Abyss

Chapter 5

"How was your day off? You're a lazy brat, you know that, Sierra?" Mikah spun a towel on his hand while Sierra sat at one of the various tables at the inn. The rose-kissed girl could only hum in response, too deep in her own mind to even interact with her good friend. Immediately the guy knew something was up with her, but he didn't bother asking. Whenever Sierra was this out of it, it was unlikely she'd share the reason anyways. "I had to nail all that wood up on the stilts all by myself—coulda used your help."

Sierra let her head fall forward, sinking into crossed arms. Mikah just raised an eyebrow at her, concerned about what she'd been up to, but he knew better than to force her to say anything. Instead, he shut up, and turned his attention to other things. Sierra couldn't get the thoughts about the upcoming day out of her mind. All she had to do was get through the day, and in the morning she'd be gone.

"Hey, Mikah, since there's nothing to do around here, could I go walk around outside? I need some fresh air." Sierra lifted her head from its dismal position, propping her hand on her chin, shades of pastel pink sneaking through her fingers. Mikah glanced over from where he was lying around on the countertop, and let his eyes gaze on hers for a moment, before shaking his head, a chuckle escaping his lungs.

"As if you don't get enough. Just make sure to come back here at the end of the day. It's boring here when you're not around." Mikah drooped a clean towel onto his face, before letting a hand hang off the side of the counter—a position he often times took on before sleeping on the job. He took a moment to wave his longtime friend off before going still, and Sierra took it as permission to leave.

She immediately headed for the door, opening it to the world she could breathe in. The cherry-blossom girl let out a deep sigh, before turning to walk down one of the boardwalks. It was off the beaten path, and through one of the less traveled sections of the tiny village. At a point, she came across a widening of the river into a shallow lake, with a small island in the middle of it.

Sierra slipped the fur-trimmed boots off of her feet, and left them at the boardwalk so she could make her way to the small island, which consisted of only a few surfaced rocks and some long, soft grass. It was barely large enough for two people to lay flat next to each other.

The petite girl waded through the clear, knee-length water, and sat herself in the tall, pale grass. Her mint gaze traveled southward, and she sat slightly closer to the edge of the forest than she'd been while she admired it in previous days. Her mind and her body relaxed, and she wondered for a moment about the things she may come across in the forest the following day. Perhaps she'd see the lights that hung about the trees up close, or the foliage she'd never been able to wanter into. Maybe, if she was lucky, the starry-eyed girl might be able to catch a real glimpse of a vale beast.

Just one more day...

Crimson sunlight glared through her silver lenses as Sierra opened her eyes, hearing the call of a nearby person. The voice was female, sweet and rich. The rosy girl sat up slowly, turning her body to face the woman, and saw familiar scarlet waves cascading down the face of the town's manager. The lady tilted her head to the side slightly, sticking a pen in between her set of white teeth, onyx eyes tracing Sierra's form like a hawk.

"I couldn't help but notice you out here all alone, dear. Don't you have a job, Sierra?"

W-what? That's Lilith... why is she here? She only comes around at sunset—oh...

Sierra glanced around again, taking in her surroundings. The sun had disappeared behind the trees, and the shallow water around her glowed in the dusky light.

I must have fallen asleep...

"Sorry, I came out for a breath of fresh air earlier, but I must have dozed off. This isn't a usual occurrence, I promise."