A Moment Of Peace

Gulp after gulp was heard by the small stream in a green patch of land, Jade not taking a breath as she swallowed down water in mouthfuls, meanwhile, Jack was slowly taking his time to relieve the thirst, one handful at a time

"Puaah! Damn that's what I needed"

Once she had her fill of the much needed liquid she started looking around for any fruit bearing trees

"If I have to eat that lizard's meat again I just might die"

Exaggeratedly complaining, she rose to her feet and walked around, resulting in no useful findings, at least not one's concerning food

"Is that the city?"

A bit further in the distance she could make out some gray line, probably the city walls she'd been hoping to see

"Great, let's go!"

Ushering Jack to get a move on Jade bumbled forward with glee, only at first however, for her steps slowed down bit by bit, coming to a stop after not much of a walk

"...Cant go to them like this, I need to think things through"

She looked back at Jack and thought things might not be so easy to achieve

"While I believe they have no reason to hurt me I don't think they would find the truth of my mother's sacrifice to be easy to accept, nor the inhumanity of my trait, they just might think of me as a monster who did something horrible to escape"

During the long time the two spent down there in the dark Jade had much to think of, and of those things was what to expect from others concerning the issue of Marrionet's Heart

"Even if they believe me I wouldn't be trusted with a trait like this"

It was true that she felt like another body couldn't be made, but there was nothing that proved that but her word, and how trustworthy did they find a lone survivor from a decimated town to be?

"I will just have to make them two survivors then…"

Jade and Jack, a brother and sister surviving the tragedy that took place in the once merry town

That lie might sound simple, but first Jack would need a trait of his own, else it would be easy to expose his lack of one

And for that there was a simple, probably unbelievable solution Jade couldn't help but find hard to understand

Switching the view back to Jack he checked once more, feeling his heart beating with extraordinary energy, small wounds like the one from the squirrel already fading away after days of infection, leaving him with but a small injury on his arm where the dear had sliced

"It might be shared due to my trait, because we are one and the same, which is ridiculous"

It was so for many reasons, but this was not time to get ahead of himself

"The biggest issue I had solved itself, now only one of us needs to remain quiet while the other does all the talking"

He would have liked to take roles but after much trial he found it hard to keep switching consecutively, once was easy, twice a bit of a struggle, thrice and he might throw up

"Just in case we split, one of us can now stay silent"

The other would be excused for the trauma, or taken as mute if no solution was found otherwise

Now, who might that person be? The answer was easy

"I'll do the talking"

Jack said, while it would make sense for Jade with the stronger physique to be the one whose body he uses the most, but he was more used to his own, less room for error as well

"Okay, we should get going"

And so the two set off again, in less of a happy mood than before

The grey outline looked distant yet not too far, at least that's what it seemed, when the day turned into night however and the two felt no progress Jack realized the distance might be further than what he imagined

He didn't let that get to him, at least they were not semi blind as they walked, not constantly fearing a sneak attack, and most importantly

Crackle crackle~

"Finally some warmth"

Able to light a fire

"I'll take first shift I guess, you sleep"

Jade complied, resting her head in his lap and drifting into slumber, that's how he was able to keep watch, one body got rest while the other was used to keep watch

"My neck's gonna kill when I take over"

With how bony his legs were he would always have neck pain in Jade's body, meanwhile, his body would have a good nap on her plump thighs

"Can't wait to slump on a soft bed"

He mused, recalling how easy he had it back in town, three meals a day, a soft bed, and a roof to keep him sheltered and warm, all these small stuff and many more were taken for granted

Maybe they could be made up for when he arrived at the city, some things could not be replaced however, like the love of a family, the encouragement of a father, the comforting words of a mother

Tishh

The fire let some steam off as tears dripped into them, one at a time, tears of a man who finally got a moment to mourn over what he had forever lost