TW: panic
--Bastet--
"Foot there," Ivana instructs me. I grumble and match my foot to hers.
I managed to get a few hours of sleep by the time Avery and I got back to Ixora. Even still, I am exhausted.
The excitement from last night is buzzing in my veins. I mean, I won't say I didn't know...but I didn't know. But now I feel lighter. And now I can make gay jokes about myself without feeling extensial dread of homophobia and just get a chuckle and a "same". Yay!
I raise my arms and arch forward, my stars turning blue in hue. Ivana nods, smiling. She insisted on a one-on-one lesson today. So she gave the entire class gardening duty while she tries to wrap her head around teaching me uhhh....
"What was it?" I ask her. Ivana arches her hand up gracefully.
"Water Wielding." Yeah. That. So far my stars haven't flickered. I'm already sweating and we've barely been out here more than thirty minutes.
Ivana took me by a pond by the forest's edge. Sweet shade cools me in the heat of the day.
"Okay, let's try it again," She says. I nod, pressing my mouth thin and adjusting my feet so my stance is solid. I arch my arm like always, except this time I jut my opposite arm forward at the water.
Nothing happens.
"Figures the moment you learn Moon your myth decides to stop there." Ivana crosses her arms.
"At least I have Brown-Eyed?" I mumble. My moon is going away. Ivana sighs.
"Let's try again," She says. I get up with her and set my feet in position. I arch my arm, breathing in. I exhale with the jut. The water in the pond stays still.
I groan, keeping my face tight. I squeeze in my eyes, letting a sweat roll down my eye. Focus. Focus.
"Ivana...." I start. Ivana nods at me.
"You can learn the basics. They are enough," Ivana says. "You just need No-Eyed and probably more theory."
"I haven't gone to any actual Cloud-Eyed lessons," I tell her. "It's been difficult to figure out by myself. And most of the lessons I spend learning Sign Language if Milo is on the ground. I can't fly."
Ivana frowns.
"You'll get it, Gold-Eyed," She tells me, her hand on my shoulder. "Now let's get you better in Blue-Eyed myth than Brown."
* * *
I hold a small sliced apple in my hand. Breaking the leaves and twigs, I step. I chew on the snack.
I haven't found Thorn yet today, but I'm confident she's around here somewhere. I need to tell her about my myth and that I'm leaving soon. I don't know, maybe she can come with me. Like Avery and Quarry would allow that. But they would understand, right?
"Oh, there you are," I say. I catch a blur of black hair passing behind a tree.
"Shh," Thorn says quietly. "I'm studying you." I blink, eating another apple.
"You are the weirdest person I've ever met," I say. Thorn comes out from behind the tree. She has her hair down today. It brushes their wrists.
"Is that an apple?" Thorn says, pointing at my hand. I nod, holding some out. She takes a slice and comes up next to me. Thorn falls on me, so her body is pressed against mine. I cough, taking a step back.
"I wanted to tell you something," I say. She looks up at me and raises her eyebrows. "I've been working with Moon more."
"Any wielding?" She asks. I shake my head. My eyes are glued on her. "Hmmm." She looks at me quizzically, walking around me like I'm a specimen.
"My teacher, Ivana, told me that I should learn basic Sun and Sky wielding next. But I haven't really gone to a lot of sky classes. And by the time I have basics in Sun I'm exhausted from the day.."
"Have you ever gone to any Sky?" Thorn asks me. I start to walk towards the meadow again. She follows. "Well?"
"Yeah! But—" I sigh, hanging my head. "I just learn Sign or sit out because I can't fly. And I've been so focused on Moon lately. And...well they're some conspiracies you could say." I look to the side to avoid Thorns stare.
"In Lady Sorrel's Meadow?" She asks, doubtful. I whip towards her.
"Yes! That's also kind of why I came here. I wanted to ask you something," I tell her. Thorn cocks her head.
"Aw I thought it was because you loved me so much," She smirks. I twist my lips in an attempt to stifle the heat in my face.
"Avery, Quarry and I have to leave the Meadow soon. Avery and I...we don't trust Lady Sorrel anymore," I explain.
"So, you've come to your senses," Thorn says. I side-eye her. She's being very Thorn-ish today.
"Shut up. Anyway, we're leaving and I wanted to see...if you wanted to come with us," I say, looking at the ground. I look up at Thorn hesitantly. "Do you want to come with me?"
Her mouth is slightly open, brows furrowed. They blink at me in silence.
"What?" She says, her voice breaking. I look at them, confused.
"It's okay if you don't want to," I say half-heartedly. Thorn frowns.
"I–um. I can't—" Thorn takes a step back. She glances to the side before turning around. "I um, I'll see you later."
Thorn dashes away through the forest. I blink, staring at the trees they disappeared through.
* * *
I open the door to Ixora slowly. I really had a different answer in mind. "Of course I'll come with you Bastet!" "Why did you even ask?!" You know, something that wouldn't make me feel like trash.
Avery is kneeling by her bed, folding her clothes into tiny pieces. I go up to her.
"Where have you been?" She asks me. Her hair is up in its usual bun. I sigh and melt down across from her.
"Forest," I reply. I blink sluggishly. Avery looks up at me and frowns.
"You look exhausted," She says. I nod.
"I am." Avery goes back to folding her clothes. She takes a black tank top and puts it in her backpack, the same one she had throughout the hike to the Meadow.
"You're packing," I observe. Avery nods.
"I like head starts on things," She says. "You went scouting?"
"You mean around the forest?" I ask her. Avery nods. I roll my head down. "No just...walking." Avery hums.
"We should go scouting with Quarry tomorrow. To see good paths. Assuming we are going back to Maylea." Avery puts jeans in her backpack.
"Didn't you tell me I should go to Brina?" I ask her. Avery looks up at me, confused.
"What? You mean when we first met?" She asks. I nod. Avery chuckles. "Either city will be fine. At least in Maylea we have someplace to stay. Even if it is an abandoned building."
"We can't all sleep on your mattress," I tell her. Avery puckers her lips.
"I am sure we can get something from the Solar Market."
I sigh and sit back. I can't believe I actually miss Maylea. It was scary at first, and confusing. I can't believe I've come to love its weird nature. The tree-shops and buildings carved from the trunks of those massive trees. Even its weird citizens.
"I want to see the palace," I say. Avery looks up at me, her mouth twisted in a sneer.
"No you do not," She says, looking back down at her clothes. "It is trash on fire."
"Fine, I'll go with Quarry then," I say. Avery rolls her eyes.
"I have warned you. Do not come back saying I am right." I chuckle. "Besides we have to talk to Quarry about whether we are going back to Maylea or somewhere else. It might be worth checking out Brina. That way we will not be in the same city as Thorn."
I widen my eyes as I look down.
Oh no. Should I tell Avery about Thorn? Would she understand? Would she even let Thorn come with us? By Thorn's reaction, she's not coming. But she did say see you later. I don't even know anymore.
"Scouting tomorrow?" Avery asks.
"Yeah. And deciding where we'll go."
I hope it's Maylea.