Shadows- a Danplan fanfiction

Juggling

The group climbed the mountain, under the raging sun. Not really able to have a conversation, since they had to use their energy to continue the tiring travel.
Truth be told they didn't know what forces were pushing them to move in that direction.
Maybe because it was the opposite of were the village resided.

Half way up, as the day was ending, the cruel heat was replaced by a comforting breeze, like a pat on the back to congratulate them.
But by then everyone, except for Daniel with his seemingly endless resources, was completely worn out, ready to just let themselves fall on the ground and sleep.

Daniel slowly noticed this, and decided that they should probably take a break. They would have to part early in the morning, to suffer less, so they needed to sleep soon.
"Alright guys let's set up our camp over there!" The green eyed man informed the others, pointing at cave that offered a good hideout.
Relatively close to that cave was a cliff, the kind that made someone feel incredibly small and fragile, yet was outstandingly beautiful.

They set e everything up and sat down on their blankets, using the to make the grass covered ground softer.
Once they were done with eating and drinking, it was time for them to decide who would be the guard for the night.

"I can do it." Hosuh offered sweetly, he was tired, but he most likely wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

"You sure?" Daniel questioned. "I don't feel like sleeping either, so I could do it too." He argued.

"Same here." Stephen agreed with the other, a quite rare sight.

Anne just slumped down on her bed. "I don't want to guard, but it would take me some time to fall asleep." She added.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "You people are impossible. You literally were about to die minutes ago!" He complained in an amused tone.

This caused everyone to chuckle a bit, Stephen included.

Daniel smiled. "You know Stephen your less insufferable when you laugh." He teased his friend.

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Your less insufferable when you shut up." He bit back.

"The both of you are always insufferable." Anne chimed in, in her usual sassy manner.

Hosuh shook his head. "C'mon guys, don't fight. Look how beautiful the scenery is!" He changed the topic of conversation slyly.

Daniel's smile widened at the mention of the sight before him.
The way the sun was going down, hiding behind the mountain and allowing them to see a cloudless night. The forests he could see from up there that seemed so much smaller. The way each rock was different from the other, formed by time, by the past.
It made him wonder what people might have walked by over the centuries, what rivers might have formed the rocks, what story each of them had.
"It reminds me of home." He told the others, not with sadness, but with nostalgia and pride.

Hosuh nodded. Looking at the star filled sky above him. Somehow it reminded him of his own home as well.
It reminded him of his brother.
As his thoughts wandered to beautiful summer nights in his childhood, the mood reflected perfectly in his silver eyes.

"I can't really relate." Anne stated, which made sense considering were she grew up.

Stephen snorted. "Same." He grumbled, but it was rather quiet.

Hosuh frowned for a moment. "Wait. Stephen were do you come from again?" He questioned confusedly.
'Has Stephen ever told us?' He wondered.

Stephen's mouth rested slightly agape. As if he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to express himself.

Daniel frowned at the lack of response. "C'mon Stephen. We've known each other for so long now. We basically know everything about you." He said confidently.

Stephen chuckled in response. "Believe that." He said flatly. "It doesn't really matter." He added.

Daniel's frown deepened and Hosuh wore a worried expression.

"Why don't you just tell us then?" Daniel inquired.

Stephen smirked. "Why does it matter now? It's not like you ever asked before." He justified his actions.
Then he just turn around to lay down on his blanket.

"Fine. Be that way." Daniel muttered.

The tension was suddenly interrupted by soft snores coming from Anne's direction.
At that point there was no tension. Just pure unfiltered awkwardness.

Hosuh sighed. "I thought we were over this." He whispered softly, mostly to himself.
"C'mon, go to sleep Daniel. I'll guard." He encouraged the sulking man.

Daniel wordlessly complied. Even if he didn't like the idea of sleeping.

The next morning, Daniel who had decided to guard after Hosuh to split the time, walked quietly out of the cave.
Watching the sunrise.

He made his way to the cliff to get a better view, but as he walked toward it, he noticed something quite strange.

Standing extremely close to the cliff, like they might fall over, was a person.

Daniel slightly shielded his eyes from the sunlight to see better.
As soon as he could, he had so many questions.
Who was that person?
Why were they standing so dangerously close to the cliff?
Why were they standing on only one leg?

But the question that stuck with him the most was rather obvious.

Why in the in the name of God and everything that was holy, was the person juggling?

Author's comment:
Ah, a good old cliffhanger! Lovely!

Well people I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I like writing drama, it's so fun!

See you next time, girlfriends, boyfriends and none binary lovers!