Fic: Sunset 1/?
“Raine!!” Her father’s thick French-Creole accent enveloped her at the same time that his strong arms crushed the straps of her numerous bags into her skin. She squirmed slightly in his arms, trying not to notice the stares coming from the crowds in the bustling airport. Even though her flight landed after midnight, the building was filled with end of the summer travelers, getting their last flight in before schools went back into session at the start of the blue moon. She was accustomed to strangers taking note of her father, standing at nearly seven feet, Remy Bertrand’s dark hair and bright blue eyes on such a powerful build made people take notice. She was also more than accustomed to strangers eyeing her tribal appearance with fear and mistrust. It had been a long day, shuffling from one airport terminal to the next as she made the 15-hour trip from east coast to the north of the western mountains. At each stop, her long dark hair pulled in a simple braid down below her waist, almond-green eyes, petite stature, and pale, thin face prompted the other passengers to skitter past her with ducked heads and curious eyes.
She pulled out of the embrace as early as she could, wanting to get to the safety of the long drive up the Mountain, away from the crowds she had felt moving around her all day. Pulling back, her father stared down and tousled her hair playfully.
She smiled respectfully and almost bowed her head while sighing, “Tehya, dad. Please?” under her breath as he took her two large suitcases in hand and walked toward the exit with long, determined strides.
Tehya Raine Bertrand followed behind swiftly, only barely flinching at the heavy rain that greeted her outside. Since her birth Tehya’s strong-minded father had refused to acknowledge her tribal mother’s name choice for her. Raine was his mother’s name and had been a source of pride for him to name his only child after someone who meant so much. Tehya understood this, objectively. But at seventeen, much less could be considered an irritant, and Remy’s blatant disregard for her personal choice to honor her tribal heritage was always a sore spot. As she waited for her father to tuck her bags under tarps in the bed of his large, new pick-up, she pulled out her cell phone and as she turned it on, sighed to herself, “Pick your battles.”
Just as Remy opened the door her phone came to life in her hand, several text messages and voicemails stored up during the long flight now were making their presence known. Remy laughed and shook rain water out of his hair, unbuttoning his worn-out coat and shaking it ineffectively. Tehya smiled back.
“I should probably call,” she said softly. “Let her know that I landed okay and wasn’t abducted by terrorists.” Remy nodded solemnly. Though his romantic relationship with Tehya’s mother, Tala, had been short lived and their roles as parents had been anything but equal, only having slight opportunities to see her over the years, he never begrudged Tala and Tehya their relationship.
Tehya held her phone up to her ear, without looking at or listening to the saved messages, and waited for her mother to pick up. Seconds later, Tehya heard her mother’s voice and tears fought to spring to the surface.
“Precious!” Tala’s voice was husky and thick.
“Mama,” Tehya laughed. “It’s raining!”
Tala muttered ancient curse words under her breath, “I told you my daughter.”
“I heard you my mother,” Tehya sneaked a glance at her father from the corner of her eye. He was focused on the rain-soaked roads in front of him. She noticed slight bags under his eyes and suddenly felt guilty for choosing a flight that landed so late. The trip home from the airport was two hours without slick roads. “I heard you,” Tehya repeated.
“Everything I say.”
“Every word you speak, my mother.” It was a chant they had repeated her whole life, but meant more this night than it ever had.
“Precious queen, do you remember my words?”
“Every one mama. Don’t worry.”
“Remember to meet…”
“I will call him,” there was a warning note in Tehya’s voice and she glanced worriedly at Remy in the next seat. He was singing along to the radio and seemed not to have heard. She cleared her throat, “I told Auntie I would start first thing tomorrow. I have the weekend to get settled before classes start. I’m sure I’ll see everyone in the next day or so.”
“Is your father sitting nearby?” There was a slight pause in which Tehya forgot herself and nodded her head. Tala laughed, “Of course he is. I forget how far his little town is from the airport.” Tehya frowned at the disdain in her mother’s voice. Tala continued hurriedly, “I know you don’t want to speak about this now, but I did warn you what to expect if you went back there and lived with him.”
“It was time, mamma. An oath…” Tehya cut herself off and sighed. “How was the doctor’s appointment this afternoon?”
“Brian was nervous. We wished you had been there.”
A tear trickled down Tehya’s cheek. “This is better, mama. I would be in the way-”
Tala cut her off, “That is enough, daughter! It is too poor of an excuse to use in order run from your brother’s birth. Brian loves you and I could help-”
“No mama. I love you. I’ll call you in the morning. Sing that song to Hunter tonight, so that he doesn’t forget me.” And she hung up the phone swiftly before her mother could protest. She stared down at it for a moment and then put it on silent and tucked it into her jacket pocket. The messages could wait. She could sense and predict the half dozen that her mother was probably sending right at that moment.
Tehya looked out the window into the rain and gasped at the road signs. They were only ten minutes out of town already. Had her conversation with her mother taken that long?
She looked at Remy agog and he laughed. “You fell asleep a while back, we’re almost home.”
Tehya smiled and looked out the window again. The rain was still coming down, silver lines in the light of the truck and highway lights, barely obscuring the dark pine forest on either side of the long, twisting stretch of road. She shook her head from side to side, forcing a deep yawn to help her ears pop… again. The further up the mountain range they drove, the more her head ached. Tehya was suddenly glad she had slept through most of the drive, as it usually resulted in nausea. Her stomach growled slightly and she realized that, as usual, she had been too preoccupied to eat while on the plane. She started to lean toward her bag to pull out her stash of snacks, but Remy stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“It’s late but Bill and May are so excited to see you, she said they’d keep the stoves hot for us.”
Tehya just smiled. Bill and May Eckheart owned maybe not the only diner in town, but the only diner Remy and his sister, Nicolette, would frequent.
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Tehya sat the spoon down slowly, looking at the remains of the large “snack” May had forced upon her, complete with a slice of her famous marrionberry pie… ala carte no less. She looked over at Remy, realizing suddenly that unless his sister stocked the freezer with casseroles, her father ate the majority of his meals with the Eckhearts. Just as Tehya was mentally figuring out how to ask her father where they could buy organic and whether she could convince him to cut back on the red meat…
“This is an odd hour to be seeing you here, sheriff.”
Tehya looked up at the tall, blonde-haired man smiling down at her, though his words were obviously directed toward her father. Remy wiped his mouth with an already worn napkin and rubbed his hands together warmly. “Hello there Dr. Aamodt, late night?”
The tall, pale man laughed soundlessly, “No later than usual sheriff, just having lunch with my daughter.”
Remy looked over at Tehya and hastened to explain, “Dr. Aamodt runs the night shift at the clinic in town.” Tehya only blinked at her father in assent. “Forgive Raine, doctor, she’s had a long day.”
“Long week more like,” Tehya laughed. She extended her hand in greeting to the doctor, “It’s a great pleasure to meet you.” As the thin man took her small hand in his long cold one, Tehya fought the urge to shiver and pull back. As she fought back that ripple of fear, she could have sworn that Aamodt’s pupils widened and then narrowed almost imperceptively.
“I assure you Miss Tehya Raine, the pleasure is all mine. Are you here only for a short trip?” His eyes seemed to bore into her as he asked this seemingly natural question. Tehya noted that Aamodt’s use of her full name was completely lost on her father, who was eyeing the bill in his hand surreptitiously.
Tehya lifted her chin and met his gaze, “No, sir.”
“Raine here is being recruited by a school nearby, so she’s decided to finish out high school with me to get used to the area,” Remy beamed proudly at his daughter. “Excuse me for a minute darlin’, doc.” Remy stood up to go speak to Bill and pay their bill.
Aamodt had yet to release Tehya’s hand. “You have grown into a beautiful young woman since I last laid eyes on you, Tehya Raine.”
“I don’t doubt that I have changed significantly since the last time we saw each other, sir.” Aamodt’s face broke into a wide smile. Tehya smiled warmly back, “My mother-” but she was interrupted when a girl walked up to Aamodt and touched his arm lightly. She was nearly as tall as him, with wild red curls springing all about her face, light freckles dotting only the bridge of her nose, and bright green eyes peering out behind pale eyelashes and dramatically pale skin. Aamodt turned to the girl and smiled. “Forgive me, this is my daughter, Brynhild.”
As Brynhild smiled coldly down at her, Tehya felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She forced a smile, “Nice to meet you Brynhild. I’m Tehya.”
Aamodt turned to his daughter and said softly, “Tehya Raine is the sheriff’s daughter.”
“Precious queen? What an interesting name choice,” Brynhild sneered.
Tehya reddened slightly, “No more so than taking the name of Sigmund’s warrior-bride.”
Brynhild seemed only slightly taken aback, “My birth-mother believed strongly in the… old names.”
“As does mine.” The air was bristling and Aamodt seemed to relish it, encouraging his daughter and Tehya silently to challenge each other, feel each other out. Tehya forced a large, wide smile. “My mother has always had an appreciation for the ancient Norse,” Tehya laughed. “We would argue for hours because I always loved Brynhild best and she always felt so bad for Gudrun.”
Brynhild relaxed slightly, but seemed to be trying to think of some way to respond when Remy peered over her shoulder at Tehya. “Ready to go, kiddo?”
Tehya looked up at Aamodt and nodded, “I’m ready.”
In the cab of the truck Tehya hugged herself to stop her body from shaking. She needed a minute, just a small moment, away from the hulking, overwhelming presence of her father. She needed to be alone. The moon was high and full that night, beaming down on the small town as Remy navigated the muddy dirt roads effortlessly. Twilight was beginning to break behind them, but in front of Tehya there was still only darkness. She wanted to wallow in it. In the sweet, cold, moist air hanging above the trees after the rainfall. She wanted to crawl into the dark and let it envelope her, as Aamodt’s hand had enveloped her own in the diner.
Stepping out onto the front lawn, Tehya lifted her face to small half smile of the red moon low in the sky and sighed deeply. There was a rustling to her left, across the street, and when she looked over there was a dark shadow. A large black wolf sat there staring at her, half hidden in the shadows of the trees that lined the street. She tried to pretend that she hadn’t seen it sitting there, didn’t know what it meant. She turned her face back to the moon and whispered, “Great Mother. I’m home.”
[EDIT]:: 7/24/11 - this world grew in complexity over night and I have chosen to make some small changes. All will be revealed in time, unless you were paying super close attention, this will seem pretty much the same. Only some minor vocabulary changes were made.