Appetence

Archive Log: 08

With the dwindling daylight, it was clear that time was against them, him, more like. David had split away from Weyland, he seemed to believe if Minerva was going to go, she would follow the path. The same path they had travelled down no more than an hour ago. It wasn't like there was a great distance between here and where the city actually started; as soon as Minerva reached the borders of the bustling metropolis, she would be lost. She could blend in like every other synthetic which was roaming about the Earth. No one would openly know she was one, unless she let slip, which she wouldn't. Seems David had to break it to her, she seemed nonchalant, uncaring over that fact. That he was certain she would most likely keep that nugget of truth to herself.

David however, opted to travel into the woodland space surrounding the estate. More times than not he had watched Minerva peering out with a sad sense of wonder. If she was going to be anywhere, she'd be out here, David knew it. He could feel it. Not that they were in tune with each other, but he just knew. He couldn't explain it, he just knew she was out amongst the trees and foliage, not heading towards tall city blocks and pushing past rushing people.

He jumped over fallen logs, the rough bark biting into his palms as he climbed himself up and over and jumped, his canvas shoes crunching on the leaves and debris of the forest floor. He brushed his hands down onto his trousers, not appreciating the dirt which was being left behind as he climbed about trying to find Minerva. He looked up, the branches above swayed slightly in the breeze, not that the wind reached down to where David was standing. His eyes flickered down after hearing rustling in front of him, he moved as silently forwards as possible yet became disappointed when a small animal scurried and darted up a tree.

He watched it go, it not paying any mind to him at all. David sighed. So his search continued. He honestly thought that there would've been a trail left behind, footprints mainly. The ground was muddy, the damp weather of nights made this turn mushy, boggy even as his shoes slipped and sunk into the terrain. What was white, was now a horrible brown, leaves and twigs had become stuck in the mix too. There was no redeeming them, David was under no illusion he'd have to bin them, there went his first pair of shoes ever.

Pushing his way through a bush, he inhaled slowly. The air was much cleaner, fresher here. Much more natural, no pun intended towards the nature around him, but in comparison to the city; this was fresh, he couldn't smell any pollutants, no trace of harmful products lurking in the air, travelling on the breeze. Nothing. David listened to the distant birds singing, and really, now that he stood here looking down at the lake, he could understand why Minerva would want to come out here.

In contrast to the house, there was freedom. There were no walls. No rules. No regulations, and no stopping or ending. Once setting off walking, there was really no stopping. The landscape stretched as far as David could see. He was unaware, that there was even an outcrop. He was standing on a small rocky ledge looking out and over the hill downwards. The slope down didn't look steep, even a small path was roughly cut out as if someone used to visit often and the trees hadn't grown back to close the space off.

It was within this muddy path that David finally spied something which caused his head to tilt, and eyes to flick upwards along the trail: footprints. More sure looking then his skidded ones, Minerva was clearly more light on her feet in this sort of terrain than him. In all fairness, this was the first time David had ever come across mud...and woodland. He didn't quite know what to expect, the complete opposite to the clean city didn't even cross his mind as he first came running down this way.

David sighed, he looked back the way he came; the house could be seen in the distance, looming white over the trees and the windows catching the last sunlight of the day, causing them to gleam and shimmer. He half wondered whether Weyland had returned yet, maybe he called people in? David frowned and shook his head over that thought as he crouched down to safely climb down from this ledge. He couldn't get hurt, but he still didn't want to just jump off a higher object and skid and fall in the mud. But, back to his earlier thought as he looked down at the smaller footprints, of course Weyland wouldn't call help in, no one knew Minerva existed, after all. If help was called, it was probably going to be more common for them to be shocked that her illness had been beaten. That she was still alive, alive, not on the run and disappearing.