The Diaries of a Soul Rider

Chapter 7 - Trail Rides & Deep Conversations

A/N: Before you start this chapter, I just want to address the fact that I'm going to go somewhat into detail about Noella's death so if you're uncomfortable with reading about it you can skip that part. Also, I highly recommend re-reading chapter 1 of this story. I updated it and went much more into depth about what Nat's life was like before coming to Jorvik so definitely check that out if you want! :)

It had gotten quite late, and all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep. I put Jewel in her stall for the night, and began to walk over to my room. As I'm walking to the rather large building, I see Justin.

"Natalie! You're just the person I was looking for." He says.

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh, and why are you looking for me?" I ask curiously.

"Well, I, uh..." he trails off.

"Well?" I ask, smiling at him.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a ride, maybe I could show you around a bit?" He asks.

I nod and say "Sure, I'll go get Jewel."

It's 11:00 pm and I wasn't kidding when I said all I wanted to do was sleep. But how could I pass this up? I walked back to Jewel's stall and tacked her up, I soon saw Justin waiting for me on his horse.

His horse was wonderful, a dark grey coat and mane, it also looked quite strong.

"You ready?" Justin asks, smiling.

I hop on Jewel, grab my reins, and nod.

We then went on a trail ride. We didn't even go into the towns, we rode right past them. But I was fine with it. To be honest, I like the countryside so much more than I like the city. Open fields, horses, and fresh air is much better than any city I've ever been to.

We finally started to stop. We were in an open field, but you could see a forest ahead.

Justin dismounted his horse, and I did the same. He then said "Look." As he looked up at the stars.

I looked up at the night sky and I was instantly amazed. I had never seen so many stars in the sky. They shined so bright, it was breathtaking.

I smiled and said "It's beautiful. Do you come here often?" I ask.

He nods "My mother used to come here before she died." He stated.

Oh god, I didn't mean to bring up his mom, I feel horrible. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up..." I say sensitively.

"No, no it's okay. It happened a long time ago. Of course it still upsets me but not as much as it once did." He says kindly.

"I don't think you can ever get over something like that." I say, thinking about my sister.

He stares at me for a second, it's almost as if he knows what I'm thinking about. He then says "I don't mean to pry, but have you ever lost anyone, Natalie?"

I felt my blood run cold. I've never talked to anyone about Noella. Not even my parents or family members.

I finally speak out and say "My sister."

He looks at me and says sincerely "I'm sorry, Natalie, but you can always talk to me about it if you want. I'm here for you." He smiled gently.

There was a long pause, neither of us spoke. I think we were both thinking. I thought about Noella, and as for Justin, well, I don't know.

"It was a suicide." I say "It never quite made sense to me either. She wasn't depressed. She was the most positive person I ever met." I blurt out without thinking. I honestly felt embarrassed. I didn't mean to say that. I didn't want to go into detail about it. It's like the words just flew out of my mouth, without even thinking.

He looks at me as if he was analyzing what I just said to him. I could tell he was thinking hard about this. "Everyone has their own personal demons though, she could have put on an act in front of you when really she was depressed inside." He finally said.

If this was the case, then well, Noella wasn't the only one who faked a smile from time to time. I finally nod. "I guess your right. Still doesn't make sense to me though." I say.

He smiles gently at me and says "I'm sure you'll get your answers one day."

I smile back just a bit. I must admit, it felt good to actually talk to someone for once instead of bottling up all my emotions. Again, there was a long pause. It wasn't awkward though, it was actually quite peaceful.

"So, how do you like Jorvik so far?" He asked me, curiously.

I pause for just a moment and say "Well, I don't exactly hate it." I say jokingly

"I guess that's a start." Justin says, chuckling. "Trust me, you'll learn to love this place."

I shrug and say "Maybe I will." and smile a bit at him.

We stayed in the field for a while longer. We talked and laughed about many other things. I actually had a nice time. It was great to just talk to someone for once. When I got back to my room, I went straight to my bed, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.