Lavender & Ice

21. A New Danger

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Absolutely not, Shima. I can't ensure your safety."

"Kietnan." She stood tall, stopping her task of washing up their breakfast dishes to turn toward him while putting her hands on her hips. "I will not cower in this tent all day everyday any longer. If I may only have days to live, I-"

"Shima." He growled.

"I have accepted it, Ki. I do not like it and I still hope to live but there is nothing I can do. Please, do not make me spend my last free days hiding in this tent!" She yelled.

"Shima, it is not safe for you out there."

"I won't stay out long and I won't leave camp ."

"There are dangers within camp-"

"I know! Don't you think I know that!" She paused, taking in a deep breath before exhaling and returning her voice to normal levels. "I'm sure everyone in camp knows I'm here and where I'm staying by now, anyway. Look, we've been through this. We're going in circles." She ran her hand down her face and sighed. "I will do this with or without your agreement, Kietnan." She noticed his jaw tighten. "I will go to the gathering at the start of the trials, just like I'm sure everyone else in camp is doing, and I will return to the tent immediately after. I promise I will not leave the tent until you return."

He stared at her and she knew he wasn't happy.

"I promise to be careful and I promise to come straight back to the tent as soon as you depart. Please, don't be upset with me. I want to move on and live life. It is suffocating, wasting away in here all day with no purpose. Please, just give me this short amount of time out of the day to at least be outside with something to watch." She looked up at him, pleading.

"If you insist." He grumbled.

"I do." She smiled wide in victory as she watched him turn to get his jacket.

Last night he had returned late, covered in mud, bathing quickly while she kept her back turned, downing two vials of the nutritious liquids before sitting at his desk to study the papers for tomorrow's trials. She woke at some point during the night to find him asleep at his desk, waking him up just long enough for him to crawl into bed.

"We better get going."

"I will worry for you the entire time you're gone." She frowned as she climbed into her coveralls.

"And I will worry for you."

"Ki, please don't say that. You can't be distracted by me while you're out there, I would never forgive myself if I was the cause of something bad happening to you."

"So you will stay, then?"

She huffed.

"If I'd known this was the argument to make you falter, I would have started with it an hour ago and saved myself this headache."

She gasped lightly and jokingly punched his arm. "I will not stay. I will go, come right back, and be perfectly safe. And you will not worry over me. You will have a clear mind, set on your goal as you succeed and claim victory." She fist pumped the air.

He just looked at her and smiled slightly, shaking his head as he chuckled.

"Did you just laugh at me?!" She held her hand to her chest, mocking the hurt.

"You are being dramatic."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go, you can't be late."

She ignored the stares and remarks as they made their way from his tent to the crowds of people. She noticed his jaw tensing as he stood and explained where she should stand and where he had to go. "Remember your promise." He said to her quietly.