The Music Box

Chapter 9: Argon

Thank the heavens, she leaves. He glared at her back, continuing his work. She would not stop talking.

The day was a beautiful one, he had to admit. The sun was bright and warm on his back, and the breeze was wonderful. It would have been a good day to go out flying, if Runora had been here. The blood from the fish made his mouth water. He dug a little more before deciding it was good enough, starting to stack the sticks in a certain way so the fire could breathe. Argon set the kindling ablaze and fed the fire until its hunger was satisfied, making his way into the cave to prepare the food. Usually, he wouldn't really do all this. Instead, he'd bite down on the food, set its insides on fire, and eat it like that. Or raw, depending on what it was and how hungry he was at the moment. Considering he was just having a bit of a treat and that he had just eaten a--surprisingly good--chicken, he decided to take a bit of time. 

He walked out of the cave with the filleted fish in hand, surprised to see the strange girl placing rocks along the edges of the pit. She looked up at him with her green eyes and smiled, holding out a large, flat rock. "You can use this one to cook on, if you want. Like a pan kind of."

Argon tilted his head, observing her. Her raven hair was cut short, with bangs just above her brow. When her thick hair got to the middle of her neck, it curved upwards, stopping just below her ears. She wore baggy clothing which hid most of her body, all except for her head and hands. She had on some dirty jeans and a heavy gray jacket with a hood. Her shoes were gray, and had nice white laces tied into a bow on each shoe. Her skin was kind of pale, with a few freckles here and there. Her bright smile was sweet and never wavered.

He huffed in reply and limped to the fire, sitting down and giving his pained leg a rest. She sat down as well, placing the stone with the rest of the rocks at the edge of the blaze, right in between her and Argon. She crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap, watching his movements carefully. He glared back at her, before putting the fish on the flat rock she had brought.

"You caught a pretty big one," she remarked. "How heavy was it?"

He popped his jaw.

Her smile dimmed. "Looks to me like it might be around nine to twelve pounds or so."

He prodded the fire with a stick, tossing it in the flames soon after.

"How was your day, by the way? Did you sleep okay after everything?"

He scooted the rock with the fish on it on top of the embers to help it cook faster, yanking his hands away quickly.

"I hope so..."

He looked at her for a second, before laying on his back and staring at the sky. I wonder where Runora is...

"Hey, I've got a question."

He winced.

"Why did you check the fish's mouth?"

... Oh, come on, be a little nice to her. Said a voice in his head. She really is trying to make up for things. Reluctantly, he sighed. "... Parasites."

"Parasites?"

"Where I'm from, there are a lot of parasites that grow on fish tongues or their insides."

"Oh... Cool!"

"Yes, until those parasites lay eggs in your bladder or kidneys."

"Hehe... Ewe."

The fish began to sizzle.

"I don't think we have those kinds of parasites in Oklahoma, though. No need to worry about that here."

He let out a little pur as the fire's warmth cuddled his side, comforting him.

"Aren't the trees pretty?"

"Hm?"

"Well, it's Autumn, so during this season the leaves of trees start to die and fall off. They turn yellow and orange and red, and I think it's really pretty. What do you think of it?"

He looked at the trees around the ditch he was trapped in. "... Strange."

"How?"

"Trees don't do that where I'm from."

"Did you live somewhere tropical?"

"Well, it was either warm or hot all year, and we had a lot of storms. Ocean surrounded us, and there was a lot of fish, berries and fruit. Is that tropical?"

"Sounds like it."

"So yes."

"That must've been nice. This place's weather is whack. There are snow storms in the Spring, tornadoes in almost every season except for winter, one day it could be really nice and pretty and then the next day it's sleeting, and the list goes on and on."

"Oh, that must be grand."

She nodded, giggling a little too. "It's funny; people from different states always freak out about tornadoes, and then people from Oklahoma literally go outside and watch the tornado pass their house."

Argon chuckled before his wounds burned again, causing him to remember all of his pain and make his small sliver of forgiveness disappear.

"Hey, what was the name of the place you were from?"

Argon held his tongue.

"Why are you quiet all of the sudden?" She tilted her head.

He frowned under his mask, watching her grow sad. Argon pulled his eyes away from her and kept his head to the side so he didn't have to see her face.

Something made a strange buzzing noise, making the cryptid jump to his fours and arch his back, hissing. The girl pulled out a slim box from her pocket, and Argon stepped back, snarling in warning.

"It's alright, don't worry." She assured, smiling. "This is just something to help me talk to people. It's like a letter, if you know what that is, but is sent within seconds, and can be read pretty easily, no matter how far away you are from the person. My dad just said that I need to come back home, wherever I am. So," she stood and smiled down at him, "I have to go. I'll be back tomorrow though, okay? Maybe a little later than this, but I'll come back."

Argon watched the girl walk off, and then she stopped, running back.

"By the way, I'm Rachel."

He stared up at her.

"See ya tomorrow!" Said she, and off the Rachel went, out of the ditch and out of sight, all the while waving goodbye.

And Argon was alone again.