No wolves on the Moon

Winter was almost over. Patches of green had started to appear and the clear days had become more frequent. It was one of those sunny days that he took Ellie with him on patrol. Lilah was riding behind them, silent as usual watching their interactions. Ellie had asked how far the pond for their break was for the second time and he had told her it was around the corner, again.

"Dude, we are in a forest. There are no corners!" she protested.

"You have to know where you are at any time. Map your surroundings. How long have we been out of the gates?" Joel started in his patient teacher tone that he always had with her.

"Three hours," she replied.

"And are we still heading north?"

"It's eleven o'clock, the sun is still on our right side so yeah."

"How many miles do we do on the horses per hour?"

"Four."

"Right. Check your map then."

Ellie pulled out her map and pointed ahead.

"The pond is after this bunch of trees."

Joel nodded, feeling proud.

"So it is around the corner," he teased.

Ellie puffed and turned to Lilah.

"Once the weather gets warmer Joel said he will teach me how to swim. Do you know how to swim?"

"Yes," the older woman answered simply.

"Lilah is from Los Angeles. There were plenty of beaches to go," Joel filled the silence.

"Beach? Oh man, I have never seen any! Is it cool?"

"It was… is, I guess…" she replied and went quiet again.

"You are the silent type, too, huh? So are you guys friends or what?" Ellie looked between them for the first time.

Joel was unsure where the question came from. It was the first time Ellie was riding with both of them and it wasn't like he and Lilah had spoken much. But it was the question itself that startled him, too. What were Lilah and he, really? Friends? It sounded too innocent. But then what?

"We go on patrol often," Lilah spared him the need to find an answer.

"Ha…Joel was the silent type, too, but finally gave in to my charm."

"More like constant nagging," Joel smiled and to his surprise he saw a small smile tagging Lilah's lips.

He realised he had never seen her smile. It looked like they were entertaining her, and he was glad.

They dismounted the horses and stretched. Joel thought it was a good chance for another lesson.

"Before we eat, Lilah, do you think that you can show Ellie a few tricks in a close fight?"

He caught her a bit in surprise.

"Why? Because I am a woman and small in size?"

"You said it, not me," he shook his head, "Also because you are the best at it."

Ellie looked intrigued but didn't comment. Lilah scoffed, but a flicker of pride shone in her eyes.

"The first thing to remember, Ellie, is that being smaller isn't a disadvantage. You're more flexible than someone Joel's size."

"Even if he is not as ancient?" Ellie teased.

"Even if he is not," Lilah followed her tone and another ghost of a smile appeared on her lips.

"Focus, both of you and leave my age out of it," Joel pretended to be offended.

"Well, for a demo I will need some help," Lilah offered.

After showing Ellie how to avoid certain common moves attackers might use, Joel and Lilah moved into a mock fight, careful not to hurt each other. But after a few slips, Lilah let him catch her properly. Joel held her under him, and he felt her resistance lessening with each passing second. It felt too familiar, her warmth beneath him, the quiet surrender in her body. He shook his head. He was getting distracted and for sure that was not the point.

"Lilah, you can do better than that," he said, concerned that the demonstration had failed and not understanding why.

He relaxed his hold and she took advantage to turn them around violently. She landed on top grabbing his knife from his back. Of course, she kept it away from him holding his arms instead but in real circumstances he would have a bloody hole on his throat.

"And that's the last lesson. Let them underestimate you," she raised an eyebrow.

"Fuck, Joel! You got your ass served. That was embarrassing!" the young girl laughed.

Joel smiled, the laugh contagious. Then Lilah smiled, too, fully at that time. The two of them froze; they didn't know for how long. Lilah was most probably realising that she had smiled after who knew how many years. Joel laid there, stunned. She looked alive in a way he hadn't seen before, like something long buried had clawed its way to the surface. And damn, she was beautiful when she smiled…

"And now you are ready to tell her: 'I know what's on the menu. Me 'n' U,'" Ellie finally interrupted the moment.

Joel actually laughed at the pun and it was Lilah's turn to become awed with him, her smile getting just a bit wider. She stood up a bit quickly, probably to spare them more embarrassment, giving him her hand.

" 'We go on patrol often.' My ass…" Ellie carried on.

"Girl, you're too clever for your own good," Lilah warned, her expression still caring. "But don't jump to conclusions."

"Okay-okay…!" Ellie resigned, lifting her arms, "So what is the actual menu for lunch?" she giggled again.

She sat cross-legged on the ground. The other two joined her.

"Maria put these together, so I guess both of yours are far better than mine," Joel grunted, taking out his sandwich.

"Come on, you can have mine then," Lilah offered, holding her food out for him.

Joel blinked, caught off guard. He hadn't been serious. He didn't care if Maria had used the town's oldest bread for his sandwich and it had nothing extra and Lilah knew it. It wasn't about the food; it was the gesture. It was someone thinking of him, taking care of him, in a way that felt foreign and unsettling.

"We… we can share," he said, the words coming out more awkwardly than he intended.

Lilah shrugged, unfolding the cloth and placing it between them. He did the same, their food mingling in the space between them.

Ellie didn't say anything clever. Instead, her expression softened, her gaze flicking between them with a quiet curiosity. After a while she spotted something in the sky.

"Look! It's one of those days that you can see the moon during the daytime."

Joel and Lilah both glanced up, following Ellie's pointing finger. A pale crescent moon hung faintly in the blue sky, barely visible through the branches.

"Huh," Joel muttered, squinting. "Guess you're right."

"It's kinda cool, isn't it?" Ellie said, her voice carrying a rare note of wonder, "Appearing when you don't expect it."

"Like most things in life," Joel murmured, glancing between his companions, though neither of them seemed to notice.

"Did they ever plan to send people to live up there?" Ellie asked, "I mean, before all this. When there were NASA and astronauts and stuff. I bet it would be cool."

"They had a whole rivalry between countries about who would set foot up there first," Lilah said, "It's better it's left at peace instead of people fighting over and on the moon, too…"

"That's right…" Joel said.

Ellie sighed, lying back on the ground and stretching her arms out.

"I don't know. I guess it's still nice to think about it as a place where nothing's broken."

Joel and Lilah exchanged a glance, something unspoken passing between them. The kid had a way of pulling at threads neither of them wanted to unravel.

"Your sheep would be fine on it though", Ellie finished jokingly towards Joel.

As they packed up, Joel glanced at Lilah. She was quiet again, but something about the way she looked at the sky lingered with him.

"You alright?" he asked under his breath as Ellie fussed with her horse.

Lilah didn't answer right away. Finally, she nodded.

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"About?"

"The sheep on the moon," she breathed, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "No wolves up there."

He gave her a small smile back and watched her as she hopped on the horse.

He walked beside his horse for a while behind them, just for exercise. When something shiny caught his eye on the ground, he stooped to pick it up. It was a small, round, pale grey stone, its rough surface catching the sunlight like fractured glass. He turned it in his hand, wondering what it might be. Something geological. If he had paid enough attention during school trips he might have known if it had a name. He didn't know if it was their earlier conversation, but it looked like a moon. He slipped it into his pocket without much thought.

When he returned home he took the stone out and stared at it for a long while. With a deep breath, he rummaged through his tools and fished out a scrap of wood from an unfinished carving. He wasn't sure what he was doing or why. He traced the stone on it. He carved the material out for the stone to fit tightly. Then he sketched a circle around the gap of the stone and filled the space with craters and curly designs, like the one he had seen on Lilah's drawing of the moon. They did look like the sheep's wool indeed, he thought, as he carved out the wood with care.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please don't forget to let me know of your thoughts!