Chapter 17 A common ground

After a defty lunch, consisting of gruggles with endig and marquise ( PJ sandwich), a little time to regenerate their strength and a long discussion about which way they had to go, Marianna and Rath shouldered their backpacks and continued their hike. They knew that they had still a long way to go and it would be getting dark soon. So they marched quietly side by side the seemingly never ending path. The only sound they heared was the trampling of their feet and every now and then a clapping, because of the annoyingly buzzing haibz ( mosquitos). Thankfully the suns were not shining so brightly, which meant that they wouldn´t get crushed by the heat anymore. Marianna however didn´t notice it. She was too occupied with observing the surroundings around her. It seemed that on this side of the planet the plants would grow bigger and brighter than on the side she grew up. It was strange that she never saw how dark and dead everything was. Maybe it was because she didn´t know it better. She only knew it like that. Or she didn´t want to see it? Her mother would have surely liked it here. It was like walking in another world, where everything was animated and so full of surprises. Marianna tried to repress her tears. It was still painful to think about her mother and the missing opportunities. Maybe if she would have been earlier, or if she noticed before that something wasn´t right, or she regnorized that her father was not the man she imagined. Marianna shook her head. She couldn´t dwell on things she couldn´t change anymore. She had a new life now. A life full of people who cared about her. At that part she faced Rath. He seemed to be in thoughts, too. He was staring straight ahead. He looked really funny with his shirt around his head. She still couldn´t believe it that he confessed his love to her. And she could see in his eyes that he really meant it. For a moment she was tempted to tell him the same. But then her mind screamed that she shouldn´t do it. She only would get him in danger if she told him her true feelings. Maybe someday she would be brave enough to admit her feelings for him. Marianna turned her head and watched the wonder of the nature again. Meanwhile Rath was thinking about ways to convince Marianna to overcome her fear. He knew it would be hard and take time. But it would be worth it. Marianna was worth it. He never met a girl like her and he never fell in love so quickly. Ok he never fell in love peroid, but that was not the point. He knew her exactly a few weeks and he couldn´t imagine a life without her. How whacked was that? At first he thought he was feeling sorry for her, but after awhile he notized that his feelings went deeper. He never was so attracted and annoyed at the same time by a girl. She was everything he never knew he wanted. The girls he made out with were all different. They were barely talked and giggled a lot. Ok he could admit that they were all airheads. Marianna however was the opposite. She was not afraid to stand up to him or to tell him that he was wrong. And she made his life a little brighter. Strange that you never know what´s missing in your life until you see it. Rath turned his head in Mariannas direction. She was watching her surroundings like she would see something like that for the first time in her life. It was so sweet to look at. Suddenly he was thrown out of his thoughts.

" Hey look. A zwiddle ( a mix between a deer and a hedge hog)", Marianna went slowly to it. She wanted to stroke its face. She never saw a real zwiddle from such a close proximity. Careful she stretched her arm out and tried to stroke the snout. But in that moment the zwiddle thought it was in danger and bit in her finger. Immediately Marianna pulled her hand back and let out a scream of pain.

In an instant Rath was by her side and took her hand. He wanted to see the damage. Thankfully the zwiddle had no sharp teeths, because he was a herbivore and the wound didn´t look too bad. Rath tried everything to hide his smile. " Are you alright?".

" Yeah", Marianna sent a glare at the beast. They should come with a warning. Don´t stroke or your fingers are gone, or something like that. " I was only startled for a moment".

Rath finally lost the battle against his face muscles. He really tried to not laugh. But he couldn´t hold it in any longer. Marianna was startled when Rath broke out in laughter. He was laughing so hard, that he had tears running down his face and his whole body shook.

Marianna couldn´t believe it. How dare he laugh at her. " How can you laugh? This thing almost took my arm off!".

" I´m sorry. But your face", Rath tried to take deep breaths. But then he saw Mariannas pissed off face and he started to laugh again.

" I´m glad my pain is so amusing to you", Marianna really wanted to be mad at Rath. But after she thought about the whole situation and how it had to be looking to him, she had to laugh, too. Besides Rath looked to funny when he was laughing.

For about 5 minutes they stood like in the forest with their body bend and their hands holding their bellies. It was quite a picture. For the first time since they knew each other they did something together. Even if it was something like laughing over a slightly hurt finger.

" I think we have to move on. It´s getting dark", Marianna wiped the tears from her face. Thank god that she didn´t wear make up or else she would look really awful right now.

Rath saw to the sky above. She was right. It was getting dark. The suns were in the process to disappear. They didn´t have too much time to waste. But it was nice. Now he knew that Marianna had more expression, besides her angry and her annoyed face. And she had the most beautiful laugh he ever heared." Yeah. You´re right".

" Did I hear you correct. You´re agreeing with me? Be still my beating heart", Marianna couldn´t resist the pun. She could play this game, too.

" Yeah. Yeah. You´re really funny", why did Rath knew that she would say something like that. She always had to have the last say in the matter. Why couldn´t he feel more for Vilandra. In contrast to Marianna she was at least quiet. " Now let´s go!".

" Yes sir!", Marianna stood at attention and saluted. Then she marched in step away.

Rath only shook his head. What was his father thinking. Sending him away with her. She was so damn frustrating and sweet at once. And why did he like it so much. Maybe he was sick. Yeah that was the explanation and he would stick with it until his dying day.

An hour later

Rath and Marianna finally found the right spot where they could camp for the night. The place was really nice and pretty deserted. Nearby they could hear a little brook quietly burble. There were not so much trees who could cloud the view at the sky. And in the middle was something that looked like a fireplace. While Marianna checked the backpacks for a tent or something they could sleep in Rath made a little trip for firewood. Althrough the heat was almost unbearable by day the nights on Antar where really cold. And it scared the creatures away who came out of their hiding place at night. He didn´t want to get eaten alive while he slept. Or Marianna. After Rath found enough wood to start a fire he went back to Marianna. She in the meantime had made their sleeping place a little cosier. They didn´t have a tent, but two sleeping bags, which Marianna spread out next to each other. Their backpacks where lying beside it.

" No tent?", Rath asked a little surprised.

Marianna shook her head. If they had a tent she would have set it while Rath was away. " No tent. We have to sleep outdoors". At the last part she grimaced.

" What´s up? You don´t look too happy about that", Rath didn´t understand that. Only they both, the starry night above them and two cosy little sleeping bags seperating them. It was the most romantic thing he could imagine.

" It´s nothing", Marianna didn´t want to admit that she hated sleeping in the nature. All this little creatures with their many hairy legs, who waited until you sleep before they crawled over your face. Marianna started to scratch her body at this thought.

" Alright. If you think so", Rath placed the twigs on the fireplace. Then he put his hand over them. Within a few seconds his hand started glowing green and the twigs started to burn. For a moment he held his hands over the fire to warm them. It was slowly getting colder now.

Marianna noticed the change in the temperature, too. Therefore she went to her backpack and fetched the jacket she saw while she searched for something they could sleep in. After she put it on she joined Rath by the fireplace. He was searching for some food in his backpack. And judging from his little outburst of joy he seemed to have find something. With a grin on his face he pulled a can of klieht (antarian name for Ravioli) out of the backpack. Then out of the blue he threw the can at Marianna, who catched it in the nick of time. Luckily for her or else it could have been really painful.

" Why are you giving me the can?", if Rath thought she would cook he was mistaken. Ok it was not that difficult to heat a can of food, but it was about the principle. He couldn´t just expect her to cook because she was a girl.

Rath looked at her funny. Did she really ask this question?" You´re cooking".

" And why is that?", Marianna glared for a few seconds at him. He was such a guy." Because I´m a girl. And you think because of that I should do the cooking. But not with me, you chauvinistic pig".

Rath stared open mouthed at Marianna. Now he knew that she really was crazy. Why did she make such a fuss about something simple like who cooks? He didn´t think for a moment that she should cook because she was a girl. " You´re nuts, you know that? I only thought you should do the cooking because I brought the firewood. In our world there is something called work arrangement. Both parties split the work in equal parts. But I´m sorry. I´ll try to never do that again".

Marianna blushed in embarrassment. She really put her feet in her mouth this time. " I´m sorry. I didn´t mean that. I´m just hungy, tired and cold. Don´t listen to the things I say".

" It´s alright. I think we both are pretty on the edge right now", Rath noticed that the trek finally caught up with them. They were cranky and took it out on each other. Maybe if they ate something they would be more relaxed.

As if on cue Marianna put the can on the burning fire. Then she searched for flatware in her backpack. After a few seconds she found two forks. When she came back to the castle she would thank Abidale at first. Because she was probably the reason that they had food and flatware. Mael would let them hunt their dinner, expect them to slaughter it and eat it with their finger. Ewwwww. One more reason to hate the whole camping thing even more. Marianna shook her head to get rid of her disturbing thoughts after all she still wanted to eat something. Then she gave Rath one of the forks. They waited until the sauce started to bubble. After that they shared the can with each other like a old married couple. The whole time nobody spoke a word. They only sat side by side and enjoyed their little meal. It was strange that two people who couldn´t be in the proximity of the other without starting a fight could be so quiet. It was a really comfortable silence. The only noise was the spit of the fire and the normal sound of the nature around them. The suns were long gone and dived everything in darkness when they finished their dinner.

Immediately Rath layed down on his sleeping bag and saw to the sky above and the million stars that shone bright down on them. " Do you believe that there are living organism out there on another planet?".

" Yes. I mean it´s pretty naive to think we´re the only one in this universum", Marianna had thought much about that the last few weeks. Maybe on another planet a other her lived peacefully with her mother or her father was changed and loved his family there? Everything was impossible. At least she had to believe it.

" My father told me that a few of the scientist found a planet, who isn´t that different from Antar. They think they found a proof of life there. They called the planet earth or something like that".

Marianna slowly snuggled in her sleeping bag. She really was tired now. " Do they know more about the planet?".

" No. But some mens are on their way to it. They want to check the atmosphere and the living conditions. Maybe they´ll find something interesting"

Marianna only half listed to Rath. Her eyes were almost closed and her body was in the process to let sleep overtake her. " Hopefully some really great looking men".

Rath turned around and faced Marianna to glare at her. But to his dissapointment she was already sleeping. How can someone sleep so fast? She was just speaking with him. Then he watched her. Her face looked so peacefully, like a sleeping child. Rath wanted to stroke her flawless face, but he knew that he shouldn´t do it. She would probably break his wrist if he tried it. Therefore he decided to observe her and memorize her beautiful feature in his brain for a time when he couldn´t see her. But after a while sleep overtook him, too and he closed his eyes. Hopefully he would dream about Marianna again.

TBC