She shivered, holding herself as she watched Bo manipulate the ocean water in the dim light of the orb. It was strange to watch him flick a finger here and there to move the sea. It seemed to take some effort as he was sweating by the time he was done, his face flushed in the orb light, but he made so little gross motor movement that Leena wondered what caused the energy sap.

He created an ice shelter. It looked similar to the clay one he had made with a small opening at the bottom and rounded on top.

“That’s really cool. I’ve never seen that before,” she admired.

“Hah…” Bo panted, “It’s tough as hell. It’s harder since…well…it’s just hard.”

“Can I learn to do that?” He looked at her, raising his eyebrows. Then he motioned to the door.

“Go inside, it will be a while before it gets warmer.” True, it was cold inside the structure he built.

She sat on the sand, avoiding touching the ice walls. Bo crawled in after her, and then he started touching the ice walls, turning them pure white.

“Is…is it snow now?” He shrugged.

“I want to be able to keep the orb on without attracting too much attention,” he replied, “I’m making the walls opaque.”

He sat down, leaving the light orb hovering above them at the top of the ice hut. Leena started to feel warmer without the wind blowing on them.

She wondered if it would be strange to lick the walls.

She turned away from Bo and took a lick.

Salty.

“What are you doing?” he asked. She blushed a bit.

“Um…nothing, nothing.”

“What happened?” he asked. He rested his head in his hand, propping up his arm with his knee as he sat cross legged. It seemed like all energy had been drained from him. His eyes were like small pebbles and his hair was matted with sweat and grease. Weary wrinkles formed on his face, drooping his cheeks and eyelids.

Leena felt the lull of sleep hit her suddenly, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open, to wiggle her leg.

“Someone found us. It was…someone from Icherrun, and I was afraid there was more.” Bo lifted his head, the corners of his mouth turned down.

“What happened? Who was it?”

“Just some guy I knew who gave me…a…well…” She fell silent.

“What happened to him? How did you get away?”

“There was a…fire? A light? It lit him on fire. And he ran away. Do you…can you tell me about the fire?” Bo rolled his eyes underneath his eyelids, sighing deeply.

“No. I can’t.”

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“You can’t?”

“No.”

Leena ran her hand along the sand. It was so soft.

“Well…then the fire led me to you, and…well. I’m sorry I stepped on you.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry about the pixies.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, really. Bo, I’m sorry. I’ve caused you problems,” she insisted, biting on her lower lip. He blinked slowly, wearily.

“Leena. It’s okay. I promise it’s okay. It’ll be fine, just…let’s sleep now. I need to sleep.” He lay his head on his satchel. Leena sniffed a bit and lay down, facing away from him and looking at the sea water ice wall.

She touched the wall, feeling the freeze of the ice. Sand got in her clothes. She slept.

She screamed.

“What? What?” Bo asked, sitting up, grabbing her arm. She wheezed, breathing fast, trying to slow down.

“Another nightmare. It’s okay. It’s…okay,” she sputtered out in between breaths. Bo looked angry.

“I’m sorry,” she said, noting the grimace in his face. He changed his expression, softening it.

“It’s okay,” he said, “Try to sleep.”

And they slept.

--

Leena was tired. Everything in her body hurt.

They slept well into the day. The sun was halfway up in the sky. Bo ate silently as he watched her lay there, staring at the ceiling.

“What was your nightmare?” he asked.

“Ah, usually there’s water, and well, I get dragged down into the water, and I can’t breathe,” she replied, “I don’t know why, that’s just how it is.”

“Is there anything else?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Not really. It usually starts in a dark room or a dark place. And the water comes up. And then there are things pulling me down, at the waist, at the…the leg. And…I can’t breathe, and then I wake up.”

Bo held his bread loosely in his hand, staring at it.

“Anything else?”

“Not really.” He frowned at her.

“If you…if you see anything else, let me know, okay?” She rolled her head over to look at him. He was serious, making eye contact with her and everything. She rolled her head back to look at the ceiling.

“I lost my knife,” she said.

“Oh.”

“I don’t have anything.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry, Leena.” She sniffed a bit.

“It’s okay. It’s just…I feel like I lost everything. I only have the clothes on my back. I had a knife. Now it’s gone. I have…nothing.” Bo traced his fingers in the sand.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and he crawled through the ice hut’s door. She didn’t move, just merely lying back, feeling the sand cradle her head, shifting as she moved her arms to cross on her stomach.

She never had much. But she had a home. She had her grandfather. She had food and water, even if it was cloaked in some way by something. It tasted good when she was blind. The weather wasn’t a problem either when she was blind. Maybe it was better to be blind. Maybe seeing her mother was a mistake. After all, didn’t her mother abandon her?

And who was Bo? Was Bo someone she should trust? He had helped her out so far. He gave her food, a place to stay, and a place to hope for. Could she make a new home with her mother? Could she go back to Grandfather to rescue him? Would he still be there?

Why was Bo so evasive with his answers? He knew something about the fire, but he didn’t want to tell her. Why didn’t he want to tell her? Why wouldn’t he tell her about elves? About his water powers? Why wouldn’t he talk with her? Was he afraid she would find out something he didn’t want her to know? How was she supposed to trust him? Would she be better off on her own?

“No,” she spoke out loud, “I’ll stick with him for now.” As long as he didn’t hurt her at all, it would be fine. And so far, he hadn’t physically tried to harm her. He was definitely grumpy, but he had risked his life for her.

“Yes,” she said again, “I’ll stick with him for now.”

“What now?” Bo asked, crawling back through the door. Leena rolled her head to look at him.

“Nothing.”

“Here, sit up,” he said.” She pushed herself up, leaning against the cold wall. The chill went through her coat into the spine of her back, but she was too tired to care.

He took her hand with both of his rough ones. They were surprisingly warm and rough. Gently, he curled her fingers around something, holding her hand closed.

“Now you have something else,” he said, squeezing her hand a bit. She looked at him, and he turned red, averting his gaze.

“Just…I gotta pee,” he said, pulling his hand back and crawling through the open space more quickly than he did the first time.

Leena opened her fist.

It was a fan-like shell with light ridges in a lovely pink color.

She wanted to cry.