Charity frowns as her friend sits in silence.
"You should eat," Ryker pushes. Andrea slowly removes her hands off of her face. Her eyes pink with irritation. Bags line the bottom portion of them. Andrea had grown paler in a brief moment. Her hands move to the cool grass below her. She grips the grass tightly. Charity looks to her hands.
Charity grabs Andrea's hands gently, "Stop that. You're hurting them." Andrea squints her eyes at Charity attempting to understand. Charity slowly removes her hands and looks to the grass. She could feel their emotions. Charity straightens a bent strand of grass.
Ryker laughs nervously and says, "We should all probably get out of this forest." Charity looks to him shaking her head.
"Pull that flower," Charity says pointing to a small white flower. Andrea smiles at the familiar weed. Ryker hesitantly plucks the flower as Charity lays her hands on the ground focusing her eyes on the quaint plant. When the stem detaches from the ground Charity can feel the weight of its death. It may be small, but there is still sadness, emptiness, and it leaves a pain in her heart. The pain of someone pulling out her hair withers as the flower falls back to the earth where it belongs.
"I can feel the living things around us," Charity murmurs. Andrea pulls up a handful of grass. Charity squints as a pain stabs at the side of her head.
Charity grabs her head, "Stop!" Andrea quickly lets go of the grass.
"Holy… Can nymphs actually do that?" Ryker asks. Charity slowly releases her head as the stabbing pain becomes a small throbbing sensation.
Andrea yawns, "This is too much for one day." She rubs at her eyes and leans back against the old tree.
Charity looks around them. Tall trees, thick shrubs, cool wind, bright skies slowly shifting to dark.
Charity shakes her head at it all, "I don't like it. The state of everything. It looks bad on the outside, but the inside is a whole nother story. It's sad because the inside is so beautiful, but all that bad has tormented it. This forest, this place is just like a person. It has emotions, and needs to be taken care of." Charity runs a hand over the tree next to her. Leaning the side of her head against it she can feel its yearning and suffering. All of the torture it has been through for all this time.
Ryker laughs at her shaking his head and argues, "You couldn't be any farther off. People can hurt others mentally. Sure a tree can fall on someone hurting them, but it can't talk to them. People are a lot worse. They choose, and they pick. What they don't want they leave behind. Their scraps. That is what Hydrangea is. It is just another place leftover because no one wanted to clean up thei-"
"You know that isn't true," Andrea interrupts, "Now you're just comparing it to an old car. Hydrangea isn't a person, or a lemon. It can't be compared to anything because it isn't exactly like anything else. It's different in so many ways, but similar in so many ways. You both have completely different views about it. Even though you two are alike you are also very different. Well so is Hydrangea."
Charity smiles, "That is one way to put it."
Andrea laughs, "Of course you would say that. Never one to be proved wrong, huh?" Charity scoffs at her friend making both of them smile wider. Ryker shakes his head at the two of them.
"Guess not," Charity gives in. Andrea grins with victory shining in her eyes. Andrea can feel her empty stomach, she grabs the bag and takes the fruit they gathered out. Three of the sun drops and two monibelles have bruises covering large portions of their skin. Andrea grabs one of the sun drops with the smallest amount of bruising. She lifts it to her nose and the sun drop emits a smell that burns Andrea's nose from its foul state. The sun drop is very malleable in her hands. Andrea squeezes the sun drop it begins to melt in her hands and become a liquid. She throws it off of her hand and into the forest. Andrea wipes her hand on the ground disgusted. Andrea looks to the other sun drops with bruises. Charity pushes the rotting ones into their own separate pile, her face full of disgust.
The name sun drops causes Andrea to look at the "dying" sun that's light had nearly disappeared behind the trees and then she looks at the forest. The state of it makes her heartbreak as she wishes that her friend will be able to see it restored.
She feels exhausted probably more emotionally than physically, but it doesn't matter to her because sleep is so close. The moon has gone a quarter in the sky and it's light glows brilliantly. Andrea can't help but think it's romantic, almost, so she moves in between her brother and friend. They look at her one knowingly embarrassed, the other questioning her motives.
Ryker looks confused, "What the?" Andrea looks to Charity who has her face buried in her knees. Ryker shakes his head trying to not care and looks up at the slowly drifting moon.
Andrea hands Ryker one of the monibelles that survived, "Here, Charity and I will share the last sun drop." Ryker takes it hesitantly and bites into the monibelle.
Charity looks to the sun drop, "Is it even worth eating? It gave me mouth sores it was so sour." Andrea laughs at her friend while cutting it in half.
Ryker sighs and says, "Charity doesn't like the sun drops. She and I can just share." Ryker begins to scoot towards Andrea as if they were switching places.
"Nope. No, no, no n-n-n-no," Andrea says waving her finger in the air. She looks to Ryker giving him the stink eye.
She whispers to Ryker secretly, "I know what you're up to, and I am not gonna let it happen." Ryker furrows his brow confused. Charity wasn't supposed to but heard the entire thing causing her cheeks to brighten with warmth.
Charity puts her hands together and begs to Andrea, "Please. Stop making this such a big deal." Andrea crosses her arms after handing half of the sun drop to her.
"Nothing romantic will happen on my watch," Andrea promises to Charity discretely.
Ryker sighs, "If you are going to whisper you should try harder. Looking at you Andrea." She turns to him and scowls. Ryker looks to Charity his eyes cool.
Charity gives in, "I told her we kissed. She asked after I kissed you when you were injured by that insane herd of deer." Ryker nods his eyes shut. He sits there silent making Charity gulp.
"You shouldn't have told him," Andrea says, "I was actually having fun with knowing something he didn't."
Ryker opens his eyes a smile touching his lips, "Charity I'm not mad. If anything it is Andrea's fault."
She perks up and demands, "What? Why is it my fault?"
He smirks cockily and explains, "I just like blaming things on you." Andrea frowns and takes an angry bite out of the center of the sun drop. The sourness of it reflecting in her mood.
Ryker sighs and takes a bite out of the monibelle. Charity sighs and eats as much of the overly sour fruit she can take.
Ryker finishes the monibelle and puts the core into the pile with the decaying fruit. Andrea's and Charity's peels are already there. He turns to them. Andrea is already asleep and Charity is drifting off towards unconsciousness. Ryker sits a foot in front of her. Charity's eyes are closed her breathing slowing. Ryker lightly taps her foot with his own. Her eyes blink open as she focuses on him. Charity smiles at him.
"You know what?" Ryker shrugs and Charity continues, "I'm glad you kissed me." Ryker smiles as Charity blinks lazily and closes her eyelids.
"Me too," Ryker mumbles under his breath. Charity turns slightly. Ryker sighs deciding something not entirely safe.
"Charity," He says standing, "Come I want to show you something." Charity opens her eyes to see Ryker holding out his hand.
She grabs it and asks, "What is it?"
Ryker smiles, "I just want to show you something that means a lot to me." Charity nods as he lifts her into a standing position. She leaves her hand in his as he begins to pull her along into the trees.
Andrea stirs and opens her eyes. Charity isn't by her side and Ryker isn't in front of her. She strains her sleep filled eyes to see the two figures scurrying away in the distance. Andrea curses under her breath and begins to stand slowly, her limbs still numb with sleep. She sighs and begins to walk after them maintaining a good distance
Ryker leads Charity happily through the trees. He ducks under branches and uses his long legs to jumps over bushes and picks Charity up over them. She laughs at his excitement and lets him hoist her over a boulder with little effort. Ryker sets her down his hands moving off of her waist. Charity smiles up at him before he continues.
They make it out of the forest and Charity sighs happily outside of the humidity. A cool breeze blows across the long fields of the grasslands and the village. The breeze cools their damp foreheads. Charity looks over the dead grass up to the village. Her smile fades as she remembers the stone. Charity gulps as Ryker leads her to the village the night guiding their way.
Ryker slows his pace and looks to Charity as he stands at the opposite end of the entrance to the village. Charity gives him a sincere smile knowing something bad will happen to him if they stay too long. She hides this even from her eyes. 'For him, to save him,' she thinks to settle the nerves racing along the insides of her stomach.
"What was it you wanted to show me? I've already seen the village," Charity tilts her head looking up at him. Ryker lets Charity's hand slide out of his own as he looks across the demolished buildings.
"There is one building in particular that always has a glow to it on nights like these," Ryker says his eyes filled with innocent wonder. Charity smiles and walks ahead leading the two of them into the village.
Andrea frowns, 'Those two can be so stupid. They are right out in the open, practically asking for the murderer to step out and say hello.' She shakes her head at them. 'They are kind of cute together though,' Andrea thinks a small smile tugging at her lips. She gives in and smiles at the two walking together in the moonlight. She was right, the moon is romantic tonight.
Ryker leads Charity through the village in peaceful silence as the wind blows around them. He happily grabs Charity's hand again as they walk past the scene of black puddles and ashes beginning to fade. Ryker stops in the middle of it all and looks at the cathedral. The tall building looming over the entire village. It's obvious importance looms in the air almost suffocatingly as it holds a tragic story within itself. Soon to hold more than two.
Charity tightens her grip on Ryker's hand, "The cathedral. Wow, it does look nice, now let's go back." Ryker squeezes her hand as a form of non-vocal begging. Charity sighs, she follows Ryker's steps toward the cathedral doors.
Ryker opens the door for a nervous Charity, "Ladies first."
"What a gentleman," Charity says with little to no emotion in her voice. The only thing she feels is fear of what might be hiding in the shadows, or around the corners. Charity takes another gulp before stepping through its large double doors. Ryker follows in behind her letting the large doors creak unsettlingly to a close. Charity jumps slightly at the sound of the doors closing.
She continues into the cathedral a step at a time atop the worn out carpeting. The pews dusty and some holding cobwebs long forgotten. Charity looks up and down each line looking for something, anything that could be wrong.
An old worn out bible sits on one of the pews a row from the front. The cover is covered in dust, but the golden title seeps through shining in the radiant light of the moon. The pages are obviously torn and wilted sitting flattened by gravity and time inside the blue cover. She blinks at it. The book seemingly the only holy thing that resides in this place. Charity looks from the book to the old wooden podium sitting in the middle of the back wall. An old glass mural behind it of a crucified man. She looks to the other windows that contain holy things. Some of them hard to make out by the glass being smashed ages ago.
Charity runs her finger tip along the top of the podium. She brings it up to have a gray finger tip from the amount of dust. Charity wipes her finger off against the skirt of her dress. Ryker spins in a slow circle taking in the space more than he did the other day. Charity looks at him, 'He seems happy in here,' she thinks watching him. He stops and looks at her. Ryker smiles making her smile back at him a slight blush coming to her cheeks.
"I told you it was nice in here at night," Ryker says his voice slightly above a whisper. His voice sliding on the wind that blows through the broken windows. Charity looks at the moonlight streaming in through the holes and bouncing off objects back to the color in the windows creating a ray of nearly every color shown across the floor.
"It's very charming," Charity mutters looking across the floor of the cathedral.
Ryker sits in one of the many rows of pews, "I would come here trying to find guidance. When I really couldn't take everything around me I would sit in this spot and look up at every single window. Until I found what I was looking for." Charity smiles at him seeing the kid waver in his eyes for a moment as he looked over each window.
"That sounds like something you would do. Find a solution," Charity mutters looking into his tormented blue eyes. They look right back at her full of wonder. Suddenly Ryker looks to the entrance.
"Wait here," He says quietly as he walks towards the large double doors.
Charity's eyes widen, its time, she calls out to him in a whisper, "Wait, Ryker. Please, don't. I don't want to be alone." Her voice catches in her throat at the last sentence. He doesn't hear a single word she says to him. Ryker's hand rests on his sword's handle as he walks to the entrance.
Andrea rests her back alongside the wall of the cathedral. Ryker and Charity had just gone in. She scoots down the wall into a sitting position every limb physically tired, and her head emotionally drained. Andrea sighs to herself looking across the ground. She discovers a different puddle or pile of ash with each foot. Andrea straightens out her legs and looks up at the moon. It's full sitting in the sky like a giant, captivating pearl with a sense of control and grace lingering around it. She smiles, a moon so familiar. Yet, is painfully a stranger nowadays to her.
Andrea squints her eyes at it and puts her hand up as if she was cupping the moon with it. She could almost hold it the moon was so large. She blinks and looks to the stars that twinkle right along side her precious moon. Each star a hope, some fading, others beginning with a bright light that would be blinding up close. 'Why do they have to be so far away?' Andrea ponders looking back to the ground at the darks puddles.
She leans her head up against the brick wall of the cathedral. Andrea can almost feel the two of them walking inside of the cathedral. Andrea lets out an abrupt cough into the cold night air. She quickly covers her mouth and crawls hastily to the right side of the cathedral.
Charity gulps as the silence drags on. She waits for Ryker to come back into the cathedral. Suddenly, Charity can hear the cathedral doors creak open and then shut.
"Ryker," Charity calls out silently not wanting to bring the wrong attention to her.