Watercolour Dreams

»»------(Chapter 1)------»»

   The night sky was thick with smoke, the flickering of a dying fire shaking against the trees around us. It was late into the night, the sun threatening to rise once again, and we'd have to move after it did. I hid a yawn and stretched carefully, Hunk laying next to me and Pidge in my lap.
   The two were softly dosing, both curled up as they snuggled up to me. Hunk snored lightly, a hand tight on the hem of my sweater. Pidge had his arms wrapped tight around my leg, nuzzling up against my thigh as she would occasionally mumble names held in loving favour, his dreams nothing but sweet memories of the past.
   I gave a soft smile, taking a worn leather journal from my bag. My movements were slow and careful as I did so, afraid to wake one of the two up.
   After a moment of silent thought, I ran my hand over the torn cover, the bent corners rubbing against my callused hands. It was an old book, already about a year old; but it had only been used once.
   I opened it up to the first page, finding an entry labeled 'May 8, Monday' at the top. It had been around five months ago that I had used the book to record my thoughts, and reading back on it, I couldn't help but snicker at how childish the entry sounded. I also couldn't help but to feel a strong tug in my chest, knowing that while I had written that entry, I had been scared senseless, sent into a sleepless state; the state of terror and constant paranoia had left me practically immobile when Pidge and Hunk had needed me most.
   Despite all this, the entry sounded cheery and excited, as if the world hadn't come crashing down at all. As if I hadn't been midst a complete panic as I wrote it, hands shaking harshly after one of my first nightmares.
   I broke my gaze from the words, taking the pen in my bag out as I turned to the next page, starting my first entry in forever.
   It grew increasingly awkward as I went. What was I supposed to write, anyways?
   'Oh Hunk, you sweep me off my feet with your big, muscled arms~ please, carry me into the sunset as we ride a horse over the corpse of the dead!~'
   No; that's weird. Closing the book in defeat, I turned my gaze back to our surroundings. We were atop a clear hill, so the threat of a rotter wasn't as horrifying as it was back when we had camped out in the forest. It was a bad decision, and I had almost been bit when Hunk couldn't pull me from my sleep soon enough. Luckily, we survived, but it had left us rattled for a few days; we had found out a few hours later, resting in a tree, that a single rotter had actually been about twenty of them.
   I yawned as I shook away my thoughts once again, my hands thoughtlessly playing with Pidge's matted hair. The sun was topping the trees now, it's rays starting to fall on Pidge's face. Instead of complaining and sitting up, however, he flipped over, scrunching his nose in annoyance.
   Hunk continued to sleep for a bit longer, but soon was awake, fussing at my side.
   "Lance, why didn't you wake me? I could have taken watch for you- you aren't in any condition to deal with rotters at this point!" He fretted quietly, obviously fully awake in the first few minutes.
   I brushed his worries aside, giving a toothy grin.
   "I'll be fine Hunk, you needed sleep more than I did anyways. The last few days have been pretty rough. But it's fine! I'm used to pulling all nighters."
   Pidge finally stirred, his eyes blinking open slowly before he finally sat upright, taking a moment to lean his head against my chest before cussing the sun off under his breath. I snorted softly.
   "What'd the sun ever do to you?"
   "It created this galaxy, is what. Damn thing has to show up and make stupid planets. And it woke me up." He continued to grumble sleepily, oblivious to the little sense he was making as he approached his bag.
   "Time to get on the move again?" I asked softly, slipping the journal back into my bag; Pidge nodded in return, tugging a map from his own.
   "If I'm right, then-" he stopped to muffle a short yawn; "then we're right next to a big city. It's probably got quite a few rotters, but I'm sure some of the buildings must still have food and supplies." He stopped for a moment, focusing on the map before pulling out a sharpie. He marked off an area before circling another, folding the map up and putting it away.
   "We should probably get Lance some more sun screen. He's got sunburn freckles again." Hunk shook his head lightly with a small smile.
   "Then camping out in a building for a few days or a week might be a good idea. We should see if the city is cleared out already; that Galra gang might have been through here already." Pidge tugged his rucksack up, slinging it over his shoulder.
   "To the city?" I grinned, holding my arms out. They sighed before casting each other small smiles, linking their arms with mine.
   "To the city!" We chorused, and I started to skip, dragging them along with me.