Faefalling (working title)

9-The pie is a lie. Well, it's a real pie, but just don't eat it please.

We walked for hours on end. Scenery hardly changed along the way, though trees grew sparser. The further we wandered, the colder it got. Dressed for summer heat, Lazuli and I were soon raked with shivers. Even with the sun shining down through the scattered leaves, there was no warmth to be found. Scathe and Aoife didn't seem to notice, simply enjoying the trip into unknown territory.

"For Christ's sake, Cadmon, you could've told me it was gonna suddenly become winter. I would've grabbed some warm clothes," Lazuli grumbled.

I raised a brow. "Right, because I knew you'd be coming along. And I also knew the exact weather of where I was headed. My neart has nothing to do with divination. Where were you gonna grab clothes anyways? We're in the woods, need I remind you."

She stuck her tongue, arms crossed. I sighed to cover chuckles.

"Come here. Uh, I mean please come here," I added, recalling her diversion towards orders.

That earned a small smile. When she drew near, I swung my cloak over her shoulders, and pulled her against me. She tensed, cheeks turning a dazzling shade of red. It took me a moment to realize why.

"It'll save heat..."

"Oh... yea... of course," she nodded.

We receded into another horrible silence. It clawed at my stomach in ripples of unease. If neither of us spoke soon, I'd no doubt explode. And so, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"So... how did you wind up in this neck of the woods?"

Lazuli squinted at me. "We've literally been walking together for hours? Are you feeling alright?"

"Naw, I... I don't mean right here. I mean here." I waved an arm through the air. "Ya know, the place with no humans."

"Oh, right." She suddenly developed a fascination with the snowy ground. "I was camping with my dad. Actually, do you even know what camping is?" I started to nod, but she wasn't waiting for an answer. "So, basically, it's when you go out into the woods with a tent and the bare necessities. We used to use a tent, but... dad's a lot busier these days. He said it was more convenient to get a trailer. He picked out a big fancy one. Comes with Internet and everything..."

Lazuli caught a glimpse of my blank stare and nodded.

"Right. You don't know what that is either. Sorry, I forgot. Anyway, long story short, I was camping, went for a little walk and then, before I knew it, boom. You appear outta nowhere and throw me down a hill."

My brow furrowed. I'd never read anything about passageways to the human world, but it couldn't have been that easy. A simple trip through the wood and you happen to stumble upon a whole other world? Come on. My cabin had better security than that, and it was destroyed many times over. You'd think, if someone wanted to hide an entire civilisation, they'd put a bit more effort into it. EIther Lazuli was really lucky, or something was up.

"What about your dad?" I asked.

"What about him?"

"You do realize this journey you've just hopped on will last more than a day, right? Won't he be worried?"

Lazuli shrugged. "Yea... actually he probably won't even notice..."

Not even notice? I didn't see how anyone could not notice her absence. It'd probably feel like a serene spring morning. I wove a question into my stare.

"Like I said, he's a busy guy. I mean, we'd already been camping for two days before I ran into you and he talked to me once. Once in over forty-eight hours. To top it off, he only did because I was pissed at him. He promised we'd go on a hike together and... anyways, I wouldn't be too worried about him missing me."