"Okay, but like, if you had to, what would you choose? Get eaten by a bear or get dropped from the sky by an eagle?"
"Shut uuup," Anya growled, leaning over her horse's neck.
"I'll choose the eagle. It's cool. And fast. And I don't like bears, I saw images in the books."
Anya just made an angry growl. Cassie looked at the sky thoughtfully, thinking.
"You know, luckily the sun isn't here, because otherwise I would be in serious trouble."
"What?" Grumbled Anya.
"The sun, hun. When you don't have melanin, you can't protect yourself against the rays of the sun. I'd burn alive. And I'd probably develop a cancer afterwards if I stay too long like this. "
"Cancer?"
"Nah, I'm a Gemini. I'm joking, I'm joking!" She exclaimed when she saw Anya raise her hand, another peeble between her fingers. "Yeah, cancer. A really bad sickness. You die from it."
They walked slowly over the green hills, skirting a cliff a few meters.
"Okay, next one, would you rather drown in soda or have a sugar coma?"
"That's it, I'm gagging you," Anya decided as she dismounted her horse.
"Wow, kinky!" Cassie exclaimed.
Anya walked over to her, pulling a piece of cloth from her pocket. She approached the young woman, who remained motionless.
"You know," Cassie said as Anya stopped nearby, "even if you hate me, you're kinda cool."
"Oh yeah?" Anya asked, starting to tie a knot in the gag.
"Yeah. Which is why I'm both thankful and sorry."
"What?" Anya asked absently.
"Thanks for making my last moments better. And sorry you have to see this."
Only then did Anya look down, and notice the dagger Cassie was holding in her hand. And was using it to cut the rope around her wrists. Anya gasped, but Cassie wasn't interest in her.
She turned on her heels and ran away.
Straight towards the cliff.
Anya cried out as she understood what she was going to do, but Cassie didn't care. She ran faster than ever, rushing towards the cliff. With every step, she repeated to herself like a mantra, 'You have to, you have to, you have to', unable to think of anything else as she ran towards her imminent death.
She had no other choice.
She lunged forward, ready to jump off the edge of the cliff when a weight on her back made her crash to the ground.
She moaned in pain, rolling onto her back, but her movements were hampered. Something, or rather someone, stood above her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie guessed Anya's face leaning over her, as she held her to the ground, one knee on either side of her waist.
"Are you crazy?!" She yelled. "What were you thinking?"
She wasn't.
Cassie felt terror seize her again, mingling with her anguish and dread. She had failed. She had failed again.
"What the fuck is up with Death so she's only trying to keep me?!" Cried Cassie.
"What is wrong with you?!"
Cassie burst into tears.
"Everything! Everything is wrong! But why do you care?! You hate me!"
Anya's face let a flash of confusion and sadness pass through, before she became cold and unmoved again.
"You're right. But you are my prisoner. And I'm taking you back to Polis."
She grabbed her wrist and forced her to stand up before pulling her towards the horse. Her cheeks wet with tears, Cassie followed her with a sniffle, finally getting used to failed attempts.
"You better not try that again or I'll ... I'll ..."
"What are you gonna do?" Cassie cried, coming to her senses. "Kill me? Hell, go for it!"
Anya whirled around, squeezing her wrists tight enough to bruise her.
"You ... are a stupid brat," she shouted, her voice low with hatred. "You are trying to give back the gift life gave you. You already failed twice, what makes you think you will succeed the third time? You are annoying, irritating, provoking, reckless, careless, thoughtless, you talk too much, you understand absolutely nothing about the world you live in."
Cassie certainly should have felt saddened and pained and heartbroken, but she didn't. She turned to the Grounder.
"Keep trying to make me feel guilty. It's not gonna work. I have a degradation kink."
"A what now?"
"Yeah, that's from my trauma but we're not ready to unpack that. It means that, when you insult me, it turns me on in a very, very sinful way."
Anya frowned.
"Oh my God, you're disgusting."
"Hey, hey, no kinkshaming here, just because you're into vanilla sex doesn't mean you can judge me," Cassie replied as Anya tied her to her horse. "Oh no, wait, what do you have? A praise kink? An angry sex kink? Oh my God, is it a rope kink and since the beginning you've just been foreplaying?"
Glaring at her, Anya wrapped the gag around her head and stuck it in her mouth, tightening the knot to keep her from speaking. Then, without another word, she climbed back into the saddle and put her horse walking.
"You kno dich ichn't goha chtop me, right?"
"Shut up."
"Whahever. I'm goha ching uch a chong. Hahem.
We were boff younh when I first chah you
I cloze my eyess and fflashbahs chtart
I'm chtandin 'dere ... "
"Did you know you can cut your hair with a knife? I tried once. It was pretty messy."
"Shut up."
"Yeah, it's just that I didn't have any scissors since Raven had them melted down to fix one of her machines."
"I said shut up!"
"Yeah, I heard you. But like every other three hundred seventy-six times, I don't care."
"For God's sake!" Anya shouted as she got off her horse. "When will you finally shut up ?! I tried everything! I threatened you, gagged you, punched you, made deals with you, gave you food, starved you, and still! Still you find a way to talk! What will it take for you to shut up?! "
"I told you, I won't!" Cassie replied. "I'm not afraid of anything! And there is nothing you–"
Anya grabbed her by the collar, pulled her forward and kissed her.
Eyes wide, Cassie stood there in disbelief. She didn't even have time to realize what was happening that Anya was already pulling back, releasing her.
Cassie didn't move, unable to make a single gesture. She blinked stupidly, completely lost and confused. The young woman opened her mouth, closed it, gasped like a fish out of water.
"Well there you go, you finally shut up. It's not too early."
She returned to her saddle, whispering:
"Please, make it last long."
Cassie, stunned, could only follow her as she put her horse back on, pulling the young woman behind her.