Hazelcloud: Apparently, I can't handle faster updates and short chapters or longer chapters. Opps… A big thanks to noxus, Celia Cullen-Ride, and HornedJolteon for reviewing the last chapter!
Implementing 'Hide and Seek'
"Hide and Seek?" I whispered. Elva rolled her eyes, and said in her best impression of my voice.
"Trust me." And then she was dragging me along behind her, as we hurried almost silently through the Varden camp. It was early morning, the morning light soft as it filtered down through the clouds onto us. Too bright… for my poor sleep deprived eyes. Alagaesia had not been kind so far, I was beginning to think that I preferred high school. Elva moved along in front, easily navigating her way through the tents, frowning in concentration.
I was beginning to wonder if 'Hide and Seek' would turn out to be a lot easier to dream up than to actually put into action. Elva dragged me into a tent, which I belated realized was a baker's tent. The smells wafting from the fresh bread made my mouth water and my stomach growl in irritation. Elva pushed me towards the baker, and went to stand by the tent's door, fidgeting nervously. The baker was looking at me with pity written all over her face. I was beginning to get an inkling of how disheveled I looked.
"What do you need?" She asked tone warm and pitying. I fought the urge to gag at the sickly sweet tone, really watching Elva wasn't as bad as everyone seemed to think. Shrugging internally, I marshaled by train of thought back on topic, and dragged out the first plausible lie to come to mind.
"I need some bread and a bag preferably." I said, and nodded faintly towards Elva. The baker's gaze shifted to Elva for a second before returning to me. "She's dragged me out to hunt for herbs all day today…" The baker made a noise of pity, and turned to load some bread into a bag.
"The bag's cheap; don't worry too much about returning it." She said, as she handed me a rough sack containing the bread. I clutched the food, and smiled honestly.
"Thank you so much." I said gratefully. The baker smiled in return and looked as though she were about to speak when Elva moved over and grabbed my hand.
"C'mon!" Elva hissed impatiently, and I waved good bye to the baker as Elva dragged me back out into the open. We were silent as we continued through the camp, heading I supposed towards the outskirts of the camp.
"Wrong." Elva said suddenly. I arched an eyebrow, in a silent question. Elva glanced at me, and laughed. "It will be easier to get lost where there are more people. Good acting by the way." I snorted, in an un-ladylike manner.
"Acting? I'm starving; I'd do anything for food right now." My stomach growled loudly at that moment, as if to verify my claim. Elva laughed. "You're not a bad actor yourself."
"Thanks." Elva murmured, her eyes sweeping around the mostly empty camp roads.
"I do disagree with your logic though. It may be easier to hide with more people, but there will also be more people who will see us, and therefore be able to tell people where we were." I argued. Elva frowned but did not change her course. I shrugged, and allowed myself to be pulled along in her grip. My stomach growled again, a few minutes later, protesting its situation.
"Let's stop and eat." Elva decided.
"Thank goodness. Any longer, and they would have been able to track us by following the sound of my stomach." I said, smiling when Elva laughed. I opened the sack, and we tore off bits of the fresh loaf, savoring the taste. We made short work of the food, and were on our way again. Elva's pace had slowed to the point where we were just meandering about, in order to not draw attention to ourselves. More and more people were traveling about the Varden camp, and I was growing increasingly nervous. Elva on the other hand seemed perfectly calm.
"Turn right." She hissed, and I followed her directions without complaint. I had figured out how the 'hide and seek' would work. Elva would be focusing on anything that would cause pain to me, mainly the swearing of an unbreakable oath, and her gift would allow her to figure out which paths we had to take in order to avoid those wishing to harm us.
"Turn left, and then head straight." Elva whispered urgently. The directions were becoming increasingly frequent. I guessed that our disappearance had finally been noticed.
"Elva, now would be the time when in the game we would find a good place to hide." I whispered back. Elva frowned in thought, and grabbed my hand again. We hurried through the camp, and I saw that we were heading to the outskirts of the camp this time. Elva led me out past the last of the tents, into the wilderness, where we sat down beneath a scraggly tree, shielded by a matching scraggly bush.
"And now we wait." Elva said.
"This is the hardest part of the game. It's nerve-wracking when there is nothing to do but wait." I said, and fingered the zipper on my blue back pack. The movement drew Elva's attention.
"Do you have any stories?" She asked curiously. I frowned unsure; I had no idea what I was lugging around in my backpack. High school seemed like it had been ages ago. I pulled the zipper open, and fished around inside. I extracted a highlighted version of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
"Well, I have Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I'm not sure you would like it, it's based on my world, and it's kind of a love story." I said hesitantly. Elva considered the book for a second, and nodded.
"It doesn't really matter. I just want to hear you read." Elva said. I fingered the pages of the book, as Elva looked on expectantly. I couldn't disappoint her…
"Alright. Just ask if you have any questions." I said, and I opened to the first page and began reading. My tongue tripped over the words in the beginning but soon I had fallen into a rhythm. I glanced over at Elva once I was a few chapters in and stopped reading in surprise. Elva was lying on her stomach, braiding together pieces of grass into a little bracelet. She looked up and smiled.
"Here." She handed me one of the bracelets. "I saw them in your memories. Friendship bracelets."
"Thank you Elva." I said as she wound one of the grass bracelets around my wrist. She flashed me an actual smile.
"No thank you." She tied the other around her own wrist, and then looked back up at me. "Well? You have to keep reading, I want to hear more about Elizabeth Bennet." I smiled, and went back to reading aloud. As I kept reading I thought of what an example Elizabeth Bennet would be to Elva…oh goodness; she would encourage Elva to be outspoken, and independent.
I kept reading till the light began to fade, and I could no longer see the words of the page. I packed the book away, back into my backpack, and Elva fished out the remainder of the bread. We ate in silence and then stood to head back to the Varden camp. Elva trudged along slowly, and I hardly wanted to move any faster.
I certainly didn't want to hear the earful I was sure to get from Angela! But I did feel a small amount of pride in the fact that we had managed to avoid the oaths for a day.