RIPTIDE ▹ THE ORIGINALS

thirteen; new orleanians like their agriculture

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River groaned as she sat up, letting her head fall into her hands as the pounding raged on inside of her skull. It felt as if she was waking up from her comatose state all over again, and it royally sucked. Slowly, the images of what occurred during the previous night started coming back to her, and a warm feeling spread up to her cheeks.

River cleared her throat, glassy eyes peering up from beneath her dark lashes with hesitance. "Hey, uhm, can we go home now? I don't really feel too good."

The girl noticed Klaus dart his slanted eyes over to her with slightly upturned brows. It looked foreign on him, as if he rarely let it show. In fact, it almost didn't register in her mind at all in the foggy state she was in, but his soft features definitely caught the young Marshall off guard.  

Hayley was quick to agree, and seemed to stand up a little too quickly, though Klaus sped over and caught her before her body had the chance to hit the ground. Unfortunately, River's little limbs were so weakened after being literally shot in the shoulder by an arrow, that her eyes began to flutter to the back of her head, desperate for the sweet release of sleep. 

"Sister," Klaus beckoned, gesturing with his head for Rebekah to catch the young girl before she fell over.

And she did. The blonde original sped over, letting River's head fall into the crook of her neck as a soft huff of air left the woman's lips. Rebekah clasped her arms behind the teen's knees and linked them around her back before carefully scooping her up as if she weighed nothing. If she occasionally stroked River's cheek in comfort every now and again, or brushed the kid's hair behind her ears as if fell into her face, nobody else noticed. 

"We've got you, loves," Klaus' quiet voice murmured. "We've got you."

River also remembered the feeling of sharp wood relentlessly piercing into her skin, ripping through her shoulder without a stitch of remorse ( . . . and without a stitch, in general). She still had no idea, none in the slightest, of how her wounds had managed to heal as if they never happened. She didn't want to think about it, but it kept prodding at her mind like a metal door knocker, begging to be let in.

River's chest began to feel tight and constricting against her lungs, which seemed to beg for more air with each new breath that she took. 

As a soft hand fell onto her shoulder and River's head darted to the source, sighing in relief upon seeing only Hayley's relaxed figure by her side. The teen was silent for a moment, not quite knowing what to say, but Hayley paid it no mind as she gently pulled River into her side, wrapping an arm around the younger brunette's shoulders as her chin rested on her head.  

"Hey," the werewolf's hoarse voice spoke up as she carefully eyed her baby sister's movements. "You okay?"

River barely made a sound as she sank deeper into Hayley's embrace. The teen, who usually wasn't one for excessive amount of physical affection, just wanted a few more seconds of reassurance in the warmth that seemed to radiate off of her sister. "Fine."

"Do you, uh, remember much of what happened yesterday?"

The girl tensed for a moment, thoroughly debating on whether she should just deny it in its entirety; but she couldn't. It wouldn't go away, even if she tried.  "Yeah."

Hayley seemed to mirror that phenomenon, arms stiffening against River's body. "Oh."

A sudden booming voice from downstairs ripped the two Marshalls from the unnerving air that surrounded them. It wasn't a surprise, whose voice it was - it actually sent a miniature smile to River's face. Klaus seemed to have that effect - a certain friendliness about him that for so long the teen had only associated with Hayley.