Diary or the Dead

Tranquility

When he left the kitchen he almost walked head first into Avery's shoulder. The hybrid stood close to the wall on the right next to the door. A singular torch lit the dark corridor he was in and reflected strangely from the scales on his face. The members of his kitchen unit had spent the last hour trying to cope with the absence of one of its quietest but definitely one of the most important members. He himself didn't say a word or bothered to listen to Frederick stuttering his ideas for a new task share. Tiana was in such a shock she barely complained when she was chosen to do the early shifts on Monday to Wednesday. Shawn kept very calm in comparison to anyone else and focused on comforting Josephine, who had broken down in sobs and practically soaked her beige dress in tears. Dew didn't know how to react. Yes, he claimed to vaguely know the person he had worked with for four years. Yes, he was shocked and disturbed by whatever had happened. But that was it. In the end he was only another stranger who was dammed to hang.

As he recognized Avery he automatically leaned his head against his friend's chest to which he responded with a slight flinch but gave in and stroked his light hair. "You need a moment?" the taller one asked softly. Dew shrugged. What options were there? He could just go to bed of course, whether he could actually fall asleep was a different problem. Charles was practically dead. He didn't know what had happened but it must have been a misstep so it could have been him. He could be in Charles's place. After a few seconds of silent consideration Avery suggested: "Wanna see the lake?" He did want to see the lake. Whatever Avery said next, Dew didn't fully pay attention. Something about the gate being closed. The part he understood was when he said that he might feel sick to the stomach when he would throw the two of them outside. Okay, maybe he didn't understand what exactly that meant, whatever it was didn't seem important to him.

Without any further warnings Avery took his hands and pulled him forwards so hastily, it looked as if the torch was blown out by it. It became cold. His head was spinning or maybe he was just spinning as a whole. Pink sparks danced in front of his eyes as he lost balance and landed on all fours. To his surprise, he didn't feel the hard stone floor underneath his trembling palms but wet grass. When he opened his eyes a tiny pink flame was dancing in the darkness somewhere above his head.
"Sorry, I just recently figured this out," said Avery who was standing in the dim light of the flame and reached out his hand. "What in the world..." Dew saw the stars, real stars this time, the leafless branches of oak trees and felt a chill breeze on his skin. He wasn't logically supposed to be outside, there was no shortcut from that corridor to a place out in the open surrounded by nature. Not so quickly and especially not near the kitchen which was his territory. He spun around his own axis to examine the shadowy environment but he couldn't make out a single wall. Then Dew turned back to Avery who was awkwardly standing there with the little light in his hands. "Since when can you run at hyper speed? Or fly? Did you fly?" Avery smirked reservedly and explained: "I didn't run. It's just like-" He held out one fist and one palm, closed the palm and opened the fist. Then he continued: "I just figured it out a couple of months ago and found it quite useful. Now follow me, dear friend, we still have to walk about twenty minutes."

After receiving his blue cape, Dew followed his roommate and his light source through the woods. There was no proper path so he had to watch out where he placed his feet. Luckily his eyes quickly grew used to the lack of natural light to a point where he could almost see clear.  Maybe his eyes stayed similarly as good as when he was a merling within a rather dark environment. Most of the wind was blocked by Avery who was walking just in reach in front of him. They didn't speak a work but the hybrid's step was almost excited.

He didn't lie when he was talking about the time. Shortly before they arrived they came across a path made of dirt which had been trampled flat by the people who must be regular visitors to the place. It split up into a road fork and Dew guessed it was circling around the lake. The lake itself didn't look like it was all that big both in size and depth. "It's not what you're used to," Avery apologized, "but I swear the water is pretty clear." "How is the ground?" "A bit muddy in some places but mostly covered with round stones," he answered. Dew nodded and sat down at the side of the lake. The grass was dry and wet from the last rainfall and stung his hands when he sat on it. Perhaps in its rebirth in spring it would be soft and comfortable. It wasn't too different from the body of water he originated from. As Avery came next to him the pink flame had vanished and the only bit of light by the moon reflected from the crippling surface of the water. Dew took off his boots which were still dirty from the trip he made to the forest with Charles only five days ago. It seemed unreal now that said person was about to become nothing more than the name on a square piece of rock himself. Maybe not even that.