Onward to 7 Years

Chapter 7: Keep Moving Forward

Ian and his new friend walked for a few more hours. After Ian explained the Hidden Centaur and the Power Gem, Jessica mostly talked about her travels, and Ian listened. Sometimes he'd chime in, but he was still pretty nervous around her. His palms would randomly get sweaty and his face- especially when Jessica would make eye contact with him. After stopping and eating some granola bars from Ian's backpack around dinnertime,  they continued to walk, but in silence. Jess must've ran out of things to talk about. So Ian started to think.

I don't "like" like her. I barely know her! Why am I so nervous? Heck, I'm nervous with everyone. My social anxiety is still so bad, I hope she can't te- 

Ian's thoughts were interrupted when Jessica spoke. "Whoa," she said silently. Ahead of them, the sun was starting to set, and the sky was beautiful- a mix of dark pink, light orange, and some purple. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jessica said in awe. 

"Yeah," Ian said, admiring the view.  They were in a valley somewhere, and if they were heading toward the sunset, that meant they were going the right way. Ian looked over at Jessica, who was getting a camera out of her bag.

"You have a camera in your backpack?" Ian laughed.

Jessica pressed the button to turn it on. "Yeah! I got it for my birthday before I left home. I've taken a lot of pictures of mountains and other sunsets. Do you wanna see?" she said as she held the camera up to her eye to get a picture of the sunset.

"Um..." Ian said as Jess took a picture. He was about to say yes, but he glanced over at the sunset again, and had a quick flashback of sitting on a hill, watching the sunset with his dad- who was just legs then. Ian blinked. "Gah!" he exclaimed as he stumbled backwards, rubbing his head, almost falling once again. 

Jessica quickly turned around from looking at the picture she took on her camera. She stuffed it in her bag and ran to Ian. "You okay?" she asked.

Ian nodded. "Yeah, I..." Dad, he thought. Quest. Barley. We have to go. "Come on. We have to keep moving toward the sunset. We can't waste time!" Ian started walking.

Jess hesitated for a second and then walked to catch up with him. "Ian, wait. Shouldn't we take a break or at least sleep for a little bit?" she asked.

"No," Ian responded as he kept walking, not looking at Jess. He couldn't explain it, but after the sudden and quick flashback, a heavy feeling came over him. It was a mix of sadness and fear, and now he had the urge to just keep going. "We have  to keep going! Besides, where would we sleep? You said you slept in cabins or whatever you could find."

"Well, I sleep in the grass too if it's nice out! I have a sleeping bag in my backpack," she explained. "Wait, where did you  sleep last night?"

"A restaurant booth," Ian mumbled. 

"Oh," Jessica chuckled. "But are you sure you don't want to take a break, Ian? You seem tired."

Ian finally stopped, and he turned around so he could face Jessica. He didn't feel nervous. He felt a sense of power. "Jessica, I can't stop. Look, I don't know how long the centaur has had my brother out of the 7 years we haven't seen each other. And what if he's about to brainwash him right now to make him get the Power Gem? I can't risk that, Jess. I need  to find Cavaria soon. No one's making you come with me. If you want to sleep, then sleep. But I'm not stopping."

Ian felt sort of bad for saying that to Jessica. But all he wanted to do was go. Jessica seemed kind of nervous to keep on going. But then she gave Ian a small smile. "Okay, Ian. Let's keep going," she said. "But if you're half asleep and end up inside a gelatinous cube, don't blame me!" she laughed.

Ian paused, realizing Barley said similar words to him and smiled. It was weird how much Jessica talked like Barley. Once again, they moved onward.

                                                                                        *****

They walked and occasionally talked for 3 hours after that, toward the two huge moons that had risen up. Ian's legs started to feel like lead, and he could barely keep himself up. Jessica looked the same way. Keep...going, Ian told himself. But he was so tired. He felt himself sink down onto the soft, moist grass, Jessica doing the same, and they were asleep in seconds.

                                                                                    *****

Ian sat up, breathing heavily. He looked around- it was still dark out, and Jessica was asleep on the ground nearby. He looked at his watch- it was just after midnight. No, no, no!  Ian thought. We've been asleep for an hour! Okay, that's not that bad, but we need to go!

Ian crawled over to Jessica and was about to wake her up when he wondered what even woke him  up. Then he remembered he had a dream- a dream where him, Barley, his mom, and his dad were celebrating Ian's 16th birthday. I wish Dad was actually there, Ian thought. Then he awkwardly started whisper-shouting to Jessica. "Uh...Jessica! Wake up!" he exclaimed. No luck. "Jess..." he said. Ian looked at her and felt bad for getting upset with her earlier. He decided he'd let her sleep for just a few more minutes. "And then we'll continue the journey," he said aloud to himself. 

Ian turned around and faced the big moons ahead of him. They were both full, and stars surrounded them.

"'Cavaria and the sunrise are far; you shall find it under the moon and stars,'" Ian said to himself. Ian hugged his knees to his chest and stared up at the sky. "Hey, Dad," he said. "Hope you're doing good up there. I...I'm on a quest to find Barley." 

Ian took a breath and started talking a little louder. "He might be in a land called Cavaria. He's in trouble. But I'll get him out of this, won't I?" he chuckled. "Yeah, right. I don't know why I thought I could do this alone. I'm glad..." he lowered his voice again and looked at his black converse shoes. "I'm glad Jessica's here. She's nice to have around," Ian said as he looked back up at the sky. "But I wish you didn't get sick, Dad. Things would be so...different. A good different. But once I save Barley..." Ian said with a hint of uncertainty, "Everything will be alright."

A minute after that, Ian called Jessica's name again, and she finally woke up. They started to get up, and dark, thick clouds started to cover the moons. It started to downpour, and Ian and Jess were getting drenched. They started to run for cover, holding their backpacks over their heads, to a nearby tree that was in the open land in front of them. But there was a loud boom!  and a blinding flash of light. 

The force of the lightning hitting the tree was enough to send Ian and Jessica flying backwards through the air.