Worries and Fears

Indrik

Words could not possibly begin to express how much joy flooded my heart when Luna told me that but another thought stopped me cold.

"When you say that, you mean..." I gulped, not having the heart to put it into words.

"Are you going to show me or not?" Her face was expressionless, leaving me dangling precariously on the precipice of uncertainty.

"Uhh... alright." I muttered. It wasn't like I had that much to lose anyway. Well, except for the fact that I was taking her to someplace that no one else, not even my closest friends, was privy to. "So, should we go now?" I crawled out of bed.

"No!" She made a gagging face as she looked pointedly at me. I looked down and would have crawled into the earth if I wasn't held back by my skin. I looked like a mess. My robes had become so soaked with dried sweat that white lines snaked across it like cobwebs. My hair felt like it had been glued to my head with tree sap. Everything about me felt sweaty and dirty. "You should go get yourself cleaned up first." I didn't argue.

It wasn't until I came back out that I realized that it was already late in the evening which made me realize just how long I had been out of it. My eyes widened in surprise but Luna's appearance soon snapped me out of it.

"Here!" She handed me my attire. I would have said she was checking me out if I did not know who she was. That and the fact that she had seen me bare chested several times already.

"Thanks!" I murmured, glaring at her. She met my gaze with confused eyes for a moment before realizing and turning around with a blush. I huffed as I slipped my clothes on. "You can turn around now."

She turned around and took in the view in a wide sweep before turning to the window. I followed her gaze and noticed that the sun was dipping very quickly on the horizon which was fine by me. "Are we going or not." She huffed. I turned around, blinking back into focus. I hadn't realized I had zoned out. Seeing the window had brought back the memory of the shadow and by extension, all the things I had experienced earlier.

I took a look at her attire. She was dressed in her usual simple maid's attire of a plain white gown and flat sandals.

"What?" She complained. "You are not expecting me to put on some armour, are you?" She grumbled.

"No, but..." I started then shook my head. "Never mind. Let's get going." I headed out, running into Blaire, quite literally. She seemed to have been about to knock when I opened the door.

She pulled back in surprise as she took me in. "Hey.." She started weakly with a half-hearted smile when Luna pushed past me.

My perfect maid took in the scene in one glance before cracking a smile that suggested she was about to say something very Luna-like. "Hello, lady Blaire." She gave a small bow. "You are here to see master Indrik? We were just about to..."

Blaire waved her off, obviously not in the mood to hear Luna's account about a lion roosting in the stables. "I was just passing by." She muttered but the way she scurried off informed me that she had been doing anything but passing by. Watching her leave, I felt a pang of guilt. I had been ignoring my friends these past couple of days. I couldn't remember the last time I had sat down with them in the garden. Not since the time I had gone on the journey that brought Luna into my life at least. I made up my mind to tend to that matter as soon as I could but for now, I had a more pressing matter to attend to.

I turned toward Luna to notice her eyes on me, like she was trying to see through me. I waved my hand over her face and was rewarded with a scowl. I resisted the urge to tweak her cheek but could hardly resist smiling as I moved closer to her. She looked rather dashing when she was like that. She stood at eye level with my shoulders but that did not make her any less of a threat. I shoved my arms in my coat and bent my head till my lips were right beside her ear. I took in the scent of her hair, a mix of lavender and a fainter scent of, cinnamon? I decided to speak before she attacked me, the grapefruit episode still being very fresh in my mind. "I would get a coat if I were you. It could get very cold out there." That may or may not have been true.

She looked like she was going to smack me so I hurriedly backed away and flashed a grin. "Hurry." I mouthed as I turned and made my way out.

Outside, the flowers that guarded the walkway looked rather sad in the quickly fading sunlight with their leaves gathering in a pool at their base. Their small branches looked rather miserable without their leaves and flowers to adorn them but I knew it was only a matter of time before they would start blooming again, looking even more beautiful than before. I sighed as I wondered if I could ever be like them, not having to worry about losing everything because I could be certain they would grow again. Sadly, I was no flower and I did fear a lot. Even now, I was scared that Luna would change her mind and decide not to come out again, leaving me in my miserable state. Having my wolf had not done much to alleviate my fears. If anything, it made me even more afraid because it meant having more things to live up to.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize Luna had arrived until she cleared her throat, sending me jumping.