Sarkata (On Hiatus)

Chapter 19: Nina

Sarkata 19: Nina

A rustle of movement woke Nina up from her slumber. Her body shot up and her hand was hovering over the dagger she had attached to her hip, ready for whatever caused the disturbance. It was just the feline girl walking around the cave.

Nina rubbed her face, dragging her hand down. Sunlight was seeping through near the entrance. It was already morning. The elf groaned."What are you doing?" Nina snapped at the girl. It was the sleepiness that caused Nina to be short tempered. Why was Felix up so early?

The orange haired girl wrung her hands nervously. Her hair shimmered as it was graced by a little morning light. Nina never noticed before how it looked like a rustic gem. It was a dark rust color, not red but not orange either. "It's just... What if the castle already knows th'Princess is missin'? Shouldn't we get a move on?"

Nina closed her eyes and let out a rude snort, laying back down and promptly ignoring the girl's inquiry. She could sense the growing annoyance in Felix. "I don't think they're too concerned yet." Nina replied, more so to ease herself into sleep than to ease Felix's nerves.

The feline girl didn't reply so Nina took initiative to turn on her side and try to get more sleep in. However, sleep wouldn't come. The thought of Felix's badgering was reminding her of her old friend Evanara.

Evanara would always badger her to be on time to the Temple. Nina of course dismissed Evanara's warning and would frequently show up to the Temple late, in the middle of prayer.

"It isn't proper for you to show up late. It also isn't respectful to the Gods." She would say. A smirk curled onto Nina's mouth as she remembered her life in the past. She had it so easy. So, so very easy. A frown took the smirk's place. And she was the one to make it complicated. Suddenly sleep had left her and she pushed herself up from the ground and stalked over to the fire.

Something was odd. She looked around the cave bitterly, only bitter with herself at the memory of her past decisions. Felix was sitting cross-legged at the fire, the Princess was still asleep, and there were still plenty of bumarries sitting on the rock next to the fire. Felix looked up at her, the eyes of the Feline spied on Nina through the orange fringe of hair. Nina twisted her lips aggressively.

That's what was wrong.

"What are ya upset with?" Felix asked.

Erok was missing, "Where is Erok?" Nina demanded harshly.

The orange eyebrows of the girl rose up, "I'm not sure."

The admittance did nothing for Nina. She grabbed up the sack and took out the bottle of wine. The pop of the cork brought waves of comfort to her. The wine was good, and Nina was glad she took it. The flavor was sickeningly sweet with a hint of salt. It was a deep purple. A groan flew from the elf's mouth. Why was she so angry? Was it really the thought of Evanara that got her so worked up? Then the wine was bitter to her.

She capped it and tossed it to Felix who caught it with surprise. "Drink up and eat up. We've got a long way to go and I don't want to hear anything about hunger or thirst until a good ways into the travelling."

Felix nodded and sipped cautiously from the bottle. Her glance toward the sleeping lump of Royalty didn't go unnoticed by Nina. She went to the flat surfaced rock and picked up the bumarries, stuffing them into the sack. She put two on a stick and threw it to Felix, who caught it with surprise again.

"Cook that. The Princess will voice her complaints about being hungry soon."

The feline nodded sheepishly, agreeing but not voicing her agreement. Nina observed her for a second. She's still wary of the Princess' wrath, Nina finally realized. It made her sick that people were that self conscious about themselves around the Princess. With the little outburst Felix displayed the previous night, Nina had thought that she was done worrying about the dictating girl. Obviously not.