Journey Chapter 1
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Author: Mcstout
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Summary: AU story. Arizona befriends a mysterious, wayward man and sets off on an unexpected journey to fulfill her destiny (I hate summaries)
A/N: First of all, I would like to apologize so very much for taking so long with my other story “It’s No Sacrifice” I am writing the final chapter now, but I’m having a lot of problems with it…A LOT!! So if anyone’s willing I would really appreciate somes help!!! …Please!!! :P
A/ N 2 Ok, so I saw The Lord of the Rings this weekend (yeah, slow weekend) and thought it would be fun to write a Callie/Arizona AU in this type of scenario. I needed to get the characters out of the hospital because my writers block was killing me. I finished a couple of chapters and decided to post the first one to see what you guys thought. I haven’t thought much about where the story is headed, I just started to write without anything in mind but if you like it I’ll try to make it a bit longer and make it go somewhere lol. Callie doesn't show up much in this first chapter but I promise there's a whole lot of her in the next one.
All GA characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and all mistakes are mine (if there are any big ones please let me know )
Comments, constructive criticism, etc is greatly appreciated.
Journey Chapter 1
It had rained earlier that day. A torrent of ice cold water had fallen from the skies and had soothed their tired and aching bodies. They had gazed upwards, many of them smiling for the first time in weeks, and they had opened their dry and bloody lips, drinking everything their weak bodies would allow them. They had relished every second of it. The small droplets of water had been a blessing from the gods, or so they had thought. But now, as the first stars appeared over their heads and the last remnants of sunlight began to fade behind the Turraine Mountains, one woman cursed those same gods. The rain, which had quenched their unbearable thirst and had made her and the rest of the prisoners so blissfully happy only a few hours ago, would also probably be the end of them.
Her damp clothes did nothing against the cold wind that blew relentlessly against her, and the mud under her feet made it almost impossible to walk. But walk she did, it was all she could do. It was probably the only thing keeping her alive and giving her hope; hope that someone over the next hill or the next bend would see them and come to their rescue. But no one had come and to top it all off she was thirsty again.
So, the tired and battered woman made her way through the damp thicket, limping a little on her right foot. She concentrated on moving one foot in front of the other: one, two, one, two, one, two…With each step she tried to distance her thoughts from the sharp pain that racked her leg every time she leaned on her injured foot.
Her eyes moved from her once beautiful shoes, which were now completely ruined, to the wet and muddy ground, looking for small holes, branches and stones that were strewn about the deserted path and which her weary legs would probably trip over if she wasn’t careful. The woman was so concentrated on this task that she lost her footing in the slippery mud and almost fell face first into a dried out bush. Only her quick reflexes and her ability to block out the pain in her leg (one she had been honing for over three days now) saved her beautiful face from coming into contact with the huge thorns the bush so deceivingly hid from view.
She jumped a few times on her left leg to try and let the right one rest but as soon as she stopped walking she felt someone shove her from behind…hard. She easily lost her balance and fell. This time though, she made sure to angle her body away from the deadly bush. The lithe woman prepared herself as best she could for the impact, but her hands were bound behind her back so all she could really do was turn her body sideways, close her eyes and try not to hit her head. Thankfully, her left shoulder took the brunt of the fall. Her eyes watered over from the pain but she forced herself to smother the whimper that threatened to escape her dry lips. After a few moments, she managed to move her aching legs under her and get into a kneeling position. Exhausted and a little dazed, the young woman rested her forehead against the wet mud and in her peripheral vision saw a small puddle. The water looked revolting; it was brown and dirty and she could just make out in the fading light a few dozen mosquitoes enjoying their temporary home. But, for a few fleeting seconds, her thirst driven mind contemplated the thought of drinking it. She knew it would most likely kill her, but giving her current situation, she almost didn’t care…almost.
She suddenly felt someone grab her by the hair which, only a few short days ago, had flowed in long golden locks down her back, but which now rested limply above her shoulders and resembled the color of the mud she had been laying in a few moments ago. The hand pulled on her hair forcefully, making her scream out in pain.
“Ge’ up bitch! Yo’ goin’ to make us late an’ believe me yo’ donts wan’ to make Fredric wait” Charles bellowed, his sharp northern accent making it almost impossible to understand him.
“Why? Is he going to tie me up, gag me and beat me within an inch of my life?...Oh wait, he already did that” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted them. She cursed herself under her breath and resolutely bit down on her tongue to keep from saying anything else that could get her into more trouble. Fortunately, all Charles did was smack her on the back of the head with his heavy leather glove causing her to bite down even harder on her tongue and draw blood.
She opened her mouth to protest but a soft nudge from someone walking beside her reminded her where she was. With an irritated huff the blonde closed her mouth and continued to bite down on her tongue, wishing the metallic liquid running down her throat would quench some of her thirst; it didn’t.
“Ye’ well tha’ wha’ you’s gets for talkin’ back…yo’ bes’ learns to keep quiets” He answered dryly before he mounted his horse and rode to the front of the line.
“How Charles got to be captain of Fredric’s army is beyond me. I have an empty bucket at home that’s more useful than that one right there” The limping woman heard Simon’s low, raspy voice beside her. Too tired to talk, she simply looked down at the ground and smiled despite herself as she quietly listened to the other prisoners
“Yeah, you can use the bucket to crap in, that’s definitely more useful” A young man named Alex replied only half-joking while he took an awkward step forward, repositioning the back of his pants with his tied up hands.
Alex had just gotten in yesterday night. Charles and his men had found him rolling around a wheat field with a young wench. They had sold the poor girl to a minor slave trader up the coast for almost nothing and brought Alex to join their merry group. Charles and his nit witted soldiers had probably seen his clothes and figured they could get a nice ransom for him.
The young woman didn’t know what to think of this Alex yet. He was cocky and rude and she was pretty sure he was a delusional nut-case but still, she couldn’t help but be somewhat drawn to him. From what she could gather he was also honest, painfully so, and he didn’t seem too worried about having been caught by Fredric’s army nor did he seem to mind the very real possibility that he was probably going to be sold to a slave trader if Fredric couldn’t find anyone who would be willing to pay a ransom for him.
She thought back to yesterday evening when the soldiers had brought in the new prisoner. A surge of hope rising inside her as she recalled what Alex had said to her when they had first met.
The blonde’s heart almost jumped out of her chest when she heard the sound of clashing swords down the road. A few soldiers had gone a ways off to make sure the road was deserted; it obviously wasn’t. She looked around at the other prisoners. Some of them, herself included, couldn’t help feel a little hopeful. Maybe somebody had finally found them and was on their way to rescue them. But others, like Simon, who had been travelling with Charles and his group for over a month now, new better. There were very few people who used these roads, afraid of the trolls and ancient spirits that were rumored to live in the woods they cut through.
Sure enough, they only had to wait a few minutes to see who had won the skirmish. The woman could see two soldiers making their way over, dragging a man in black leather armor between them. The man was cursing and struggling adamantly. Four other soldiers trailed behind. One of them was bleeding profusely from his side and another one was being helped by the other two. The new prisoner had clearly injured them.
The man suddenly lunged to his right side, bringing down one of the soldiers. He grabbed a small dagger from the stunned soldiers’ leather belt and quickly got up to attack his remaining opponent. Charles, who was with the rest of his men a few feet ahead, jumped off his horse and attacked the young man from behind, hitting him squarely on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. Undeterred, the young man stood, but most of the squadron was already prepared for him. They started to take turns punching and kicking him. The blonde had to look away, sure they were going to kill him. But, to her surprise she heard loud, mirth filled laughter. She looked over at where the soldiers were beating the prisoner and stared in surprise at what was unfolding. The man was on the ground, looking up at the night sky, chuckling witlessly to himself as the tired and heaving soldiers looked on. After a while, he finally quieted down, the blonde woman fearing for a moment he had passed out, but he turned around and with great effort stood. He stumbled forward a few feet before stopping and looking intently at each one of the men who had dared touch him before spitting at their feet. The woman saw a broken tooth mixed with blood resting on the dry earth and cringed inwardly.
“You’re going to pay for that” The young man stated ominously, causing the group of soldiers to burst into laughter and strike him a few more times.
After that Alex had mostly kept to himself. His face was bruised probably worse than hers was, but he hadn’t complained once. That night, they had stopped in a nearby clearing; the eight prisoners, who had been completely exhausted, had merely plopped down as soon as the soldiers had ordered them to stop.
Charles ordered his men to untie them so they could finally relieve themselves and eat the soldiers’ leftovers which consisted of dry moldy bread and stale water. The blonde woman carefully made her way over to the injured newcomer who was resting against a tree. His eyes were closed and his breath was coming out in shallow gasps. Seeing a deep cut over his right eye, she ripped the end of her dress, checking that the material wasn’t covered in too much dirt. She then dipped it into her water and lightly pressed it over the wound, cleaning the dry blood as best she could but, she quickly pulled back when the man hissed loudly and jerked his face away. He looked at her with annoyance and open distrust but didn’t resist when she slowly lifted her arm and continued her ministrations. He kept a watchful eye on her while she expertly treated the wound, tying up the cloth around his head to keep pressure on it. When she finished, the handsome man gave her an impressed smirk.
“Nice” He praised dryly. She simply gave him a tight lipped smile and rested her tired back against the tree trunk beside him. She exhaled heavily and looked up longingly at the stars over head.
“So…how did you manage to get here?” She asked tentatively, giving him a sidelong glance.
“Just in the wrong place at the wrong time I guess” He said honestly after a few moments.
“--But I’m not worried, they’ll be coming for me soon” He continued, sounding almost bored. He proceeded to make himself more comfortable and closed his eyes, obviously done talking to her.
The blonde woman’s head shot up “Wha-what do you mean? Who’s ‘they’? Are-are you sure?” She asked anxiously, trying to get as many answers as she could from the irritated looking man.
“Arrg” He groaned inwardly, clearly annoyed with the woman’s presence now. “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it. They’re coming for me which probably means you’ll be set free. Now, if you don’t mind…Shut up” He said as he turned around and gave her his back, resolutely ending the conversation.
The tired, aching and dirty woman kept replaying the exchange she had had with the wayward prisoner over and over again in her mind. He was probably lying to her or he was indeed completely mad. There was no way someone was going to come to his rescue, they would’ve gotten here by now if that were true. When she had told Simon what Alex had said, the old man had simply sneered.
“I really doubt that snot noise boy has any friends or family willing to risk their life for him, he’s an unpleasant little thing isn’t he?” Was his response to that nonsense. She had agreed with him at the time but now, she wasn’t so sure.
“Hey, Arizona come here” She heard a hurried whisper from behind; it was Alex. She let some of the other prisoners walk past her and then stepped back to walk beside him.
“What?” she asked in a conspiratorial whisper, noticing the young man looking anxiously around.
“Are you okay? That looked like a pretty nasty fall” He asked as he turned his attention back to her, a small glint of worry in his eyes.
“I’m fine Alex” She brushed him off, not wanting to talk about her injured shoulder. The pain that now resonated through her upper back and left shoulder was just something else she wanted to ignore along with her injured foot.
“Good…that’s good, cause you’re going to have to make a run for it pretty soon” He answered in a hushed whisper, keeping his eyes on her.
The smaller woman looked at him quizzically, waiting for him to elaborate.
“They’re here” He stated matter-of-factly.
She sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes.
“You still haven’t explained who ‘they’ are.” She said as she looked around. The forest surrounding them was quiet except for a few noisy birds who were getting ready to settle in for the night.
“I-I don’t see anyone. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head last night?” She asked, leaning closer to the amused looking man in order to get a good look at his head, checking for any visible bruising.
“Listen, it’s going to happen tonight…Once I’m free I’ll cut you loose, then you’re on your own. We’ll be out numbered, so as soon as I set you and the others free I’m getting the hell out of here; your safest bet is to run into the forest and head west” He advised the young woman, looking at her limping form with detachment.
He genuinely liked Arizona, which was rare. For him, most women were merely a pass time, a way to distract himself from the troubles that tormented him; they quite simply just offered him something nice to look at when he was bored or restless.
The woman walking slowly beside him did no such thing. Like most of the other prisoners, she was covered from head to toe in mud. Her hair, which he assumed was blonde, had been carelessly cut and was now matted to her forehead and neck due to the mud and dry sweat. She had definitely seen better days. But, her sky blue eyes had shown though all that. He had seen warmth and light emanating from their depths which had evoked in him a rare kind of empathy towards her; he saw in her a kindred spirit. But he couldn’t afford to care, he had to get out of here and he had to protect his friends who were now lying in wait somewhere in the darkening forest.
He scanned the perimeter once more, his ears picking up a familiar bird call. The well rehearsed pitch and the silences between each call meant that he had to get ready, as soon as the sun set they would come out of hiding and attack.
Alex looked back over at the woman with the peculiar name, recalling fondly at how irritated she had gotten when he had blatantly scoffed at her when he had heard it for the first time.
A sound kick to Alex’s side woke him, and another one spurred him to his feet.
"Argg , I’m up, I’m up--” He protested as he held his side, bending over at the waist “-asshole” He muttered once he was sure the soldier was out of ear shot.
The blonde snickered slightly beside him, already on her feet. She turned around and caught him smirking back at her..
“Arms behin’ yo’s backs” Charles ordered from atop his horse. All eight prisoners quietly did as they were told, keeping still as their hands were painfully tied behind them; they would not be having any food or water this morning.
They set out at the break of dawn. Alex’s head felt like it was going to explode at any minute, his sore arms strained against the abrasive rope and his legs felt like twigs about to split in two. He looked over at the small blonde, who had decided to walk beside him. She kept directing anxious glances at him to the point of annoyance.
“What?!” He barked when he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Arizona” She stated quickly and seeing his confused expression continued “My name, it’s Arizona, I’ve been here for over a week now…I think. I was pretty optimistic at first, I was sure somebody would come and rescue us or that Charles would accidently fall on his sword or choke on his own tongue cause, you know, he’s not exactly the brightest star in the sky-“
“You’re name’s Arizona?” The young man interrupted her, oblivious to anything else she had said.
“Shut it up over there before I get up and beat that idiotic grin off your ugly face” One of the soldiers keeping watch bellowed out.
Alex tried as best he could to wipe the aforementioned grin from his face without much success. He shut his eyes tightly, and when he had finally calmed down he looked incredulously at the beautiful woman next to him. She, in turn, was giving him a stone cold glare, not at all amused with his reaction.
“I was born in the Permeasion Isles” She stated as a way of explanation. His blank stare incited her to continue “-in the middle of the White Desert” She carried on. His unfazed eyes never wavered from hers “-Under an oak tree”. Same bored expression. “-oak trees don’t grow in dese-”
“I know oak trees don’t grow in deserts, jeez I’m not an idiot” He interrupted her, annoyed that she thought him that dense. She gave him a lopsided smile and looked down at her dress, pleased that she had finally gotten a reaction from him. Alex had stared ahead, a calm quiet had descended over them. A few minutes later he tentatively looked at her from the corner of his eye.
“So…you were born under a tree in the middle of a desert…and that explains your name because…” He left the sentence hanging, hoping she would continue her story.
“Arizona means ‘Good Oak’ in the ancient Permeasion tongue. After I was born, the oak tree offered cool shade, it protected me from the deserts’ sun , it saved my life, so my father decided to honor it by giving me the name” She finished, obviously uncomfortable with the subject but having resigned herself a long time ago at having to explain at least some of the details surrounding the reasons for her unusual name.
Another silence flourished between the two prisoners, this time though, the young man was searching for something to talk about, anxious to break it. He felt bad for having mocked her, he didn’t know how but the name did suit the small, fragile woman.
“My name’s Alex” He had introduced himself suddenly as way of apology, his name sounding simple and meaningless to his own ears now. She nodded and smiled brightly at him.
“Nice to meet you, Alex” She said happily.
“Nice to meet you too…Arizona” He replied, recognizing the truth in that statement.
Alex was jostled out of his thoughts by an almost imperceptible movement to his right. The woods were now cast in shadows, giving it a haunted and menacing look. It was almost time.
He gave the woman to his left a soft nudge, alerting her to what was happening. She forced herself not to look for Alex’s party. She stared straight ahead, her heart pounding rapidly inside her chest. As she walked, she tried out her injured leg, putting some more weight on it but it buckled under the strain. The pain was just too much. She wouldn’t be able to get far with it, she was screwed.
Meanwhile, Alex noticed that Charles, who was about twenty feet from them, had sensed something. He had brought his horse to a halt and was now in the process of lighting a torch.
Not wanting his friends’ position to be compromised, Alex did the first thing he could think of to get the Captains’ attention. He turned around and locked on the nearest soldier.
“Alex?” Arizona’s worried tone did nothing to stop him from his course of action.
The uniformed man was walking behind the last prisoner, talking to another soldier riding beside him on a horse. Alex began to walk over to him, but as he got closer he gained momentum and started to sprint towards the oblivious soldier. He rammed himself straight into the distracted man’s chest and they both fell to the hard ground.
Charles turned to where he heard the commotion, and made his way over to it. Alex and the soldier had gotten up at the same time. With his hands tied behind his back, there wasn’t much he could do to block the taller mans’ powerful blows. He took a punch square in the nose and heard the bone break under the pressure. Blood started to stream down his throat and he saw stars form in front of his eyes but he forced himself not to lose consciousness. Charles made his way over to him as he unsheathed his sword. But before he could deliver a deadly blow, the small blonde lunged at him, making him take a few steps back. She used his body as leverage and pushed herself off of him with her shoulder, getting enough distance between them so she could easily kick him in the groin causing him to topple over.
With that final effort, her injured leg gave out and she fell to the ground screaming in pain.
“Arizona!” Alex yelled as he ran to her side, but a punch to the stomach stopped him in his tracks.
The soldier who had broken his nose was not finished with him. The furious looking man made to unsheathe his sword but an opportune arrow came shooting from somewhere over Alex’s right shoulder, piercing his heart and killing him instantly.
“It’s about fucking time” He muttered furiously. He took a look around and saw that the other prisoners had risen up and were doing their best to fight the surprised soldiers. He saw arrows swishing by, wounding the armed men. Out of nowhere, two hooded figures sprung from the brush and dragged two screaming soldiers into the darkness.
Alex heard Arizona moan and snapped out of his daze.
“Guys! Here! Cut me the fuck loose!” He screamed into the night as he made his way over to the whimpering blonde, head-butting and then kicking an incoming soldier unconscious.
Another hooded figure dressed in armor resembling Alex’s, appeared out of nowhere, stealthily making his way to his side. He unsheathed an impressive silver dagger and cut the rope binding the young mans hands. As soon as he was free, Alex took the dagger and crouched over Arizona, freeing her as well.
“Get up” He ordered her as he grabbed her by the collar and hauled her to her feet. He looked around and saw that the main group of soldiers, who had been a considerable distance away, had realized what was happening and were making their way over to them.
He looked back at the blonde with deadly seriousness.
“Run!” he ordered as he turned around and followed his hooded friend over to the rest of the prisoners.
Just then, Charles had opened his eyes and a surge of rabid fury coursed through him. He saw his sword beside him and grabbed it. He stood and ran over to his blonde aggressor, grabbing her by the hair and throwing her to the ground.
“You bitch! I've beens wantin' to do this for a long time” The hatred in his voice made her blood freeze. But, those words would be his last. He cried out in agony; looking down he saw the tip of a sword protruding from his chest and just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone. He was dead before he even hit the ground. Arizona looked up and saw another dark, hooded figure hovering over her. As the figure stepped closer to her, the blonde could see clearly now that it was a woman. She offered the blonde her hand and helped her up. Arizona saw deep brown eyes looking at her with earnest. The woman silently handed her a small sword, the leather hilt turned towards the blonde. The taller woman took a step closer to Arizona, resting the hilt lightly on her chest, prompting Arizona to take the sword. As soon as Arizona took it, the beautiful woman simply turned and left.
“Wait!” Arizona called out to her but she had already joined her group and was heading into the woods. The other prisoners who had been set free were nowhere to be seen. She cursed under her breath as she saw some of the soldiers notice her. Arizona kneeled down, hovering over Charles’ dead body. She took off his helmet and slid her hand under his chain mail, frantically searching for something. With a relieved sigh, she quickly pocketed the object she had found and stumbled into the thicket but after only a few strides her leg gave out and she fell.
Alex followed behind his friends. He could just make out their horses grazing patiently out of harms way, and as soon as he saw Marbach, his stallion, he sprinted to his side. As soon as he reached his beloved brown and white stallion he hopped on and waited for his friends to do the same. Once they were all mounted on their steeds a surge of relief shot through him and he chuckled triumphantly as he looked around at his companions. He was finally safe. He turned to see if anyone was following them and saw a lone figure in the distance, slowly making its way through the treacherous terrain. It was Arizona.
“Damn it” He cursed under his breath and started to guide his horse over to her before he realized what he was doing.
“Alex, what are you doing?!” An agitated voice questioned.
“I’ll be right back Callie, tell the others to wait for me on the other side of the hill” He instructed the incredulous woman.
“Are you insane?!” She hissed, they had risked their lives for him and now the ungrateful bastard was going back.
Marbach galloped steadily. Each heavy breath he took could be seen due to the cold night air. Alex forced his friend to go faster, seeing torch lights nearby.
Arizona leaned her body against a tree trunk and used it to push herself off and grab a hold of another one. She could hear the soldiers getting closer and a low cry escaped her parched throat, unwanted tears forming in her eyes. She was going to die here. She looked up when she heard a galloping horse approaching. She held the sword the dark, striking woman had given her and gulping down the lump in her throat, prepared to fight.
As the horse came into view, tears of relief made their way down her cheeks.
Alex slowed Marbach down and made him trot the last few feet to Arizona. Both of them stared at each other for a moment, a quiet understanding breaching the space between them. She had saved his life and now he was in her debt. He extended a gloved hand towards her.
“Are you coming or not?” He asked in his usual surly manner..
Arizona roughly wiped the tears from her eyes and gratefully took his hand. He hoisted her up and took the sword from her, sheathing it expertly. The blonde encircled his waist tightly with her arms while he kicked the stallion’s sides with his heels encouraging him to gallop swiftly into the night.
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Thoughts, suggestions, comments? I'd like to know what you think :)