Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 25

Thorne passed the makeshift cane to his opposite side so he could hold Cress's elbow as they stepped out onto the sand. She kept her head down the whole time.

Until she lifted her gaze and looked back, then gasped.

I reached for my gun and whirled around. "What?"

"There are mountains," she said, gaping at the jagged peaks along the horizon.

I exhaled harshly and put my weapon away. "Stars, can you stop gasping every ten seconds like you've seen the Lunar Queen?"

"Sorry," she said meekly.

I massaged my brow, not happy with the sudden guilt that shot through me. "No, I'm sorry, just...it's been a crazy few weeks and our list of enemies is only growing. It seems everyone we meet wants to kill us."

I took a look at Cress, whose eyes were full of uncertainty. I sighed. "You're excited, I get it. And you still can be. Just...don't make any noises that make me draw my gun."

She bit her lip, then nodded.

"How far are the mountains?" Thorne asked, ignoring our little conversation.

"Um..." Cress faltered.

"Hard to tell," I finished. "They're south of here, though."

"There's our parachute," Cress said, pointing at a spot on the ground. Even in the dark it was unmistakable.

"We should cut off a piece," said Thorne. "It could come in handy, especially if it's waterproof."

There was little said as Cress guided him up the dune, the journey made difficult by the unstable ground. Thorne was awkward with the cane, trying to test the ground ahead of him without digging the tip into the hillside and stabbing himself with the other end. Finally we reached the parachute and managed to cut off a square large enough to be used as a tarp.

"Let's head toward the mountains," said Thorne. "It will keep us from walking directly into the sun in the morning, and with any luck they'll offer some shelter, and maybe even water."

I noticed a tinge of uncertainty in Thorne's tone. He was just guessing. He didn't know where we were or what direction would lead us to civilization. Every step we took could be leading us farther and farther from safety.

But we didn't have a choice.

Together, Cress and Thorne started up the next dune, me following behind. The day's heat was fading, and a mild breeze kicked sand at my shins. When we reached the top, I found herself staring into an ocean of nothingness. Night had arrived and I couldn't even make out the mountains anymore.

Thorne tripped, yelping as he stumbled and collapsed onto his hands and knees. The makeshift cane was left jutting up from the sand, having narrowly missed impaling Thorne when he fell.

I moved for him, but Cress had already dropped to her knees beside him and pressed one hand against his back. "Are you all right?"

Roughly shaking her off, Thorne pushed himself back to sit on his heels. In the dim light, I could see that his jaw was clenched tight, his hands balled into fists.

"Captain?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said, an edge to his tone.

Cress hesitated, her fingers hovering over his shoulder.

I watched as his chest expanded with a slow breath, and listened to the shaky, strained exhale.

"I," he began, speaking slowly, "am not happy with this turn of events."

Cress bit her lip. "What can I do?"

After a moment of glaring absently toward the mountains, Thorne shook his head. "Nothing," he said, reaching back until his arm hit the cane. He wrapped his fingers around it. "I can do this. I just need to figure it out."

He climbed to his feet and yanked the traitorous cane out of the sand. "Actually, if you could try to give me some warning when we're coming up on a hill, or about to start heading down again, that would help."

"Of course. We're almost to the top of..." She trailed off as her eyes left Thorne's face to seek out the top of the dune and caught on the moon, a crescent glowing vivid and white off the horizon. She shriveled away from it and gulped. "... almost to the top of this dune."

Thorne quirked his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just ... I can see Luna. That's all." After another moment of looking at the sky, her eyes lit up. "Wait—the constellations," she said, spinning in a circle while Thorne brushed the sand from his knees.

"What?" Thorne asked.

"For navigation," I said. "There's Pisces, Pegasus, Andromeda..."

"Wait. Give me a minute. I can figure this out." Cress pressed her fingers against the sides of her face.

After a moment, she dropped her hands. ""I think we're in northern Africa, or possibly the Commonwealth, in one of the western provinces."

"Could be the Sahara." Thorne's shoulders slumped. "We can't stand here stargazing all night," he said, bending down to pick up the bag of supplies and resituate it on his shoulder. "Let's keep heading toward those mountains."

Cress tried to offer him her elbow again, but Thorne only gave it a gentle squeeze before letting go. "Throws off my balance," he said, testing the length of the cane so he could walk without spearing it into the ground again. "I'll be fine."

Cress' gaze lingered on him for a moment before she nodded and she started up the dune. She announced the top when we reached it, and continued down the other side.