Chương 84: [Back To Stonehall]

Shai, Rika, and Torren left through the north gate and headed west toward the forest at a jog. Rika had reminded them twice before they'd cleared the gate that she wanted to be back before the film started. Neither had forgotten, but Rika reminded them anyway. The trees closed around them as the path dipped into shade. They knew this forest well enough that their feet handled it without much thought, the roots and the turns all familiar ground. They didn't slow or talk much at first.

After the recent attacks, none of them let their attention wander completely, even on ground they knew well. They moved with their eyes up, covering distance without noise. It took ten minutes for the initial tension of a potential ambush to fade. Once the rhythm of the run became automatic and their breathing settled, the silence finally broke.

"I need to remind Brandon to get me a phone when we get back," Rika said.

"There's so much out here I could take photos of." Shai glanced at her.

"I know he didn't agree to that, but I can see him asking Mike if you can have one anyway. He may complain about it, but you can tell he doesn't actually hate it when you pester him."

"I don't pester him, he loves it when I ask him things." Rika ducked under a low branch without breaking stride.

"Mars has been figuring his phone out, I could ask him to show me how it works, I don't need to ask Brandon. You've seen what those things can do with pictures. Imagine having one out here on a scout. You see something, you take a picture, you send it back. No describing, no hoping whoever's listening gets it right, just look at this, that's what's out there." Torren glanced at her.

"For scouting that would change things considerably. Also, from what I saw, him showing you around looked a lot more like you dragging him out of the flat while he complained the entire time."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Brandon loves it when I ask him things," she said with a huff. They ran on. The path widened as the denser part of the forest fell behind them, the light coming through in longer stretches now. Somewhere above them a bird called once and went quiet. The three of them settled into a steady pace that covered ground without demanding much; they'd have no trouble holding it for an hour without thinking about it. The conversation drifted.

Torren mentioned something about the plants along the eastern edge of the path, and Shai pointed out a section of the path that was commonly used by small woodland creatures for foraging. A short while later, they heard the trickling of a stream, the sound of it finding them through the trees a few minutes before the path dropped and the water appeared. A narrow run of it, quick and clear, opening into a small pond where the ground levelled out.

They crossed without slowing, Torren landing heavily on the far bank, Rika skipping it, Shai already three strides ahead.

"Halfway," Shai said, without looking back. They ran on. Torren brought the conversation back to more interesting topics.

"That thing Parmo mentioned when the two of you got back," he said.

"Mike thinking you were on a date. Tell us about that."

"Yeah, Agnes apparently thought the same thing. Why is that, Rika?" Shai said. Rika kept her eyes forward.

"Mike was trying to annoy Brandon, he was grinning when he said it. That's all there is to it."

"Really?" Torren said.

"Because both of them commenting on it makes me think there's more going on here." Rika said nothing.

"It's okay Rika," Shai said.

"You can tell us if something happened?"

"We were following Davan and Sara. We walked past Mike on the steps and he made a comment." She shrugged, wings shifting with it.

"Parmo told him he wasn't funny." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"You sound like you'd prefer it if he agreed," Torren said. Rika ran a few more strides without answering. Shai looked at her.

"I mean, he didn't need to answer so fast, but he's right. We're just friends," Rika said. Neither of them pushed it immediately. They ran for a while, the path curving gently, the sound of the stream long gone behind them. Rika's wings settled against her back, the way they did when she was thinking rather than moving.

"So, do you want there to be more?" Shai said eventually.

"We could help if that's the case."

"There isn't anything there," Rika said, but paused before she continued.

"He's easy to be around. That's all." Torren and Shai exchanged a brief glance over her head.

"That's the least convincing you've ever sounded," Shai said. Rika opened her mouth. Closed it. Looked at the path ahead.

"I just meant he gets me, he matches my energy. He lets me get on with things. Most people think I'm too much. Don't look at me like that Shai, I know what people think, and that's okay."

"You're perfect as you are," Torren said.

"So it's not—it's just that. It's comfortable."

"Comfortable is good," Torren said. Rika's wings shifted.

"You're both doing that thing..."

"What thing," Shai said.

"The thing where you agree with everything I say, hoping I'll keep going." Neither of them denied it. He's a friend. Sure, I prefer him to most other people, but he gets me. I don't think that's so strange. Right?

"Anyway," she said, and her wings came up slightly.

"Enough about me." She looked at Shai.

"What's going on with you and Leo?" Shai kept her eyes on the path.

"Nothing's going on."

"I've noticed the looks, Shai. And I'm not the only one." Rika paused.

"Brandon mentioned it actually. In the charity shop, before I asked him about that DVD. It kind of slipped out, like he didn't mean to say it." Shai said nothing for a moment.

"He noticed," Rika continued.

"And I'm sure he's not the only one."

"She's right, Shai," Torren said.

"It's not just him looking at you either, I've noticed you glancing at him when you think no one's looking." Shai ran without answering. The path had widened enough that all three of them were level now, the trees thinning further.

"I know I teased you about him when I found out about his watch," Rika said, "but I've met him since then; he's a good man."

"I know he is. Leo and the rest of them, even the people in town who know us now, all treat me differently to back home. Like you said with Parmo, it's comfortable," Shai said.

"That may be true, but the way you are around him... it's different to the others."

"He's easiest to talk to. That's all."

"I think there's more to it than that, Shai dear," Torren said. Shai looked at him. He didn't say anything else, just waited. She ran for a while without speaking. Rika gave her time to answer, even if the need to ask more was obvious on her face.

"There was something," Shai said eventually.

"When we were watching The Fellowship of the Ring. I noticed my tail was rubbing his arm. I think it had been doing it for longer than I initially realised and he never said anything, didn't push it away." Rika's wings shifted. Torren's eyebrows rose slightly.

"When I noticed, I pulled it away and he just smiled at me." Shai kept her eyes forward.

"We spoke about it the next day, before training. He said it was fine, that he was glad I felt comfortable enough, that he knew it wasn't always voluntary." A pause.

"He was kind about it."

"I can see why you'd be surprised by that. You hear stories about this sort of thing and humans getting angry about it," Rika said.

"I know. It shouldn't have surprised me; the town is different to most humans from this world. It did though. It's nice knowing I don't need to act a certain way around him, I can just be myself. I guess I like that about him." Rika smiled at her. Torren ran quietly on the other side.

"It's been on my mind," Shai said.

"Not the embarrassment. I got over that. It's more that my tail doesn't do that unless I'm really relaxed. The way I am with you two, or with Kai." She kept her eyes on the path.

"I wasn't trying to do it. I didn't notice until it was already happening. And I don't know why that is." Her two friends looked at each other but chose not to say anything else on the matter. Torren glanced to his left where a cluster of deep green plants lined the path, low and broad-leafed, the kind that only grew close to Stonehall. He said nothing about them, but the others knew what it meant. They were nearly there. He looked ahead at the first shapes of the village visible through the trees.

"For what it's worth," he said, "if I were either of you, I'd think about doing something that makes your feelings a little more clear before we visit the Ironwood." He kept his eyes forward.

"Those five are going to be very popular when we get there. With how fast they're picking things up, if the women of my clan find out they've been at this less than a week and are already where they are, they're going to be fighting off invitations. You both know what orc women can be like." Rika's wings gave a small involuntary flutter. Shai's tail drooped slightly at the tip. Neither of them looked at the other, but both felt a sudden and unexpected heaviness settle into the pit of their stomachs.

They jogged on until they reached the village gate.