Stones

While Jayden was admiring the view, Isobel went to the second tree to her left and sat on the roots that were raised above the ground. She wouldn't lie and say she didn't feel nervous while bringing Jayden here. She wouldn't say that not once her mind told her to turn right back and leave making an excuse. While she knew it was a good decision she did feel uncertain at the moment. It felt too personal to share. Now looking at the boy trying to capture everything the place had to offer with his wide eyes it didn't feel so wrong.

This place was meant to be sacred but not unknown.

She trusted that Jayden wouldn't harm it. If Jayden ever did that, she'd be the first one to throttle him. If the boy knew what was good for him he'd know not to ever harm someone or something or someplace close to her. This place wasn't just close to her, it was a part of her.

"This is the place my father used to bring me to. His father told him about it. It's sort of a knowledge passed down. I wanted you to know just in case."

Jayden gulped. They both knew what just happened. Just in case only one of them came back and it was him. Just in case she died all of a sudden just like her father did. Just in case they had to trust someone else with this responsibility and she wasn't there to do it.

"Thank you," Jayden said. His voice was a bit choked and thick with emotion. He felt honoured. He felt truly honoured to not just be privileged to see it but also being trusted with it.

Isobel smiled softly at Jayden. She really felt she made the right decision to trust him.

"Come on soft boy, let's skip some stones," Isobel said and stood up from her place. She looked around and found a few flat, round stones. They were the best because they bounced more easily.

And they did. They skipped stone. Jayden, never having done it before, was to be shown some ropes. Isobel told him to shoot at 20 degrees and he gave him a look that spoke lengths. She just put him in a position that he carried on.

They kept it up. Jayden kept on getting pretty good at it. There was silence among them but the silence was comforting. Just as comforting as the cold breeze passing over the water and hitting them. It was refreshing. The scent of earthy water, the scent of moss and the trees. The scent of flowers mixed with the grass. It was the scent of solace and she relished in it. Nature was beautiful and it was bestowed just as bewitching gifts.

The most precious gift of nature was herself.

Jayden's voice cut through the silence. Even though Jayden spoke in a soft voice it still startled her. "The water," Isobel turned to him. "The water it's just like the space you know." he completed. Isobel wasn't sure where he was going with it.

"I'm not talking about ours. I'm talking about every single universe." Jayden said. There was a small pause in which none of them spoke. Isobel just looked at the water. Then looked at the sky reflecting upon it. The sky beyond which laid the secrets that no one knew. Some secrets which Isobel and Jayden knew but that couldn't even account for a fraction of everything.

Jayden skipped the stone again. "This stone is like time. We are skipping time stones." Jayden threw another. "And the stone-" the stone skipped five times, "drowns." and the stone sunk.

Isobel looked at the place where it went underwater. The surface still had ripples but they were fading away. Isobel bit her lip. She turned to look at Jayden. He had a pained expression on his face. His eyes were darkened with fear and guilt. Isobel ducked her head. He knew how Jayden felt, she felt it too when she went to bed every night. Thinking which day just might be their last and which worlds they weren't able to send help to. They really hoped that one of the parallel worlds would have an organization like this as well. The more help the merrier.

Though she had quickly realized that this will do nothing more than pressure her. She couldn't do anything about it. Alasdair was doing everything he could and she was helping them whenever they called her in for a mission compatible for them.

"We can't do anything about, Jay. If they send us like that we just might mess up even worse."

Jayden knew that of course. But that didn't help him. Just because it was true doesn't mean it eased him. "I know," he whispered.

Isobel turned towards the shore. She picked her stone and threw it. The stone bounced across the shallow water around the shore and dropped on the shore. "Maybe we'll pass through," she said, shrugging.

A genuine smile spread on Jayden's face. He turned towards Isobel and engulfed her in a hug, placing a small kiss on her forehead. Isobel smiled against his chest and snuggled into him. She hugged him back just as tightly.

"Thank you," he said, his voice muffled in her hair.

"You better bitch." she said.

Both pulled away. Isobel asked Jayden to follow her. He was confused but did it anyway. Isobel walked around the shore. They reached a tree which started branching just a couple of feet. Isobel started climbing up it, Jayden was again a bit confused but then he thought, 'Eh, why not.'. So he followed her.

Isobel seated herself on a branch and Jayden took the opposite one. "This gives the best sunset view," she said. True to her words when Jayden turned his breath hitched. The sun had just started setting meaning it was somewhere around 6:30 in the evening now. The sky was soft blue with a pinkish tint. The sun turns orange from down to up and makes its surrounding orange and yellow as well. Venus and the moon were visible and Jayden thought how the hell did he not notice.

"It's really pretty," Jayden whispered. Isobel grinned at him and Jayden with a quick glance saw that it was an evil grin. He quickly leaned away from her. Evil woman begone.

"But," she started, " we are not going to watch it. We are going to do the thing we actually came to do here. So where shall we go now to complete your work, my liege?"

Jayden cursed under his breath. He didn't want to miss such a beautiful sight in front of him. It was so pretty. He sulkily looked at the sunset and glared at Isobel who looked just too happy. Suddenly his glare turned into a smirk. Making Isobel sit straighter.

'Why does it feel like the guy had a card up his sleeve?' She thought.

"We are going to the Tribal Scrolls," Jayden said. "The tattoo and piercing shop in the south-east."

And Isobel almost lost her balance and fell.

"Perdón?" (Pardon)