Heather's Adventures: The Search for Maxamus

Chapter 28. Sheria

Rheannah questioned me as I warmed myself on the fire, "so this is all we do? We just sit her on our butts watching the fire burn out?"

I shook my head, "no we get to watch the sunrise too. It's very pretty around this side of the world, or so I've heard." I glanced out at the horizon. It was however still dark out and the moon was just starting to set.

"But we don't do anything."

"We protect. We make sure that the rest of them sleep well, and sometimes I make breakfast. We get the least amount of sleep so I try to go to sleep early, but I guess I'm a morning person. There's just one thing to be super concerned of, and that's the fact most enemies try to attack at first light. It is the most dangerous time, yet the most peaceful time of day."

"I guess..." Rheannah lead off not really sure how to respond to me.

"You think we'll be attacked way up here?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "the wind is dry and I haven't seen any animals. With the lack of creatures and dry wind it hints civilization is quite a distance away."

"Smart." I smiled, "I bet your mother is proud of you."

Rheannah nodded, gazing off at the rocks, "she is...she sure is..."

"Something wrong?" I asked her as I started to search through my own bag for anything worth eating. I didn't have that much left.

She shook her head, "I feel it's my duty to protect Max, you know? If my mother knew I wasn't able to protect him...I failed to complete the only reason I was allowed to leave, to protect him."

"No you didn't." I assured her, "it wasn't your call to protect him. Believe me there will most definitely be time when it's your time to protect him. Just right now is definitely not that time. Just look at Heather. She wants to protect me at all costs. I think it's silly for the most part. But one day she'll do whatever it takes and she will protect me. You're a fine warrior, I bet one day you'd be surprised how Max turns out. You've protected him and trained him so well. One day you'll know you did everything you could and you did your absolute best. Just don't forget you always have us to rely on. Heather most certainly will never let you down. When she gives you her word, she never, ever, goes back on it. Ever. It may take her a while to complete what she says, but she will get it done. I know that for a fact."

"How will I know when it's my call?"

I shrugged, "you don't really know. It's just when out of a gut-reaction reflex you take upon yourself to act without a second thought or a care to do something. You won't think. You'll just do. It's really hard to explain. You'll just know when you're doing it. I guess that's how to explain it."

"As long as I keep Max safe I guess it doesn't matter much." She sighed to herself.

"It matters all the much. You care to actually do something. You want to stand up for those you want to protect. That means more than you can probably even ever imagine to the people around you. Heather took an arrow to the chest that could've killed me. I'm still forever thankful to her still to this day. To think, just five years ago she was the kid in class that hated school and just wanted to do something great. Who knew she'd be great at saving and protecting everyone she cared about. I'm proud to have her as my sister each and every day."

"You think Max is proud of me?"

"Of course he is! Why wouldn't he be?"

Rheannah spoke in a soft tone, "I'm just his little sister."

"I'm Heather's little sister. I'm nowhere near as strong as her yet she's proud of me. I'm not even good at fighting, I'm a healer. I don't even have my staff with me."

She questioned me right there, "Why don't you have your staff with you?"

I shrugged, "didn't think I'd need it. I trust all of you to protect me. I don't need it to heal people anyway. It would just be extra baggage if I attempted to bring it. Only helps in combat and I've been fortunate enough to not have had to engage in combat."

"Do you like to fight?"

I shook my head, "it's not my strong point. Heather goes easy on me and I still loose in one-on-one battles. It's alright though. I'm not made for the battle. I'm made for the recovery, for helping people through hope. Heather's way of helping people is stopping other people from hurting them. Mine is actually helping the people who need help. While hers is more of an indirect way of looking at it, I prefer mine. I'm actually really happy I don't have powers like Heather. I don't know what I'd do with them."

"My powers aren't as strong as Max's or most of my family's powers. I use my swordsmanship skills to cover it up."

"And you do a good job of it, really. But when it comes down to it in the end, it's now powers that save us. It's our ability to make do with the situation at hand. Heather had lots of powers back there. It didn't help her back there though. It was her quick thinking. Everything she did you could've done, and you probably could've done better since you're a wind or air power type. I know because of the way you analyze the breeze. It isn't about how strong you are. It's about what you're willing to do and what you can do. Oh hey look the sun is rising!" I pointed off in the distance as the earliest rays of sunlight started to appear over the rocky mountaintops we were still in for the time being. It was a warm light, finally creating the warmth we needed without Heather's fire that was starting to dim faster now.

Rheannah turned to face the sun and breathed in the early morning mountain air, "You're right, the sunrise here is really pretty."

"Splendiferous if I do say so myself," I laughed lightly.

"Let's hope Max isn't a slugabed today. We should get moving. These breeze brings in wet air. Either rain or snow is coming and we're not prepared well for either of those."

"Eh, Heather's one too. That's why she takes first shift when it comes to sleeping. Always wants to sleep the longest undisturbed. She tries, she really tries, but sometimes it can't be avoided and she's woken up."

"Ever wonder why she sleeps so much?"

"It's because her powers tire her out. Her necklace is supposed to not make her as worn out but she refuses to use it at all costs. I don't think she's used it once."

Rheannah sniffed the air, "I wonder why."

I just shrugged to her, "If I knew I'd tell you."

"We have about six hours before the rain will catch up to us here. We need to leave in four if we wanna clear it safely with the least amount of weather related issues."

"You've got a keen eye for that stuff."

"I'm working on being able to create large tornadoes so I'm learning the weather conditions. It actually helps with my power balance a lot."

"That's cool," I beamed to her, "see, you've got themotivation. You've got nothing to worry about. You're already amazing; you justneed to realize that for yourself in order for you to completely understandyourself."