Vessel X Reader/OC (Sleep token)

Chapter 5

Frustrated, and a little anxious about what he meant, I decide to stay put until early morning. I imagine he'll be keeping his eye on me.

As the sun just about starts to rise, I poke my head out of the tent, and note that there's no one awake yet. Now could be a good chance to make a run for it, though there is the matter of what these crazy people will do if they catch me.

That said, if their crazy ass leader decides their crazy ass God wants me dead, I won't have time to run. I mean, I can circle this back to being entirely my own fault. What kind of idiot drives a car this far out into a forest?

I groan to myself. That's the last time I go anywhere without telling my friends where I'm going. Realistically, it's probably the last time I go anywhere.

Well, I'm too late. For today, at least. People get up, and start to make breakfast. I tear up a little bit, feeling hopeless, and decide I refuse to let anyone see me in this state. I shut the entrance to my tent, and sit on the bed cross legged.

With some bottled water, I rinse my eyes, and calm down. I'm not letting any of these assholes know I've been crying.

Once again, I poke my head through the tent, and I notice that some of the women have started to decorate the surrounding trees with flower chains. I watch them for a few moments, before I notice Vessel walking towards me with a bowl in his hand.

"Good morning." He says, but somehow sternly. He hands the bowl to me, and I look down at it.

Oats and fruit. Looks nice.
"I'm not hungry." I snap back at him, and he cocks his head slightly.

"You need to eat."

"Does that mask cover your ears?" I ask him. "Not hungry."

He breathes a heavy sigh, and leaves the bowl on the table beside my bed.
"We haven't had an angry toddler in the camp for a long time. How refreshing." He sharply says, and I roll my eyes at him.

"Any news on when I can leave?" I ask him, and he shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, unfortunately not. I'm working on it."

I let out a frustrated sigh, and he disappears. I leave the food, out of protest, and leave my tent to watch the girls decorate. One looks back at me, and smiles faintly.
"Interested?"

"Just curious, yeah. Those are pretty. A special ocassion?" I ask, and she nods.

"We have parties, festivals, and rituals, all the time. There's wine, music, people dress up, and it's fun. One of things we do to pass the time."

I decide to not mope in my tent, and help her with the decorations. As I wrap the last flower chain around a tree, she smiles at me.

"Thank you. You fit right in here, you know."

I smile to be polite, but didn't like the sound of that.
"What was your name?" I ask her, trying to change the subject.

"It's Ariadne. And you're Iris, right?" She asks, and I nod.

"Get some rest for tonight. Our festivals can get energetic, I recommend you get your sleep." She says, and I agree, not wanting to tell her I really didn't want to participate. She looks so excited, I didn't really have it in me.

"Okay. I'll see you later." I say, quietly, and go to my tent. I feel her watching me as I go, and feel a little unsettled, but try and brush it off.

Getting into bed, I stare at the ceiling, and by some sort of miracle, fall asleep.