Return To The Mountain III

Red takes charge like I expect him to. He leads me through the snow and the dirt as we slowly begin to make our way back down the mountain. If he only knew… I can tell that he's worried about which direction to go and which way will lead us to where we need to go. There's a main road that goes around the entire string of mountains here. He could pick one direction and run into a road where we could be picked up.

His determination to try and find a way home has found us an old hunting trail. Even better, Red ran across one of the small inlets of the mountain. It's a great place to take a breather for the evening. With only one way in our out, it's easy to defend from wild animals. Red takes advantage of this to have us stop for the night.

He brings back kindling to get the cave warm and provide light. He heads back out again to look for something to eat. I take the time to look deeply into the situation. I still think there is a way to prevent what I've seen. I just worry that if worse comes to worst that I may have to do something drastic. I look at the knife I have in my pocket.

I could take care of this here. With just the two of us out here, I could say anything happened. I could change the future by killing him here and guarantee that what I saw happen never comes true. I grip the knife tightly as I see a teardrop fall onto my paw. I'm considering this. I'm honestly thinking about killing him. My student, my protege, and occasionally my lover. Do I even have the ability to do that?

I put the knife away and clean up my face. I don't know how long he'll be gone but I can't let him see me in such a state. But it's just so hard. Do I let my personal feelings make the decision or do I do what's best for everyone? Maybe releasing magic into the world was a good idea. It was just how he went about it that was wrong.

My train of thought is disturbed by the sound of footsteps. I look up to see that red face of his walking into the light. He comes in taking a seat across from me. He looks exhausted. I give him a few minutes to recover before I bother him, "Red, how did hunting go?" he pulls one small rabbit from behind him. "This little guy must have run me for two miles before I caught him."

He looks exhausted. I'll give him a little bit of a break, "This is a good one. Since you hunt, I'll clean it. How does that sound?" I can tell by the smile on his face that he would appreciate that. I grab the knife from my pocket and begin to clean the rabbit. I fashion a skewer from one of the sticks he brought to burn that hadn't been used just yet. It may taste bland with no seasonings but food is food. I keep an eye on it. When it's finally done, We split it.

It came out pretty well if I do say so myself. It's different to have a proper meal. But something warm that is protein-heavy is nice to have out here. We get settled into the small cave. As I begin to adapt to the silence, Red asks me a question. A question that rattles me is, "Madam Odette, is there something on your mind? You've been… rather absent since we landed."

He knows me well enough that I can't lie to him. I also can't tell him what's going on. I want to change his path but I wonder if telling him will only make it worse. "Red, there have been a few things on my mind. Nothing too much to worry about." he snaps back, "Well, I'm going to."

I lean back at this outburst. It's very uncharacteristic of him. "You've been absent-minded, lost in thought, whatever you want to call it for the last four days. That is uncharacteristic of you. You are calm, collected, straightforward, and progressive in any action or idea. What is going on? What is wrong? Are you worried we aren't going to make it back? Are you uncertain of my survival skills? Something is gnawing at you and it's affecting us."

That's what's been on his mind. I remember this now. Parts of this adventure have been a blur for me as though I was there for most of it but absent for parts of it. I have to remember that the future has not happened yet. He doesn't understand what's on my mind or what's going on.

He still needs an answer. "I'm not worried about your skills. You've shown to be very adept at working with your surroundings. You've picked up the simple concept behind alchemy rather quickly and I'm personally impressed that you have done so in just a short time with minimal explanation and instruction. I'm not worried about making it back home. I am certain that we will make it home within seven days as I said when we landed. And… as for what I asked a while back… Have you given it any thought to what you want to do?"

Just I mulled an answer in my head, he works on one for him. He seems rather shaky in his answer, "I'll be honest. I haven't been able to give it much thought. I've been keeping my mind forward on the task at hand. Now that we've found something a little bit more stable to travel along I might be able to give it more thought. So It'll be a while before I can give you an answer."

That's… Unsettling. Everything seems to be going down the same path as before. We spend the rest of the night making small talk about whatever until the fire dies down. I'm not sure if I slept at all. The sound of Red moving stirs me from whatever state I was in. I smile at him and wish him a good morning.

He smothers the fire before we leave. Today is spent walking down the trail that we had run across. Red is making a hard push today. The trees keep the sun off of us as we traverse through the woods. I've lost track of time as the sun moves across the sky but is disbursed by the branches above us. Red comes to a stop abruptly. He points out something through the trees, "Madam Odette, do you know anything about this place?"

It's an old cabin that has seen better days. Who knows how long it's been standing? It's not something I put up here. "Nothing. I've never been this far this way before." It will work as a place to rest for the night. The inside of it is trashed. The wood fire stove looked to be in the best shape. Everything else is unusable.

Red breaks down the bed to use for firewood. He heads out to hunt once again returning with two rabbits this time. I'm impressed. He's getting better or learning. A full stomach and some proper shelter allowed for a bit better sleep. This was a hunting cabin. It was built to allow the first morning light to come in and work as an alarm clock. For its previous inhabitant, they would go out and hunt for the day. For us, it means that we are heading out.

We've been out in the wild for a while now. I'm starting to feel a bit grungy. A hot shower and maybe s massage sounds nice. Red is doing his best to keep the conversation light as we traverse the woods,

"Do you know how awesome it's going to be to say that you fought a whole wolf pack in the dead of night? That's not something a lot of people get to share."

"Red, you fought a pack of wolves. I stayed back."

"But you were there! You were involved. So you get the credit for it too."

He continues to embellish the story of the adventure, "We traversed the savage mountains, and survived raging streams!"

"We crossed a trickle of a river."

"Not if we don't say it like that. This is how legends are born."

That childish wonder of his. It's endearing. He's doing his damnedest to keep the mood light. Honestly, it's working. I feel a lot better about this ordeal. The day continues and comes to an end. Our shelter for the night is a small hole with a smaller fire. It's uncomfortable for both of us.

It's the final day… We'll get back to the manor today. Red leads us down a very beaten trail that's been recently used. I don't know what goes on in these mountains. They're just close to where I live and make a good place to take a retreat now and again. But these are tire tracks. That's a good sign that we are close to the main road. That must mean that Denny is nearby. He'll be waiting to pick us up. We come to a fork where the tire tracks take both directions.

Red seems to be struggling with which to pick. One may lead us deeper into the woods to where this person drove to. The other will take us down to the main road. I already know this. He's going to pick left and we're going to head down to the main road. His excitement kicks up at the sight of concrete. He almost falls down into the mud as he scrambles to the finish line. "Madam Odette! The nearest town is only a few miles that way!"

He points to a sign that shows that Ammay is in that direction. We follow the road towards the town. Just as expected, there's Denny. Red pushes forward until his body gives out. I look down at him wondering if he's going to make it the rest of the way. With one more push, he gets himself up and continues to walk to the car. That's the determination that was hammered into him when he first showed up. To continue to push until the job is completed.

Denny has the door open for us. Red ushers himself in nearly collapsing into one of the seats. I take my seat pulling out that tracker that's been sitting in my pocket the entire trip. I can see a bit of defeat in Red's eyes. He didn't think we were in any real danger, did he? He should know better by this point that I would not go into this unprepared for the worst.

"Well Red, here is what we will do. You did get us back in just the nick of time. I'll mull over the past few days and I'll give you a sort of grade tomorrow. But what I want you to do is think about that question I asked. I really want you to think about it. There is no hidden meaning in it. There is no right or wrong answer. I just want your honest answer."

I'm a bit uneasy. I don't want to rush this. There's a process that I want to follow. I really want him to think about this. Or maybe I need to brace myself for it if nothing changes. "But for tonight, rest. You've had a rough week. I'll wake you up early tomorrow morning."