Decay of Desire

Section 4

   We traveled along in silence for the majority of the remainder of the day, only occasionally speaking whenever the silence grew too ominous to bear. It was exhausting, to say the least. The path we followed along the riverbank was rough, and there were a few times we almost fell in the murky depths. I think the heat was the worst of all. With no trees or any form of shade to be found, we were open victims to the unbridled fury of the floating gas ball. Thankfully, we reached a copse of spruce trees before one of us had a heatstroke. Flopping down onto the springy grass, I quickly downed what was left of the water in my bottle while Aina set herself down more delicately. As I felt the cool water course through me, I couldn't help but watch my female companion again. This led me back to my previous train of thought earlier, and again I couldn't help but ponder the decision of telling her or not. I weighed potential consequences and outcomes, and still couldn't come to a final decision. "Evan," she snapped me out of my thoughts again, "Are you okay? You seem like you've been spacing out lately." I jumped a little, and told her I was fine. She leaned towards me and said, "You can talk to me about it, whatever it is." I could feel her warm breath tickle my face, and the impulse struck me stronger than ever. It took all of my self control to keep from letting it all out then. I grit my teeth until I thought I'd cracked them, and managed to tell her, "It's nothing serious. I wouldn't bother troubling you with it." Damn, here I was lying through my teeth, when I could probably tell her and get it over with. I was just afraid of how she would react. With her around, I was content. It kept my mind off of what had happened to my crew, and the horror of killing someone. I couldn't risk the thought of losing her, it was just too horrible to consider. "Okay. I'm here if you want to talk," she said as she returned to her previous position. I brooded awhile longer, until I felt more at ease with the situation I faced at hand. I pushed it to the back of my mind, and stood up. "Hey, there's still daylight left. We gonna keep moving or what," I asked her. She looked up at me, seemingly shocked. "You want to keep going? You looked pretty miserable earlier. I don't mind staying here," she answered, disbelief in her voice. I explained to her that it was just the heat, addling my mind(another lie) and I felt much better after resting. Without hesitation, she began packing what little things we had taken out of the packs. She didn't have to tell me how excited she was, I could read it plainly. She must really miss her parents. A stray thought about my parents ran through my mind, and I quickly squelched it before it became coherent. That was a whole different kettle of fish I didn't need to be stirring at the moment.

By now, Aina already had all of our belongings ready to go, and she stood waiting by a nearby tree for me, one hand resting lightly on her hip, watching me expectantly. I grabbed the other satchel, and made my way over to her. I let her lead the way, and as it grew darker outside, I began to notice a faint light from up ahead. It appeared to be slightly above our altitude, which struck me as odd. "That's Ridgevale up there," she pointed to the light, tension in her voice. As we grew closer to our destination, snow began falling around us. I couldn't recall ever seeing snow before, and actually witnessing it left me awestruck. It was so.........majestic. I paused a moment to admire each individual flake floating past. A voice came to me from behind saying, "It's amazing, isn't it?" I jumped, and whipped around, only to see Aina standing there, a snowball in her hand and a Cheshire grin upon her face. "Oh no, no you better not," I said as I backed away. She laughed, and hurled it at me. I tried to duck, but to no avail. It nailed me square in the chest, and I acted as if I had been shot, staggering over dramatically. I held a hand up to her, and pleaded she not hurt me any longer, before collapsing into the cool blanket of snow face first. I felt a weight land on my back, and heard her giggle as she turned me over. She had a playful gleam in her eye, and softly punched me in the sides until I begged her to stop. Inwardly, I couldn't recall ever being this happy, not even when the crew of The Gambit sold our goods and had gold in our pockets. Not even getting sloshed up drunk in a tavern with the family and ending the night with some wench. Nothing compared to how Aina made me feel. Finally, I found the strength to push her off of me, and watched as she landed on her back and sank into the snow. Brushing myself off, I stood up, and offered her my hand to help her up. Quickly, she grabbed my hand, and I steadied my balance against her weight. However, she snatched my arm and pulled me down with her. I fell directly on top of her, the heat permeating through her clothes welcoming against the sharp contrast of the ground. I tilted my head upwards, looking in her eyes. She met my gaze steadily, and the world around us seemed to stop as we stared into each other. I felt too frozen to speak, thankfully she said something before I did. I could feel her looking into my very core as she said, "You're amazing Evan." I had never been so thankful to be alive.