Dark Sun Rising

Chapter 9

"Dark Sun, eh?" Spike raised his brow, looking at Zari. They were sitting around a handmade wooden table having authentic, delicious ramen noodles. Spike, it turned out, was a great cook. The question forced Zari to look up from her bowl. She slurped the rest of the soup and wiped her mouth with the shirt she had donned. "C'mon! That's like my favorite shirt," Spike let out an annoyed sigh, picking up his bowl. As he turned around to walk over to the small sink, Zari smirked.

"You know I can feel your little smirk from here, right?" Spike scoffed, forcing Zari's face to go blank.

"Dark Sun is my favorite book. It saved me from a lot of unwanted situations and it has some cool stuff about our history," Zari finally answered as if to compensate for the childish thing she had done in an attempt to irritate Spike, but no matter what she said, he always had a response ready to go.

As Zari waited for yet another snarky comment from Spike, he turned around and looked at her with an entirely new gaze.

How could someone be so impulsive yet hold a world full of courage? Spike wondered, staring at her sweet face, lit by the warm glow of the fire crackling in the hearth. The light of the sunset was streaming in through a window, illuminating her. He noticed, for the first time, how pretty she was. Light brown skin, and large brown eyes behind her glasses. Sitting in his t-shirt, he could make out her curves, and her black, wavy hair cascading to just below her shoulders worked well for her. How has this girl been so lonely in her life? Her family must have done a real number on her. He realized he had been staring. "So," he cleared his throat, "what's next, partner?" He crossed his arms and looked at her as though she was the head of their guild and he was but a complying right hand.

The gesture brought a smart smile to Zari's face and as they shared the mutual look, the wall clock rang, reminding them of the darkening sky outside the cottage. Both of them soon cleaned up and departed to their beds, waiting for the sun to come up so that they could initiate their guild's journey.

***

Zari and Spike had woken up at 7 a.m. sharp to plan out their next steps. Though they had founded their very own guild, there was a serious lack of structure in their small yet powerful team. They had the resources to take on the creatures of their world but no lead whatsoever on where to start. It was then that Zari decided to take a stroll around the area.

"What good is that gonna do? I say we stay put and wait for one of my contacts to get me a freelance case," Spike disagreed, walking back into the cottage. They had been out in the forest behind his cottage, practicing her magic since the sun had come up, and she was sweating like hell.

"You don't just expect me to sit around and wait, do you?" Zari snapped, forcing Spike to turn around. "Did you just forget that I got shot right through my chest? What makes you think I can waste any more time? I have to find my brother, and I have to do it quickly. Now you can either come with me and we can look for trouble together or you can sit on your ass in your stupid little cottage!"

Zari was burning up and Spike could see her palms blazing. They were turning redder by the second, and even though he had plenty of power and experience, she could still do a lot of damage with her light.

He looked into her eyes, closed the door to the cottage, and walked toward the open area leading to the city outskirts. His silence, as Zari followed him out, was irksome. Zari could not help but think about her words. Was I too harsh? she wondered, trying to match his pace, which wasn't as seamless as it usually was.

"I didn't mean to...snap," she finally said as they came around a church. The street was empty as well as silent. Even the cool breeze rustling through the trees that surrounded the church's murky walls wasn't enough to fill the awkwardness between the duo. As Zari waited for an answer, Spike shifted all his attention toward a distant voice.