Colin's posts

"....." Ash was silent again.

He seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by the statement.

"I... okay." he said.

"Just... all right." he repeated.

"I'll... I'll remember that." he assured her.

"Thank you so much, once again." he repeated.

"I'm sorry." Ash apologised again.

"And... yes... yes, I am hungry." he said.

"...what kind of food?" he then asked.

"I... uh..." he stammered.

"I like meat." he told her.

"I've had... um... bear... and... well, whatever I was given." he admitted.

"I'll eat whatever I'm allowed to. But I like bear meat."

"....." Ash was silent for a moment, and nodded.

"Okay." he replied.

"I can do that." he told her.

"I will do that." he went on.

Then the two of them heard a low rumbling from his stomach... and Ash's first reaction was to recoil in fear.

"Sorry!" he quickly apologised.

"I didn't mean it!" he exclaimed, sounding scared.

"Ashley." he responded.

"But... well, some people called me 'Ash'." he went on.

"My brother did, anyway." he said further, his voice a little quieter now.

"Thank you for taking me here, Miss Rylie." he then thanked her.

"It's nice that you felt like I deserved it." he added, looking at her with a smile.

And that was disconcerting. His smile wasn't... wry. It wasn't joking. It wasn't even false or depressive. He genuinely felt like it was an honour to be treated with... basic kindness, it seemed.

"Can I do anything to repay you?" he asked.

"I'm not good at really anything, but I can try, at least." he offered.

He looked into the distance, and nodded.

"All right." he replied.

"That works." he said.

"Thank you." he then told her.

With that, they started walking... in silence for a moment, but the boy quickly broke it.

"By the way, the flames in your neck are really cool." he commented.

"I can make fire, too." he said.

"It's a different colour, though." he then admitted.

The next time he woke, the light was shining through the window.

And when he stirred a little, Aly woke up as well... and her face was glowing when she saw him.

"Eke..." she said quietly,

"You're awake." she commented.

"I'm so happy..." she went on, getting closer and holding him, like she never wanted to let go.

"Welcome home."

"......" he was silent for a moment when she asked her question, but a quick glance showed that was because he was too caught up in the experience of riding on the steed itself.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." he answered her.

"Yeah, I'm okay." he told her.

"This is really really cool." he then said.

"Never really been riding like THIS before..." he admitted.

Again, the child was silent... but she saw amazement and wonderment in his eyes.

"Woooooah...!" he exclaimed.

"That... is... SO awesome!" he said further.

"That looks SO cool!" he went on, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet.

He looked to the woman, and smiled.

"I can really ride this!?" he asked her, before pausing suddenly... and growing a frightening expression.

"...more..." he said quietly.

"There are more coming..." he told her.

"And they're angry... very angry..."

"...." he was silent, and thought for a moment.

"A horse?" he asked.

"A few times." he answered.

"I mean, I can keep my balance on a wild animal that's thrashing around and trying to knock me off and kill me." he told her.

"Does that count?" he asked.

As he spoke, she could sense his hesitation, his... almost fear.

Like he was scared of answering her. In general.

"....ate?" he asked.

He then paused for a moment.

"Uhhhhhhhh..." he mumbled.

"I... uh..." he stammered.

"When... when did I find those berries...?" he wondered.

"A few nights ago...?' he went on, before sighing.

"I don't know, maybe then?" he responded, shrugging slightly.

The child seemed to be taken in by her... and she swore she saw him looking at her neck... before her question caused him to snap back to reality.

"Ah!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, n-nothing." he replied.

"Just... just out. In nature." he said.

"Is... is that so bad?" he asked her.

"I mean, is it... am I doing something wrong?" he asked further, fear in his tone.

She was met with silence, before the kid dashed back, as quickly as he disappeared.

He was holding a black ribbon.

"Here." he said, handing it to her.

"Is this the one?" he asked.

"I mean, I can't see there being any OTHER ribbons around here..." he admitted, looking around.

"I don't THINK so, anyway..." he mumbled further.

He paused for a moment.

"A ribbon?" he asked.

He then leaned in close to her... closer than expected, and perhaps a bit... uncomfortably close... before withdrawing.

Then, before she could say anything, he was gone. And by that, he dashed off... far quicker than anything she'd ever seen before. He was practically gone from sight in a second or two.

"Is it black!?" she heard him call out from the forest.

"With a weird pattern on it!?' he asked further.

He jumped slightly and whirled around, seeing that the voice had come from... the woman's head.

Her head was there, and had just spoken to him.

Now, if she had expected him to scream and run... she would have been wrong. Instead, he just nodded slowly.

"S-sure." he got out.

He then stepped forward and picked the head up in his arms, before stepping out from behind the boulder.

He started to walk over towards the body that was there, his steps slow, but steady.

"Uh... so... so how is this... gonna happen?" he asked.

"Do I just... hand you to it...? Or... you to yourself...? Or... I don't know how to say it." he admitted in a quiet tone.