Sky Dust

Chapter 20

Spencer sat on the edge and looked at the ice. The subconscious fear of falling down bothered him.

"I don't think we can waste any sky dust for invisibility," Vivia was saying. "We have to preserve it all, no exceptions."

He nodded, getting slightly thirstier. He had an idea of breaking the ice and drinking the water from the lake, but that seemed stupid and desperate.

"Also, let's not waste time," Vivia got up, her legs immediately slipping down. Spencer stared at her attempts and stood up himself, his legs shaking. He made a huge, daring step up and nearly fell, but he could give Vivia a hand. She didn't take it, and he looked away.

"Staying here for so long was unwise," She said once she was standing next to him.

"It was your idea."

She silently walked on. Spencer wasn't nervous anymore, - he calmly paced after her. She stopped to look at the pouch and then continued.

"Do we have a lot of time until sunset?" Spencer asked.

"It's a little before noon," She spoke in a practical tone. Spencer had warmed up by now, which was a relief to him. Vivia reached into her pocket and took her hand out.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Can we eat anything?"

"If you're that hungry, we can try to fish. But that's for extreme situations, time is precious."

"Well, then, no."

"Great," she took his hand and rubbed it. Spencer realized it was done to warm him up and looked at her appreciatively, then pulled his hand out.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Vivia asked.

"I thought that was obvious."

"It is. I just wanted to talk."

Spencer hesitated. In all the time he spent with Vivia, this was the first moment when she looked relaxed, awkward even. Usually she was quite energetic.

"You're exhausted," he guessed. Vivia just nodded as she stared at the ground.

"But that isn't an excuse not to walk faster," she turned practical again as she sped her pace up. Spencer also became quicker, and he had no breath left to maintain a conversation.