Two Lost Souls

8

"One day, the flames will fade… and only dark will remain."

Third POV:

On a clear sky like this, the moonlight gave the forest of Ionia a majestic look. With all kinds of wildlife and plants, along with the occasional spirits passing through, one would never think that this peaceful land was at war in one point.

That is what Grey has been thinking as he and Ahri walked through the forest. A river of clear water was running beside them, coming from the distant mountains and heading towards the ocean. The sound of water and the quiet forest was enough to calm anyone.

Ahri herself seemed calm, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere that covered the forest. They had left the last village recently, and she believed she deserved some quiet time after what happened in the Fighting Pits, despite the fact that it was Grey who did the fighting.

“We should make camp soon,” Grey suddenly suggested, breaking the silence. “It wouldn’t be wise to spend the entire night traveling,” he pointed out.

Ahri didn’t see a problem with that. “Alright, I guess we can use the break,” she agreed. She also remembered that her traveling companion hasn’t had any sleep since they started traveling, and she believed he deserved some rest.

After a few more minutes of walking, they settled down at a place beside the river, where they rested at the trunks of trees. Odd, glowing flowers surrounded the area they were sitting in, giving a little light in the dark of the forest.

Seeing as the flowers were giving them light, add the fact that the weather wasn't particularly cold, Grey saw no need to start a fire and opted to simply sit down and lean back on a tree.

If he had to describe Ionia in a short sentence, it would be 'unnaturally natural', despite how ironic that sounded. The Abyss Watcher couldn't help but notice that nature dominated most of the land.

Even in the village where they went to the Fighting Pits, some houses were made of a combination of trees standing close to each other. In fact, even inside the Fighting Pits, half the structure was obviously part of the underground or large roots of trees.

"You should go to sleep," Ahri suddenly said catching his attention. "You haven't had a rest since we started traveling, and you deserve some rest, especially after fighting in the Pits," she explained.

"I don't need to rest right now, so you sleep first and I'll watch," the Abyss Watcher replied.

"Oh no, I'm not falling for that again," Ahri immediately shot his proposal down, remembering the first time he took watch. "You seriously need rest. I haven't seen you have any sleep since we started traveling, and that's really dangerous, especially if you fight as much as you do. So, why don't you take some rest, and I'll wake you up later so I can sleep too, deal?" she offered, although she had no intention of letting him refuse.

The Undead Swordsman simply kept looking at her for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders. He leaned back on the tree and Ahri can (barely) see his eyes close behind the small mask that is connected to his helm.

With her traveling companion now getting some sleep, the Nine-Tailed Vastaya was left alone. She brought her knees to her chest and looked around, trying to find something to entertain herself with while she waited until she deemed that the Abyss Watcher rested enough.

She wasn't going to wake him up anytime soon, that was for sure. They had been traveling together for nearly four whole days, and Ahri didn't see him get any sleep at all. She believed that he earned his rest, especially since he's the one who fought in the Pits.