Ashima's entire body protested as she forced herself to take step after step.
Last night she had fallen asleep at the table after eating two small pieces of meat jerky and drinking a glass of water. When she woke, the lavender man showed her a cot a few feet away from his own bed, near the dresser. He must have brought it in while she was sleeping. He showed her where to use the bathroom, which was basically a bucket that pulled out of a small chest like box, and then returned to his desk to continue reading.
She thought perhaps they had come to some kind of common ground where he wouldn't be grumbling at her all of the time, showing her how much of an inconvenience she was to him.
She was wrong.
This morning he woke her up at the crack of dawn and insisted she get dressed and follow him outside. Barely stepping outside long enough for her to use the toilet bucket, before stepping in to beckon her out the door. He took off walking at a pace she struggled to keep up with, seeming determined. Her face took no time to hurt from the cold. When she saw he was heading away from camp she had to stop him and point to her face.
He had stared at her in confusion and tried to turn to continue walking but she grabbed his arm tightly and dug in her heels until he stopped to look at her again. She pointed at her face and made her whole body shiver theatrically, hoping he'd understand. She covered her face with her gloved hands and tried to shield it from the cold, before peaking a glance at him.
He stared for a moment before letting out a breath and nodding, changing direction to head back into camp. He stopped at what she could only assume was some kind of supply tent. He grabbed a cloth and paid the shop attendant before handing it to her. He stood and waited as she put the cloth on in a way to resemble her balaclava and then returned her hood to her head.
Then they were off again at his brisk pace, heading out into the wilderness. She knew she was still recovering from her run in with the mountainside and the lake, but even in prime shape she knew she'd never be able to keep up with this seven foot tall man's pace. She had tried to slow down or take breaks periodically but he pushed her on. At some point it did occur to her that he was going to kill her or abandon her out here, but then why would he buy her the cloth for her face?
"That's it." She stopped, panting, placing her hands on her knees in a partial squat. "That's it, I am taking a break." She stood up and crossed her arms over her head, allowing for more efficient air intake. "Go on if you must, but I'm taking a few minutes." She drew in a long breath before exhaling it slowly, trying to regulate her breathing.
The man motioned to continue but she shook her head, determined. "No." She sat on the ground with her legs straight out and her back against a tree. He seemed frustrated but she was surprised when he nodded and took the steps back toward her and kneeling. She raised a brow in question but then watched as he pulled the pack off of his shoulder and pulled out two pieces of jerky and a sealed jar of water for her.
She took them and nodded her appreciation. "Thank you."
He simply stood and walked to a tree ten feet away from her, resting his back against it as well. He pulled out a map and began studying it.
As she drank her water and chewed on the meat she watched him. "Are you trying to find something?" He glanced at her before looking back down at the map, then up at their surroundings moments later. They were within eyesight of the lake, on the edge of a forest. But she could see mountains in the distance ahead of them if they kept going in this direction. She could also hear running water, as if a river were ahead.
"I'm pretty good with maps, you know." She sighed as she watched him ignore her. "One of my specialties is navigation. Although now I kinda wish I had specialized in linguistics." She chuckled.
He looked up at her and his brows pushed together slightly as if confused.
Her face lit up as she thought of an idea. "I'm Ashima." She pointed to herself and then to him. "You are?" But her face fell as he just stared at her. "Let's try this again." She mumbled as she stood and walked closer to him, sitting down just a few feet away.
She pointed to herself again. "Ashima." Then waited a moment before pointing to him and waiting...no response.
She pointed to herself again. "Ah-Shee-Ma." She said slowly. Then waited and pointed to him.
He sighed as if bored. "Kee- eht-nahn." He sounded out slowly, pointing to himself.
She practically jumped up onto her knees in excitement. "Kietnan?" She asked, pointing to him and he nodded.
She pointed to herself again. "Ashima." She said with a huge smile on her face.
He looked at her as though she had two heads. Just when she thought he wouldn't respond he copied her. "Shee-mah." He pointed at her.
"Yes!" She nodded vigorously. Pointing at herself, she repeated "Ashima." Pointing at him "Kietnan."
He nodded and stood, as if no longer interested in this conversation, if you could call it that. He motioned for her to continue. She grumbled in complaint but stood and went back to retrieve her empty water jar. She handed it to him, he returned it to his bag and as he put the bag back on his shoulder he motioned with his head back in the direction they were headed.
"Hanton."
She perked up at the word.
"Hahn...tohn? Hahn-tahn?"
"Hahn-tohn." He repeated as he turned and walked away.
She took quick steps to catch up to him. "Hanton." She smiled. "Let's go? He just glanced at her and continued walking. "Hanton means Let's go. Or perhaps it means come." She said to herself, smiling. It will take a while to figure it out, but you're doing it. We're communicating. She said to herself with joy and hope.
~~~~~~~~
The alien woman...Sheema, finally stopped mumbling at me. He needed to focus. He wanted nothing more than to leave her in his dwelling but simply couldn't trust her alone in it yet.
Not that it would matter, he would have to leave her there tomorrow while he participated in the first trial. He frowned but then pushed it from his mind. That will be a worry for tomorrow.
Having studied papers and maps from inside a tent all he could, he had to spend a good portion of today reviewing the landscape in person. He had spent a good deal of time doing so when they had first arrived but was wishing he'd had more time to do so over these past few days.
He glanced at Ashima. She likely had no idea how badly her arrival had hindered his preparations. He only hoped her continued presence wouldn't affect his performance at the trials. After completion of each trial, they'd be handed the papers with information specific for the trial that would come the next day. He would have mere hours to study them before facing the next trial the following morning.
Ashima stopped walking and gasped, saying words Kietnan couldn't understand. He had already walked several large steps ahead of her before he turned to look at what she was going on about.
The forest had opened up into a snow covered valley, rolling hills covered the distance before large snow capped mountains could be seen far away from them.
The rolling hills that were covered in snow were also covered with thousands of pale blue flowers with a rich golden center.
He looked from the hills to her and watched as she removed her goggles and her eyes slowly ran over the landscape. After a moment, she returned the goggles to her face but continued staring out at the hills as they stood along the forest edge. He turned to look again at the hills. He had barely paid them any attention other than to note where they were on the map and memorize them for any potential landmark clue he would need for a trial.
But now that she had stopped them and he could see the amazement in her eyes, he looked at them with a renewed perspective. The scene was wondrous, he agreed, but unfortunately the flowers were hazardous. One touch or sniff and they would be in the medical tent for at least the night, covered in rashes and struggling to breath. That was if they could make it back there. More likely they would die of asphyxiation before they made it halfway back to camp.
He turned to tell her they needed to move on but when he saw her crouching down next to a rogue cluster he hadn't noticed was so close, his eyes rounded and he reached a hand out toward her in horror. "No!" He screamed and his feet felt like they were moving in slow motion.
He halted abruptly as she gently held the base of the petals in her hand and leaned further down to sniff the flower. "Step away!" He yelled as he put his hands out towards her as if to keep the flower away.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but her hands had already brought the flower up toward her nose to sniff it. He drew in a deep breath and watched as....
Nothing happened. He grew confused as she smiled again, released the flower, and looked out across the hills again.
"You are unfazed." He spoke quietly, in shock.
"Hmm?" She turned to him and stood.
He stared at her in utter confusion.
"Kietnan?" She asked, also confused.
He kneeled down slightly so he could look at her face more closely while still keeping his distance. She seemed completely fine. It was amazing. He shook his head in disbelief.
"The flowers?" She asked, pointing at the poisonous plants.
"Tuke." He stated. He pointed at the flowers. "Too-kuh."
Then he pointed at himself. "Ghan." as he said the word, he put his hands up in a blocking motion. And shook his head. Trying to show her that he could not touch the plants.
"Kietnan ghan?" She asked and put her hands over her stomach, bending over slightly and acting as if she was in pain. She asked again "ghan?"
He nodded. "Yiet."
She pointed at the flowers. "Tuke." He nodded in response.
"Tuke flower make Kietnan Ghan? Sick? Die?"
He didn't understand all of her words, but felt she had the general idea. "Yiet." He nodded.
"Hmmm" she said, looking at the small plants. He watched as she turned and walked further into the forest, away from the plants and wiped her hands off on a patch of moss. She then walked back to him and stood, waiting.
It was then that he noticed how tired her features looked. "Hanton." He stated and was glad when she followed him without question. He decided to circle back and return to camp, he had likely pushed her too hard as it was.