The Atheil Chronicles: A Call to Fire

Chapter 6

Over the next week, Ariana continued to go back to the clearing in the hope that she would run into Ryonen, but to no avail. She never saw Ryonen or the pond again. Not even a rock. All that remained was just a field of grass. She was starting to question her sanity, thinking that maybe the whole thing had just been one big hallucination. What other explanation could there be?
To say that she was disappointed would have been an understatement. She was completely unnerved. Everything she had seen and felt had seemed so real, and yet, there was no proof of either having occurred outside of her own memories. Ever since that night that she had met Ryonen, Ariana felt different, like a part of her was restless and couldn't be appeased by the usual monotony of her life. She tried to tell herself that it was because the pond disappearing had freaked her out, but inside she knew the truth. It was because of Ryonen. Something about him made her curious, like maybe there was something out there that was different and exciting. It made her think that maybe she could be those things, too. For the first time in her life she wanted to experience something new.
Two weeks after her chance encounter, Ariana stepped out of the house to a warm spring day. She stretched her arms up to the sky, basking in the sun's golden rays as they shone down in warm waves. She let her arms fall to her side after a moment, looking around the yard for her mom's familiar figure.
When she didn't see her hanging around the garden like usual, she figured she had gone back inside to take an afternoon nap. Not a bad idea on a warm day like today, she thought cheerfully, tugging on the hem of her lavender t-shirt.
Just like any other day, after scarfing down a late lunch, Ariana started into the forest, heading for her usual spot under the old oak tree. She had long abandoned her hope to find Ryonen or the pond, and had resolved herself to simply go back to her old routine as if nothing had ever happened. As she walked, she took in the serene silence that always seemed to fill the forest. She saw very little wildlife as she made her way down the path, only hearing the faint sound of birds singing somewhere off in the distance. 
She considered how strange this was as she finally reached the oak, leaning down and gingerly settling up against its rough trunk. A soft breeze began to blow, the movement causing her hair to stir around her shoulders. At the cool touch of wind, Ariana shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the bark. A light tap on her shoulder made her open her eyes, startling her.
Ryonen smiled down at her before crouching down and sitting across from her.
"You can't just sneak up on a person like that." Ariana said, feeling her heart beating fast in her chest. She stared at Ryonen in amazement, half expecting him to be some sort of illusion.
"I wanted to talk to you but you had your eyes closed." He said, shrugging. He was still smiling at her, his hand now draped casually across his lap with the other one behind him as he leaned against it.
"You could have at least announced yourself. You know, ease me into it."
"I'm sorry." He said, but he didn't sound all that sorry, mostly amused.
Ariana once again took in his appearance, stricken by the oddness of it. Today he was wearing a similar tunic and leggings, though the color palette had changed. The tunic was an emerald green with ¾ sleeves embroidered with stars at the ends and his leggings were now a dark graphite, the sword still hanging at his hip. He had his shiny black hair pulled back loosely at the nape of his neck, the hair just covering his ears. Ariana sat up straighter and leaned toward him. "What are you doing here? I was beginning to think I had made you up."
He laughed lightly, and the sound seemed to send a shiver through her."I promise you that I'm very real." He paused, suddenly looking sheepish. "I've been here a few times, actually." He said, finally.
"I never saw you." She said, then added quietly, almost as an afterthought, "I looked for you."
He gave her a searching look before turning his gaze to the tree canopy looming above them. "I like coming to this forest from time to time to think. It makes my problems feel smaller, somehow."
Above them, a bird began singing high up in the branches. Ariana looked up, sighing. "It is pretty peaceful here." She admitted. "It's what I love about this place. I've been coming here since I was a little kid. It's my favorite place in the whole forest."
"Why here, specifically?" He asked her.
Ariana didn't answer immediately, but instead ran a hand over the oak's thick roots that breached the ground right next to her leg. "This forest is old." She said, not looking up. "This oak has probably been standing here for a few hundred years, its roots running so deep that it would be nearly impossible to know how far they go. There's something magical about that, about knowing that you're so insignificant next to something so strong and so old. It makes me feel like my worries are minuscule in comparison." She felt herself blushing and looked up at Ryonen. "Does that make sense?"
When she met his eyes she saw something in them that she didn't quite understand. Sadness, maybe? "It does, actually." He replied quietly.
A silence fell between them, but it wasn't an awkward one. In it, Ariana felt a sense of comradery. They sat there quietly for a long time, just leaning back and listening to the sounds of the forest around them. Ryonen had tilted his head back, his face turned skyward with his eyes shut lazily against the light, while Ariana was staring absentmindedly at the canopy above. It wasn't until a squirrel leaped down into a nearby pile of leaves that they were both pulled from their thoughts.  They looked at each other as if coming out of a trance. The warm air was wrapping around them like a blanket, the wind barely stirring through the trees. Ariana saw that, somehow, an hour had gone by while they sat quietly together. The sun was beginning to fade in the sky and she glanced down at her watch, seeing it was almost 5:30 in the afternoon.
Ryonen seemed equally confused at the progression of time, blinking heavily to shake away the sleepiness that had stolen over him. As they glanced at each other, now, Ariana wondered, again, where he had been all this time.
She furrowed her brow. "Seriously, Ryonen, why haven't I seen you for a while?" She asked, breaking the silence between them.
To her surprise, a patch of red crept into his cheeks.
"What's your problem?" She asked, her suspicion mounting.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Nothing." He said picking at the grass around him and keeping his eyes on the ground. "I've- well." He let out a deep sigh. "I've actually been around, I just didn't want to say anything."
"Why not?" She asked, feeling a little incredulous. So all these times she had been searching for him, he'd been there the whole time? She screwed her eyebrows up, waiting for him to answer.
"Well," he said, sounding unsure, "I just didn't know whether you would want to see me." He gave her a look that showed as much uncertainty as what had crept into his voice.
Ariana opened her mouth to respond and then shut it again. Finally, she said. "I don't know why you would think that."
"Well," he said slowly, "I was sort of rude to you when we first met-or I guess it was actually the second time."
She let out a breath, thinking . "I was sort of rude, too." She said, biting her lip.
He looked relieved, but then something unreadable crossed his face. He turned his attention to the trees beyond them, looking interested in something.
Ariana wracked her brain, trying to come up with something to say. He looked so closed off all of a sudden that she wondered what was going on in his head. Just as she felt herself beginning to feel a little bit awkward, he turned to her again.
"I'm sorry that I didn't show myself when you were looking for me." He said, gazing at her through his eyelashes. A patch of sunlight shifted and his green eyes flashed in the golden rays.
She swallowed, choosing her words carefully. "I mean, it does feel a bit unnerving to think that you were out here all this time and I never knew." She admitted.
He ran a hand down his hair, looking ashamed. "I didn't mean it like that." He said, and he truly sounded sorry. "I didn't know what to make of you after that night." He paused and then continued. "Something about you struck me as different and I wasn't really sure how to react."
"Different?" Ariana repeated.
He nodded but didn't elaborate.
"Can I ask you something?" She said, breaking through the silence that had once again spread between them.
"Of course." He said, but his tone sounded guarded.
"Where do you live?" She asked, watching him closely. He didn't answer right away so she said. "Is it somewhere around here? Maybe on the other side of the forest?"
He looked down at his hands. "Something like that."
She raised my eyebrows. What was that supposed to mean, she thought. Out loud she said, "Do you mean you live off the grid?"
He glanced at her now, an eyebrow cocked.
"You know," she said, raising her own eyebrow, "that isn't exactly a response."
He gave her a brief smile, letting out a gentle breath as he did so. "I know." He said, simply. He brushed his hands over his knees, tapping his fingers there absentmindedly. He spoke quietly, "I'm not originally from around here so I've just been finding places to sleep at night."
Ariana swallowed. So he was probably homeless. She gave him a hard look, wondering where exactly he'd been staying all this time. Surely he wasn't just sleeping in the forest, he had to have a tent or something nearby with his stuff.
"What brought you here?" She said, hoping to quell her own growing curiosity. "Where are you originally from?"
Each question seemed to make Ryonen even more uncomfortable, his body growing more tense as she spoke."You wouldn't know it." He said after some time. "It's a small town East of here."
"Okay." Ariana said tentatively, not sure if she should continue to press the matter. For whatever reason, he seemed reluctant to share
"Let's walk." He said out of nowhere, surprising her. They both got up and brushed the dirt off of their clothes.
A few minutes later they were back on the original path and walking back toward where the house was. Through the breaks in the leaves above, Ariana could see that the sun had dipped even lower, the sky peaking through was now a purplish hue. Ryonen followed her line of vision and nodded. "You have to go home now." He said. He made it a statement, but it sounded more like a question.
"Yeah." She said, feeling somewhat regretful. She gave him a hard look. "Will you come back again?" She asked. For reasons she couldn't quite explain to herself, she didn't want it to be another 2 weeks before she saw him again. In the back of her mind, she was both alarmed and, yet, not surprised by this thought. 
"Do you want me to?" He asked.
She simply nodded, her eyes focusing on the trees ahead as they thinned out. She could almost make out the peak of a roof in the distance. When she finally brought her eyes back up, Ryonen was looking at her. "What?" She asked him.
"Nothing." He said, and then shook his head. "If you want me to come back then I will." He reached out a hand and Ariana took it with some hesitation, half expecting to get shocked again.
When nothing happened, Ryonen brushed his thumb across the back of her hand ever so softly. Ariana resisted the urge to shiver. For a second, Ryonen looked into her eyes and she looked back into his, neither of them speaking. There was that pull again, she thought.
Ariana took a steadying breath and broke the silence, although not easily. "I should go." She said with a roughness to her voice. She knew her mom would be waiting, and worrying, about her if she stayed any longer.
As if breaking free from a spell, Ryonen let go of her hand. "Goodbye, then." He said. "Until next time."
"Yeah." She said, her hand limp by her side. "Until next time."
She watched as he turned around and walked back into the ever growing shadows of the forest, the reflection of the receding light hitting the peaking metal of his sword and flaring before he was finally swallowed up by the trees.
* * * * *
"How was your walk?" Her mom asked without looking up. As Ariana shut the door behind her, she could see that her mom was sitting on the sofa reading a book, her pale legs thrown up on the arms of it while she flipped a page.
"Fine." Ariana said, trying not to sound too guilty of anything.
Something in her tone must have sounded off because her mom looked up from her book. "Are you tired or something? You seem-" She paused. "Out of it."
"Oh." Ariana shrugged. "A little, I guess." This really wasn't much of a stretch as she was actually quite tired.
Her mom nodded, appeased, and turned the page of her book. "Okay. Goodnight, then, sweetie."
"Goodnight, mom." She said, turning away and leaving her to her reading.
Ariana made her way down the hallway, the vast array of pictures of her mom and her blurring by as she walked to her room. She shut the door behind her with a thud and dropped down onto her bed, utterly exhausted. She rolled on to her back and looked up at the ceiling, still in shock at how the day had unfolded.
Not only was she relieved that she wasn't going insane, but she was also feeling more happy than she had in a long time. Something about Ryonen made her feel at ease, though she couldn't put her finger on why that was. She had never connected with people her age and so it gave her a particular sense of belonging to be able to connect with someone that wasn't her mom. Or her cat, she thought wryly. As strange as the whole situation was, she had a gut feeling that Ryonen was a good guy. Her mom would have probably chastised her for even thinking such a thing but she couldn't help it, it's what she felt. Something about his calm demeanor spoke to her own laid back personality.
She rolled over on the bed, looking out the window at the darkening sky. Soon Henry would be making his way back from the forest, his fat form almost invisible in the darkness outside. She slipped under the covers, fully dressed, a feeling of intense drowsiness washing over her all of a sudden. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she slept through the night.