Shapes in My Palm

Chapter 7

Kai and Lillian spent the next few hours packed in the cave. The walls seemed to shrink and the ceiling dropped. There was a sort of tension that filled it to its brim and caused the two of them to retreat back into silence. Kai didn't know what to say, she didn't even know what she was feeling. They sat on opposite sides of the cave, careful so that their feet didn't touch, and focused on small tasks by themselves.

She mainly worked on cleaning up the bag that Lillian pulled the first-aid kit out of, and took inventory of their supplies. She made sure they had the matches, rope, and food they needed. She needed to wipe off a few items, clearing off the mud and grass. Luckily, everything was still usable.

The last thing Kai grabbed was the picture of her father and her. She had been so focused on her feelings related to Lillian and her injury, she totally forgot about the picture. She scolded herself for being careless, this photo was her rock and if it were to get muddy or worse ripped, would have been awful and Kai would have fallen apart. Luckily, that wasn't the case, the picture was in her hands, a little muddy but untouched. She looked around and saw that Lillian wasn't staring at her, so she brought a photo close to her rising and falling chest. She closed her eyes and gave herself a moment, before carefully stuffing it back in her bag and closing moving away.

Besides inventory, she also had to change her bandage once or twice while they were hauled in the cave. She did it herself not even bothering to ask Lillian. She didn't want her confusing emotions to arise and really didn't want any more help from Her Highness. Changing her badges was a small challenge, and it took her a few tries before getting it correctly. The pain in her knee was minimum and only got slightly worse when she fixed the bandage. It seemed to be healing, and it would probably be fully healed by their last day of camping.

Kai had paid little attention to what Her Highness was doing while she did inventory and fixed her bandages. She honestly had no idea and tried not to think about it too much, but somehow it kept creeping into her mind no matter how much she tried to push the thought away. When being in the cave got too boring, Kai considered annoying Her Highness, but the thought of talking to her made Kai want to throw up, so instead, she sat in silence. She tried to take a nap, hoping to catch up on the lost sleep from the night before, but even the rain didn't help calm her mind and racing thoughts.

After spending the rest of the day in the cave, they were a day behind on hiking and needed to hurry up and get to the final night of camping.

"Ready?" Kai asked Her Highness as she pulled on her cloak and bag, stepping towards the end of the cave.

"Yep," she replied, staring at the ground and kicking her feet. They hadn't made eye contact since they first reached the cave. Not that Kai cared, but she had felt empty without their banter.

No eye contact and no elaboration, that is how the pair had spent their last few hours. Kai walked out of the cave and started down the path, leading through the forest. She didn't look back and only assumed that Lillian was following.

* * *

They only were able to walk for a few hours before the sun began to set and Kai's knee couldn't take any more. Her knee had been bothering her and mildly hurting halfway through the hike. But she was a warrior, she reminded herself, so she sucked it up and continued walking, no matter how much she wanted to give. Even though she was able to walk, she was significantly slower, even Her Highness had noticed. But she didn't say anything, she just continued to look around at the forest as she walked, like she always did. Kai gritted her teeth in agony and forced herself to keep walking, even if she was slower than normal.

Since Kai had walked slower than normal, they didn't get very far and they reached the camping spot right as the sun was setting. Surprisingly, they had caught up to where they should have been and we're back on track. Their camping spot for that night was on top of a grassy hill with a great view of mountains. The peak of the hill was flat and covered in freshly green grass, it reminded Kai of something but she didn't know what.