Begin Author's Transmission-
The first really big moment. More to come, of course. A thousand thanks to each of you who reviewed, and a special thanks to Terra Chronicle and Feldinaut, for being the first people I recognized from GameFaqs.
-End Author's Transmission-

Chapter 7

The Love-Struck Youth

It wasn't long before we were on the road. Our next destination was a small ruin in the middle of nowhere. There was, however, a small village near it. Our plan was to get a little treasure out of the ruin, sell it, and use the money to get to Chek. Chek was the only city on the island with a port. Since it was fairly large, we safely assumed that there would be big ruin in the area.

First, though, we had to make it to the tiny village of Shym. The drive was long, considering we had never had to travel for more than an hour on foot. A five hour drive, with Claire at the wheel. We both survived, thankfully, but I have since questioned wether or not she knows left from right.

After five minutes, she had everything under control. We talked. Five hours of silence is too much, even for me. And I enjoy silence.

"So," she broke the ice, "how's it going back there?"

I was in the back of the van, sitting on her bed, trying desperately to resize the helmet piece to my head. "Oh, just fine!" I replied, unconvincingly as the helmet fell from my hands and landed on my foot. I heard a giggle float from the drivers seat. "Urg… I'll bet you hit that bump on purpose…."

"Who, me?" Claire said Sweetly.

After a couple of hours, we stopped for a break. We both needed to stretch, and take care of what people need to do naturally. The entire time, I was trying to tighten the helmet. Claire watched me for a bout ten minutes, I think, while I wrestled with the little screws on the inside. Finally she took it from me.

"Try this," she said, and undid the safety lock that keeps the screw from moving.

For a moment I stared in disbelief. The I cried, "YOU. ARE. A. GENIUS!" and kissed her. Right on the lips. Five seconds later I realized what I had done. My muscles all tensed up and I looked at Claire in fear. I stammered, "Sorry, Claire….I uh…got carried away in the……excitement….."

Her answer surprised me so much that I almost fainted. (almost)

"Actually, I liked it. Do it again?"

Back on the road, and an hour behind schedule we found an interesting problem. We each had a small bed to sleep on in the van. Aside from that we had a small sofa and two square feet of empty space. The rest of the van was packed with spotting equipment and tools. Considering the relationship we had just begun, this created an awkward situation. We decided that we were just going to have to trust eachother not to try anything.

The sun began to set, and we were only halfway there. We had no choice but to rest for the night in the van. We were eating a simple meal of bread when Claire raised a point that I really should have thought of before.

"Mark," she said softly, " was there a lake or a fiver anywhere near here?"

I wasn't sure, so I pulled a map off of the shelf where the radar monitor rested. I pointed to a spot about a centimeter west of a small river. "That's where we are." She mumbled a thanks and studied the map for a moment. Slowly, my mind worked its way around her request. With a pang of emberassment, I realized her reason for needing a water source. "I probably smell, after the past couple of days. I'll wash up after dinner." Her face had turned deep red at this point.

I hadn't expected the water to be so cold. There was not even the sunlight to warm my skin. I was quick with the soap Claire handed to me; she must have thought ahead. Even though the water was uncomfortable, I was glad to be clean. My clothing would have to wait another day, but I was clean.

In case anyone was wondering, this was going to be a much more...intense chapter. I'm trying to keep it somewhat innocent for now.