Sable

The temperature in the forest was steadily rising. Sable dreaded not factoring that in- she really hadn't planned everything out. All she had on her mind was escaping and going back home. She wiped sweat off her forehead, and sighed deeply.

"Wait," Conor said. He grabbed at her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. Sable turned back to look at him, and watched him stare down at his compass. "We're not moving in the right direction anymore. We need to turn to the right a bit."

"Oh, okay," Sable nodded her head. She shrugged his hand off and turned to the right, walking along in that direction. "Sure."

Conor sighed and followed after her. She wasn't making things easy on him after the fight, but it was a shocking thing for her to witness. If she stayed, would she have to experience that on a daily basis? She glanced down at the bag strap that was in her view. Lucca had certainly planned on it.

"Sable?" Conor started. "I'm sorry. Well, actually, I'm not. Being here... you need to toughen up a bit. I know that seeing that so soon probably wasn't-"

"Just stop," Sable cut him off, holding her hand up. "And let me process. It's not like I'll never forgive you, it's just that it's something I've never seen or even thought about. I'm a human with the powers of a goddess... but I am still human."

"Right," Conor said quietly. "So- when are you going to turn back to normal?"

"Never," Sable told him. "I can't pretend that I didn't just see you chop a living thing's head off."

"You knew it would have killed us both if I hadn't," Conor reminded her. "It's kill or be killed out here, Sable. You're no longer in your world."

"I know that," Sable sighed. "Stop reminding me. I just need time to process it all. Please."

"Alright," Conor agreed.

They continued walking in silence, Conor didn't know what else to say. Sable hoped that he would just stay quiet. It was unnecessary to say anything at all; anything he had to say would just irritate her further.

There was a loud rumble- Sable flushed and froze. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen.

"Hungry?" Conor chuckled.

"Maybe," Sable muttered. "But I don't want to eat."

She began walking again, but Conor caught her arm. She looked up at him.

"Sable, you need to eat," he told her. She stared at him with her mouth slightly agape, and her eyebrows knitted together. She sighed and relaxed, shrugging him off. "It's been hours."

"Fine, I don't want to argue with you again," she said. "We've already done enough of that."

Sable pulled her bag off from over her shoulder and looked around. There was a perfect little spot for her to sit under one of the trees, so she sat there and peered into her bag. Her stomach rumbled again, but the crackers and bread and chicken within didn't sound appealing at all, even if it was all she had. She sighed again.

"What's wrong?" Conor asked. He leaned against the trunk of the tree she sat under. "Eat."

"Well... I don't know." Sable shook her head. She looked up at him, and chewed her lip. "None of that sounds appetizing. I know I have a very limited selection anyway... I just can't eat it anymore. I think I'll throw up if I do."

Conor laughed, then held up his hand and said, "Wait right here." He rushed off shortly after, faster than anything she'd seen.

Sable stared after him, wondering what he was doing. Moments later he returned with something wrapped in large leaves. He began gathering sticks, piling them up together. He raised his index finger to his lips and blew gently, and a flame build up above the finger. He stuck it in the branches and the flames spread through them.

"What are you doing?" Sable asked. "Won't the fire draw attention?"

"You're having roast boar and mushrooms," Conor answered. "And you don't have to worry about that. The fire won't be lit for long enough." He placed a large stone over the fire, and placed the thing wrapped in leaves onto the stone. Smoke billowed up around the stone and over the leaves.

"...Okay," Sable said. She stared at the... boar meat that Conor was cooking for her. "Will I like it?"

"I hope so," Conor gave her a look. Sable leaned back a little. "You can't be picky here."

"Okay. What happened to the rest of the boar?" Sable asked.

"You don't want to know," Conor said.

Sable's eyes widened as she imagined what he had done. Her appetite went again, but she knew she had to eat. Conor would probably force the food down her throat if she refused.

Once the smell hit her nose as the food started cooking, her stomach rumbled. Conor looked up at her and smiled. Sable narrowed her eyes and looked away.

"No shame in being hungry," Conor said. "You'll love it, I hope."

"I hope so, too," Sable whispered. Though she was sure she would like it; the smell was certainly pleasing.

Conor served it to her once it was ready. She looked up at him; there was no silverware, no napkin, and the food was still on the unfurled leaves.

"It's the best we can do out here," Conor shrugged. "The meat is tender enough for you to eat with your fingers. Just be careful, because it's hot."

"Yeah," Sable sighed. Conor handed her a cloth to wipe her mouth and fingers off with. She began eating.

It was delicious. Sable ate all of it; and couldn't remember why she had been so reluctant to try it. Once she was finished, she licked off her fingers and then wiped them off on the cloth. She wiped at her mouth and sighed, tossed the leaves into the grass, and then she stood.

Conor put out the fire and stood with her. They both grabbed their belongings off the ground.

"Are we ready to continue on then?" Conor asked. Sable nodded at him. They began walking again, and Conor stayed close to Sable.

Conor hummed as they walked along. Sable thought every once in a while that she recognized the song, but she didn't. It just sounded so familiar.

Sable saw a building in the distance. She wondered if Conor had noitced it, but didn't mention it to him. If the place was abandoned, they could stay there for the night. She sighed and hoped they could. She also hoped that he wouldn't force her to sleep huddled up with him.

"It's an inn," Conor said as they got closer, startling Sable out of her thoughts.

"O-oh? How can you tell?" Sable asked.

"I can hear people," Conor said. Sable had forgotten about all of his heightened senses. "In fact, there's a small village over there along with it."

"We should stay there for the night," Sable suggested.

"I don't know..." Conor sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this place. We should just skip it and continue on."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I would like to sleep in an actual bed tonight," Sable said. She stepped forward, walking ahead of Conor.

"Sable..." he said quietly.

"We're staying." Sable wouldn't budge.

"Fine," Conor sighed again.

She could just hear him thinking, what a stubborn girl. Why did I have to get stuck on an adventure with her again? Sable laughed to herself. It was his choice to go with her.

She looked back at him over her shoulder. His expression was inscrutable. She pursed her lips, wishing she had the ability to read the thoughts of other people like he could. But would he be able to shut her out? Sable started thinking about what would happen to her again if she stayed, and then stopped. Those kinds of thoughts would just send her into dizzying anxiety.

She thought only of the journey home. Hopefully it would be as simple as it had been already- minus the dead creature.

People from the shadows of the other buildings stared at them as they reached the village. Sable squirmed uncomfortably, and took Conor's hand. Conor looked at her confused.

"I need a little courage," Sable whispered to him and shrugged.

"I told you so," he whispered back. "This place is bad news." Sable rolled her eyes at him.

They entered the inn. A man missing an eye who sat on a stool at the bar turned to look at them. The barkeep, a man with a scruffy gray beard, looked up at them. Two people who were sat at a round table stood up and exited; plates full of food left behind on the table.

Conor and Sable exchanged looks.

"Hello," Conor said as they approached the barkeep. "We'd like to rent a room for the night."

The man swished something around in his mouth, and then spat into a bucket at his feet. Sable covered her mouth and her stomach turned.

"You got the money?" the man asked.

"Plenty," Conor said. He unhooked a pouch from his belt that Sable had never noticed before. He placed it on the counter before the man.

"Twenty symbols," the man demanded. "And there's only one bed. I also recommend that you don't advertise you've got money next time."

"The room sounds good enough for us," Conor smiled. He fished the mony out of the pouch and placed it in the man's hand, grabbing up the pouch and tucking it away again.

"Wait, but I-" Sable began to protest, but Conor patted her on the back and turned her around.

"Now, now, dear," Conor said. "This is what you wanted, after all."

"Room is yours for the night," the man called after them. "There's a restaurant here that you can dine at before turning in for the night. Makes good frog stew."

"Frog stew!?" Sable whispered harshly. Conor steered her out of the inn.

"I heard that it's pretty good," Conor told her. "You should try it."

"I don't want to," Sable declined. She brushed him off, and he took her hand again.

He leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Stick close to me until we've left this place. I have a bad feeling about this place, as I've stated before, and I don't think we should stay for very long." Sable could only nod.