On to the next.

It hardly seemed like those four days had been… well, four days. Of course, she'd been numb to nearly everything, but still it seemed as if she was stuck in a perpetual night, and not just any given night – the night. The boys – even Renel, surprisingly enough – gave the girl her space. They said nothing at all about Mnem, and refused to speak of him or even anything that even remotely connected with him. They'd increased their defenses since Ari explained the figure that had killed the man she was currently mourning was the very thing that Mnem had warned them about. 'Don't look'. They'd all remembered – and Renel was the first to speak of it to Ari.

Damn him.

"Fuck you." Ari seethed, her hand still raised as Renel touched his face in mild shock. "Just fuck you. You think you can just waltz into our lives and just run the place, huh? Why don't you go back to whatever fucking home you had and live out the rest of your pathetic existence there? We don't want you here. We don't need you here."

"Listen, bitch!" Renel snapped back, and Ari's head pulled back with the insult, her hand growing dangerously closer to her thigh – more specifically, the blade held against it. "You have to get over yourself! They want you out of here just as much as you want me out. Haven't you noticed?"

Vreagon stood slowly in disbelief, jaw dropped. Ari's hand stopped and she stared at him in shock. Mor, too, found himself reaching for his bow, anger flowing through him. Vreagon copied the action, shaking the disbelief away. He shouldn't be surprised – once an ass, always an ass.

"E…excuse me…?"

"They. Don't. Want. You. Here. Are you fucking deaf? You need to open your eyes. Nobody wants you around! You just drag them down. You always have, they've told me all the stories of how they had to come save your ass!"

Ari's eyes drifted to Vreagon, holding such betrayal that Vreagon felt his stomach drop. She couldn't possibly believe him…?

But she was vulnerable. She was scared. She was hurt, and most of all, she was untrusting.

"…how could you." She whispered, and Duck clucked softly, watching the woman he had depended on turn and walk away from them, following her quickly. She slowed her pace for him before picking him up, patting his head and carrying him with her.

"Ari, wait! He isn't-"

"Leave me alone." The girl interrupted Vreagon and the blond lowered his hand desperately, watching his friend disappear into the fog.

Ari couldn't stop. She couldn't stop the tears, but she decided that it wasn't worth it. Nobody was around to see her, so she supposed it couldn't hurt. Maybe she'd feel a little better.

Only she didn't. It'd been quite a while – how long, she didn't know, as the sky had decided to hate her, as well, and sent down tears of its own – and she still hadn't stopped crying, nor had she felt any better. If anything, she felt worse. She looked down at Duck, watching him stare in front of him. She sniffled and pat his back, rubbing her eyes with her other arm. "…guess it's just you and me now, buddy." She whispered, looking up as she felt a few drops of rain fall on the tip of her nose through the leaves above her, leaning against the bark of the tree. She released an unsteady breath, closing her eyes. She was reminded of the night she'd first found herself in Vreagon's presence, the fear she'd felt then, climbing up the mountain only to receive the arrow when she'd found safety. She had to admit, it wasn't long before she trusted the blond with her life, and nor did it take long for her to trust Mor with it, as well. They became her best friends in such a short amount of time…

It had to be a lie. Renel had to have been lying. The way Vreagon looked…

Guilt seeped through her like the rain and she stood. "…I know you don't like rain, buddy, but we should go home now." She smiled and picked her pet up, holding him securely and stepping into the rain. She'd gone a long way, but she knew where she was, at least. She feared that Vreagon and Mor would be offended by her believing the other man but she had to try. With Mnem gone, they were all she had left. They were the closest thing to a family she'd had in a long time.

A figure appeared in the distance. Ari halted, blinking. He looked… like…

"Ari!"

"…M…" It couldn't be. He was… there couldn't-

But it was. The figure rushed closer, soon slamming into her. Ari dropped Duck and the chicken hit the ground with a short Cluck of surprise, glaring up at the man pressed against his owner. "There you are. I went to Vreagon and Mor and they said you took off-"

The hand hit his cheek only a second later and Mnem blinked, staring at her. "What the hell-…" He looked down at her, at her reddened brown eyes, the tears mixing with the rain. She hit his chest a few more times, decreasing in power as she let out a few sobs.

"You're such an asshole! You're a dick, you know that? I hate you! I fucking… hate… you…" She pressed against him again, her shoulders trembling both in the cold and in the relief as she wrapped her arms around his back. He clutched tighter to her, closing his eyes and smiling slowly.

"…Sorry it took so long for me to… I mean, I had some things to-"

"Just shut up." Ari murmured, squeezing tighter. "Don't ruin the moment."

"…okay."

Ari walked alongside Mnem as they entered the camp, and the first thing Ari noticed was the missing man.

"Where's the prick?"

"He left."

"Oh?" Ari ventured, noticing Vreagon cleaning his sword. Mor cleared his throat and stretched.

"Mhm. He only needed a little…persuasion."

Ari stared at Vreagon as the man looked to Mnem specifically, and she pulled away from him, lifting her brow. "…and what persuasion was that, exactly?"

"… Hey, don't look at me. I didn't do anything."

Ari crossed her arms.

"…I mean… I, aah… okay, so I may have… helped."

"…Helped in doing… what, exactly?"

"…Nothin'."

Vreagon laughed, watching Ari stare at him before shrugging. Instead of Mnem departing, like she'd expected, he followed her into her home, pausing at the door. "…You uh… You want me to leave?"

"…Do you want to leave?"

"Not exactly."

"Then don't."

The words seemed to mean more than they should have, and Mnem could feel it. He shifted uncomfortably, weighing his options. He didn't want to leave, but he wasn't sure if he should stay. If he stayed, he may never go home – and that could prove dangerous.

It was alright. It'd be fine. Ari knew he had responsibilities. She wouldn't make him stay forever.

…Would she?

Oh, I hope she would.

He smiled, slipping off his boots and closing the door-

Cluck!

He jumped, looking down. Ari gasped, dropping to the floor. "Oh, you poor thing!" She laughed, noticing that the chicken had been injured by the door. He winced, having noticed before that the girl hated when Duck was in distress.

"…Sorry…"

"It's okay," Ari smiled, patting Duck's head, "I know you didn't mean to. I didn't see him coming in and I was facing the door, how can I expect you to see him when you had your back to it?" She pat the spot beside her on the bed and Mnem nodded slowly, making his way into the small house. Duck lowered himself into his own little bed of leaves on the floor, watching the tall male sit.

"…that stare is quite unnerving." He whispered, and Ari giggled.

"You get used to it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Silence filled the room and Ari cleared her throat, looking up. "…Mnem… what… what exactly happened?"

"…Hm?"

"What happened before. What… where did you go?"

"…Oh. That. Aah… well. For starters, I'm sure you've figured out by now what that thing was."

"I have. Not that hard to figure out."

"So I guess all that's left is telling you what happened."

"Which puts us right back where we began this conversation. What are you hiding?"

Mnem sighed and leaned back. Ari surprised him (she was getting rather good at that, he thought) by laying down, smiling and motioning for him to do the same. He leaned his body back before swallowing his fear and laying down next to her, his hands folded on his stomach. "…I'm not really hiding anything. Just… Well, after you ran away I found myself… in trouble, I guess you could say. I made the mistake of looking at it, and… well I'd rather not go into detail about that. Long story short, I got lucky. I don't know what happened, but I woke up quite a distance away, and when I had, it was raining. I'd healed considerably, and the first thing I did was…" He trailed off, blushing.

"…was…?"

"…was look for you."

Ari bit her lip and smiled, her eyes lowering nervously. "…You… you were looking for me?"

"Yeah. It took a while, but I found where it had spotted us – quite the mess that thing made, by the way, I'm surprised I'm even alive – and from there I retraced our steps back here, where your friend told me you'd taken off. When he explained… well, let's just say I told Renel to 'Fuck off'."

Ari giggled and rolled over to face him, one hand beneath her head. "I see. So I was right, it was you who chased him away."

"It was."

"Well. Thank you, Mnem. I'm… I'm glad you don't hate me for what I did to you before…"

"No. I mean… I was upset, but I don't… I mean, that is to say-…I don't hate you. I…I don't think I can, honestly." He felt Ari touch his hand and he looked at her, finding her to be equally as surprised. She giggled nervously, looking away and biting her lip, the giggle dying into silence.

"…yeah?"

"…yeah."

It was silly. It was a stupid thought, once it was said and done, but he supposed it was worth the shot. In that time that he'd been gone, he'd done a lot of thinking. The few times he'd fallen asleep, all he could think about was Ari. Nothing but Ari, always her. Sometimes it wasn't even about memories about her, it was about… well, a future with her. One in particular was where she'd kissed him, so feather light and innocent that it was almost as if it'd never happened. She'd blushed furiously in that dream, and here she was, in the waking world, so close and enticing and…

Silly. It was silly. In fact, it was downright stupid, but he had to try, even if she hated him as a result.

His lips touched hers in a brief contact, but that was all he'd wanted. He'd only wanted that small touch, and that small touch was all it took to illicit that shade of pink in her cheeks.

"You…" she started, her fingers rising to touch her cheeks as she sat up slowly. Mnem's eyes softened and he looked away, suddenly ashamed of his action.

"I…I'm sorry. I wasn't- I mean, I was thinking, but- it wasn't clearly, and-" he was silenced by the same pair of lips he'd felt moments before and he paused, blinking in confusion. Slender fingers clutched his wet clothes and he found his hands rising to catch in her hair, settling one hand against the back of her neck and the other on her back. Neither moved for what seemed like hours. They did not deepen their kiss, nor did they pull away. They breathed softly through their noses after the initial breathtaking seconds of the contact, but when neither could handle it anymore, they pulled apart, his hands still against her. Ari loosened her grip on his clothes and inspected his face suspiciously, taking in his clouded eyes, the way his lips parted in his silent surprise.

"…Don't be sorry." Ari whispered, smiling slowly. Mnem nodded numbly and let his head fall against the pillow, closing his eyes. The girl watched him for a few moments, closing her eyes with the intent of a simple, quiet rest. She hadn't meant to fall asleep.

Regardless, that was precisely what she did. Mnem looked at her quietly, watching her sleeping face, chuckling lightly before following her lead. It wouldn't hurt to have a little rest. Not at all.