Continuing South Together

Shayn had strongly mixed feelings about the change of seating position. He thought it might be a less distracting ride without Simone's arms around him, her body pressed against his back. He should have anticipated it would be just as intimate, if not moreso, to have his arms around her instead. 

He tried to keep as much space between them as he could, at first, but holding himself rigidly on Judah's back proved arduous. He relaxed by degrees, ready to pull back again should Simone show any response of discomfort from his nearness. 

She had tossed and turned much of the night. He'd woken briefly a few times to the sound of her frustrated attempts to sleep. He wondered what could have been the matter. Was it his fault? Surely not. He'd stopped frustrating her enough to rob her of sleep. 

Without the aggravation, Simone probably didn't spare him enough thoughts to cost her a single wink. 

On the other hand, she was occupying even more of his thoughts now that they were no longer constantly arguing. Was it the same for her? The wind pulled a strand of Simone's hair free and flicked it against his face, teasing him. 

Involuntarily, he tilted his head closer to hers. The pace of their mount kept its scent from reaching him, but her hair's softness was apparent even as it whipped against his cheek. He sighed, and Simone shuddered. 

Shayn tensed, and guilt flooded him. Hadn't she confided that the bandit had sniffed her hair while she was blindfolded and tied up? And here he was, holding her against himself, doing the same. She must be revolted. 

His arm around her waist moved back to grasp Judah's mane, and he leaned back from her to give her as much space as he could. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, and his guilt intensified. His nearness was clearly a stressor. 

"Should I ask Judah to stop, and one of the giants to carry me?" He said over the sound of the passing air. 

"What? Why?" The shock in her tone as she turned her head toward him was more of a relief than he'd known it would be. 

"Am I not making you uncomfortable?" He forced the question out, dreading the answer. He watched her face to discern the truth whether or not she tried to lie or be polite with her words, though that had never been a concern before. 

"Since when does my discomfort factor into your decision-making process?" She asked. The words would have been snide and biting, except for the teasing glint in her eye and the grin at the corner of her lips. 

Her lips, which were inches from his. His eyes lingered on them, enjoying the sight while resisting the impulse to capture them with his own. What was wrong with him? 

Simone's chin tilted slightly upward, or perhaps it was just his imagination, for in the next instant Judah leapt over a large fallen tree, jolting them both slightly as he landed. 

Her face snapped forward and her ears turned bright red. Shayn had embarrassed her. Again. What was it about his behavior around this woman? Why was he being like this? 

He determined to behave like a perfect gentleman from then on… until their time together was over. Or, at the very least, for the rest of the day. He cringed. This was ridiculous. He was better than this. 

From the moment he'd met her, she'd driven him mad, first in one way, and now another. The power she had over him was infuriating! He concentrated on the task ahead. 

The giants were headed for some sort of Fae-designated quest concerning a conflict in the South. Well, they were now South. Not quite to the ocean, but definitely… somewhere. The pace over the flat forest was dizzying.

Shayn concentrated on the back of Judah's head to keep himself oriented, though despite his best efforts, his eyes wandered to Simone. They needed to switch back at the earliest opportunity. He would drive himself crazy otherwise. 

To his delight and dismay, they did not stop for hours. The sun was far past its highest point when Judah stopped at a stream. The humans slipped off his back, thinking to have a drink along with him, but he hissed at the water instead. 

"What is it?" Simone whispered. 

"The water," Shayn guessed, pointing to the dead grass that ran along its banks. The trees looked sickly and weak, and several smaller ones were already dead. He plucked a leaf off of one and walked to the edge of the water, holding it by the stem and dipping it in the liquid for several seconds. 

It dissolved, seeming to melt into the stream as Simone gasped. 

Shayn had kept one of the waterskins at his side this morning instead of putting it into the pack Jarnsaxa took, and offered it to the women beside him. 

"Shouldn't we ration it, since we have no place to refill?" She asked tentatively. 

"You don't ration drinking water, you ration your sweat," He said, quoting an old army saying. 

"We're going to drink our sweat?" Simone seemed alarmed. 

"No, it's… dehydration is going to occur when you don't drink enough water, so drinking less just dehydrates you a little bit at a time starting sooner instead of all at once, later." He explained. "So you drink what you need, when you need it, and worry about not wasting your efforts instead of whether you're wasting your water." 

"That doesn't sound right," She argued. 

"Have it your own way," He shrugged, taking a drink himself before pouring some into Judah's waiting mouth. He had to lift his arm high to do it, and could see Simone getting anxious from the corner of his eye. 

"Fine! Shayn, may I please have some of your water?" She asked after a moment. 

"I'd be delighted to share, thank you for asking." He brightened, handing it to her. She still seemed to cautiously measure how much she had, but after all, they hadn't had anything to drink since early morning at this point. 

"Thank you," She wiped her mouth and handed it back to him. He noticed belatedly that she hadn't wiped the opening of the waterskin before drinking, or after. He decided to not mention the fact, but took a final brief swig of water before strapping it on his side again. 

"Where are the giants?" She asked. "I lost sight of them a bit ago." 

Judah chirped, raising his head and looking South, downstream. 

"How far?" Shayn asked, and Judah stamped a foot twice. 

"What does that mean?" Simone blinked. 

"I think it means not far?" The man guessed. "I'm not certain." 

A bellowing echo of giants talking solved the mystery, and the humans ran towards the sound. 

"Does that seem angry to you?" Simone panted. 

"Everything they say sounds angry to me," Shayn quipped. 

Judah trotted beside them, seeming a little confused as to why they were so slow. 

"Sorry, Judah. You're fast, but we're sore and could use the stretching a little," Shayn explained. "You can go ahead if we're holding you back." 

Judah chirped again and moved into a smooth run, leaving the humans behind him. Still, true to the cat's inferred estimation, it was only a few minutes before they reached the arguing giants. 

"WE MUST TURN BACK," One of the males was pointing angrily at the acidic water as he spoke to Jarnsaxa. 

"WE MUST DO AS THE FAE INSTRUCTED," She was saying when she caught sight of Shayn and Simone running into the clearing. "AH, LITTLE HUMANS!" 

They grimaced in unison as the giantess knelt to speak to them. 

"My husband advocates for abandoning our instructions and returning to Klain," She whispered, which was more like a yell, but at least not an ear-splitting one. "What say you?" 

Shayn hesitated. Was she looking for reinforcement of her own view or an honest opinion? 

"How long can you live without drinkable water?" He asked before Simone could speak. "There are many factors to take into consideration, though I'm sure you have thought of many more than I can." 

Simone shot him an approving look for flattering Jarnsaxa's pride while also avoiding taking sides in the giants' marital argument. That would not be a wise thing to do. 

He winked at her subtly, and she grinned. 

"I see something," The younger male giant, Hugi, whispered, pulling at his mother's sleeve. 

Silence fell for a moment as the giants all looked to where he pointed. The humans waited anxiously, wondering what it might be that caught their attention so thoroughly. Shayn tried to keep his patience, but Simone was bouncing nervously at his side. 

He resisted the urge to take her hand. It would only make her more tense, not less, he was sure. Shayn tried to at least smile at her comfortingly, but her eyes were shifting between the giants and the direction they looked.

"What is it?" She finally asked as the silence lengthened and the giants' faces conveyed bewilderment mixed with horror. 

"A Monster." Jarnsaxa glanced down at them to whisper. "A terrible monster."