The afternoon sun blazed down from overhead. There were no shadows anywhere near them, nothing creating any sort of shade, Emma could see the heat reflecting back up, creating waves against the horizon. She unscrewed the cap off her water bottle, taking a good long drink. Beads of sweat rolled down her face, dripping off her chin. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her blue shirt had turned a dark navy color. Tan shorts barely covered her legs completing her hiking ensemble.
Neal was wearing climbing boots, dark olive green cargo pants and white shirt, standing out to his tan, he was sweating considerably less than her, even carrying a large black hiking pack, filled with water bottles and some snacks, he'd planned for this event better than she had. He'd stopped a few feet ahead of her, no longer hearing the crunch of her tennis shoes against the dirt. "I'm not going too fast for you am I?" He had a teasing smile pasted on his face, eyes bright with enjoyment, he couldn't help but chide Emma a bit.
She'd tried to convince him she'd be able to keep up, that she could handle it, just because she was a city girl didn't mean she was out of shape, and he'd bet her she couldn't. It was a silly bet, he knew, and he knew he didn't intend to win, although, he might, she'd have to make him a sandwich if he won. The sandwich didn't matter, but what was important was that meant she'd have to go home with him.
Emma called out a no and took a breath as she stepped forward again, not enjoying the burning feeling climbing up her legs, it felt like they were loaded with bricks. Her water bottle was nearing empty and she was trying to save what she could of it at this point.
Neal just tried to fight a laugh and watched her as she made her way towards him, plodding carefully against the reddish tinged rocks lining the makeshift path he had laid out. "If you say so." He turned around and made his way back to her, offering his hand out from where he stood above her. Emma playfully slapped it away choosing instead to climb the rock on her own. A little dust never hurt anyways.
But she soon regretted her actions as the rock seemed determined to defeat her, and Neal had made it look way to easy, even with his overloaded pack. She slid her way back down as the part she had grabbed on to gave way, a high pitched squeak escaped her lips, and she couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. Dirt streaked its way up her legs, a bright red strip against the pale patch of skin. Neal slid his way down the rock following her, concern evident on his face.
He grabbed her hands, turning them over before moving to inspect her legs and finally her ankles, making sure nothing was bent or broken. Asking gently as he moved her joints if anything hurt. She knew he was acting a little over protectively, but found it cute how he'd rushed to her aid without a moment's hesitation.
He helped her to her feet after determining she wasn't severely hurt, if anything her pride was a bit bruised, and continued on the hike, making sure to keep her in front of him and offering directions. He did his best to stabilize her climbing up the rocks, holding her steady, this wasn't her area of expertise no matter what she tried to claim.
"It's just a little further ahead. You'll take a right over this next big rock and it'll start leading us back downhill."
Emma nodded her head and braced herself to climb up this next rock, it looked like the biggest of all the others they'd climbed that afternoon. "Can we stop for a sec? I'm getting thirsty again."
"Yeah, no worries." Neal slung his pack down off his shoulder and unzipped it. He quickly fished out a cold water bottle and shook the condensation off of it, handing it to Emma with a smile.
She couldn't help but notice he always had a smile on when he looked at her, it seemed genuine too, every time, there wasn't a false emotion in his body, at least not towards her. She unscrewed the lid and took a big long gulp of water, savoring the cooling feeling it had, a small moan managed to escape.
Truthfully, the day wasn't supposed to be that hot, but after being out for the past couple of hours, climbing through the desert, it felt like it might as well have been the middle of July. She was certainly covered in enough sweat.
Emma smiled sweetly back at Neal and took a seat on a rock, patting the spot next to her. "Come, let's talk for a bit, I wanna get to know you better."
He smiled back at her and crawled his way over to her, taking a spot to her left, "So, what would you like to know?"
"I don't know, what would you like me to know? We've talked about a bunch of things, but this is the first time in person right?"
"Okay, so…" he trailed off, eyes going distant, lost in thought.
Emma decided to help him out, "How'd you get started hiking?"
He turned to look at her, "Well, it's peaceful," a teary look filled his eyes but no tears fell, he cleared his throat and continued on, "You know I had a rough childhood, well, there were a few times I'd run away, I couldn't stay, and I'd take off, find myself out here, just walking around. Sometimes, I'd pack, I'd be prepared to stay a few days, enjoy just being here on my own. I'd explore and see what I could find, so much out here is undiscovered, and it's perfectly preserved.
I guess, it was only natural an interest in hiking would come out of it. I started studying the wildlife, and plant life, old Indian legends, and I'd try to find their villages, or whatever was left of them that is. Studied maps, tales from the wild west.
That's how I found this, followed an old trail I found. Studied the symbols to mark it, hadn't been visited in years. I think it may have been mentioned in a couple of history books as lost, there's definitely a couple old stories about it, but no one's been able to locate it except for me. And I got hooked, it became my passion after that."
"That's awesome, I wish I had found a passion like that when I was younger, instead I just found myself drawn to a specific group, spent way too much time drinking in high school, getting into trouble, I'd lost my parents and couldn't quite pull myself out of it. It was hard, you know, losing them at a young age," She had to fight back tears at the memory, it had been a downward spiral in her life, and she'd only been able to pull herself out of it when she was arrested one night, the cop had taken pity, recognized it as a cry for help, and he'd become a role model, stepping up to try and help her. She owed her life to Robin, if it wasn't for him, she didn't know where she'd be, but it certainly wouldn't be here. Well, that was an ironic thought, she could be in jail right now, and not dead, not depending on death to keep her alive. She couldn't help but smile at that thought.
"Alright, so, how about a happy thought now? Let's not bring this down, it's a date not a pity party right?" She felt a firm hand clap her on the knee and give a gentle squeeze. She couldn't help but agree, things had gotten sad real fast.
He continued on, jokingly, "How about that sandwich you owe me? I think you tapped out a while ago."
"No! I did not, I'm still in this just like you."
"Ha! You wish!" He stood up and turned, taking off running, "I'm gonna beat you anyways!"
Emma scrambled up the rock after him, "In your dreams!" Four points of contact would be better than his two, she grabbed after his feet, trying to knock him off balance and send him back to the beginning.
If only it had worked though, Emma found herself scrambling to the top behind him, having only managed to throw herself off balance and slow her progress. He sat perched at the top of the rock, waiting for her.
"About time you got here!" He'd only been sitting there a couple of seconds before she'd gotten there, scrambling wildly up the rock, her hands covered in mud and dust. He looked as though he'd just had a walk in the park. His arms were crossed over his knees, propped up, his entire form was dwarfed by the large pack resting behind him.
He rolled over, standing up, "Now for the easy part of the journey, it's all downhill from here."
Neal looked over his shoulder, a playful smirk plastered upon his face, replaced with a quick look of panic as he slid down the rock, disappearing entirely from view. A scream echoed through, reverberating against the surrounding rocks.