.jpeg)
"okay…" Aspen said apprehensively, as she began walking again, keeping her pace slower than usual, so as not to leave her new friend behind.
"Don't think i'm trying to make you into a charity case or anything.." she blurted "but if you seriously need clothes, I would give them to you, I have more than I need really, and some are unisex, like sweatpants and t-shirts and socks and stuff."
.png)
"I'm fine," River repeated, walking alongside Aspen. "I know my bag doesn't look big, but I packed quite a few of my clothes in there. It's all good."
"oh…" Aspen said quietly, looking down at the ground "okay."
She kept walking, focusing on placing her feet firmly on the ground before taking her next steps. She did this in silence.
River continued walking with her, absentmindedly drumming his gloved fingers on the side of his legs as he did so.
"So…what's your favorite animal?" He asked Aspen in an attempt at an icebreaker. The silence was getting a bit awkward for him.
"penguins" Aspen said, her voice rising in excitement.
"What's yours?" She asked eagerly.
She looked down at River's hands and noticed his gloves, she thought about the heat and how uncomfortable she would be wearing gloves like that.
"Definitely crows," River replied, smiling at Aspen.
"They're such fascinstingly intelligent and underrated creatures. I've loved them since I was a young kid," he continued, remembering how he always fed the crows outside the orphange whenever he could and how they brought him tiny trinkets in return. They were the only beings he regretted leaving behing.
Aspen nodded appreciatively.
"That's cool!" She exclaimed.
"Raven's are also very beautiful as well." She added thoughtfully.
"They really are," River agreed, surprised at how natural talking to someone his own age felt. He'd never really had a companion, and he smiled at Aspen, relishing the feeling of happiness and serenity of the moment.
"you kind of look like one." Aspen stated, then blushed "with the pointed features and stuff."
"Not that that's a bad thing or anything!" She blurted, then covered her face with her hands and sighed at how awkward she was.
"You're pretty is what i'm trying to say I guess." She mumbled through her hands "like a Raven."
"Thanks," River said, accepting the unique compliment with a grin. He went silent for a few moments before a new question came to mind.
"If you could have any super power in the world, what would it be?" He asked, running a hand through his dark brown hair in a futile attempt at taming it.
Aspen smiled to herself widely, then bit her bottom lip to hide it from view, and turned her head away, leaving a quarter of her face still visible to River.
"Flying." She said honestly "or maybe controlling water."
She turned her head back and looked at River, a small smile on her lips.
"What about you?"
River considered for a moment before answering honestly. "Invisibility."
He hesitated a bit before continuing. "I just think it'd be nice to see the world without the world being able to see you, y'know? I don't know if thag makes sense… I just feel like being invisible would sort of being like seeing everything from a different perspective, since you wouldn't need to worry about anyone having to see you."
He smiled sheepishly at Aspen. "Sorry if I made that too deep."
Aspen nodded.
"I like that." She added honestly, smiling at him warmly.
"Deep answers to questions are my favorite." She added slowly, she pointed up to the left side of the road, to a large Willow tree.
"Would you like to stop there for the day—" she checked her watch, which revealed the time as 7:43 "night I mean— or keep going for a while longer?" She asked him earnestly.
"Stopping here sounds good," River replied. He went up to the huge tree and sat down besides it, sighing in relief as he relaxed into its bark.
"This tree's actually pretty comfortable," he admitted, closing his eyes.
"Willow trees are usually comfortable to sit against, their bark is softer than most trees." Aspen told him knowingly, as she followed him and sat next to him.
Her back against the tree's trunk.
She sat with her knees drawn up, her backpack between them.
"That's a cool fact," River murmured, his body relaxing even more as he felt exhaustion finally win him over and started to pull him into unconsciousness.
"mhm" Aspen said, eyeing him and watching him fall asleep.
She then closed her own eyes and placed her forehead in her palms, thinking of the woman with the golden hair and matching eyes.
As he started to dream, River swore he saw a small golden bird appear in front of him briefly, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.
(time skip.)
Aspen slowly came out of her dream and blinked her eyes.
She opened her pack and pulled out a small retractable pan that she had made herself, she looked quickly towards River, who was still asleep and made the few larger twigs float towards her, as well as rocks in her sightline.
She made the rocks form a small circle and then piled the sticks in a teepee shape. She then floated dried leaves to the fire and pulled out a lighter, bringing the flame to the dried leaves, quickly the sticks began to burn and soon there was a small fire in the circle.
She then pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and poured a quarter of it in the pan, which she floated above the fire, she added a package of oatmeal to the heating water and slowly made the oatmeal, she took the pan down from the air and sat it next to her, where she pulled out two wooden carved bowls.
She blew on her oatmeal, hoping River would wake up soon, so his oatmeal wouldn't be cold.
River woke up with a start, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around, his heart hammering out of his chest before remembering where he was and who he was with.
When he laid eyes on the bowl of oatmeal, his stomach growled in anticipation. "Good morning," he said to Aspen, moving closer to her. "This looks amazing!"
Aspen smiled shyly and thanked him very quietly.
"I have blueberries, strawberries and chunks of mango that you can add to it, if you want, I also have sugar and cinnamon." She told him, setting all the ingredients out as she did, she added sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, blueberries and mangoes to her oatmeal, then began to eat silently.
"Thanks," River said, smiling at her. He took a handful of strawberries and a bit of sugar and added them to his oatmeal. He ate his meal in silence along with Aspen.
Once Aspen finished she used the quarter empty water bottle to wash out the bowl she had been using.
She sat it down on the grass to air dry and stretched out her long, coltish legs, crossing them at the ankles.
She snuck a peek of River out of the corner of her eye, then forced her gaze up into the sky, she watched the clouds for a few moments before speaking what had been on her mind since yesterday.
"Why do you wear those gloves?" She asked, not looking at him "I mean it's really hot and I was just wondering, you must be wearing them for a reason."
River went silent for a few minutes, staring at his gloves.
He eventually responded quietly, "I…I'd rather not talk about it. Sorry." He shook his head a bit to clear his thoughts, stood up, and smiled down at Aspen, any trace of discomfort or lingering sadness vanished from his face. "Well, should we keep going?"
Aspen nodded and stood up, packing everything back into her backpack.
"yes, I think that's a great idea." She said, clutching the straps so hard her knuckles poked through her skin.
She began to walk after pouring the water on the small fire, then sent the sticks and rocks through the air simply by looking at him, in her nager she had forgotten River was there, and had witnessed her use of her power.