Quiet

We were slowly approaching the small orange view on the horizon of the woods. The heat from the orange fog slowly started flowing to us. A breeze of hot air blew in our direction. We got closer and closer with each second. The heat got more and more intense.

"Be quiet Hayden. We don't know what or who it is." He whispered to me and as he finished his pointing finger on the lips saying 'be quiet'. We are right behind it. Hiding from whatever it is that's behind the tree. No clue what it actually is. "Listen. If it's someone else's fire. We run. If that's a fire beast. We run. Got it?" He seems very rational now. Not like before. This plan is not a bad one…

"Got it," I answered confidently since the plan just makes too much sense. I hope I won't regret saying that… In the same moment, both of us took a small peek at what's actually on the other side of a tree. It was an animal. Laying down there maliciously in slumber. A big fire tiger. His flames is so hot it is possible for him to survive here but for us, it is almost like hell.

"Hayden… We have to move very, very slowly. Millimeters. If he senses us… We are done." He whispered so quietly it was almost unhearable but he thought the same as I did. We then slowly went back behind the tree. A snail like movement. We leaned a little to the ground to get into crouching positions and started walking. Step after step with each being so scary that the sweat was falling from my head like a waterfall. I don't know if it's from the heat or stress at this point.

I spotted a branch on the ground. A dry branch. I tried to take it with me very carefully. We were so close to the beast that even the smallest of sounds would wake it up from its slumber. My hand very slowly floated to the stave. The movements of a turtle on land. Incredibly slow.

Marcus was looking at me. His eyes wide open and sweat flowing down his face as well. His hands started making a gesture 'Don't! You will wake it up!'. But I know what I'm doing. I just need to be really careful. Extremely cautious... I saw the scar on my hands again. The hand started shaking on its own. I don't control it at this point. I only do the movement. I can't even close my palm. I'm so scared… What if it wakes up? What will we do? We can't outrun a tiger in its territory...

I feel as time has stopped. It doesn't make any sense as the feeling of my hand moving is still there. I know that it moves. But it feels as if it just… Doesn't. This slow and small movement seems as if I got frozen in time. The whole world went grey… Lost it's blue colors, even the sky… The beautiful cosmos. I don't want to lose sight of it.

My hand stopped shaking. I stopped sweating and the only thing left of it is my shirt completely wet. The world's color came back from that infinite Limbo of stopped time. I took the branch. With a sure and quick movement. No sound. Success… We can make fire… I gasped in my mind but I couldn't outside of it. It would wake the animal up. I think Marcus did the same thing. And we went on crouching. My body feels heavy but relaxed simultaneously.

It took us a good minute in the crouching position to leave the beast. Now I realized that the monster was permanently on fire… That looked so terrifying… What if it can breathe fire! I don't even want to know the answer to that question…

We both sat on the ground and gasped really loud. We came back to the exact place we came from so that Marcus and Matthew could find us. I realized it since there was a small mark on the tree. We didn't sit for long though. We didn't want to die.

"How are you going to make a fire? You know that losing any heat can be deadly right? And you can't do it while walking." I need to know the answer. I'm not sure if I'm talking with a kid or an insane person. Both of those would put me in a bad spot.

"That's why before we came here I took some big leaves from random bushes." He took them out… Wherefrom! Where the heck were those leaves! Where! "I can do some nice stuff with this! Put those in your shoes and they are still somewhat warm. You can also put them under your shirt but it will probably fall out after some time without any line…" He nodded "Then what will it give you while making fire! The heat from your shoes won't warm you enough!" I thought since it sounds just so dumb...

"Then how are you going to do it? If it's not going to keep you warm… You will have to do it while walking." He then smiled. A proud smile. He put a lot of leaves on the ground and a lot in his shirt. Also some in his pants. He laid on the ground and started wiggling a little. I looked at him with a very curious look. And a thought.

"What the…" I murmured under my nose.

"Listen… It looks dumb. But I just made myself and the leaves a little hotter. And now I can do it while just laying down which will help me a lot." He again smiled very proud of himself but then… "I can't stand up though. If I stand up all of the leaves will fall." Oh god… I don't know if he is just so smart or so dumb… I just can't tell. If this actually works…

"God… What are you even…" When I tried to finish this sentence both Estel and Marcus came back. They had a big boar on their backs whole in sweat. It looks as if they were about to collapse. I don't know if it's from how tired they are or if the weight of the boar is so big. They looked at Marcus. Stared at him for a second, and started laughing. Holding their stomachs even.

"Don't laugh at me!" He said loud, it also sounded as if he got really pissed. They both are still laughing.

"You… And your Ideas… My lungs..." Estel hit his knee and almost screeched. Matthew didn't add anything he only laughed louder.

"How can I do it otherwise!" Marcus asked them while trying to stand up. Matthew pointed at the boar that was behind them already on the ground. That feeling of them almost collapsing was because of its weight, not exhaustion. And that's a really good sign. "You weren't here before though…" He stood up and looked down. "I hate you! Hmph!" Oh god no… He did it… I apologize to Marcus's ancestors or whoever created that man...

"Okay, okay. That's enough guys. We need to do something. Let's skin the boar and make the most use of it. I hope you both found sticks." He looked at us and with that small shiv before he handed it to Marcus. "You know how to skin animals not us." He then took the leaves from the ground and put it inside his shirt. "This may come in handy haha." He's made a small laugh. Marcus aggressively took the dagger from Estel's hand and came to the animal. Already red.

"Don't slack off when I do it!" He got really mad. Probably took it very personally…

"Don't be mad, please. We didn't mean to." Matthew patted his shoulder. "Just do it. We believe in you." He added and put leaves into his shoes. Estel did the same but at the same time he looked further to the woods.

"Estel… What are you searching for?" I asked him from behind.

"We need to find a cave and close it off with something. The winds in the night… Can be really devastating. We should try to get some leaves and branches. Even if they are frozen it doesn't matter. We can just heat them up with fire." Makes sense… I can't say much more than just agree. Again experience over personal thoughts...

"We can't leave them like this though…" It reminded me of something… I spotted a nice stave on the ground with a sword like length. "Estel…" I pointed at the stick that was shaped almost like a sword actually. "Would you mind when we find a place to sleep? Or… Survive?"

"I think we can try. I'm not the best swordsman in the world but I have some skills… The old man's teachings didn't go to waste..." He looked a little down. Staring into his palm. "I will do my best as a teacher." He smiled at me. It was a true and warm smile…