The white-blues and silvers of wintry dreams swirled in the sky above. Upon that cold day, he felt the calling of his own warm heart as he strode in bold steps, trying to reach the village before dark. So far, the journey had been easy; he had crossed the valley with no incidents and right then he was traveling through the mountains. His feet sunk in the snow, but the elves had provided him with a sturdy pair of boots that were made for such environments.
From time to time, he would lose his way in the maze of cliffs and rocks, and fortunately an animal was there to show him the way. It was probably thanks to the woman the old elf had mentioned. He would follow the animal, usually a small bird or a wild fox, and then after a while, it would vanish amongst the trees.
Matthew eventually came out of the mountains, reaching an immense plain with crops of wheat, a golden path that expanded to meet the blue of the sea in the horizon. In the distance he could make out a tiny speck of a village, and he felt his heart race in anticipation. His mouth curved into a bright smile; he knew he was close to finally finding her.
'Hey, you!'
Matthew froze still. Someone had seen him, and they were calling him to turn around. His mind was desperately trying to find a way out, but his legs were the ones that acted first. He immediately bolted towards the village, his body straining from the effort to escape them. Of course, the elves saw him and ran after him with hands ready to produce a spell.
Matthew ran as fast as his legs permitted him, like his life depended on it. He made zigzags through the trees, trying to confuse them, but the elves were too smart to be fooled, and stayed close behind. Matthew realised he could not outrun them, he felt like they were coming nearer with every passing second. He made a sharp turn to the left towards some bushes and rocks, and frantically searched for a hiding place before they arrived.
He didn't have the time to over analyse it. He quickly dropped on the ground behind a bush and prayed they would keep running ahead. He heard them approach, and fortunately they didn't stop, they passed by him without looking around. Matthew took advantage of that lucky moment. He silently jumped up and sprinted towards the opposite direction. That would give him time to save himself from his predators.
Truly enough, the elves were too far behind to catch up with him. Matthew slowed down his pace and calmly headed towards the village. He occasionally looked over his shoulder for any danger, but it seemed the worse had already been over. At least he had a nice running exercise. He arrived at the outskirts of the village that was bustling with activity.
He obviously couldn't just stroll in there. They would tear him to pieces without hesitation, and he didn't even know where she was. Matthew thought for a second. They had said she was at the village, but that was impossible. She couldn't risk being detected either. He was still deep in thought when suddenly a pigeon decided to use his head as landing ground.
'What the hell!' he whispered angrily.
The pigeon wasn't fazed by his reaction and cooed at him with determination, jumping from one branch to another to attract his attention. Matthew tried to shoo it off, but the bird bit his finger hard and pulled his sleeve with its beak before it flew away towards an abandoned building. It was an old temple on the snowy mountains behind the village.
Matthew had a feeling he had to go high up there, and he didn't like it. He sighed and started walking. The closer he got, the more anticipation he felt for finding her. He wanted to make up for the stupid things he had done. She had become an important person in his life, and he didn't want to ruin their friendship because of his insensitive attitude.
After an hour of climbing the steep pathway, he reached the deserted temple. It must have been a magnificent building that provided solace to the people with its humble architecture and wide balconies. Now nature had invaded and taken over the temple, and the people who used to visit it had forsaken it long ago, forgetting the shelter it had provided in difficult times.
Matthew walked to the closest balcony, his eyes darting to and fro with worry, and he let out a breath of relief when he saw her. She was sitting on the railing, gazing ahead with a relaxed expression, her legs tangling in the air. Her golden hair had grown longer during the last couple of months and reached just above her chin.
Matthew stared at the beautiful sight before him. He couldn't take his eyes off her delicate face, her strong figure. He had missed her. He knew it was only a day since they had last seen each other, but he couldn't overlook the feeling of emptiness that had vanished once he laid eyes on her. Matthew shook his head in confusion. He hadn't experienced such feelings before for someone else and he didn't know what to make out of it.
Matthew swallowed hard, his fingers playing with his belt. It's just my concern for a friend, nothing more, he tried to convince himself. He set aside those weird thoughts and slowly approached her.
'Hey,' he said softly.
Peter immediately turned around and looked at him, her eyes blinking in surprise. She came down the railing with a graceful thump, still not saying anything, and took tentative steps towards him. Right then, Matthew surrendered to his heart. With two long strides he closed the gap between them and enveloped her in a bone-crashing hug. He felt Peter freeze under his arms, but then her body melted into his, and he sighed in relief.
It felt good to hold her like that, to feel her arms around his waist, and he shut his eyes, resting his chin on her head. He finally felt at peace. They stayed that way for a few minutes, relishing that rare moment of calmness. Although he didn't want to let go, he loosened his hold on her and glanced at her flushed face.
'Couldn't wait to get rid of me, huh?' he gave her lopsided grin.
'Matthew. It's not like that,' she said in a chiding tone.
'I know, I know. Why are you here?'
She sat on the railing again, and Matthew followed after her. A few seconds passed until she spoke. 'I wanted to clear up my mind. And be alone for a bit.'
'Do you want me to leave?'
'No! Of course not,' she gave him a small smile.
'Do you want to share anything with me?'
Peter let out a deep breath, and Matthew stayed silent to give her all the time she needed before answering. He had learned that it was difficult for her to trust people, so he was grateful for her effort to make an exception for him.
'You know, before this day we could be honest with each other. But now...' she trailed off.
'Now it is still the same.'
'Even if I am different from you?' she glanced at him with a frown.
'In what way?' Matthew held his breath, he wasn't sure how this was going to play out.
'I...uhmm...' Peter stared down at her hands, her expression tense.
Matthew grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. He wanted to take down all her barriers, to show her he would never let her down again. 'Peter, you know you can tell me.'
'The old man gave me some information about my parents.'
Matthew looked at her expectedly, urging her to go on with her story.
'He told me that my mother...was an elf, and my father was a human.'
He hummed in understanding, his hand stroking his beard. 'Quite a blow,' he remarked.
'Yeah. I was very shocked to hear that. I felt like my...like I was robbed of a part of myself, of my past.'
'I am sorry,' he said, his voice laced with regret, 'but at the same time I'm not. You can be so much more than just a human. You can be better than all of us.'
Matthew had plenty of time to think during his journey and he had decided that he wouldn't judge her based on a past she had no control of. It was beneath him. He would be better than the rest and give her strength when she needed somebody to lean on. He would be the still meadow she could let the tornado of her pain slow down, a safe place to shelter her from the storm. Matthew turned his gaze to her, and the warm smile that had formed on her lips took him by surprise. He had anticipated a whole different outcome. 'What?'
'I didn't expect that kind of reaction.'
'What did you expect?' he raised a brow.
'I feared that you would take it much worse, or not accept the other part of me.'
Her words pulled at his heart. That woman before him had got so used to being pushed away and mistreated that she couldn't imagine anything better. He took her hand within his own and held it tight.
'For me, you will always be Peter,' he said softly, his eyes glinting with affection.
Peter stared at their entwined hands and let out a sigh of relief. Her features relaxed, like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Matthew didn't even want to fathom what dark thoughts had occupied her mind until then.
'Also,' he went on, 'that old elf mentally prepared me for this.'
Her head immediately whipped towards him. 'What? He didn't!'
'Yeas, he did.'
'I will kill him!' Peter jumped up and started pacing back and forth, making Matthew laugh at her angry outburst. She looked at him with annoyance, but her mouth twitched in merriment.
'Anything else?' he asked her when she had calmed down. He saw her falter, and she averted her eyes, staring at her feet.
'No, that's all.' Matthew didn't want to pressure her. He knew she would tell him when she felt ready.
'Alright.'
He stared at the view ahead. The village was a speck of light in the darkness that fell rapidly, and the sea a blanket of waves. Though the land was a shiver of white, and the stars felt more distant in the coldness of winter, the sunset brought warmth to his eyes. Matthew jumped off the railing and took out the blankets the elves had given him. It was too late to travel back to the city, so it was better to stay there for the night. He threw one to Peter who looked at him in puzzlement.
'Unless you wanna freeze here, I recommend we go inside,' Matthew said.
Peter kept staring at him with a gaping jaw.
'What? You expected me to leave you all alone and unprotected in this dangerous place?' He told her smugly and moved to go inside. He passed by her and stopped just beside her ear. 'You know you can't survive without me,' he whispered to her.
'Matthew!' she groaned, and went to attack him, but he had already run away laughing.
He loved driving her mad, bringing her feisty nature to the surface. As they chased each other around the temple with a smile on their faces, Matthew felt content. There may be hard days waiting ahead, but if he had nights like this, it was all worth it.
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A/N: Ahhh who doesn't like a little bit of romance? Tell me what you thought about this chapter in the comments. TBC...
Phrase of chapter: ἡ μεν ἐμπειρία τέχνην ἐποίησεν, ἡ δ' ἀπειρία τύχην / experience created art, and inexperience created luck - Aristotle