Stranger Spirits

Fish For Two [Chapter Two Part Four]

I snuffed out the fire and took our canteens into the tent to see Atticus stripping out of his shirt.

"If you don't mind, I prefer to sleep in the nude."

My cheeks turned red and I fumbled to put the canteens down. "That's fine! I mean, I'm the one inconveniencing you!" Once he stripped naked he got underneath his sheets. "I-I don't sleep in the nude. I sleep in my undergarments." I stared at him and he looked at me.

After an awkward pause, he was the first to speak. "Aren't you going to get changed?"

"Umm, yes." I took off my shoes and put them in the corner of the tent.

"We are endowed with the same equipment so there should be nothing for you to worry about."

"Okay!" I nervously chuckled as I took off my poncho and slipped out of my pants and dove into my quilt. "Good night Atticus!" I turned away from his feigning to sleep.

"Good night Vaughn." I heard him shift away from me and soon enough his breathing leveled and he fell asleep. Lucky bastard. I wish I could fall asleep easily.

Why do I have to be so socially inept? I internally groaned to myself. Well, the answer is simple, this is the second time that I have seen him buck naked! I pulled my quilt over my head and felt my cheeks heat up profusely.

Should I tell him that I think I saw him in the spirit realm? I mean I DID see him as a human and clearly naked as the day he was born! I think he should know that but how do I bring it up? Hi, I know this may sound weird but even though it's unprecedented that one can be seen in their human form during our centuries-old tradition of going in the spirit realm I indeed see you in your human form. By the way, you were also buck naked!

I put my head in my hands. No! I'll just sound like a raving lunatic...I groaned lightly. I need to just rest. I stuck my head out of the sheets and began to channel my breathing. As much as I tried, sleep continued to be an evasive fox that night. I'd maybe grab onto its tail for half an hour or so but then I'd lose it falling back into this chase that caused the night to feel like an eternity.

The next morning I once again woke up in a cocoon of my quilt. Groggily I pushed out of it and sat up. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around me to see that the tent was empty. It took me a moment before yesterday's events played through my mind.

The front flap of the tent flipped open and light poured in as Atticus stuck his head in as I involuntarily hissed at the sudden amount of light pouring in. "Good, I was going to wake you up. I skinned a rabbit and have it cooking on the fire. Get dressed and pack your things. Once we're done eating we're getting off this mountain." Gripping my quilt, I nodded my head.

This is it. Once we get off the mountain we will encounter...something. I crinkled my nose as I began to change. What's beyond the mountains? It's been almost twenty years since the Outreach Project. So much could have changed since then.

Once I finished packing my bag I stepped out of the tent to be reminded that I was not in my hometown anymore. In my village, it was perpetually snowing but there wasn't any snow on the ground. From the brown dirt, there were weeds growing on the ground. It's odd seeing something so new in a place so familiar. I smirked. This is my mountain but I've never seen the ground look so different.

I lifted my gaze to see Atticus was kneeling by the fire roasting the animal and getting it ready for us. It smelled great! "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" I playfully whined and went to grab it.

"No," He smacked my hand away. "It's not fully cooked yet. If you eat it now, you'll get sick." I slumped down to the floor defeated. I guess I'll just have to wait. "You should take down the tent instead of just sitting there."

"Fine," I picked myself up and began to take down the tent. "Do you know what your mission is?"

"The one tasked by the Gods?" He continued to evenly rotate our food while I separated the poles from the tent fabric.

"Yeah," I lined up all of the poles together and placed the pile on the fabric and began to roll them together tightly.

"No," He sighed. "It's only the second day. They may still be waiting for the right time to tell me."

"That's true." I secured the bundle that I made and sat next to him.

He took away the meat from the fire and looked at me as he took a bite and handed me the stick. "I'm feeling pretty lazy today. Let's just share this stick because I don't want to split this in two and have to deal with the splinters."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I took a chomp and passed the game back to him. We spent some more time passing the food between the two of us in moderate silence. Atticus isn't much of a talker and I was mostly focused on eating as much of the rabbit as I could. Thankfully he got us a plump one. It had just enough meat for the two of us.

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No note today, gotta study for a huge test next week!

-Ryan