Young Writers Society

James pursed his lips together. "It's okay," he said. "I forgive you. It - I mean. Believe me. If getting on a ship didn't make me literally want to leave my body I would. Go. Maybe. I don't know. It- there's other reasons why not to, of course, but I don't know that you're worried about those as much as I am. Even though I think you should be. But I appreciate the offer. If circumstances were a little different or had I caught you in just a few weeks, maybe it wouldn't have to be this way. Sneaking out to meet in secret, like this. And me... well. Recovering."

Brett nodded sadly as James was speaking. His eyes left the ground to meet the sea as he contemplated other possible routes toward getting James the medical attention he needed.

"Okay. So you can't come on the ship. Is there some other way that we can help you before pulling anchor tomorrow? Maybe I could... convince Ciera to leave the ship instead of you coming on? Or... or maybe I could throw supplies over the bow and onto the beach just as we're pulling away from the shore?"

James laughed weakly and shook his head. "Can you really see either of those working out? Would Ciera even agree to see me?"

He honestly didn't know why he was even entertaining the idea, when it wasn't going to happen.

Was Brett actually getting somewhere? James hadn't shut him down right away...

"I don't see why she wouldn't," Brett replied. "She's familiar with who you are. Heard a lot of stories about you. I bet if I told her exactly what's happened today she'd leave that ship and come with me in an instant.

"She's pretty paranoid about me following the rules, though," he added. "Maybe even more than Matt is."

James's head sunk a little between his shoulders, and he looked over at Brett with his eyebrows drawn together. There was still a part of him that was averse to getting help.

One, he didn't know Ciera. Two, it would mean he'd have to let someone look at him up close. That meant they'd see his scars he already had, on top of the recent wounds, and he didn't like the idea of looking or feeling that vulnerable.

He knew that practically, it was a good idea to accept help from someone who was actually trained as a doctor. Everything he knew was functional, but it didn't hold a candle to someone who had professional experience.

He'd managed to keep himself from dying, but he knew this was the worst he'd been injured in a while. At least, from what he could remember. There was a lot that was lost in the last few years to him, but he knew that he'd only barely managed to crawl out of the claws of death this time.

Brett could probably tell.

James wished he could just be strong and healthy. He wished he didn't keep getting in situations like this. He wished he wouldn't need help, so people like Brett didn't have to put themselves at risk to help him. He wished a lot of things.

But it didn't sound like it was likely to happen. If Ciera was paranoid, she probably wouldn't come.

He supposed it wouldn't hurt to rest a little longer before getting on the move again. If he thought any more about it, he knew he'd chicken out again, just like he did at the twisted tree he was supposed to meet Brett at.

"Well, if you ask her, and she says yes, then..."

He sighed. "Then you can find me here, I suppose."

Brett was flabbergasted. His expression of disbelief slowly spread into a wide, open-mouthed smile. "What?! You're okay with this?" He laughed gleefully. "That was easy!"

Looking at James and his bruised and lacerated face, however, sobered him up again.

"They're really that bad, aren't they. Your injuries."

James looked down at the sack of food. He wished he was hungry again, but he wasn't. Seeing Brett happy was nice, though.

"Yeah," he said.

He hadn't realized how much he missed Brett until he heard him laugh. It brought back memories of when they were traveling together. When things were different.

"I'm sorry, James," Brett said. "But I'm glad you're open to getting some help. She'll be able to set you straight for the next leg of your journey."

Now that his plans were changing, he allowed his mind to wander for a moment. He didn't need to find a way to sneak back into his room anymore because he'd be explaining everything to Ciera and Matt anyway. He only had to worry about sneaking onto the ship using his disguise.

"I was worried about getting back to the ship before Matt returned from town," Brett continued, "but it doesn't really matter anymore, we can take our time. So tell me, where are you and Elliot planning to go after this?"

James let out a hard exhale as the start of a laugh, but he regretted it. Pain shot through his side and his breath caught in his throat as he winced. He froze, and his muscles began to tense up as he worked to take in a slow, slow inhale.

"I'm not sure," he wheezed out quietly. "I've just been trying to get away from Hoss. But North. I'm trying to head north. As far away from the Moonlight Kingdom, and the Outlands, and everything as possible."

"Always on the run," Brett said, shaking his head slightly. When would it end? When would James find a place he could call home, where the ghosts of his past would stop hounding him? Brett had found his, back here in the Western Isles, with a future that promised comparative stability and safety.

"Have you run into any of the others, by any chance? Adina? Rose, Kaia?"

James shook his head, keeping back from saying "I wish," because that was only partially true. He did, and yet he didn't. He wished he could give a straight answer. But the question wasn't whether he wanted to see them - only whether he had or not. And that was easy.

"No, I haven't," he said. "I was with the gang most of the time. I wouldn't have wanted to run into any of you guys during all of that anyway."

"I'm sure you'll bump into one or two of the others someday," Brett said softly. "Fate is cruel, but... it likes to reward us with coincidences. Chance encounters." He smiled. "Like you happening to pass by just as I screamed from a tree."

After Brett finished chuckling, a short silence settled between them. It didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward, it simply felt like two old friends sitting together, enjoying the view and the mild weather.

During this silence, Brett acknowledged the fact that a moment like this probably wouldn't ever come again. This one-on-one time with James, whose heart was open more than he had ever known it to be in the Outlands.

He had to try. There wouldn't be another chance.

"James? Can I ask you something?"

James had been staring out at the sea, listening to the distant sound of rolling waves, the occasional shuffling of Elliot's hooves, and his own faint but steady breathing. He didn't know how long Brett would wait before speaking again, but James had been content to sit in silence.

He kept his eyes on the hazy blue horizon.

Any question that needed to be prefaced with whether or not it could be asked was likely to be a difficult one. James tried to prepare himself, not that he really could.

"Yes," he said softly. "What's on your mind?"

Brett looked down at the ground and sighed quietly. "Soon after I first met you, we were sitting around the fire. Just the two of us. And I asked you something about your past. A very vague question, something like where you're from, and you didn't answer it. Big surprise there." A huff of air escaped his nose. "Your excuse was that I hadn't earned your trust yet and you didn't want anyone to get hurt."

Brett paused. Looked James straight in the eye.

"How 'bout now? Have I earned it?"

James looked back at Brett, holding eye contact for a solid three seconds before pulling his eyes away to the shore.

He couldn't remember that conversation, but he believed it. He'd said similar things in the past to many, many different people for all sorts of questions of that nature. Brett was right though, to think that now, things had changed.

James did trust Brett.

His expression softened a little, and he looked down into his lap with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah, you have," he said quietly. He looked back out at the ocean again.

"I'm from a small farming town on the edges of the Moonlight Kingdom. It was called Hegdale."