::::-----==============-----::::
Rue stretched out all his limbs in total relaxation as he sat on the bench outside the cottage while Claire quietly watered the colorful assortment of potted flowers. The two of them were enjoying the sweet spring air on a perfectly fine morning.
"Ahhh~!" Rue said, quite satisfied, "Isn't this great, Claire?"
"Yes it is, Rue."
"Claire..." Rue started, turning to her with a boyish smile, " I...I know I've said this about a hundred times by now, but... it's really great to have you back."
"Thank you... Rue."
Rue smiled at her bashfully, and tried to change the subject like he hadn't said that, as boys are so prone to do when they've just said something awkward. "Man, I can't remember a better day," Rue continued as he got up and leaned over the wooden handrail that bordered the front of the cottage, "You know, while you were gone, I never really took the time to notice beautiful days like these... it was like they all just seemed so gloomy to me.. Or maybe... I was just gloomy to them...."
Claire stared forlornly at her flowers, and didn't even bother to give a reply.
".... Oh Claire, I'm really sorry. I'm just...I'm just babbling again, aren't I?" Rue said earnestly after the sudden silence from the watering girl.
"......" was oddly the only response Claire gave again.
"Ar... Claire, are you alright?"
Claire turned to him with a vacant expression. "I'm fine, Rue. Fine." Her voice was like ice.
"..Claire...?" was all Rue could stammer out as he stared at Claire, baffled to say the least. He started to approach her, just as she turned and began watering the flowers again, and despite how gorgeous the weather had just been a moment ago, the sky suddenly turned dark with rain clouds...no; snow clouds.
"What the..?" Rue noticed that suddenly, the ground was covered in fluffy, white snow, though Claire still peacefully watered her flowers, totally oblivious to pretty much everything. Rue stared into the sky and saw a number of falling snowflakes... in the middle of spring? Something was not right. Upon turning back to Claire, a cold blade of terror was thrust deep into his chest -- a huge, dark, devilish arm was looming over Claire, seeming ready to drag her along with it into the abyss of hell. As soon as Rue regained the ability to speak...
"CLAIRE!!"
Rue hastily covered his mouth in complete mortification that he would yell out loud like that. He frantically looked all around him, propelling beads of cold sweat off his brow in every direction he turned. He was in his room, with the sheet covers of his bed strewn off his body. He let out a lingering sigh of fear and relief and looked out the small window to his right. He could still see the stars; morning would still be hours away.
Rue ran his hand through his hair as he paced about his room. He couldn't believe that he was still having that dream. He could have sworn that after he saved Claire, they would cease to haunt him.
"Maybe... it's still a little too soon..," he said to himself, reassuringly, as he exited his room. It was exceptionally dark in there, and Rue couldn't see much besides the soft, blue haze in front of him that emanated from the glowing stone in the middle of his forehead. He decided that it might be better to stay in the main room until he was ready to go back to sleep.
As Rue stepped into the main room, he raised his arms over his head, and with a long groan, stretched them as high as he could, though his arms abruptly froze in mid-descent as he heard a softer, higher-pitched echo of that groan.
"Wh-Wha...?? Who's there?!" Rue called out, regaining his composure and trying to sound threatening, though with a shaky voice, he probably wasn't doing a very good job.
"Mwaa... I can't... eat anymore..." Mint said, answering the five thousand chefs in her dream. But as if she was also answering Rue, she rolled over to her other side, revealing her slumbering face to the boy. A tranquil (yet seemingly drunken) smile was present across her lips.
Rue whapped himself on the forehead. How could he ever forget about Mint?
"Then again.." he said aloud, answering himself while turning around and folding his arms, "it's been a hectic night... I can't blame myself for not keeping a few things in mind... but I guess I can't stay out here..." Mint punctuated Rue's sentence by suddenly snorting in her sleep, causing Rue to cringe a bit.
"....As if anyone would want to.." he added.
Rue turned back to Mint and noticed that the princess was still wearing that same peaceful smile on her face. He shook his head and coyly smiled back, although he knew she wasn't actually smiling at him. It was just that he couldn't help but remember the last time he saw her like this..
~~~~~~~~~~~
Rue timidly knocked on the door to Mint's room that, like him, Ms. Cartha offered to give to her free of charge. After a short wait, he knocked again and spoke, hoping that she would be able to hear him through the wooden door.
"Mint...?
Mint, it's me..."
Without thinking, he slowly turned the knob and peeked in; finding the slumbering Mint collapsed upon her bed.
"Oh, she's still asleep.." he said aloud to himself as he entered the room, a little downcast. After the battle, Mint had been asleep for what seemed as days..he didn't know when she was going to get up...if she ever did.
With that thought, Rue fearfully turned back to Mint's resting form. No. She wasn't dying. Not Mint. Definitely not Mint. She's just really exhausted, that's all.
"She'll probably be asleep for a while..." he said, encouraging himself. Upon looking back, he noticed the emotionless expression on the princess's face. No; it was better than emotionless...it looked surprisingly tranquil (surprising for Mint, that is). She wasn't wearing the gruff or grumpy expression he'd seen on her so many times before...or the gleefully greedy expression she wore whenever she talked about the [relic]. It in fact almost even made her look kinda... kinda... normal. If only she could be like this more often...
"She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping..." Rue ignorantly let slip out.
Though Rue's encounter with the softer side of Mint was sweet, it was also very short-lived, seeing as a few seconds after Rue finished his last sentence, Mint shot out of bed, conveniently back to her old self, yelling, "What was THAT supposed to mean??!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite its bittersweet-ness, Rue was still smiling after the memory.
"She does, actually..." he said, agreeing with what he said in his reminiscence, though he would never repeat it, knowing that doing so meant risking Mint jumping up and yelling at him...again.
"Good night, Mint." Rue couldn't have been more careful with his tone. He finally decided to leave Mint to sleep, and turned back for his room with a yawn.
::::-----==============-----::::
Mint sighed heavily as she stared intensely at her breakfast. Her face eventually relaxed and she turned to her bandaged leg, once again supported by two or three pillows. She grabbed her fork and poked at the thick bandages a few times. Then, with a good amount of gathered nerve, she rotated her leg a little, sending a pain through her so strong that her face became just as furrowed as it was before. A stifled "Ow" echoed in her throat.
"Argh! I hate this!!" She yelled, and she tossed her fork onto her plate with a loud, piercing clatter.
"Is something wrong, Mint?" asked Claire, looking up from her breakfast, which made her look like she was starving herself compared to Mint's. "I thought you said you liked pancakes.."
Nearly caught off guard by Claire, Mint stumbled for her fork and began pouring a layer of syrup over her mountain of pancakes, pretending that her outburst never occurred. "It's not that..." she answered finally, "it's just...oh, forget it."
All Claire could do in reply was raise her hand to her lips and giggle softly. Mint narrowed her eyes, just a tad peeved, to say the least.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mint." Claire said, noticing Mint's expression."It's just that you sorta remind me of... oh, nevermind." She looked at the princess, just the slightest bit shamefaced. "You know, Mint...if it makes you feel any better...keep in mind that you're still young; your bones are still strong and healthy, and you're bound to heal soon!"
"I guess.." Mint muttered, just before filling her mouth with pancake.
Looking for another option, Claire placed her index finger on her cheek and looked up, thoughtfully.
"..Hey..." she began once more, "I'm sure Rue'll get up soon. Why don't you go out with him to get the firewood? The fresh air should do you good."
"WHAT?!" yelled Rue, who had just exited his room, the news almost causing him to fall through the doorway of the main room in shock.
"Oh, good morning, Rue. I didn't hear you get up. I hope you slept well," Claire said with a smile that she saved just for him.
"Good to see you finally decided to join us, sunshine," Mint added, without a fraction of the kindness of Claire's greeting.
"I... was up late last night," Rue said to Mint, flatly, then turned back to Claire with a worried expression, "Claire, you can't be serious! ..w-with Mint..??"
Claire blinked at Rue with an unsettled look. "Well, I-- I just thought that it would be nice if--"
"You don't have to say anything, Claire, because there's no way that I'm going anyway! Thanks but NO thanks for the offer." Mint said pompously, folding her arms and cutting Claire off in mid-pleasantness.
"Well, that's sure a load off my back...literally," Rue said as he turned from Mint, a lot more relieved, though a part of him felt like he had won.
"Well I..." Claire once again tried to speak up, but failed for a second time.
"Oh, so I'm some sort of burden now?!" Mint yelled to the boy, getting into another one of her usual girlish huffs.
"I-I didn't say that...! You're...putting words in my mouth!" Rue answered, defensively.
"Oh! Well if that's so, what exactly DID you mean?!"
"What do you mean by what do I mean? I said exactly what I meant -- I'm going to get the firewood alone."
"Well I wouldn't want to go with you anyway!!"
"That's just fine!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
"FINE!!!"
As if watching a heated verbal tennis match, Claire bewilderedly turned her head right and left, towards Rue and Mint, trying to keep up with each hit. When the two players finally turned away from each other at the end, she quietly took hold of her utensils and resumed eating breakfast.
'Wow, company.... sure is great..' she thought, not sure if she meant it.
::::-----==============-----::::
"Sometimes, I just don't understand you, Mint.." Rue confessed as he drudged up the short hill into the forest, pulling the firewood cart (currently inhabited by Mint) by its two foot-long handle behind him.
"Princesses are allowed to change their minds whenever they want," said Mint impassively, though that was probably the second excuse Rue's heard from her.
"Besides, I needed to get out of that stupid little house of yours sometime!" And there goes the third.
"And do you think you can take a bumpier road?!" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Sorry..," Rue said apologetically, though half of him wanted to hold Mint to that offer.
"Jeez, how the hell can you two live in that little piece of --.." Mint said, holding back the less flattering words she had in mind and casually tossing her arms behind her head.
'It's a lot easier living in it without you, Mint...' Rue idly thought.
"I mean, I practically had dollhouses bigger than that thing! I'm surprised it's lived through a single winter."
'I'm surprised it's living through you..'
"It's just about the dinkiest place I've ever seen, y'know," declared Mint, stifling her laughter and letting go of all the insults she held on to since she thought of them the previous night while she was with Claire.
"You know, Mint.." replied Rue, finally bringing up the gumption to speak his mind, "There is a town a short distance west of here. And I'm pretty sure they have a pretty fancy hotel that you can stay in instead. Of course then you would have to pay the lodging bill, but I'm sure something like that wouldn't bother a refined princess like you."
"......Guh...a.." Mint pursed her lips before any more nonsensical gibberish could come out. Just as she felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face, she managed to come up with a rational reply.
"Are you kidding me?? Claire's cooking is way too good for me to leave behind for some cheap hotel slop! Trying to get rid of me, huh? Ha! You're gonna have to try better than that, Rue."
Rue sighed and shook his head once again. Just as he'd said before, Mint was far too complicated to ever fully comprehend. As he reached the top of the hill, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then turned and walked toward the rear of the firewood cart, Mint's eyes following his every move. With a stylishly criminal grin, he placed his hands on the back of the cart and started running.
Mint turned to him frantically. "Wh-Whaddaya think you're doing...?!"
With one last heave, Rue let go of the cart and sent it down the other side of the hill.
"WUAAHHH!!! RUE!!!"
With a very fulfilled expression on his face, Rue rested his fists on his hips and watched the show.
Eventually the cart reached the base of the hill, and gradually slowed itself to a stop, all the while Mint clutching the handle for dear life, teeth clenched and seemingly without the ability to blink. A short moment later, Rue came down running behind it.
"What'd you think? Fun?" he asked cheerfully, between pants.
As soon as she regained her senses, Mint snatched her two golden rings from behind her back and prepared to launch a bolt of magic, taking immediate aim at Rue.
"You are SO dead!!" she exclaimed, saying the quote we've all heard a hundred times before.
"Calm down, Mint," Rue said with a smile, raising his hands in a yielding sort of way as he moved his head over so Mint's scowling face wouldn't be blocked by the twirling rings and shimmering lights radiating from her palm. "It was only in fun, really it was...! Besides, it's a lot easier a-and faster than dragging the cart down the hill with me. It's what I do every time...it's just that today, you were in it."
With an apologetic smile, Rue lightly chuckled to himself and turned to a nearby tree, preparing to strike it with his arc edge...just as a bolt of white magic threateningly zipped past his head. Rue nervously turned back to Mint, seeing that she was bitterly staring off to her left.
'.... That's the last time I underestimate her...'
Mint sat in the firewood cart with arms folded and in complete silence, letting her temper simmer to a steady boil. A few feet away, Rue chopped the timber into relatively identically sized pieces, also in reasonably complete silence. He carried the first batch of wood to the cart and noticed that Mint wouldn't even look at him.
'Jeez, how long can she stay mad at me...?' thought Rue, a little dismayed since deep down he somewhat knew the answer. Darn...
"So.. Mint.." Rue bravely started, trying to end the awkward silence, "I've been wondering... what brings you here.. I mean.. I never expected that--"
"What do you think, genius?! I'm looking for a [relic]!"
"A...[relic]...?" stuttered Rue in disbelief, not exactly wanting to hear that word again for some time.
"Or at least I was looking for it," murmured the irritated Mint, folding her arms again. "Klaus found out about it while looking over some ancient manuscripts from the Coral Sea. It hinted at a powerful [relic] somewhere amongst the ruins in the Western Desert. He's heading there as we speak for research, and I wouldn't be surprised if somehow, the word's gotten out about all this to Belle and Duke, too."
"Wow.." Rue listened to Mint's story dumbfounded, as one familiar name after another was mentioned.
"Unlike them," continued Mint with a haughty air, "I knew that the fastest way to the Western Desert was by taking the shortcut through this forest.." She stopped as she let her voice harden. "And I probably would've gotten there by now if it wasn't for that stupid cliff!! Augh, I HATE this place!"
"I'm.." Rue began, but stopped as he noticed that he was about to apologize on behalf of the cliff. "Well... on the bright side, as soon as you're healed, you can leave and go back to heading for the Western Desert. There's a chance that you can still get there before everyone else does.." he said, trying to sound optimistic.
"True.. "Mint replied, with a sinister glint her eye. Ah, now was the time for the viper to strike. "But...YOU'RE gonna help!!" She pointed straight at the boy dramatically.
"..Wh...what?!"
"Think!" Mint declared, hopping out of the cart and heading towards Rue menacingly while dragging her injured foot behind her...which kinda dulled down the menacing part. "Don't you remember?! I did all that work helping to get Valen's [relic], and what did I get?! Nothing! Not even a little treasure! At least you got Claire back, but what about ME?? It's injustice! Injustice, I say!!" she roared, the fact that she was unable to stomp frustrating her even more.
Rue looked nervously off to the side and stuttered out a "Well... I guess.... I can help you..."
"....What was that..?" Mint stared at him absently, her arms falling limp to her sides. "Will you... really?"
Rue turned away and got ready to chop down another tree. "Well, sure, I guess... I mean it's been a while since I've seen everyone...It might even be kinda fun." Rue could almost feel that funny, clawing "what now?" feeling at the back of his mind that he'd been ignoring start to encouragingly pat him on the back while shouting "at'a boy!".
"But.. what about Claire..?" Mint asked, not even noticing that she was turning against herself.
Rue stopped and stared at his boots for a bit. "I.... I'm sure I won't be gone too long. And I don't have to leave right away.." he said in a low tone, as if he was explaining the situation to Claire already.
Mint couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her plan, her bribes, all the brilliant strategies she came up with the previous night to win Rue over weren't even necessary. It left her almost speechless. However, there was no way that she was going to let her amazement show.
"Ha! For your sake it's a good thing you said yes. Because if you didn't, you know I would've had to beat you senseless!" she jeered, pointing one of her golden rings in his direction. Ooh, bet he's scared now.
"I understand, Mint," Rue said, getting a little accustomed to Mint's threats and shooting her an accepting smile, which sent Mint into a frantic struggle against an uncanny urge to smile back. She turned around with a glare and began to drag her foot elsewhere.
"Wh-Where are you going?" Rue asked, turning to her, concerned.
"I'm going to look around this place. Sitting around isn't my style," she answered impassively, partially turning back to him.
Rue ran up to Mint's side. "I'll go with y--"
"Don't." Mint cut the boy off by shoving him to the ground with a swift outstretching of her hand. "The last thing I need is a perfectly dull person like you tagging along with me. Besides, don't you have work to do?" And thus, Mint was gone, limping off into the unknown.
"Man.." Rue pulled himself back unto his feet, unable to avoid feeling a little abashed at what just happened. "What's with her..?"
Mint sat on a small boulder at the edge of the forest without a sound, her arms pressed against her sides. Her thoughts were initially on the [relic] and lost time, but some way or another, they fell back to Rue. Stupid, stupid Rue. She couldn't help but wonder whether getting his help really should have been that easy... Mint was close to labeling the weird feeling inside of her a faint sense of guilt until a sneeze that promptly came out caused her to change her assumption. However that wasn't it. Deep down, Mint knew that her thoughts strayed to him for a different reason -- a reason that she definitely didn't want to confront. That dream, last night... what the hell was that?! The docks and... Carona, and...and..
Aw, who cares?! There was no reason for Mint to be concerned about all that anymore. She had bigger plans, and had convinced herself that she had changed since the past 3 months. What a stupid memory. Mint's nose wrinkled in annoyance just from the thought of it.. and then unwrinkled, as she realized she'd never regretted saying... what she said to Rue.
She sighed and lowered her head slightly. She couldn't understand just why...but she utterly hated being in this peaceful, serene place. And it wasn't just because of the fact that she may lose her chance at yet another [relic]...
Rue stacked the next set of firewood into a neat pile, and wiped the sweat from his brow onto his forearm as he stood up.
"Aren't you done yet?"
"I...was just waiting for you to come back..." Rue replied, turning to the unmistakable voice of Mint.
"Good then. Let's get outta here," Mint said, walking back to the cart, sounding very much in charge. She would have looked that way as well, if the bandages on the foot she pulled against the ground didn't catch on a jagged stone, tripping her. Mint tried to keep her balance, but to no luck, as she immediately fell to the ground with a painful thud.
"Aug.." Mint slowly raised her head off the ground. "Damned unlucky foot.."
"Mint, a-are you alright..?" Rue asked, the anger he previously felt towards her flowing out of him like a torrent.
"I'm fine, fine! I ju-ahh!" Mint tried to get up, but failed miserably and fell back down when she felt the sharp pain emanating from her sore foot.
Rue bent down on one knee next to her. Not only did the jagged stone that caused Mint to trip rip her bandages, but her flesh as well, given that there was now a dangerously open bloody gash just above her ankle.
"...You're bleeding," Rue started, "your wound.. I'll have to take care of it before I tie your bandages back on." He said, looking up at her, as if asking for some sort of permission. "It could get infected or something.." he added, trying to further gain her support.
Rue reached into one of the many pouches around his waist and pulled out a small vile. He unscrewed the lid and gently poured the pale blue liquid that was inside of it onto Mint's bloody gash. She immediately turned her head away and gritted her teeth in pain with the initial contact with elixir, but her face slowly relaxed, as she felt the pain begin to greatly recede. As quickly as that was done, Rue grabbed the now tattered bandages, and did his best to repair the wrap around her leg.
"There, that should do it." Rue said at the end of the job, grateful that Mint didn't complain once. "It feels better, right Mint?"
Mint answered his question by showing him that she was able to get up, yet out of her mouth came not a sound. She followed that feat with another, proceeding to limp about four feet away. Her hands were balled into fists and her shoulders arched, as if she was trying to prevent them from being pulled down by her fists' weight.
Rue blinked in her direction, seemingly at a complete loss for words. "...Mint..?" he called to the girl, getting up and following her. He approached her, and even was so bold as to place his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to get her attention. "Is it okay..?"
Rue's touch shot through Mint like a bolt of lightning. She swung her head around, her ponytails hardly able to keep up with her, pulled her arm back and punched him -- in the face.
Rue keeled backwards, grabbing his nose in agony. "Ah! Oww!! W-what was that for....??"
"We're going back. Now."
Rue slowly looked up at her, a little nervous that she might hit him again...but something in her voice told him that there was no room for questions. The throbbing pain that seemed to spread across his face blurred his vision slightly, but he was able to make out Mint as she reclaimed her seat in the now full firewood cart and pull her knees up to her chest. Reluctantly, Rue took hold of the handle and the two headed back to the cottage; taking the same trail, scaling the same hill, so familiar, though for some reason, the path also seemed so different, as did Mint, who stayed absolutely silent during the trip. And somehow, Rue found that much worse than her insults...
::::-----==============-----::::
"She didn't even say thank you...!"
"Oh, Rue..."
It would take more than the cooking Claire's sympathetic voice to pacify Rue, who was wiping down the table in preparation for dinner. Though wiping was hardly the word. He used the damp, old rag to take out his anger on the hapless piece of furniture, and was getting dangerously close to scrubbing the wooden table raw. The pain from Mint's attack still reasonably present and gnawing at the back of his mind.
"I just don't get her!" Rue exclaimed, angrily tossing the rag onto the table. "There has to be something wrong with Mint; she's not normal. I mean, why can't she be more considerate, more polite, more....gentle, more--"
"..Like me?" Claire's voice was sincere, and yet still so pleasant. Rue's face softened significantly as he turned to her. "No, no, Claire. I didn't mean that -- y-you're special.. no one can replace you."
For the first time in the conversation, Claire turned her back to the stove. She placed her hands in front of her and wasn't smiling, even after the compliments. She simply stared at Rue, an imploring look in her deep, brown eyes.
"Rue, I... I'll admit Mint's a little...different. In fact, she's more than a little -- she's very different -- from you and me. I mean, she's a princess! Oh wow, how I've wondered what that must be like -- being so important, so exalted... it must all be so very exciting!"
Rue's lip turned up a little as he watched the smiling Claire turn back to her stove. ..Did she go insane while he was gone...?
"But then again, there are the bad points.." Claire continued, completely lost in thought, "I mean personally, big houses have always bothered me a bit. There're just so many rooms and long, dark hallways...and not nearly enough people. It just strikes me as kind of lonesome, I guess. And Mint, well she lives in a huge castle. Imagine what that must be like! You know, she's somewhat like you, in a way."
Rue's jaw almost hit the floor.
"..Rue, you once told me that to you, the world was empty without me in it," Claire stated, proving to Rue that she was hiding an intellectual hidden agenda in her moment of airheaded-ness, "Well, I'm sure Mint's world is empty in a different way. Believe it or not, it's true. ..Everyone has empty, lonesome feelings like that every now and then; you, me...even Mint. She just usually keeps it all inside, that's all. But they come out sometimes.. and... being such a different person from you and I, she just shows that in a different way. Who knows what else Mint might just show in a different way," Claire turned back to the bowled over boy with a hinting smile, and then turned back to her pot, tasting its contents and deciding to add a dash of pepper. "But I won't lie to you, Rue, Mint is the kind of girl that takes a more than usual amount of getting used to. The funny thing is, she probably thinks the same thing about us."
Rue was at loss for words after Claire's speech, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty for not thinking about Mint's feelings. No, that wasn't it. He completely forgot she had any...for a long...long time.
"But that still doesn't give her the right to..."
"I know, Rue, I know... and who knows why she got so angry at you. I dunno... I guess Mint's just a very independent person, despite how sheltered she is, and all..You know, I don't think she was angry at you, more like angry at her situation."
"What situation?" Rue growled, unable to conceive just what part of the pampered treatment he's been giving Mint could've gotten her upset.
Claire shook her head and decided to throw Rue not a single bone more. She was well aware of how complicated girls could be sometimes...being one herself, and all. "Maybe you should figure that out, Rue."
Rue turned around and began wiping the table again...this time brimming with a little less anger. Claire was probably right. Maybe he did overreact just a little. Rue lowered his head and stared at the table, not making a move as he tried to decide what to say to Claire. "Claire, you....I guess..." But he was cut off by Claire's soft laughter.
"You know Rue, the Goddess of Fate must really be making some kind of sport out of you.." Claire said, between chuckles.
"Huh..?"
Think about it, Rue," she exclaimed, shrugging at him, "What are the odds that you and Mint would ever meet again? I mean, what are the odds that the day you went out to catch a deer, which are let alone few and far between, would be the very day Mint took that shortcut through this area? What even are the odds that she knew about that shortcut? And then you two being at the same cliff? I just find it kinda funny.."
Rue was hit with the sheer multitude of flukes between him and the bratty princess and couldn't quite comprehend it either. Rue lowered his head once more to vainly try to find answers to those questions when suddenly a question of his own came to mind. "...Where is Mint, anyway?"
"Oh, I... believe she said she was going to the bathroom," Claire replied, rubbing her head thoughtfully with the tip of wooden spoon's handle.
"....bathroom...?"
The blazing orange sun shone with all it had before the time would come for it to venture to the western horizon and set. And with a front row view of the sight was Mint, hobbling along with the help of a walking stick that surprisingly helped her to cover twice as much distance in the same amount of time than she would without it. She looked over her shoulder -- the cottage was already out of sight.
"Just a short distance west, huh?" She said aloud, looking toward her destination, "Perfect, I should be able to get to that town in no time!"
Though with the next step came disaster, as her valuable walking stick suddenly turned against her, and fell into a small rut in the ground, causing Mint to lose her balance and once again, fall.
Mint slowly lifted her head...quite annoyed, and dusted the dirt from the ground off her face.
"Aughh.... twice in one day..?" Mint mumbled, a little disgusted at herself. What a bad day. Mint had long ago admitted to herself that she was a bit of a klutz, considering how much she would gracelessly trip over her own feet when she was younger (which is actually a thing she does every now and then to this day, but you didn't hear that from me..) but nonetheless she still considered this twofold feat quite embarrassing. She was just thankful that no one was around to see the display.
"Mint, are you alright...??"
Mint was so angry she couldn't even growl.
Rue ran up to Mint and bent over with an outstretched hand, offering to help her up. "Mint, are y-- .... what... are you doing out here..?"
"What does it look like?!" She ignored his hand and got up by herself, with a good amount of effort, but she was still able to get up on her own, which was all that mattered.
"Are you leaving..?" Rue asked, rather foolishly, seeing as Mint was already taking steps away from him. "But.. why...?"
Mint came to a stop and thought about that question for a moment. She didn't want to tell Rue the real reason why she was leaving, because..she probably didn't even know it herself. Though regardless of that fact, she was able to come up with a classy retort.
"Because I just am, okay?!"
Bravo, Mint.
Rue took a few steps closer to her. "But... but what about Claire? She's making dinner. She might be worried about you..." he said, giving Claire the role of his own concern.
"...Tell Claire I said good-bye.." Mint said without turning to Rue, her sincerity seeping through her rudeness. She spun around to add to that. "And that's for CLAIRE, not yooaah!" The velocity at which she spun herself around forced her injured foot to seize up from beneath her, and she began to fall for a third time. Though Rue was close enough to catch her by the shoulders this time, and eased her back onto her feet, leaving Mint's ego in tact. Though again, this without a thank you.
"I'm... going to that hotel you told me about...I'll get better there, then I'm gonna head for the Western Desert again.."
"At least let me take you there," Rue offered, trying to be of any sort of assistance.
"What, you think I can't get there myself? Jeez.."
Rue lowered his head helplessly. "Are you.. sure about this, Mint?" He looked up slightly, just in time to see Mint start to hobble away from him once more.
"Of course I'm sure! I don't question my feelings."
After a few moments of silence between the two (well, it would be silence if it wasn't for the sound of Mint lugging her leg away), Mint looked over her shoulder and noticed that Rue was still there, not looking at her, but instead rubbing his arm, with his face turned away, wearing a bit of an embarrassed expression... that somehow seemed familiar to Mint. Maybe... getting to town might be faster with his help.
"Alright, I'll let you help me get to town..... but I draw the line there!"
::::-----==============-----::::
Mint stayed quiet during most of the trip. Now that her mind wasn't focused on the task of walking, she was able to pay more attention to the setting sun in front of her that she'd formerly been ignoring. It set into the hills as if looking for a place to hide from the coming darkness, but in turn, its orange glow extended across the hilltops, seemingly going on forever. The everlasting sun...hiding from the jealous darkness. The enigma that the image was wrapped in made the sunset look even more beautiful, in a way. Mint had never seen anything like it in East Heaven, but then again, East Heaven's landscape was completely different from this total wilderness. She wondered if Rue was looking at the spectacle as well. He probably wasn't, but Mint didn't bother to tell him to. Looking at sunsets wasn't very much like her and would probably give Rue the wrong idea. Besides, it's not like he would care anyway; he probably saw this sort of thing every day. And besides...look, there's the town.
"Ah, finally! I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever get there!"
Rue took Mint's excitement for a good sign. Maybe she really did want to stay here in town, even though that wasn't what she said earlier that day. And much to Rue's dismay, he had a feeling of what brought on her change in heart, even if she wouldn't admit it. It was all that stuff Claire said to him; Mint was independent and he was just being too protective of her. ...No, no it wasn't that at all. He wasn't nice to her..or at least not as nice as he should've been. She was still a guest, after all...even if that guest had to be Mint, of all people. Either way, it was his fault. He had done something that made Mint hate him. He felt as if the weight on his back wasn't the spoiled young princess at all, but instead just a load of guilt. What would he tell Claire? What would she think of him? What was Mint thinking of him? He told himself to stop being so damn self-conscious, but he couldn't help it. Did Mint... really hate him..? Why else would she be leaving? She couldn't stand him anymore; he was driving her away. Rue could almost feel himself ignoring that little familiar voice at the back of his mind as it started to yell "why should you care?"
"Mint, I.... I don't really know what I did earlier to get you so mad at me....but whatever it was, I'm sorry."
Mint stared blankly forward after the sudden break of Rue's silence. 'No, you idiot, you're not supposed to apologize..!' She gritted her teeth, knowing that in actuality, she wanted to avoid thinking about what happened earlier that day as much as possible. Despite the fact that the sting of hitting Rue still echoed in her knuckles.
"You deserved it, you know..." she said, uncaringly.
Rue lowered his head. He was starting to feel as if he really had done something terrible. "I'm really sorry..."
"And I'm never going to forgive you either.." Mint filled the air around her with empty words as she tried to think of a way to steer Rue off this topic. But Rue would not be moved.
"C'mon Mint, I'm being serious.. this is all my fault isn't it? I know it is...just come out and say it. It'll at least let me feel better knowing--"
"It's not your fault, stupid!" Mint had had just about enough of Rue. "It's just that.." she stumbled over her words for a while, "..Just that...that.." until she finally fell. "It's just that it's none of your damn business!"
Once again, there was silence between the two. That is, until the weight of both guilt and anxiety became more than Rue could stand. "I just wish... there were something I could do to make it up to you.."
Rue gasped inwardly. Those words somehow slipped out of his mouth and he had no clue how. Perhaps his brain has devised a sort of mutiny plan between it and his tongue. He eventually stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed that everything seemed to spin around him, making him almost dizzy.
"...I'll be okay from here.."
Mint's voice yanked Rue back into reality. He didn't even notice that he had already entered the town. He quickly sat Mint down on the end of a nearby well and took a few steps backwards. Her face wasn't turned to him, as she was sternly looking over to her right, as if she hated everything on that side of the world.
"I guess this is good-bye, then..." Rue said to her.
"See ya."
Not even that seemed rude to him. Rue didn't understand it at all. He hated Mint so much just a short while ago when he was with Claire, but now...did he forgive her or something? Instead of hating her, he started to hate himself for leaving her here in this town that she knew nothing about.
'No, not again, Rue! Mint can take care of herself, forget about her! No...I shouldn't do that.. maybe I'll come back tomorrow and give her some food from Claire. It would only be good manners, after all...though then again, Mint probably wouldn't like me visiting her, maybe I should ask if that would be okay first.... she'd probably say yes to the food, but what about me? Well, I guess that's alright too -- just giving Mint a good-bye present would be enough to make up for everything I put her through...wait... I'm still standing here...'
Rue instantly cut his long thought process short and quickly turned around, heading home.
"Um..Rue..?"
"Y....yeah..?"
Mint suddenly found herself under some sort of foreign control.
Was it hunger...?
Maybe.
"You said that Claire had already made dinner, right..?"
Rue furrowed his brow as he tried to make out the princess's point. "Yeah...?"
"And.... she probably would've made enough for three people, huh?"
Luckily, Rue was smart enough to know that pointing out the fact that Mint eats far more than one person's share would not have been very bright. Good for him.
Mint stood up slowly, then turned to Rue with a surprisingly piercing look in her eyes. "Well, what kind of guest would I be if I left it to you two to eat all that food? ...I mean, you two would probably have to stuff yourselves to finish it all! Oh yeah, that's real harsh... what about me?! What do you expect me to do, eat some cheap hotel slop? How greedy can you be, Rue??"
Rue squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what just happened.
Mint continued to mess with Rue's mind as she dragged herself behind him, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. Rue's muscles clenched and his spine automatically forced him to stand at attention, assuming that Mint was going to strangle him for some inane reason. Though when he noticed that her grasp had become no firmer, he could immediately feel his face become warmer as he tried to figure out just what Mint had in mind.
"Well don't just stand there.." Mint growled, "Pick me up! I'm getting hungry."
And thus, the sun had come closer to its goal of acquiring it's hillside hiding place, and the last bit of it's radiance shone towards the backs of the two fr--..partners as they headed back to the cottage. Rue did, however, turn back and look at the sight for a bit, causing a small smile to spread across his lips. Mint attempted to gaze at it as well, but couldn't as her vision was impaired by the boy's hat...causing Mint to conveniently notice how big and stupid looking it was. She was just about to ask Rue why he would ever wear such an ungodly thing when her own memory answered her question for her.
'Oh yeah, he's not human, is he...?'
That's right, that stupid hat was to cover up that gem-thing on his forehead...and that punky hairstyle that so wasn't him. Mint couldn't decide whether the average anyone would be more disturbed by that or the gem. It was weird, however.. Rue not being human and all..she'd almost forgotten about that fact that was so important. But still, he looked so human -- there weren't any dead giveaways on his anatomical structure to make it obvious like on Prima Doll (then again, anyone with a personality like Prima's simply couldn't have been human). Rue really was quite a wonder.. who wouldn't think he was a normal person like everyone else? He just looked so...normal, so..
"Huh..? Oh, is anything wrong, Mint?"
Mint just realized she'd been staring at Rue the whole time...causing her face to turn as red as her hair (which proved to be a rather effective form of camouflage).
"Wh-wh..whaddaya mean by that?! Why the heck would there be something wrong??" she stuttered defensively.
Rue shook his head. "I was just asking..."
"Well since you insist, yeah, there's something wrong. In fact, I was just wondering if you could possibly walk any slower! Think you can get us back home before hell hosts its own ice-capades?"
"Um.. sorry..."
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Is that all you can say? Less talk and more walk -- c'mon, move it!" Mint commanded, jabbing her heels into Rue's side as a jockey would a steed.
"Ow! Hey, I'm not your horse, you know..!"
"Lucky for me you're not. You're too ugly to be one, anyway!"
"Unghh..."
'...Should'a left her when I had the chance...'
Yes. You should have.
::::-----==============-----::::