The Big Friendly Giant

After many hours of plodding through the forest, the group finally came across the river that passes through Direwood, the next destination they marked on the map. Their faces perked upon seeing the jewel-blue stream that curved through the forest, splashing gently across the rocks at the side. The yellow slime from the creatures had dried on their faces and parts of their clothes. Even after scrubbing up quickly, it was hard to get off, making them feel disgusting; it was the perfect opportunity to clean up. 

All at once, they dismounted from their horses and happily made it to the riverbank, sighing as they splashed fresh water on their faces. Ger, always ever so vigilant, stayed back and kept his eyes on his surroundings. He also used the excuse to have a little space from Evanna and her intoxicating scent. 

Evanna cupped some of the water onto the back of her neck, the cooling sensation soothing her. Although the forest was still cold, she found herself adjusting to it, but she was still not completely immune to the chill in the air. The nights were when she felt it the most. But a little bit of water on her face and neck helped remove any tiredness and the perspiration she felt lingering on her skin.

"Axel, are we staying here now?" She questioned, looking up at him, her eyes half pleadingly. She felt disgusting and wanted to clean more of herself, not just her face.

Axel looked back at her. He wanted to move on, but he saw a slither of desperation in the princess's eyes and remembered that she was not only royalty but a woman; they liked to clean themselves more. He looked up at the sky and realised they already covered a lot of ground, and it was a lot later than he perceived. The birds nearby were chirping away, and the sun was lower in the sky, showing it to soon be early evening. Sighing, he said,

"Yes, but tomorrow morning we are leaving as soon as possible. We are making great progress."

Evanna smiled and sighed in relief. After they filled their water skin's up and let the horses drink from the river, they led them further back into the forest away from the waterway. If they stayed next to it, it could bring unwanted attention from other animals, and the insects would feed on their flesh, leaving irritating bite marks, which Axel explained to Evanna after the last time the guys stayed next to a river. Once they were at a safe distance, they set their belongings down, and with no tents or mats to set up, they just sat down watching Cilv light the fire and Axel setting up ready to cook dinner. 

After the fire was set, Evanna and Cilv were the first to go to the river to clean themselves. Cilv acted as a guard while Evanna stripped and dipped into the icy cold stream, leaving goosebumps along her body. She dipped her head underwater, with her hair already flowing down her waist to be cleaned; she was freezing but felt terrific to get the stench of herself and the bugs slime off her body. Cilv threw a towel at her, which she caught easily as she started to step back out of the water.

Cilv stripped and jumped into the water without wasting any time while Evanna got changed, leaving her to dry her hair in the towel.

"I hate water", Cilv stated as she walked back out and began drying herself off; her eyes shone as her cat eyes again.

"Is that a cat thing?" Evanna asked her casually as she watched Cilv's golden eyes start to sparkle.

"Maybe, I can deal with bathing, but at the same time, it is very forced. My cat side almost always tends to take over. Normally my claws come out, but I am keeping them under control."

The girls then walked back to the men, who were chatting away while eating. Nesrin sat on the ground near the fire, munching on some food.

"Feel better?" Axel asked

"Much", Evanna replied before sitting down next to Ger, who immediately stood up.

"I didn't wash my face earlier. I'm going to bathe now," Ger muttered.

"Since when were you a clean freak?" Ronan shouted from behind him.

Ger ignored him. He was looking forward to cooling himself off; he did not know how to handle these feelings towards Evanna. Ger didn't know if they were new or if they were always there; maybe he didn't notice previously. Until he sorted his act out, he would try and keep his distance from her, which he knew would be hard. Not only had they not been separated throughout the journey, but now they were sharing Midknight.

Evanna watched as Ger walked off into the distance, his back becoming a silhouette among the trees, a slight frown formed on her features.

"Keep frowning, and you will get wrinkles," Ronan's voice brought Evanna's attention back to the people in front of her. She forced herself to relax her forehead as she looked back at Ronan; he smiled charmingly in response to her.

She scooped some broth from the pan and placed it in a bowl before sitting back down near Axel. After eating quietly, she realised she did not really know Axel that well.  Evanna trusted him, and they joked and spoke about the next destination in their venture, but as she glanced up to look at his rough and quite handsome face, she wanted to learn more about him.

"Say Axe.."

"Axe?" His eyebrows raised at the nickname, then he nodded his head in satisfaction, deciding he liked it.

"How come you have never really stayed in Slymere? You have been on many adventures, is there no one at home waiting for you?"

Axel put his bowl down as he forcibly gulped the last of his food down, thumping his hand on his chest in shock at the sudden question.

"Sorry", She apologised, glancing her eyes down in embarrassment, "You do not have to answer. I was just being nosey."

"Um *cough* it's okay, really. I have spent far too long with Ronan and Ger to remember what normal conversations are." 

He leaned in towards her slightly as his voice dropped low, so only she could hear him, "Believe me, if I had a doting wife back home, I would not be out all the time, but there is nobody to return to. I might as well do things and see places while I am young. Although I am secretly hoping to find Mrs Right on these travels." Evanna smiled broadly at his response. He looked down at her before putting a mocking boisterous voice on, "But it is not manly to speak of feelings and the like."

"Aww! Axe! You are just one big friendly giant, aren't you?!"  Evanna exclaimed excitedly 

"Shh, not so loud!" His finger was pressed against his lips as he shushed her. The rest of the group looked at the pair wide-eyed and puzzled at what was going on. "I have a reputation to uphold". He straightened his back and flexed his chest muscles to prove his point of being a man.

Evanna giggled. Out of everything, she did not expect this beast of a man to be such a big softy. Looks really were deceiving.

The night drew on, and the group started to settle down to sleep. Now that they didn't have tents to go to, they all started to huddle closer to the fire. Ger was the first to go to sleep by lying down and turning his back away and putting his hood up, grunting a goodnight.

"Trouble in paradise?" Cilv smirked at Evanna; Ronan looked over to the princess and then down at Ger, who was resting.

Evanna ignored her comment and started to lie down herself and stare up at the covered night sky. Her thoughts went to Ger; he barely spoke a word to her or the others. He just sat there brooding, staring into the fire while the others chatted and enjoyed each other's company. 

Cilv was the only exception, who did not pay any attention to them and just kept sharpening her daggers silently. But she did not want to overthink it. Maybe he was tired. They were attacked in the early morning and had been non-stop trekking through the forest the whole day.

Evanna glanced back to the twinkling stars she could see in the gaps of the leaves high above. The wind blew softly through the forest, sending silent whispers through the leaves, rustling them gently, bringing with it a frosty bite to her uncovered face. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her and pulled her mask up, and put her hood over her head.

Even though there were no more luxuries of a tent and mat to lie on, she felt content with sleeping under the stars. Although, she did keep her hand resting on her dagger. The crackling of the fire and the incoherent whispers coming from Ronan and Axel started lulling her to sleep, and a sweet tune could also be heard, making her smile. Her hand began to relax on her dagger before she was pulled into a deep blissful sleep.