The Shadress (MCD x Reader)

Ch. 27- Old Friends: One

With a deep breath, I pull myself onto a nearby boulder. Water drips from every inch of my body, largely from my hair. I carefully pull at the ribbon holding my braid together and start unraveling the strands, giving my hair room to properly dry.

I must've misjudged the distance cause when my teleport finished, I had landed in the lake. Though I suppose that Helena might've messed with it as a minor form of revenge.

My eyes sting; tears mixing with lakewater and dripping off my face. I don't quite understand why I am upset, but I also don't understand why her holiness is continuing to target me. Perhaps it wasn't her, but I don't know who else it'd be.

The crunch of leaves and gravel breaks me from my line of thinking. I turn, bracing myself with my left palm pressed against the mostly smooth stone behind me. My hair sticks to my back, so I push my head further back to peel the strands off. It's an odd position, I'm sure, but I am dripping water, which is never that comfortable.

Vylad is the one standing on the path looking at me. His aura looks amused but nothing else outwardly shows the emotion. "Enjoy your swim?" Scratch that, he definitely sounds it as well.

I blink any remaining water away from my eyes and sigh. "Don't know. Maybe you should jump in and find out how I feel."

He chuckles. There's a strange glint in his eye that I cannot decipher. Except, he's speaking before I try. "Come on." He outstretches a hand.

I glance at his palm and then raise an eyebrow. "Where?"

"My cave."

"Ohhh, yours huh?" I hum. His good mood feels contagious and I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face. I stand without his offered help and listen as a bunch of water drips quickly onto the ground: soft pitter-patters of droplets hitting the grass and leaves.

He shrugs and drops his hand back to his side. "Okay. Maybe not mine. But I've been staying there for some time."

The vagueness tells me everything I need to know about how long it's been.

Our walk is almost silent. No words are exchanged anyway. It's not very far into the wilderness beyond Phoenix Drop's borders. The entrance is on the side of a moderate-sized hill, but the tunnel immediately descends beneath the surface. There's a faint glow straight down the path which I assume to be his camp.

"You've been here for almost nine years, and you've never upgraded to something better than a cave?" I cross my arms as I raise an eyebrow at him. There's a brief moment that I regret that movement – my clothes are sticking to my skin – but the nearly offended look on Vylad's face makes up for any discomfort.

He scoffs mock offense flashing across his face. "First off, I haven't been here for most of that nine years. Secondly, why would I need any more than the cave? It's not like I spend a whole lot of time in it."

With a shrug, I reign in the teasing. "Fair enough. I suppose on a technical level you've spent more time in the Nether than you have on Earth for those nine years."

"Yeah. Most of which was spent as a fugitive. So cut me some slack." He lightly smacks my arm with the back of his hand before turning and leading me down the cave.

It's a pretty short distance from the entrance, and when we get there, Vylad begins going through bags and pulling random things out as I look around, surveying his little camp.

It's homey. He's clearly made the best of what he has at his disposal. There's a little campfire in the middle of a moderately sized and fairly circular room. A sleeping bag sits a few feet away, far enough to likely not catch on fire, but close enough to still get warmth throughout the night. On the opposite side of the fire, there's a collection of crates and bags. That probably holds all of his supplies.