StormBorn (UNEDITED)

XXVIII

Arebel was busy splashing water on Graphite so she didn't notice what he was doing at first.

Graphite suddenly went anti clockwise around her giving Arebel the complete view of Anatole's naked upper body with his wet shirt on Diamond's back.

He was untying the ropes that kept his pants attached to his waist when Arebel's eyes strayed to where he was standing.

"What do you think you are doing?!" She yelled.

He continued what he was doing, "What does it look like I am doing?"

He pulled off his trouser revealing a pair of shorts underneath, Arebel shielded her eyes with her hand, "Couldn't you wait till I was gone?"

He began splashing water on his body,"You are welcome to leave if it bothers you."

Arebel turned her back to him,"Do you want me to take Blaze and Diamond back to camp with me?"

"Yes. Do you want me to bring them to you?"

"Yes" She said as she struggled to get a hand on Graphite's reins, still backing Anatole.

Anatole walked over to her, reins in one hand wet clothes in the other. He put the hand with reins over her shoulders and she collected it from him. He walked to a big rock in the stream that had some parts of its body in the water and  placed his wet clothes on it.

Arebel walked ahead of the horses and led them out of the stream. Once they were out of the water the horses shook water off their bodies, sprinkling Arebel with droplets of water simultaneously. Arebel paused to let them shake as long as they wanted to, once she was convinced they were done she led them to the camp.

She kept her head straight and eyes focused on the path in front of her not sparing a glance to her left or  right till she reached the camp.

"Where is my brother?" asked Valeria who was sitting in front of the tent.

"Bathing in the stream." Arebel replied as she took the reins off the horses and let them roam free.

"What have you been doing since we left?" Arebel asked her.

"Nothing, the sleeping bags are not fully dry and the tent is to hot to stay in."

Sitting on the widely spread roots of a forest tree"Oh."

They say in silence, watching the horses graze or play. Anatole showed up some minutes later in wet clothes.

"You didn't take spare clothes?" Valeria asked.

"No." He walked over where luggage was kept, grabbed clean clothes a towel and disappeared into the forest. When he came back Arebel was dozing off on the tree trunk, Valeria was staring into space.

He clapped his hands loudly, drawing Valeria's attention and causing Arebel to wake up in slight panic.

"Who wants to train?" He asked.

Arebel hissed, leaned into the trunk and closed her eyes.

He looked at Valeria, "Not me."

"We have to keep our skills sharp we could be attacked anytime." He argued.

She stood up to check on the sleeping bags, picked one that was dry and spread it under a tree with shade"We are tired Nato." She said as she laid on the bag.

Anatole was  so bored, he  skipped  rocks  till it was evening. Valeria went on another exploration trip and returned with a sack of juicy ripe mangoes.

Graphite was sleeping beside Arebel, Diamond was drinking water from the stream and Blaze was grazing around the camp site. Arebel was awake and  stroking Graphite's mane lightly as he slept.