CHAPTER FIVE

Tilda and Sigrid on Adventure

So for those who've been with me before I deleted several chapters and started rewriting them: this chapter deviates very much from its original! I decided to change a lot here because I wanted to create some tension between Ariel and Dylis. They're both not perfect-in fact, they clash in many ways, and I wanted to show this a bit more.

I'm happy with how it turned out, but I'd love to hear your opinion on this chapter! So please let me know in the reviews or send me a PM.

Thanks everyone for reading this story, it means a lot to me!

"Where are we?"

Ariel and Dylis were gaping at the sight before them.

Rolling hills, green grassy plains, a tiny stream catching the sunlight as it glittered in the distance.

Not the forest trail they were following just moments earlier.

"I… do not know," Dylis mumbled, taking in the sight before her.

Ariel looked back to the forest behind them, but it wasn't the same as the woodland through which they walked so often. It was denser, darker even, despite the glaring sun above them.

There were no forests like this one on Cape Cod. She knew it in an instant. This was different. As were the grassy plains before her. There were no hills in Provincetown that looked— felt— like the rolling ones right in front of her.

The salt which was a typical part of the Cape Cod air was absent. There was a breeze, but it wasn't the same breeze indicating there was a large body of water nearby. Somehow, she could sense there was no ocean anywhere close to her.

Impossible.

There was no way they were suddenly somewhere else entirely. That was just… just…

Impossible.

"What do we do?" Ariel asked, panic rising up in her throat, making her almost croak out the words. She'd been lost before. Either Dylis, Will, or Vincent had been on her side in those situations, and she'd always looked at them for directions.

She was doing the same thing now. This time, however, Dylis had no knowing look on her face. There was no determination, no sign of a well-thought-out plan forming in her mind. There was just absolute, utter astonishment.

Ariel didn't know whether that should frighten her or not. Dylis always knew what to do. It would come, she told herself. The gears would start turning and soon Dylis would know where to go and how to find their way back home.

She was thinking exactly that as she watched the incredulity slide off Dylis' face, making way for resolve.

Ariel beamed. She knew it. She knew she could trust on Dylis. It didn't matter the blonde was definitely hiding something very important from her— Dylis was her lifeline and Ariel had no idea what she'd do without her.

"See that stream over there?" Dylis pointed at the distant glimmering, and Ariel, following her gaze, nodded. Dylis gave her a sideways glance. "Let's see which way it flows."

Ariel nodded again and walked after Dylis. They would handle this situation just like all the other difficulties they'd faced. It wasn't a big deal— well, sort of, but it wasn't like they were facing death or something.

Death.

You should welcome this change.

Even though Ariel hadn't really anticipated a long hike (she and Dylis were planning on doing the short trail), she decided that things could've been worse.

They'd follow the stream, find a city or town, borrow someone's phone, and call a taxi or Uber to drive them back to Provincetown.

Simple as that.

Right?

"It goes that way," Ariel pointed out as they stopped before it, noticing the water flowing to her right.

"Well spotted," Dylis said with an approving nod. She studied the stream with a tilted head. "Its river bed seems wider than the water's reach." The small water stream that was left was almost of a golden brown colour, and as she looked around her, she noticed how the grass wasn't that green as she'd first thought. It was more of a tawny green. "It's been a dry season. We must be careful to follow this river. It might've gone dry at some points."

Now that Dylis mentioned it, Ariel did feel sweat clogging her armpits already, despite being out of the cover of trees for only ten minutes.

It was hot. Not hot like she called the summers in Provincetown, because there she still had the sea breeze. This was dry heat.

God, why hadn't she taken that water bottle with her as Abby had insisted?

"D'you have any water?" Ariel asked Dylis, eyeing the small leather brown backpack the blonde was wearing.

Dylis nodded. "One bottle," she replied. "And some granola bars."

"It's almost like you prepared for this," Ariel muttered, then scrunched up her nose. "Those bars are gross, though."

"I'm afraid we'll have to do with what we have," Dylis said, an amused smile tugging at her lips.

"Well, let's go then," Ariel said with a heavy sigh, taking in the landscape around her. "The sooner we start walking, the sooner we'll get home."

With that, she followed the river's flow, not noticing the troubled look on Dylis' face.

As they walked parallel to the river, Dylis scanned her surroundings, willing something out of the ordinary to appear.

All she had to do was figure out which river this was, and she'd know where they were and where to go.

By the position of the sun, which gradually made its way to their direct right, Dylis figured they were going south. Not that this notion made it easier for her to identify where they were. Almost all rivers here ran, at least at one point in their course, south.

She couldn't believe this was happening. This was what Abby had meant. This was the change that she'd talked about during Ariel's reading.

She was back.

After all this time— after sixteen years— she was home. She'd known it and felt it right away.

The feeling of her skin being stretched out, the way the green light blinded her sigh for just a few seconds, the sound utter silence in that moment…

She knew.

Dylis would never have thought she'd welcome the brutal feeling.

Her mind was in overdrive, imaging the reunion with her father— the homecoming of Ariel! It'd be the perfect fairy tale ending, the one she knew Ariel had imagined for the story Dylis had so often told her.

Dylis was beaming, excitement flaring in her stomach, her chest, her throat. Almost she let out a bubble of laughter. Almost.

But that would be strange.

They were still lost, and Ariel didn't know any of this.

But now, Dylis would be able to tell her and have proof. Ariel wouldn't think her crazy, because she would see her home city, she would see her parents and her brother, and the castle she had lived in— albeit briefly.

And Aeron. Dylis would see Aeron again. Oh, how she had missed her dearest friend. Was he alright? Had he survived the many ambushes and attacks the North had thrown at Arthedain?

Her father! How would he react at seeing her again? He must've thought her dead— what would he think if he saw her standing right in front of him?

"What are you smiling at?"

Ariel narrowed her eyes suspiciously when Dylis jerked— actually jerked. That was nothing like her. She'd stopped walking to face her with her arms folded across her chest. "You seem to enjoy this situation far too much."

"Well, I was quite ready for an adventure," Dylis said, smirking.

"I was, too," Ariel said, a scowl on her face. "But we've been walking for an hour already and still there's no sign of civilisation." She bit her lips, the scowl leaving her face to be replaced by a pensive frown. "I'm kinda starting to freak out over here."

Worry instantly etched on Dylis' face and she was at Ariel's side in a blink, a hand on her upper arm. "Don't," she said. "You're with me, and as long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you."

"I'm not worried about anything happening," Ariel countered, withdrawing a bit from her touch, "I'm worried about nothing happening."

"Let's just go on, shall we?" Dylis asked, a thin-lipped smile on her face that was meant to be encouraging. "The more ground we cover, the more chance we have at finding anything."

Ariel looked at her, biting the inside of her cheek. She nodded. "You're right." She sighed, nodding again, but to herself. "Let's move."

o0o

The two walked all day. With every passing hour, with every glance at the lowering position of the sun, Ariel felt the gnawing feeling in her stomach become more weighty.

This was not good.

Twice they'd strayed too far from the river, not noticing the water had gone dry in most of the parts except for but a tiny stream of water the same colour as the brown river bedding.

They were still going south, though Dylis did notice the slight bend the river seemed to make, curving to their right.

She wished she had a map with her. Even with her studying the maps she'd found either online or in books, Dylis had not memorised every detail of every river course. She hated the fact she still didn't know where exactly they were.

The sun was already at that frustrating point in the sky. You know, that point that when you happen to look in its direction, its light glares blindingly in your eyes.

Ariel had only complained when she realised she had to relieve herself behind a tree, and Dylis hadn't blamed her for it. She wasn't quite excited for it either.

For the rest, not once had Ariel whined or complained, which surprised Dylis somewhat. From beside her, she could hear Ariel's rumbling stomach. A look of pity crossed Dylis' face. Ariel was hungry, thirsty, and probably aching all over.

Dylis had seen her stumble and trip over her own feet. About two hours ago, the girl had swayed dangerously, her legs limp from exhaustion. They'd paused for half an hour then, but sitting had only made their muscles more sore, and they were both paying the price for that break now.

It was nearing dinner time, and there were only two granola bars left.

Dylis looked to her right again, at the woods. It was, after having followed the river rather than the comforting coverage of the trees, probably fifteen minutes away.

They had nothing. She had no sword— Ranel was still in her studio, displayed on the wall above her bed— and she had no bow and arrows to hunt. She had half a bottle of water and two granola bars that weren't at all fit for dinner.

If they didn't find anyone soon, they wouldn't survive the next day. Because Dylis was almost certain they'd have to spend the night here in the wilds.

She didn't have the heart to tell Ariel though. But Ariel probably already knew.

She glanced at the forest again. Tilted her head. "Any energy left to go pluck some berries?" she asked, looking back to Ariel, who'd seen her slow her pace and was now standing still next to her.

She arched an eyebrow. "Berries?" she repeated. "We're eating berries for dinner?"

Dylis shrugged. "It's better than nothing," she replied. "Besides, we don't have much water left, and berries are juicy. You've got pockets in your jacket, right?" Ariel nodded, her hand stuffed in the pockets of her denim jacket, which she'd knotted around her waist. "Well, if we find much, we can save some in there. I've got deep pockets, too."

Having no better option, Ariel relented, and the two walked to the forest. It was still warm, but slightly more bearable than several hours before. The trees provided cool air, shielding them from the glaring sun that seemed intent on burning a hole through their backs.

"Alright," Dylis said as they went deeper into the forest. "Don't pick any yellow or white berries, nor the red ones, just to be certain. Go for the blue, black or purple berries; those are most likely to be edible." She paused, thinking. "Oh. And pick the berries higher from the ground. We don't want any animal urine on our food, do we?"

Ariel nodded, her lips curling downward in disgust. Then they split up, careful to stay close and not to stray too far from the forest's edge. Ariel did as she was told, careful to skip the lighter coloured berries and the ones close to the ground.

Finally, she found just the right ones, coloured a deep blue. She plucked the berries and let them fall into her cupped hand, then slid them into her pocket. She repeated this several times, until one time she drew her hand back and saw a spider the size of a metal bottle cap on her hand.

She shrieked, shaking her hand as she stepped away from the bush. The spider was flung from her hand, and she shuddered uncontrollably.

God. She hated those creatures.

She looked down mournfully at the ground, where all her berries she'd plucked had fallen.

"Ariel?"

She jolted and turned to see Dylis striding over her.

"Are you alright?" she asked urgently, scanning her for anything wrong or an injury. "What happened?"

Ariel eyed her sheepishly. "Spider."

Dylis heaved a sigh, looking up at the tree canopy. "Thank the Valar," she muttered.

Ariel's eyebrows shot up in puzzlement. "Thank the what now?" she repeated.

"Hmm?" Dylis looked back at Ariel, comprehension slowly appearing on her face. "Oh. Oh, nothing. Just something I took over from Will."

Ariel nodded slowly. "O-kay…"

"How many berries have you collected?" Dylis asked, a bit quickly.

Ariel looked at her pockets, which were filled to the brim. "I think I've got enough."

Dylis nodded approvingly. "Good," she said. "That's good." She looked around. "Let's go back to the edge of the forest. It's the best place to sleep, I think."

A sigh escaped Ariel's lips as she shut her eyes and shook her head. "I was dreading this," she said wearily, "but I guess I should've seen it coming."

"A night in the wild too savage for you, your highness?" Dylis teased as they made their way back where they came from.

Ariel chuckled, putting on a quasi-posh accent. "Well, of course it is!" she exclaimed. "My, how shall I have my beauty sleep if I am pestered by spiders and worms? Unthinkable!"

Dylis stole a mocking glance at her. "You're joking but I know these are, in fact, your deepest concerns right now."

"Oh, shut up."

Once they arrived at a place Dylis deemed fit for sleeping, the blonde let Ariel sit down as she went to gather some wood for the fire. She only asked Ariel to make a circle of stones and clear the ground within of any moist grass. This was probably easy enough, since by Dylis calculations, it hadn't rained for quite a while.

It had been a long time since she'd made fire without any supplies— even the workshops during the Cosplay Festival relied on flint stones, and unfortunately she had none of those on her. Again she realised that they were to survive the wilds with absolutely nothing but berries.

She came back to find Ariel massaging her calves. "Sore?" Dylis asked, taking in the neat circle of stones Ariel had made.

Ariel huffed. "Yeah," she said. "Never knew walking could ruin your feet like this."

"Well, we've probably been walking for six hours straight," Dylis reasoned, coming to a crouch next to her as she put the branches and twigs inside the makeshift stone pit. "It's only logical to be sore."

"Then why are you still moving while I'm completely knocked out?" Ariel grumbled, leaning back against the bark of a tree.

Dylis shrugged. "Call it endurance," she replied, though as she went to sit down, she could feel her muscles scream in protest.

Deciding a fire wouldn't be exactly necessary as of yet, at least not with this heat and what remained of the daylight, Dylis allowed herself to relax after the long hours walking.

She closed her eyes, her thoughts already spiralling. It seemed returning home was all she could think about. Never before had she allowed herself to be so full of hope, so full of anticipation. But she figured she had good reason to feel so. She was back, after all. After having given up hope for so long, the most unimaginable thing had happened.

Provincetown had been lovely, if a hard time for her mental state, but now she was here.

Her thoughts turning to Provincetown dampened the excited ones whirling in her mind, though. Abby, Hugh… Will. She owed them so much after everything they'd done for her and Ariel.

And now, there was no way to thank them again. Somehow, she understood the feeling she'd been pestered with this past week. Of how she had to hold onto the good moments, of how she had to preserve them. She bowed her head at the realisation. Dylis would not see them again.

Unless this was just like her time in Provincetown; sixteen years here, sixteen years there, repeat.

She shook her head, pushing those anxious thoughts back to the deepest depths of her mind. There was no use in getting stuck in her brain again.

In an attempt to distract herself, she looked at Ariel. "Let's play a game."

They played silly camping games for hours, all the while popping berries in their mouths, until the sun finally touched the horizon. The day had been long, and eventually, even the discussion about whether Aragorn would really be a better husband than Legolas (as Ariel saw it) couldn't keep the two awake.

Dylis had just finished making the fire when the last light of the sun glinted as a diamond over the flat lands in the west. Her arms were aching— it had taken her more time than she liked to admit to finally get that fire going. She sat back on her knees, watching the flames dance in the soft breeze. With the sun gone, the air had gotten cooler, but not unpleasant.

"We should take shifts in watching," Dylis suggested, scanning their surroundings. She didn't believe there'd be immediate danger here, but one never could be too careful. Luckily, they had two ways to escape: either the river (though it resembled more a creek than a river) or the forest.

"I guess," Ariel mumbled, rubbing her face tiredly. "Hadn't really thought about it, to be honest."

"You go sleep first," Dylis said, noticing the exhausted look on Ariel's face. "I'll wake you in a few hours."

"You sure?"

Dylis nodded, and watched Ariel untangle the sleeves of her denim jacket around her waist, and then folded it up. She placed it on the ground, carefully checking if there weren't any anthills or spiders.

"Here," Dylis said, giving her own jacket to her. "You can have mine as well."

Ariel took it. "Thanks. I'll give them to you when it's my turn to watch."

Dylis nodded. "Try to sleep a little."

"I doubt that'll work, but I'll try."

Dylis smiled a bit, and as Ariel settled down in the most comfortable position she could come up with, the blonde turned her gaze to the rolling hills in front of her.

She looked up at the sky. The night was clear, and stars shone down upon the fields. She smiled as she managed to spot a constellation Ariel and the Brookes would have called the Great Bear.

She, however, knew it by another name. Or rather, she knew several names for the constellation. Aeron had once pointed it out to her, telling her the lore behind the stars in a somewhat cringe-worthy but romantic way.

"Edegil," Aeron said, stretching his arm out to point at the seven stars set in the heavens. Dylis, young and prone to blushing, glanced away from his face to the stars he pointed to. "That is what the Sindarin elves call it."

"What does it mean?" Dylis asked as she looked back at him, finding Aeron's face more interesting than the stars.

Aeron's lips tugged up. "Seven stars. Literally."

"Oh."

"The Quenya name is more beautiful, though," he said, his dark eyes finally finding hers.

Dylis' eyebrows shot up. "You know the High-Elven tongue?" she asked, baffled.

In the moonlight, she could see Aeron's cheeks go red. "Well, not much… just a few words and names…"

"Tell me."

He smiled down at her. Even though Dylis was considered taller than most girls of her age, she still only reached to Aeron's chin. Dylis didn't like to admit it, but the fact he smiled this way to her and not to any other girl made her fall apart. A bit.

He looked back at the stars, but Dylis didn't follow his gaze this time. She watched the way his eyes sparkled, the way one corner of his mouth lifted higher than the other, and the way he pulled her closer to let her see the stars better— probably not noticing it wasn't exactly necessary or that Dylis was flushing red all over her face.

"The Quenya name for the constellation is Valacirca," he said, his voice sweet and soft— so very different from when he was on the training grounds. "It means 'Sickle of the Valar', for the Lady of Stars set them in the sky."

"It does sound prettier," Dylis admitted.

"It does," Aeron agreed. Then, he wheeled them around, and Dylis stumbled a bit. He put an arm around her waist to steady her. "And that," he said, again pointing, "is Menelmacar, Quenya for 'the Swordsman of the Sky.'"

"You seem very fascinated with the stars and the heavens," Dylis remarked, briefly glancing at the belt of three stars and the two stars both above and below it, only to look back to Aeron again. He was already watching her. She felt like recoiling, like shying away, but couldn't bring herself to do it. They were standing far too intimately, seeing they were not even courting yet. But both of them didn't seem inclined to create distance between them.

"I read that they were the first things Elves saw upon their Awakening," he said, shrugging a little. "I always wondered how we Men could not have seen. Or how we saw them and weren't as impressed as the Elves."

"I think I prefer the sun, though."

Aeron smirked. "Not only because I compared your hair to it, right?" he teased.

Dylis looked away, blushing yet again. "It might have been a small factor, but…"

She trailed off and Aeron laughed. For the rest of the night, they sat together on the hill, Aeron teaching her Elvish words, though Dylis was a bit too distracted to take them all in.

Sighing wistfully at the memory, Dylis leaned back. "Valacirca," she whispered quietly at the constellation in the north. It didn't seem very special, especially when Americans called that very same constellation the Big Dipper.

But because of that precious memory, the Sickle of the Valar was and would always be both in her mind and in her heart.

o0o

Though the nights were short in summer, this one was long. Taking shifts in watching wasn't exactly what Ariel had expected. In books, it was always a moment for the main characters to do some thinking, to drown themselves in memories, or when two potential lovers would fall in a deep conversation about their worst fears or something like that.

But that was, Ariel figured after only ten minutes of staring into the dark, utter bullshit. Staying up at night to look out for potential danger while fighting sleep to take over was very, very boring.

In the first hour, Ariel just sat on the ground, her legs crossed, and tried hard not to stare into the fire. Dylis had told her not to, because if you looked in the fire, everything else would become just black and you wouldn't see any danger coming.

In the second hour, she started humming Hotel California from Eagles, but Dylis hated that song and immediately groaned in her sleep. Ariel didn't really understand how someone could hate that piece of art, but yielded and started singing Hamilton songs softly.

In the third hour, she was too engaged in her battle against sleep to even focus on her surroundings. But it seemed she'd lost the fight, though she wasn't sure for long, because when she opened her eyes, it was less dark than before and the fire was slowly sizzling out.

Dylis was awake. She was sitting with her back against a tree trunk, tracing the veins of the leave in her hand.

Ariel straightened, feeling muscles and bones in her back pop and creak from soreness. "Morning," she grumbled, stretching out.

"Hello," Dylis said, looking up and giving her a small smile. "Did you sleep a little?"

"More than I should've," Ariel replied. "But I still don't exactly feel rested."

Dylis stood up. "Me neither," she said, "though I'm afraid we have no other choice than to move on."

"It's hardly even light yet," Ariel said, frowning.

"That is true, but I thought we might collect some more berries for the rest of the day."

Ariel shuddered. "No, thanks," she said. "I'm not really looking forward to having another spider crawling over my hand."

Dylis rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not going to collect berries for the both of us, so you suit yourself, then." With that, she went deeper into the forest, and Ariel stared after her for a few more seconds before sighing in defeat and going after her.

Once they had what they deemed enough berries, they went on. From the east, a pale light was already making its way over the forest to the rest of the sky, but only when the sun was seen over the treetops did the two eat their last energy bars. It seemed they had to live solely on berries from now on— at least until they'd find some sort of settlement.

But for as far as they looked, there was only grass and trees and a river. This fact made Ariel deeply uncomfortable. There was no way they could've ended up in the middle of nowhere. It just… wasn't possible.

But the day wore on, and still there was no sign of civilisation.

"If your name wasn't Ariel," Dylis suddenly said from beside her when the sun was directly above their heads, "what other name would you want to have?"

Ariel glanced at her before popping a berry in her mouth. "Where does that question come from?" she asked with a puzzled smile.

Dylis shrugged. "Just answer it."

Ariel thought for a second. "I don't know," she replied. She took in Dylis' frown and laughed. "I really don't know. I'm pretty happy with my name, even though people call me Little Mermaid."

"Fine, then I'll have to think up a name for you."

Ariel arched an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

Dylis pursed her lips, her arms crossed. "Well, if we come across, say, people we don't know whether to trust or not, it might be a good idea to use different names," she said, a bit hesitantly.

This made Ariel frown. She knew Dylis didn't really trust easily, but this seemed to be a bit… over the top. "Is that really necessary?" she asked.

"I don't know," Dylis said with a shrug. "But it might be a good idea."

"You're really blowing this up, you know," Ariel said. "It's not like we're miserably lost in some dangerous land with spies and monsters. This isn't Narnia." She gestured vaguely to their surroundings. "This is— this is just a wide, wide field with a river and a forest that's not really supposed to exist near Provincetown…"

She fell silent, and not knowing what to do with her arms, she crossed them in front of her chest. She shifted a bit and swallowed.

"We're really lost, aren't we?" she said, her voice small and suddenly not so sure as before. Dylis sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. "I mean, we slept in a forest tonight. Without anything. Our phones have no service, my battery is nearly dead, and we haven't seen any person ever since we… got here. We're in deep trouble."

Dylis put a hand on her arm. "All we can do is follow the river, Ariel," she said, her voice frustratingly calm. "We will find someone. It will be alright."

Once the sun neared the horizon and their stomachs started growling, they gave up for the day and went to look for berries again. Sleeping that night proved to be even more difficult than the night before, and Ariel and Dylis dragged themselves away from the forest onto the grassy plains to walk for another day.

Ariel and Dylis eventually decided on their alias names, should there be need for it: Ariel would go by as Tilda (even though there were some serious protests against it), and Dylis as Sigrid. Dylis didn't tell Ariel that The Hobbit movies had given her the inspiration. Since the movies didn't come very close to the book and since she reasoned those events hadn't taken place yet anyway, Dylis figured these would be suitable for blending in. She couldn't immediately cry out that the lost princess had returned, could she?

That second day only brought the third day with more miles to cover. There still was no sign of people, and by now it even began to worry Dylis. What if there were no cities to return to? What if Fornost, Bree and the other settlements were all lost to the Northern Kingdom of Angmar?

Ariel complained frequently by now. Dylis couldn't exactly blame her: even she agreed that this aimlessly wandering had gone on far too long. Luck finally found them when Dylis discover water mint plants near the riverbank. She offered it to Ariel, who took the leaves happily and rubbed them over her teeth. One complaint down; a hundred more to go.

To make things a little more interesting, Ariel and Dylis played some games as they walked. Sometimes they'd lead to heavy discussions, which in turn would lead to arguments.

A particularly vile one broke out that third night. It had started raining heavily, and Ariel and Dylis sat beneath the cover of the trees (which didn't help very much) in a tense silence. Ariel's whining had gotten under Dylis' skin, and Dylis' strange and patronising behaviour had started to make Ariel act aloof towards her.

It was already getting dark, and Ariel was tired of shielding herself from the rain. Instead, she let herself get soaked, closing her eyes and tilting her face upwards to the sky.

The rain was, in a way, refreshing. After having walked for days in the ruthless heat, she welcomed it. She'd already set Dylis' water bottle on the ground to let the rain fill it.

"If you want to have a cold, keep going."

Ariel clenched her teeth and inhaled deeply. She didn't look at Dylis. "It's summer. I won't get a cold."

"There is a sudden change in temperature," Dylis pointed out to Ariel's frustration. "Have you not noticed?"

The tone of her voice was so condescending that Ariel frowned sharply. She glared at Dylis. "No, I'm terribly sorry," she snapped. "I study Classics, not Meteorology. And you didn't study anything, so stop pretending you know everything."

In the fading light, she could see outrage flashing across Dylis' face. If Ariel weren't so pissed off right now, she might've been scared. Angry Dylis wasn't fun to be around. But she couldn't care right now. She was done with this.

"I beg your pardon?" Dylis said. "Are you calling me foolish?"

"I'm not calling you anything."

Dylis sat back, nodding once. "Right," she said. "I suppose that because I haven't studied, I'm entirely witless. Of course."

"All I'm saying is that you're so… so patronising all the time!" Ariel said, her voice raising over the falling rain. "It annoys the hell out of me! I'm not a dim-witted kid anymore, alright?"

"Well, if you don't want be treated as one, stop acting like one," Dylis replied, her voice terse. "Always complaining as we walk. Always whining about anything and everything. It's tiring."

"Well, sorry for having difficulty walking day in day out!" Ariel shouted.

"So do I!" Dylis snapped. "I just don't act like a drama queen all the time!"

"Oh, perfect Dylis and her perfect composure. It must be really hard to be so much better at dealing with sore feet. Screw you."

Ariel turned her back to her and leaned her side against the tree trunk. It was a petty gesture, but she could hardly walk away from her. There was nowhere to go. Or actually, she could go anywhere, and that's the part that scared her the most.

The next morning, they said nothing to each other. Each of them went their separate ways to find berries.

Ariel went back to their little camp (which basically consisted of a stick planted in the ground so that they'd both recognise it as their meeting point), and found she'd been quicker than Dylis. That was unusual, since Ariel usually took her time to examine a bush thoroughly to see if there were any spiders near the berries she wanted to pluck.

She sat down on the ground, popping some berries in her mouth. Her thoughts took her to the previous night, and guilt gnawed at her. She knew she'd said some mean things to Dylis, things she hadn't meant, but her stubborn self told her that Dylis deserved to hear those words. Dylis had been secretive and somewhat imperious lately, and Ariel had simply put her in her place again.

No matter that if it weren't for Dylis, Ariel would definitely have died on her own by now. Dylis had (and Ariel loathed to admit it) an uncanny knowledge as to how to survive in the wild.

Frustrated, she ran a hand through her dark hair, only for her hand to get caught in the tangled strands. She let out an irritated growl. How long had they been here in this damned place? She counted the nights.

Three.

She had slept three nights on a dirty forest floor, had lived off berries for four days, and had resorted to drinking rain water.

This was crap. Absolutely fucking crap.

It was then that she shot up straight.

Today was August the 24th.

Today was her birthday.

This was supposed to be a day full joy and cake and wine— she was 21 now, for Christ's sake!

But here she was: sitting on dirt, her clothes covered in dirt, and her face covered in dirt.

This was not how she'd imagined her 21st birthday to be.

Oh, how worried Abby, Hugh and Will must be. Were they searching for her and Dylis? Had they called the police? Were they on national TV like other missed persons sometimes were?

A loud, wailing sound echoed through the woods.

Ariel stiffened, her skin prickling with goose bumps as she slowly turned towards the sound.

That was not human.

It was a wolf.

Ariel sprang up, ready to call Dylis, but instantly clamped her mouth shut.

What if calling Dylis would lead the wolf here? What if the wolf had already found Dylis? What if it had just called for back up?

She took her jacket, took the bottle of water, and backed away towards the edge of the forest.

Another howl pierced the air, closer this time, and Ariel froze again.

Movement in the distance caught her eye, a flash of blond hair in a braid.

Dylis.

Ariel let her shoulders sag in relief. She was safe. Dylis was alright.

And running. Fast.

"Ariel!"

Her voice was urgent, frightening.

"Run!" Dylis bellowed, running towards her with two wolves in tow. "Make for the river! Quick!"

It took Ariel a second to process what was happening.

Then she turned around and ran as fast as could.

The river was farther away from the forest this time. Ten minutes at a leisurely pace.

Ariel could only think about running. She cast a glance over her shoulder. Dylis had gained on her, but so had the wolves. There were more now.

A glint of sunlight hitting water. They were close.

The water had risen. Did wolves swim? Could wolves swim? Was the water deep enough?

No time for thinking. Ariel leapt into the water. She wasted no time under the surface. She crashed to the surface and quickly swam to the other bank. The river was deep, and broad.

From behind her, she could hear Dylis fall into the water as well. Ariel turned around, watching the wolves stop at the riverside.

They watched her and Dylis with greedy eyes, and without being aware of it, her hand found Dylis' as the blonde came up next to her.

It wasn't the cold water that made her body quiver.

Dylis suddenly whirled around to the bank behind them.

"What are you doing?" Ariel shrieked, panicking.

"Catch."

Her hand caught the rock Dylis had thrown at her. Ariel looked at it, frowning.

She looked back up just in time to see Dylis cast her own stone to the wolves.

It hit one of them square in the face, and the wolf whimpered, backing away.

Ariel looked at her rock again, then drew her arm back at shot it at another wolf. It ducked, the rock missing it just a bit, and the wolf bared its teeth.

"Give me another!" Ariel called to Dylis.

This time, Ariel did manage to hit one, and this wolf, too, recoiled.

"Take that, you suckers!" Ariel shouted as she gave the retreating wolves the finger.

From beside her, she could hear Dylis laugh hysterically.

Ariel arched an eyebrow.

Dylis shrugged, dropping the last stone in the water with a plop. "Sorry. Too much adrenaline."

They eyed each other for a long, long moment. They were a mess: tangled, soaked hair, faces red of the blood pumping through their body, chests heaving breathlessly.

"I'm sorry," Ariel said, breaking the silence. "I shouldn't have said those things the other night. It wasn't cool."

Dylis' face softened. "It's alright." She waded over to Ariel. "I haven't been exactly bearable either."

Ariel raised her brows. "Did you just call me unbearable?"

Dylis nodded, grinning. "If you insist on telling me the truth about my behaviour, I'll give it right back to you." Ariel opened her mouth to retort, but Dylis was quicker. "Anyway, we were in luck. If it hadn't rained this night, the water wouldn't be deep enough to hold to wolves back."

Ariel looked at her, wondering how Dylis could forgive her so easily. She knew she wouldn't have been so forgiving if it'd been the other way around. But Dylis always seemed to have a weak spot for her, and now Ariel wondered if maybe she'd taken advantage of this.

"A blessing in disguise, then," Ariel said, turning her head to look at the river they were in. Not only were they lucky that the water had risen— they were also lucky that the water here wasn't rushing wildly. This spot was calm, perfect to swim and bathe in.

"We'd best use this moment to wash ourselves," Dylis said, already loosening her hair from her braid. "Oh, and Ariel?"

"Hmm?"

Dylis gave her a knowing, apologetic smile. "Happy birthday."