Into the Lands of Evasiry

Chapter 4: Awakening

The next morning, Jen sent off the pair with some food and good wishes. He promised to confuse any bounty hunters searching for them while they were in the forest, lessen the load. Vol and Jorm thanked him excessively, to the point of Jen having a sort of embarrassment for how much they thanked him. He assured them it was no problem and sent them off.

"So, Vol..." Jorm started up a conversation with his companion as they trudged through the forest. She perked up, obviously bored of the silence as well.

"Yes?" She asked.

"What do you do for fun? Like a hobby?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Jorm mentally facepalmed.

'God, she was a slave! You idiot, what hobbies could she possibly have?' He shouted at himself in his head. 'Stupid, stupid, STUPID!'

Jorm's head wasn't moving, but Vol could see his soul die a little inside at his question.

"It's okay, I don't take offense to that." She reassured him. "I actually had a few hidden hobbies."

She took his hand in her own. "When they couldn't hear me, I liked to sing. I also enjoyed reading alone what I could get my hands on."

Vol's hand was warm. It felt pleasant.

"You... sing?" He said, flustered. He was still trying to come to grips with his stupid ass question.

"Yeah. Want to hear?" Vol tilted her head, smiling. Jorm just nodded, and Vol closed her eyes.

She opened her mouth, and out came such a nice, high voice that Jorm was nearly convinced that if she shrieked long enough, that she would shatter every piece of glass within 100 feet of her. It was like listening to an elvish woman sing with helium voice, but it just felt more... natural.

"Cold, the air and water flowing..." Her voice pierced the forest's silence, resonating amongst the trees.

"Hard, the land we call our own..." Her head was tilted back, naturally throwing her voice out. There was just now, before and after didn't exist.

"Push to keep the dark from coming, feel the weight of what we owe..." Jorm squeezed her hand lightly before opening his mouth and singing along with her.

"This; the song of sons and daughters hide the heart of who we are!" Their voices intermingled, carrying further.

"Making peace to build a future; Strong, united, working 'till we fall!" Their voices matched perfectly on the last note, flying into the distance, a magical moment.

Jorm opened his eyes and looked at Vol. Her eyes were still closed, as she felt the face on her wind.

"That was beautiful." He commented. Her eyes shot open, the two locked gazes. She tore away quickly, hiding her face.

"Th... Thank you..." She meagerly spoke.

"Such a clear voice..." He closed his eyes and pretend-pondered. "Almost like glass... Clear like a spring..."

He kept going on and on with these comparisons while Vol kept chirping in embarrassment, until Jorm was holding her hand and the rest of her arm melded into a grey and black feathery shelter.

"I'm not that good..." Vol's voice could barely be heard from the ball. Jorm said nothing and just picked up Vol, causing her to shrink into her little figure even more.

It was several hours until the edge of the forest was in sight. About halfway, Jorm let Vol down so she could walk on her own, despite her telling him to let him down about half an hour beforehand. She punched him playfully a few times in the shoulder when he finally let her down. They came to a wide area, with a large bridge on the end of it.