Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XVII - The Unbridled Rage

Aeyrin stomped across the road, seething.

What was wrong with him? He knew that she didn't want to talk about things like this. Why was everyone so curious why she was 'ignoring' this person or that person? What did it matter to anyone? It was her life, her relationships! And it wasn't as if people couldn't understand her wanting to keep some distance for a while, was it?

And if her so-called 'friends' didn't understand, well... then they weren't really worth the worry, were they?

Master Therien would certainly understand. Why was Bishop making such a big deal out of it?

He was just trying to force her to talk. Like he always was. He just wanted to push through things so that everything would go back to the way it was. She wanted that too. More than anything. But she could not force herself to barrel through. She couldn't handle thinking about everything at once.

If he needed to constantly talk about her to anyone he met, he could have as well given her the courtesy of keeping her in the dark with this! She didn't want to deal with this. He was all secretive with actually important and life-threatening things and now he decides to bother her with every petty detail? Why wasn't he concerned over her reaction now?

If all of this was his attempt at being 'honest' with her, it was definitely poorly handled.

Why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut and let them enjoy each other's company, forgetting the outside world? Didn't he want the same thing?

Ugh... she really felt like killing something.

She didn't even notice where she had been walking. It took her a long time before she actually stopped in her angry strides and looked around. There was not much else than snow surrounding her now, but she could see the wide tundra of Eastmarch in the distance from behind some banks.

Maybe she'd run into a giant there or something. Hopefully that would help her get some of the frustration out.

...

Bishop dragged his feet onward, following the road west from Nightgate Inn.

He didn't linger there. He was in no mood to tolerate the looks that the innkeeper was giving him.

Last night was... far worse than he had feared. He suspected that he would be bringing up a touchy subject – he knew how she was lately. But that... that took more out of him than he had expected. He still didn't understand how everything deteriorated so fast. And most of all, he was worried that the anger she now felt towards him would not be easily overcome. He feared that this would actually make her decide that she no longer wanted anything to do with him.

He was still determined to fight for her. Whatever it took. But... just then, he felt like he had barely the energy to walk, let alone chase after her.

It would do him no good anyway. She would only get angrier. If nothing else, he knew that he needed to give her some space for a time. Not just for her sake, but for his too. He was sure that he wouldn't be able to stand another fight like that one. Even trying to get her to stay and calm down made things worse. He didn't even want to imagine the firestorm that would come if he actually tried to catch her in her flight.

Fuck, was she right to get so pissed off? He knew that it could be uncomfortable when he tried to meddle in her life, in things that technically didn't concern him, but... was it really so inconceivable for her that he still cared about her? He thought that she cared about him too, that if she saw that he was not doing that great, she would try to help him too. She always had in the past. But the opposite had become abundantly clear. She must have known what she was doing to him, constantly leaving, constantly giving him hope and then just tearing it apart a few hours later.