Elementals || Grishaverse

Chapter 32: An Unexpected Visitor

Adaline was alone with her thoughts, and that was never a good sign.

She kept wanting to turn back and explain herself to Stefan. She had left him a note of goodbye and asked him to not search for her. She had tried to explain that she was doing this for them, but he wouldn't understand that. He would jump to conclusions somehow.

She thought about the accident that had caused her to lose her memories. Both her parents were dead. She had been in Keramzin until her father decided to adopt her and Simon. She wondered what would have happened if he hadn't. Would she still have been at the orphanage? Would she and Simon have been like brothers and sisters?

Adaline shook her head. It didn't matter anymore. She was going to leave Ravka. She didn't want to be Stefan's childhood friend, the people's leader or the Darkling's answer. She was none of those.

She couldn't destroy the Fold. The scar on the map would always be there, thanks to the Black Heretic. "Idiot." She scolded him under her breath. She could barely control her own powers. How would she destroy anything else? She was a ticking time bomb, waiting to blow up anytime.

There was a sudden ruffling of leaves nearby. Adaline was in the deepest parts of the Old Woods and her only companion was her constant breathing. She armed herself with her bow. She drew the arrow at the place from where the sound was coming from.

Someone was coming towards her.

She controlled her breathing and kept a clear aim at the potential target. The ruffling increased and someone made a path from the overhead branches. But the person that came out held the answers to the questions she had been asking herself ever since she left camp.

"Woah!" The brunette woman exclaimed, shocked to her core at being a target and stumbling back a few steps. "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"What are you doing here?"

It was the same woman that Adaline had met during the first day of the Grisha camp coming to town. Her hazel eyes were unmistakably the most beautiful. "Trying to make my way to town to get supplies. And what are you doing?"

Adaline withdrew the bow. "I'm searching for the end of the trial. I'm meeting someone there."

"Oh." The woman nodded. "Well, be careful not to gouge someone's eye out."

"I'll try." Adaline nodded, keeping her weapons back in their places. "Would you like some company? We are heading to the same end." It was the perfect opportunity to get to know the woman and find out what she knew about her.

"I'd love some." She said. "I'm Ramina, by the way." She put her hand forward. "Ramina Smirnov."

Adaline shook hands with her for a short time. "Adaline Chernoff."

They started walking side by side in the same direction of their destination. Ramina was wearing an armour-like top with leather pants and ivory boots. She looked like a proper hunter. She carried her weapons in the holders of her pants and she wore a cloak that hid it all.

"So are you from the army camp or the Ravkan Palace?"

Good eye, Adaline thought. "Does it matter?"

"Not really. It's just that I like rebels." They laughed together. Maybe their long journey didn't have to be so boring after all. "How did you escape?" Adaline's head jerked up. "It's not that hard to figure out. You're the only one I am finding here after a really long time."

"You're a frequent traveller then."

"Of course." She spun a blade in her hands. "I didn't train to become a hunter for nothing." She said. "So. How did you escape?"

Adaline gulped. She didn't know whether she should reveal the weak point of the castle to her. But she could reveal half the truth. "I jumped out the window."

Ramina's eyes opened wide. "I like you already. We're going to get along quite well." She smiled. "This is going to be a journey for a few days. We might as well get introduced. I'm Ramina. My family has been one of the oldest ones in Ravka. I trained to be a hunter when I was very young. I've been travelling ever since I came of age. I like to collect things and help people."

Adaline nodded. "Adaline. I'm a doctor. I'm the Chief Doctor in the Ravkan army." A sad truth dawned on her. "Or I was, anyway." She looked at the ground to avoid showing the hurt on her face. She had only one passion in life, and that was taken away from her.

"Don't feel bad, Chernoff. You'll always be a saviour."

Adaline smiled genuinely. "Thank you." She said. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Ramina nodded. "What did you mean by trusting no one but myself that day in camp?"

Ramina stopped walking. "I thought that you might need that advice." She said before resuming to walk. Adaline found that to be suspicious but they were recent acquaintances and there was something about her that made the situation feel familiar. "Did you listen to me?"

"Sort of." She didn't want to lie.

They continued to talk while making their way. Adaline noticed that there was a loose thread of hair on Ramina that was white in colour. When she asked what that was about, Ramina shrugged it off. "I thought it would look cool." But there was a deeper meaning to it, and Adaline knew it.

They stopped in the trail when they reached one of Ramina's marked spots. "I keep them hidden but still visible to help fellow travellers like yourself to seek shelter." She pulled out a blanket from her travel bag and spread it out on the floor. "I'm going to go search for stones to make fire." She said after the two of them collected firewood.

Adaline smirked. "That won't be necessary." She conjured up a ball of fire. She saw the less shock on Ramina's face and wondered if she knew about her powers. She shook that thought and aimed the fire directly at the firewoods gathered together.

"I see that you do have powers and that you have a control over them. Not bad, Chernoff!"

"Why thank you, Smirnov!"

They spent the night there. They ate the dinner that they had with them and exchanged stories before lying down, silent to keep watch themselves. Adaline looked at the stars and wondered about her life. She never thought that her life could change so much, but that was only the beginning of the end.

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I have nothing to do with the last line XD