Lᴏɴᴇʟʏ Fᴀʟʟs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tᴡᴏ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴɪɴᴇ || ʟɪsᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ

Sabien

My insides twisted uncomfortably as we walked. I felt faintly ill, and glanced over at Navia. The Ardu girl had withdrawn from my side and was now walking beside Zay. They spoke amiably, and for once, Zay's expression was less dark than usual. Somewhere deep down, I felt a strange surge of jealousy. Navia had gotten along well with us, after a little bit of distrust at the beginning, but that was to be expected, since we had only just learned about the prophecy and each other.

I pushed away the jealousy, scolding myself silently. I'd managed to make friends with Niko, at least. That was one more friend than I'd had before. But I'd had to work for it, and I hadn't quite earned the others' trust yet. Well, maybe now, after I'd saved all their lives. I tried not to puff up too much with pride at the thought.

But that's what bothered me about Lizzie, I found myself realizing, she had just appeared, and said that she trusted all of us, and we'd been expected to trust her too. That wasn't how trust worked.

And throwing around accusations, didn't quite help, either. It made me want to trust her even less. And I considered myself to be a pretty trusting person. The sick feeling returned, and I took a deep breath to quell my anxiety. I redirected my thoughts and my gaze, both landing on Sasha.

The Zhongese boy was every bit soldier. He even marched like one. A stark difference from his spirit animal, who stalked on and out of the underbrush, looking bored. Neither boy nor jaguar seemed inclined to acknowledge each other. In fact, every time Delar appeared in Sasha's field of view, his scowl deepened.

I reached absentmindedly for Eldya's tattoo. It must be hard for them, to be so at odds. I suppose I'd gotten quite lucky with my strong bond. I think I would do anything for Eldya.

I would do anything for a lot of these people. I realized then, my eyes drifting from Sasha to the others in front of us. Niko and Tyler's backs, side by side, heads bent and deep in discussion. I could hear Elle, Lucia's horse's, hoof beats behind me, too. I'd already risked my life once for them, after all.

And I'd do it again, I thought, with more courage than I ever remembered having. It's what my hearts is telling me to do.

But, the snide voice in the back of my mind, which sounded suspiciously like my mother, added, and since when has following your heart ever helped you? Your brothers are way better than you, and they always listen to their heads.

Immersed in my thoughts, I didn't realize that Tyler, who had been walking in front of me, had stopped. Until, that is, I walked into his back. I careened backward and almost fell over. In fact, I would have had the most epic fall, had it not been for Sasha. He grabbed my arm, quickly stopping my fall.

"Thanks." I gasped, my heart beating a mile a minute as he hauled me back to my feet.

"Watch where you're going next time." He replied gruffly, but he brushed the wrinkles from where he'd grabbed me out of my shirt once he released me. 

"We're going to make camp here." Tyler turned around, oblivious or simply pretending to be. He looked up at the darkening sky. "I'd rather have gone a bit further, but who knows if we'd have found as good of a spot." He pointed to a small trail just off the main path, which led to a clearing. He led the way to it, then started unpacking.

I unpacked as well, securing a spot in the centre of the clearing.

"Is it okay if I sleep here?"

I glanced up. Sasha stood beside my bedroll, his eyebrows raised.

"Sure." I hoped my surprise didn't show in the quick smile I flashed him.

He returned it and got to work.

To the right of me, Navia was laying out her stuff. She seemed not to notice me, but her wolverine— Cerco— stared at me intently. It was unnerving, and I resisted the urge to gulp nervously.

Sasha finished quickly, walking over to Tyler, who was sorting out the watch shifts.

I finished as well, sitting down on my bedroll.

Navia put down her pack and sat down as well, rubbing Cerco behind the ears.

I cleared my throat nervously, unsure how to start talking.

Navia glanced over. She tilted her head questioningly.

"Listen." I started finally, surprisingly managing not to make a massive fool of myself by stuttering. "I wanted to say..." I blew out a breath. "What I'm trying to say is..."

"Take your time." Navia smiled softly, and it really didn't help because my brain just became more jumbled.

"Sorry." I mumbled, took a deep breath, and looked anywhere but at her. "I wanted to say thank you for worrying."

"Worrying?" Navia raised a brow, a laugh playing on her lips. "That's my specialty, Sabien. You don't have to thank me for that."

I shrugged, feeling embarrassed and hot— in a good way, though. "Still. It's nice."

"Sabien." She reached out and took my hand. I almost missed her next words. "We're a team. I'm always going to worry about you. I worry about everyone."

"Uh-huh." I said stupidly.

Navia chuckled and stood up, pulling me with her. "Come on, let's go eat." We joined the others, but Navia never released my hand. My arm tingled. I'd never been so warm inside before.

Hey, look! An update! I'm proud. Hope y'all liked this chapter. If you didn't then... well, give me some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Please and thank ya ;)

edit: 12/07/23
hbd sashaaaa
it's late but I'm also in a different country so WHATEVER
also yes I took out half the chapter but that's bcs I decided to make it its own chapter!! how exciting!!!
anywayyy see y'all soon :)