The Storm's Thunder (#Wattys2016)

Chapter V

     The short, tanned girl climbed off of the horse, ignoring it when it whined at her. Thunder could see its ribs sticking out and flies circling its head and was immediately washed over with pity and disgust. How dare she treat it like that? He glared at her as she sashayed toward him. And how dare she show her face in front of him?
He got up and walked past her to the horse. Ignoring Sky as long as he could, he ran his hand over the poor horse's side and held out the apple that Stripe had brought. He could always check the traps he had set for food. As the horse chowed down on the food, Thunder combed its knotted mane with his fingers, then whistled to Stripe. The wolf immediately ran back into the forest, then came back with an apple in his jaws, a carrot beneath its chin, and rolling another apple along in front of it. The mare neighed gratefully at the pup and feasted.
    "Why do you bother with that thing? It can deal with waiting a little while for a meal." Her sugary sweet voice poked at his back, wanting attention.
Finally, Thunder turned and looked at the horse's tamer, eyes narrowing. "What do you want, Sky?" His voice was dripping with poison.
She smiled sweetly at him, creeping closer... far too much closer to him. "What, are you not happy to see me?" She faked a pout, then giggled and hugged herself up to him. "Didn't you miss me? Now that your runty little freak of a twin isn't here, we're free to do what we please. I could make it... Worth your while..." She ran her hand over his chest. "... If you know what I mean." Her hand started to creep lower.
Thunder slapped her hand away and pushed her off of him. "Don't you freaking dare touch me. What the heck is wrong with you? Are you stupid? Or just blind and deaf? I'm not interested in you. So give it up."
"Oh, Thunder," she purred. "You don't have to play hard to get, hun. It's clear what you want." She laughed quietly. "Storm's not here to distract us, and Luna isn't here to act as your little cover story. There's nothing stopping us from having a little fun." Sky licked her lips.
"Go. Away. Now. Don't talk about Luna like that. And take a hint. I don't want you near me, for any reason. I will not do anything like that with you. Go rub yourself on a tree; that'll be more willing. Or go find Snow. You know, your 'boyfriend'? Remember him? He'd probably be so glad to see you again that he'd be willing to do anything with you.
Her face immediately tightened and she glared at Thunder. "Fine." Sky snapped. "Your retarded little twin is looking for you. Why don't you go find her? Obviously you can't think without her around. Once you figure out who you really want to hang out with, I'll be there."
    Despite his better judgement, Thunder snapped back. "First off, don't call her that. Storm's much kinder and fun to be with than you could ever be. And second, she's dead, Sky. She died in the fire with my parents. This isn't a game. I've had enough of you and your... fantasies... And  lies. Leave me alone."
    The girl smirked. "Oh, she's dead, is she? No, not at all. Storm's very much alive. Do you not believe me? Fine. Your choice. But let's just say, if you want to find her, you'd better start looking now. I mean," she said, giggling, "You could just stay with me. It probably would be much more... Enjoyable... Than going to find that helpless freak. But I guess you're a bit confused so you'd better go see for yourself. Or else you may never have another chance."
    Thunder looked at her, confused. "What?"