Wanna go on an adventure with me?

Chapter 2: Bonding time

The two adventurers exited the school, Aaron looking around every corner nervously and Ren following him excitedly. He was looking for the third companion, Chris. He had been fighting The Witch when she threw Aaron on the window.

Christopher Arevalo was a natural leader with blond hair, blue eyes and a big dazzling smile. Everyone always mistook him for an American and he was, on his mother's side, even though he refused to acknowledge it. What really mattered to Chris was his dad's side, so he always said that he was partially Spanish.

Although he was a natural leader, his social anxiety always ruined his efforts. He was a great fighter, yes, and he always had a solution for every problem, but ask him how he found the solution or to give a motivational speech before facing the enemy and you would look at a red, stammering mess. But that didn't matter to Aaron, his friend did his best and he trusted him.

As he turned around a corner, he bumped into him, almost smacking him with a sharp stick he had found near the school's entrance.

"Ron!" Chris yelled, his eyes scanning Aaron's body worriedly.

"There you are! I thought I'd never be able to get you out of the school. Who's this?" he asked as he noticed Ren staring at him behind Aaron.

"Ren Lennon, not related to the singer." she introduced herself before Aaron could utter a word.

"Did you just call him Ron?" she asked with a mischievous smirk, but Aaron interrupted them.

"Chris, I present to you 'the third adventurer'! I fell for-"

"ON!" Ren shouted.

"-her when i went through the window. And then I might've asked her to join us, she's a great addition to the team!"

Chris pondered for a moment, looking at his hands.

"Any special skills?" he asked Ren.

"Other than running fast? I can surely kick your ass." she answered smugly. Who was he to question her anyway? Aaron smirked.

"I like that. Christopher Arevalo, at your service. You can call me Chris, though." he smiled, extending an arm for her to shake.

"Pleasure to meet you, Christopher." she said, eyeing him carefully. She could tell he hated when people called him Christopher from the tone of his voice. Sure enough, a hint of annoyance passed through his eyes and his eye slightly twitched, but he concealed it well.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go catch The Witch!" said Aaron, dissolving the apparent tension between the leader and the newcomer.

The three of them started walking towards the vague direction The Witch had escaped.

"So, why are we chasing that witch?" Ren asked, puzzled.

"She's not that witch, she's The Witch. The only one left." Chris answered solemnly.

"She destroyed two villages in a matter of minutes. Including mine and Aaron's. Got our parents and most of the villagers killed in the process. We have been chasing her ever since."

"But she's a witch! Don't you have to have some special powers to face her or something?" she asked. Chris smiled and patted Aaron's back.

"We do. I have super strength thanks to Aaron and he is very skilled with daggers. He is what we call a Giver."

Before Ren could ask what a Giver was, Aaron chimed in and explained it for her.

"I have certain powers stored here." he said pointing at his heart.

"Super strength, super speed, teleportation. You name it, I got it. I can give them to people but only one at a time and for a short period of time. I'm not trained enough to give them for days or use them myself."

She pondered his words for a few minutes.

"So, you are basically chasing a witch-"

"THE Witch!"

"Fine! THE Witch, with only Chris and a few daggers to protect you? No wonder Aaron asked me to come."

"As I said, we'll be the real-life Golden Trio, you are the perfect addition to our group!" said Aaron with a smile that melted Ren's heart.

"We don't know if she'll fit in yet Aaron. We'll have to wait and see if she'll make it." retorted the leader reluctantly, stuttering a bit in the end, the result of Ren's glare.

Of course, he had to ruin it, Ren thought harshly. I go on ONE adventure and this dude is thinking about testing me while I'm already IN the team. Good way to make me like him.

The rest of their walk was filled with an uncomfortable silence, but a few hours later the adventurers were talking about their interests, their tension long gone.

The first night was...interesting in the least. Ren discovered that the boys slept in small tents and while they were a bit embarrassed to have her sleep with them in the same tent, she was loving every passing second in their little camp. The quietness of the forest, combined with the open view of the night sky and the fire that warmed her feet made her feel at ease.

Chris on the other hand looked ready to explode, while Aaron was long gone, his loud snores adding to the calming effect camping had. Chris kept pacing back and forth, muttering incoherent phrases to himself, sometimes checking the perimeter of their camp or the woods carefully.

After the sixth time he did it, Ren was beginning to worry about her leader's sanity. Does this dude ever sleep? I have to relax him somehow. She approached Chris, who was pacing for the seventh time in two hours and grabbed his hand. He turned around, ready to scold her, when he saw her face. A mixture of concern and caring was evident in her eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Chris, you're going to explode if you keep going like this, I get stressed just by looking at you. Go to sleep. I'll keep watch and I'll wake you up if I'm tired." she said, dragging him to a tent.

He tried to object but she eased his worries with a quick addition to her words.

"Really, don't worry! My eyesight is great and I'm not tired. You, on the other hand, look like you're close to passing out. I'll wake you up if something happens."

Not being able to object, he smiled a grateful smile, which she reciprocated and went to sleep.

Ren sat down at the entrance of the tent and kept watch for the rest of the night, much to Chris' annoyance -he was grateful for the sleep he got, though.

Since that night, they developed it into a habit, mostly to help Chris get some sleep. He carried all the burdens of leadership alone, without letting anyone help him. And their days continued like that.