The Time Hopper

A Stressful Bath

The piece of dandelion fluff floated down towards me, daring me to break from the meditation. And I was no coward. I leaned forward and blew quietly, sending it spiraling back up, it's defeat crushing. Of course, the fluff wasn't easily cowed either, soon coming back for round fifty two. This time, my breath missed it, and it continued floating down mockingly, threatening to touch the ground. Desperate, and admittedly forgetting that I was meant to be meditating, I threw myself forward and blew up as hard as I could, keeping it from touching the gravel of the courtyard. 

I watched my adversary float up, buffered by air currents, with a triumphant grin. I was ready for the next round. 

Or I would have been, had Riley not appeared and snatched it out of the air. I realised that Loshi had opened her eyes and was looking at me with amused disappointment. 

"I fell?" I tried with my best charming smile. Loshi smiled back, indulgent, but Riley had long since learned to see through me. 

"Sadie, we agreed that you'd actually try to follow the advice. So stop getting distracted and meditate!" He chided me, offering me his hand to sit me back up. I took it, puffing my cheeks out in annoyance. 

"You see, I would, but its really boring. And I can't even do it properly, anyway, because I can't 'make my mind go quiet'!" I complained. A glance at Riley's watch told me that I'd only actually been trying it for ten minutes, but I still doubted I would be able to do it. 

"Why can't you? It's not like you think anything worthwhile anyway." Riley drawled with a teasing grin. I punched his leg and stuck my tongue out at him. 

"I know, but hey!" I protested in good humor. Loshi cleared her throat, gently drawing our attention back to her. 

"Sorry, Loshi, she'll focus now. Won't you, Sadie?" He asked me pointedly. I wrinkled my nose at him. 

"I will make no such promises." And not only because I genuinely didn't think I could keep it, but because I felt it was a matter of principle. 

"Sadie-" He groaned, only to be cut off by Loshi rising to her feet. 

"Don't worry. While meditation is a decent way to heal, there are others. And if Sadie truly feels it is a waste of time, there's no point in pursuing it. Come, I have another idea." She held out her hand to me and I accepted her, her grip surprisingly strong for someone who looked a little frail. She led me out of the courtyard, Riley shadowing me as we were led down some stairs into the mountain itself. Instead of the wooden walls, they were now smoothly cut out of rock. 

"Didn't realise you had a dungeon." I muttered, glad of the torches shedding light in the gloomy corridor. Loshi laughed even as Riley jabbed my side in warning.

"It isn't a dungeon! There are springs down here, warmed by the mountain. Its where we bathe, that's all." She assured us, coming to a halt in front of two doors, one either side of the corridor. "Men to the left, women to the right." She instructed, ducking through the woolen cloth into the woman's room, not even looking back. She probably just expected me to follow, but we both hesitated, exchanging a glance. We had, after all, decided not to split up, just in case something happened and we had to leave in a hurry. 

"What do you think?" Riley asked me lowly, all the playfulness of before gone. I chewed on my lip. 

"I don't know. I wanted to stay together." I muttered. Riley nodded, looking suspiciously at the door that Loshi had disappeared too. 

"Yeah, me too. But do you get the feeling that they're going to try anything? Because honestly, I don't." He explained, still looking to me for the decision. I paused, mulling it over for a moment.