Put back together

26. Keep on marching on

Movement.

Why movement?

Body moving?

No. Body still.

On floor?

Warm floor.

Sitting.

Why sitting?

No floor.

Night.

No, day.

Twilight?

No.

No vampires.

No. Other twilight.

Open eyes.

Eyes? What eyes?

My eyes. Open eyes.

Can't open.

Too dark.

No, bright.

----------

Roman adjusted his grip on Virgil once again.

He hadn't been lying when he had said that Virgil was very light but after a few hours of hiking through the wild overgrown forest his arms and back were starting to ache.

"Let's take a break," he suggested slightly out of breath. "Were been walking for a while."

Patton hummed in agreement. Logan only nodded.
Both were obviously exhausted.
Roman guessed that made sense.

Patton wasn't used to long periods of walking and was significantly shorter than either of them and had to walk a bit faster to keep up with them.

Logan was even less used to it, having never been in an actual forest before and only having walked through the paths of the library.

Roman had been hiking through woods since he had been young, learning how to hunt or getting shown the most important towns and places of Sallerow.
Just usually without a person on his back.

This was a disaster.

There was no way they'd be able to cross all those Islands and find all the pieces in time.
And around here they also had no way to know if it wasn't already too late.

He wondered if Virgil had any of those 'antidepressants' in his bag. He hoped so. And he hoped that the mage would wake up soon.

He sat Virgil down carefully and let himself slump against a tree.

He wanted to be back at home, without the ache in his back and limbs and without the hollow feeling in his stomach. His pants had ripped over his left knee and his shirt and gloves were stained with dirt and sweat. He had had another shirt, but as far as he was concerned that was still in the guest room in Natica.

They had already lost too much when Amity had fallen and then been forced to leave things behind when the revolutionaries had attacked the library.

Thanks to Virgil they had water and soup for at least a week and enough blankets again but things like for example their map remained gone.

Patton fished one of the soup containers out of his bag and filled it into three small bowls. Roman took it gratefully.
He had no idea what was in the stuff but it was food and it made the hunger go away.

It was quiet as they ate, every man focused on their meal and nobody wanting to stop long enough to say anything.

Somewhere in the leaves above them a bird sang.
It was a strangely normal and innocent sound for these Islands.
It wasn't a bird he recognised but it sounded not too different from a Wallwatcher or a Robin.

Logan was writing something again.

Patton had closed his eyes and was tapping his fingers against his knee.

Roman focused on his breathing, waiting until it was even and his muscles relaxed.

He didn't dare to close his eyes too scared that something would use the opportunity to attack them and kept one hand on the sword grip ready to pull it out at all times.

He almost jumped when Virgil slipped and ended up with his head on his leg.

The mage was still unconscious. He seemed peaceful like this looking so much younger somehow.

Roman studied the rings and bracelets on the mage's hands and wrists. They were all silver and rather simple kept, only a few having small blue gems imbeded in them.
Virgil also had a few earrings, most just simple thin rings and one with a small chain and a pinky nail big, blue gem, the same as the ones on the rings.
It was a lot of jewelry for a guy living in the woods.

Roman wondered where he had gotten it from.

He looked up at the sound of Logan closing his notebook.

"We should get going again," the librarian suggested. "The sooner we get to Terona the better."

Roman forced himself to stand up again and pulled Virgil onto his back, stumbling slightly. The lantern helped him a little to keep his balance. It had been moss green since Virgil had fallen asleep. Maybe the colours did have a meaning after all.

"You two should learn how to defend yourselves," he noticed after a while.

"What? Why?" Logan asked.

"Because we're in very dangerous territory and I can't fight these beasts on my own. You should at least know how to fight a little," Roman reasoned.

"I guess you have a point, kiddo," Patton agreed. "But I'm not really a fighter."

"I know. I wouldn't suggest any close combat for you. No offense, but there are plenty of people significantly stronger than you, I'd guess," Roman said.

"None taken," Patton smiled and Roman felt his heart melt. "You're probably right."

"I believe I wouldn't be suited for close combat either," Logan spoke up. "I'm too light and by far not strong enough."

Roman hummed in acknowledgement.

"You said that you got good with those darts, didn't you, Patton?"

"I- I guess, kinda, but I don't think that's any good in a fight!"

Roman shrugged as best as he could.

"Poisonous darts can be pretty good. It wouldn't even have to be a fatal poison. There are a lot of stories off a gang of robbers who mostly use knock-out darts to rob carriges."

"Okay...," Patton still sounded unsure.

"And if you build up a bit of upper body strength, I could see you with a bow or something like that," Roman told Logan.

The librarian didn't look convinced either.

"When would we even find the time for something like that?" he asked. "We currently spent most of our days walking and with a few small breaks. We shouldn't use the breaks because it's important to rest if you want to keep functioning properly and we can't afford to cut down on the walking time if we want to reach our goal as soon as possible."

"Good point..." Roman muttered. There went that idea. "You could try to take over on carrying Virgil for a bit," he added.

Logan frowned.

"Alright, I guess I could do that."

Roman hadn't expected him to agree.
Getting Virgil onto Logan's back was a bit complicated but they managed.
They had to slow down a little but it wasn't too bad.

Maybe they could get something done in the time they had after all.

Roman has a little hope, again.
He deserves it.

Also, I know that the order of the chapters is kinda fucked up, but for some reason Wattpad did that and I can't fix it. Sorry.

As always feel free to comment, ask questions or roast me for spelling errors!

Have a nice (gay) day!