CHAPTER 2-3
Heinrich

The whole scavenger hunt thing was exciting but also confusing. After a group swim in the frolicking waves, Áthas had divvied up the hikers into two groups of five, and because Heinrich was the previous day's winner, she had stayed on with his group as a bonus guide, of sorts. With him were Phoenix, Fynn, Klara, and - after some mild confusion when Áthas had realized that Acair and Siân, who had a good deal of hiking experience and would be good choices to lead the other group, plus Emyr and the triplets would be too many - Olwen. "I'll switch," the girl had bravely volunteered, and almost the very moment the words were out of her mouth, her two brothers, realizing that she was going to get to spend time with Heinrich and they wouldn't, took on expressions of regret, that they had not had the idea first. Áthas had praised her courage, then told the others, "Aside from Olwen you can stick to your familial groups for now, but in the future, I would like for everyone to start mixing a bit more so you can get to know each other better. I'm very proud of the number of enduring friendships struck on my tours."

Áthas had given each group a hand-drawn map with some instructions on the back. "For bragging rights only - for there is but one winner each day - see which group arrives at our destination first. Both routes are almost identical in length." And so they all had set off, with Heinrich's group being unofficially led by Fynn, who, Heinrich noticed, seemed as if he had been about to come over to say something to him, but Phoenix had gotten there first.

The two brothers ambled along, talking quietly as Fynn led the way into the dense forest, instructing everyone to keep an eye out for a tree that had been struck by lightning yet was still much taller than its nearest neighbors.

"How'd you do in the water?" Phoenix asked Heinrich in a low voice, so the others wouldn't hear.

Heinrich knew why he was asking: swimming was yet another important life skill he had not been taught in his orphanage years. There had been a pond at the distant boundary of the deceptively verdant and manicured grounds - grounds which only the staff had ever been allowed to enjoy - but those in charge of rearing the children in their care had not deemed it necessary to ensure any child who found themselves in the pond, unintentionally or otherwise, would know how to get back out. As a result, several had drowned during Heinrich's time there. He suspected not all had been unintentional.

In Schönberg, Phoenix had told him once, there had been a lake deep in the forest behind their farm. Several nearby farms' parcels included some part of its shore within their boundaries, and so it had been a popular local swimming hole. Phoenix politely hadn't voiced aloud what Heinrich already knew: had Heinrich enjoyed the normal childhood that his older brother had been afforded, he, too, would have been taught to swim in its refreshing waters, and enjoyed many a lazy summer afternoon there. He wished he could remember where it was or what it had even looked like, but those memories were, apparently, long gone.

Upon the brothers' reunion, Phoenix had taken it upon himself to teach Heinrich many things, such as basic social skills, how to read and write, and of course, how to swim. During those early evening lessons in the creek beside the cornfields at one of the several farms where they had been seasonal laborers, Heinrich had been forced to swallow the humiliation, arising like bile in his throat, of being so stunted and ignorant. There was no getting around it if he wanted to learn, but that shame had never truly left him, and his mind endlessly bristled with unhelpful thoughts comparing himself to what Phoenix would have been like at his age.

Nowadays, Heinrich wasn't an especially powerful or elegant swimmer, but thanks to Phoenix's patient tutelage, he knew how to stay safe and get where he needed to go in the water, at least, and better yet, enjoy it. The near-levitation of a thinly built body that was otherwise impossibly heavy to exist within, the shielding realm of silence beneath the surface that generously cocooned him for just as long as he was able to hold his breath - these were soothing experiences that, like the comfort of the natural world at Lea's farm, gently guided him out of the traumatic visions of his past and into a better present. Those traumatic visions, whether crowding his mind while he was awake or assailing it in the form of frequent nightmares while he was asleep, were all the worse for the fact that each and every one of them was an actual memory.

"It was okay," he told Phoenix now as they followed the dim forms of Fynn, Klara, Áthas, and Olwen some distance ahead. "I just stayed by the shore and the land bridge. Áthas said those were the safest parts because if you go out too much further there are sometimes rip currents. The water was warm. It was nice." It had been a fun swim, all in all. He had just kept to himself, too anxious to participate with the others until Phoenix had concluded his tasks and joined him, and paddled about in the shallows, or allowed the mellow waves, one by one, to lift him up then set his feet back down on the sandy bottom. He had explored a bit underwater, as well, for he dearly loved that cocooning quiet. When everything felt too overwhelming, too...too, the stillness below was a sanctuary.

Phoenix, walking along beside him, nodded in acknowledgment. "I'm glad you're liking it here so far."

Heinrich was aware of the consistently relaxed and unhurried tone to his brother's gentle questioning and coaxing. Heinrich's ability to trust others after everything that had happened was fragile, at best, and sometimes, even when he desperately wanted to, it didn't feel safe to open up a little in response to these inquiries. What would Phoenix say? What would he think of him? These were the times everything inside curled up and closed down, because, it seemed, there was nothing more important to his very survival than doing so. Phoenix never appeared frustrated nor put off by being shut out that Heinrich could discern; instead, Phoenix gave him his space and then, with an infinite patience, tried again another time.

Heinrich didn't know if, when, or how he could ever express this, but he knew what it was that his brother was trying to do, and he loved him for it with everything that he had.

Ahead, Olwen suddenly yelped, "Oh!"

"What's up?" Fynn called, doubling back with Klara to return to her and Áthas. Heinrich and Phoenix joined them, too.

"Look!"

Sure enough, off to their left some distance, and somewhat difficult to see with all of the thick vegetation obscuring it, there was a dead tree with a telltale split down the center of its trunk, and it towered over all its nearest neighbors.

"Well done, Olwen!" Áthas congratulated her. "I was wondering how far past it we were going to get before I had to say something so we didn't wind up on the other side of the island!"

Fynn had the good sense to look abashed. "I guess I'm not as good at this as I thought."

"Maybe a little less talking and a little more paying attention to the surroundings?" Klara suggested with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, blushing and staring at his boots. He glanced just for an instant at Heinrich, and turned redder still. "So anyway," he said, clearing his throat and pulling out the map and instructions he had evidently been ignoring up until this point, "we're supposed to turn north here."

"Don't worry about it, mate," Phoenix said as the group turned and set off again. "I'm sure you'll be the first to spot our next landmark."

Fynn nodded his thanks and ran a hand through his deep teal hair, looking at the map. "Which is going to be...the remains of a paved road."

"But how will we see it?" Olwen wanted to know. "It's so dark in here and there's so much...stuff on the ground."

"Look with your feet," Heinrich suddenly heard himself saying. Olwen turned to him questioningly, so he added, "Since it was a paved road, if you step on something hard it will probably be either a rock or a broken piece of pavement, so make sure you check which before you move on."

"Got it!" Olwen chirped, delighted to have a solid plan of attack.

Fynn turned his head, just briefly, just so, to give Heinrich a grateful smile for the help, and in that exact moment that they locked eyes, a jolt of confused, fizzing excitement settled into the pit of Heinrich's stomach.