Spill

Rina has been squinting at me all afternoon and I know she's almost to her limit so I say, "You've managed it all this time, just a moment more won't kill you."

She swallows whatever she's about to say. Rai is a Wind Elemental, even if he didn't want to, he'd probably be able to overhear us if they hadn't gotten far enough.

I use this time to rinse off my hands and the makeshift countertop. Even I don't know how to explain to her what her own cousin is thinking after all.

When she estimated that they've gone far enough, she demands, "Spill."

I sigh and recount to her how I've bartered almost to the last inch of my life to get access to Earth Elemental abilities.

"He managed to sit there the entire time? We had to stare at nature for over close to an hour, you know?!" She looked at me like I was holding out on her.

"Miss, I've had to design shit and he had to make them, we can't just materialize items in a snap, you know?" I give her a stink eye.

"You know what I mean." She countered.

"Hell if I know what's going on in his brain. Not like you're unfamiliar with his monthly word allowance. It'd be easier to find gold than to pry words out of him." I scowl at the earlier memory.

Hands gripping her waist she says, "He's actually been saying a lot lately."

"If you count the drivel that came out of his mouth, sure," I said, still annoyed at having been the butt of the insults.

I grab some long fibers, itching to make cordage while talking about this. I'm still anxious, I sigh inwardly.

"I don't know how long we can maintain this ceasefire, but provided he doesn't directly sabotage me once he's done playing nice, then I'll live," I tell her seriously.

"He sure didn't sabotage directly, but his provocations and unforgiving sparring antics were like a rallying call to his blind worshippers." I stare out, momentarily stopping my cordage-making. I can't help but recall the number of times people have laid an ambush for me after being beaten up by him in sparring.

"Remember that one that actually waited in the infirmary? Points for being creative." I laughed sardonically.

"A whole bunch of idiots if I say so myself. If you hadn't made it a point to bash someone's head every now and then, they wouldn't have stopped." Rina said huffing and puffing. And I understand her frustration.

"I just need to be strong enough to fight back. Unlike his abilities that were seamlessly transferred here, mine needs a huge fine-tuning. That's my disadvantage right now, but I'll fix that." I smile at her.

"I know you will. I just hope you didn't have to live like you're always rushing just to survive." She leaned on me, this tall baby.

"New world, new me." I laugh, but I know that it's really a new chance.

We estimate that the guys should be getting back anytime now, so we just busy ourselves with menial tasks and tidying up. Our cave is by no means large, nor is it ideal, but for a day? I'd say we're doing fine.

Just as expected, the guys returned from their bath. Their hair was still wet and slightly dripping on the floor. Rai seems to be air-drying his hair by exerting his abilities.

"What a way to use your abilities." Idris voiced out what I was thinking.

"I've been doing this since I learned how to use my abilities, it's just far easier to do this here." He looks at both his hands amazed at his hair styling capabilities.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Lucian dumping his clothes just like I told him, and I nodded approvingly.

I grab a wooden bucket, a product of our Resin waterproofing and Rai's fanning abilities, before fetching the clothes that Lucian left.

As Rina and I left, I asked the other two if they had clothes they wanted me to wash. I'm doing it already, might as well ask. They looked at me dumbfounded, and said no, so I just shrugged at them before leaving.

I don't miss Rina's pointed look at Lucian's clothes, but I pretend not to see it.

We're far enough from the cave and she couldn't resist anymore so she asks, "Are you being bullied?"

"Do I look like Cinderella to you?" I balk at her.

"Then why are you carrying those?" She points at the things I'm carrying. "And you're doing it like it's second nature!"

"How expensive do you think are countertops and pots? Each of those was paid in blood." I nod towards the clothes, hoping that she'll understand.

"And there's me wanting to save soap. The other two should've really handed me their clothes as well." I tsked while thinking about the soap.

All throughout our trek to the waterfalls, Rina has worn a perplexed expression like she's unsure whether or not I'm talking shit, so I try to appease her.

"How dumb must the bully be to leave their very scarce clothes at the hands of their victims? If I were being bullied, don't you think I'd have slashed these into pieces already?"

I thought that it wasn't very late yet, but the moon already hung high in the sky. I should've been dark but the moon was bright and the stars were visibly glittering. I hope that Eryndor gets to maintain this temperature for a long time. The air has been relatively cool all day but wasn't to the point of being chilly. Just perfect.

"We're pretty lucky to chance upon this. And even luckier that you managed to point this place out." I thank Rina as I fix my gaze on the shimmering pool. The water was clear and the waterfall wasn't raging down. Just enough to ensure a pretty strong stream.

We decided to bathe behind a big rock, just in case. And it is times like these when I appreciate my rather short hair.

"Do you think I need to cut my hair?" Rina looks at my hair, seeming to read my mind.

"Nah. We don't know if there's winter here. We can still manage so keep it that way, it's pretty." I tell her unhurriedly.

"Rai can also help you dry your hair, he seems to find it fun." I glance at her, smiling.

I pull out our change of clothes and some towels from my space and I remember to thank Tyr for it. Small wins.

We decided to use the bucket to wash the clothes to avoid getting modern soap into the stream. We're unsure if the fish would be able to survive modern soap after all.

It didn't take a while to wring the clothes into a semi-dry set, after all, Rina could easily pull out the moisture.

We head back after ensuring that we haven't left telling marks.

It was a pretty uneventful night, I just couldn't shake the feeling that I seem to have forgotten something important.