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2024-10-29 19:42:56“How long until we get there?” Draven asked, gasping for breath.
“Don’t be a whiny child,” Elena snapped back. “And by the way, which one of you wanted to see a pretty lady, huh? Shouldn’t you be patient enough to see something that brings you pleasure?”
Draven rolled his eyes. It was so critical of Elena to bring up past discussions that didn’t favour her whenever she wanted to make a point. He didn’t have a problem with it, except that they had been walking for such a long time and he was sincerely tired. How hard was it to get to some persons who would help them get the map? Of course, he won’t voice it out just yet, since Leo was kind enough to take the words right out of his mouth.
“Don’t you think we should have met this person by now? He asked.
Elena shot him a glare. “We’ve only been walking for two hours.”
“Only?” Leo asked, his tone higher than usual. “Only? My god, I’m wasting my breath talking to you like this. I get that you’re very strong and all that, but if you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been walking for two hours with no rest!”
Draven’s throat suddenly felt parched, his legs weak. He hadn’t even realized that they hadn’t stopped for water or food or rest until Leo mentioned it.
“I’m so thirsty that I could drink your blood right now,” Leo added.
Elena shook her head, not even slowing down to give them an answer or acknowledge them. This pissed Draven off, but he was too tired to act on it. Once again, Leo came to his rescue. He stopped and reached out a hand to Draven to stop him, too. Elena walked for a short distance before she realized that she could no longer hear their steps behind her. She hissed and turned to face them.
“What?”
“Oh, now you can give us attention?” Leo snapped back.
She rolled her eyes and walked towards them. “Can you just stop being so whiny so we can get there in time?”
Leo scoffed. “Whiny?”
“He’s not being whiny,” Draven added. “We need to stop and rest. This could be a day’s journey; we can’t reach there in one day.”
“Of course we can,” Elena said, glancing at him. “My friend just lives with someone around. We should be able to get there in an hour.”
“An hour?” Draven screeched. “One more hour of not resting or eating?” He shook his head. “Nope. We need water, at least.”
Leo exhaled a sigh of relief now that Draven was finally supporting his move. Elena glared at both of them, but somehow he felt like the glare was directed at him specifically. Draven brushed it aside and focused on the matter at hand—their rest. When Elena saw that her glare hadn’t hit the mark as usual, she groaned and reached for her backpack.
“What’s in there?” Leo asked, intrigued. “A surprise we’re not ready for?”
She laughed. It was unexpected and startling. Draven noticed she was being careful with the pack when she brought a long covered bottle. She thrust it into Leo’s hand and said, “There, you can have a little water.”
Leo stared at her in shock while she arranged her bag pack on her back. He held up the water bottle in the air like it was some offensive little stack.
“You had this all along?” he asked.
“Yup, and you did not see me take one sip,” she answered.
“You’re obviously showing off your skills.” Draven snatched the water from Leo and took a deep gulp. “Nevertheless, we’re going to take a short break.” He passed the water back to Leo, who took a series of small sips.
Elena groaned. “You’ve had water now, so we don’t have to wait any longer.”
“A thirty-minute break would be fine, no?” Draven asked.
“No,” Elena said. “Ten minutes.”
“Twenty,” Draven said.
“Fifteen, and that’s the last of it. No more negotiations.”
Leo and Draven smiled at each other. They had gotten what they wanted. Leo brought out a long blanket from his bag and spread it on the floor. Draven made a note to not ask any of them how they managed to carry such weight with them. He made a mental note to get some supplies for himself too, if he had the opportunity to. The both of them lay down on the blanket while Elena stalked off into the woods.
“Where are you going?” Leo called after her.
“I’m going to survey the grounds!” she said and stalked off.
Leo huffed and relaxed in his blanket. The grounds were hard and rocky, but at least they could relax for a bit. They were quiet for a while before Leo popped on his elbow.
“Do you know where she’s gone?”
“Nope,” Draven answered.
“She’s so antsy and upset all the time. I can’t stand her antagonism sometimes.”
Draven laughed. “She’s a girl. What did you expect?” His eyes were shiny as he looked at the way Elena had disappeared into. “I suggest you not take it personally.”
“Yeah right.”
“We better wait and appreciate this little time before she pops in here and starts commanding us to start moving.”
They laughed it off and then passed the water between each other before finally staying put. They didn’t want to drink too much and then get tired on the way. After some time, they looked up at the incoming footsteps.
“She’s here finally,” Leo said. “What do you think of her?”
Draven arched his eyebrows at Leo. “What I have always thought, Leo. We need her help.”
Elena finally came out with a broad smile on her face. Draven and Leo stood up while Leo packed his blanket into his bag.
“Boys,” Elena said. “I have good news.”
“Yeah?” Draven asked.
“Yeah. My friend is closer than we thought.” She arched her hands towards the sky. “There she is.”
Just as they looked upward, darkness spanned the sky.
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