Ephemeral

Kill La Killian

"Watch your step," Killian spoke emotionlessly, his words purposefully hanging in the air.

I looked up at him with a tilted head, not immediately seeing what I had...taking an unwatched, neglected step. My tip of my raised foot managed to snag on an overgrown tree root, and I stumbled forward. I had barely managed to collect myself, shuffling on my feet for a few steps, pushing my arms out at my sides to help balance my weight.

There was a brief pause between the two of us – my entire body crying out in protest at how much energy I had expended. I let out a breath of momentary relief, coming to terms that I wasn't going to fall down on the ground.

I looked back to find the exposed tree root mocking me in the darkness of the forest, sticking up halfway out of the ground. It was nearly impossible to see in this environment, and Killian's warning came too late for me to do anything about it. It seemed like the tree root was laughing at me, though, that might have just been the sleep deprivation and lack of food affecting my ability to think cognitively.

I wanted to go over there and kick it to release my misplaced aggression --

"I told you to watch your step," Killian added off-handedly.

I darted my eyes at his back, glaring dagger into it. He didn't seem to care at all that I had nearly fell on my face – and this was the very same man that was meant to help get me out of here.

My heart hadn't nearly recovered from my near miss...it was still beating rapidly in my chest.

"Seriously, did I do something to piss you off-?" I snapped, high on adrenaline from nearly falling on my face.

I couldn't afford to fall or take a tumble to the ground as I was right now --

If I fell...I wasn't sure that I would be able to get up since I was already running on fumes as it was at the moment. I usually didn't get angry at what usually might be classified as mundane things, but right now all I was seeing was red given the fact that I was injured, hungry, and emotionally drained from my endless adventure into the never-ending forest for days on end.

To me, it didn't seem like my anger was unjustified.

I sped walked towards him, wanting to get an answer from the man that seemed to hate my guts despite me not even knowing who the hell he was. It was easy to understand hostility if I had wronged him in the past, however, this was the first time that I had even met the man.

My ankle was hissing out in complaint that I was putting too much strain and pressure onto the injury during my reckless anger walk.

I wasn't usually this careless – this self-destructive about my own body.

Killian let out a hum, cutting me off.

"We should try and be quiet since...we're still in enemy territory..." Killian added as he eyed me out of the corner of his cold, distant green eyes.

They seemed to be even more haunting with the lack of light. It had made me uncomfortable, the hidden, personal memories that might have been inside of them. I looked into them fearlessly and then narrowed my own at him, not wanting him to intimidate me...even though he was.

He let out a small chuckle at my reaction to his words.

"That look right there," he let out a sigh, reaching into his pocket to pull out another cigarette.

He shook his head, once again his eyes seemed to be keyed into a memory that I wasn't invited to see. I was a little concerned since that was his seventh one since I've met the guy. It couldn't have been too healthy to literally smoke a pack a day of cigarettes like he was doing.