Isabel couldn't believe him. The audacity he had, kissing her last night and then not 10 hours later kissing the girl she loathed more than any other. Hot tears were still running on her cheeks. When she reached the tent she let herself fall on the bed and cried till she had no more tears left to cry. Then sleep came and took her far away in a world where her heart didn't feel like tiny broken shards of glass.
Alex wanted to give her space, he knew Isabel, whenever she was angry she wanted to be left alone, but he had to know she had gotten back okay. He entered stealthily inside the tent, careful not to make any sound and found her sleeping like an angel on their bed. A crease on her forehead and a frown on her lips indicated her dreams were tumultuous. He wanted to fix the situation, but he couldn't. He knew she had been right. He had acted like a complete ass. But Olivia had only acted as a distraction and not even a good one at that, because his mind was imagining Isabel and he almost caught himself saying her name when Olivia started kissing his neck.
He promised himself he would find a way to be forgiven, he would do everything to see her smile once more or blush at some idiocy he might say. And for as long as she remained mad at him he would do anything to protect her.
She was worth so much more.
____
Seb entered the tent where the cook was stationed. Every student was to get a tray with food and go outside to eat. he got a tray, piled as much food as he could, thanked the cook and made his way towards his own tent. He had helped out with the fires and the principal had given him another mission. Go hunting and bring back something for lunch.
The sun now was up in the sky, he thought it was time to wake up Gwen and give her some food. So he entered the tent, left the tray on the table and went towards the bed. He gently nudged her.
"Wake up sleeping beauty." he whispered. She opened her eyes and slowly adjusted to the light.
"Seb, goodmorning." she said groggily.
"Goodmorning my lady, your breakfast is served." then he pointed to the food on the table. Gwen's stomach started rumbling. She had no idea when was the last time she ate but at the sound of food her appetite surfaced fast. She sat on a chair and got a croissant. Seb sat next to her and looked at her but didn't touch the food.
"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked. The food was too much only for one person, they could certainly share it.
"Nonsense, you need it more than me." Seb said and looked at her.
"Stop it, don't treat me like I am any more important than you. We both need our strengths. So please eat with me, it would make me very happy." she smiled in the end, knowing she had definitely won the argument.
"Okay then. Let's eat." he half smiled. He would do anything she asked of him but he would never admit it. They had been talking for a bit when suddenly Seb remembered his task.
"Oh, I almost forgot.. I have to go hunting for today's lunch. Do you want to come and keep me company? I could show you the woods and tell you about the different animals and creatures that live here. You can help me if you want." he found himself talking really fast and decided to stop and wait for her answer. She looked at him and her eyes glistened.
"Of course, I would love that." Gwen said happily.
"Great then, let's go now. I will pack the rest of the food in case we get hungry outside." Seb said. After he had packed the food, with a flick of his wand he made the tray fly towards the cook's tent. He then grabbed his bow and turned towards Gwendolyn.
"Gwenny, why don't you get your sword. We have plenty of time to practice while we are out hunting." he grinned to her and grabbed his own weapons.
"Sure." Gwendolyn could almost taste the adenaline. It was always like that when she grabbed her sword in her hand. She felt complete only when it was tied securely next to her hip, ready to be used.
___
They had left the campsite behind and made their way even deeper into the forest. They weren't walking for a long time when Seb stopped in his tracks.
"This is a good practice place" he muttered. They were surrounded by trees, which meant they didn't have much place to move. Gwen was about to voice her thoughts about the place Seb had chosen when he suddenly turned around, sword in hand and lunged at her. She only had time to step out of the way but found her back had collided with a thick tree trunk. He tried an attack from the up but the limited space worked against him. His blade was driven into the trunk behind Gwen. The girl cowered away. She finally had some time to unsheath her sword. Now the fight was fair. They didn't have much space so many times they had to dance between the trees. Gwen was quick on her feet while Sebastian had strength on his side, he was taller too so his blue blade cut truth the air with force. Not much time had gone by but they had already started to sweat. Beads of sweat could be seen on both their foreheads. Lunge, attack, jump and defence. Again and again. Gwen had him cornered between two trees, he had no escape. She blocked his attack and quickly counterattacked. She had gotten somewhere, his emerald shirt now sported a wide slit on the front. He smirked at her.
"Nice move, my dear pupil." he faked lowering his guard and so did Gwen mirroring him. Suddenly he struck a blow which gave Gwen's shirt a similar slit down the front. Her skin underneath was still unscathed. He was looking at the small patch of her cleavage that could be seen from the opening he had procured. She quickly recovered. They went back to their dance. Lunge, attack, jump, defence. They were both getting frustrated now since the other one wasn't backing up. Seb was still trying to overthrow her using force but she was diligently dodging every attack. Finally a correct lunge made her fall over some roots. Seb grinned already thinking he had won and pressed the tip of his sword to the skin of her chest.
"My lady, I think I won. You are a skilled fighter but you are no match for me." Seb said teasing her. Gwen however still had a card to play and tried to get his attention while she worked out her plan.
"Truths you say my dear. I have indeed succumbed to you. Or have I?" she smirked. Her wand was now in her hand.
"Incenderis" she whispered and pointed her wand on Seb's sword. The blade started to get hot to an unbearable extent and Seb had to let it fall on the ground. Gwen didn't stop there, she charmed some roots to hold his arms and legs pinned and Seb was trapped. She had won. She walked up to him grinning widely. Seb was looking at her in disbelief. She put a hand on his cheek.
"I am afraid you have lost your touch my brave knight and I think I won. Which means that I will have to protect you from now on." She winked up at him. The air had stilled. He had the crazy need to kiss her, she was so close to him, her face only a breath away.
Seb couldn't understand why but he found himself reaching down when they both heard a sudden bleating, followed by growling and some howls, sounds not far from them. Gwen quickly released his bonds and mumbling "Reparo", repaired both his and hers shirts.
"Shame, I quite liked that tear on her shirt." Seb thought. What he said though was completely different.
"I have to go check what happened. Please stay here and hide. I will be back." He grabbed his weapons, his bow secure on his shoulder and walked towards the sounds.
As soon as she left she heard and felt the presence of something behind her.
"Miss?" a voice shyly said. She turned around trying to place a face for that voice but saw no one.
"Down here miss." the voice said again. She looked down and found a cute creature looking back at her. It was very short, his skin had a blue tint to it and it had two really pointy ears. It was dressed with leaves and its hair was a fiery red that flowed as if it was a real fire. It was definitely one of the creatures she had seen yesterday and the one Seb had talked about.
"Hi there, what's your name?" Gwen asked and squatted down.
"Name's Phineas miss, me is the chief of the gnomes of these lands. What's your name fair one?" he asks bowing to her. It was a very timid creature, he wouldn't look directly at her. Focused mainly on the ground.
"Nice to meet you, I am Gwendolyn but you can call me Gwen or Gwenny. You are very shy for a chief." she looked at the strange creature in front of her curiously.
"We gnomes don't seek out attention, no no, we keep to ourselves we gnomes, yes yes, me is very happy to have shown myself to you. You're pure and good hearted. Me is good listener, me knew you were anxious and scared and me decided to keep miss some company." he said truthfully.
"Thank you Phineas. I am very grateful for your company. Are there many more gnomes here?" she asked turning around, scrutinizing her surroundings.
"Not right now, they are preparing tonight's party. Me clan is very big and today we are celebrating. It's our tree protector's birthday. He is 569 today. He is really old but he still protects us. You should come to the festivities, me is sure that the others will be very happy to meet you." Phineas said jumping up and down like a kid, he was even clapping his hands.
"Sure I would be delighted. How will I know were to go to though?" she asked him.
"Oh yes, just follow the fireflies, they are coming to the party too, lots of creatures will be there. Gildor, our protector, guards all animals in this forest. Don't worry Alvena, you won't get lost." he then started climbing a tree trunk to get to eye level with Gwen.
"What did you call me?" she asked confused.
"Friend." he said and smiled shyly. His puffy cheeks turned purple.
"Well I am honoured to be your friend." Gwen said and stretched out her finger, he took it in between his hands and shook it, finally finding the courage to look at her in the eyes.
Seb suddenly came out of some bushes and found Gwen pointing at the air, talking to herself.
"Weird." he thought.
"Gwen?" he called and she looked at him.
"Oh hi, what happened?" she asked him smiling.
"Me is invisible to that boy, only you can see me and hear me. Me don't trust him yet." she heard Phineas say. He had jumped and had landed on her shoulder now.
"Seb, is a good boy, you can trust him, he is my friend." she said looking at her shoulder. The situation was very weird for Seb who stood there looking at his friend talking to the air. He didn't say anything though.
"I caught a deer trying to escape some wolves. I scared the wolves and caught the deer and some bunnies. I have already sent them to the campsite." he explained tiredly. He sat on a rock and got the packed food out of his bag.
"Want some?" he asked Gwendolyn.
"Sure, Phineas do you want some?" Gwen said looking at the invisible gnome perched on her shoulder. Seb was now totally confused, she was imagining things, people?
"Nothing's there, who's Phineas?" he asked, worried about Gwen.
"Oh sorry, I know how it must look, Phineas is just a very shy gnome. Come on show yourself to him." she nudged Phineas with her finger. Phineas sighed.
"Okay, okay me is going to. You know that boy really needs a haircut." he said and made Gwen start to giggle. He then appeared on her shoulder and Seb could finally see him. The pointed ears the blue skin and the flame like hair. Seb was stunned and completely startled.
"Wow, hello Phineas, I am Seb. I am a friend of Gwen's." he said and curiously looked at him. It was the first time he saw a gnome.
"Yes yes, me knows, Gwenny told me all about you." Phineas still looked at him as if he didn't trust him.
"Would you like some food?" Seb asked and handed him a piece of bread. Phineas slowly reached out and grabbed it in his tiny hands and started munching on it. Crumbs were falling on Gwen's clothes but she didn't mind. Phineas slowly started opening up to Seb too and in the end he invited him to the party in the forest.
"Me is sure Gildor will be so happy to have two more friends there for him. Me can't wait to tell everyone else about you two. Two new friends." he started twirling around and clapping his hands like a kid. Gwen couldn't believe he was the chief of the gnomes but she was happy she had met him. They had to go however so they said their goodbyes and Phineas vanished, blue smoke was the only thing he left behind.
"Cute, right?" Gwen said looking at Sebastian. He looked back at her.
"Yes, so cute." he said and put his arm on her shoulders. They walked back towards their camp, Seb happy and Gwen blushing.