Aiden's Quest

Chapter 2.3 Part 8

"Thanks. I'll hav'm in a bit. I'm not hungry just yet."

She looked at him in disbelief. What? Had he eaten while I was gone, she thought. And why hadn't he saved any for me?

Jashion was starving, and they looked good. But if they were both sick what good would that do. He decided to give it a few more minutes to see if they had any ill effect upon her.

"I'll fetch us s'more before it gets dark."

"Nay, but ye'll stay here, ye will. I'll go with ye and we'll fetch 'um together, we will; in just a moment."

Jemma sat obediently but she was very confused. Jashion began to wonder more about her. She seemed to be holding up very well for a youngin' that had just lost everything. He considered asking her about her family and home, but then thought better of it. Like telling her that the berries could be poisonous, what good would come from bringing up all that she had lost? At least she had her personal discomforts to focus her mind away from the tragedy that she had just survived.

After several minutes, some tears began to well up in her eyes. She was looking down at the ground and her arms were around her shins.

"How's ye tummy, Jemma? Is ye tummy hurtin'?" he asked, getting concerned.

She shook her head and then wiped the tears.

"Ye tummy's fine, is it?"

"Aye, me tummy is fine. Me's still hungry, though."

"I'm famished," he said smiling, and she looked at him quizzically again. He began popping the berries in his mouth. They were sweet with just a slight bitterness. The sprig was cleaned off in a moment, not touching his hunger but rather igniting it.

He began to explain to Jemma that sometimes berries can be poisonous and that he was worried about her, that he had to watch her to see if she was fine.

"Me knows that these is not badens. Me saw birds at 'em, Me did. Birds don't go at the badens. Me had these'ns before. These is good, they is," she explained emphatically. In her mind, she could not understand how he thought that she might have brought to him poisonous berries—he was her friend. Didn't he know that me was taking care of him, she wondered.

Jashion began to remove his left shoe and to roll up his left pant-leg. He grabbed both shoes in his right hand and put his left leg in the shallow stream. He stood up and reached for Jemma's hand. She hopped up quickly and grabbed his. They made their way across the stream and over towards the berries. It was more shadowy on the other side, as the forest was getting deeper and the sun was setting quickly. The darkness was approaching faster than he liked.

Jemma was pleased when she found the berries and pulled Jashion towards them. Jashion was disappointed at the quantity when he arrived. If he ate every last berry he would only begin to satisfy his hunger, and she was still hungry.

Jemma was not shy as she confronted the bush. She picked and popped the berries ambidextrously. Jashion soon joined in. After just a few minutes they were spending more time searching than eating. He had found more than he had expected but was still hungry. It was rather dark then, and he wasn't sure what to make of their circumstances.

"Did ye find any more berries?" he asked when the bush was picked clean.

She shook her head and said, "Nay." Her upbraided expression concerned Jashion. He was not chiding her; he was just asking. He could tell that she must have been scolded regularly. She constantly aims to please, and feels so bad if I am not pleased, he thought.

"Ye did very good Jemma, ye did. I'm so full now, how about ye?"

Her beaming expression and the nodding of her head made him smile. Neither of them could have been full, but they were better than they were and she knew, finally, that she had done right, and that he was pleased.

The moment was broken by a distant howl. They had rested, and felt at peace since early that morning. It was clear that danger still lurked. They were not safe as the night approached. It would not have been far to travel back the way that they had come. They could have easily retraced their steps across the stream and back to where they had slept. They could have left the wooded area and gone back to the path that they had been following out of Dargaer. But Dromreign was still the most pressing danger in their minds. The deeper and denser the forest, the less likely that they could be spotted by the dragon and the safer it seemed to them. They pressed southeast and into the density of the darkening forest.

Twigs snapped and leaves crackled under the weight of their footsteps. Theirs was a symphonic sound contrasted to the silence of the forest. Everything within earshot knew exactly where they were and where they were headed. Jemma winced with pain at times as she stepped. Jashion, more focused on his whereabouts and the direction of his travel than on his companion, finally noticed the discomfort of his fellow traveler.

"Wear ye me shoes, Jemma," he said kindly.

"Nay, but they's too big for me, ye keep 'em," she said. "Me's fine, me is."

Darkness had been creeping in since they had awoken, by then it was enveloping them. The trees were nothing more than darker vertical shadows against the overall darkness. They walked slowly with their hands outstretched in front of them, trying to avoid running into anything in the blackness of the night. Their footsteps and the sound of their own breathing, mingled with an occasional scurrying of a small animal, was all that they had heard for some time. The second wolf howl of the night stopped them in their steps. It was louder and closer than it had been before. They both stood there silently and listened for several minutes.

Again,no sound could be heard and they silently rejoined their journey. The darknessbecame impenetrable to their eyes. Jashion turned his head and looked around instinctively,trying to glimpse what lie ahead with his peripheral vision. Even that was tono avail. His fingers felt the bark of a large tree in front of him. He stoppedand felt around the tree and decided to rest up against it. He sat with hisback against the tree as Jemma sat against the same tree on his right.