"Aeryn," Tamlen whispered to his friend. "Look."
Aeryn raised her bow and turned slowly. She had learned from years of practice to be silent in the woods, even when treading on a bed of fallen leaves. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pure white Halla, grazing peacefully between the trees. She immediately lowered her weapon, casting an inquisitive glance at Tamlen.
"Look at her. She's a tame one... she's got to be... look at those carvings on her horns." Tamlen murmured.
"But what is she doing away from the herd?" Aeryn asked.
The Halla perked up her ears at the noise then galloped further into the trees, out of sight.
"Care to find out?" Tamlen said with a grin as he followed the Halla deeper into the forest.
"Tamlen," Aeryn called, rooted to the spot. "Tamlen! It's almost dark. We need to get back to the clan."
"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" he replied. "We have camp supplies in our packs. Why not spend the night out here in the woods? The Keeper won't be mad; we're rescuing one of our Halla."
"You know plenty well how unexpected the Keeper is." Aeryn said in retort. "And tomorrow is the day of the hunting ceremony! We can't be late for our own initiation."
"Well I'm following her. If you want to go back, fine. But I'm not losing her." Tamlen said, already starting to sprint forward.
"Tamlen!" she called. "Tamlen, get back here!" But he didn't turn around. Cursing, Aeryn followed him into the forest. She began to regret choosing to spend her last free day out here with him. She could have been back at camp, studying the ancient elven history that fascinated her so much. She could've even snuck out and ventured into the shem town... no, she pushed that idea out of her mind. No matter how strong her curiosity was for the world outside of the clan, she would never betray her race like that. Stupid shemlen, she told herself. There's nothing of interest for me out there anyway. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake her innermost desire to wander; to explore; to leave... Aeryn tossed her head, snapping herself out of those thoughts. This is my clan, she reminded herself. This is all I know. Luckily, after about five minutes of running, she had caught up to Tamlen, and these thoughts were driven from her mind.
"Knew you wouldn't leave me out here alone," Tamlen said, grinning.
"Ugh, you're so full of yourself," she replied, pushing him to the side. "I'm protecting you for your own sake."
"Oh, and I'm full of myself?" Tamlen laughed. He put his arm around her shoulder. "This will be fun. Just you and me, off on an adventure."
At those words, Aeryn's regrets about spending time with him seemed to disappear. "Just like we've always wanted. Since kids." she said. "Remember that? We were plotting to explore these woods ever since we could walk. If we ever became hunting partners..." She paused, after seeing Tamlen's grin fade and his face turn stony. When she turned her head to get a good look at him, however, his grey eyes brightened again and his face split into a new smile.
"When we become hunting partners," he corrected her smoothly.
"I dunno Tamlen, don't talk like that." Aeryn said, biting her lip. "The ceremony is tomorrow. And it all lies in the hands of the Keeper. What if she doesn't choose us to be together?"
"The Keeper knows how close we are." Tamlen assured her. "We'll be fine. Plus, both of us are the best hunters in our age group. The Keeper can't turn down pairing us up."
"But just imagine all the times we've annoyed her..." Aeryn pondered. "Like that one time she caught us sneaking into her tent..."
"That was your fault." Tamlen replied.
"Was not!" Aeryn responded.
"Was too! You wanted to look at some maps she had of the shemlen kingdom."
"Oh yeah," Aeryn laughed. "But you were the one that got us caught, stealing her staff and all."
"Oops," Tamlen said, laughing too. "You're right. I guess it was both of our faults."
"Which doesn't exactly help our case..." Aeryn said, her smile disappearing.
"Hey listen. Don't worry about it." Tamlen told her. "We'll be fine. We've been best friends for ages. She can't just ruin something like that. She knows we can never be apart."
Aeryn looked at him skeptically. Realizing how ridiculous his last line sounded, Tamlen seized his opportunity, and batted his eyes at her.
"Stop it," Aeryn laughed as he leaned in closer. "Tamlen!" she giggled, trying to push him away. He kept coming; their noses were almost touching.
"What? You don't find this... appealing?" Tamlen whispered as he made the most provocative face possible. Unable to hold it, he fell to the ground, laughing at himself. Aeryn, laughing too, held out her hand to help him up.
"Oh baby. You're just too sexy for me." she joked, as she licked two of her fingers and smoothed her eyebrows. Cracking up, Tamlen pulled her to the ground, and she fell on top of him.
"Time to heat things up," he said, pretending to remove the straps of his armor. In the effort, he snapped one of his fingers on the buckle. This proved to be too much for either of them to handle, and they burst out in laughter. When they had finally calmed down and regained their breath, Tamlen stood up and held his hand out to Aeryn.
"Well," he said, pulling her off the ground. "This just proves it."
"Proves what?" Aeryn asked as she shook leaves off of herself.
"We can't have any other partners. They'll think we're crazy."
Aeryn laughed. "I suppose you're right. But now that we've wasted a solid thirty minutes, we've probably lost the Halla for good."
"Ah well." Tamlen sighed. "I never really thought we'd catch her. I just wanted to have a bit of fun."
"Should we set up camp here then? It looks as good of a place as any." Aeryn remarked.
"Sounds good to me." Tamlen replied, slinging his pack off his shoulder. "We should probably get something to eat before we start a fire."
Aeryn responded instantly. She picked up a stone and threw it at a nearby bush, causing a large flock of birds to fly away. Tamlen grabbed his bow and shot down two.
"I could've gotten three," Aeryn jested.
"Could not."
"Could too."
"Could not."
"Could..." Aeryn started, but stopped when she heard a rustle of leaves. Quickly, she turned and saw a rabbit running through the bush. A moment later, the rabbit was lying dead with one of her arrows piercing its little heart.
"... too." she added with a rather pompous look on her face. Tamlen smirked at her sarcastically and began assembling the tent. Aeryn started the fire, firstly to cook their prey, but also to provide warmth on the chilly fall evening. The two friends were silent while they both concentrated on their separate tasks. Aeryn couldn't help but to watch Tamlen struggle with the tent supplies, mumbling to himself in frustration. She suppressed a giggle, and started cooking. Just then, Aeryn heard a distant rumble of thunder. Due to the heavy covering of trees, she hadn't known that it had been overcast the whole day. But sure enough, heavy drops of rain began to fall, dousing the fire in mere moments.
"Mythal!" Tamlen cursed at the rain. Luckily, he had finished one of the tents just in time, and they both scrambled into it for shelter.
"'We'll spend the night out here in the woods,' he says. 'It'll be fun,' he says." Aeryn exclaimed, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, what's an adventure without a little bit of rain?" Tamlen said. "Anyways, it will stop soon."
But it didn't. Aeryn and Tamlen could hear the raindrops falling on the canvas of their tent for hours. When they finally thought it had died down, Tamlen poked his head out the entrance, only to feel a heavy gust of wind and water hit his face, and the storm continued on. The two friends sat huddled together, trying to ignore the cold. The walls of the tent threatened to give in as they were being abused by the violent storm. The sun had completely set, and the only light was coming from a small jar which contained a blue flame. The jar was a gift from the Keeper, a reminder of the omnipotent nature of her elfish magic. Miserable, Aeryn cuddled into Tamlen, seeking warmth. He wrapped his arms around her more securely.
"How are you doing?" Tamlen muttered, for what seemed like the first time in hours.
"I'm fine." she replied through chattering teeth.
"Well, I'm having a really great time," Tamlen said, feigning happiness.
"Hey guess what," Aeryn said sarcastically. "Fuck you."
Tamlen paused. Then, making the same provocative face he did earlier, he replied, "Gladly."
And it was something about the wind blowing on the sides of the tent and the thud thud thud of the rain and the curious blue light emitting from the jar and the fact that it was entirely a joke because suddenly she was kissing him and he was kissing her back. And Aeryn forgot about the fact that they were hiding from a storm because all that existed was the inside of the tent and all that mattered was the soft touch of Tamlen's lips on her own. And soon she was reaching for the buckle on his armor and he was reaching for her's and neither of them snapped themselves. And then the armor was lying disregarded in a corner and they were still kissing, increasing intensity with every moment. And then Tamlen was lying on top of her and sometimes she was lying on top of him and the rest of the night passed in a peaceful oblivion, both of them enjoying the comfort of the other's embrace.