Darkness into Light - Espresseleine

Chapter Forty One ~ A Favour

Shortly into the morning, the time finally came for the group to keep travelling, the blazing heat proving to be the main obstacle in their success. As the sun beat down on them, it was only a matter of time before they would desperately need to take another moment to rest. Thus, slowing them down even more. Of course, Madeleine wanted to remain resilient and push onwards, the rest of the team dragging behind him like they were weights chained to his ankle. Custard constantly whined about being thirsty, Raspberry having to remind him that they had to preserve their resources.

"Are we there yet?" Custard whined even more, resulting in an eye-roll from Latte as she reopened the map. She carefully skimmed over it, her eyes flickering from where they were at currently to their destination.

"Only a day left, don't worry."

Custard groaned, dragging his little feet across the dirt towards an open grassy area that provided shade from the sun thanks to the thick towering trees.

"If I have to walk any longer I'm gonna die," he whinged, face planting into the plush grass below him.

The rest of the gang followed, Madeleine scanning the area, "Fine, we can rest for a moment but we must keep moving if we want to make it before dawn."

Espresso stood next to him, his arms folded behind his back neatly, "Give the kid a break, Madeleine."

Honestly, he was excited to get to the library, but there was one thing he was dreading the most, which was figuring out how to explain his situation to his friends in a way that will not make them hate his guts, and also coming to terms with his feelings for someone in particular.

In fact, he didn't even realise he had actually been staring at him the whole time. Someone else sure did notice though.

Latte rolled her eyes at how obvious he was being, yet again. Gosh, she just wishes she could give him a little nudge in the right direction instead of having to deal with all the pining.

Actually, that might not be such a bad idea.

Latte quickly chugged the remains of her own bottle of water, ignoring how Custard gave her a look of utter astonishment and betrayal. She walked over to the two, holding out the bottle.

"Would you two be kind enough to look around for a water source to refill my bottle? Please?" She asked sweetly.

Madeleine tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

"Can't you do it yourself?" Espresso shot back at her.

"But my poor, fragile legs are in so much pain from the amount of walking we've done!" She lifted her hand over her forehead for dramatic effect.

Madeleine sighed, grabbing the bottle out of her hand, "Alright, alright. C'mon Espresso."

Espresso groaned, silently arguing the fact that they were about to split the team up, leaving them all vulnerable. He had a terrible feeling, especially after being informed of Latte and Raspberry's run in with the mighty vine monster.

Latte watched them leave with a proud look on her face, her hands on her hips.

Raspberry glanced at her, unamused, "Why did you..."

The puzzle pieces seemed to finally click in her brain as her eyes widened with a realisation, Latte grinning at her and holding back a laugh.

"Oh.." Raspberry mumbled, "You really think they'll..? Y'know."

Latte crossed her arms, "Even if they don't, it was worth a shot." she grinned.

Custard appeared between them suddenly, glancing back and forth at the two.