Becoming Cognates||Sophitz

Chapter 4

"Fitz?" I said, sitting up. He was gone. I muttered some curse words before pushing the blanket that Dex had brought off of me and opening my mind to his thoughts. I pinpointed his exact location and I sprinted there, seeing him sitting on a rock looking over Lumenaria. I breathed a sigh of relief, sitting next to him. He quietly took my hand and connected our minds, as was a habit since yesterday. It was amazing how quickly habits formed in times of crisis. His thoughts were racing, and I could sense the guilt every now and then. However, I could also sense him trying to push those thoughts down, trying to stay true to his promise about not feeling guilty. 

"Did you get any sleep?" I asked eventually. 

"Like an hour." He replied, still staring out at the city. I glanced at the moon, seeing it was almost setting, and the sun was almost rising. I sighed, not even going to try and convince him that he needed more sleep. I had bought energy elixirs for this purpose. I knew he wasn't going to get much sleep. And therefore, I wasn't going to get nearly as much sleep either. I had made a promise to myself that I would watch out for Fitz. If that meant staying awake until he was fast asleep, or staying awake all night on the especially bad days for him, I would do it. I would do it in a heartbeat. We watched the sun rise, Fitz resting his head on my shoulder. 

"Come on, let's get back to the group." I said, pulling him up. He followed me silently, and Tam gave us a slight smile when he saw us approached. We ate a small and quick breakfast, before setting out again. Tam and Linh were chatting with each other, Dex was up there chatting with Keefe, fiddling with the weapons that we were carrying with us. Fitz and I were once again silent, chatting more often in our minds than yesterday, but not nearly as much as we would if this were a different circumstance. We came across a river, that seemed fairly deep, and we stopped in our tracks. Fitz continued to walk, the water reaching his chest. Meaning I would have to swim across. He returned, scooping me up and placing me on his shoulders before continuing. Linh started to laugh, before moving the water out of the way and walking across. She even controlled the water that was soaking Fitz's clothes, effectively drying him. Fitz gave her a small smile, before continuing. I was surprised he didn't put me down. 

"Do you want to be put down?" Fitz asked, having read my thoughts. 

"I don't mind this." I said, and he continued on. We reached a forest, and that's where he put me down, as the branches hung too low. He gripped my hand, and plowed forward. As we walked, I tried to pinpoint Biana's location but was unsuccessful, not able to find her thoughts. She was fully drugged. I pushed the thought away, focusing on the path ahead of us. We reached a clearing by sunset, and I glanced at the group. We all came to a silent agreement to camp here, and as Linh and Dex set up the tent, Keefe and Tam searched for firewood. I sat down next to Fitz, rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand. I slid my glove off before taking his hand again. His thoughts were racing again, so I wrapped a comforting and relaxing aura around him, and his thoughts immediately slowed down. His mind lingered on memories with Biana in them, over analyzing the most recent ones, especially right before she got kidnapped. She was going on a walk, and he offered to go with her. She said that she wanted some alone time, and went off alone. Later on in the memory, he heard her scream before she was silent, and by the time he got to where she was the only thing that was there was a note from the Neverseen. 

'We're back.' the note said. He had hid the note in his drawer before telling Alden and Della. The memory shifted to when I came over, and I sighed. I kept my mind connected to his, but stopped looking at his thoughts. He started to play with the cognate rings on our thumbs and I gave him a small smile. 

Can you tell me now? Fitz transmitted, referring to my secret. 

Are you sure you want to know? I transmitted back. I would tell him. If he wanted to know I would tell him.