Aerith [Original Story] [On Hold]

Chapter 20: In Which I Have to Stand My Ground

My march out the door got a bit less leader-like when I realized that I had no idea where the stables were, so I had to wait for the others to show me the way. Well, as long as Thaelia wasn't watching, I was okay. The bad news was that she probably was.

Tom and I led up the rear of the group, Anthony in front. I noticed Xavier sneak a glance at us, but aside from that, no one bothered us. Renee was probably giving them all warning glares.

"You did brilliantly," Tom smiled. I considered "brilliant" a relevant term - to me, anything that didn't involve me puking or fainting was brilliant.

Still, I grinned. Although I had really been terrified out of my wits, I was going to blow this off with something silly. "Well, I couldn't just sit there and let her flirt with you, right?" 

The snow was crunching under our boots as we walked, so I noticed when he stopped moving just by the sound.

I turned to see Tom with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Do you really think that I was paying attention to any of Thaelia's advances?"

I shrugged. 

Tom shook his head in a you're ridiculous manner, but he took my hand in his as he did so. I was okay with this.

My satisfaction deflated a bit once we were on our way, because the mountains hadn't gotten any warmer or less foreboding while we had been in the castle. Still, I couldn't be too upset, because the further we traveled into the mountains, the further we were getting from Thaelia.

The mountains progressively turned into hills, and I welcomed back the greenery and warmth with arms wide open. It was a relief to hear the birds chirping instead of the harsh, howling wind that I had started getting accustomed to. 

My enthusiasm was mirrored by our horses, who were getting overexcited about the grass to the point where soon had to take a rest so that they could graze and water for a bit.

The instant we stopped, I immediately climbed off of my horse and flopped down into the grass, breathing in the refreshing smell of the dirt. I had never in my life appreciated any sort of greenery more than I did now.

I could hear Xavier chuckling a bit, but I didn't bother glaring at him. I rolled on my back and closed my eyes, reveling in the warmth of the sun on my face. Wow, I really wished that I could just take a nap here for a while. This was nice.

I didn't open my eyes again, and I was starting to drift off when I heard Tom's voice.

"Cosette, we need to go."

Tom was crouched next to my head. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes, giving him my best pouty face.

"It's not much further; I promise that you can sleep once we get there."

I judged his words for a moment and then, still somewhat reluctantly, offered my hand so he could help me up.

I was somewhat in a daze for the rest of the ride, and I didn't fully come back to my senses until we were all dismounting at the edge of a clearing.

"They'll be coming from over there," Tom said, pointing towards the opposite end of the plain from where we were. "It'll be best if we set up camp here near the treeline. We don't want to have our tents in the middle of the field when the fight starts, and we don't want to confine ourselves between our camp and the other edge."

"We'll have to be ready, though," Renee pitched in. "We don't want them getting all the way over here before we realize that they're here." Next to her, Anthony nodded.