Young Writers Society

James looked back at her, trying to read how much she had discerned. He couldn't control what she was thinking, but he could at least remain tight-lipped. With a sharp nod he grunted slightly.

"Sorry to disappoint," he said in monotone before looking back ahead of them.

She could only take the silence for so long before she decided to break her unofficial vow to stop bothering him - it was just too miserable walking on in front of him without any words being uttered between them. She ran through a list of different topics in her head, but none seemed all that satisfying. The weather? It would lead to a boring conversation on something that didn't have much substance. The scenery? It hadn't changed since they started walking. Anything remotely related to James's life and his personal preferences? He'd see it as intrusive and as an attempt to invade his privacy. He was an open book; she knew exactly how he'd respond to at least half of the questions she asked.

She let out a quiet sigh. She liked the idea of traveling with someone, but maybe James hadn't been the best person to test out the idea with-

Wait.

Open book?

She came to a sudden stop and looked over at James. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? Even if he didn't know how to read, stories were a universal thing - they could be passed down orally or through illustrations. Talking about stories (and books, if she was lucky) would be the perfect thing to talk about! It wouldn't make James feel uncomfortable because stories didn't exactly correlate with real life, it would lead to an interesting conversation and she could even learn a bit about the person that James was through his preferences!

"Hey, Erimor," she said, "can you read?"

James looked up at Runi, alerted to the break in the silence.

"Yes," he answered simply.

She couldn't help it - the moment his answer registered, she let out a noise that sounded like an excited squeal. He could read! That was even better than what she had hoped for! He must have known far more stories than the average nonreader did, and she would bet anything that they had at least one of the same books before.

"Me too!" she said. She was grinning from ear to ear as she spoke. "I taught myself to read when I was little. I got some help from some of the homes I was in, but it's mainly been me trying to figure out what words mean and stuff like that!"

James nodded, failing to pick up her burst of enthusiasm. "That's very impressive that you're mostly self-taught. I was fortunate to have someone teach me while I was young."

She gave an impressed whistle. "That's still pretty impressive! It's one thing to be taught something, and another thing to learn it all together." She glanced over at him, momentarily taking her eyes off of forest ahead of them. "I know you've been on the run for awhile, but when was the last time you got read a book?"

James's expression softened ever so slightly as he recalled the memory. He was on a ship, in the captain's quarters. Together they were looking over the captain's collection of history books, and books on the native sea life around the shores of the many isles. They were beautiful pieces of art, with illustrations dancing across the pages.

But they were at the bottom of the ocean... now.

"A few months ago," he said quietly. "It was about the native wildlife of the reefs of the isles. More informative, than anything, but very interesting."

"Oh, cool!" she said. She did notice him suddenly getting quiet, but she couldn't tell if it was because of the topic or something else. So she didn't bother worrying about it at the moment; she could try to understand it later on if the quietness persisted. "I was just doing some reading a couple days ago."

She patted the bag behind her.

"I got a book a few towns ago, and I've been carrying it ever since. It's a nice pocket-sized one, so I can easily carry it around with my other ones. It's about an adventurer traveling around a world kind of like ours but not quite the same. It's a pretty fun read."

James looked over at her, his expression softening in a way that he was unaware of. His eyes lit up slightly in the dim light of the moon through the trees, and he watched her closely. In his heart, he wanted to ask her if he could read it, sometime when the sun was up and he wouldn't have to strain his eyes to see. But he never would say so out loud.

"Really? You're very lucky to have one with you."

She gave her bag a little shake; she could hear all of her stuff sliding around in her pack when she did so. "I actually have a couple of ones with me!" she said, giving him a big grin. "If you want, you could look through them whenever we take a break next. I've already read through most of them - I just like keeping them there in case I want to change up what I'm reading."

James was struggling to withhold his excitement at the possibility of reading a new book. He looked at her with bright eyes that flickered to her bag as she shook it. He nodded.

"I'd like that," he said softly.

Even though James was trying his best to withhold his excitement, it was as clear as day to Runi - that's what happened when one bookworm encountered another. He was, ironically enough, an open book. "I hope you like fiction," she said, now with a skip to her step. "I love reading stories, so I only have like one nonfiction book in my pack."

James nodded slightly. "I enjoy books about our world's history, but I've always enjoyed fiction as well. "There's a certain appeal about being able to escape into a fictional world, if only for as long as the pages last."

"I have mixed feelings on the history bit," she admitted, throwing her hands behind her head in a relaxed pose. "It has to be from before the calamity - anything written afterwards somehow manages to involve magic into the conversation and mention how much it sucks, but the stuff before is pretty interesting."

"Oh, no, I agree with you," he said, looking over at her. "All of the propaganda in post-calamity literature is bs."