The breeze pushes back my hair, blowing it past my shoulders. It's cool enough where it causes goosebumps to ride over my skin. I've placed on a coat to at least try to keep me warm. My legs have not had as much luck.

The sun lowers itself further under the ground, creating pretty shades of red, orange, and yellow to fill the sky. With each passing minute, the cooler the temperature gets.

I look over at Garroth, seeing the foot distance between us. Leaves crunch under my feet, long grass brushing against my calves. Each strand sways in the wind. So much of this land is unexplored still. It's beautiful what mankind doesn't destroy.

"If you become cold, we can turn back," Garroth tells me, looking around the unknown territory in case of a surprise attack from something, or someone.

I shake my head, adjusting how my coat lies on my shoulders. The only part of my body that is chilly are my legs. Even then, I can deal with that.

Garroth continues with a new conversation. He doesn't force answers from me. Instead, he glances my way when he finishes with each thought of his before speaking again. It is within those moments of silence that I know are to see if I'd speak. I respond to very little.

"Is it coming along nicely with you and the others?" I ask. My eyes are directed in front of me. I have little to no fear with Garroth beside me.

He lets out a satisfied hum. I'm unsure if it's because I spoke or because of me acknowledging their work being done. After shutting myself out for so long, I haven't the need to see how it is all coming together.

"I think it's going great," he says, proud of his work. "There are some back sets where we have to redo something, but I think we're making decent progress."

I nod my head. We both walk in silence for a bit of time. It's a comfortable silence. There isn't a pressure to talk to another one. Soon we enter a clearing, and I smile as I look around. I glance at Garroth approvingly.

"It'd make a beautiful picnic area." Leaves are now beginning to fall, and flowers are starting to die. I sit carefully on the grass, looking up at him to sit with me. Garroth shakes his head, remaining to stand. I sigh, tugging on his hand to bring him down to the grass with me. "Please Garroth?"

We lock eyes for a moment. Slowly he sits down beside me. I let off a smile, happy about his decision. It's then that his eyes widen.

"You smiled," he points out, his shocked expression turning into one of cockiness. "I haven't seen it in a while."

I look down at the grass, grabbing onto little pieces and feeling them slip past my fingers. "I haven't had anything to smile about until now." Garroth doesn't appear to have a response to my words. Instead, his mouth opens, but it falls shut shortly after. "Do you ever miss him? Zane?"

We both look up from the ground. Garroth looks around for a distraction but finds nothing. He lets out a heavy sigh before rubbing the back of his neck. "I miss the old Zane. . . Before became corrupted. He'd read all the time and would block people out. When we were little, the four of us would happily play outside and run to the kitchen after a snowball fight for hot chocolate. Zane was never good at it. . . He couldn't throw. He couldn't dodge, either. I couldn't decide if he or Vylad were worse. Somehow, Kandi was better than both of them."

I slowly nod my head at this, trying to imagine a small little Garroth, Zane, Vylad, and Kandi running freely through a grand amount of snow. Their cheeks rosy pink and Vylad tumbling down. I can only imagine Garroth hiding behind a tree throwing a snowball at Zane and hitting him as Vylad cheers for Garroth as he sits behind a makeshift snow fort. Kandi scolding Vylad that he needs to stop cheering for those that aren't on his team.

"But then. . . Zane turned away from us. I hit him once, you know, with a snowball. I didn't mean to, but I hit him in the eye." Garroth looks down in guilt, finding it hard to continue. "He started distancing himself as he got older, finding an interest in Lady Irene. I thought it was harmless, but, but he. . ."

I reach forward to place my hand on top of Garroth's. His eyes go down to my hand before back to my eyes, almost understanding. His eyes are full of pain and regret.

"You don't have to continue. I know that it's hard," I tell him, gently letting go of his hand to place it back onto my lap. "Laurance used to be shy. I'd run around trying to meet whomever I could, but he'd have to stop me. We'd play together, trying to build snowmen or make little snow forts. I don't know what happened to us."

Garroth stands up. It appears that he's done with this conversation, and he's retreating back to the camp. It is near dark, so I suppose it'd be a good idea to head back now.

I'm helped onto my feet before he begins to walk off. There's a distance between us again. I cannot tell if this talk has brought us closer or further apart.

"We should get back to others," he tells me, not looking back. I clutch my coat closet to my inner body, walking with my spirits down.

"Garroth, how do you feel about Aphmau?"

He stops and glances back at me. "It's complicated."