Golden wings

Chapter 52 - Strange

The view was beautiful; yet she was not enjoying it.

Ayako was standing above a tall cliff, glaring at the dense forest that surrounded her. Her icy eyes were fixed, firm and thoughtful.

It was too quiet. The birds should sing, for the sun was shining. She should hear the sound of the lively forest, how the animals neared the course of the river. However... she could hear nothing. There was no sound around her, nothing past the cliff where she stood tall. There were no signs of life below, around the clearing. She could see the birds soar in the distance, and how they were avoiding the area where Alexis lived. They were not singing, not even chirping, they were all dead silent. And it should not be.

What did the birds fear?

She had seen them a lot of times, the birds had never feared to fly nearby. But now, she had been camping near Alexis' cave for some days, and suddenly, the animals didn't dare to show themselves.

She felt watched.

Her hand twitched subtly. Her crossbow was at hand, always tied on her back. Her blue eyes looked at every shadow, they paid mind to every space between the tall trees... But she could see nothing.

Why did she feel-?

She heard steps.

The hunter looked slowly to her left, and then down, to the small path that led to the top of the cliff and towards the lake, between the trees. A smile grew on her lips, when she saw that jagged blond hair, that cape that always dangled behind.

There he was.

Alexis was walking back towards his clearing, without hurry, with a net thrown over his shoulder and a bag in his hand. Ayako grinned and licked her lips, because she knew what he carried in that sack. She laughed silently and picked her own rucksack from the ground, to then dash.

It was time for lunch.

While the hunter hurried to climb down the cliff, Alexis pondered while he walked down the path. He had been tolerating her presence these days. Ayako did not pay him visits anymore, because she was always around now.

Could he do something about it? No. She was the most stubborn being that he would ever meet. She was more stubborn than Uriel, and that was saying something.

She was just... around. She was always nearby, roaming in the woods. She usually minded her own business, hunting or searching for herbs; but she always came back to the clearing, especially at some hours. What was more, she always demanded to see his scars, to try to heal them, to try to make them fade away. She did not manage, but she did make them feel better sometimes.

That troubled him, even if he did not tell her to leave or be quiet anymore. He would never admit it, but he wished to forget and let go of his misery. He wished he could... But it was not easy to do so. He still flinched every time Ayako neared on him, every time she had one of those cheerful and hyperactive outbursts. He could not avoid feeling a deep sense of rage when he heard her laugh.

Why did he have to feel like this?

There was no trace of the hunter that took him down. But it was there, it was hidden deep inside her. It was buried in her consciousness, blocked in her mind by a painful spell and her own kindness.

He stopped thinking about his sorrows, because he had already buried them inside before. He did again, when he turned around the side of the cliff and saw the clearing. He was not surprised at all when he saw something move at the top of the waterfall. Of course, it was not the water; it was something far more fast and noisy, something that was climbing down stubbornly.