I woke up early; first, in fact. I sat up and leaned on my elbows, rubbing the blur from my eyes.
The five youth with me were all sleeping soundly and heavily. Even Lilly, who was usually a light sleeper, seemed to be snoring. I looked at each of them, wondering how we ended up together; who had planned it?
Marshall's small, shivering form was pale. I thought that maybe it was just the dim morning light, but it was so unnatural.
Cam, in contrast, was huge, and heavily tanned. He seemed to have moved a lot during the night, and was lying extremely close to Marshall...I'd have to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn't crush the poor guy.
I couldn't help but frown when I came to Louis. He started tossing and turning in his sleep, and one glimpse of his face told me that he was having a horrible nightmare. I sat up a little more, even got up from the bedroll to wake him up from the dream, but he became all at once peaceful, so I let him sleep. I have an automatic setting for Louis: the need to make him feel better.
Then there was Meghan. I struggled with myself, sometimes looking at her, sometimes looking away. I didn't want to seem creepy; she was just so beautiful...
Yeah, I was definitely being creepy.
Finally, I laid my eyes on -
"Lilly?" I whispered frantically. She was staring straight at me, and honestly, I was terrified that her 'heavy sleeping' was a permanent state.
"Yes?" she whispered back, sitting up a little. I let out a sigh of relief.
"I didn't realize you were awake. You scared me."
"I was not awake when you first began your analyzing. But I woke whilst your attention was on Cameron. It was not my intention to scare you."
"You weren't on your guard while you were sleeping, like you usually are. Did you not sleep well?"
"I rose early this morning and did some exploring. When I came back, I had awoken Meghan. We spent time talking to one another, and I believe my body needed the rest. I am not accustomed to lack of sleep."
"It's Meghan okay?"
"Indeed."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, Cousin. I am perfectly well."
I looked at her, frowning and shaking my head. One day she would crack, but that day wasn't today. So I just stood up and walked over to give her my hand, but she had already followed my example.
"Let us wake the others. We must move to find food," she said, looking up at me.
I nodded, and refrained from giving her hand a squeeze. She doesn't enjoy physical touch, like I said earlier.
I woke Louis and Meghan, and she woke Cam and Marshall. The boys were both startled when they woke up with Lilly so close to them. But it motivated them to get up.
"Louis," she said once everyone was up, "we need to get moving. Do you see the path?"
"Of course I do," he growled.
She watched Marshall curiously as he made a quiet remark to Louis about his gruffness towards his sister. Louis became defensive, and as Marshall began trying to apologize, Cam backed him up. He laid his hand on Marshall's shoulder and confronted Louis.
The three boys started arguing, Marshall often doing his speaking from behind the protection of Cam. I tried getting them to stop, but Louis accused me of 'being on their side,' and so I joined the argument trying to explain that I was on neither side.
Meghan jumped into the center of it, trying to physically separate us. Finally Lilly raised her voice to get our attention. It went silent very quickly, but Meghan was still moving us all three feet apart. Marshall refused to stand far from Cam, though.
"Why?" Lilly asked. "I do not understand why you must argue. Did I not say to Louis yesterday that I would prefer him to be honest? If I believed myself wronged, would I not say this?"
"Yeah, but Lilly, you don't deserve-"
"What did I do that was so wrong?" Louis interrupted Marshall.
Gently quivering, Marshall said, "The attitude you took with your sister was disrespectful. Lilly's done a lot, and you're acting like she's patronizing you."
"But...she is patronizing me!"
"It is not intentional, upon my word," Lilly replied. "Do you not remember that I was quite the same way with Father? You are very much like him."
Louis looked at her curiously. "You think I'm like Dad?"
"Undoubtedly."
He sighed, walking up to her. "I'm sorry, Lilly. The guys are right, I'm not being the big brother I should be."
She blinked at him three times before matter-of-factly stating that he was only older by two minutes. He chuckled.
"Yeah, I know, but that stills deems me the older one."
"This is true."
He hesitated a moment before looking back at her. "Can I give you a hug?"
"No." She turned to the rest of us, ignoring her brother's look of shock and pain. Poor kid. He still doesn't understand. "Now, we must find food and the Unicorns, indeed?"
"Top priority food," Cam added as his stomach growled.
I laughed a little at how loud the sound was, but a much louder, scarier sound took precedence.
Marshall started coughing. Cam offered him some water, but when he tried to grab it, all he managed to do was knock it away and fall to the ground coughing. I ran to his side, laying a hand on his convulsing back and trying to listen to what he was saying.
"Pills...in my...bag..." As soon as he was done talking, he coughed up blood. Meghan squealed while I ran to Marshall's backpack. I dug through its contents until I found a bottle of pills. I gave it to Marshall, and he nodded. He tried opening it, but he was shaking so bad that it was impossible, although his coughing had stopped.
"Give them to me," Cameron said firmly, grabbing them and opening them. Marshall took the pills given to him and chewed them.
He remained shaking for a bit, but he was able to lay back and rest. We all watched him anxiously until he seemed to calm down.
"What was that?" Cam asked frustratedly.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to hold our search up, but-"
"That's not what I care about, Marshall! What happened...I mean, there was blood..."
"I have a condition," he sighed. "And it's progressing fast, but the pills help."
"When you say progressing," I whispered after a moment's silence, "do you mean that it's going to-"
"Kill me," he replied calmly. "Yeah. I have Goodpasture Syndrome."
"What stage?" Lilly asked.
He shrugged, looking at her closely and seeming to enjoy that she returned the stare. "I don't know the official stages..."
"How long ago were you diagnosed?"
"Six months or so."
"From your symptoms and what I have read about the disease, I believe that your lungs have now been affected. That will make this a very hard journey for you, Marshall."
"I knew that when I joined, don't worry about me."
Lilly shook her head. "I am not worried, but I do not wish you pain." She turned to Cam, who was still looking at Marshall worriedly. He picked up on her gaze though, and turned to her quickly. "Cameron, this may be much to ask of you, but at this stage, overexertion on Marshall's part will result in repeated episodes like this one. That would, of course, be dangerous to his health, and we need him for this expedition. Would you carry him, just until we can find the Unicorns?"
"Of course, Lil'! Anything for you - I mean him."
Cam flushed crimson, and a glance was exchanged between Lilly and Meghan. I wasn't sure what passed between them, but I had a feeling it involved whatever went on last night.
Cam stooped down to pick up Marshall, who feebly objected in embarrassment, but Cam wasn't hearing any of it. Marshall looked like an eggshell compared to Cameron - frail, fragile, and extremely pale.
After a few more words were exchanged regarding Marshall's welfare, we set out. Lilly picked up a few berries here and there that we could eat, but nothing of real substance. Cameron's stomach was constantly growling, and more than once did each of us think a wild animal was around.
~~
All day, nothing. The invisible path seemed to be taking us nowhere particular, and I was tired. The group had voted me leader, and earlier today, Meghan suggested I make an executive decision to either find food or continue on the path. Honestly, it didn't look like we could keep hoping for both.
We sat down to eat without a fire. Lilly had taken Meghan to search for berries, having little faith in any sorts of beasts to eat nearby. Louis decided to go find water, asking to be alone. He said he'd seen a stream very close, and would be back soon.
That left me alone with Cameron and Marshall, exactly what I wanted. Cam made sure Marshall was comfortable before settling down himself. They both looked at me, as if waiting for me to initiate conversation. Well, that's what I did.
"So, obviously you both like my cousin."
Their mouths dropped simultaneously, and words tripped out. They both turned deep red, a stark contrast for Marshall.
"How do you mean?" Marshall managed timidly.
"Come on, you're not the only smart guy here. You guys think she's...?"
"Beautiful," Cameron said.
"Intelligent," Marshall sighed.
"A challenge," Cam smiled.
"Different..." they added together.
I laughed. "Okay, I get the picture. You guys are great for doing this, you know that, right?"
"Doing what?" Marshall asked.
"Well, you realize that she can never like you back?"
"Yeah," Marshall smiled, "but that doesn't mean we can feel any less about her."
"Marshall's right. And maybe one day Lil' will feel, even if it's not for one of us. All she needs to know is that we care."
I looked between the two boys. They were both so different, yet I saw how they were each drawn to Lilly. And somehow, I think the fact that they knew she could never return their feelings made it easier to deal with the other liking her too.
"You guys are okay with both liking her?"
"I am," Marshall replied with a small, sly smile, "even if it is statistically more probable that she'd choose him."
"Whoa, don't go using big words on me now," Cam said playfully. "Save those for Lilly."
I laughed at how easily they could joke with each other, and they joined me. After that, we just relaxed and waited for the others to get back. Louis came back with all our canteens filled, and a much improved attitude from the past few days. He said he felt sure that the Unicorns were close by.
"Hopefully one of us has a 'match' or they'll just kill us, like the Air Trolls said," Cam said.
Hurried, light footsteps were heard before any of us could respond. Meghan burst through the trees surrounding us and ran straight to my arms. Lilly followed right after, stopping near Marshall and checking on him. He tried standing, but his legs just wouldn't let him. Our previous hike had worn him out, I guess.
"Hanan," Meghan whispered, as Lilly stood up again.
"Yes?" I wrapped my arm around her tightly.
"There's something in the woods."