, when he explained it, she breathed easier.

It was a game where they merely asked questions. At first Forrest was kind of confused because they did know each other quite well, but then she realized that they only knew the saddening things about each other. She didn't know his favorite color, type of music, or anything else for that matter. "Sure, that'd be great." She smiled. "You go first." She said because she wanted an idea of the game so that she didn't say something completely stupid.

((THIs is going to be bad, no muse XD))

Forrest said that he should go first, so Declan nodded and tried to think of a good first question to use. Though he would love to ask about life ambitions, it seemed too sudden. Surely there must be a good question to start out with. Not something as mundane as favorite color, or idol. Those were things that mortals asked. They had their whole lives to get to know someone usually. Demi-gods did not. Declan was not oblivious to the rebel camp of half-bloods outside the borders, after all, it was all everyone really talked about at this camp. Which rebel hated this, who was going to burn that. Declan thought it was futile. The Campers really didn't know anything about the rebels, yet the rebels knew loads about the campers.

Declan shook his head mentally, letting himself get on tangents wasn't a good thing to be doing when someone was waiting on him. Quickly he chose a question, and blurted it out, but in the weird soft way that only Dec could manage. He looked up from his thumbs should've been, and spoke. "Well, what's your favorite color? And why?" Declan asked, before realizing that he just did the thing he didn't want to do.

But then, he thought about it a little more. A person's favorite color could tell alot about them; or it could tell nothing. It really depends on the 'why' factor. Why Declan liked his favorite color was for philosophical reasons, but for someone else it could have very deep meanings, like something to do with a memory or family. Colors are like the highways to anything deep and personal, if you want to take the philosophical route, which Declan always did. It was his blind nature after all. He couldn't see colors, but sometimes he could sure feel personality colors; Like if this person had a color just for them what would it be? A blind person couldn't go off of looks really. Declan ran a hand through his blonde hair and awaited an answer.

((I'm sooo sorry this took forever!! I was procrastinating, sure getting claimed took up time, but I've been chatting for a while, I'm sorry :/ And it sucks which doesn't help at all ))

"Well, what's your favorite color? And why?"
Forrest looked up at his question. He seemed to have thought about it a lot so it was a little blunt to get favorite color, but she assumed it was a good place to start. "Umm, well, it's green. It has been green for a while but I'm not really sure why, I just like it. Especially lighter greens, much lighter than a forest. I guess... I guess it probably reminds me of Emily, she had a shirt the precise color I'm thinking of." She smiled a little at the end. It sounded so weird to say her own name even if it wasn't her name at all. She loved it when other people called her name, but it sounded alien from her lips.

"Well, what about you? What's yours?" Adelaide looked down, now that she thought about it more, she felt as if she should of said more about it. She realized it must be a little weird for him to be asking all the questions and her just repeating them, so she said another. "What... what was your favorite thing to do before you knew about monsters and such." As an afterthought she added something to clarify it more. "I mean, I know now the answer would probably be training or trying to avoid my bow right now, but it might show more about the true person if you remember what it was like before our lives became so complicated..." Her voice trailed off reminiscently. She truly didn't know how to answer it herself. For as long as she could remember she was running from monsters, but she racked her brain for maybe even a glimmer of what her life may have been like.

After she said it, she hoped it wouldn't be that bad of a choice. She could have said so many things, but she said that. She hoped it wouldn't make her uncomfortable. After all, he had said that he wanted this day to be good for her. She needed to laugh and she knew it. Her life was haunted by memories and nothing could change that. However, what she could do was learn how to embrace her future.

((No I'm sorry mine is taking forever, I'm involved in a theatrical production and just haven't hardly had time. But after this weekend it's over and I can post. Sorry!))

((Okay, it's alright, don't over-stress about it, this is supposed to be fun right))

"Well, I guess my favorite color before I went blind would have to be..." Declan paused, grasping at the fleeting memory as a baby would it's mother's hand. He sorted through old memories. Not much to remember anymore, is there? Declan asked himself as continued his search. There! He found it!

A young, young declan paused outside a dazzling storefront. "Look while you can, boy. you ain't getting anything in there." A booming voice from above his small head growled. The blonde-haired boy's eyes were glued to a dark blue jacket, with orange threading and a big red patch on one shoulder. He could tell that it was warm. Suddenly there was a jerk from his adoptive father and they were out and about on their way through the town to get groceries.

"Orange." Declan whispered quietly, and smiled softly, not realizing that he had said it out loud. Looking up with unseeing eyes, Declan said it again with more conviction. " Orange was my favorite color before I went blind. I don't really know why; I guess it's because orange for me back then represents something untouched, free and noble. It's not my favorite color anymore though, of course. I was naive back then, thinking things would stop so suddenly. And look at what I payed for it." Dec frowned slightly, and continued. "Now it's grey. Not because it's the color I see now, which it is, but because grey is twilight; it's nothing and everything. It's black and white mixed together. Nothing is concrete in grey. Grey absorbs you, pulls you in and never fully releases. I've lived with grey so long, it feels like it's been a part of me for almost as long as I've been blind."

Declan finished, and felt as though he met his quotient of philisophical spew for today. Then he realized that Forrest had begun asking him a different question. Crap. Now I have to remember what she said! Declan thought as he honed in on her voice. "I mean, I know now the answer would probably be training or trying to avoid my bow right now, but it might show more about the true person if you remember what it was like before our lives became so complicated..." He nodded and derived a question from her words. It was probably something around what did he find his favorite activity to be before their lives were complicated. Mine's always been complicated, though. How am I supposed to answer it? Even before monster attacks, it was bad. Declan had to answer her somehow though. So he just started speaking, eventually the answer would come to him...wouldn't it?

"Well, when I wasn't at home, you know, during the bad time, I guess my favorite thing to do was walk or swing. I was never musically inclined, and of course school was a drag. And I liked to think. Swinging made me feel close to the sky, like I was flying; the perfect release for everything that bothered me those years. Walking, well, it gave me something to do when I wasn't failing my classes or getting beat. Walking in the rain was the best. Yeah I know, it looks gloomy, but it's a great way not to be bothered and the rain is soothing." Declan finished, and decided to ask Forrest the same question. After all, he answered the color question after her. Besides, he had a real budding curiosity as to what her answer would be?

"What about you Forrest? Do you remember anything from before?"

Forrest bit her lip instinctively when Declan trailed off. He was trying to remember his favorite color before he had gone blind. Had it really been that long? Forrest wondered. She had assumed that it had only been a couple years that he had been without his eyesight, but by the way he much acting, Forrest thought it must be much longer than that. Raising her hand she starting, "I'm mean... you don't have to-" But he answered her.
"Orange."
Forrest jerked her hand back, a little surprised. Most people said blue or red or something of the sorts. Orange was ...different. But nothing more than that.

As if reading her mind, Dec said the word again louder and began to explain. Even though he could not see her, Forrest still nodded out of habit whenever she heard him pause like asking a question. Right... people just pause... they pause. Oh god, I must look really stupid. But as he gave a reason to why it was his favorite color, she agreed. Letting him finish, she started to feel bad ...again. She was always complaining and internally beating herself up about her own life, but Dec's was worse and he had something that forced him to remember it every day. Having only enough time to mumble "sorry." Dec went on and explained that it was now grey. Forrest wasn't quite sure why, but she had always been fond of grey. "Yeah... I know what you mean. With the whole black and white thing and all-" Her voice faltered before she completely went silent.


Forrest wasn't too fond of walking if she was trying to get somewhere because it was too slow, but she did like walking when she was trying to get away from people. Get some time to herself - be allowed to think. And more than anything, she loved to swing. Emily would always try to make games out of everything. They used to laugh and play and one of their good memories was on the swings. But she would often close her eyes and imagine that she was flying as well.

"Well, I did really like to swing like you. But I don't actually remember all that much. I've been running from monsters for a long time. I really miss being able to be ...innocent. To be a child. Completely unaware of the world around them and yet one of the happiest people here. I never really heard music or played anything, so I wouldn't say anything referring to that. I just liked laughing and playing with my sister. Just running around and acting like dinosaurs." She laughed at the end remembering how Emily broke her ankle while jumping out of the window trying to fly. It was sad, but she laughed so hard that day that she cried. And then she cried harder because Emily was bawling... "I just wish we could be kids again."