"Up and at 'em darling! Alpha told me to come wake ya up, now get up!" Brian called at me through the opening of my tent. I stirred and rolled to my side. I sat there rubbing my eyes for a couple minutes before pulling the blankets off me and tying the slip back on along with a looped blanket around my waist, I had made it by sewing the end of a blanket together, it came in handy when it got cold on trips like this. I slung my bow over my shoulder and did up the laces on the belted sheath for my sword at my hip. I sighed and put out the fire before leaving.
I could see my breath outside. The sky was a sad shade of yellowish grey as the sun rose into its usual spot. I walked quickly to the main tent located near the river. I could already see Brian, Fin, Matthew, Alpha Will and Alpha Daniel inside the tent. Standing outside, by the river, was Soul. He had a long sleeved wool shirt on and a broadsword at his left hip. He stared at the water for a full minute before looking over his shoulder at me. I gave him a half smile. He looked back down at the water. I sighed and continued walking to the tent.
"There she is! Alright, let's get our things and head out. I hate just sitting around." Alpha Daniel called out to the men. There were a few of his there as well, three I didn't recognize and Callum. I smiled at him and crossed the room to Will.
"I'm excited to see the new area, aren't you?" I asked, he chuckled and nodded. We all walked outside into the chill. I stepped away from Alpha to find Soul. He wasn't by the water anymore; I frowned and trotted back into the group. I spotted white hair near the front, he was with his father. I squeezed through several large stallions to the front. I trotted in between him and the centaur on his left. He glanced over and frowned.
"Hi." He raised an eyebrow before saying "hello" in return.
"Excited? Have you ever been on one of these?" I hooked my thumbs into my belt and asked.
"Yeah, you?" He turned his attention forward again.
"Of course, every chance I get." I did the same. He chuckled but remained facing forward. I smiled.
By afternoon we were deep in the forest, the sun came through the leaves of the trees; casting spotty shadows on the packed dirt. We sought a place to sit and rest for lunch, and found a large pond with an area cleared out near it for all of us to sit. I curled my legs under me just beside the pond so I could dip a hoof in if I got too hot. Soul stayed nearby with his father as Daniel discussed something with Will. He glanced my way a few times but remained silent. I munched on half a loaf of bread with some butter on it and watched them converse. Other centaurs were scattered around, some lying in the shade, others eating bread in the sun. We all needed a break; we had walked nearly ten kilometers and were getting hungry. I could two centi talking about how stinking hot it was getting just behind Soul and I.
Alpha Daniel said something to Soul then pointed at me, Soul glanced over with an incredulous face, but nodded at what his father said. I frowned and took another bite.
What are they talking about? I narrowed my eyes at them and chewed harder. His father placed his hands on his hips and jutted his chin out. Soul simply looked down and nodded again. I didn't wait to finish off my bread before getting up and walking to where they were standing.
"Hi Soul." I stated cheerfully. He kept his head down and his father cleared his throat before walking away. Soul was silent until his father left.
"Hi Sig." He replied dully.
"You're making me depressed, come on." I took his hand and began to lead him to the pond.
"Wh-what are you doing?" he asked skeptically, but didn't let go of my hand. I lead him to the pond and slowly walked in; once it wasn't too chilly anymore I guided him in and began to splash around.
"Come on! Don't be a pussy! Jump in, let's go swim." I yelled. I expected him to hang back and slowly walk in, but he did the opposite. He grinned a devilish grin revealing sharp jagged teeth and began galloping straight into the water. I squealed and tried to swim away, but he was way too fast. Two seconds later I had water being splashed at the back of my head and all over my back.
"Oh that's it! It's on!" I turned around and sent a wave of water over him with a swoop of my arms. He shook his soaked hair and returned the wave. I laughed and charged at him, he sent me a challenging grin and reared; I came a hairs length away from him and reared too. We crashed together and flipped into the water. We came up for air laughing. Everyone was staring at us, a few muttering "Children". We didn't care; we got out of the water and continued to play until Will told us we had to head out.
"That was too fun. Thank you, I needed that, my dad was getting on my last nerve." He sighed, I smiled back at him.
"I had to, you looked so upset after you and your dad were finished talking, I couldn't resist." I chuckled; he looked away and rubbed his arm.
"Heh, yeah." I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Whatever.
We traveled until the moon was high up in the sky and we could barely see anything, even with the lanterns. I was squinting into the foliage, but only silhouettes of the trees would reveal themselves to my eyes.
"Crap. Can you see anything?" I lifted my lantern up to Soul's face and asked. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"Alright, we're going to set up camp here. Since it's too dark in the forest, we can't go on." Alpha Daniel shouted. I sighed and stopped; Soul swallowed and did the same.
"I'll be right back; I need to see Will for a sec." He nodded. I trotted through the chatting groups of centi until I found Will conversing with a massive draft. I cleared my throat; both of them looked at me.
"Yes?" Will raised his brows at me.
"Can we speak in private?" I asked, glancing at the draft. He nodded and walked to another group.
"What is it?" he placed his hands on his hips, I knotted my hands together.
"I think Alpha Daniel is up to something. Soul keeps saying strange things, and I really don't know why. Do you have any idea where this trip may be taking us?" I could feel my face screwing up, but I kept staring at him. He looked slightly confused but it was clear he was thinking.
"All Daniel told me was that we're doing a perimeter check for anything or anyone dangerous, he didn't say anything else. But I trust him, he wouldn't go behind my back." His face betrayed him; his eyes were darting all over. But I nodded and gave him a small smile. He returned it and trotted back to the draft he was talking to before I interrupted. I stood there for a while before I went back to find Soul. He was kneeling by his bag, digging in there trying to find something.
"BAH!" I crept up behind him then suddenly yelled. He spasmed then whipped his head around to glare at me.
"I hate you." I rolled over, laughing, my legs flailing in the air. He stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at me.
"I HAD to! You were just sitting there! All innocent! It was too perfect!" I managed to get out as I stood up to face him. Once my vision cleared from all the tears, I saw he wasn't glaring anymore. A soft smile had replaced it. I chuckled and bit my lip.
"Heh, well we should get some sleep. It looks like everyone else is settling in for the night." I gestured to the others lying down. His smile just widened. I scratched the back of my head and chuckled nervously.
"Dibs on the moss over there!" I cried and sauntered over to a soft dark green patch of moss and lay on my back. Trying to remain quiet, I wiggled the tubular blanket that I had around my hips up to cover my body. I could hear someone walking to where I was lying. I opened my eyes to see Soul lying down on his side beside me. I closed my eyes again.
"Hey Sig? This has been pretty awesome, let's do something cool tomorrow; like find a nymph or slay a harpy. Just as long as it's cool." His voice drifted off into sleep. I did the same soon after he went.
Yeah, it'll be a cool day.