From Nobody to Nightmare Chapter 9: Wintercombe
Artwork Insert
On the matter of my life – Cards Against Humanity
Card 1: Getting Windows 10 only to have it become a major First World Problem (FWP) and shackle gaming access to the Microsoft Store™, then acquiring a sore anus from sitting in a car ride for 2 hours.
Card 2: That's how I wanna die.
Artwork Insert
On the matter of my life – Cards Against Humanity
Card 1: Getting Windows 10 only to have it become a major First World Problem (FWP) and shackle gaming access to the Microsoft Store™, then acquiring a sore anus from sitting in a car ride for 2 hours.
Card 2: That's how I wanna die.
Ice was the name of the game. In this haven fort without sustenance, freezing to death was a real problem. It was such a struggle to stay warm without the necessary fuel for a fire, or heat for that matter. No wood, no coal, no pitch - nothing. He was forced to huddle inside the tent, wrapped in his warm, fleece coat. Heck, even the fur of some poor animal wasn't satisfying enough. They were taking up residence on a huge chunk of floating ice for goodness' sake.
It had been about two days now since they had departed Lamarck via iceberg. Their ice cruiser and fortress now floated north, instead of going south to warmer waters. The iceberg was shaped like that of a mini-mountain., with gently sloping sides. Around its rounded perimeter was flatland. Jacob and Laylah took up residence on the north face of the mountain. This was just the tip of the iceberg. They had yet to explore the interior, leading down to the core and the underbelly that bottomed out to the icier depths of the Northern Sea.
"How would you call a temporary residence? A sojourn?" The voice came from a hidden ball of wrapped blankets and fur in a corner of their tent.
"That's precisely it," Laylah said. She was hunched over at the corner of their two beds, which were pushed against each other to conserve any semblance of living space in the tiny tent that they were a part of. She gave a final, tight tug, tying the laces of her boots to complete that secure not of hers. But if she was there, then that meant the other person had to be Jacob.
"I would like to refute that definition then. There is no way that this is our safe haven. It's much too cold." Jacob quickly rifled through the pages of a dictionary before slamming it closed.
"Well, it's the best place we've got. If you don't mind sleeping outside, then please do. You are my guest here."
"Your guest," he spat. "I'm your slave who does all that you bid. And at the end of the day, you wave your hands magically and say, "I have taught you a very important lesson."
"I guess you've summoned the ethical core of apprenticeship, Jacob." She cracked a smile from him with that.
There was a sort of tension between them in the first few days after the incident in Lamarck. He shut himself up in his little corner of the tent. They only spoke at times of necessity, and that lack of interaction really pained Laylah. The two of them had gotten along so well, and now this... It was as if the atmosphere froze his usually empathetic and caring attitude. She smiled a bit inside as his emotions thawed and showed.
"Damn right I did. Now how much longer until we get there?" Jacob was buried under his pillow and blankets. He had brought with him a veritable amount of texts to read under a ball of magical werelight, for when he read in dimmed darkness under the covers. Now, these dry and faded tomes spilled out of his haven of warmth as he opened a slit from under the covers.
He peeked over from his hikikomori paradise at the angel. What she was doing was a strange thing to him. It seemed that she was dressing up in an attire that was unsuitable for lazing around the house.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"I'm gonna go outside for some exercise," she said cheerfully as she slipped on a furred sleeve coat.
"You know, despite preaching vegetarianism, you seem to have an obsession with the skin of dead animals. Where did that one come from again?"
"Direwolf, six-foot length and about 50 kilos. He was a chomper, that one. Kept him as a pet for a while until he proved impractical for transportation. Snuffed him out on the spot, quick and painless That reminds me, you have gazelle in you right?"
"Goat." He didn't miss that jab. "Alright, alright, you're forcing me along on this 'exercise' mission." He marked that single, hated word with air quotations. To emphasize his great reluctance, he whined that the text he was reading was really informative in magyck.
"Really, let's see you practice it."
"Well, it's really complicated in theory to perform...-"
She shook her head and cut him off there. "That's it, you're coming outside for a run. Get the oxygen pumping through your deprived limbs. No questions, no complaints."
Laylah's eyes grew cold when she saw him still laying there.
"Get dressed. Now!"
"Alright, alright."
He stripped out of his comfortable pajamas, all the way down to his briefs. Once upon a time, he would've been burning in shame to stand there, nearly naked, in front of Laylah. Now, that awkwardness had gone. He quickly rummaged through the rucksacks and pulled out a white, loose, form-fitting shirt as well as some dark cargo shorts to go with the occasion.
When he went for his moccasins as a form of footwear for his hooves, Laylah shook her head. "Those won't do. They won't keep traction on the ice." She took a look in one of the packs that the villagers had supplied, muttering, "I'm pretty sure I ordered them. Ahh, here they are."
She came back up with what looked like hulking bricks, hollowed out in the middle in the shape of a hoof.
"Hoof boots!"
"Umm, alright." He placed one hoof in the first shoe and halted. "To be honest with you, I don't know how to work this thing."
"Neither do I."
He just glared at her. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"
"I mean, it's not my problem. I just need you to properly suit up." She crossed her arms, right over left, and stared at his progress. Laylah was outfitted in high, leather boots, a furred windbreaker over a grey undershirt and black jeggings. Jacob couldn't help but appraise her for her fashion sense.
"No one is here to look at you, so why bother?" he grumbled.
He dropped down immediately and got to work on the hoof boots. Feeling around the shoe dimensions, he could tell it was a bit too large for his small feet. He discovered two screws on the bottom that you could adjust your size in. Jacob quickly unscrewed them off and put them back on in the correct position to fit his still growing legs. Good thing they were adjustable. Some shoes were merciless to quick growers, and you had to shell out for new shoes every few months or so.
Rolling his eyes, he came back up and wiped his hands on the sides of his shorts.
"There. Happy?"
"Quite." With that, she spun around and headed straight for the tent entrance. The flaps unzipped themselves and parted out of her way as she approached, but quickly closed back when it came to Jacob's turn.
He heard a muffled giggle from outside. Slightly annoyed, he furiously unzipped the thing and shoved it aside before heading out to join Laylah.
"Why did it do that?" he pointed angrily.
"Guess it didn't recognize you. You haven't been outside once these past three days."
Her tone wasn't accusing as he would normally expect it to be. It was sad, mixed with a little bit of disappointment that things had turned out this way between them. Even the best role models are hypocrites. Even the best role models aren't perfect.
Which is why he resolved to make it up between them now. Whatever conflict that they may have had in the past couldn't interfere with their current relationship. He needed to learn from her and the best way to do that was to get on her good side.
"I guess I'm sorry Laylah. I'll work hard to do whatever you want me to do today."
She was a bit surprised by that and turned a raised brow. "Well, I'm glad you said that because you are going to die today." Laylah pointed outwards and Jacob followed the trail of her hand.
The view from here was magnificent. Blinding white was the iceberg, just like the first time he laid eyes on it with a focused vision. It was mountainous as he mentioned before, with gently sloping sides. Now he didn't remember that when he first saw it. The crags were more jagged and sinister as if it would be their very pleasure to impale him or in the very least, make him fall to his doom. It seemed Laylah had done some landscaping while he was asleep.
Around the smoothed out perimeter were clear cut out trails. Crushed ice, compacted into a density similar to gravel and showered with snow. Laylah led Jacob down with her from the stable outcropping where their tent was situated at. Now that he noticed, many of the places of residence that they had taken up were on higher ground. Back in the desert, they stood atop a 100-foot mesa. Now, they were on a flat level some 3/4 up on an iceberg. He cared to ask her why.
"In all of the places that we were on higher ground, were we ever attacked?" That brought a point to him. Lamarck was down in a place where other entities had easy access to their residence. They preferred the remote, harder to reach land.
"You know, we could be traveling like gods among humans if we went freely without disguise. I mean, we have you, an angel," he said back as they casually leaped across a deep crevasse. Once upon a time, he would've feared such a daring act, but now with his ability of flight and magyck, there was no concern for these mortal happenings.
She glared at him. He thought back to what he said, and mentally slapped himself. "Ah, that's right. God." Do not take his name in vain.
"Personal survival. Never rely on others to do the things that keep you alive. I'm trying to teach you how to live independently of others here. Now stretch."
They had arrived down to the trails. His boots really worked as they slid down the icy slopes. The sun was out and shining now, but the glacier wasn't weeping. That wouldn't cause any complications in traction for the running they were going to do.
He obeyed her commands without question and bent down to touch his toes. For a youthful male, he was reasonably flexible. He bent back his foot and held it next to his posterior for a few seconds before switching over to the other side. Laylah was doing some flex training herself. It involved many a painful thing that he knew he could never hope to do.
"It's called yoga." She came up out of a downward dog and gave a heavy breath. "I'll force it upon you one day, but not today."
In now way was he reassured by that. He finished his stretches and jogged in place for a bit to get the feeling of activity to his limbs. Gazing out into the distance, he asked, "What's our plan for today?"
"We are going to first train your mind and body to obey your will."
"How are we supposed to do that?"
She grinned.
"By running until I say stop."
Jacob groaned. He couldn't help it. Laylah's version of toughness and torture was just too much.
"Alright, I'll do this. But I haven't done much physical preparation for this in the past few days. You know, we haven't even explored the caverns of this place yet. This place is amazing; I just want to walk around and explore or something."
"No. Have some discipline over yourself. The path to self-improvement is pushing you to your limits, and then going beyond that after your body has nothing left. You yourself have seen the results after traversing that desert."
She was right of course. He had crossed that desert, injured, crazed, and half-dead. Such is the motivation of survival. "But if you go beyond what your capabilities are, it can become dangerous for you."
Laylah nodded.
"We aren't going to do that today. What you perceive as your limits is false. The body if your greatest tool, and it is much stronger than what your mind leads you to believe. It is only a natural part of survival that we hold ourselves back, to conserve our strength, to do the bare minimum and leave it at that. Your mind has led you to stay within the limits of safety, thus why you are so weak and afraid. Apprentice, today we are going to reprogram your mind by breaking your body."
Jacob groaned loudly and ran his hand through his hair. His claw-tipped fingers brushed up against his growing horns.
"I promise you this, once you break your mind to comply to your will, all other tasks at hand will come with ease. Of utmost importance, master your mind. Know your body and its true limits. Armed with that knowledge, you will attain much more."
"Like becoming the Overlord of all demons?"
"Even that." He couldn't tell if she was humoring him or being serious. Looking at her stern, unchanging face, he decided on the latter.
"Alright. I'll do this."
She nodded, this time in approval. She tossed him a waterskin, which he caught reflexively right out of the air instead of the usual fumble and drop. The liquid inside sloshed around with a comforting heavy weight.
"Drink that one up. All of it. You're going to need it. There will be more at every two miles that we go."
Laylah started by jogging firs,t setting a pretty quick pace that it forced Jacob to catch up with her. His muscles were screaming after only five minutes of running. In truth, he could have done a better job of stretching out, but he was constantly distracted by Laylah's stretching. Her movements were so elaborate and foreign that they were a show in and of itself. She had long, toned legs crafted into perfection to match those sycophantic movements.
After she was stretching, Laylah pulled her shoulder length hair up and tied it into a ponytail. It revealed her small and thin neck. Every part of her face from her sharp cheekbones and almond shaped dark red eyes from her curved lips and narrow chin was shown. This collection of features was in and of itself a distraction to any male. But Jacob was immune to her charms.
This is a good time to start discussing Jacob's sexuality and sense of attraction. To be completely honest and forthwith, he has none. The only woman he ever seemed to love was his mother and no other. He was blind to all other approaches. Even when there were female demonic temptresses in town, he would always question why the rest of the boys were so riled up.
"I mean, they just have sacks of fat dangling from their chest and a pretty face. Is that all that you're into?"
"Nah man, it's all about the tail."
"What? I thought it was all about the scales?"
Jacob admits that Laylah is a fine looking woman, but that isn't what it's all about. It was the yoga movements that Laylah did that transfixed him. The movements were painful and powerful at the same time, although some of that backward bending head over heels seemed something that was beyond him. Now though, as they reached an icy hill, he wished he had the willpower to glance away and do his own thing. Next to him, Laylah was steadily jogging, her high, calf-covering boots crushed the compacted ice and snow under her feet.
There were rules, though. Two of them.
"You do not stop unless I tell you to stop. You do not run off because you can't run off. I will catch you before I even have to find you."
They rounded a bend in the trail's course. He appreciated what Laylah had done here. She mixed and matched the terrain so that it carried them to new sights upon every turn. It gave him a fantastic view of the northern sea. All this time, he had been fascinated by the mountain of ice that he lived on, never bothering to take the chance to take a look at the world at large. Now that he did, it was breathtaking.
Leagues upon leagues of water surrounded them. The northern breeze cut in layers of cold that were like steel to any exposed flesh on his body. Every so often, he would spot another float of ice that drifted by in the opposite direction they were heading. South. He was heading North, to the place that would have been his hometown, in another place, in another time.
Just the thought of the past brought hot wetness to his eyes. He then stumbled on the path, nearly twisting his ankle in the process.
Laylah glanced back at him in concern. "You are-"
"Not to stop," he finished. He righted himself and went back to the pace he was going at. "Sorry, was lost in thought."
Laylah turned away to hide the ghost of a smile that was forming on her hips. It was something akin to gladness that he was finally warming up to her. "I would try to save my breath if I were you, cause we're gonna speed up."
And with that, the already fast pace she was maintaining turned into an almost-sprint. He followed her lead and clopped on for another twenty minutes. True to her word, a water sack awaited them in what he could assume to be every two miles. He downed the water without complaint, letting the cool liquid soothing the scratchiness of this throat.
Rounding the bend, they continued onward. The circumference of the iceberg could be estimated at being about 2 miles as he saw the same scenery over and over. Not that there was anything to judge by now that they were out in the open sea, but he noticed things. That stray grey rock perched protruding from a patchwork of crystal lattices. Or that copse of stalactites under a small cave. Never mind the scenery, Laylah just sped up again.
He tried to run side by side by her, and it worked, for a time. His body started to wear down, making his breath come out quicker. His calve muscles burned from the exertion and it wasn't just the calves that were hurting, but his core too. His sides were wracked by the ache of cramps and at the pace she was setting, he had no choice but to tighten his abdominals and suck it up. When she spurred forwards again, he almost fell in trying to exert the force needed to quicken his legs.
"What- *pant, pant* what are you doing? S-slower...will ya?"
Her response came out firm and steady, without a hint of exertion. "I told you to keep running."
"I am running! At the speeds you're going, *aggh* I don't even know what it's called!"
"If you have enough effort to talk, then the pace we're going isn't fast enough for you."
He remained quiet. Time passed as they ran on silently. When one gives in to the task, all other things in the background seem to fade away. The icy air was refreshingly cool on his heated skin. Each impact his feet stamped into the ground sent the a resounding shock-wave that jarred all the way up to his skull. Over the many laps that they went through, over the many water sacks that he drained, this compounded into a bloody headache.
When the next water sack came, he downed it without hesitation. It helped ease the many pains he was going through, but it didn't have the same effect as the first sack. Even while drinking, they were still running and when he couldn't finish the entirety of it in one swig, he poured the rest of the water over his head. They continued on. His breaths were now so ragged, he sounded like some mortally wounded beast. And he wasn't some dumb beast to be led by the rope on a death run. That fact pissed him off more than anything.
When Laylah increased her speed again, he maintained the same pace he was going at before. When she noticed he wasn't following along with her, she shouted, "Jacob, get your ass over here!"
"I CAN'T!" he shouted, venting out all his pent up frustrations.
"Move it!" she yelled back. This was turning into a shouting match.
"i can't," he said weekly, all that vigor from before had vanished. He fell down to his knees, not caring that the crushed ice had the texture of rough gravel, and the little prickly devils were digging into his skin. Gone. All of his energy was gone, depleted in this little farce of an exercise.
Laylah stopped running and turned back, sauntering towards Jacob's kneeling form on the ground.
"Get up."
He shook his head meekly.
"This is the moment where you decide, Jacob. We've barely gone the six miles that we need and here you are, broken and lying on the ground. Only cowards are deserving of the ground. Get off of it, and keep running."
He wanted to. He really wanted to, but he just couldn't. The strength that Laylah exhibited was awe-inspiring, hell, he didn't even know how a short woman like her could run. She tossed him another water sack, but even that didn't do anything. His lungs were lit ablaze and his stomach was revolting against his very being. On the state of his shirt, it was soaked to say the least. He just needed to stop moving.
She stood high and proudly above Jacob, her form casting shadow and shade above him. Like an avenging angel come forth to deliver punishment upon the undeserving. Her wings were tucked into her back when she ran, just like his wings were tucked in to minimize drag and air resistance. Now, she unveiled them in full display.
"Jacob, look at me."
He peered up to her standing figure from the ground. There was anger in her voice, but when he looked into her eyes, that anger wasn't shown. Instead, there was a slight hint of approval.
"Is this familiar to you?"
"What? You trying to kill me?" he lashed out. "It's too familiar."
She shook her head. "This is the exact same position when we first met, I found you almost dead in the desert. You had survived a severe gash in your right side and had been walking on for miles away from the closest thing that could resemble civilization. And you're still alive."
She kneeled down by his side and held him close as he took in breath after ragged breath, never-minding the fact that he was drenched in sweat. His breathing eventually calmed to more stable levels before she spoke her next words. "Would you like to know how far we ran?"
Oh dear. He had failed her expectations and now she was going to kill him. He wasn't strong enough. No, not like her. Why was he so weak?
"About five and a half miles, a little less than six," he mumbled.
She shook her head and smiled.
"Closer to seven a half."
His eyes widened and his mouth formed into a small o. "Wai-wait what? Seriously?"
She nodded. "I'm not lying."
"B-but, the water sacks were 2-mile markers..." his words pattered off into silence before he broke it with a rattle of laughter.
"Hahaha, *cough* oh I see. You lied. The water was placed at different intervals than you led me to believe."
Laylah smiled mischievously. "Yes. Doing so made your mind think exactly on what you thought you could handle. Your body didn't stop when it reached six miles because your mind didn't think so. I half expected you to stop a little past the third water skin, yet you kept on going. My question to you, is how?"
He looked down at the ground. "To be honest, I don't even know. It's not like any secret power or anything. I wanted to make you proud and wasn't going to stop until you said stop. You're really strong Laylah, you're everything that I want to be. The thing is, I'm just not."
She chuckled and stood up. "And you're absolutely right. You're not me. You and I are very different, not just in our physical way, but in our psyche as well. You have your own reservoirs of strength, Jacob. Use them."
"I don't even know what they are. I don't even know where to begin."
"Sure you do. Survival. You survived a far worse fate when you were in the desert. That was life or death and you made it to the living side-"
"Just cause you were there," he muttered.
"-my point is, you've been through tougher times. Living with me now doesn't have that same effect of survival of the fittest or deathmatch or anything like that. You're in a safe environment where you can only hope to simulate the true ecosystem of living. This makes you complacent. Your body doesn't want to reach those limits on fear of burning out. But unless you push yourself, you're never going to improve."
He finally got up himself and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. "Well, I guess. I'm curious, though, how long were you planning on keeping me going if I hadn't stopped?"
"We could've gone on for quite some time."
"But how far do you think we could've gotten?"
"Hmm, if we kept up that pace, we could've gone on and on for miles."
"Are you serious? How?"
"I can run say ten miles or so in 45 minutes." The very thought of this was insanity to him. This woman was insane. She can contort her bodies to reach places that are physically impossible and run on at reckless speeds.
"You're not lying are you? This is all possible, right?"
"I wouldn't lie. Not to you anyways."
He took a deep breath, and without considering the consequences of his next words, said, "So how long until I can get to do that?"
"That all depends on you and how hard you push yourself. It could take months, or much sooner than that." She gave pause and stared at him, "You want it sooner, huh?"
He flashed a shameless grin, "You know it. When can I beat you up, old lady?"
"You're too young to even entertain the thought, youngling."
They took a different route at a light jog back to their ever so spacious tent. The perspiration they racked up with that morning run had long dried up in this icebergy air. Laylah crinkled her nose at Jacob's scent.
"Grab a change of clothes and a towel. We're bathing. No way you're going in there and stinking my tent up like a stable."
He nodded, much too tired to complain. He couldn't agree with her more. This stickiness was too unpleasant.
They went down the mountain again, this time, to a different place. At the bottom of the mountain, there was an entrance to a tunnel that led them down deep beneath the visible tip above sea level. The temperature down here dropped down to a considerably cooler temperature. Down here, the sunlight above would never reach and things got real dark real fast.
"אור - light" Jacob whispered. Small balls of white, luminescent werelight popped up above the ceiling that they were in. The clear, cut cavernous walls shone icy blue. The ground itself was flat, dry and stable with no chance of them slipping. Down a few more meters, the air started to warm and become foggier. Breaking through the haze of water vapor, the tunnel widened out into an expansive cavern. In the center was a pool of steaming water. Off to the sides, there were two rooms where one could shower and cleanse themselves. This made the center pool to be a soaking ground.
Jacob and Laylah both parted in different directions, she took the right chamber and he the left. In the bathing stall, Jacob quickly stripped down out of his soiled clothes until he was bare. There were two buckets in here, one with warm water, and the other with cold water. There was a carved out stand to his right that contained a scentless bar of soap and a washcloth.
It was noticeably dark in here and for good reason too. Darkness entailed privacy and living with an unpredictable woman could result in many a thing going wrong. He quickly scrubbed himself down and poured cold water over himself. A cool shower always felt more refreshing after a workout.
When showering, he often found that it was the best time to think. He had been meaning to ask Laylah what was the point of all this, pushing himself. He knew exactly the purpose, it was to get him better at doing things in the extreme. It's just, why running? He could be training in flight and that could be much more useful than just running on the ground.
After dumping the remainder of the cold water, he watched as it automatically refilled. Like magic. Well, it was magic. He still had a hard time adjusting to the fact that he could make things that were thought of as physically or even theoretically impossible possible. He studied hard, read the texts and understood the concepts, but it was still something that took getting used to. It was just too easy. Or maybe not.
He thought back to the time where he tried levitating a rock off of the ground under Laylah's supervision. The laws of magic entailed that an energy source equivalent to performing the task at hand through physical means was needed. That exercise was strenuous enough to make him see black spots in his vision.
Over time, though, with more practice, he would get better. As he trained his body and his mind, tasks once thought of as colossal would become a mere chore, something that could be easily dismissed with the flick of a wrist or the wave of a hand. He would improve his efficiency in the magics so that there would be a minimized energy loss.
He shook the water out of his hair and ran a towel through it. Showers were where he had the best thoughts to himself. After drying himself, he wrapped the towel around his torso and headed out towards the hot bath.
Laylah beat him there to it and was already lying and soaking up the warmth. He tugged at the knot of his towel, it unraveled to reveal his bare form. Oh, no matter. The steam cover in here was moderately thick enough to leave some stuff to the imagination. He gently slid into the pool, blindly feeling around the bottom of the pool with his hooves to test its depth. There was a ledge near the edge where he could sit and lean back. It was important to keep his distance from Laylah as far as possible.
'Ahhh, this feels soooo good." The water's ripples lapped at his chest. He rested his neck on the icy edge of the pool. It was a phenomenon. How does ice not melt at such high temperatures?
"Enjoy it, this was well-deserved." He heard a loud sigh come from the opposite side of the pool.
"This is a very nice setup that you have here. Plumbing, ventilation, but I have to ask, how are you able to keep the water heated?"
Now there was a splash from the opposite side of the pool. He heard the rippling and parting of water. Was it his imagination or were the noises really coming closer? "L-laylah?" he called out nervously and straightened up.
A slender hand touched his bare shoulder. He shouted and jumped off of his ledge into the deeper end of the pool. He stumbled and then slipped, he lost his footing and his head went under the water with a resounding splash.
It was at that moment that he knew he was doomed. He flailed his arms wildly, searching for anything to pull him out. Panic seized control of his mind and he was silently screaming. Bubbles escaped from his mouth. There was a tightening in his chest. He couldn't breathe. Help.
A hand plunged down and seized one of his flailing limbs. The thing is, it was his foot. He was yanked out of the water feet-first, having his head dangling just a few feet dangerously from the water's surface. He coughed and sputtered out a stream of water from his lungs. Craning his head upwards, he could see Laylah with her wings beating madly to support both of their combined weights.
"You're really heavy you know?" she huffed. She lugged him back to the edge of the pool, where he coughed up just about the entirety of the liquids he inhaled. He hacked up all that he could, but there was still a burning sensation at the back of his throat that would only go away with time.
"You can't swim, huh?" Laylah panted. She was naked too, but Jacob never got the chance to see. She slapped his face to the side, averting his eyes.
"I don't care if you're injured. Never gaze upon a woman's body with indecency in your mind." She pattered over to one of the side rooms and came back fully robed.
"Yes, I can't swim." His gaze finally locked on her face again. "Just take a look at these legs. They're not made for swimming."
They were hooves, of course, miserable hooves. They say wildebeests were most vulnerable when crossing rivers. The sick and the young who fell behind were left to the crocodiles.
"Doesn't mean that you can't swim. Magic is might. But then again, this is just one more thing we have to work on." You could almost hear the disappointment in her voice, but Laylah was being particularly nice in not letting it show…too much. "Well, that's our mission for the day and tomorrow. You're going swimming!"
Jacob scowled. The thought held very little appeal to him. He had never been fond of deep water. He had a history with it too, to avoid the river at all occasions as possible
She wrapped up his shivering form in a blanket and dragged him away from the hot baths. They ushered through the low-roofed icy corridors, still alit with ghostly werelight that cast the walls in a tinge of blue. Emerging from the tunnel with frosty breath, they decided to walk back to base camp.
On the way, Jacob's feet couldn't stop stumbling over. He wasn't sure if it was tiredness or the embarrassment. His body trembled at the cold and his dripping wetness only served to exacerbate the situation.
Laylah looked upon him with pity and decided that the boy had gone through many a turbulent trail today. She took the easy way out and unfurled her white-and-black wings and cradled him up bridal style. His eyes widened, but he took it all in stride, shrugging it off as just another event in this awfully crappy day. Jacob snuggled closer into Laylah's embrace and tried to drown out the cold as well as his worries. Tomorrow is going to be a better day. Tomorrow's going to be a better day. To-
Yawn.
Vision blacks out.
Back from my two-month long hiatus. Reason? Life. Junior year in high school teaches you the meaning of procrastination, desperation, and the art of bullshit.
Stomach growling so much you gotta eat to shut it up. Food is such an inconvenience at times. Uggh, too weak to continue working. Brb.
*Note - a sight on Jacob's run: Carolyn Monastra – "giant tabular iceberg, Antarctica 2011"