“See? I told you it was not that hard!”
   
    Looking down the side of the rocky hill, Aderyn stood triumphantly, watching as her friend struggled to keep up.
   
    “Yeah- you also said that the last thousand times,” Gareth finally responded as he reached her. He laid down on the ground, sprawling out to catch his breath. Though the clouds covered the sun that day, making it less warm than the day before, and although Gareth had much more strength than Aderyn did from working the fields all his life, climbing was not his strong suit.
   
    “The last thousand times?” Aderyn replied. “If it were truly that often, you would be good at it by now!”

    She continued walking. Although she had reached the top, there was a spot she especially enjoyed going to, where all of the islands of Ousia, including the smallest island, could be seen. The view at the top of this mountain allowed people to see the volcanoes of Boeth, the top of the mountain range of Awyr, a smudge of the swamps of Peryglus, and the tiniest part of Afon, the farthest island from Naearen. Naearen had a few other mountains, which could be seen from where she was standing, but this was the only one close enough for her to walk to from the town she lived in. The others, which were much taller than the hill-like mountain she was on, provided Aderyn with a much better view, but it took days to travel to them. Even in the growing season, when the weather was nice and the river flowed smoothly enough, it was difficult to cross the island. Those that did were usually merchants or travelers, who were used to long journeys like the one it took to cross the island.
  
    The mountains of Awyr were Aderyn’s favorite part of the view from the top of the hill, because even with it being close enough to climb, it wasn’t the same as looking at the beauty of a mountain range, their peaks reaching up to the clouds. It made the hill she was climbing look like a pile of rocks rather than a small mountain.
  
    Finally, she stopped walking, staring out toward Awyr as she waited for her friend to catch up. The wind blew toward her  from the ocean, her braids flying away from her face.

    Gareth spoke from next to her, having finally caught up to his fast-climbing friend. 
   
    “Just because you make me climb up here with you every day, it does not mean I’ll suddenly become an expert climber like you are.”

    Aderyn smiled. She knew very well that she never really made him do anything- he just always did whatever she decided to do for the day. He was just that type of person.

    “You know you love me,” she teased.
He looked away. Even with his tanned skin from a life in the sun, she could tell he was hiding a blush. He tended to do that a lot.

    “Think what you want,” he eventually replied.

    Aderyn’s gaze had already wandered away from the peaks of the Awyrean mountains toward the vast ocean beyond.

    The ocean was another thing that Aderyn loved looking at. The mountains would always be her favorite, but the deep waters and the unknown extremities below interested her.

    Gareth must have noticed her looking toward the ocean, because he spoke again.

    “I know you know that I hate the water, but,” he paused, hesitating, “I know where a beach is. With actual sand.”

    She tore her gaze away from the ocean. “You do? Where?”
   
    She had done as much exploring of the island as she could, but had only found rocky shores.

   “If I show you, you have to give me a break from this rock climbing stuff for a while,” he said seriously.

    She nodded quickly in agreement. If Gareth was going to show her something on the island that she hadn’t discovered yet, climbing did not have to happen everyday. She grabbed his hand, attempting to pull him back toward where they had climbed up the side of the mountain. Although he had a more quiet demeanor and a lack of rock climbing skills, he was still a lot taller, and stronger, than her.

     Gareth smiled slightly. “Shouldn’t I be leading the way? And anyway, we shouldn't go right now. It’s cloudy, and we have jobs to do in the field.” He gestured toward the sky with his other hand.

     She immediately dropped the hand she was holding, crossing her arms. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” She started walking away, toward a large boulder, in attempts to get away from him. She may be older than Gareth by a few months, but that did not mean she agreed with the jobs given to her and the amount of energy needed to do them, especially not during the weeks when there weren’t classes. She believed their time off should be spent having fun, not working every day.

     Gareth grabbed the strap of her bag. “Yes, you do. Come on. I don’t want to try climbing and carrying you down this hill.”

    “Then do not even try,” she suggested, trying to wiggle the bag off of her shoulders.

    “You know what will happen.”

    Aderyn groaned. “Fine.” She stopped trying to escape. “But once we are finished, even if it is still cloudy, you have to show me the beach with the sand.”
 
   “Agreed. Now, show me the easiest way down this mountain.”

~-~-~

     The sun only came out for a short bit of time while the two worked. While Aderyn did well in her classes as a person who enjoyed learning, her work ethic for her actual jobs was poor. She tended to either mess up or take a longer amount of time than everyone else, and with the clouds in the sky, it made her earlier joy from climbing diminish into more of a facade than a reality.

     The moment she finished, and when her work was accepted, Aderyn made her way to where she had told Gareth to meet her. She saw him immediately as soon as she arrived.

    Gareth tended to be the opposite of Aderyn. Hard-working during the jobs he was given, but not the best student when it came to things relating to information outside the ideals of the island’s industries.

     “You always take so long,” Gareth said, once she was closer to him. “I don’t know why these jobs are so difficult for you. I know you’re smart enough to understand them.”

     She rolled her eyes. “You know it is not the same as math and science. Otherwise, I would be good at farmwork and you would be better in school.”
He shrugged. “I guess you’re right. But you don’t mind that that makes us different from each other, right? It doesn’t change our friendship.”

     “Yes, yes. I know,” she said quickly. “Now, stop talking and wasting time. I want to see the beach before the sun sets!”

     He sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.” Aderyn knew that he really did not care about the beach as much as she did, but she also knew that he was a good friend and would do anything to make her happy.
Gareth began walking north, toward the beag bridge, the first stop of their short journey. Aderyn did her best to stay either behind or next to Gareth. These attempts did not last long, though, as her excitement was hard to keep contained.
Aderyn enjoyed the mountains and the ocean, but while the rocky beaches were pretty to look at, the idea of being able to walk barefoot through sand to the water was exciting to think about. Even without the sun, which was covered by clouds once again, and with the wind blowing toward them, into their faces, the air felt nice enough for her to put her feet in the water without getting cold.

    “If you keep going ahead of me, Aderyn, you’re going to go the wrong way,” Gareth reminded from behind her.

    “I guess,” she grumbled, forcing herself to slow down. “Maybe next time we climb, you should climb faster. That way, you do not have to worry about keeping up with me.” She understood why he was annoyed, as she felt bothered everytime she had to slow down for him while climbing, but did not want him to know.

    “Keeping up with you?” Gareth laughed. “You’re the one that makes me climb, even when I don’t like doing it!”

    “I do not make you climb! If you do not like it, you do not have to do it,” she shrugged, starting to walk again. “If you do not like it so much, then why do you keep doing it?”

    “Because I don’t want you to be by yourself,” he said, then quickly added, “and it’s unsafe to climb alone.”

    She snorted. “So climbing with someone that is not good at climbing and does not even like to climb is better than climbing alone?”

    “If you’re going to get mad at me, I can just go back home now,” Gareth said, stopping. “I don’t have to show you where the beach is.”

    Aderyn quickly turned around to face him. “I am sorry. I should not have said that. I know you do not like climbing as much as I do. You are a good friend for climbing with me, and you are a good friend for finding this beach. You did not have to. And you know me. Sometimes my thoughts come out as words when they probably should not. I should learn not to talk to you like I know everything.”

    He sighed, then smiled. “I know, I know.” He started walking again.. “It;s fine. And you’re not a know-it-all. Even though I am horrible at climbing, and don’t enjoy it as much as you, I know you enjoy it. And I know you enjoy the water more than I do. But even though you like different things than I do, our differences don’t make us less of friends.”

    Aderyn grinned. “Maybe I am always right. Now, walk faster! I want to see that beach!"

    After their short walk to the beag bridge, which stretched across a small river, they turned right, toward a steep hill with a waterfall. This waterfall allowed the water of the small river to keep moving across the land. Gareth stopped walking.

   “Here it is. Look down there,” he pointed. “Just be careful. And look closely.”

    At the bottom of the hill,, there were trees, with a small pond hidden beneath them. Only a person looking closely at the scenery would be able to see it. In Aderyn’s time spent exploring the nature of Naearen, she had never found this little part of the island.

    “That is gorgeous!” She exclaimed when she finally spotted it. “How did you find it?”

    He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Well, there was a day that I was given the job of helping a merchant out of a boat down that way,” he gestured, “and I saw this waterfall. I thought it was pretty cool, so I came back to look at it once I finished my job. I noticed the pond with the sand after looking for a while and thought of you.” He didn’t look her in the eyes, glancing at the river instead.

    She smiled. “I am glad you did. Let us climb down there!” She grabbed his arm in an attempt to pull him closer to the hill side.

    Before he could say anything in response, a bell rang in the distance.
Aderyn stopped pulling, looking at Gareth. “A bell?”

    Gareth listened as the bell rang again. “We have to go home.”

   “What? It cannot be that bad!”
  
   “We need to go. A bell ringing means a bad storm is coming,” he said seriously.

    “Alright,” she sighed in agreement, though she still disliked following rules. Even ones that protected her. “But we will come back here again.”

    “Okay. Alright. Now come on,” he ordered, pulling her by the arm.

    She tried pulling against him. “I can walk by my- woah.” She stopped pulling when she saw the dark gray clouds in the distance and the water of the river starting to turn into bigger waves, rather than a slow current, swirling around in a way for a voyager traveling by water.

    A storm was coming. A storm greater than any of the storms Aderyn had seen in the past. For once, she was actually going to let Gareth lead. Despite her dislike for following rules, her rule-following friend might be right for once.

    A storm, a big storm, was coming, and for once, Aderyn put her plans to a halt.