Honeycomb Hearts

The Highest of Highs and the Sort-of Lows

Blake took the lead, showing Yang a path that she herself never knew lead out of the field. It was "cleverly hidden" behind a large tree that just hid it from the sight of Yang's front door. This path seemed different than the one that lead to the town, as it wasn't nearly as covered by the foliage above them, or had any fences to guide the way.

"So how did you find this path?" Yang asked as she took a leisurely sip from her water bottle, "Someone show it to you?"

Blake chuckled, "Well when you live in a place for long enough, you become familiar with the surroundings. I could ask how you know all of the alley shortcuts in the city you lived in, no?"

"You make a good point," Yang stretched her arms out, enjoying the now-familiar breeze that blew through the forest regularly. She tipped her head up to the sky to see that it was nearly cloudless - no white just an infinite blue. "Hey Blake, how long is this path exactly?"

"Well I haven't measured it, but I'd guess about a mile or two. It loops right back around to the bus stop where you first came here so you can do multiple loops if need be."

"Good - so I won't get hopelessly lost?"

"Not for this time at least," Blake said. She nudged a large branch that had fallen off of a tree with her foot, clearing the path ahead of them.

The two continued onwards, sharing jokes and laughs as they idly chatted. Yang shared her favorite jokes while Blake groaned, and Blake gave clever retorts that, if Yang hadn't practiced her jokes her whole life, should have left her speechless. Yang squinted as what little of foliage cover they had disappared, leaving nothing between them and the bright sun. The sun hadn't been this bright earlier, so what could have made her so blinded?

"Yang, welcome to Mellifera Cove," Blake said, giving a small bow and wave at the landscape before them.

In front of them laid a beautiful beach with pearly-white sand. From above the cliff they were on, the beach looked pristine, with not a single speck of sand misplaced. The brightness of the sand was perfectly contrasted by the dark, stony cliffs that surrounded the beach.

"I thought stuff like this was only in pictures or movies!" Yang said. She ran up to the cliff's edge, admiring the view. While it wasn't an ocean, Yang could hardly see the treelines across the lake, making it seem endless and mysterious. "Can we go down there for a sec?"

"Sure, the path is just over here. Be careful, it's really steep." Blake lead Yang down the hill, maneuvering around pebbles and cracks from the years of erosion and minimal human contact. "I always wanted to go swimming here as a kid, but my mom told me it was too dangerous for me - the water was too deep."

"Oh yeah?" Yang said, walking up to the water's edge, "How deep can it b-"

Yang went to plant her foot soundly in the sand that she thought was beneath the waves, but found there was nothing to stand on. Her eyes went wide and her body went down as she fell into the lake with a noisy splash.

"Yang! Ae you okay?" Blake rushed over to the water, sliding to her knees in the smooth sand. Before she could look down into the water, Yang resurfaced, arcing water all across the beach - and Blake - as she flipped her hair dramatically.

Yang let loose a gasp and attempted to wipe water out of her eyes, but she only made things worse, as her hands too were wet. "Got it. It's deep. Sorry Miss Belladonna."

Blake sighed and reached out her hand. Grasping Yang's hand tightly, she helpd pull her out of the lake. "Don't scare me like that, please."

"Well, obviously I can't promise anything." Yang coughed and cleared her throat, then froze for a second as she made sue that she was in fact okay. When she confirmed that she was perfectly fine, she gave Blake a cheerful grin and a thumbs-up.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Let's just get going, it's not too warm out yet so I don't want you to ge a cold."

Yang answered with a smile and took the lead, climbing the steep slope back up to the path effortlessly. "So," she asked, "Why was there no ground there anyways?"

"We don't know - I think it's just how the lake was formed, maybe it was a big crater that just filled with water over time."

"So we could find iridium in there maybe? We could be rich!"

Blake stopped and could only blink in response. "I-Iridium? As in the metal?"

"Yeah, you said it could be a crater, and meteories cause craters - and iridium is only found in things from outer space!" Blake noticed that Yang had a smile across her face that she'd never seen her have before.

"Well maybe, but how do you know iridium is only from space?" Blake asked, beginning to walk again.

"I've always been super interested in space. When I was a little kid, I swore I'd dance across the stars and make a name for myself in the Milky Way. Sadly, I learned just how hard it is to be an astronaut - and I get motion sick very easily when I spin." Yang said, her gaze turning upwards. "But hey, at least I can hang out with people that are 'out of this world', right?"

Blake sighed, "Don't quit your day job Yang, those puns will NOT pay the bills."