To Take It Slow

The following morning, I wake up early, around an hour after sunrise. My eyes carefully scan over the surroundings, and I notice that the environment is suspiciously quiet. My injured leg does not hurt as much any more, but my arm is still hard to coordinate, yet I can move it in the very least. I try to stand up, but immediately fall back on the bed, the pain remains unbearable. Then, I take the twig from under my pillow and use it as a support to move around more freely. The unpleasant tingling remains within my body after each step and the height of the twig does not make it any easier, but it is manageable.

I come out of the tent and the first thing that catches my mind is Nila's body by the tree. She is curled up and enveloped in blanked, still dreaming despite the sun sending beams of light through foliage onto her face. I am surprised how comfortable her position looks, even though I am perfectly aware about the hardships of sleeping on a naked floor. In this case, though, she has a blanket, which might have done a good job at keeping her warm and comfortable.

I am slowly hobbling closer to her, but at one point the twig slips out of my arm and I lose balance. The fall is abrupt, I am barely able to see anything, but upon opening my eyes I notice how Nila has woken up and is not glaring at me dumbfounded. After a moment of silent exchange, she looks at the sky and sighs.

"The sun just went over the horizon, did you really need to wake me up this early?"

I narrow my brows and answer, "This early? There is a long way ahead, I do not want to stay in the forest for yet another night! Collect your belongings, now."

"You are awfully hasty for someone who can barely walk." She shakes her head and takes the wooden staff into her hands. After she points the tip of the staff at me, a barrage of stars appears out of nowhere, only for the single one to grow in size and disperse in my direction. I can feel the warmth spreading through my body along with pain wavering away in quick succession. "Are you able to walk now?"

I push myself upwards and apply pressure to the leg, there is no pain present! For a second I even forget to compose myself and look at Nila with a smile, "Magic is amazing!"

"I know right?" she nods gracefully, but then turns to the side and pulls a blanket over her face, "Now, be a good Samaritan and remove the bandage from your leg, put my belongings into my suitcase and wash your face at the river near the cliff. Do not get lost on your way back."

I am taken aback from her bluntness, but instead of following through her demands, I put it off the table. I am more than done being a mere chore boy.

"Do it all yourself!"

"I can't."

"Huh? Why?"

She peeks out of the blanket and stares at me with an innocent look, "I warmed this place a tiny bit too well, it does not let me go."

Her demeanour triggers me and I make another step closer to her. Afterwards, I pull the blanket out of her grip, making her roll onto the grass.

"I can always just leave you behind! Now, collect your things and be prepared to leave, meanwhile, I will wash my face!"

"You are too cruel…" she murmurs while shivering on the ground. I click my tongue, throw the blanket into the tent and move towards the cliff, while observing the surroundings in an attempt to remember the terrain. Even though her directions were vague, I actually manage to bump into a river after a while of strolling. Judging by the map I saw yesterday, it flows in the direction of another city whose name I do not know. It doesn't really matter, however, because our point of destination is Wiskoschia, a city that borders a monster realm.

I wonder how great is the communication between cities? Would the guards from there be able to recognize me? The Crawley family did not suspect anything after taking me in as a guest, even though I used to steal in Wülgenville just a day earlier. But they also were leaving the city at the time when they stumbled across my motionless body, which simply means that they were not that bright, thus a possibility of me being recognized is well present.

While I think over this dilemma, I take off the bandage and observe my leg for a little. The injury is fully healed now, alas the scar will remain and, judging by the blue colour of it, for a very long time. I take off my clothes and decide to not just wash myself, but fully submerge into the river. Its wideness makes the water spread more evenly, resulting in the bottom being at a shallow depth.

After taking a quick power wash by the river flow, I take a bit more time to dry myself off in the sun. Nila is not going anywhere without my directions anyway, which means that I can afford taking my time. I will teach her a lesson how annoying the procrastinators can be!

Around half an hour passes before I feel like returning to her little camp. I lightly comb my hair with my fingernails, noticing their overgrowth, then put on the same dirty clothes and reach the tent where I slept tonight. I narrow my brows upon not seeing this elf anywhere, but after I peek inside the tent, my eye twitches and I audibly clock my tongue, knowing perfectly well that she does not hear my frustration.

"This woman…" I whisper and come closer to her motionless body on the bed, quiet huffing comes from her smiling expression. All her rubbish is still all over the tent, no progress is done whatsoever. But before I attempt waking her up, I decide to take on the role of an adult. I collect various books, herbs, empty flasks and whatever else looks like it belongs to her. I observe everything with a keen mind, but the only thing that ends up in my pocket besides Solitaire's gem are a few large coins and a pocket knife.

After I fill up her suitcase and take some of the valuables as payment for my hard labour, I flick her forehead and say, "Good morning, you really have the nerve to disregard your tasks."

"It hurts…" she murmurs while brushing her head over the red spot on her forehead. Then she looks at the suitcase in my hands and smiles, "You really did a great job and judging by your more presentable look, even took it all slower, I am proud. Although you still need a new set of clothes."

Proud of me, yeah, of course! If only she knew what I did while she was fast asleep, she would swallow these words instantly. Even though it is tempting, I am not telling her a word. It would be foolish to lower my trust in her eyes, especially when she is so easy going.

"You took it way slower than I did! I swear to god, if we do not reach that village before sunset, I will abandon you the next morning."

"Quite harsh words coming from a young fellow, I am almost offended." she shakes her head, walks past me and peeks at me for the last time, "Good thing that I am used to humans always hurrying somewhere."

I sigh wearily, expecting a long journey ahead, and step forward, overtaking her lead. It is time for yet another relocation, although now on foot.