Of Shadows and Swords (Chiarra)

Archer glared at her, weakly and dizzily, and stumbled away to catch himself on the nearest tree and just lean there, breathing a little too hard for having not done much physically until now. Lucius shook his head and let go of Melody to retrieve the bags he'd left, handing one to Archer and keeping the second for himself. "Wait until we're actually done moving," He said, shaking his head and dragging Archer away from his tree again, "Then you can see if you still want to thank me." They were going to be at this for a while.


"We're going again!?" Archer protested, digging his heels in without much real effort.


Lucius looked back at him, eyes narrowing. "To be safe, yes we are. Do I need to put you to sleep?"


Archer just crossed his arms like a petulant child, doing everything but stick his lip out and pout. "No. . ."
 
She watched as he grabbed their bags, glad they hadn't lost them. That would be terrible and she wouldn't have a mini harp to play. When Lucius told them they were going to have to do that again, she didn't really mind, but knew that Archer wouldn't. She walked over to Archer as he was complaining about doing that again and took his hand. "Well do this together," she said softly, looking at him.
 
Lucius watched, a little confused, as Archer looked at Melody's hand, seeming surprised at first and then relaxing and just nodding to her. Archer never really took comfort in anyone, so Lucius wasn't sure if it was a ruse he put on for her benefit or if he actually . . . what? Cared for her? They didn't have time for him to think about it now. "Come on. We have to go now. You know I won't let go of you." And if he did, he would find them again.
 
Melody smiled softly at him, and still holding his hand, took a deep breath and closed her eyes shut tight, ready for travel once more, hoping that Archer would be a bit more willing to do so now. Though she did understand his discomfort with this.
 
Lucius waited until they were both ready, then dropped them slowly and carefully through another shadow, grip tight against them both. While he was careful with Melody, he let his fingers dig into Archer's side, knowing the thief wouldn't care because it meant that Lucius wasn't going to let go or be jarred by anything - not that there was anything to do the jarring in the inky blackness that was shadow travel.


When they emerged, they were far from the city, its light not even visible, and in the middle of a forest. "We can catch a few hours' sleep here, or we can keep going. If I push, I can do this for another hour." They would be far, far away from the castle by then - at least a few days' journey by horse, but he would likely just collapse, and Archer would need a while to recover, he assumed.
 
Melody held on tight to both Archer and Lucius. When it was over, she breathed and blinked, looking around the forest. "It should be hard for them to track us now," she said. "So you should get some rest Lucius," she said, smiling softly at him. "I think we all need our rest."
 
((I gotta get some sleep. Night :) ))


Lucius nodded a little and just flopped down into a sit on the ground. Archer moved away and paced restlessly, shaking out his limbs a bit and generally being antsy. Lucius tracked him back and forth a while, then just laid down in the grass. "Try to sleep, Archer. It's over. This is natural darkness now."


Archer rolled is eyes but didn't stop pacing. "I know that."
 
((I already went to bed lol, so Night))


Melody sat down along with Lucius, being very tired herself and watched Archer as he paced. She sighed softly, understanding his fear of the darkness, but there were things she feared more, like Edward. "Goodnight," she said, not saying anything about Archer's pacing. She laid down and tried to get comfortable before trying to fall asleep. Lucius was right, she was used to her soft bed.
 
Lucius watched Archer a while longer, then just shook his head and turned onto a side, cradling his head in on arm and just closing his eyes. They were far from any people and any hint of the King's control. They would be safe here for the night, and when morning came they would be on the move again. It would be more difficult in the daytime, but he would manage it.
 
Melody was finally able to find a comfortable spot and soon her eyes closed and she tried going to sleep. She was worried for Archer though, so that was another factor that kept her from sleeping that well. "Are you alright Archer?" she asked him softly, so as to not disturb Lucius.
 
Archer, though he'd slowed down, hadn't quite stopped moving about while Lucius and Melody tried to sleep. When she spoke to him, though, he came to a halt and flexed his fingers in and out, then shook his head. "I'll be fine. Go to sleep. I just have to calm down."
 
"If you're sure," she said, still a bit worried about him. She didn't want to coddle him though, he could take care of himself. "Well, if you need to talk, I'm here," she said and laid down, closing her eyes once more and trying to go to sleep, but failing.
 
Archer shook his head and just moved a bit closer to them, lying down between them finally. "Thank you, but I'm fine." He closed his eyes after that, and just tried to picture himself somewhere else, with sunlight. Lots of sunlight. "Goodnight."
 
"Goodnight Archer," she smiled softly and yawning. A few minutes later, she was finally able to go to sleep and slept until morning when the sun started to rise and that's when she sat up, yawning and stretching herself, not having slept very good.
 
In the morning, when Archer woke, Lucius was already up. He knew this because, after looking around for the other boy, all he found was a roughly four foot wide sphere of black. He didn't approach far enough to touch it, but sat down nearby and just watched the shadow even though it didn't move. When Melody woke and stirred, Archer looked over but didn't turn, cheek rested on a hand. "Good morning, sunshine."
 
She smiled over at him and said, "Morning." Then she saw the black sphere. "What is Lucius doing?" she asked. "Isn't he just going to tire himself out this way?"
 
Archer shook his head, watching but not seeing any shifts or bumps outside or in. He couldn't even see a silhouette. "No, he wouldn't do anything so strenuous. He's just . . . practicing, I suppose. He hasn't really ever gotten to do that much."
 
"Well, he should practice," she smiled. "I'll go see if I can find any food, like berries," she said getting up. "I won't go far, I promise." In fact, right outside the clearing they were in was a raspberry bush and she started to pick them.
 
Archer just shrugged a little and leaned back on his hands. "All right. Just don't eat any before you bring them back." He didn't quite trust that she would know which ones were good for eating and which ones would make you sick for days on end.
 
"Alright," she nodded, chuckling a bit. She had brought the bag with her, emptying it of it's contents, before going to the bush. She grabbed the dark red ones and the ones that were still a bit orange but were turning red. The white and green ones didn't look too ripe so she left them alone. She found several bushes like that, but picking them was tiring her out, so when she filled the bag up, barely half way full, she came back. "This is what I got," she said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She handed him the bag.
 
Archer looked over at her when she came back and gestured for her to take a seat nearby, taking the bag when she offered it to him. He looked inside and made sure there were just the raspberries, and nodded a little as he popped one into his mouth. "Not bad for a rookie," he said, smiling slightly. "Eat up. We'll give some to Lucius when he comes out and see if we can get him fueled up to leave again." He wasnt looking forward to it.
 
She smiled and blushed a little, starting to eat a few. They tasted delicious. "Well, the white and green ones didn't look so good," she stated, chuckling a bit. "I got scratched a few times though," she said, looking down at her arms. Those thorns were not friendly.
 
Archer made a little bit of a face and pulled her hand over to look at it. "Better wet wrap those, to be safe." He said, dragging his bag over to find bandages. "We don't know where we're going next." He didn't want her getting infected and ill from just some silly, superficial scratches,
 
"I'm sure they're fine," she said, not really knowing that she could get an infection from them. She did let him wrap them up though, not arguing about it further. She looked over at the black ball and asked, "I wonder how long he's going to stay in there."
 
Archer shrugged a bit. "Probably not much longer. He knows we need to get moving, and I assume he's aware the sun is up. He can't have been in there since before sunrise" . . . Right?


((Sorry, distracted by Twilight Princess lol))
 
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