The Endless Torment of an Admin (MCSM Fanfiction)

Chapter 15 - Mending bonds

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, only occasionally broken up by a bird somewhere in the trees, or the sound of Ray tugging out mouthfuls of green grass. Not even the canopy of leaves above them kept the forest cool at that point, the hot summer sun baking the earth.

Lukas was sitting cross-legged on the grass, close to where Ray was grazing. He had been fiddling with the grass he was sitting on, absent-mindedly weaving the long green blades together. Finally he's grown bored of that, and had resorted to watching his mare graze while fanning himself with one hand in an unsuccessful attempt against the summer heat. He couldn't wait for autumn to roll around.

Jesse didn't seem to be phased by the humid summer air at all, slowly pacing up and down between two trees. Lukas could tell she was worried, or frustrated, or annoyed, or something along those lines, her hands twitching at her sides and her expression stiff. They haven't been waiting that long, only about twenty minutes. But it felt like an eternity had passed.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down?" Lukas said, taking a bottle of water from his bag. "You know how carried away Jack can get when he's telling a story, we might be waiting for a bit."

"No thanks." Jesse mumbled distractedly.

"Is everything okay?" Lukas tried, taking a small drink from the bottle. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing!" Jesse snapped, making Lukas flinch. She sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. Nothing's bothering me, nothing specifically, this is just... kind of how I feel on a daily basis."

"What do you mean?" Lukas asked softly.

"It's just these powers." Jesse mumbled, beginning to stroke the grazing mare. "My emotions fuel the powers, but the powers exaggerate my emotions, so it's all just one big mess." She sighed. "I just can't win."

Lukas's face softened. He's been a little too hung up on how much Jesse deserved another chance to realise how hard things were for her. Any sympathy he had was clouded over by the anger over Petra getting hurt.

Before Lukas could reply, Ray lifted her head, a clump of grass still hanging from her mouth. Her ears were pricked as she stared through the trees, snorting.

"Do you hear that?" Jesse asked, as Lukas slowly got to his feet as well.

It was distant, but it sounded like hoofbeats. They didn't have to wonder for long, as Petra became visible through the trees after a few moments, leading two horse behind her.

"Hey guys!" She was grinning. "Looks like we'll get there today after all, Jack said we could use these two."

"They're beautiful." Lukas said, reaching out to stroke one of the horses while the other cautious sniffed Ray.

They were both geldings, clearly bred for travelling unlike Ray. The first one was a striking black and white appaloosa, his white coat covered in splashes and flecks of black. A large black patch covered most of his back and rump, decorated with white spots. The other was a dark dappled grey with four white stockings that all went up over his knees, as well as a broad white blaze. He looked much younger than the appaloosa, looking around with curious eyes.

"Did you get the compass? And the map?" Jesse asked.

"Got them both." Petra said, handing the map to Lukas and the compass to Jesse. "But you can return that compass to Binta, Jesse, we're not using it."

"What?" Lukas asked in surprise, looking up from the map.

"Jack gave me this." Petra said, showing them the blanket. "It's from the Oasis, so if that's where Xara is, it'll take us straight to her."