Half of two wholes

Chapter 4

Iris awoke with a start, practically jumping out of the sleeping bag as soon as daybreak hit. She looked over at her companion only to notice that he had dozed off at some point last night.

"Daniel. Daniel wake up we have to keep moving." Iris said as she shook him awake. He stirred almost immediately, which lead to him falling off the log he had seated himself on.

"I'M UP!" Daniel shouted.

"Good. Now let's pack up." Iris smirked, going over to the sleeping bag and rolling it up.

Daniel took care of packing the supplies and re-attaching the sleeping bag to his pack.

"C'mon Iris let's go!" Daniel said as he began walking.

"Umm... Daniel?" Iris asked as she held back a laugh. "You-you're going the wrong way."

Daniel turned around with a smile on his face. "Well then which way is it, mighty guide?" He inquired with a small chuckle.

"Oh jeez," Iris thought laughing slightly at the overly dramatic bow that Daniel had done. "Just-just follow me," She said as she started walking the opposite direction.

"Yes m' lady." Daniel responded as he ran over to her.

The two began talking about things such as favourite books and songs. The topic switched over a few hours during the walk.

"Ok, ok, ok, but you're a White eye, right?" Daniel asked. "But! You have never been further than the edge of the forest, which means that you've never been to The Capital, right?"

"Yes?" Iris answered slightly confused by how this was such a difficult concept for him to understand.

"Then how" Daniel looked at her partly squinting. "Is your magic so powerful??"

"I... Don't know...?" Iris seemed to be questioning her own answer.

"Alright, fine." Daniel sighed. "Can you show me some then?"

"Fine." Iris replied. "But not until we set up camp, ok?" She glanced at her companion as he nodded.

A few hours later they were eating with a fire burning.

"Alright we've made camp and eaten so..." Daniel trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah." Iris said standing up.

Daniel watched as a small breeze began and Iris's hands began glowing, flames forming. She threw the fireballs up causing them to merge and take shape as Phoenix that began to fly around the makeshift campsite. Daniel was in absolute awe by the control behind the flaming creature, some had to train with teachers for years to attain that level of technique meanwhile Iris was able to do it without any of that.

The fire flew straight up before crashing into the campfire and burst into nothing but sparks.

"Does that qualify as a demonstration of magic?" Iris was smirking as the wind died down.

Daniel's gaping mouth quickly shut as he began nodding vigorously. "Wow, yeah. That was amazing!" He practically had stars in his eyes.

"Well I guess it's goodnight then Daniel." Iris stated as she sat on a stump.

"Oh, right, yeah." Daniel stammered. "Goodnight Iris."

Iris began lightly humming after she started to hear the faint snoring of the boy next to her.

A snap to her right caused Iris to look over at the bushes with a small glare. Another snap and she was standing in front of Daniel ready to destroy whatever was making that noise. The silence was deafening as her eyes began searching the darkness for any signs of movement.

"Daniel wake up." Iris kept her voice quiet but firm as her companion stirred.

"Wha-what's going on?" Daniel asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Iris looked at him before answering. "Daniel, stay here. Keep the fire going and don't come after me." Her tone was cold as she began walking into the woods.

"O-ok..." Daniel said stunned.

He could hear growls, yelps and roars coming from where Iris had gone but he stayed. He stayed until he heard a shout followed by a loud crash.

"Iris?!" Daniel yelled as he began running into the brush.

The scene he came across when he reached his guide made him stiffen. A monster was on the ground, he couldn't tell if it was alive or not. A little ways away Iris slumped against a boulder, bloody and losing consciousness.

"Iris!" Daniel rushed to her.

"Daniel go." Her voice was weak but it didn't stop her tone from reaching him.

"But, you're hurt..." Daniel looked at her concern filling his eyes.

The creature across from them began getting up, charging at the two.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay down." Iris summoned a blast that collided with the monster causing a large gust of wind.

The creature collapsed as the air hit Daniel's face, his eyes wide. He looked at Iris, her hair being blown back and noticed something strange.

"That red glint again? It's got to be blood, right?" Daniel's thoughts were jumbled.

"Let's go back ok?" Iris asked as the wind passed.

"Y-yeah. Sure." Daniel stuttered as the two began making their way back to the campsite.