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And I need time to make it better.
“My memory is… cloudy.” I say lamely, diverting my eyes to the pool of water behind her head.
She sighs, leaning forward and stretching her legs til they touch the ground. She stands, her back straight. Earlier, while following her, I imagined she would tower over me if we were side by side. Her strength must have muddied my perception, because her eyes are only level to my neck. She’s forced to tilt her chin upwards to meet my gaze. “You don’t have to tell me. Not yet, anyway.”
I’m speechless as she bends, snatching her see-through silks from the river stones below us. My feet petal backward as she dresses, giving her the girth she needs to wrap the fabrics over her breasts. She ends the loose wrap by tying the ends above her rounded bottom, causing the material to flow around her hips while remaining tight over her abdomen.
Without another glance at me, she turns, stalking away from the pool and towards the forest.
I watch her leave, my chest burning at the sight of her going.I should have just told her.
At the moment I’m sure I’ve ruined the chance of a smooth sailing relationship with my mate, she stops, her hand gripped around the trunk of a juvenile tree.
Her head turns to the side, one eye sweeping over my unsightly devastation.
Her words, uttered indignantly, wash all of my pitiful sorrow away.
“Aren’t you coming, Ren?”
4
Thea
“Doesyourworldhavespirit guides? People who watch over you from the other side?”
Ren follows closely behind me as we prance through the forest, only stopping when I notice the occasional critter underfoot. I’ve made it one of my life's goals to catalog each of the Earth's living things, no matter how small.
“I think that if we did, I wouldn’t be here,” Ren replies.
His tone is soft, melancholy. Talking about his past is a sore spot, but I want to know everything about him. I’ll need to be more thoughtful of his unease for a while, at least until he trusts me enough to talk about what hurts him.
We’re silent for a few more minutes. Staying on animal trails has helped keep some briars from sticking to my dress, but when a gentle tug yanks on my skirts, I realize they’ve caught again me. Sighing, I go to work removing each thorn, a meticulous chore.
“Hey,” Ren whispers. “Look here.”
He bends down beside me, moving a fern aside as he lifts a rock. Beneath it, tiny white bugs scatter. He stands again, rock in hand.
I glance at it, my attention divided between him and my stuck linens. “Hm? Oh, wow. A rock. Very nice, Ren.” I nod politely, turning away.
He chuckles. “No, Thea. Here.” His fingernail scrapes against the muddy edge of the stone, pointing to a dark crevice on one side. Within the inch-wide hole crawls a round, wicked animal with eight legs and a shiny, inky body. My dress is forgotten as I lean closer to the animal.
Ren allows it to crawl over his hand, its sprightly movements not phasing him.
I gaze from the speedy crawler to him, eyes wide. “How in the world did you know it was hiding under there?” I ask, dumbfounded.
He winks, one red-flaked eye twinkling as his lips lift. “I could hear it spinning web.”
My mouth drops. Could he find more of these hidden things for me? “Seriously? You could hearthis?” I point to the beastie as it drops from his hand, holding onto a thin strand of thread in mid air. As it twirls, I catch sight of a red splotch decorating its lower abdomen.
I take a second to tap into the well of information I’ve collected on Earth’s inner workings, and I remember this coloration is a symbol of poisoning.
“Yes, I-”
I grab his hand before he can finish answering, shaking the spider away until its web breaks free of his hand. Startled, Ren moves closer to me, wrapping me in his arms.
“What is it, Thea? Are you alright?”
I stare up at him, my eyes alight with disbelief. “Me? Alright? You were the one holding a deadly spider, Ren! Poison.Lethal.That’s what this beast is.” I shake my head, scoffing as the creature scatters under another stone, hiding away in its preferred darkness.
