Despond

Thirteen

Branches snapped, leaves crunched, and a whole manner of birds fled from their pecking grounds as the two forms ran through the thickening trees.

"What am I doing?" Hopper called out, skidding to a stop.

"Keep it down!" The cultist scorned, looking over her shoulder.

"Oh, that fat bastard wont follow us in here." he snapped, "No sane person sets foot in this gods-forsaken place."

"Maybe not you Rimmers." She said, crossing her arms.

"Rimmers?" Hopper asked, smirking.

"Yeah, Rimmers. As in the creatures that live on the Rim." she said.

"Oh I get it. You just might want to choose another word. That one already has a meaning."

He couldn't help but laugh and leant on a tree. He pulled it back immediately, inspecting the sticky sheen of on his palm with disgust.

"I don't care about your stupid meaning." she scorned, adjusting her oversized hood. "Let's just keep going. We ne-"

"Keep going?" Hopper barked, wiping his hand on his increasingly ruined pants. "Are you completely insane?"

"Am I insane? I'm not the one who tears people from their clothing! In front of a crowd of Rimmers!"

"Stop using that word! It doesn't mean what you think it does! And for the last time, I only did it to save your sorry ass!"

"To save yourself more like." She huffed and began to pace amongst the bracken.

"To save... Are you blind? They weren't after me, they were after you! I could have simply walked away. Hell, I could have joined them!"

"Then why did you help me?" She stared at him from within the shadow of her hood.

"I didn't help you, I helped him!" Hopper jabbed a finger at the Jarken, who had found a flying insect to chase around a small rock.

"You don't even like him." she said as they both began to watch the innocent creature; her voice lowering.

"I know!" Hopper spat, not noticing the quieting conversation. "I don't want to babysit this idiotic bundle of piss."

"Then why did you come back?" She asked.

"I don't bloody know." He said, sounding out each word.

He found another rock and lowered himself onto it. The surface of the stone was slick with moss and he immediately regretted the decision.

"I couldn't sell it. I chased after you to get it back. I left a man to die just so I could steal it. I hurled myself off a fucking tower to save it." Hopper said with his head in his hands.

"The Royrn?" the cultist asked. Hopper raised his head, and then an eyebrow, causing her to clarify. "The Despian. The blue-skin from the city."

"Yeah. I stole the egg from him. Why, do you know him?"

"We were the ones that gave chase when he stole the Jarken from the temple." she said, excitedly.

"Temple?"

"At the centre of the forest."

"There is no centre of the forest." he interrupted.

"I live in the centre of the forest, you imbecile, and that's where we need to take the Jarken."

"Wait. You said we needed to return him to the forest. You said nothing about the centre." Hopper said as he stood.

"Well we can't leave him here can we?" she highlighted her point by gesturing at the now upside-down creature holding onto its toes.

"I can." he said as he made his way back in the direction he hoped the tree-line lay. "Let the little fucker fend for himself."

The cultist gave no response. She listened to the human as he stomped away a dozen paces, stopped, swore once again, and slowly returned with gritted teeth.

"Why can't I leave?" Hopper said, genuine worry tainting his words.

"Guilt?" she offered. "A sense of needing to do what's right?"

"Well seeing as I once paid a girl to do things that would make the filthiest of degenerates blush, I can't see that being a problem." he said, remembering that faithful night.

"I'm not sure what that means." she said, taking an instinctive step back.

"I wouldn't want to scare you by explaining it." he said.

They both looked at each other as the sounds of the forest crept in.

"Did you lie about taking it to it's mother?" Hopper asked, scooping up the creature and thrusting it into her arms. "Like you lied about the centre?"

"I didn't lie." she said fumbling with it. "But yes, I believe that once the Jarken is reunited with its own kind it should become less dependent on you."

"And I'll be able to let go? No more cow wrestling?" he asked.

"That would be my guess. Does that mean you're willing to take it back to the temple?"

Hopper sighed, taking a step away from the suspected direction of the Rim.

"If it'll free me of the two of you, I'd cut down every damn tree on the way too."

"That's not very nice." she said, matching his pace. "How's the arm anyway?"

Hopper reactively flexed his arm. The cuts had healed into pink scars and the bruises had vanished beneath the layer of dirt he wore as a second skin. He froze with vivid memories of his fall and the collision of a landing which had caused the injuries.

He checked his other arm. It ached with every movement and was still ribboned with clotting gashes. Every part of his beaten body began to protest as he focused on the pain. All except that one arm.

"What did you do?" he called after her, jogging to keep up. "Hey! Fix the rest of me!"