The sound of wind moving against the rocks wakes me up.
For a moment I don’t move.
Everything around me is still dark and Sylvia’s head is still resting against my shoulder.
I can’t believe we fell asleep like this without even setting up a proper place to sleep.
I look down towards her.
Her eyes are closed and she looks completely relaxed.
I should probably wake her up but instead I sit there for another few seconds.
This really is so new to me and I’m struggling to get used to it. The feelings...
I don’t think I’ve ever really had someone depend on me like this before.
Or maybe depend isn’t the right word.
She doesn’t need me to protect her every second. She’s more than capable of handling herself.
Maybe trust is the better word.
She trusts me enough to sleep next to me without worrying.
That thought makes the feeling in my chest return again.
Love.
I still don’t really know what to do with that feeling or even that word, if I’m being honest.
It makes sense now, but understanding something and knowing what to do about it are completely different things.
~You could always tell her. It feels like a pretty straightforward thing to do.
I don’t think it is a good idea yet.
~Why not?
Because I just figured this out myself.
~Telling her wouldn’t really be a bad thing.
I’m just not ready to say anything about it to her yet.
The system goes quiet after that and I look back towards the sky.
There are still stars above us but the horizon is beginning to brighten slightly.
Morning isn’t too far away. It is a good thing too, we have a lot of walking to do still.
Sylvia shifts beside me.
"Hmm..." She mumbles as her head moves slightly against my shoulder.
A few seconds later she slowly opens her eyes.
She stares forward for a moment before realizing where she is.
"Morning," I say quietly.
Sylvia lifts her head.
"How long have you been awake?" Sylvia asks while rubbing her eyes.
"Not long honestly," I answer.
She stretches her arms out and lets out a quiet yawn.
"You should’ve woken me up," Sylvia says as she finishes stretching.
"You looked comfortable," I reply quietly.
Sylvia looks towards me, then a small smile forms on her face.
"How thoughtful," Sylvia says with a happy tone.
I immediately look away.
"Being shy this early in the morning, how cute," Sylvia teases.
"I’m just checking the surroundings," I reply nervously.
We both stand after that and start gathering everything we left around the rocks.
Everything fits together quickly since it wasn’t a whole lot to begin with.
The desert is already beginning to brighten as the sun rises.
I can feel the heat returning almost immediately.
"I already miss the night," I say.
"Definitely in agreement with you there," Sylvia replies as she looks up towards the sky.
"I’m glad it isn’t just me," I say with relief.
"The heat is rough but we’ll survive," Sylvia replies before letting out a small laugh.
Once everything is ready, we start walking again.
The road looks almost exactly the same as yesterday.
Sand on both sides, rock formations in the distance, and occasional dead plants sticking out of the ground.
Nothing really seems to be all that different yet.
I guess I expected the road towards the front lines to look more dangerous.
Then again, we’re still far away. So maybe it is a good thing.
The closer we get, the less peaceful everything will probably become.
I look ahead as Sylvia pulls out the map while walking.
"Our walk definitely has quite a bit to go," Sylvia speaks up before putting the map away.
"Should’ve guessed that much," I respond with a relaxed tone.
"If we keep moving like this, maybe another two or three days should be the max it takes us though," Sylvia says with a little bit of confidence.
Two or three. That doesn’t sound too bad. I could’ve sworn it would be longer.
After that conversation we just continue to walk.
Two days of walking, stopping, and talking about what to expect at the front lines finally pass by. The scenery itself has slowly been changing as we get closer and closer to Zameref.
I look around once more.
Old buildings are slowly starting to appear around us, but none of them seem to be anything good. Most are destroyed or have been abandoned for quite some time.
"Honestly I’m not surprised so many of the buildings around here are destroyed or left behind like this," Sylvia speaks up.
"It is kind of sad," I respond while continuing to walk.
"Yeah. These poor people didn’t really have much of a choice," Sylvia says with a soft tone.
Reminds me a lot of what villages go through after getting attacked by the dragons. If you survive... What is really left?
Hmm. It really is hitting close to home being out here like this.
"Don’t think about it too much Kain," Sylvia suggests as she stops to look at me.
"Huh?" I question with a bit of a confused tone.
"This whole area. I know it probably feels very similar, don’t think about it much," Sylvia answers before turning back around.
We continue walking after that.
Hours pass by as the silence lingers between us.
She was right though. Thinking about all of that is not the smartest thing to do, it’ll just give me a bunch of negative thoughts.
"This is terrible," I speak up.
Sylvia laughs.
"What’s so terrible?" Sylvia asks curiously.
"Walking for so long," I answer.
"It is rough. But we’ll be there soon," Sylvia assures me with a chuckle following after.
I hope she’s right about that. Walking through this desert with the heat alone is quite a pain in the ass. I mean... I can handle it, just this sucks.
It would’ve been better if we had a faster way to get there.
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