Aletheia

Chapter 14: Claire

 IT WASN'T EVEN A GOOD HOUR INTO walking before Claire tripped over a rock and came crashing down. Luckily she caught herself before anyone could see her. They kept walking but it felt as if they were getting nowhere.

Claire blinked at the low afternoon sun; they'd been walking for hours and Claire's energy was slowly diminishing. She was already starting to drop back but she didn't want them to stop for her. Even though it had been years since Will's training, some of it had stayed with him. But the endurance surely couldn't have stayed with him, unless... Unless he had kept up his training on his own. But... why?

Ryn looked over her shoulder, Will was following behind her, and Claire a few paces off. Ryn looked up to the sun, now low in the sky. To Claire's dismay she shouldered off her pack, indicating their stopping point.

"We'll set up camp here for the night, tomorrow we'll hit the forest and see what's in store for us there." Ryn said, opening up her pack and pulling out a stick of flint and a stone.

"I'll get some firewood," Will said, wandering off to the left before Ryn could object. Somehow amidst the green hills there were a few dead looking trees. The only thing left was a couple branches and the rest had all turned to dust.

Claire allowed herself to drop to the ground, lying down in the soft grass. She wondered where Griffin was, had he made it out? What was their plan supposed to be? Now they were out here, or at least Claire was, now what? So far it was nothing but grass and far off trees. How were they supposed to find proof about their past in the middle of a grass field? Were the answers in the midst of the trees?

"No ravenous beasts yet, that's a good sign, right?" Claire said, looking up at the sky. She watched as the blue sky dimmed, growing darker and darker as the sun began to set behind the distant mountains. Maybe there were people in the mountains who could help them.

"Yet..." Ryn murmured, crouching down to the ground. She began to dig a small pit with her hands, pushing away the dirt and building it up around the sides. Claire felt the saliva build up in her mouth, she swallowed it, looking around the field around it as it slowly began to get dark.

"But... It's not likely is it..."

"You're the Keeper aren't you? You should know better than anyone what the chance is that a the beasts that drove us inside the wall, are still roaming around. Speaking of which, what would we be dealing with? We talking horns, tails, wings?" Ryn said, picking up a small twig beside her and breaking it into smaller pieces.

Claire winced, her eyes scanning the darkening horizon. She pulled her pack off her back, opening it and peering inside. She had all the essentials of course, rope, knife, bullets, that sort of thing, then food, clothes, blanket, but underneath all that was the book. Claire gently grasped her hands around it, the moment her hands touched the fading leather she felt a strange tingle. A quiet warmth spread through her fingertips, up her hands and arms and into her mind. She closed her eyes and pulled it towards her, feeling the warmth surround her.

Murmurs came up around her, whispering into her ears, small voices from times long forgotten screaming war cries and humming melodies. Different scenes began flashing before her eyes, swords being sharpened and polished, people dancing around an open fire, hunters lurking through the forest. Screams and cries erupting from a distant village, a roar sounding through the field. The vision blurred and turned to what looked like a classroom, a girl standing at the front of the room, flames danced about her hands and arms and she spun and twirled.

Claire smiled, opening her eyes to see Ryn staring at her, her mouth agape. Claire was still holding the book, the warm feeling slowly seeping back into its pages.

"What?" She asked, reluctantly setting the book down before her feet.

"What happened... How did you..." Ryn began, but stopped, still staring at her with a look of confusion.

"Wood," said Will's voice behind her, along with a bundle of twigs that came crashing down on Ryn's neatly dug pit. She looked up at him, staring daggers into his eyes as he sat down, pulling a bottle of water from his pack.

"What?" he asked, sounding surprisingly similar to Claire.

"You threw your wood on my pit," Ryn said, her nostrils flaring.

"So? That's what a pit is for isn't it?" Will said, lounging back. His feet stretched out, pushed at the branches, and destroyed the carefully crafted pit entirely. Now Ryn looked truly pissed.

"No, a pit is made so you can construct your fire, using precision and carefully placed twigs. You should know this, we went through this course together, only an idiot would try to lit a fire any differently," she said, her voice was slowly growing to an exasperated yell.

Will groaned, he rolled over and before Ryn could complain snatched the flint and stone from her. In a matter of seconds he had struck them and ignited the dry brush and branches.

Ryn opened her mouth, looking from the now present fire to Will and back again. He tossed the flint and stone back to her and went back to his relaxed position.

"Oh I'm sorry, what were you saying about not being able to light a fire?" he mumbled softly, stretching out his arms behind his back and looking up to the stars. Claire bit her tongue so she wouldn't laugh, she thought she was the only one who got her brother's sass, but apparently not. Ryn grumbled some retort back but Claire couldn't hear it in the cool night air.

Claire let out a chuckle, getting a death glare from Ryn in return. A shrieking howl pierced the night air, making Claire's body freeze. Her eyes darted around to find the source, but it was too dark in the field to see anything but the slight outline of the mountains.

"Looks like there may be some beasts after all..." Ryn said slowly, her hand was grasped around her gun, ready to shoot if need be. But the sound was too far off, it wasn't anywhere nearby. But this definitely put a chink in Claire's theory that the beasts were all a myth. Claire scooched closer to the fire, hoping the warmth would fix the cold feeling that was rising inside of her.

"I'll take first watch," Will said, sitting up and pulling his gun from the back of his pocket.

Ryn sat up a little straighter, "Excuse me? Like hell you are."

"There's no way I'm trusting you to make sure we're not eaten, besides you're a lousy shot." Will said, his eyes growing to small slits, his jaw set. There was no escaping their constant banter. Claire was prepared to take watch herself, but there was no way she'd best the two of them and there was no way she was getting in between them.

"Right, cause I didn't shoot myself in the foot."

"Will anyone ever let that go! That was nine years ago dammit! I was sixteen!" Will said, his voice rising to a shout, "I'm taking watch, just go sleep."

"The louder you are, the more likely one of those beasts we've heard so much about is going to come eat us..." Claire muttered. Ryn looked at her, contemplating then turned her voice to a fierce whisper.

"There's no way I'm letting you do my job. Mine, not yours, mine. Get over it." She said, her voice somehow sounded even more threatening when it was in a whisper. Will glared at her but didn't budge. Both of them were still glaring at each other by the time Claire fell asleep.