Young Writers Society

Evaline glared at Yoen, sharply gritting her teeth to hold back the anger. She had heard these words many, many times. And each time, it made her angry, because they didn't know what it was like.

"You're right," she finally said with an abrasive tone, shaking her head and turning around to face away from him. "You don't know me at all."

She stepped away to his side. "Let's just keep walking."

James watched her spin around and kept walking. Whatever was getting under her skin probably had less to do with him and more to do with her and her own experiences. There was something she wasn't saying, and something she'd been through that brought that much vitriol to the surface at the thought of someone not wanting vengeance.

He knew she had her own story that made her the way she was. She just didn't want to share it.

And he'd only shared a part of his, but if that's how she reacted to people opening up, he wasn't sure he wanted to again.

He just needed to worry about getting her to the town. To other people. She could learn how to adapt there - which he hoped she would make easy for herself.

Eve fell back behind him as they walked along the stream. James picked up the pace as much as he could bear, still limping a little on his leg. If he remembered correctly, there weren't really a lot of places to find shelter from the rain on this side of the stream, and they needed to get to a place where they could cross. There stream itself was pretty wide, and there was no way to avoid getting wet again, but James wanted to make a little more distance before they crossed over because he knew Butch was probably on the other side. And he was trying to avoid that kind of confrontation.

It was around noontime when they came to a shallow neck in the stream, just before the stream widened, and fed into a river. The sky had darkened more now, which made it more difficult to tell the passage of time, but James had gotten decent at estimating. The clouds were still illuminated dimly by the sun occasionally peeking through, and when it did, it was bright. They still had a few hours of daylight ahead of them.

The creek was trickling slowly again, and he walked up to it, already taking off his shoes. Everything was going to get wet, but he could tie his shoes to the top of the saddle to keep them from getting soaked.

That, and it was easier to swim barefoot.

"We'll cross the water here," he announced, pulling two long strips of dried meat from his pack. "But first--"

He offered one to her.

"Food."

Evaline was glad she was behind Yoen, following his footsteps. She couldn't mask the upset look on her face.

"Time will tell," her mother often told her over and over, like she forgot every time. And it annoyed her each time, especially since she was right.

Enough time had passed that her resentment for Yoen had faded. He was not the enemy; he was her ally. At least, she hoped he was. He was going to stop by a town, and perhaps she could find someone else to guide her. She knew more about the situation now than she did yesterday, so she could fabricate a new action plan with someone else.

The sun seemed to pop in and out behind the clouds, as if it were trying to have a conversation with them during the silence.

Finally, they came across a creek that Yoen announced they would cross. She was about to copy his action of taking off her shoes, but then he offered her food.

Evaline gave the food offering a strange look accepting his offering. "What is this?" she asked before taking a bite of it. It was chewy and salty.

James paused, watching as she took a bite without knowing the answer yet. At least she wasn't picky.

"Meat," he said. "Deer, specifically."

He took a bite of his as well, chewing.

Evaline immediately spit out the deer meat she was chewing, being this close to accidentally spitting it on Yoen. She took a few moments to cough while facing the ground, trying to get rid of the taste in her mouth.

"Deer meat?!" she repeated loudly afterwards, swiveling to face him. She sounded hurt and betrayed. "Why would you eat an animal? That's so cruel."

James flinched backward to avoid the spit and half-chewed meat flying towards him. He blinked slowly and snatched the piece of meat from her hands when she finally turned towards him.

"Sorry," he said tersely. "I didn't know you didn't eat meat."

He ripped off the part where she bit it and walked back to Elliot, putting it away. He reached into his bag and pulled out another apple, and walked back to her, holding it out.

She acted as if she'd never seen meat before. At this point, he wasn't surprised, just unimpressed.

"Here."

Well, I didn't know your society would be inhumane enough to eat meat, she wanted to retort out loud, but knew it was best to keep it in her head.

She graciously accepted the apple, glad that he understood. But also didn't, since he continued to eat the meat stick. Whatever.

They both ate in peace until Evaline's mind drifted back to the ominous note she had memorized line-by-line.

if from this world you wish to part
then first you must open your heart

She kept wondering if the heart was a ridiculous metaphor about opening up and being vulnerable, but that seemed too simple. And also bizarre, since feelings can't magically teleport someone away.

"This might sound like an odd question, but..." She turned to Yoen. "Do you know of any land features that are heart-shaped?"

James was standing with his feet in the water as he ate. He looked over to Eve with his eyebrows raised.

"Not that I can think of, no," he said. "Why?"

Evaline took another bite of the apple, chewed, and swallowed before answering Yoen. "I think I'm supposed to go there," she said. "Problem is, I have no idea where it could be."

James watched her for a moment, thinking. She was being cryptic and vague. He had no idea why.

Maybe she was trying to meet up in a secret location with other mages? Not like he would know anything about that.

"Did someone tell you to meet there? Did they tell you anything else?"

She took another bite, a smaller one this time.

"Not someone," she said, deciding to take another risk. "Something. Like... a sign of some sort."

She scrunched her eyebrows and thought back to the other lines of the note.

but if you don't and so refuse
then you have two options to choose
find your way back now on your own
or part ways and stay lost, alone

She let out a small sigh. "It did tell me something else. Either I go to this place, or I stay lost."

That didn't give James any more clarity on what Eve was talking about, and it sounded even more cryptic than before.

A sign. Like... some kind of magical sign? A dream? Something she "interpreted" as a sign? Something physical? What kind of sign was she talking about exactly?

Either way, she did sound serious. She'd been lying about things before, but this seemed genuine. He didn't think she'd just make this up to mess with him, at risk of making herself look stranger and more out of place than she already did.

He hummed.

"Lost how?"

Evaline chewed on his question a bit and regretted not thinking this through all the way.

"I don't know," she admitted, remembering how much she disliked poetic metaphors. "Just, lost. And alone."

James sighed and finished the last bite of meat. He bent over, rolled up his pants, and then reached for Elliot's reins, ready to lead him through the water.

"Well, maybe we can figure out what that 'thing' meant later. If you can remember anything else, I can try my best to help you figure it out. Maybe we'll end up finding the place they're referring to."

He stood at the water's edge, waiting for her to finish her apple. He was ready to go.

Evaline nodded and finished up her apple, appreciating Yoen's willingness to help. She was again reminded of his unsolicited acts of kindness he showed her when they first met, and suddenly it occurred to her that she had been ungrateful.

She had never been the charismatic type, but she also wasn't always this brash and critical of others. The stress of being in an unknown world without knowing why or how had blindsided her. More than anything, she hated not knowing what the future will hold.

She threw the apple core off to her side. "Listen," she said after extending her leg to untie her boot laces. "I don't think I've said this yet, but... I really appreciate you helping me with everything." She peeled her left shoe off and began to work on the right shoe.

"And I'm sorry if I come off as... uh, you know..." She tried to think of the right word. Condescending? Arrogant? Patronizing? Detached? By the time she wanted to settle on a word, she realized too much had passed for her to finish her sentence.

"Anyways..." She started to roll up her pants as far as it could go before standing back up. "Ready to cross?"