thanks for the memories---- private

Eli had taken to sitting at Thalia’s pine a while back. When, he wasn’t too sure. It had started out as once in a blue moon, he’d climb to the top of the hill. Slowly, it had gotten more frequent. Until he found himself up there at least once every two days. Sometimes with his guitar, sometimes not. On this occasion, he’d managed to make his way up to the top of the hill, lugging it over his shoulder and plopping down at the base of the tall tree. He’d arranged it carefully on his lap, strummed the strings lightly to make a sound.

A distant memory surfaced, from quite some time ago. Out in the forest trying to sort through a tune which was in his head, unable to. Walking back to the Hera Cabin and waking up a small red head. A small, delicate doll who had thrown two pillows at him in quick succession. The memory of slight pain came back to him then, and Elijah reached up to rub his hand against the back of his head, a smile playing across his features like a flame would in the dark. He had lots of memories like that. Ones of her. Some were pleasant- a dance- others, well, not so much. The climbing wall being a prime example. And, well, the other prime example of one not so pleasant was after that dance. Not that he let himself think too much on it. Eli had a lot of time to get used to losing people. To separate himself from the pain of losing yet another friend. And losing your dad helped with the whole not letting yourself feel the pain of loss thing. He’d had a lot of time, a lot of experience, and it had hardened him up. So he forgot. Or tried to. Let himself forget the pain, forget the loss, and let himself move on for more in his future.

‘Let the pain, wash away, all the pain of yesterday,’ he half whispered, half sang bitterly. His fingers strummed the first few notes, but almost immediately he dropped his hand to his side, casting his eyes out at the view of camp he had. He didn’t want to wallow. He wanted to forget. But, well, he still hadn’t forgotten the grief of losing his father. What made him think that he could forget the grief of losing another close friend only a few months before, when he hadn’t gotten over his father in eight and a half years?

His eyes closed and his head fell back against the rough bark of the pine tree. It was uncomfortable, but it helped him to stay aware of the world around him as he sunk back into that particular memory. The fear as they drove along the road… the sudden terror as the car turned down the ravine, spinning, deadly, stopping. The black which had enveloped him for too little time, allowing him to wake up in time to see his father depart this hard world. And then blissful darkness as he finally sunk.

A memory he’d never have the pleasure of forgetting. A memory he would continue to wake up in a cold sweat to after having yet another nightmare in twenty years time.

Suddenly, replacing the blackness left in the wake of the last memory playing behind his lids, another crept in. A wide grin was the first thing he noticed. Red hair glinting in the bright sunlight, as the pale girl laughed happily and raised the camera. Eli had raised his arm, trying to block his face, but too late- the shutter snapped and she yelled in triumph. He had made a playful grab for the camera then…

Underneath the pine tree, the boy sitting with the guitar smiled, eyes shut against the harshness of light, remaining deep within memory’s grasp.

Elijah's smile only got wider as the memory continued. Chasing after the red head, trying to grab the camera from her small hands. The only difference between the recollection of the memory and the actual day was how now he was able to look back and notice just how delicate she was. How small she was. Not in the "wow that girl was really tiny" way. In the sense that now he knew how breakable she was. Or maybe he wasn't seeing it now. Maybe he'd seen it all the time and it had just never occurred to him until she was gone. He often found himself worrying, unconsciously, about how she was. Was she hurt. Because now he knew how easily someone so small and delicate could be hurt. A porcelain doll was easy to shatter, after all.

He was just reaching out for the camera, just about to lift it from her tight grasp with a smile when suddenly-

A scream shattered the serene quiet of the top of half blood hill, a blood curdling scream which chilled his veins even more when he realized something crucial. He'd heard that scream before. As she had slipped from his not so firm grasp at the climbing wall, he'd heard a scream almost exactly like it. Except, this time, it wasn't terror which drove it. What drove this scream was pain, and of course the terror. It didn't matter that he heard the unmistakable sound of a monster at the same time. It didn't matter how much he loved that guitar on his lap. As soon as the sound registered within his brain, Eli jumped up, running before he could even realize he'd already stood. His footfalls were heavy, and he wasn't sure how he had managed it but suddenly he was holding his sword.

The image which greeted him as he reached the location of the sound was not pretty. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes took in the sprawled figure and the creature behind. Because that hair, he knew that hair. It was singed, he could see, but it was still her hair.

'ROBIN!'

He couldn't pause, he didn't think as he ran between her and the monster. He was pretty much a fool, he wouldn't be able to do anything- but his first instinct was to protect the breakable doll behind him.

'PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!'

Fear choked him, and Eli found it harder and harder to breath. His heart thudded in his chest, every beat reverberating in his ears, and he was painfully aware of the way it hit against his ribs. Staring into the features of the creature, he almost completely shut down. Gave up. Come to terms with his imminent death and just stop the oncoming fight before it had even begun. His throat was tight, he couldn't think- but Robin. He had to protect the girl behind him, the girl who had screamed in fear and pain, his friend. Taking a deep breath, he unconsciously squared his shoulders, unable to believe he'd been intending to give up. He couldn't do that. What would happen to Robin if he did?

Suddenly cleared eyes widened in growing horror as the monster raised one clawed hand, and Eli felt like the next few seconds happened slower than possible. It was like HD too. All of a sudden, everything got clearer. That could be put down to the whole ADHD thing... or it could be put down to the fact he knew his death was swiftly approaching. Rather funny way to die, when he should have died in the car crash that killed his dad. He'd always thought it would be in a car, for some reason. The parallels between him and his dad had always been... numerous. So it had always seemed likely he'd die just like him. Here he was, sword raised halfway in the air, a monster about to claw him. He began to raise his sword higher, but it would be in vain. That much was for sure.

'Oof!' all of his breath was pushed right out of his lungs as a rather small, but slightly heavier than expected body slammed into him, tackling him to the ground. His ears only then registered her words. She had put herself in more danger, just to tackle him. She had probably put herself in more pain.

Goddammit, Robin...

Her pale face was close to his, her hair unkempt and her features terrified. Her eyes were wide, and he felt his heart strings pulling. He couldn't stand to see her like this. Terrified and with the smell of burnt hair sticking to her. Eli met her gaze, a crooked half smile lighting up his face.

'What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time, Robin Hood?'

The words were barely out of his mouth when a shadow passed over them, and the monster loomed tall above. His gaze changed direction, his eyes widened slightly as the monster raised his paw yet again- and Eli, his senses clearer than before, managed to push Robin to the left of him, hoping she rolled further away. Then, within only a few half seconds, he rolled himself the opposite way, to the right.

The upside was he got Robin at least a little bit away from the monster.

The downside was he put it between the two of them.

Heart racing, he looked around for the sword which had fallen from his grasp as he had been tackled. And found it lay rather close to that dangerous monster which was trying to eat them.

'Robin?' he called, the monsters attention instantly snapping to him, 'Can you reach your crossbow?'

Elijah glanced down at his sword again before continuing.

'Cause I might need a bit of a distraction.'

He was still afraid. That didn't go away. Eli was afraid of death, afraid of the monster in front of him, afraid of what would happen to Robin. Because clearly she was injured, and he had just rolled her across the dusty, dirty ground, possibly making whatever wound she had worse. And he couldn't see her, not with the towering mass of monster goodness standing between them. He was relying solely on hearing her voice, but even that was impossible as the monster kept roaring.

Goddammit, can't you just stay still and shut up? That would be really helpful, please and thank you...

Course, he didn't say it out loud cause that was completely ridiculous and who in their right mind would ever try that, pfft, not him. Okay. Maybe he would, if it wasn't such a serious situation.

Maybe? Hahahaha...

He stood still, his eyes roaming around, trying to get one single glance at a flash of red hair, straining his ears to hear the shout he hoped he would. Nothing came, and his heart started to race- what was wrong, where was she? Was she okay?

Then suddenly- the chimera let out another roar. Yet this one, well, this one sounded like it was in some serious pain. Obviously it hadn't stood on a thorn and gotten it stuck in his paw, so that meant that Robin must have reached her crossbow, wherever it was. As soon as his bran registered that fact, Elijah dived straight towards his sword, skidding along the ground on his stomach which knocked the wind out of his lungs (Yet again).

But he reached it, he reached it, and the monster was turning, and underneath the flurry of legs he could see the scary sight of Robin on the ground again, only this time she didn't look like she could move. Fear enveloped him, and he grasped the cold hilt of his sword.

Elijah wasn't sure what happened within the next few seconds. Fear coupled with a huge rush of adrenaline drove him, and he was on his feet again, sword raised steadily as he moved quickly around the distracted monster. Then, all of a sudden, the sword wasn't in his hands, it was in the monsters side, hilt deep. Shock- and then a rush of panic as he thought it hadn't been enough, that he had been to distracted to put enough force behind it.

And then there was yellow dust blowing in the wind.

Still in his bubble of distraction, fueled by fear and panic and all of those other negative emotions. Elijah ran to the spot Robin lay, dropping to his knees beside her and forgetting the sword which had clattered to the ground some bit away.

'Robin? Are you okay?' anyone would have heard the worry in his voice, 'Robin?'

:/:/OOC: Excuse how crap I am at describing monster deaths k

Elijah felt like pushing her back to the ground, telling her sternly to lie down and rest. The burn looked serious, she needed to rest, not strain herself so she could see it. Seeing it would have been bad enough anyway, since he was feeling slightly woozy just staring and he wasn't even feeling the pain which must have been coming along with it. That pain must be really, really bad.

Not that he was going to bring it up. Who knew, maybe the adreneline rush was blocking the pain for her right now. If he brought it up, the pain might suddenly come to light, she'd notice it, and everything would get a whole lot worse very quickly. Instead, he eyed the burn warily with concerned eyes, but kept his mouth pressed into a thin, worried line.

It was hard for him to resist the natural urge to grin a little in reply to Robin's own smile. It was infectious, at least to him. She was such a happy person, she inspired that sort of happiness in him. That was one reason it hurt him so much to see her in pain. Because this wasn't what she deserved. She deserved happiness and unicorns and balloons, not angry monsters trying to eat her.

At the rate his heart strings were pulling, he was surprised he hadn't done some damage at this point. Although, he did laugh a little at her next sentence.

'I wasn't expecting you to walk.'

No, he hadn't. He hadn't given it much thought on how he'd get her to help either though. If he left her to run and get a stretcher, who knew what trouble she could get herself into, even confined to being on the ground. And there was no other options....

The idea came to him in a flash.

Before she could protest, Elijah carefully slipped one hand underneath her back, and the other beneath her legs- as carefully as he could. Unfortunately, he knew he was going to end up hurting her in some way. When he was as sure as he was going to be that she would be secure, he braced his back and carefully, carefully lifted her up, standing as still as possible.

'Sorry if I hurt you....' he whispered slightly, unsure of how she'd take to being carried to the infirmary.

:/:/OOC: More crap

He broke into a huge grin as he straightened his back, happy with the fact her weight wasn't too much. She was small, after all, but he'd been worried that he wouldn't be able to lift her. Evidently, that had been a stupid worry, cause here he was, cradling her close, supporting her leg as gently as he could so as not to cause her unnecessary pain.

'Do you have a concussion, Robin?' Eli's eyes studied her face, a mischievous glint in them, 'I thought you would realize what I was doing. Maybe we need to check and see if you have some brain damage.'

Then, playfully, he blew out a steady breath aimed at her messy hair. He only stopped when, at the movement of some of the strands of red, he found himself laughing lightly- and almost losing concentration and dropping her on her ass. Shifting his weight, he readjusted the way he held her, making it more secure as carefully as he could.

It seemed he wasn't able to stop laughing, cause he couldn't help the bark of laughter which bubbled up. She was squeaking. And it was hilarious.

'You can't walk Robin. And I don't really trust leaving you here- who knows what you trouble you'll attract. If ya think about it, it's really the only way I can get you to the Infirmary.'

Cocking an eyebrow, he tried to keep his mouth pressed tight lest he laugh at her again.

'Ooh, so what happens when you land after hopping, and the shock hurts your already painful leg? I'm not putting you down,' to make his point, he held her tighter. Then, he began to walk steadily up the hill, one step at a time, not even throwing a backward glance at the sword he'd left where it had fallen. The sword wasn't important.