Vampiric Tree

His legs crossed and his back as strait as a ramrod. The barren land scape around him. The trees in different forms of either death or already being dead.

Rowan had once been an apple tree. Strong and enjoying the slow pass of his heartwood or mind as the magical knowledge told him. Being man was too hard for him though. So here he sat his red hair mixing with the streaks of brown as wind washed over him.

Even in the barren land scape things persuaded him to live. The beauty of the sky with the sun hanging in it where he would have turned his leaves but now only beat upon his shoulders. He wore no shirt as it had been to small for him in the first place and now lay in a tattered pile to his right.

He wore pants because for some reason woman got scared and turned the color of apples if he didn't have them on. Woman, men, the strange creatures, it all made little or no sense.

Waiting for death was not so easy either. The hunger gnawed at his insides wanting him to eat. Resisting as he had he sat still looking out as his view started to disappear as a fog creeped up around him.

The dream had been much the same. The one she had when she wasn't asleep. The one that kept whispering to a greater depth to life than what was shown around her. It felt that much of Alasantres was blinded by the fog that hovered in its midst. Many eyes were shielded from the fact that there was more, more than death and destruction and blood. Gemma felt the truth to this belief, felt it in the heart she shouldn't have had.

But how could no one else notice the things that seemed so evident to her? The beauty of life, of the sun sparkling down on even a place as dark as Alasantres, of the feelings and emotions that were tied so intricately to the very being of all those that existed. How could her kind ignore such amazing signs of life?

Gemma couldn't. She couldn't pretend that those senses that alerted her to these marvels didn't exist. At least not in private. She'd put on a show for her vampire kin, but, the second she was alone, the feelings were no longer able to be ignored.

That was why she often sought privacy. That was why she often drifted away from the castle, from the small building of her own house in Alasantres. She crept away from civilization in order to truly live. And in those moments of stolen freedom, she was most alive, most aware.

With her pale skin almost sparkling in the sun light, Gemma wondered through the long-dead forest of Alasantres, looking like a sad porcelain doll with her long, black hair playing around her face and her red lips pursed into a look of concentration.

For some time, she was fascinated simply by the way her long legs cut daintily through the fog so that it swirled up around her thighs and dispersed into the air, almost as if she was walking through water, it felt.

Then, when she finally tired of this, Gemma lifted her eyes to study the trees that she passed. The pain of their destruction was her pain. Occasionally, she reached out, touching the blackened, dead bark and wincing as it disintegrated beneath her fingers, whispering away like dust in the wind.

She had just began to wonder, for the millionth time in her life, what Alasantres had looked like in the days of its prime, when nature hadn't been overruled by beast, and that was when she saw him.

At first, she froze solid, rooting to the spot and barely containing the instinct to flee. The gut response was prodded by the fact that she never ran into anyone during her brief forays out into the wilderness, but also by the scent that was hanging in the air. The scent of blood. Blood that, though strange, did not belong to a monster of Alasantres, but, rather, some sort of human.

Unlike what would have been the first response of her kin, Gemma Octavia felt no desire to pounce on the unsuspecting man sitting in solitude in the middle of dangerous territory. No, her reaction was much different.

She was surprised by the unfamiliar clenching in her stomach, as if it had just tightened into dozens of knots, making it nearly impossible to breathe. Her throat ran dry, she felt almost light-headed, and she could do no more than to stare with wide eyes at the beautiful creation before her. This human looked so at home, so at ease, in the midst of nothing but nature. He looked almost as if he himself had been born of the soil rather than another mortal.

So perfect. So unbelievably perfect that he stunned the eyes of a vampire. A creation that should have long since been used to perfection.

Gemma stared at this handsome man for several long, stolen moments while he remained unaware of her. What was he doing in a place like Alasantres? Did he not know that mortality and beauty such as his did not belong here? Gemma's heart--unlike other vampires, she had a strong belief that she did, in fact, contain a heart--fluttered nervously, pounding in an upbeat pace.

What was this feeling? She had never felt something quite like it before.

Though she knew the sight of her might frighten him away, Gemma dared to take the chance in order to be closer to him. Tentatively, she stepped forward, moving several paces in his direction until she stood right before him.

She tilted her head to the side. It felt as if her heart beat faster.

"Who are you?" she asked curiously, right to the point.

She'd come to find that, in a place like Alasantres, there was no time to beat around the bush. She had to make the best of every stolen second that she could.

Rowan watched her. She was beautiful. As slender as an aspen though her hair darker. Almost like the ghost he had seen once. Being a tree you see much of the world though take no notice unless of course you became human.

Distracted for an instant by the uncomfortably clenching of his stomach from hunger. Ignoring it he returned his attention to her. So straight forward. Did no one appreciate that they could even speak? They could do so many wonderful things yet they didn't use it or they simply abused it. By yelling and cursing.

"I am Rowan. Who may I ask, are you?" His voice was like the creak of the trees in a hard storm. He liked his voice personally like a deep ancient voice of the deep. Though he may not know any songs to sing he wasn't going to taint it with the sounds they had made for anger at him.

He knew what they meant from the magical knowledge but it seemed a trivial thing to call someone a donkey. He moved his hands sliding to his ankles. The urge to leave all that unkindness was stronge yet here someone was. Not yelling but asking who he was.

Not something he was used to especially with one so beautiful. So he said it plainly, "You are beautiful yet you don't flee from me or curse me to Alasantres well this place," he seemed lost in thought for a moment, "A place where us trees die."

It was true the mist swirling around them couldn't hide the utter rot of the trees around them. Life seemed to have fled this place a long time ago. Though what confused him is why someone that seemed just that much more in tune was here. "Why are you here?" he asked a look of confusion on his face.

Rowan. She turned the name over in her mind several times, testing it. She found that she liked it. It was a pleasing name to speak, a pleasing name to think. Or perhaps she was imagining both since she was already so enraptured by his face, and, now, the sound of his voice, which was deep and, somehow, comforting. She found she would have liked to sit and talk with him, just to hear it.

"I'm Gemma," she offered her name voluntarily, with abandon.

Certainly, it might have been foolish to reveal her identity. She didn't know the man nor anything about him. He could have been any manner of villain, could use and wield her name against her, but there was something about this Rowan fellow that Gemma instinctively trusted. Almost like an innocent child would have trusted.

Her cheeks felt strangely warm when he complimented her beauty, though no blush could paint her cheeks a lovely color. They were eternally pale, drained of all the color of life. It shouldn't have mattered anyway. All vampires were beautiful to the human eye. She knew this, yet she took this compliment to heart, feeding on it greedily.

However, she was slightly confused when he seemed to refer to himself as a tree. Though it was an impossible thought, so far as she knew, Gemma had the fleeting vision of him as a tree. It wasn't hard to imagine. Somehow his face and body, even his voice, seemed to be deeply intune with nature. There was a beauty to him that couldn't be explained if he was seen in the context of mortality, in the limitations of humanity.

"Why should I flee?" she asked, as if the question was partially aimed at herself. "I suppose if anyone should flee, it should be you."

Did he even realize what she was? What her birthright intitled? In the workings of their twisted world, she was the predator and he was the prey. Perhaps he could tell that she was not inclined to kill him.

Not inclined at all. Why should she flee from such a gorgeous sight when everything inside of her merely wanted to stay. Stay with him, near him. She glanced down at his hand, wanting to touch him even, but she restrained.

His next question surprised her. It should have been evident, at least to the eyes of an outsider, that she was here because all vampires lived inside of Alasantres, but, somehow, she didn't suspect that that was what he'd meant. What was she doing here? In this place, alone. She was sure that was what his curious question had meant.

Vampires were solitary creatures, yet she would have, in his situation, guessed the same. That something was amiss when she had appeared alone and with no intention to attack and feed. But what could she say?

He asked of her her most guarded secret. What she was doing out here, alone, could have had her banished, even killed, if her kindred found her out.

"I seek the solitude," she conceded just a bit. "Everyone needs a break every once in awhile from the madness inside of Alasantres."

Mesmerized, Gemma watched the fog as it swirled around Rowan's form, encasing him in its thick, white blanket.

"Why are you here?" she asked in return, seeing as how he had far less reason to be here than she did. "It's dangerous for you to be here. Not everyone is as peaceful as me."

No one, in fact, was as peaceful as she.

Rowan in turn reviewed her name, Gemma. It fit as she was a gem in the vast and empty land. She asked why she should flee and that it should be him that flees instead. The magical knowledge told him now that she was a vampire. She hunted on humans drinking there blood dry and leaving there bodies for the scavengers.

Though it didn't seem possible her voice was soft spoken and she had yet to even come closer to him. Though the rock was huge and would have easily fit 3 people.

Her voice again speaking of the madness of this place. That she needed a break. So there was more like her here. "I await death. Being human is too confusing for me. You are a vampire correct?" he paused a moment, "Is there more people like you? You don't seem like what my knowledge describes you as. A blood sucker. Only wanting to drink me dry."

A frown came on to his face as another hunger pain racked him. It made him painfully aware that his children, apples, where on the ground beside the rock. He hadn't had the heart to toss them but instead kept them close hoping someone else would take them and eat them. Tossing the core to start it's own life.

Nothing would grow here so they sat bellow him. Six of them. Enough to fill him but he blocked it out of his mind focusing on the bad things instead of the creature before him. With her astounding beauty and the fog gently curling over her.

He wanted to die not live. People where cruel when he took clothes for warmth he was screamed at and chased away. When he wanted food no one gave it too him. Even now the hunger gnawed at him causing him pain. As a tree you didn't have to live with hunger or cruelty.

You were simply there. Existing for a time until something else came to take your life. It wasn't a bad life and longer then his human one would be.

Gemma frowned. He was awaiting death? Well, that was certainly a plausible reason for a human to be in vampire territory. Not to mention all the other beasts that lurked within the boundaries of Alasantres. Gemma knew that there were plenty carnivores to go around, and most of them would enjoy the thought of a human meal. She felt frantic at this knowledge, a slight dripping of panic down her spine, as she imagined one of those hungry monsters happening upon this man. His death was an extremely displeasing thought to her.

Her attention was momentarily diverted at his next question. He’d pegged her species. Though she found that it might have been apparent given her complexion and the strange perfection of her body, she was still slightly unnerved that he knew what she was. At least he had yet to run. But why would he if he truly sat awaiting death? She cringed slightly, hoping that he didn’t expect her to be the one to steal his soul. That thought alone made her slightly sick.

At least he didn’t think her the same. He sounded as if he thought her unique. That pleased her. Anything to keep her from melting into the general stereotype of her kind.

“Yes, I am,” she offered more information to him, more than she’d planned to, once again. “But, no, I don’t believe there’s many more like me. Anyone else would have killed you by now.”

Why would she confess this to him? Her most coveted secret was the one that she could possibly be different than the rest, that there could be some horrible mutation in her genes that forced her to be the odd vampire out. Those sort of differences in their kind were not praised. They were punished.

Still, Gemma felt little fear from having divulged her secret to Rowan. She couldn’t help but feel that he meant no harm to anyone. Even a creature such as herself. Could she possibly have been so fortunate as to find someone that she could finally speak to without fear? It seemed like a fool’s hope, but it was there. For a moment, she tried to forget that every moment he was there, someone could easily come along and murder him, tried to forget that he could not stay there, and, even if he did, his knowledge of her difference could destroy her.

She couldn’t leave however, despite the fact that she knew turning away now would be the safest route. She needed this connection. And, even more, she couldn’t disperse the strong desire to be near Rowan, something almost magnetic that she had felt upon laying eyes on him.

Carefully, she moved toward him, and, just as carefully, she sat across from him, moving slowly as to show that she meant no harm.

“I don’t know why, but I’m different. I feel things that my kind would hate me for. Do you…” She trailed off, struggling to ask the question she had often fought with. She wanted to ask him, needed to, because of that strange magnetic feeling that made her want to trust and be near him. “Do you think it’s possible that I have a heart?”

It felt right to ask this of him. This strange, solitary human that had dared to trespass into Alasantres territory. Obviously he was a man of bravery, and one that was unique. Perhaps he was like her amongst his humans, perhaps there was something that made him stand out. Maybe he, when no one else could, would understand her.

Gently, Gemma bit her lower lip and studied him.

That sounded more like the description his mind gave him. That any other truly would have killed him and never thought a second thing about it.

She moved about slowly as if she was trying to get a frightened animal to come to him. Rowan, either not used to having fear of demons or vampires, just not being afraid of death anyway. or that she seemed kind, wasn't scared of her.

Sitting down she was now in reaching distance. Her next words were hesitant a secret obviously. That she told a stranger. Perhaps not so strange for him as he had had at least two people come and tell them there secrets. A heart?

"If you think about it many things have a heart that should not. Me for instance. I shouldn't have a heart at all." He shrugged giving her a small smile, "Listen."

Right at that moment as if he had called it him self the slightest of breezes blew. Except of course he only knew when to expect it and couldn't effect the breeze at all. It gently ruffled his hair and sent the fog in to a swirl. The fog making intricate patterns in the air. The trees though did something that could only be described as singing.

The melody was perfect adding to the beauty around them. It was filled with the longing to be alive once more. To feel the sun on there leaves and the earth under there roots. It was also filled with sorrow. That they had ended up in such decay.

Rowan hummed along with it. Adding his human voice too it. When the wind died once more he sat still as the trees and didn't move. After a moment a small smile turned his lips.

"I'm afraid your persuading me to live," the music of the world was definitely something to live for.

Taking a deep long breath he let it out slowly, "You hear that even this place has a heart of it's own."

Gemma studied Rowan carefully, hoping that it wasn't too blunt for her to stare. But she couldn't look away, for a multitude of reasons. One being that he was beautiful, and the other being that she was confused by him. The more she tried to figure him out, the less she understood. Why was he not supposed to have a heart?

He was human, was he not? She couldn't honestly tell. There was something different about his scent that she had never detected in another. Something earthy and fresh.

"Listen."

She sat completely still, both because he commanded her to, and because as soon as he spoke the words she was surprised by the breeze that followed. As if he himself had called the wind. Eyes wide, Gemma sat motionlessly and felt that breeze stir around her, swirling the fog in some sort of private dance.

It was almost as if she could hear something underneath that unassuming breeze as well. Almost like a whisper-soft voice. So hard to distinguish, yet inevitably there. Like music.

Gemma's gaze flickered back to Rowan and stayed carefully on his face as he suddenly began to hum. She was almost surprised to find that he was humming in such a way that it almost sounded like his voice somehow should have been accompanying the wind. Like he was a part of it. A strange feeling creeped up Gemma's spine that wasn't all that unpleasant.

He was beautiful to look at, to listen to. So different from the immortal, genetic beauty here. His was the kind that could not be shared with a bite or blood. His was something entirely his own.

Gemma was enraptured by it.

When the breeze died down, she was regretful.

He was right, though. Somewhere underneath all of the death that occupied Alasantres, there was still a faint, pulsing heart beat. It was only smothered by the madness of its occupants. If this dead and beaten land could have a heart, why couldn't she?

Rowan seemed to think that she was capable of possessing one, and that felt good enough for her. It felt nice to have someone to discuss it with.

Bravely, Gemma reached out and touched the jean material covering Rowan's leg. She needed contact, and it was too late to realize that that contact would be a mistake.

She sucked in a breath as it felt like fire suddenly lit under her hand. There was nothing there, of course, but she felt it. She felt that thin burst of heat and electricity. That short crackle. That maddening, unexplainable pull towards this man she barely knew.

Her throat tightened and she felt a need worse than any thirst she'd ever bore. In response, she dropped her hand away. Lest she do something stupid.

Embarassed, she looked quickly away, thankful that she'd lost the ability to blush centuries ago.

"Why..." she trailed off, her voice weak, and had to take a moment to begin again. "Why do you wish to die? Certainly someone like yourself has a reason to live."

She had been there before. Been in the blackest place in her life, feeling alone and horribly, painfully unique in her bizarre ability to feel emotions. She had wanted an escape. But what could Rowan possibly be fleeing from?

Gemma's touch was feather soft but he knew at that instant that she was dead. Her touch was cold as death. It didn't chill him though. Instead it made him crave for more. It was strange experiencing the human emotion of longing. Instead of reacting to her obvious discomfort at having touched him. She assured her by gently patting her knee.

Then he slid off the rock and picked up the apples. Beginning to munch on one before he answered her.

"I'm not exactly supposed to be human. I was an apple tree and one of your wizards turned me in to a man. He's been trying to help me but it's too hard. I get hit and yelled at and chased away," He didn't seem too bothered by it as he finished his apple and chucked it far through the air. Then brought out another.

He leaned his head back against the rock so he could see her properly. Only a hairs breath away from her. Perhaps some ingrain tree knowledge to protect made him do it but perhaps it was because he was even more human then he had thought.

He reached up and pulled her off the rock. Even if he was human he had the undeniable strength of a tree. Even a vampire would be hard pressed to attack him. Rowan smiled absently at her.

"Are you sure your a vampire? You've been, um kind, to me?" Seeming to ask if that was the right word, "Either you lie or you truly do have a heart some where." He seemed thoughtful but he held her loosely so that she could escape if she wanted as he leaned back against the rock taking another bite out of his apple.

He guessed he did have much to live for as she had said. A man like him, no a tree like him had more then to be fertilizer or perhaps her meal. Though Rowan didn't feel afraid of her. Gemma could easily have drank him dry but she had done nothing.

Though perhaps there was more. Looking back down at her he searched her eyes. Beautiful was the only word for her but what was best was the light in her eyes. A twinkling of something else hidden behind her shy attitude. A life that had beheld beauty and respected it.

Something he hadn't been able to examine in others. It made him happy in a way that she was excepting of him. Even if her skin was chilled he liked that as well. Like a cool breeze rustling the leaves.

Rowan knew he had to try. Try to live try to find beauty to keep him going, "Will you help me Gemma?" The first time he had said her name out loud and it made him smile softly, "Show me the beauty you see." He could use all the help he could get.

An apple tree. That was certainly new. But it made sense. It explained that special something about him that seemed to be a part of the ground that he stood on. Even the way he handled the apple in his hand seemed familiar to him, like they belonged to him. Something about the way he’d called, or predicted, the breeze earlier. He seemed at home in nature, even in a place like Alasantres. No wonder he was beautiful. He encompassed nature itself. Gemma was intoxicated by him already, as if he was the life source she’d been searching for on her daily ventures.

“Why would anyone want to chase you away?” she wondered aloud, her curious eyes on him still.

Why did people fear such beauty? Why did they detest it? Perhaps that question wasn’t so difficult to answer when it came to Alasantres, but the other lands surrounding them? She’d thought that, unlike here, the other territories respected and admired beauty. Apparently they took what they had for granted.

For a moment, Gemma’s eyes saddened. There was nothing here to take for granted. Everything was rather black and white. If one of her kind saw Rowan, there would be no fear or disgust, they would merely be hungry. He’d be a food source. Nothing more, nothing less. And they’d obliterate his beauty as they’d obliterated the beauty of the trees that were now dead and barren.

Gemma was surprised when she felt him grab ahold of her, gently tugging her off the rock. She felt that strange sensation again as his skin touched hers. Perhaps it was just the way that his heat mixed with the cold of her skin, but Gemma still couldn’t deny the way her stomach twisted pleasantly. She was secretly pleased that he didn’t let go.

“A vampire?” she repeated, her lips twisting into a sad smile. “Yes, I’m certain. I just… have a genetic malfunction.”

The fact that she had a compacity for kindness obviously meant there was something wrong with her genetic makeup when every other vampire on the face of Celvia would have already heartlessly murdered Rowan without a second thought. How else could she explain why she could feel? Why she felt what she felt right now? As if she had a heart, and that heart was currently throbbing with excitement and the desire to keep this man by her side, despite what she already knew were impossible odds. The realization of that made her feel suddenly desperate, and she glanced around them warily, as if expecting someone to suddenly materialize and ruin everything now.

When he asked for her help, Gemma found that that malfunction in her genes hardly mattered. Somehow, it had brought her into the presence of a man that she was already feeling a growing need for. If she’d been like the others, she’d know nothing but death and destruction. She would never have known the ability to love.

Love? Was that too strong a word right now? But what else could she possibly term that raw ache around her heart? Silly, it should have taken longer, but it was there. Something about Rowan positively enticed her. When she listened to his plea to be aided in his quest for beauty, she could only smile.

He was the first truly beautiful thing she’d seen in ages.

“I’d love to help you,” she told him quietly, “but you may be disappointed with what you find in Alasantres.”

She frowned lightly at the truth in her words. How often had Alasantres disappointed her?

“The monsters here hide the beauty. They’ve killed it. If you want to find beauty, don’t seek it in Alasantres.”

Still, even as she warded him off his path, she felt the need to find something of worth to show him, something that would keep him in Alasantres. Which was an entirely selfish thing for her to desire. Rowan remaining in Alasantres only meant death. The second some other beast roaming the land caught a whiff of his scent, his beauty would be obliterated.

That thought pained Gemma on an entirely different level. A physical and mental ache, as if she might die with him. And why shouldn’t she? He was the first in the entire span of her life to make her feel as if there was something more to her eternal existance. As if she had something to look forward to.

“You shouldn’t even stay here. It’s dangerous for you,” she paused, unable to send him away. “Do you have anywhere to stay? If not, say that you’ll stay with me in my home if you are determined to stay in this cursed place.”

Rowan blinked at her but kept quiet as she said all that she wanted to say. Then he started to laugh. A deep rolling laugh that burst from his chest.

"Is the tree with golden apples a," he paused struggling with the word, "Genetic malfunction? You are definitely a wonder. If there is no beauty other then you then perhaps I should leave."

Though she had offered for him to stay with her, "I don't have anywhere to go. Next time I lose my self I may not be so lucky to find you."

Did he want to die? For some reason the thought was unbearable to leave this woman. Her cold skin so pale as the fog slowly curled around her. Curled around them both making them appear like phantoms in the fog. Her beauty was stunning. Her fall of black hair curling over his bare arms. An image perhaps surreal in this type of place.

'Kiss,' a new word as he examined her features. Red lips full and he wanted to kiss them. What ever kiss was he definitely wanted to do it with her.

"I will stay with you," he nodded as if confirming his own mind as well, "What is kiss? Sometimes my magic knowledge tells me things that don't make sense."

He seemed a bit sheepish as if it was out of his comfort zone to ask for help with a word from her. He stood up a bit straighter. Finishing the last of his apples he threw them hard and far. Hopefully they would take root and grow as the should.

Or perhaps the wind would bore them to a better place. In a way it made him sad that he had to release the last of his seed as a tree to a place as desolate as this.

Gemma jolted slightly as Rowan laughed. The abrupt, cheerful sound of it startled her as she hadn't expected that reaction. She glanced up at his handsome face in confusion, not understanding what she could have said that would have been amusing.

As he spoke, she smiled softly. She was flattered by his statement, yet not completely undone by it. He must not have seen many others. Had he glanced the rest of the population of Alasantres, he would have known that her beauty was far from extradordinary. Here, it was, well, average.

However, that didn't matter to her. As far as she was concerned, she didn't want him to see anyone else. She desperately wanted to remain the beautiful creature he thought she was in his eyes. Her spirit itself lightened as he joked with her, sounding as if he wanted to stay.

She felt... happy. It had been a long while since she'd felt that peculiar emotion. It was much more than the fact that she would no longer be alone. It was that the one sharing her company would be him.

That happiness blossomed into genuine delight when he did agree to stay with her. Nothing could have made her happier.

"Perfect," she breathed, smiling brightly in his direction. "We can go--."

Her words died abruptly on her lips as he cut in and asked her what a kiss was. For a moment, her mind and face went slack in surprise, taken completely off guard by his seemingly innocent question.

A kiss? Her eyes flickered down once to his lips, as if she'd never noticed them before. She could almost feel the warmth of them on hers.

"A kiss is... Well..."

How could she explain? Was it a concept that was able to be explained? No, no words could do it justice. At least not the type of kiss she wanted to give him. There were soft kisses, quick kisses, kisses for family, but none of those were what she was imagining.

"It's..."

She swallowed hard. There was a strange feeling in her head. As if her cheeks were trying to warm. An awkward sensation. Like embarrassment.

A simply question, yet it seemed to be her undoing. Why had he asked? Had he been thinking of it as she had? So crazy that she should feel such strong emotions for a man she had only just met. Yet, there was something about him. Something like gravity that made her want to stay near, that gave her no choice at all.

"This," she whispered suddenly, "This is a kiss."

She stepped forward bravely, something inside her chest pounding with excitement. Gracefully, she lifted herself onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. Softly, withholding the urgency that she felt.

The kiss was more than she expected. It was warm, though she could not be warmed, and it was somewhat electrical. As if thousands of bolts of electricity were sparking through her body and reawakening the cold, dead organs that no longer pulsed. It felt like her pulse. Like her heartbeat. Both of which had been absent for some time in her life.

It was invigorating, and she wanted to stay there planted against him permanently. But she couldn't. He'd only asked her a question. He hadn't asked her to attack him, nor had he given her permission.

Breathless, Gemma pulled away, dropping back onto her heels and smiling a little shyly.

"So--um--I guess we should be getting to my house. Before nightfall."

Gemma seemed flustered by his question. As if she had no words at all to describe what exactly a kiss was. When she showed him he couldn't have agreed more. It sent a shiver down his spine. Not from the chill of her lips but from the pleasure of it.

When she pulled away he frowned instantly, "I think I like kissing." He wasn't embarrassed as she seemed to be. Though he knew that she was right.

It was best to get moving not stay here and keep learning how to kiss. Though he probably would have preferred the later. Though he wanted to try first. Instead of how she did with out touching him he experimented pulling her closer by a strong grip on her hips.

He kissed her back mimicking how she had kissed him but feeling as if he had more to learn. With a slightly goofy smile on his face he wrapped his fingers in to hers as a tree would do with another tree.

"I'm ready now. Are you going to teach me more about 'kiss'?" Rowan asked wondering if she liked the kiss as much as he did. It was another beautiful thing that a tree would never get the chance to experiance but he was even more glad that it was with her.

He didn't think that the ones that had yelled at him would be as good as her. Though of course he hadn't staid to ask them. His thoughts turned back to Gemma. Wondering if her home would be as beautiful as she was. He didn't doubt it.

Funny thing was, he thought her not just beautful on the outside but he loved her for her kindness as well. Love? That was also a new word for him but he thought he knew enough to not have to ask her. Maybe he would let him speak to him tonight. Though there were some other words that confused him. Somehow he knew that would be answered in time.

Gemma filled him with wonder and he wanted to know more about her and more about human things. That was the best in it's self. He finaly had someone to teach him. Even if she was a vampire.

"I think I like kissing."

Gemma smiled lightly but looked away, embarrassed, yet pleased at the same time. She wanted to think that the reason he liked kissing was because of her.

Her confidence was boosted when he brought her attention back to him, and she turned her head just in time to feel his lips press against hers. At first, she was slightly startled. Until she felt his hands grip her hips and pull her forward. Then she simply melted into him, clutching uselessly at his chest as she felt suddenly light-headed.

He pulled away before she could sink too deeply, and perhaps that was a good thing, because, along with the slow-burning need, she'd suddenly, unexplainably, become aware of his scent, as if for the first time. Perhaps it was the fact that her guard had fallen as she'd drifted into the kiss, but that was a dangerous error. She didn't know why she hadn't expected to be that drawn by his scent, considering how much she was already drawn to him without it.

Flustered, she stepped back as well, though allowed her hands to remain in his, and she concentrated on the warmth of his fingers curled around hers to divert her attention.

With a fluttering feeling in her chest, Gemma shook her head gently, though she wished she could have answered differently.

"Not right now. It's best to get you out of view."

She squeezed his hands softly, and turned to lead the way before she let herself be caught up in the desire to kiss him again. She could wait. At least for the short venture to her house.

Keeping her senses alert, Gemma avoided the scents that hinted at other beings roaming around and made a weaving line back to her home. It was a small, white cottage with billowy, blue curtains guarding the windows that had shutters of brown. It stood alone in the fog, seeing as how all the homes in Alasantres were situated far enough from one another that the resident's scent would be the only one to detect for several miles in either direction.

Casting a suspicious glance around, Gemma quickly led Rowan into the house, securing the deadbolt behind them as well as turning her key in the lock. Gemma didn't think she'd have any surprise visitors, but she didn't want to take any chances.

Ascertaining that they were tightly locked in, Gemma turned back to the room and gestured to the finely upholstered seats that sat in her living room.

"This is the living room," she told him, and then pointed to a hall to their right that almost immediately opened up into another room, "and that is the kitchen."

She then pointed to the staircase directly before them. "Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bath. The second door is the guest bedroom that you can have."

She turned back to Rowan then and was immediately struck by the reality that they were absolutely alone now. No one to chance by, wandering through the dead forest of Alasantres. He was in her home.

Feeling awkward, as it had been some time since anyone had been in her home, Gemma nervously clasped her hands together before her. Still, she kept her eyes on his face, and a handsome face it was. She was struck again by the chiseled contours, the eyes, the mouth... A beautiful human. The most beautiful she'd ever seen.

Perhaps it was because he wasn't entirely human, but Gemma couldn't believe it was just that. There was something else about this man that drew her in. More than his face and his scent.

Gemma swallowed with difficulty. "Are you hungry?"

She didn't know why she asked. It wasn't as if there was likely to be anything edible for a human in her kitchen. But she would find him something if he was.

"Or maybe you'd like a bath?" she volunteered again. "I imagine you're tired as well. I can probably find some clothes for you."

She was rambling now. Gemma bit her tongue and smiled sheepishly.

Rowan nodded and followed after her. When they reached her home she started explaining things and quietly he said them along as well. The knowledge fueling him.

Though when she said 'The second door is the guest bedroom that you can have' It made him frown. So he was to try and fall asleep here? He had never experienced what ever a bedroom was but it sounded lonely.

He was used to many trees. She seemed conscious asking him if he wanted to eat or take a 'bath'. Well from what he gathered of his magical knowledge it simply said that it was removing the dirt from one self. How it didn't say. He didn't smell quite bad as he had went in to a river many times to cool wounds in to a dull ache. Not in this place but before he had come here.

"I'm afraid I don't know how to take a 'bath'," but he pressed in to his more important question, "Must I sleep apart from you? I'm used to sleeping with many many trees around me. Sleeping in a small box does not sound very nice." At least it didn't to him. He smiled hoping he hadn't said something that made him seem even less of a human.

Though hunger wasn't a problem for now. The apples would fill him for a while at least. Though he was a bit nervous looking around him and rubbing his for-arm as if he was a bit chilly though every time his gaze went to her he smiled greatly.

Even if he was in such a strange place she somehow made him a lot more comfortable. Perhaps her kindness? Or the 'kiss' that he was still interested in but for now would be fine with out answering. Though it seemed greater like the sun above that gave life and when it was gone rain took it's place. Or the winds that carried seed to there final rest to regrow and become a great tree once more.

Like a life giver but instead she gave him knowledge. Something that seemed better with his current body. Even with it's ugly stubbly roots that he couldn't help but look at now. Ugly to him he made a face before continuing his look around of the house.

Gemma pursed her lips as Rowan admitted the lack of knowledge as to what a bath was. She could explain it, but how did one explain something when everything she was used to would be so obviously foreign to Rowan? Perhaps she could show him, but that, as well, might prove to be awkward. Still, if she hoped to have any success with the man, she imagined she would have to resort to that. There had to be--.

Her thoughts drained fitfully from her mind as she caught his next question. It was an innocent question, but the millions of inuendos tied to it had Gemma wondering how brightly red her face would have been had she still contained the capability to blush scarlet. She coughed quietly, choking on the air she’d been drawing in, and looked away. Of course he hadn’t meant any of those inuendos as he, undoubtedly, didn’t know what they were, but… Gemma was well aware of them. And thinking of them wasn’t entirely unappealing to her.

Her eyes trailed down over his firm, muscled chest, and she felt all too aware. It was horrible of her to think, for a second, of taking advantage of him as well. Especially when the only reason he’d asked her to allow him to sleep with her had been such an innocent one. He was uncomfortable with the idea of being alone. That was all.

“I—I..” she swallowed and tried again. “Sure. I suppose we could arrange something if it will make you more comfortable.”

She offered him a strained smile as several thoughts filtered through her mind. Thoughts that she wasn’t exactly familiar with, but ones that probably weren’t appropriate. She giggled softly to herself anyway, unused to feeling anything other than the desire to be alone.

She watched him examine her home, his eyes drifiting from every individual object she owned, and she wondered what he thought of it all. He looked out of place standing there in the midst of her small house. Not in a distasteful way, but in the aspect that he seemed too… perfect? Too perfect to be humbled by her wordly possessions. He was more than just human. He was part of something greater. His handsome physique and face seemed even better than the perfection of the vampires in Alasantres.

“You can stay here as long as you’d like,” Gemma told him quietly, “but I can’t guarantee how safe you’ll be here.”

She frowned. Would he go mad being locked up in her home? The prospect of him being outside for any length of time was incredibly dangerous. Anyone could catch his scent, and what would she do if someone tried to kill him? Gemma felt suddenly anxious, torn in two. Part of her wanted to be selfish and keep him locked in here with her forever, and the other part recognized what was in him that needed to be free.

“I’d like it if you stayed for awhile,” she admitted, but didn’t divulge the true reason why. “It’s nice to have company that doesn’t have a mind set on destruction and quenching the thirst.”

How long could she keep him? Gemma’s heart already ached. Why was she already so attached? It made little sense to her, but the fact that it was so confusing might have added to the appeal. Everything had been so black and white in her world before.

Ooc:
Sorry this took an incredibly long time to post. ;-; My only excuse is that classes have become hectic, as well as other aspects of my life, but I promise to try my best not to take an eternity to post again. I’m stealing time at work to do this now. XD

Anyway, I thought that we could play this out a tad bit more and then someone could catch wind or sight of Rowan, and they come to inspect, and Gemma either kills them or sneaks Rowan out another way, but, regardless, Rowan has to return to his side of the border, and that’s when Gemma starts mourning and awakens the Gem of Love.