by J. Todd
Chapter Five
I woke curled up against Arian, his arms wrapped around me, protectively. For the first time I stayed in bed past dawn. I lay there looking at his sleeping face. The angled plains of his face only made him more beautiful to look at. His lips were soft and even the tiny scar at the edge of the right side of his lip couldn't take his beauty away. His full lashes lay like butterfly wings across his cheek. His nose had a small bump, indicating it was once broken. I can still close my eyes and remember his face that way as a child.
Arian woke to see me staring at him. "What?" He asked. I smiled and kissed him. He kissed me back. We didn't get up for quite a while.
When we did get up we ate some of the fruit. We then went outside and I showed him where the monsters had once been. We then started training again. He got better with the bow. I taught him how to attack and defend with a knife. We used a practice blade made of wood. I show him the special darts I use for big creatures and taught him how the throw them.
I taught him mercilessly during the day. He did everything I ordered without complaint. At night we were lovers. We went along like this until the end of the month. I began to feel the urge to go. I never could stay here long. A month or two at most, never longer. I preferred to be out there.
Arian caught me looking away towards the south the day I decided to leave.
"You want to leave." He said to me. I nodded. "I have seen you look more and more to the south. Every day you look towards where I came from." He wrapped me into his arms. I leaned into his shoulder.
"I think my next move is to go south." I explained. "I believe I am strong enough now. You have helped me to become stronger." I was stronger, he was with me, but I couldn't ask him to come with me.
"I will go with you." He said and left me to look at the southern horizon.
The next morning we were practicing again. This time I was teaching him the things my father had taught me and my sister. We were taught to fight together. I had to learn to fight alone after she died. Now I am training someone to fight with me. We stayed for a week more. He learned my silent signals and I learned his. We became a team.
