Chapter 7

As they walked, Eustace started to notice that the ground had begun to change. It was no longer strictly dirt that they were walking on, but a mixture of both dirt and rock. The trees ahead seemed to diminish and something very big and blue-gray in color could be seen in the distance.

"The moor," said Sasha beside him, noting his confusion.

He looked over at her and then back at the land before him when they broke threw the last of the trees to a rocky moor. The land here was raised up and he realized it must have been what he had seen from a distance. It wasn't quiet a mountain, be it was close enough. He knew (with dread) that they would be climbing over this land, for they were trapped between it and the forest and had nowhere else to go, unless of course, they walked along the side of it, which would accomplish them nothing.

They stood there for a while, admiring the view, hands propped on hips.

"It's the land of the giants," she continued. "Some of them are friendly, but others... well, we'll just have to tread lightly."

"Right, giants," whispered Eustace to unconsciously.

"Whats the matter, you scared?"

He made a face at her, afraid that if he verbally made a come-back that his voice would betray him, giving away the fact that he was scared. He had never seen a giant before. At least not in real life. He had many books about giants and other mythical creatures, and many of them had pictures. He had started to collect them since the day he had gotten back from Narnia, wanting to no more about the things in which the people around him had no knowledge of.

"Shall we then?" she said, not waiting for an answer and started the climb upwards.

Eustace followed right behind, and stayed that way as the ascended the rocky hill. He was more than happy to let her take the lead, that way if they came across a giant it would eat her first.

They had gotten along for the most part, but she did really speak unless she had to, and when she did it was to give him a direction of where to go, or to every once in a while make a sarcastic comment or just make fun of him for the pure joy of it.

They had already been walking for several hours since waking that morning, but surprisingly, he didn't tire as fast he thought he would. They trudged up the hill with little effort, though he figured that the reason for their slow pace was due to the fact that she set one that he was comfortable with and not because she was afraid of being spotted.

He found that he could learn more about her through her actions and not her words. He could tell that she tried to make their journey as easy for him as she could. He knew that she had given him more of the rations she had collected to him than she gave to herself. He guessed that it was due to the fact that he was bigger than she was, but also because she was use to going without.

She stopped just before reaching the top and looked back down to see his stance and smiled when she saw how red his face was and how out of breath he looked, though he had kept up quiet nicely and was now only a few feet behind her. She was surprised at how long he lasted, for the hill was a steep one and she could tell just by looking at him that he was not used to this kind of outdoor activity.

Stopping when he felt her eyes on him, he looked up to find Sasha staring down at him with a big grin on her face. He fell to his knees dramatically and rolled onto his back huffing with exhaustion.

So much for not tiring easily.

He heard her laugh from above him and the sound of it made him smile. She had such a pretty laugh.

She took a few steps back down the large hill and took both of his hands in hers and started to pull him until they reached where she had been standing a moment before, and collapsed down on her back beside him.

They both looked up to the partly cloudy sky as they caught their breath and allowed for the muscles in their legs to stop burning. The clouds danced and swirled together then pulled apart again in an intimate dance. Eustace tried to make out as many shapes as he could as he waited for his breath to come back to him. When it did he looked to his right to say something to Sasha, but she wasn't there anymore.

Sitting up, he looked around to see where she had gone. Looking behind himself he saw her lying on her stomach at the top of the hill so that only her head was visible to anyone at the top. He joined her there and looked over as well at the rocky land before him.

It was mostly grass from what he could see, with jagged rocks sticking up here and there, and the occasional hill that made it impossible to see beyond it. It looked safe enough to him. If any giant were near than surly they would be able to see them?

Sasha seemed to decide that it was safe as well, as she got to her feet and took the last few steps to the top. Eustace followed and they both stood there as she glanced in both directions.

"You do know where we're going, don't you?" said Eustace looking at her sceptically.

"Of course I do," she said rolling her eyes, and started off to where the ground seemed most tame.

They didn't walk for long before taking a break. They had already been walking for hours before reaching the moor, so they decided to rest for a while, taking a seat up against one of the bigger rocks that scattered the land.

The wind was stronger up here than it had been in the woods, do to the fact that there wasn't much to break its momentum as the trees had. But, it felt good after that long hike, and kept them cool as they walked. More trees started to blow over and Sasha looked up at them with a concerned expression on her face as the wind whipped her hair around her face. It was up in a pony tail again, but hair always seemed to be able to shake itself loose from its grip and fall into her face. Her eyes were closed now, head still tilted up to the sky soaking in as much sun as she could before it dipped behind a cloud.

Sighing, she looked over at him. "Its going to rain," she said. "It will be a bit harder to find shelter from it up here."

Eustace nodded.

"Here," she said, reaching into her pack and pulling out the rest of the cooked rabbit from the night before that was still cleanly wrapped in the cloth. She ripped it in "half" and handed one piece over to him and took the other for herself.

He took a small bite, even though he was half starving, but he knew that if he ate to fast he would give himself a stomach ache. The bland taste of it was awful and they didn't have any more berries left to wash it away. But, it could have been worse. They could have had nothing to eat at all.

Reclining back, he reveled in the cool breeze as it made his hair dance across his face. He turn to Sasha, intending to ask her a question, when out of the corner of his eye, he caught a quick flash of movement in the distance. He whipped his head to the side to see where it had gone, and caught it just in time to watch someone duck behind a big boulder a good distance away from them.

"Did you see that," whispered Eustace incredulously, now on full alert.

"See what?"

"Someones following us."

She looked at him as though he were crazy. "What do you mean following us?"

Eustace pointed to where he had seen the figure disappear from view. "I saw someone, I swear, they disappeared behind that boulder, we have to go."

"Go? No, no, no, I want to meet this person who's been following us. They need to learn a lesson on privacy, don't you think?"

"Sasha, come on, I'm not joking-"

"If someone were following us, I would have noticed. Come on, I'll show you, there's no one there," she said, getting up and walking off in the direction he had indicated.

"Sasha- Sasha, stop it, come back here, what are you doing!?" he whisper-screamed.

She looked back at him, giving him a stunning smile, but kept moving. Her long hair swayed back and forth, keeping in time with the rhythm of her steps. All of the color had drained from his face.

She's going to get herself killed.

Without even thinking, he bolted up and ran after her. She was a good couple of feet away from him however, and he knew that she was going to reach the boulder and what was behind it before he could get to her.

She was at the boulder now, and with one last look at him, she started walking around it. Before she could make it all the way around, a large pale hand shot out from behind and grabbed her arm, yanking her back with it. Her high-pitched scream filled the air, making him dizzy with dread, frozen to the spot.

"Sasha!" he shouted, before chasing after her.

He was at the boulder now, and without a second thought, he ran around to the back.

Nothing.

There was nothing there. No Sasha, no mysterious figure, just an empty expanse of land, void of anything but grass and rock.

He was going to be sick, he could feel it coming up. So much for choking down that rabbit, because it was about to make a reappearance.

He started walking back around the boulder when he heard foot steps behind him.

"Boo!"

Two arms wrapped around his lower half as those words were shouted into his ear. He spun around in Sasha's grasps, to find her beautiful face shining down on him. He almost smiled back at her, but shook his head instead, pulling out of her arms.

"Are you insane! What were you think-"

Before he could finish his rant, a dark haired teen-age boy stepped out from the side of the boulder, coming into Eustace's view. He knew instantly that this was who he had seen ducking behind the rock, but Sasha's lack of dread and horror that he was standing right behind her worried him a bit. Maybe he would suggest that she see a doctor.

"Eustace," she said brightly, "meet Damon."

The boy smiled back at him, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "Pleasure," he said almost sarcastically.

Eustace didn't move from his spot or even gave him so much as a returned smile, so she elaborated a little.

"He's my brother."

His eyes widened in shock as he looked from girl to boy. He could see the resemblance: they both had the same deep black hair and pale skin, but where her eyes were dark blue, his were a light gray. He was also much taller than she was, with corded muscles running throughout his body. They both had the same mocking disposition about them as if a thousand jokes about you were running through their heads.

"But- but- how- why is he? We've been walking for days- how," he stuttered, unable to form a real sentence.

They both laughed at his obvious distress, which only made him even more distressed.

"He prefers to do his work out here in the open for whatever reason. I wasn't completely sure that we were headed in the right direction, until, I saw him about a half-mile back."

Eustace stood there for a moment trying to collect himself. He thought that his hands were full with one Sasha, but now there was two of them?

"I think he's about to croak," said Damon under his breath to his sister who snickered.

Though he did feel like be might fall over and die at any minute, that comment snapped him out of his trance of horror and he was able to regain composure of himself.

"Brother? What do you mean brother – this doesn't make any sense. If he's your brother, than why do you live out in the woods?"

"Its complicated," was her expected unfulfilling answer.

He could feel his face burning bright red with fury. "That's not a real answer! I let you come with me, and you won't even tell me a single thing about your life! I need answers- real answers, or I go alone!"

She was unimpressed. "Come on Eustace, what does it matter where I live or what I do?"

"You said he worked out here," he went on, jutting his chin in Damon's direction, "and you in the woods. What did you mean? Work at what?"

At this, their amused expressions vanished, and they gave each other a meaningful look. Sasha finally sighed and looked back at him.

"I told you, it doesn't matter. And if you don't want me to come with you, than fine, I won't."

Eustace looked from Sasha to Damon. "And I suppose he's going to be tagging along with us?"

Damon just looked at him calmly, his expression telling him it was his decision. He was almost stunning in his beauty, if it wasn't for his strong build he could have easily mistaken him for a girl. His stormy eyes were big and bright with long dark lashes framing them. Laugh lines had already started to form in his youthful skin, that spoke of happiness. He seemed like an easy person to get along with, and he really wouldn't mind having another guy around.

He let his breath out on a long woosh. "Fine- alright, you can both come."

Damon smiled, and gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Much obliged mate."