4 Her and Him: Act II

The ground resembled darkness. The sky, renamed dusk, kept shining over the characters while still keeping the frightening attitude it envisioned firsthand.

It seemed like soil ashes floated slowly all around them, and as moments passed, the ashes started making a bigger army.

So it began. One of the deadliest terrains known to the lands.

"Hunt Hiatus?"

It was definite to say that the boy was more than confused.

He stopped paying attention to his surroundings and redirected it to Eivör's words that painted somewhat a mysterious trickery in his green eyes. The finished painting was still afar from his knowledge.

Thin strings of small bees cast upon Eivör herself were connected to the three, making threads behind them, and not only them, but all around the sullen area. However, there was one Eivör's peculiar mention, where the boy was portrayed as a decoy, which only made him worry double the time.

Eivör then started showing meaning behind her mentions.

"This is not the preferred location for it as it is very dangerous, but we'll have to go along with it."

"You do realize you're only exposing us?"

"You're wrong.

These bees belong to the "Andrenidae" family, also known as mining bees. As the name tells, the bees excavate tunnels and cells underground. They prefer sandy soil and dirt, which is one of the main components of Teutoburg.

Therefore, any human or any other animal won't be able to notice them in the slightest. The only reason this location is not the best choice for this is because Teutoburg is known for the only other wandering magic user, and magic users are surely able to sense these bees.

So, if someone curious takes a closer look and starts following the threads of bees, the bees will lead that someone straight to us. Which we would partially want — only if it's one of the seven, and not the other way around."

"I'm still not following…"

"I don't know why I even bother to explain… Especially to you.

I was sent on a mission. The gathering point with the rest of the seven was a cavern near Teutoburg. I was supposed to arrive there a long time ago, however my team got involved in a surprise attack and was killed in the meantime as well. I believe I'm the only one who survived."

"So that's why you were so suspicious about me. You hear that Ryohu? I'm so sorry about your loss."

"Meow…"

The boy and cat suddenly started feeling strong empathy towards the girl. But that wasn't where it would end.

"Why don't you go to the cavern yourself, instead of making these threads?"

"So you're still not following, fool."

"Well then explain it thoroughly! And don't call me a fool, fool."

"As I said, I was supposed to be there a long time ago. The others surely wouldn't be waiting for me that long. And even if I did want to go there, I can't, since the only person who knew the exact location was one of my main escorts, who is no longer alive, and the fact that I can't even bury the man properly gives me chills.

When the seven are assigned a mission, they have a limited time for all of them to gather.

If one is missing, which is usually a rare occurrence, and extends the deadline, the others proceed without the missing one, but engage the so-called "Hunt Hiatus".

I believe they have moved on with the objective that is currently still unknown to me, but by logic, they're still relatively close to the area of Teutoburg. This is why I have spread threads all over the area."

"I think I'm starting to get it.

All of the seven are magic users since they can control specific animals, and if they have engaged this so called "Hunt Hiatus", then they might sense and notice the mining bees you set underground and figure out that it's you, since you're the Bee, and afterwards they'll assume that you're in danger!"

"Exactly, genius."

She started implementing sarcasm.

"All of this still doesn't explain me being a decoy, though."

He would continue asking restless questions while searching for a closure.

"In the end, I'm only human too. I've drained most of my energy in the attack and the rest that I have is gambled in the Andrenidae. If things were to go off road, and if we do get attacked by someone, or rather something, I'd have minimal energy and I'm afraid it won't be enough.

That is why I'll use you as a decoy."

"WHA" —

"MEOW" —

The boy and his pet tasted a sense of betrayal.

"So you're just going to use me?!"

"The larger amounts of bees are under you or near you, and it would be easy to make a decoy on a string of your whole body, therefore, yes, I will most likely use you to gain benefits for my own self."

"Even a magic wielder would end up using me…You're simply going to use me so you can run away? Ryohu and I aren't on the same terms with you, neither your plan, person!"

"Meow! Meow!"

"I never said I was going to run away. Now we're going too slow, come on."

"What's that mean…?!

Hey…

Wait up!"

With unidentified mixed feelings, they kept moving deeper into the forest.

The scenery became black — almost all of it. Minimal tones of grey and dark grey were shown at parts, probably because they were reflected by the foggy moon.

One thing was certain to claim — the trio were in absolutely no condition for danger.

For Eivör, this was an escorting mission gone wrong and on the edge of her physical endurance falling apart. Not to mention, she was also joined by two weird companions this time.

As for the two pilgrims, they have been in all kinds of locations and have seen a lot of things — from weird animals that were almost extinct and the golden coasts that showed off the ocean, to the tall bamboo forests and merchants selling fake imitations of magic potions (which only led to stomachaches in the end), but a forest like Teutoburg was their biggest shot yet. Not because of the darkness that resided or because of the black trees, rocks and leaves, no.

It was because of the potential danger lurking in the forest — the only other known seven lettered magic user. Witches.

2

Time crumbled away and almost an hour passed.

Not much happened during the infamous fifty and a change minutes. As if nothing was constant —all of the lights were fading boldly and everything was getting darker. The terrain started digging new roots. The boy frequently kept changing sides (for example, one minute he was left from Eivör, the next four he was right — sometimes he would fall back and annoyingly rush up ahead).

Even the way they walked was not constant. A change of tempo definitely took place a couple of times, both faster walking and slower arm flailing, or the other way around.

Ryohu's method of walking — no, retrace — moving, kept changing. Sometimes he would flutter through his walk, raising his paws elegantly. Other times he would either run up ahead or ask the boy to carry him, where the boy would oppose.

This was another scenario which bugged Eivör. Every seven-to-eight minutes, the pilgrim boy and his pitch black cat would end up fighting verbally.

Ryohu would crave for two things. It was either the fresh delicacy of milk which the boy was running short on, or the desire of free transport granted by none other than the boy himself.

In the end, Ryohu passed as a victor and was placed on the boy's right shoulder for a couple of minutes.

As you can see, nothing was constant except for one thing.

The crisp crunches of the ashy leaves were echoing from a mile away. Hoots of owls and shaky howls of the wind were lurking upon the three as they followed a pitch black road ahead of them. The constancy of Eivör's doubt was undying and highly durable.

Her sharp, ticked off attitude really set some standards for the boy and his pet, though they treated them as invisible. The boy knew that doubt had overruled her spirit and to be honest, no one was to blame for that.

All jokes aside, they did just meet each other.

But the boy aimed higher. True, he didn't blame her for harvesting doubt in her fragile mind, however he quickly remembered something she said almost an hour ago, which led the highlights straight to blame and persiflage.

It looked like he imitated her words.

"I will use you, only to benefit myself…"

"Are you imitating me?"

"Are you imitating me?"

He was.

"Why the mockery? I was only being honest."

"I thought we were good."

"How can we be? I just met you. I still don't trust you."

"Do I really look like some evil antagonist…? And if you really weren't to trust me, you wouldn't have told me all that information about the hiatus thing and about your mission. So I did get to you, huuuuuuh—

Just a little bit?"

"If you did get to me somehow, I wouldn't ponder on perceiving, let alone using you as a decoy."

"EH" —

There he found that betrayal again. It was nowhere near a pleasant feeling.

"Already forgot about that, I see. But yes, I told you something about me and why I'm here. It would only be fair if you told me why you're here. Earlier you said you and the cat don't have much time and that you have lost. Care to explain?"

"The cat has a name! And yes, we're pilgrims."

"Meow!"

"Pilgrims?"

"I was set off on a mission by a local priest in Stoth district almost two years ago. I met Ryohu on day two."

"Almost two years ago? I see, so you have lost to the deadline?"

"Hm. Almost. The deadline is exactly two years from that day. And we've got about ten days left I think."

"Where are you headed, exactly?"

"Nowhere."

It was sure to say that the boy's reply was strange.

"Now you got me confused. Before you proclaim me as a fool, let me guess. Are you searching for something? An item, perhaps?"

"Yeah, you're quick. You guessed it."

"What item are you searching for?"

"I think it's a holy grail of some sort."

"You think?"

"We haven't explored the situation quite yet. To tell you the truth, we've been wandering for almost two years, not knowing much about the item nor where it is. But we've had some wild fun, haven't we, Ryohu?!"

"Me-ow!"

"Talk about fulfilling your tasks dutifully. How are you going to gain the item if you don't know where it is?"

"We've heard rumors that the grail is in the possession of one of the Lord's main Witch servants. If we're lucky enough, we might stumble upon that very Witch herself! After all, we are in the spooky Teutoburg forest!"

Right in this moment, Eivör started showing irritation.

"You fool! Don't wish upon the Devil! We don't need that.

Even if it is in the hands of a Witch, you can't go up against her and her magic. Even one of the seven is destined for failure if facing a Witch, let alone a clumsy traveler like you. Impossible."

"Hm. You don't know me well enough then. I'm going to try and convince her to hand over the grail, or whatever it is, by any means necessary."

"So you're one of those typical overly enthusiastic personalities that shut out all realistic and logical outcomes and depend only on their firing amount of will and hope?"

"Will and hope are the two main components missing in this world, besides love."

"You're funny, you know that? Look at the forest you're in, for example.

Teutoburg is best known for its tragic history in where two opposing armies battled till death. Each emperor of the two armies had the will to fight till death, and hopes not only for their lives, but for the lives of their own people, friends and family included. But in this case, will and hope do not mean much. They're just two emperors at war. To each their own desires, reasons and hopes. War has no rules and will and hope mean nothing in war, yet we live in a time where constant war occurs.

Therefore, if you exclude the realistic circumstances around you, and rely only on hope and God knows what, dreams — you're destined for failure.

And don't get me started on love, it's" —

"What is your name?"

The wind started blowing four times harder than it did just a few seconds ago.

You could feel the coldness of air just by exhaling it in — the minty oxygen would flood both your nostrils and mouth and the same time. Eivör silently stared at the boy while sharply squinting her tired light-brown eyes.

At first she hesitated, but seeing how abruptly the boy stopped her mid-sentence, she was interested in where he was going with it.

"My name is Eivör."

"That is a beautiful name. Tell me Eivör, what do you see in your reoccurring daydreams?"

She gasped.

As a person constantly in her secret reverie, she was surprised by how the boy knew this. Everybody daydreams, but the way he stopped her and the way he said it, it seemed like he knew how much of a trapped soul she truly was.

"That's none of your business."

"It must be something pretty, right?

We all have beautiful dreams. They're in our heads, meaning they're in our possession. Never abandon something of your own kin or something that is truly yours and lies within you. I have experienced something like it, and I can surely tell you that it is plain wrong. I-It's been bothering me for so long and I am on a journey to figure it out. But the way you said it, it seemed like you left those dreams a while back.

Don't ever leave them forever, Eivör."

"You sure do know how to talk. I'd like to see" —

She was angrily determined to finish her sentence but something had stopped her from doing so. She gasped in what seemed like pain. It was as she felt something hit her.

The boy approached her and tried to notice what was wrong. Ryohu was alarmed and stood as a stone. Eivör got her head up towards the blurry sky and said the following words.

"A whole thread of bees has just been killed.

Someone has found us."