Weeping Dream

Three: It's the Magic Number

 Aoki totally fell asleep.

It was deserved, I suppose. His mind hadn't been exposed to the world quite like mine had been. He wasn't prepared at all.

He slept through midnight and I hadn't the heart to wake him up until the horizontal cut in the sky bled light and danger. His face was unusually quiet, showing no fear and no sorrow. I felt bad, kind of, walking over to wake him, but I was sure he'd appreciate that more than being caught.

I heard an extra footstep, and immediately stopped, freezing dead in my tracks. As expected, I heard leaves crunch in a way that sounded like a stumble. The wind seemed to hesitate, like someone holding in a breath. 

"It's no use hiding," I spoke into the woods around me. "I know you're there, so just come out now and save me the trouble of finding you!"

Nothing. The trees were silent. I snuck a glance to Aoki, safe and sound on the forest floor.

Annoyance filled me, frustration weighing down my corpse which was still barely holding onto sanity by the thread of a sleepless night. This person's clearly not from The Guardians, I thought. If they were, Aoki would be dead and I would be back in Weeping Dream covered in chains already... Meaning this is either a trader that strayed far off the Trader Paths, or a Green River authority.

The later option made most sense. Of course they'd found us already. We shouldn't have stopped for so long.

I prepared myself for however they would reveal themselves– my feet steady, eyes alert. I knew I could easily hold my ground without exposing my "confidential strength," as the Guardians call it. I'd been training to fight without it forever, successfully. 

A beige-haired girl stepped out of the trees.

Nope, not an authority. It was just some dumb kid.

She looked not fearful, but unsure. Her mouth was pressed into a straight line, eyebrows relaxed but feet moving slowly. Then I saw her eyes. Her eyes, both looking at the sleeping Aoki rather than at me, were different colors. One which resembled a crystal blue pond, and the other a pool of burning lava.

When they rolled to glare at me, I felt uneasy. Powerful, yes, I knew I could easily defeat her in a fight, but her lava was burning my certainty. I focused my willpower to keep my eyes concentrating and keep my nagging gift locked under control.

"Hey you, is he dead?" The girl pointed to Aoki.

She cares? I didn't see anything wrong with answering her question as long as my guard was still up. "No."

"So you didn't kill him." She didn't ask it like a question, more of a statement, but still she waited for a response.

"Um. No."

She exhaled a sigh of what seemed to be relief, hopping down from her spot behind the tree. She walked over to me with an extended hand. Each of her strides was confident, yet cautious. "Okay, so you're Winter, then. I'm Eloise." I stared at her hand. She already knew my name? She must have sensed my confusion, because she added, "I'm Aoki's friend."

Oh, great. Everything's perfect now, thanks.

I still didn't shake her hand, so she pulled it away. She gestured to Aoki with her head. "I'm going to wake him. They'll be patrolling these woods in no time."

"Us?"

She swung her bag into my vision and walked over to the sleeping boy, still talking to me. "Figure it out, snowstorm. I'm coming with you guys."