Their run to Hundaf was really… boring… if Kairi had to pick a word for it. None of the bandits Karyme warned them of appeared, and they had basically zoomed through the route they chose to use – quite literally, with Stein freezing the ground to slide along as Kairi’s Wind-enforced jumps brought her further down the path. Hundaf itself was rather plain, being a small, little town meant for ships to dock, unload passengers or items, and move on. Besides a random inn, some shops and a relatively small housing area, the place was absolutely…
“Boring,” Stein completed her train of thought, his mismatched eyes looking about the area with silent regard. He stretched slightly, trying to relax his muscles. “We made good time reaching here; we expected to reach at five, but we got here at,” he checked the nearby clock for the time, “four thirty in the afternoon. The next ship leaves in another 15 minutes.” He nodded rather self-assuredly. “Yup, we made good time.”
Kairi sniggered at him. “Yes, yes,” she said, rolling her eyes as they walked towards the ticketing counter. There was a pause in conversation between them as they bought their tickets, rushed into the ship, and grabbed refreshments. When they found a seat with a table and set their drinks and food down, their discussion began.
“Okay, if I remember correctly,” Stein began, pulling a map (courtesy of Abel) out of his bag, “we’re expected to look out for weak areas, places that can be converted for healing purposes, and places that might be targeted for surprise attacks, yeah?”
Kairi nodded, taking a bite out of the apple she chose to buy. “We should split up when we get there. Covers more ground that way,” she said, grabbing her own map (again, courtesy of Abel) out of her bag. “I’yn is not all that huge to begin with. We could split up, cover some ground, take a break, and later switch to make sure we got all the same spots.”
Stein blinked at her for a second. She blinked back. “What?” she asked, taking another bite out of her apple. “You know…” he began, and Kairi gestured for him to continue. “For someone who spent most of her life kidnapped, you have a really good brain.”
The younger stared at him for a while in bewilderment. “I can’t seem to decide if that was a compliment or an insult,” she deadpanned, taking another bite out of her apple. She ignored Stein’s chuckle as she took another look at the map. “I’ll take north and west I’yn. We’ll trade maps when we switch so we know which spots we got. Savvy?”
Stein snickered again for reasons Kairi did not bother finding out, but uttered his agreement.
~*~
“I’m bored!” Kairi whined for the umpteenth time in…wait, only five minutes? Stein suppressed a sigh and faced the younger. They’d just finished their checking of weak points about three hours ago, and the Doyles’ were not due to arrive for another two hours. He definitely was not warned about how easily bored the younger girl could be (‘Curse you, Seloria!’ he yelled mentally).
(Miles away, Seloria sneezed in the midst of calculating the money needed to restore Destila to its former glory.)
Wordlessly, he grabbed the younger girl by the head (yes, head – he was that annoyed… and that much taller) and steered her into a nearby bookstore. “Book. Pick,” he said simply, and picked out a thick volume of… something. He really did not care at this point. Kairi’s mouth formed an “o” of understanding, and took her time scanning the shelves of books – she came out with a tome of spells… which was pretty darn thick, too (they paid for them, obviously).
Stein gave her a questioning look, and Kairi shrugged. “Never hurts to review what I know and learn what I don’t,” she said by way of answer. Stein shrugged in response to that, and proceeded to drag the younger (by the head again) over to a nearby café.
There, they sat for the better part of an hour – Stein immersing himself in an odd fictional story about a boy who was thrown into an Abyss of sorts and returned only to find ten years has passed, and Kairi mumbling to herself about spell theories – one in particular caught his attention; something about “Ice Wolves”? He’ll have to snag the book off the younger later…
“Say Kairi,” the purple-haired teen spoke after a moment. The other “hmm?” in question, eyes not leaving the page she appeared to be fixated on – it’s probably a really interesting spell, judging by the way she’s so keen on it.
“Are you okay?”
Apparently, his question was not something the cocoa-haired teen expected. She looked up from her book, eyes wide. “What?” she finally forced out after another moment of staring, blinking rapidly.
He sighed, marking his page and closing his book, setting it on the table. “Are you okay?” he asked again. When the younger Thyride showed no sign of comprehending his question, he elaborated.
“You… have something on your mind. I know that much, but I can’t tell if it’s because of the mission or if it was something else.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, and folded his fingers together in front of his face. “Don’t look so shocked, Kairi – I could read you like an open book seventy percent of times. So, really… are you okay?”
Kairi stared at him a little longer before she, too, marked her page and closed her book. “The border wall… the one that separates I’yn from Jajya… it scares me.” She shuddered. “There were too many weak points the enemy could exploit, and there mere thought of enemies attacking from my homeland…”
Ah, Stein thought, so that’s what it was.
Be as it may, though, he had no words of comfort for the other. Stein reached over; ruffled the younger’s hair, gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile…
…and then the Doyle’s arrived.
~*~
Watching with a bemused smile as Kairi jumped around her in a moment of… she-didn’t-know-what-induced-hyperness, Karyme attempted to try and not follow the younger female’s bouncing with her eyes… and failed. Rather spectacularly at that. The girl just bounces so much like a ball!
“Was your trip back here pleasant?” Kairi asked as they made their way towards the Doyle’s abode. Stein was with her parents, discussing something-or-other as they walked, and the orange-eyed teen probably found it fit to leave her partner alone for the time being. The Doyle heiress actually paused for a moment to think over Kairi’s question.
“Honestly,” she finally said, “if it wasn’t for the looming threat of an attack, the trip back home would be far more pleasant.”
She didn’t understand it, but Kairi’s smile turned a little sad and her eyes travelled in Jajya’s direction a little. “I see,” she said by way of answering and muttered something under her breath. Karyme was sure the younger did not intend to be overheard, but with her senses as enhanced as they are with Aydan’s help…
What does she mean by ‘unlike us’? She wondered, but continued the track to her home in silence.
