[GS Flashback] Everybody Hurts [Rista]

[Victor Lark]

Aodas was furious. His knee pained him where she had kicked it, but he did not dare show the weakness with a limp. His hands were fists as he walked forward; it seemed impossible that his anger would subside, and yet as he walked alone he waited for it to happen. Some relief came in the form of a quip from the girl’s tongue. As much as he thought he hated her then, her reasoning as to his brother’s uselessness made him smile. Aemid detected as much. Knowing his Aodas’s amusement, combined with the offense itself, made the color rise on his face.

“You’re lucky I’m not as abusive as my brother, black-eyes,” he spat. When he ran back to the other boy, he was especially careful to keep his steps light and quiet, if only to prove them wrong. He called back on a harsh whisper, “Catch up, will you?”

But it was not necessary to say it. Aodas stopped then, folded his arms, looked up the mountain in consideration. His face was hard, searching, and obviously still distracted. His frown could not have said how he desperately wanted them both to have a second chance, and his boyish dreams hoped that it might be something bigger. A noise rustled to his ears from one side, but it was too quick to tell which. Instead of speaking, he elbowed Aemid when he got close.

“What?” He replied irritably, and was answered by the briefest green-eyed glance at Rista. “Don’t be mysterious. Say it, cotton-head.”

Aodas’s eyes narrowed as his tongue curled angrily over his teeth. He sucked on his lip for a moment. Then he turned to Rista. His tone lightened when he spoke to her, but just barely. “We could go down the river, or up it. Down might be safer; we could go fishing. Up...”

“Up’s where the challenge is,” Aemid completed, and as much as he did not want to agree, Aodas nodded and dropped his arms. He liked the idea of a challenge too, and he suspected Rista had similar sentiments. For a moment, he managed to meet her eyes, but then they dropped to the conspicuous metal on her face. A shiver went down his spine and he kicked it against the gravelly soil. The noise echoed in some other, distant hollow.

“How well do you climb?” He asked.

“The headwaters go up east.” Aemid added, pointing. He had actually paid attention in a few cartography and navigation classes, and was eager to prove what little worth he had. “After the first climb, it shouldn’t be difficult to find more green.”

Aodas rolled his eyes.