Forever Yours

Four

Sora waited patiently as Ryn took a couple more breaths while sheathing her short swords. Ryn was thankful for the silence and space Sora provided at that moment.

After a few minutes, Ryn held her head high and turned to Sora. "Ready?"

With a nod, Sora led the way with Ryn following, still keeping about three feet between the both of them, into the entrance of the mine. Ryn squinted her eyes as they got deeper and it got darker. Sora didn't seem to have a problem finding his way around, but he summoned a small flame in his palm to provide some light. Ryn eyed him questioningly.

"I know a bit of magic," he said, avoiding her eyes. "Here." He held out the palm holding the flame toward Ryn. She cautiously reached out her hand. Sora carefully placed the flame in Ryn's tense, outstretched hand, using his other hand to keep her hand stable. "Don't worry. It won't hurt you," he quietly assured her.

Ryn kept her gaze on Sora. She relaxed her hand when she didn't feel a burn, but rather a comforting warmth. Sora met her gaze this time and offered a small, sincere smile.

Their eyes lingered on one another in silence for a few long seconds before Ryn cleared her throat uncomfortably. Sora quickly retracted his hand from hers. "Sorry," he apologized. He pointed to the side of the cave at an almost hidden entrance. "Would you hold the light up over here? I won't be long."

Ryn nodded and followed Sora deeper into the cave. He made his way to a wall oily with the blackness of iron ore, pockets of it filling the space, and held his hand out in front of the wall. The black ring on his middle finger shifted and instantly took the shape of a pickaxe. He chipped away at the cavern walls for a bit, his enchanted tool making the mining significantly faster than a normal pickaxe would. About ten minutes went by before he finally got up. "This should be good." He let go of the pickaxe in hand and it quickly reverted back to the black ring, settling itself back upon his middle finger. Ryn held the flame back toward Sora, but he shook his head. "Keep it," he said. "Close your hand into a fist to make it go away. You can summon it again whenever you want by thinking about the flame and snapping."

"Is that so?" Ryn asked. She closed her fingers into a fist and the flame obediently flickered out, leaving the two back in the dark. She snapped her fingers and opened her palm again, and the flame came back. Ryn let out a small chuckle and gave the flame a little poke. It shook quietly in response, as if it were laughing.

Sora watched Ryn with a smile. "It won't last forever, though, so keep that in mind."

Ryn frowned. "No?" she asked.

Sora shook his head. "What do you think, it's magic or something?" Sora teased.

Ryn was speechless. Was it not?

Sora let out a laugh. "I'm joking, it is magic. There's just only so much mana I put into the flame. Once it burns through the reserves, it'll..." Sora made a poof sound and animated the action with his hands. She knew it shouldn't, but the thought of the cute flame dying out made her sad.

Ryn closed her fingers into a fist after they made it near the entrance of the mine, no longer needing the light the little flame provided. They walked the rest of the way out of the mine in comforting silence. They made their way back to the place Elle and Ryn had run into Sora in the forest. Ryn and Sora were surprised to find Elle crouching near a patch of greens, gathering more herbs for their quest, her eyes and nose pink. Sora snuck a glance at Ryn. The peaceful expression on her face just minutes prior had been replaced with a frown. Ryn slowly made her way toward Elle.

Elle turned and met Ryn's eyes and quickly wiped her own. "I gathered the rest of the herbs we needed..." she said quietly.

Ryn grabbed Elle's hands in her own tightly. She put her head down and held Elle's hands against her forehead. "I'm not mad at you, Peanut," she whispered.