Xylia had never had company over, period. She felt so embarrassed that she had had time to clean the place up. As they entered the walls were decorated with a few framed paintings. A map of Oronia, one of the capital, and one of an old ship resting on a shoreline. The couch a simple beige with blanket folded and resting on the spine, end tables on either side with gem lamps. A coffee table sat infront of the couch with a recliner off to the side, behind that was a bookshelf filled with old books from her great grandparents she never knew.
A lighted fan was mounted to the ceiling, a large wooden box tv sat near the door, next to it on a table was a wooden box radio, another bit of technology made from crystals found in the deep caverns explored by the guilds. Aura crystals. If properly attuned, their dormant magic could be used to power all kinds of devices. Everything about the room felt like a step back in time somehow.
"I like it." He said looking around with genuine curiosity
Everything here was a foreign concept to him. He'd never seen or heard of such devices until he'd come to Oronia. It was in his 8th year in incarceration when princess had first given him a radio for a holiday that was common around winter time on this continent.
As she guided him towards the small kitchen he was even more impressed and amazed by the simple details and yet still foreign to him. The flooring a black white pattern with the colors mesmerizing and playing tricks on his sight, seeing the way the white and black tiles moved diagonally in all directions. The cabinets a having an old tinge of white paint with brass handles. A small cooking stove and nestled in between the cabinets with a refrigerator against the back wall next to a small pantry room.
Adjacent to the kitchen was the dining room. The table having a white frilled tablecloth draped over it and seated six. At the far end of the table was a large window that overlooked the mountains and forest off in the distance as well the open fields. To the back of the hallway was where it split into the three, with Xylia's bedroom off to the left and the spare bedroom off to the right and the bathroom at the center end of the hallway. The ceiling in here had a string that no doubt had a pull-down ladder that lead to the attic.
Xylia now opened the spare room's door. A single bed and dresser sat in the sparse room, only a window to look out at the end of the bed. She motioned for him to step in. It was his for the night. As Rin carefully moving around the small room, Xylia watching him curiously.
"Never was a fan of empty rooms..." He said slowly walking around
Xylia was a little confused, only for it to sound off like an alarm in her. She immediately felt so insensitive. She now carefully took his hand as this made him stop, both looking each other in the eye again. Both knew what the other was thinking even if he wouldn't put into words for her.
"The couch will more than suit me." He assured her
Xylia sighed a little, but nodded in agreement. She could understand his reaction and request. She guided him back to the kitchen to make them something to eat. It would be her way of thanking him for helping with her garden today.
Rin watched her move silently and with a sense of wonder as she moved with grace around the small kitchen, she knew where everything was, taking out ingredients without even needing to look. The way she began to softly hum to herself. Rin now slowly turning back to the radio as he quietly moved towards it and turning on, a slow song coming with a gentle rhythm and soft beat. He now moved back to the kitchen as she was confused and a little embarrassed.
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"In my mother's clan, we have a tradition of dancing on the night before a big event. We build a big bonfire. The elders tell ghost stories and we dance to honor the gods. But on the nights before battle, we are to dance with our hunting partner." He explained to her smiling a little as he approached her slowly "The one keeping me alive and I who will do the very same for, need to be able to move in sync. Know where our other half is at all times. You have my back and I have yours." He explained further
Xylia had chuckled a little at this explanation, but felt the true meaning as she now approached him, meeting him halfway. They met each other's gaze as he carefully placed his left wrist on her hip and took her hand in his right. She didn't mind his arm, only focused on his gaze as the two began to move to the flow of the music.
Xylia herself couldn't remember the last time she had danced, but this here and now. It was nice, just something for the two of them. Tomorrow would bring around some kind of conflict, she did not want lose her home. It truly made her feel afraid of what was to come. She didn't want to lose this man, she wanted to be at his side always, enjoy the simple things.
"Do not trouble your mind. What will happen is yet to be set in stone. If time has taught me anything, there are and can be fixed points, but it's not up to us to know how or when to act upon them, but to keep ourselves here and now, where we can make a change of our own." He assured her as he could see the worry in her eyes giving her more words of wisdom
With this the song slowly came to an end as she smiled happily at him, her eyes saying enough, but he gently shook his head. His own acknowledgment of needing no thanks. With this the two now ate dinner together and each insisted on doing the dishes only to wash them together. Rin now laid down on the couch, his sword tucked under the coffee table. Xylia truly didn't want him to sleep on the couch but he was persistent.
Having just finished showering and changing, she watched him as he slept so easily. She slowly wandered back towards her own room to lay down herself. They would be leaving in a few hours. Her mind still abuzz and unable to find some peace...
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The sky beginning to fade from blue to between purple and orange. Xylia was just as soon up, pulling on her dark brown long sleeved dress that went down to her ankles as well lacing up her boots. As well as her mother's scarf and her father's old jacket. She hadn't looked at these mementos in years, having quietly been tucked away in the bottom of her dresser. Closing her eyes she could still feel those days with her parents in her heart, that place in her soul where she was happiest.
Rin waited outside, his cloak fastened around him and his sword on his hip. He nodded to her as she nodded back.
"Keep close, if you start to fall behind reach out and follow my aura. But I promise you, I will let no harm come to you." He said seriously as she nodded understanding this wasn't going to be easy but they had no time
He led her into the lower mountain passes, the mist and fog making it hard to see, the wind blowing made it difficult for her to focus, but she could still feel Rin's presence and kept following. They moved high up along the rocks and then down into the ravines before finally exiting into a forest. Rin knelt down now, grabbing a handful of leaves and crumbling them in his hand as he looked up, Xylia catching her breath as she watched him curiously.
"Come, we're on the trail." He said standing and moving again swiftly
She looked confused as to her this seemed like a silly ritual and they were walking in no direction at all.
"A good hunter knows how to track wind movement, finds high ground before the hunt, he needs to see out and get a lay of the land. The ravine kept us well hidden, also why we went slow, as to not give away our footsteps. I can also sense traces of this one's aura near. He came through recently. About two or three days ago." Rin explained to her feeling her thoughts in the forefront of her mind again
She was once again ever more curious, curious how he could read her thoughts so easily. In these last two months they had spent together training, he had so easily known what she was thinking and did not make a fuss over it, often diffusing her misconceptions and confusion she initially would feel, but never rude with his explanations.
Rin now chuckled some as they walked on through the forest. "I thought you would've felt it by now. But I guess I can forgive you for not knowing." He said as she was a little irritated by this now "I still can't give you all the answers, some you just have to discover for yourself, but have faith and patience the answer will come to you." He explained smiling some
Xylia most of all shocked by these words, they both had been stubborn in their own ways. But he remained true to his words, always heeding them himself. He was learning just as much as she was, only just from a completely different perspective, he had a lot on his own shoulders. From what he had explained he was the son of two clan's, something that sounded difficult. But she couldn't imagine a society so harsh.
"Even I don't know how, but we do share something of a bond. We can feel what one another is feeling. I'm just really good at reading you. Your thoughts are in your eyes, but as I said your voice will find its own way back." Rin said shedding some light on this phenomenon between them and giving her hope once more
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