Sparks Fly

((Yes, I am the loser who goes to Taylor for inspiration when she can't think of a title. Anywho, set July 14th closed to Wilbur and Shanti for now so they can get to know each other better, may be open to others later to make things delightfully awkward, though XD))

The little Indian pre-teen sat on the ground, slightly bored. Yesterday's ordeal had gained her a knew friend or two, or at least a familiar face around the camp. However, no one seemed to be out today. So she sat, drawing shapes in the dusty ground with a stick she had found. She found herself wondering what she'd be doing if she were home right about now. Usually, she avoided thinking about it, so she wouldn't miss her mother, or Mowgli, or any of her other friends, but left to her own devices her mind wandered. And she was surprised to find that she didn't miss home nearly as much as she thought she would. The people there, sure, but India itself, she couldn't bring herself to miss nearly as much as she'd thought.

It was weird, but she decided it was best not to think about it. She was sure every other hero missed their home too, they just did a better job of burying themselves in the war than she did. Finally, she threw the twig aside and got up, determined to find something to do.

Future teen didn't really have much to do, he couldn't find Ling anywhere, and that was annoying. His mind however, despite having stuff to do for the past few days was still consumed about Alice's death. He had killed a girl! A girl! What would his mom say? Oh his mom was going to be so pissed. He would probably be uber grounded, super grounded until he was thirty maybe more.

He didn't notice it either when he bumped into a young girl until it was a little too late. "Sorry.." he said looking at her with a weak smile. "Have a lot on my mind," he titled his head for a moment. "I know you, i've seen you before. Your the real cute medic right? Shanti?"

Smooth. Really smooth Robinson, as if you didn't have to make a bigger fool of yourself

Suddenly, someone bumped into the girl. Another look told her it was one of the boys from yesterday. Wilbur, if she recalled right. He seemed to remember her too. However, what he said caused her eyes to widen slightly as she looked down to the ground and played with her braided hair, something she did when she was nervous. She willed herself not to blush, assuring herself that he didn't really mean it. He did say he had a lot on his mind.

"Uh, yeah, that's me." She said, smiling slightly. "I remember you, you're Wilbur." I think he knows his own name, smart one. she thought to herself. "And it's fine." She assured him. Despite the weird beginning she was grateful for a bit of company.

Wilbur made a look of utter disbelief. "My name is Wilbur? Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked. "I've been going by John this whole time and now i find out my real name?" He smiled, in a joking way hoping to at least make her laugh a little bit. It had been a while since he had made a joke like that. It was kind of nice.

"So, what are you doing out here?" he asked.

She giggled a bit. At least he had a sense of humor. She was afraid he'd think she was stupid for her obvious comment. Poor thing was afraid of what people thought of her a lot of the time. But it seemed he didn't care, which was a nice change of pace. When he asked what she was doing out her she thought for a moment. She really didn't know if she was being perfectly honest.

"I dunno, I guess I just got bored of doing nothing, so I came out here and nobody was around so I went back to...doing nothing." She said, laughing a bit on the last part. It seemed stupid to say it out loud. She stopped doing nothing in her tent to come out here and do more nothing.

"Wow, that bored huh?" Wilbur asked with a smile. "I know its boring sometimes but even i know better than to do nothing somewhere else." He shook his head for a moment before looking up at the sky. "It's weird, i never thought being bored could get boring until i came here..." he said before smiling at her.

"What was your home like?"

"It's stupid, I know." She said with a slight smile on her face. "I just thought that maybe if I found something to do or someone to talk to it would relive my boredom. And I wasn't completely wrong, was I?" She asked, the slightest hint of playfulness in her voice. After all, she found Wilbur, now she wasn't so bored. It wasn't exactly a theme park around here, so she made do with what or who she could.

At his question she paused. "A lot like the jungle yesterday, actually." She said. That place reminded her of the jungle outside her home, the one she feared like no tomorrow. "Only there's a little village in the middle of it, and nobody usually goes out the the jungle." That was pretty much a rule in her village, no crossing the river under any circumstances. Now that her father was gone she knew why. "What about yours?" She asked. He certainly dressed differently, and didn't look like he grew up in a place like she did.

Wilbur took a seat down on the ground before thinking about the question. "My home is way....way different than this. It's not as filled with giant trees and great scenery. It has those things but normally big colorful buildings cover up the view of the sky. The people there always happy and seem to be in a good mood, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.." he smiled. "I have never been to a place like this before. But i am starting to enjoy it more and more."

Idiot! Now she is really going to think you are a weirdo.I don't care how cute she is! why did you have to go and say something like that!

She listened to the description of his home with interest. It sounded like nothing she’d ever seen before; it intrigued her to be honest. Tall buildings and no trees, it sounded like the exact opposite of her village. Maybe she’d visit a place like that someday. “That place sounds amazing.” She said. The village life was fun, but being forced to grow up faster than she would have liked to take care of her grieving mother made her want to leave more than usual. Now that she had it seemed everything was almost the same. She was still in a little girl in a very mature environment.

“Me too.” She said, smiling a little. She was oblivious to the actual meaning of his comment, so he was safe for now. But suffice to say if she weren’t so oblivious she’d probably be blushing like mad.

Wilbur nodded for a moment. "Yeah, its interesting but it can get really boring from time to time, especially if you aren't with the right people. But i suppose i think its boring because my house is always filled with some crazy excitement." he smiled. "So, what brought you here? To the war, if you don't mind me asking..."

"A house filled with craziness and excitement gets boring?" She asked. "Then I don't think you could last a minute where I'm from." She teased. Again, she liked her life in India, but compared to wherever Wilbur was from it just seemed dull. It was hard to believe an exciting place like that could ever get boring. However, when he asked ehr why she was here she paused. She'd have to think about this one. In reality, she came with some far fetched fantasy of avenging her fathers death and helping her mother move on. However, her fantasy was just that, a fantasy. Shanti was a little girl and even if the murderous animal that killed her father was here, there's no way to know. Aside from that, Shanti didn't have a violent bone in her body (though that's not to say she'd never wished she did.). However, the realization of all this hit her much to late, as she was already here.

"Stupid reasons." She said quietly. "I thought I'd be able to find the one that killed my father, but I realize now that even if I found them I don't know what I'd do with them. I'm not exactly a top notch fighter after all." She said, a humorous smile coming to her face on that last part. She wanted to move away from the topic of death, the last thing she ever wanted to do was make Wilbur feel bad for bringing it up, so it was best to move on. "What about you? What's your reason for being here?"

"Geez, I'm sorry about your dad..." Wilbur frowned, he couldn't imagine not having his family around, least of all his dad. "As for the question of my house getting boring. It all depends on what my wacky family is up to and how much trouble i get into. As for why i am here...it was kind of an accident, never really thought about coming here. You wouldn't believe the story if i told you."

"It's OK." She said. She didn't know if it was ever really OK, but dwelling on it didn't help. She missed her father, and she missed her family being happy and content again, but there was no getting back to that now, unless there was a way to turn back time or something, but that was impossible. She nodded at the story of his home. It sounded kind of cooky, but fun, she wondered what it was like. Her family was as normal as they came before her father died. Mother would cook, father would hunt, and she'd do household chores when she wasn't playing with other kids. However, when he said she wouldn't believe his story she raised an eyebrow. "Try me, it can't be that bad." She said with a small smirk.

Wilbur smiled and looked at her for a moment, trying to decide the best way to come out and say it. Obviously she probably wouldn't believe him, after all Ling didn't, why would Shanti? But it didn't take much to make him want to tell the story anyways.

"Alright but you asked for it." he said. "You see I'm from the year 2039, my dad is the inventor of the time machine, which hey its pretty impressive, too bad i'm not allowed to drive it. Anyways, my dad decided to try to work on a new invention. Some kind of teleporter and me, being the rebellious type, decided it couldn't hurt to try it. So, i ended up here." he frowned. "I have no way of getting back, at least none that i know of, so i might as well stay here."

Shanti listened to Wilbur's story in quiet shock. Part of her didn't believe him, but the other part of her knew he had no real reason to lie to her. Not that she knew of anyways. But talk of the future and time machines was very far fetched for anyone, let alone someone like Shanti. At the end of it all she wore a rather confused expression. "That sounds...weird." She said. "I can see why you thought I wouldn't believe you." Under normal circumstances she really wouldn't, but why would he lie to her? Or even joke about something as serious as being stuck in a time that wasn't his own. However, she swallowed her disbelief and decided that, even if she didn't believe it in the end, she'd play along either way.

"So, you're from...the future?" She asked.