Watch the Stars with Me

Chapter 18

While on the adventure funded by her family Fern and the group of adventurers traveled through deserts, forests, abandoned towns, and ancient ruins. They observed stars that Leon had only read about before. They ate food at some of the highest recommended restaurants and in some of the most humble homes of the people who's families have lived on the lands for as long as there are records.

After gaining some trust of some native people they were brought to a cave that had paintings and writings that the people claim are from the very first people. When asked if they could take pictures of the inside of the cave they were denied and the group accepted that answer. Leon spent months of their exertions thinking about that cave, he wrote in great detail what he could, but he knew that getting photographs of the paintings and writings would be the best way to tell the story. So, after eleven months of traveling, fully funded by the Appleton family, Leon parted from the group and spent over a year in the village that showed them the cave in the first place. He learned their language, he learned their food and before he knew it he had become a part of their village. Listened with the children as the elders told They didn't call him Leon, they called him Jahanjuy, meaning seeker of the world. He fell in love with the people and the way they lived for each other.

Looking so different from the brown haired, caramel skinned, and green or golden eyed villagers didn't stop them from welcoming him, and was partly responsible for the amount of women from the village who were seemingly always around him, asking if there was anything he needed or that they could do for him and swooning as he let his dark hair continue to grow out again. The men of the village teased him about the effects he was having on the single women, and despite the teasing, or perhaps because of it, Leon felt accepted and welcome.

The winter he spent with them was particularly harsh and cold. He did his best to keep himself warm in his small house by keeping the fire going and wrapping himself in the furs and blankets that he had spent the Summer and Fall making alongside the women. All of his efforts were of little use though as the Winter winds found their way into the house through every nook and cranny that first night and as he sat by his fire, waiting for the soup he was making to finish, he knew he would need to learn how they survive this kind of weather each year, move in with one of the families, or leave for the Winters and return in the Spring. He was in the middle of weighing his options when there was a knock on his door.

When he opened it he quickly welcomed whoever it was without waiting to find out because he wanted to keep as much warmth as he could inside the little house. As the guest began removing layer after layer of furs and leathers he realized it was one of the few villagers he hadn't spent very much time with. She has dark golden eyes and unlike the rest of her village her hair has a slight red to it that looks almost like copper. "Valantia?" He was shocked. Of all the people to visit him during the storm he wasn't expecting a young widow known to be one of their most talented healers.

When she turns to him she looks irritated. "Are you hoping to freeze to death Jahanjuy?" Her voice is harsh as she begins pushing some of her discarded layers against the bottom of the door and into some of the openings that the windows create. "Give me some of your leathers and furs," she demands as she continues to close off the holes. As she does he notices the small building begins to warm up a little.

"Why didn't I think of that?" He wondered aloud as Valantia sits down next to him by the fire.

"Because you're not used to living in a place like this in weather like this." Her words are a little less harsh as she holds her hands up to the flames.

"Here, let me." He says as he grabs her hands and wraps his around them before blowing hot breath on to them and rubbing his hands over hers. He hadn't notice her wide eyes and pink dusted cheeks at first, but when he did he stopped, still holding her hand. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before I just—" He trailed off as she pulled her hands away. "Why did you come check on me? Have we ever even talked before?" He asked.