“Adriel, wake up! We'll be leaving in a minute!"

Groaning, Adriel stretched his body before opening his eyes. The blurred vision, drowsiness, and hanging eyelids did not prevent him from recognizing Meyara's face hovering above him. He flinched and hurried away, annoyed by the action.

“Since when were you awake?” he asked a little curtly. “Are you alright? Last I checked, you didn't even react when I woke you up to take your medicine.”

"I feel better." Meyara shrugged while picking up their magically increased number of items from the ice floor. Adriel almost cursed when she threw most of it at him. “Stop nagging, pubescent teenager! You’ve been like a bear with a sore head since yesterday, get pissed at me for nothing. Now we don't have much time. We have to go."

Adriel pressed his lips into a line, thinking hard. He didn't expect Meyara to catch his unusual behavior, and now he didn't know how to explain anything to her. However, Meyara didn't seem eager to know whatever the reason, too exhausted to care. She kept nagging at Juma who was already by the door.

Reluctantly, Adriel took mint leaf paste from one of his bottles and went to another igloo which was used as a place to bathe. Mix the paste with a cup of frigid Frostfell water then use it to wash his face thoroughly. The freshness that immediately spread across the skin of his face drove away all traces of drowsiness. He took a deep breath and sighed in relief.

He barely rinsed his mouth when Meyara peeked out from behind the entrance. “Adriel? You're here?"

The young man shrieked while covering his body, which was actually still fully clothed. The igloo didn't have a proper door, just a thin piece of paper hanging from the only entrance. Adriel himself had carved the words 'occupied' in bright light on the front, but it didn't seem like it was enough to stop Meyara from breaking through.

Luckily, Meyara just stopped and tilted her head. “Why are you shouting like that? Has the water run out?”

"The water here won't run out for at least another hundred years," he argued irritably. “Wait for me outside for a moment! I'll be out soon!”

"But, I just wanted to say—"

“I said, wait! Do I have to obey you for trivial things like this too? Am I really not allowed to say what I want every damn time?" This time Adriel yelled at the top of his lungs. Every thread of patience he had seemed to just snap and disappear.

The sudden outburst was enough to render Meyara speechless. The girl just hummed awkwardly and left. Leaving Adriel to face his own emotions.

Maybe it would be much better if Meyara retaliated with the same attitude. They might end up talking it out, arguing, and clearing up any misunderstandings between them. But, no. She chose to avoid it, leaving their friendship on the edge, if there was even a friendship between them to begin with.

Adriel stepped out looking fresher but with a heavier heart. He didn't need to bother looking for Meyara who turned out to be talking to Eva. A sprig of dried dark purple lilacs in her hand.

The young man's heart was flattered. It was the same flower he always kept at Meyara's house. He never thought she would spend her precious time preserving the flower as a bookmark.

"It's not much, but maybe the color it has can liven up the atmosphere a little in this sea of white." Meyara, who was not yet aware of Adriel's presence, continued to chatter while taking out some of her knick-knacks. “I wish I could give you more, but half of my things are gifts I got from my Chief and he said I'll need them later.”

"You don't need to do this."

“No. I want to reduce my stuff after all.”

“If you say so ….”

They would probably continue talking if the coughing didn't bother them. Meyara and Eva turned at the same time to Adriel who was standing stiffly with a sullen face, a fist in front of his mouth muffled his fake cough. The young man was fully dressed in his travel clothes, and swiftly entrusted some of his belongings to Juma.

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"Where are Galen and the others?" he asked Eva without paying the slightest attention to Meyara.

“They set out early in the morning for the fertile plains nearby. Don't worry, this time I believe they will really come back.”

Adriel raised his eyebrows, contemplating, but decided not to say anything and just motioned for Meyara to follow him. The girl just followed his orders without muttering a word.

After saying goodbye once more, Meyara, Adriel, and Juma finally hit the road, with Juma lifting the two explorers and their belongings on his shoulders. The giant didn't say much because he was probably still a little cranky about the incident that happened a few days ago. Their journey felt very lonely, especially since Meyara and Adriel's relationship was not on good terms.

Juma took them along the path least touched by sunlight. Most of them are cave passages that appear to be connected to each other underground. The musty smell of wet soil and rocks, the air pressure which was very different from that on land, and the strange animals they happened to encounter made Adriel a little nauseous. He wondered how Meyara, who was not completely healthy, could survive if he, himself, was on the verge of vomiting.

Little did he know, Meyara was a bundle of nerves at the moment. She kept thinking about Deterville and her mother. Endless terrifying possibilities filled her head, banging against her skull in every possible way, making her ears ring excruciatingly. She was completely at her wits’ end to the point where she felt numb all over, she couldn't even feel any external stimulation.

Until Adriel snapped her out of her thoughts by shaking her shoulder slightly right after they were dropped off by Juma some distance from the Deterville entrance gate. The giant was gone, once again disappearing into the darkness.

"… you heard me?" Meyara only caught part of Adriel's question. “We have to make sure you're okay before we go home. Whatever happens, don't let us muddy the waters by being present in a messy state.”

“I-it's okay. I'm fine," Meyara answered a few beats too long.

“You’re clearly not. What's wrong?" Adriel asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

There was something in Adriel's tone at that moment that felt very foreign to Meyara. The girl's fingertips twitched in displeasure. For a moment, she forgot all the worries she had been harboring, then looked at Adriel with the same firm attitude.

“Let me ask you first. What’s wrong with you?” Meyara facepalmed herself internally when she heard her own voice quivering. But she stayed nonchalant about it. “You’ve been really quiet and irritable. I tried to understand and give you the space you might need, but you know how impatient I am!”

Adriel looked away. “It doesn’t matter. You have so many things to worry about.”

“You're absolutely right, except for the part that your silence doesn't matter to me. We can't continue anything if you don't cooperate like this!”

Adriel's last straw was snapped. He, who initially just wanted to let all these problems subside by themselves, finally couldn't hold back any longer. With both hands clenched, he faced Meyara. His red eyes gave away his anger.

“I'm not cooperative? Did you hear yourself?” he asked fiercely. “Was I the one who was careless in making a decision? Was it me who almost made both of us lose our lives just because I wanted to satisfy my curiosity? Was it me? Tell me, Meyara!”

“What … what are you trying to say?” A little taken aback, Meyara did her best to inquire.

“You, Meyara! You’re being impossible! Even now you don't understand why I'm angry? Let me tell you very clearly.” Adriel took a deep breath before continuing. "I really still can't believe you chose to remain held captive at that time even though I had begged you to let me save us both as quickly as possible. And what was the result? You have a scar on your cheek now and it's not even the worst consequence that could happen to either of us!”

His second outburst of the day really baffled Meyara. The clueless girl blinked dazedly a few times before stroking her left cheek. Previously, she didn't remember the slightest injury that appeared due to the chaos when they were attacked by that huge, ferocious bull because that small wound did not bother her at all. This was different with Adriel, who apparently felt quite disturbed by this.

“We could have died down there! Don’t you understand?” Adriel started to lower his voice. Becoming increasingly exasperated by the way Meyara just stood there almost innocently. Meyara's lack of sensitivity to other people's feelings drove him crazy. “I just… I was just worried about you. You can’t continue to behave as you please if you still want to achieve your goals.”

Meyara chewed her bottom lip anxiously for a moment. Adriel almost thought that the girl would just brush him off like she always did, but then he saw how her hands trembled slightly before she looked up.

Regret was clear in Meyara's eyes, and what she said next stunned Adriel.

“Would you believe me if I said that I didn't know what to do at that time either? That I refused your help because I was just worried that you would fail and end up getting hurt?” Red bloomed on her cheeks as she asked all that. “Would you believe me if I said I really only found an opportunity when that damn bull charged? Before that creature came, I didn’t even know how to escape!”

***