Ari spent the rest of the afternoon clutching Eomer's chest. She wasn't used to riding double, especially not behind someone. That evening when they finally stopped, Ari felt dead on her feet. Eomer helped her to a thick tree where she could sit and rest until a tent was set up. Ari was dozing when Eomer finally came back. He stepped on a twig and Ari's head snapped toward him, eyes filled with fear, shock and hatred.
"It's me, Eomer." He said. "Remember?"
"You saw me….the day I actually got outside….you saw me." Eomer nodded, but nothing more was said on the subject of her captivity.
"The tent is set up." Ari held out her hands like a small child and let Eomer help her up.
She let Eomer half carry her to the tent and set her down on a camp bed. Ari fumbled with her jacket zipper and Eomer helped her with that as well. Ari suddenly felt uneasy, though she didn't know why.
"Could you leave for a minute so I can get changed?"
"Of course." Eomer bowed his head and left the tent.
"Wow, I wish more guys acted like THAT back home." Ari thought as she shrugged out of her big hoodie. She sat in her dirty camisole and bra and began to fumble with the clasps and zipper of her leather pants. Once she got them undone she reached down and untied her boots and shucked her bloody feet out of them. The leather pants came off next and Ari scrounged through her bag to find her clean underwear and sports bra. "Thank God I always pack extras." She thought as she pulled the clean garments on. There was a basin with slightly warmed water and Ari gladly washed the dirt and filth from her body. It wasn't a hot shower, but it was good enough for her. She pulled on her black soccer shorts and her white sports tank and sat at the edge of the bed again to try to get her socks off.
"Ari?"
"Yeah, I'm decent. Come on in." Eomer came into the tent and looked at the blood soaked socks clinging to her feet and new she was in more pain than she was going to let on.
"Can I help you?" Ari nodded feebly and Eomer retrieved the basin and brought it so her feet could soak in it. "We'll rest tomorrow—but something is moving and we must follow it with all haste."
"I understand…I just need to soak my feet and get them bandaged up. I'll be fine."
"You are a brave young woman." Eomer smiled as he cupped water in his hands and let it run down the sides of Ari's legs. They were a little stubbly, despite it being weeks since last seeing a razor. He slowly peeled down the top of her sock to the point where it clung to the wound. "This may hurt." Eomer pulled the sock forcefully, yet carefully over the injured part of her foot and off the rest. He did the same for the other one. Ari felt slightly nauseous but let Eomer continue to wash, medicate and bandage her feet. By the time he'd finished Ari was ready to pass out; whether from pain or exhaustion she wasn't sure.
Eomer left to dump out the dirty water and when he returned, Ari was curled into a tight ball on the cot. He pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and shuddered slightly as his fingers brushed against the soft skin of her shoulder. She was an intoxicating creature, even when she had been dirty, beaten and starved in the dungeons he could see a fire in her eyes that drew him to her. Eomer lay on his own cot opposite her and slept, knowing tomorrow would come all too quickly.
When Ari awoke she felt well rested and energized, though a little stiff. Her wrists still pained her but her feet felt much better than they had the day before. Careful not to wake Eomer, she crept from the tent and walked up to the crest of the hill to where she could see the sun rise. The sky turned from a dark blue to light lavender before finally making the sky bright. Ari inhaled the sweet air and thanked the Powers that Be that she was alive and able to breathe the free air once more.
When Eomer found that Ari was gone, he quickly went to follow her. Her barefoot prints left few marks in the dirt, but Eomer was a skilled tracker and he easily managed to find her.
"You shouldn't wander." Eomer reveled in the way she jumped at the sound of his voice. "Some of my men are going to go and find you a horse and some decent riding clothes today. You can wash your clothes and relax while they're gone if you like."
"That would be fantastic." Ari said smiling slightly. "I really wish I could take a bath or something."
"Well, the river is at your disposal. No one will bother you; that I promise." Eomer added when he saw the look on Ari's face.
"Well, as long as you can promise me that much." Ari went down the hill with Eomer close behind. Ari was thankful to have him there too. She fell and Eomer caught her before she even had a chance to catch herself.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes—fine." They were close. 'Too close' Ari thought. Eomer was hot but she didn't know if she could trust him completely yet. Eomer helped her back to camp and ordered his men to gather water from the river to boil so Ari could wash some of her clothes and then ordered them to stay away from the river so that Ari could bath. Ari went down to the river with her pack and found a low spot in the bank surrounded by bushes. She undressed and piled her clothes beneath the bushes. She had seen the old movies where people hung their clothes in the trees and someone stole them or some creature ate them. She wasn't about to have that happen to her. Ari walked in to the clear river and found it to be just deep enough if she crouched. The running water caressed her body and felt lovely on Ari's skin. She combed her long hair out and began to untangle it. When she was mostly done she washed her hair two or three times and conditioned it as many if not more. Then she brushed her hair out and rinsed the conditioner from her hair. When she was finished she climbed out and dried off with a shirt. She re-dressed in her board shorts and her hoodie and walked back to the camp.
"Do you feel better?" Eomer asked from his spot beside a fire.
"Yep." Ari put her clothes down and went to where there was some warm water in a pan. She washed out her underwear and her camisole. The shirt she'd been wearing for the past several weeks was destroyed and her leather pants were beyond cleaning. When she was done, she laid her undergarments out on the edge of her cot to dry. She went back outside and sat near the fire while lunch cooked.
"You shouldn't do that." Ari looked up to wear Eomer sat staring at the fire.
"Do what?" Ari knew full well that Eomer was referring to her picking at her bandages but wanted to goad him. She'd gone several weeks without being able to push any buttons.
"Your bandages; you shouldn't pick at them you know." Ari picked a little more and sighed. "You're very stubborn."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." The rough linen had constricted around her wrist and was beginning to chafe. She began to itch lightly at the edges of the bandages. "It's just itchy, is all."
"Let me see." Eomer reached for her hand and Ari slowly gave it to him. "You don't trust me, do you?"
"What?" The question shocked Ari. She didn't quite trust Eomer, she'd learned not to trust people, but people never read her like that before.
"You don't trust me."
"I do too…"
"No you don't—you barely told me your name yesterday, you were hesitant whenever I come near you…and still are."
"Well, I've known you for a total of what…..eighteen hours? Am I supposed to be instantly trusting?"
"No." Eomer grinned slightly as he unwrapped Ari's wrists. "I wouldn't trust anyone if I were you. Especially after what my uncle did to you." He touched a rough spot on her wrist and stopped when Ari flinched. "Sorry---didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's not that…it's just that I didn't expect you to be so…gentle." It was true, Eomer's touch felt like a butterfly's upon her hand. Eomer looked into her eyes and smiled the hidden smile again before re-bandaging her wrist. Ari smiled too.
"Tell me about yourself. Where you're from, what it's like…." Ari began telling Eomer about her life in her world—the other world. She tried to explain soccer to him but found it hard without a ball. He enjoyed hearing stories of her mother and her mother's people. "So you know horses then?"
"I guess you could say that. It's in my blood. I've been around horses since I could walk."
"Then we have something in common. For I too have been around horses since I could walk. My mother, may she rest in peace, used to joke that she was lucky I wasn't born upon a horse." Ari smiled. She and Eomer told stories into the late afternoon until his men brought back a horse and a bundle of clothing. Ari went into the tent and put the articles on. They mostly consisted of soft leather leggings, a tunic that was a size too big and a vest and coat. They had also found a pair of tall boots for Ari to wear as well.
Ari dug through her back pack that night and found the choker her mother had made for her when she'd turned thirteen. She loved the bone and onyx necklace more than anything in the world. A symbol of her Indian heritage, she'd worn it for nearly a year constantly. But people had always taunted her for it and she'd succumbed to the pressure and stopped wearing it when she was fourteen. She always carried it with her though in a special leather pouch her grandfather had helped her tool. Ari also carried a feather in the pouch. It was an eagle's feather, something very few people could posses. Ari brushed her fingertips lightly over the feather and then put it back in the pouch. She put the necklace on and went back outside to sit around the fire with Eomer and his men. They were deep in serious conversation when she emerged and she opted to climb the hill again instead.
"We move out tomorrow." Eomer said from behind her. Ari turned to face him. "Do you think you feel up to it?"
"Yeah, sure." Ari smiled at him. "I'm ready to get moving."
"You should get ready then—we leave before dawn tomorrow." The men broke down camp and were going to leave a tent up for Ari, but she refused.
"I'd love to sleep out under the stars tonight. Don't even think about treating me special or anything." Ari actually tried to help the men take down the tent, but they were so practiced that she merely served to get in the way. She threw down her bed roll and curled beneath the blanket and watched the flames slowly flicker down. Eomer lay on the other side of the flames and stared at her until her eyes fluttered shut.
"Good Night, Ari—Sleep well."
Author's Note: Sorry for the length on this chapter. I hope you're all enjoying this story and would really appreciate your reviews.
Thanks!
