The Outlanders

To Cassinvarya!

LANE

It's been the weirdest ten hours of my life. Actually, I'm not even sure if it's been ten minutes. But I'm sure it's turned out to be longer than that. The fatigue building up inside of me is taking it's toll. I don't even get to appreciate the fancy new clothes Willow offered. I remove the outer layer and cast it over the top of the table, leaving the dirtied white inner shirt I wore the morning I woke up. When I say woke up, I meant at home. On earth. At an apartment building with cute Armenian girls, not Swamp creatures reanimated by the spell-bound waters of Nallan Swamp. That's right, Willow told me. My finger pinch at the fabric just below the color and tug, revealing my chest to me, and I dip my head down to take a whiff. I smell awful, but I didn't expect it to be pristine any longer. There's a bathroom, but no bath. It's located just beside the room Kasper's been stuck in for the whole day. I've already worried that Willow's murdered him in his sleep, but I've also snuck glances in the room, and he's just fast asleep. I almost want to wake him, and tell him that Mars and Jackie were here. Both of which have passed out since the debacle, with Mars lying on the bench, and Jackie by his side on the floor, her upper body sprawled along his chest.

I map out the shack mentally, the living room and kitchen were practically one and the same, acting as the heart of it all, while a single hallway protrudes from the back, and three doors line along it. Two doors on the left, and a single one on the right. The right door is Willow's room, and I'm sure she doesn't want anyone going in there, on the left was Kasper's and the bathroom. It's a shack so it isn't exactly the most appealing thing in the world. But it kept us safe, for the most part. Not a single door leads outside, there aren't any windows either. I don't know what's outside the comfort of the shack, but I suspect it might just be the swamp. Nothing's certain, but it's my best guess. I grow more and more tired while the minutes pass. My body tells me it's right about three in the morning, there's no working clock to tell me the time, but I feel the second wind I usually do when bar-hopping on a nightly basis, and it's a familiar --almost welcoming-- experience. I'm tired but I'm restless. I've tried falling asleep, but it's like Willow said. It's difficult. The shack was far too small for me to do routine walks, I don't have my own pack of cigarettes to calm my nerves, nor do I have alcohol to help me sleep. It comes to a point where even the warmth coming from the fireplace has stopped being enough. The gambeson I removed felt far too sticky and wet for me to put it back on. Besides, the fact that it was damp would only make it colder for me.

"Can't sleep?" From the hall, Kasper emerges, one arm propped above his head, resting against the corner that connected the hallway, and the hearth. He seemed a little better, although it was hard to see, since it seemed that he preferred to stand where he did, rather than where the candles were lit.

I lower my head wordlessly and chuckle to myself. At the very least he was okay, and not dead. The first thing I do is gesture over to the bench where Mars and Jackie were. It may have been hard to decipher it, but anyone who knew Kasper knew what a look of joy on his pale face looks like. And he had it. I don't question if it's because he's glad to see two of his closest friends, or that he doesn't have to suffer all of this with just me. This has taken a toll on me, but I do my best for the others to see that we could still be ourselves through it all. Jackie's taking it the hardest, and I may have made the mistake of cracking a joke earlier, but honestly, I had good intentions. There's no point of explaining myself to them though, they'll probably just ignore it. And not because they aren't good friends, but because I've cried wolf, and told the same story so many times that it's hard for them to know what I'm actually thinking.

Kasper doesn't move. Probably deciding that the lovers should rest. After all, the injury on Mars' ankle looked like a giant throbbing apple. If that doesn't catch your eye, I don't know what will. I almost expect Kasper to ask me how they got here, but the answer was pretty obvious at this point. It happened just like the rest of us. ""What do you think about it? About all of this?" It's a shame that I don't look Kasper in the eyes while I ask, mostly since the next time his mouth open, he's taken a seat by my side. Both on the floor, across from Mars and Jackie, a safe distance away from the fireplace, but as close as we possibly could get.