The Wolf Of The Moon & Sun

The Bath in Flowers and Pomegranates (21)

ETHAN POV
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Everything felt right now that Irene was with me. I had been scared of traveling on my own.

I had just made it out of the territory when she suddenly appeared from thin air. My hesitance and fear caused the journey to be much slower. I had camped out in a cave for a couple of days, trying to piece everything together.

I explained to her my mission—leaving out the fact my mother and I were guardians of Luna, and how I had to go to find out how to control my powers. I'd still have to figure out an excuse for that later.

The red pack was far, extremely far, but at least now I could enjoy the journey. We took small detours, exploring abandoned houses, climbing in trees, playing in the body of waters we could find.

The days were long and cold considering it was late into winter, starting to turn to spring. I didn't mind the cold, perhaps I had gotten used to it. Irene also loved the weather. She put down the spell she had used to disguise herself from the pack, her snake-like eyes reappearing and her forked tongue sneaking through her sharp teeth.

We played in the water; it was cold but refreshing. When we found a very shallow part of the water, we'd lay on our backs and look up at the clouds, naming all sorts of things.

Irene was a cheater, making up mythical creatures just to gain more points than me. I'd splash her with water whenever she won, causing her to laugh loudly.

Food wasn't a challenge because of my hunting ability and Irene's specialty with fish. She didn't need a weapon of any kind. All she did was wiggle her fingers in the water, and they'd swim right up to her. She attempted to teach me, but they didn't like me as much as they liked her.

Hunting wasn't as easy for me as just wiggling my fingers, but it wasn't hard to catch the small critters that cross our paths. Irene couldn't bear the thought of me killing a deer or elk, so we only ever had small things to each such as rabbits or squirrels.

We'd end up without our clothes, cleaning them with stones and water. She, like she used to, pointed out every change in my body. I felt confident enough to do the same to her now, seeing we had grown so much closer.

"Your ribs are no longer visible," I hummed as I sat my shirt in the water and rang all the water from my pants.

"You have got muscles, like you had when you first entered the cave," She responded as her eyes examined my arms. I smiled and flexed my arms as if I had the biggest biceps in the world. She laughed at me, and I splashed water at her.

I narrowed my eyes and smiled, "Well at least you no longer look like bones hiding behind skin." She smiled at that.

"Your teeth are whiter, so at least you won't be toothless," She retaliated. Our game of passive aggressive compliments continued throughout the entire time we washed.

At night we watched the stars, gazing upon them. She named every constellation she could find then explained to me all of their stories, if they had one.

I listened to her talk, not interrupting a single sentence. These small conversations made the homesick feeling rest easy. I imagined the stars to be other guardians watching over me. The brightest one was Nala, at least in my mind. Each twinkle was a sign of encouragement, telling me I was on the right path. I really hoped I was.

Soon, our conversation turned to dragons, and I grew curious. "So how does that exactly work?" I asked as we laid against the cold ground. I was thankful I had packed a blanket amongst many other things. Irene and I shared, we stayed close together for warmth, "How does a dragon...you know...with a witch?" I specified my question as I turned to look at her.