Neoma (8)

Dmitri ignored Natty entirely the next day. He was glad Rachel wasn’t looking in his direction when he woke up, his face flushed red when he remembered where he was. Rachel paid no attention to him in return of his cold manner, so she talked to Natty about the swamps near the next village. 1

“Dmitri really does care about us, you see. The swamps up near this village we’re stopping at are really horrible.” Rachel explained cheerfully.2

Natty scowled, unaware of what happened after Dmitri threw the blanket at her; she was still pretty mad. “Or maybe he’s just a lazy bum who doesn’t want a bit more adventure!”3

Without him even turning around, Natty knew her taunt had
angered him.4

“And,” Rachel continued hesitantly. “This village was also where I first met Dmitri.”5

Charles was busy tying knots in a bit of cloth, but stopped to look over at Rachel. She was smiling nervously, and he kind of understood why. Dmitri had tensed as he struggled to stay out of the conversation. Laughing silently, Charles returned to tying the knots.6

“Really? Was Dmitri always a bad-tempered jerk?” Natty asked nicely, jabbing Dmitri in the back with insults as best she could.7

Rachel’s eyes twinkled and her smile lost its nervousness. “No, he was rather kind to me.”8

Natty tripped over nothing, shocked. “So…”9

“My point in this isn’t about how nice Dmitri once was, it is about how nice he is now. If he doesn’t seem to show it.” Rachel added hastily, blocking Natty’s comment.10

Dmitri slowed down his pace a bit so his steps matched up with Rachel’s. His eyes had a sad look to them, but Rachel didn’t notice.11

“Why?” he asked.12

“We’re going to near there by noon tomorrow, right?” Rachel sighed. “And besides, I think you are too tense and rude around Natty and Charles.”13

Seeing his disgusted face, she added quickly, “Not that you need to love them both, just get to know them better.”14

The sky darkened as the sun hid behind the clouds; it had been getting colder and colder every day. Natty looked sadly at the sky, wondering if rain was coming. They group had such fair weather since they all first met that Natty had begun to wish for rain.15

She had often thought about running, or flying away at night when it was her turn to watch at night. Natty swatted her head, annoyed that the buzzing that continued to bother her. Sighing heavily, she looked around at the people she was walking with.16

Dmitri looked over at Natty, her hand lying casually on her head. She turned her head in his direction, staring at him seriously.17

“What?” she asked, annoyed.18

“A-ah… nothing.” Rachel’s words still bounced around his mind, and he wondered if it was even possible to get to know Natty better. Charles would probably be easy, but Dmitri wasn’t sure.19

“Yes, there is. I can see your eyes.” Natty said accusingly, matching her steps with Dmitri’s.20

He ignored her and kept on walking.21

“Dmitri.”22

Rachel looked up at the clouds, now dark and gloomy. She quickly handed a rain jacket to Charles and put one on herself. Dmitri pulled his out, ignoring Natty, and another one, which he handed to her.23

“Put it on before it rains.”24

“But–”25

“Shut up!” Dmitri said, turning his back on Natty and he quickened his pace.26

The rain broke as Rachel turned her face to the ground. The hood from the jacket shaded her face as she frowned; Dmitri and Natty were never going to get along.27

Dmitri’s face worried her the most. For Natty to see it, instead of Rachel, was startling.28

“Rachel.”29

She lifted her face to look at Charles; he seemed unaffected by the rain. His eyes looked worried.30

“Natty noticed Dmitri was upset.”31

“Yeah, I know. I’m surprised.”32

“Well I’m worried.”33

Rachel looked at Charles more seriously now. He never seemed to care much about Natty, but now that she thought about it…34

“Don’t worry. If Natty is beginning to show some heart, it’s a good thing. No matter how you look at it, we should be glad.”35

Charles narrowed his eyes. “Now you make her seem like some sort of item that can be sold or traded.”36

“I have known Dmitri for a long time, and I know what his obsessions were before we came and got you two. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had suspicions.”37

“Suspicions about what, exactly? You’re being really vague.”38

The rain began to shower down harder, and Rachel stopped talking to Charles. The rain continued on until nightfall, and there wasn’t any dry wood hidden anywhere that they could light.39

Natty spent a long time sitting under the semi-large tent they had constructed, her head in her hands. The mood of the camp was depressing and chill from the now approaching winter dampened everyone’s spirits. Rachel said that they would be at Dmitri’s ‘home’ village by noon the next day if the rains eased up. If you looked closely at the gap in the trees near the road, you could see the faint outline of the village walls.