Sometimes, Anarchy Is Best ~~ Shadows

17.) Alastair

Five days passed in a blur for Alastair. A crazy, emotion-charged, and nearly sleepless blur. Unlike Rune, who'd been sleeping at nearly every given opportunity since they left, he'd barely been able to find a moment of shut-eye. There were times that Gray would concede and let Ewe take the wheel or they'd all stop to get a couple hours of exercise or rest in, but the majority of the time it was just Alastair at the wheel.

He'd noticed during their breaks on the road that Gray had begun showing Rune how to hold and point a gun. At this point, she'd gotten her form down – in theory. Holding a gun up was very different from shooting it, and she'd require that experience of knowing how the bullet flies to know how to aim more precisely.

The crow hybrid had also taken to going on walks with Archer – though only him. If anyone else asked, she'd politely decline and go back to whatever she was doing. However, when Archer asked, she'd jump up from anything and everything to go with him. It was an odd dynamic, but Alastair reminded himself that Rune truly had not been with them for long, and likely felt safest and most comfortable with the one closest to her age.

Tonight, he was hopeful that he could get a night of rest. From so long of driving, they'd left the city and bypassed the suburbs and countryside of Eastwalden entirely, leaving them in a mountainous area. Rune had said they needed to keep going north, but Alastair wasn't sure how much further north they could get.

Soon they'd hit the divide between the mainland and the most northern part of Viaris – what he'd only heard referred to as the mountain kingdom. Apparently they'd closed off their borders long ago, and anyone who even tried passing through the great divide mysteriously disappeared. Ships ended up at the bottom of whirlpools, hurricanes surged up against the cliffs, washing off the blood of travelers and conquerors who tried to pass. Everyone had their own theories on it, ranging from summing it up to some weather anomaly to scaring children with the threat of monsters and dragons who lurked on the other side, waiting for someone to pass through as their next meal.

Alastair really hoped Rune wouldn't lead them there. The odds of her doing so were slim, but it was a possibility that was rapidly growing as Rune's wayfinding consistently gave him the same direction every time they checked. It wasn't something that needed to be addressed now, though.

Right now, they were pulled off the road – which had gone from paved to gravel to dirt very quickly in this area – setting things up to sleep. Gray's car had room for three people when all the seats were put down and stuff set outside, so it was set that Alastair and Ewe would be the ones outside. That was fine with him, as he was content to look at the stars. He was also to take first watch, so he'd have an uninterrupted sleep afterwards, but Ewe had stayed up with him.

The silence between them was thin, easily snappable with just a word. There was so much to discuss and yet nothing to at the same time. The air around them was crisp and mild, wind making the reddening leaves shudder above them as the trunks served as shields against it. Alastair had on a light jacket, the black color matching his hair and making him nearly as invisible as Ewe – who had a similar hoodie in a navy-blue color – in the shadows. You could see nothing beyond the trees, yet little juts of rock in the ground told him all he needed to know they were in the mountains.

Eventually, that silence was broken by Ewe, though not for the topic he'd expected. "We're rather far north, ain't we?" she asked, her voice only barely above a murmur.

Alastair stared at a particularly large jut of rock a few feet away. "Yeah." he replied, not having any other information.

"Do ya think she's gonna take us to the Great Divide?"

Alastair exhaled softly. "I don't know. I hope not," he added. "But if she does, that means Dio lives over there. If he can make it, so can we."

Ewe started putting her curly hair back in a bun, her hands working to untangle some of the curly strands tangled on her horns. "Nah, we can't." she drawled afterwards, leaning back against the car.