Tribal

36

Slowly waking up, Ghost got out of bed and placed his cloak on. He walked into the kitchen and began trying to figure out how to cook.

"How do you do this?" Ghost said, as he fumbled with the fireplace.

"Having trouble, darling?" Acacia said from behind him.

"Uh... Yeah?" Ghost responded.

Acacia just giggled and walked over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Let me get this set up, you go and fix the bed," Acacia said.

Ghost stood and walked back to the bedroom. He began to change the sheets, piling them all into a heap on the floor, then took new ones out of the closet. Placing them on the bed, he took the old sheets out into the backyard and washed them in the nearby hot spring. After washing them, he hung them on a nearby wire. Then, he took his cloak off to clean himself. He laid down in the hot spring and worked on trying to clean himself while he thought over recent events aloud.

"What to do... I still have to go after Shade, but I don't want to leave Acacia alone. Maybe she could go with me? No... I can't risk her getting hurt. I need to go alone. But where will she go? Will she stay here? That probably isn't the best idea. If someone comes here looking for her, she has no escape routes. Maybe she can go to the Howling Cliffs. I should escort her. Just to be safe." Ghost was unaware that Acacia was listening from right behind him.

"Trying to get rid of me, huh?" She said.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" Ghost said, turning around surprised.

"I can fight. You know I can. Why can't I go with you?" She asked.

"I can't risk losing you, Acacia. Yes, you can fight, yes, you are strong. But you have no idea the horrible things that Shade can do. I won't put you through that. I won't allow it to happen," Ghost said.

Acacia took her own cloak and stepped into the hot spring.

"And what exactly makes you think I can't handle it?" Acacia asked, approaching Ghost.

"I was going easy on you during our fight and you lost. Shade won't be so merciful and will immediately go in for the killing blow," Ghost said.

"So you think that Shade is stronger than you?" She asked.

"I know they are," Ghost responded.

"Then how do you plan on killing them?" Acacia asked.

"I... I'll figure it out," Ghost said.

"You don't even know? Well, now I have to go with you. You'll kill yourself if I don't," Acacia said.

"I can't let you do that. What would happen if you got hurt or worse? I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Ghost said.

Acacia turned.

"How do you know that the same won't happen to you? What if you die? Are you really going to risk leaving us alone like that?" Acacia said.

"It won't. Wait... What do you mean 'us'?" Ghost said.

Acacia looked down.

"Ghost... I'm pregnant," Acacia said.

Ghost froze.

"What did you say?" He said.

"I am pregnant, Ghost. I wanted to tell you over breakfast," Acacia said.

"Are you certain?" He asked.

"Not 100%, but it is more than likely that I am," Acacia said.

"How could this happen?" He said, putting a hand to his head.