Chapitre 112: Forest Escapades
[POV Rosalie]
The man was an enigma. A mystery wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in a riddle.
Sure, Carlisle had said he was old, as well as Esme…but could he actually be who he just said?
Neither of them said anything about him being the first man.
He certainly didn't act like I would have thought that first man would.
His youthful face, eyes filled with a joyful optimism, and a smirk always seeming to be ready to voice a wise crack any chance he could. Not the hardened figure of someone who had seen only God knows how many years here on this earth, which I had imagined.
But that's not saying much, as I have never read the Bible before.
I sat back in the soft leather of the car seat, my mind swirling.
Finally, I decided to ask another question when I managed to get my thoughts in order.
"What do you think you are?" I asked.
Adam looked over at me with another of his small smirks.
"I don't exactly know." He said.
"but~" I started but was interrupted.
"My first memory was around the year 4 thousand BCE, I don't remember anything before that. For all I know, I could be the first man, while at the same time, I could simply be something else." He said, following Carlisle's Car onto another side road, taking us deeper into a wooded area.
"But which do you think it is?" I pressed.
He let out a sigh before answering.
"I guess it's whichever helps people." He said, "It certainly helped Carlisle and Edward come to terms with their existence when they thought I was the first man, but if it helps others to think I'm just a weird supernatural being then I'm fine with that as well."
'How strange.' I thought. Adam's perspective was unlike anything I had encountered before. It was as if he existed in a space beyond time and a world of his own.
His nonchalance about his identity was both unsettling and fascinating.
The car moved smoothly along the winding road, the dense forest brushing against the edges of the path. I watched the interplay of light and shadow on Adam's face, his features tranquil yet enigmatic, as if he held secrets that could unravel the very fabric of existence. His demeanor was reassuring, though; a calm acceptance of whatever he was or wasn't.
"What do you mean by helping people?" I found myself asking, drawn to his…selflessness.
He chuckled softly, a sound that was almost musical in the quiet confines of the car. "I mean exactly that. If my presence brings comfort or understanding to others, then I've fulfilled a purpose. Perhaps it's not about who I might be, but about who I am now."
His words resonated with a simplicity that belied the complexity of his existence. It was a perspective I envied—a freedom from the chains of expectations of identity. I had spent so much of my life trying to assert who I was, yet here was someone who seemed perfectly content to let others define him, as long as it served a greater good.
I pondered on this as we continued driving. The silence between us was not awkward but rather filled with unspoken understanding. Adam didn't need to prove himself; he simply was. It was a lesson in humility and grace that felt oddly comforting, like a gentle reminder that sometimes, the search for self is less about finding answers and more about embracing the questions.
[Adams POV]
Pulling to the side of the road with Carlisle's car, I turned off the car and stepped out, followed by Rosalie.
The night was cool, the air filled with the fresh scent of forest.
Walking to the front of my car, I leaned on the hood, waiting for Carlisle, Esme, and Edward to approach.
Rosalie walked to the front of the car and leaned on the front next to me.
Turning my head, I gave her a raised brow as I looked at the small amount of distance between us, which wasn't much at all.
She didn't seem to notice my look and just continued to watch as the other Cullens exited Carlisle's car.
Of course, she could tell I was looking at her, but she seemed not to care.
Turning my head at the sound of crunching steps, I turned and saw everyone walking towards us, Carlisle and Esme with gleams in their eyes.
'Aww hell.' I thought, slightly leaning away from Rosalie, before they could think of something that wasn't.
"This place normally has a pretty good amount of game to hunt. Me and Esme will take Edward. Adam, you take Rosalie. She's only hunted animals once before, so you should help her if anything comes up." Carlisle said quickly, not letting me get a word in before Esme grabbed Edward's arm and blurred into the forest.
"Hey! Wait, just a~" I started, but Carlisle blurred off before I could object to the pairings.
'Those bastards!' I thought, hearing a small chuckle from Carlisle who was already catching up with Esme and Edward, who were following the scent of a group of deer.
Turning, I saw a small smirk on Rosalie's face as she pushed herself off the car.
"Well I guess it's just the two of us." She said, turning to look at me.
"I guess so." I said dryly, also pushing myself off the car.
Opening my senses, I could hear the numerous heart beats of a pack of deer in the opposite direction from Carlisle, Esme, and Edward.
"There's a herd of deer that way," I said, pointing to our left. "There's four of them. More than you will need." I said, taking off my coat.
Rosalie turned her head in the direction I pointed as I took off my coat, a brow raised.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
I nodded my head, "I can hear their heart beats. They are about a mile out." I said, hanging my coat on my car's hood ornament.
She looked at me, then the forest, before shrugging her shoulders.
"If you say so. Just make sure you can keep up." she said, giving me a devilish smile before blurring in the direction of the herd.
I chuckled, "It's you who needs to keep up." I said before taking a long running stride, then a jump into the air, launching myself a dozen feet into the air.
I landed a dozen feet in front of her blurring figure, causing her to stumble in her strides.
Catching her before she could land face first into the ground, I set her back on her feet with a laugh.
"Keep up if you can." I said with a smirk, backing up while facing her.
Rosalie gave me another smirk before she blurred away, not even in the direction of the deer, but just in a random direction.
Following after her, it only took me a second to match my strides with hers.
"Where you goin?" I asked, dodging trees and bushes as I spoke.
She turned her head to look at me, a gleam in her eyes as she abruptly changed direction towards me, slamming her shoulder into my own, causing me to hit a tree.
The tree exploded from the force of me hitting it, sending splinters in all directions as I rolled from the hit.
"So that's how you want to do this." I said with a chuckle in Rosalie's direction, who never stopped running.
Sitting up, I dusted the wood chips off me and my now torn clothes.
I heard a laugh escaping Rosalie as she changed directions towards the herd of deer.
Standing up, I removed my shoes from my feet and dug my bare feet into the earth before launching myself in Rosalie's direction.
[Carlisle, Esme, Edward POV]
All three of the cullens abruptly looked up from their freshly drunk deer and in the direction of a loud cracking boom in the distance.
"Do you think that was them?" Esme asked, a small smile on her face as she stood from the corps of a deer.
"I don't see what else it could have been all the way out here." Carlisle said, walking to Esme and wrapping a hand around her waist.
"Do you think they are a match for each other?" Esme aske, turning to look up at Carlisle.
Carlisle smirked.
"We can only hope."
"Do you mean…as…partners?" Edward asked, walking over to stand next to them.
Both Esme and Carlisle turned to look at Edward, smiles on their faces, neither saying anything.
[Rosalie POV]
He was fast…very fast.
Not even at my full speed, which neither Carlisle or Esme could match with my current 'New Born' strength could keep up,
But he seemed to be able to do it with ease.
Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw as he caught up with me in a matter of seconds, his clothes now torn in multiple places from my little ploy to gain time and distance between us, showcasing parts of his chiseled torso underneath his shirt.
I also saw he was now barefoot, and a wide smile was spread across his face.
Even now, I could tell that if he so chose, he could run circles around me, which stunned me.
How powerful was he?
Matching my stride again, but leaving some distance between us so I couldn't push him into a tree like before, he spoke.
"So that's how you want to do it?" He asked, turning to look at me, his gray eyes shining with delight as he disappeared from my sight.
Turning my head, I looked for where he went but couldn't find him.
Continuing my stride, I continued on, but before I knew what was happening, I was grabbed by my left leg and yanked upwards, thrown into the air with more force than I had ever felt before.
Shooting through the trees overhead, I corrected my body so I could see what was happening.
Looking down, I saw I had been thrown no less than fifty feet above the trees, the height daunting, but also heart pumping.
As I soaked everything in, I watched as Adam jumped into the air below me, the power of his jump nearly too fast for me to follow.
His figure was a blur as he came towards me, but again, he grabbed me as he shot past, taking me higher into the air with his momentum.
twisting his body as he grabbed me, he threw me once more farther up.
But just as he was about to do so, I caught a glimpse of his face.
His eyes were shining from the full moon's light with such joy that it seemed endless.
'How could he be so joyful?' I thought to myself as time seemed to slow.
He must have seen such terrible things in those thousands of years, yet here he was, soaring through the night sky with me, an expression of pure exhilaration on his face.
As we reached the apex of our trajectory, suspended momentarily in the cool night air, I felt a strange sense of liberation, a freedom I hadn't experienced in years.
It was as though, for a brief moment, the weight of my own past was lifted, and I was simply a part of this wild dance above the treetops.
Just as we started our descent, Adam twisted his body, both of his hands holding onto my sides as he threw me again into the air.
I let out a loud laugh as I flew upwards, the air rushing past me as for once in my life, I experienced true freedom.
Freedom from expectations, freedom from having to put up a front to be accepted in my family's rich circles, and freedom from my new reality.
Reaching the apex again, I looked up as my body righted itself, the full moon greeting me.
For a second, it felt as if I was suspended midair, and I was floating in the night's sky, allowing me to see the beauty of the world around me.
Slowly, I began to fall again, but without a care in the world as I let out a laugh of joy.
gravity pulling me back towards the earth, where I saw Adam below through the trees.
He caught me deftly, spinning us both around in a playful pirouette before setting me gently on my feet on the forest floor.
Breathless and exhilarated, I could hardly contain the laughter bubbling up inside me. "You're insane!" I exclaimed, half in awe, half in disbelief. "I can't believe you just did that!"
He grinned, the moonlight casting a soft glow on his face. "Sometimes you have to let go to truly feel alive," he replied, his voice a gentle caress against the night. "Life is too short, even for those of us who live forever, to hold back from moments like these."
His words struck a chord deep within me.
I had spent so long trying to control every aspect of my existence, to shape my identity in a way that made sense to me, yet here was someone who seemed to embrace the chaos, who found beauty in the unpredictability of life.
It was a lesson I hadn't realized I needed, a reminder that perhaps there was more to existence than the roles we chose to play.
For a moment, we stood there, side by side in the moonlit forest, surrounded by the symphony of the night.
The world felt vast and full of possibilities, as if anything could happen, and we were bound only by the limits of our imaginations.
"Thank you," I said softly, meeting his gaze. "For reminding me that there's more to life than what I've known."
He smiled, a warmth in his eyes that seemed to touch my very soul. "Anytime," he replied, and I knew he meant it.
In the moonlit embrace of the forest, an impulsive wave of emotion surged within me, compelling me to act on an impulse I had never felt so strongly before.
The world seemed to hold its breath, the night air charged with an electric anticipation as I turned towards Adam.
His eyes, those enigmatic gray orbs, met mine, and in them, I saw a reflection of my own wonder and longing. They mirrored back the adventure and freedom we had just shared, the uninhibited joy that had lifted me high above my own fears and constraints.
It was as if in those fleeting moments, we had transcended time itself, existing only in the now, unburdened by past or future.
Before I could second-guess myself, before the rational part of me could caution against such a reckless act, I closed the space between us, leaning up to press my lips softly against his.
It was a kiss born of spontaneity, a sweet collision of curiosity and gratitude, wrapped in the warmth of newfound freedom.
For a heartbeat, time seemed to stand still. The world around us faded into the background, leaving only the gentle rustle of leaves and the distant call of nocturnal creatures.
His lips were as warm as his smile, and the connection felt as natural as breathing once had, as if it had been waiting for this very moment to reveal itself.
Adam stiffened momentarily, caught off guard, his eyes widening,
[Adam POV]
"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!!"
_____________
Trust the process. They aren't gonna instantly fall in love.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone