Rivers, Mistakes, and the Values of Trust

We continued on, not a single word exchanged between us. Eventually, the blue moons above us fell to the corner of the sky, the sun rearing its head in their place. Our path led us to a river, I had to shield my eyes as the rays of sunlight gleamed their reflections off its surface. The water was clear and inviting; I pushed my hands together and lifted a sip to my lips. I didn't realize how parched I was until the cool liquid hit my tongue, a dizzy feeling lifting from my mind as it did. I felt a sense of dread digging into me as I turned to briefly lock eyes with Eres. Her stare cold and lifeless, I quickly darted my eyes to the dirt at my feet.

"Tell me human, what if that water was poisoned, then what would you do?" She almost hissed as she spoke, her voice vile and lifeless.

"Was it poisoned? I feel fine, so, it's probably fine."

Damn, when did I become so carefree? No, no, no, this isn't new. I never cared. Never. Not even when–

"We shall make camp here for now, human. Find a rock and sleep."

I immediately was shoved hard onto my side, my robes cushioning the brunt of the blow. Eres removed her pack from her side and laid a thin brown sheet down onto the ground. Within moments the sheet grew thick and spongy, then all at once it popped. Thousands of small colored flowers bloomed in a rectangle at her feet. She laid down on the botanical bed and crossed her arms behind her head. I tossed and turned on the hard ground, I wanted to say something but was too scared of her to open my mouth. I stared up at the blue moons over the treetops and sighed. This is my reality. This is how it is. Follow, sit, stay. I shifted again, nervousness tingling over my skin. Eres propped herself up on her elbow and glared at me. She gently tapped the ground twice and turned over onto her side, away from me. The rock I was leaned up against suddenly sprouted a thick green moss over its surface, slightly cushioning my head as I rested against it. I snorted and closed my eyes.

I woke up sometime later, the blue moon's still hanging in the sky above me. I turned to where Eres had been sleeping and was surprised to see an empty flower bed. I quickly stood up and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes. I walked towards the river to splash some water on my face but stopped short when I saw black robes discarded on the ground in front of me. I gulped. I've never seen her outside of her robes, I've only ever been able to see her face. She treats me like shit so, would a peek really matter? I crept forward towards the river and saw her there, back faced towards me. I don't know what I was expecting but, it wasn't this. Her olive skin was covered in scars and bruises, discolored and warped. Her hands quaked as they ran over her skin, it was almost as if every small touch was hurting her. She raised her hands to her head and ran her fingers through her jet black hair. Then she pinched her nose and submerged her whole body underwater. I turned around and backed away. I felt so dirty. So disgusting. I've always hated who I was, but I don't think I can remember a time where I thought lower of myself. I turned the rock I had slept on around and rested my head on the non-mossy side. I tossed and turned for a few more minutes before I fell back asleep.

"Wake up human." A muddy combat boot woke me from my dreamless sleep, nudging into my side. The forest I fell asleep looking at was not the same forest when I awoke. The small strip of land in front of me was completely devoid of any life, drab and brown. I still wasn't fully awake, and to say I was ill prepared for such a change would be an understatement. "W-where green go?" Like I said, not awake enough for this kind of shit. Eres scoffed again. God, she should trademark that scoff at this point. Do they even have trademarks in this world? Do trademarks not apply in a world that has magic? Does she even–

"I needed a place to set up a fire. I would sooner die than set Her on fire."

Her?

"So wait, where did it all go then? It didn't just disappear, right?"

Eres scoffed once more.

"How uneducated are you? Pathetic." She rolled her eyes before continuing, "She's still here, just not in this reality. I'll return Her to her natural state when She is no longer at risk of harm." With that, Eres took two rocks and smacked them together, creating a small spark. She then took what appeared to be the remains of her flower bed and set it ablaze. She then took out two fish from her pack and pierced them through the center. After making sure they wouldn't fall off she put them over the open flame.

Eres sat down cross legged on the dry dirt and stared at me. Is there something on my face? Is she implying I'm next? No, she wouldn't, right? Unless she knew about last night…

"Are you just going to stand there like a dumbass or are you going to sit down and keep me company?" Eres spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to see what she wanted.

"You want my company-"

"Not at all," she cut me off, briefly pausing before she continued, "some company is better than none. Saying nothing and doing nothing is equivalent to being nothing; and I am far greater than nothing. So you shall sit near me and converse with me, a foul human is better than nothing at all."

I decided to push it, maybe a bit more than I should have. I sat down next to her and let my bottled up thoughts go free.

"Why do you hate me so much? Is it really just because I'm a human? I haven't done anything to you, but you insist on treating me like I'm this lesser being. I hate myself, I don't need you to hate me too. You don't have to like me, but lay off, would you?! I don't want to be here as much as you don't, trust me." I finished my rant and exhaled. I glanced at Eres and saw a look on her face I don't think I'll ever forget. She didn't look mad, or upset even, she looked broken. It was like her brain couldn't process my request so she just froze. I twiddled my thumbs together and picked at a loose thread in my robe as she remained still. Then, like a tsunami crashing onto shore her thoughts caught up to the mainland. To say she was pissed would do her anger no justice. "Tell me human, do you know nothing of the world? Have you been asleep your whole life just to awake in that forest? Do you know nothing of how my kind have suffered at the hands of yours?! For centuries, no, millenia, my kind have been tortured, raped, bought, sold, and killed! And you ask if you could trust me?! For countless years all we dryads have asked for is your respect, and we have since recognized your kind will never bestow it to us. My sisters still cling to the old beliefs, hoping for a new leaf to be turned between our species; but you and I know the truth, don't we? Humans hate. Humans kill. Humans pillage. The other's naivete will be their undoing, I am sure of it. You are just the first human they will make the mistake of believing in. Tell me, will you be the human to end them? Will there even be another to attempt to trust after they're done with you? My beliefs on what my people should do are simple: we will fight humans till our dying breath, hoping that if the spirits of our ancestors are forced to watch on as we succumb to the same fate they once did, that they will be able to take solace that we at least went down fighting. So do not ask if you could trust me human, ask if you can resist the temptation to ravage me as your ancestors did mine, ask if you can trust yourself to be the only human in history to not take advantage of my kind. I will not strike first, my people are better than to instigate, but know this, if you attempt to bring me harm, I will send you back into the ground you sit upon. Trust that I will make sure it is painful, as your kind have so often done to mine."

I couldn't find the words to respond. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to process all the things that she said. Eres seemed genuinely surprised by my reaction for whatever reason. Of all the things she said, one certain part stuck with me in particular.

So do not ask if you could trust me human, ask if you can resist the temptation to ravage me as your ancestors did mine, ask if you can trust yourself to be the only human in history to not take advantage of my kind.

Does she know what I did? She must know, she wouldn't say that if she didn't already know. I'm disgusting. My stomach grumbled as I almost lost myself in my thoughts, the smell of cooked fish pulling me back to reality. Eres got up and took the fish off the flame. I noticed one was bigger than the other, and I already accepted the fact that I would get the smaller one. Eres held a fish in each hand and stared at them, then to my surprise, she threw the bigger one in my lap.

"A token," She said.

My mind was going a mile a minute trying to understand her.

"Trust gains value when there is a chance of betrayal. You can hurt me, and if I trust you when you do it'll probably hurt even more. You could end me swiftly, if you really wanted to; don't feign ignorance to your hatred, you reek of it. But, maybe I don't disagree with everything Vita and Amare stand for. Maybe, since I know how tempted you are to ruin me, the trust will mean more if you refuse your human instinct. Maybe." She bit into her fish and waved her arm to the side, yellow spores appearing before her to instantly put out the fire. She waved her arm once more and the original piece of land came back to its original place. If I didn't see it with my own eyes I don't think I ever would have believed it. Eres motioned for me to get up and started walking forward once more, beckoning for me to follow. Like a good dog, I listened.