The Unknown Alchemist

Chapter 9 - Run

Avery showed Roedin the deep spot at the creek where she usually washed. He used a wooden staff to take the pressure off his broken leg but was able to put weight on it due to the protection of the heavy clay cast. The sun was shining with a hint of autumn in the air. Some of the leaves had turned red or yellow making a beautiful mosaic of colour in the forest.

"Don't you dare get that cast wet!" she ordered as he eagerly approached the water.

The water in the stream was clear and cool, refreshing his muscles that had stiffened after lack of use. At first, Roedin lay on his back with his head and shoulders floating in the stream. He used the soap to wash his hair and torso letting the water rinse away grime and grease.

"I always feel so much better when we walk in this forest," he muttered. "It's like the sun is giving me energy. I can feel some magic finally stirring."

He hobbled to a nearby boulder to sit while Avery filled a bucket of water. When Avery approached with the bucket and soap she saw Roedin scratching the back of his neck and fidgeting with the tie of his pants.

"What is it? What do you need?" Avery asked.

"I don't mean to be rude but could I have a little privacy for this next part?"

Avery looked at him incredulously but a smile crept onto her cheeks and up to her eyes.  She tried to hold it back but it just made her face shine even more.

"You were unconscious for a long time. There's nothing I haven't seen before," she tried to say with a straight face.

But the laughter in her eyes gave her away and she had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. Roedin straightened his shoulders, looking around the forest and away from her mirth. At that Avery couldn't hold the laughter in.

"There's certainly no one here to spy on you! Believe me, I checked." She dropped the bucket and soap by his feet and then crossed her arms and stepped back.

"Inside, when I was sick, it was different. Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate everything you did for me, but now I am capable and...conscious...and I...would like a moment. Please."

"Fine," Avery said with a smirk. "If you say so. But if you fall I don't think that I can pick you up again. You're really heavy, you know that?"

Avery picked up the bundle of Roedin's armour and carried it down to the stream, keeping her back to male. She began undoing buckles and clasps and used a cloth to wipe down the leather and metal, cleaning out any dust and dried blood that accumulated there. Roedin wouldn't be doing any fighting soon, but the armour needed repairs so she asked him to put it on so she could see how it fit together.

Behind her she heard water splashing and perhaps a small sigh of contentment as Roedin finished washing up. Then he brushed the water from his skin and cursed quietly as he struggled to slide his pants back over the cast. Avery had cut off one of the legs so it would fit over, making him look slightly unbalanced.

He finished dressing and limped over to the stream where Avery had laid out the pieces of armour. After strapping a piece to his arm Avery watched him close his eyes and inhale, as though the armour were giving him energy, power. When he opened his eyes and caught her watching him, she blushed and quickly looked away.

He bent down to strap a shin guard on his good leg but stumbled in the unforgiving cast.

"Hey careful! That leg may be feeling better but I don't want to start over," Avery admonished, jumping up to steady him.

"Thank you for taking care of these," Roedin said as he took another piece of armour she held out for him. "You didn't even know anything about it and you treated it well. Just like you didn't know me and showed me the same courtesy."