Song: https://youtu.be/02WwnMgpJEo

It was Barrett. He was alright, and he was talking to me. We were walking along the road, but I couldn't hear what we were saying, only the sound of rushing water. The sound became louder, and louder. It was almost obnoxious, and yet I didn't see any water near us. Then, the firing of a gun, and Barrett toppled onto a bridge.

The sound of hooves woke me, and I nearly sat up in surprise. But my memories of last night came to me in time to give me pause. I was supposed to be hiding. So I stayed down. Laying on my stomach, I peered through the greenery at a coach that was happening past. The curtains were drawn, but I could practically sense the man seated inside. A cold shiver passed over my shoulders. They passed without stopping, and I found myself waiting a bit longer until I was sure that he was gone. Then, I set my chin in my arms, looking over at the fork in the road.

My dream was of Barrett and I. Did it mean that we would meet up again? I didn't think that would happen with him having gone through the path with the traps. Was I supposed to go after him? The thought tied a knot in my stomach. I didn't want to go anywhere near those traps. Perhaps he would come back? But if he was going to come back, wouldn't he have done so by now?

Taking a deep breath, I looked in the direction Lord Dominic had gone. I would wait a couple of hours. If he didn't come back by then, I would head to the left and try to make it..somewhere, before Lord Dominic came along. Then again, I doubted he would pay much mind to a girl walking along the side of the road by herself. Now that I thought about it, why should I have to worry about him anyhow? I wasn't a thief. Barrett had reason to fear him, but I didn't.

I got to my feet and brushed myself off. Walking over to the fork in the path, I stood in the center of the two with my arms folded and my gaze on the ground.

If Lord Dominic came back, I'd simply pretend I was headed the other way. Or I would simply stand here regardless. He wouldn't care, he was a lord, and probably had many other things to do than worry about a lady on the road. Just so long as I stayed out of the carriage's way.

I stood a bit nearer the fork in the path, when I heard someone coming. I didn't turn towards him, simply listening to the panting of his breath. When he came closer, I glanced up from the ground. He was limping, dragging a bear trap on his ankle.

We made eye contact, and I barely kept from flinching at his red eyed gaze. He was angry. But I wasn't going to let those eyes muddle my thoughts, or loosen my resolve. I wasn't going to follow him blindly into needless danger. "..Do you want my help with that?" I asked, to which he glared at me.

"If..you would be..so kind." He gritted his teeth, malice in his tone. Once he reached me, I bent down and opened the trap so he could remove his foot from it.

"I told you not to go that way."

"I don't need any seer telling me my destiny." He snapped back as he pulled his boot out, setting it gingerly in the dirt.

I looked up at him with a frown before letting the trap snap shut with a loud clash of metal.

"Excuse me. When did a simple choice of left or right lead to destiny? I was just trying to warn you that the way you wanted to go wasn't safe." I got to my feet, folding my arms.

"I wouldn't even be in this part of the woods if it weren't for you." He accused me, to which my brows shot to my hair line.

"Oh you're right. You wouldn't be. You'd be dead, or maybe just locked in a cell. Either option is so much better than traveling with me, right?" I scoffed before heading down the way I'd decided to go last night.

"Where are you going?" He asked, limping after me.

"What? Do you want my help?" I asked, turning back to him. But he went silent, glaring at me.

"That's what I thought. Now you can keep limping after me like that, or you can bandage that leg. I'm going ahead to see if there is anything dangerous or helpful. Excuse me." I curtsied in my trousers before turning back around to head on.

He didn't want my help, and yet letting me out of his sight seemed so awful at the same time? He left me! Why was me heading up the path a problem? The whole situation was infuriating, why couldn't he make up his mind?

As I walked briskly away from him, I tried to calm myself. It was true that he would have been spotted if he tried to ride off with one of the horses. But without me, He probably would have been able to out ride them. I wasn't stupid, I knew Barrett was a very capable person. Even so..he wasn't invincible.

I picked up the pace a little, eyes ahead. We probably should start moving on soon. If Lord Dominic came across me on the road, he wouldn't bother to stop. But now that I was going to be traveling with my dream thief again, we had reason to avoid him. Barrett had kept his face hidden from Lord Dominic in the tavern and probably for good reason. He had a reputation, and even though our captor may not have cared too much for who he was, I had a feeling Lord Dominic would show much more interest.

The sound of rushing water caught my attention, and I looked around quickly for the source. Up ahead, there was a bridge. The river it was built over ran fast, and the water looked cold. But what made me nervous was that I still had my dream from last night, fresh in my mind. Was this where Barrett would get shot? By who?

Either way, I wouldn't try to think too much about it. The point was, Barrett and I were in danger, and we needed a way out of it.

Turning around, I ran back up the path. But when I saw Barrett, bandaging his leg in the grass next to the road, I slowed. He hadn't been limping in my dream, had he? I didn't want to brush it off and regret it. But, the last time I'd told him about my dream, he hadn't really believed me. Should I tell him about this dream? No, I decided not to, perhaps I could simply speed things along, walk a bit faster so whoever shot at us wouldn't get to us in time. Just a small change. I hoped that it would work.

"What is it?" Barrett frowned at me as he finished putting on his boot, and I scrambled in my head for an excuse that would get him moving.

"Lord Dominic came by. It was a little while ago, but I think he might be coming back soon. We should get moving." I felt like smacking myself, that would have been a good excuse to hide instead.

"Right. Sounds like a good idea." He sighed before getting to his feet. "There should be a village up this way. I just hope we can make it to a doctor quickly. I'd like to keep my foot."

I nodded, telling myself it was better if we just moved on. I wouldn't want him to lose his foot either. "Right. Quickly. That sounds good. Do you need help?" I offered, but he shook his head.

"I'll be fine, thank you." His tone was calmer than it had been when he was dragging the bear trap on his leg, but I suppose he probably felt better now that he wasn't in so much pain.

"Why didn't you remove the trap earlier?" I asked as he started walking along the road. I walked alongside him as he huffed softly.

"I was using it as a boot for other traps along the way. Though thinking back, I probably could have taken it off and still used it. But then I'd have risked losing my fingers."

I was quiet for a minute, picking up the pace a little, to see if he'd notice. He tried to keep pace with me, though it made him start to limp. "Why..Why did Lord Dominic burn down Tyren's Tavern? You said it was a safe haven right?" I asked hesitantly. I was keeping him distracted as I slowly increased our walking speed. But the question was one I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to. Barrett kept pace with me as he answered.

"Lord Dominic is a mad man that came to power years ago. He hunts for fun. But hunting people is illegal, he'd get in trouble. So he gets around it by hunting down thieves, since we aren't really considered people to most."

As expected, the answer made me shudder, but I reminded myself that I needed to keep up a quick pace. "That's...awful." I murmured honestly, watching Barrett focus his eyes forward. "Is that why you didn't look at him? Is he hunting you?" I asked, trying to keep him distracted a little longer. If we could just pass the bridge, I was sure we would be safe. As long as nothing happened when we got there.

"Oh, he's been hunting me for almost as long as he's had power. But I always get away from him. He'll probably figure out that I was the one who was caught in that cellar. You were right, he'll probably be heading this way soon, he has annoyingly good tracking skills." I perked up at that as the sound of the river became obnoxiously loud.

"Tracking skills?" I asked slowly, before looking behind us. If that were indeed the case, that meant that he would follow our tracks to find out our route of escape. He would know which direction we had gone.

It was at that moment that I noticed a glint in the trees. In my dream, it had been the shot of a gun, but I didn't have time to complain about the inconsistency. Barrett and I were about to step onto the bridge. My gaze shot back to Barrett just as he looked back at me casually, and I tackled him into the water.

I was right, it was cold. Freezing as a matter of fact, it nearly stole my breath, but I kept a hold of my air as tightly as my grip on Barrett's waist. We were tumbling through the current, and I thoroughly lost track of which way was up or down.

Trying to think quickly, I stuck my legs out straight, and smacked my knees on the bank. I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter in pain as I dragged my legs along the bottom. Using this to steady us, I pushed off as hard as I could. My head broke through the surface, and my eyes flew open as I gasped in the air.

Barrett coughed and hacked as we drifted swiftly down river. But when he leaned forward, I barely swallowed another gulp of air before I went under again. My body felt numb as he managed to grab a hand hold and hauled us ashore.

"What-cough- was that?!" He spat once we were on land again, and after I got to my knees, I looked around quickly. We were in a wheat field. Good. If we weren't too far away from the bridge, we'd still have cover.

"Monica!" Barret snapped at me, but I waved a hand at him quickly.

"Shhhh!"

He went silent after that, and I could feel his eyes on me as I peered quietly around us. I could barely see the bridge in the distance, along with a man who had dropped from his hiding spot in the trees.

"Get into the wheat." I whispered quickly before moving slowly on my hands and knees. This was to make the moving of the stocks less suspicious.

Barrett followed after me, and as we got deeper into the feild, my arms became tired, especially my left. So I stopped after a minute, and removed Barrett's cloak from my neck, ringing the water out of it.

"We should try to stay where there's cover, and try to keep heading the way we were going." I didn't really have any idea where else to go other than where Barrett had said we should go. This was the best plan I had at the moment.

My left arm felt numb as I finished ringing out the cloak when I noticed Barrett was gawking at me. Or rather, at my arm. Puzzled by his stare I followed his gaze. An arrow was sticking out of the back of my arm.

So, what do you think? Friend or foe? Trust worthy? Or a prat? And which man are you referring to? Lord Dominic? Or Barrett?

Have a lovely Evening,
G'Night Stars.