I'm tired of this, of the walking, the climbing, going into hotels and fearing for my safety. I'm sick of not knowing what to say anymore, sick of watching myself deteriorate. When will the pain end? When will I be home?

When will my companion not be gloomy? When will he ever smile or let me know him more? Sure, I know some things... He is still a stranger. A man I know so little about, his hobbies, things he likes or dislikes.

The sea of trees will never end. The land will forever go on and new hills form with each step. The days pass as my sickness grows. My poor, poor parents. They must be lying in bed, crying their little hearts out as I just sit here.

They're suffering as I sit here, on my dress, crisscrossed, next to a sleeping friend who is laying on my lap as I ruffle his hair. I wish I could tell my parents where I am, or that I'm coming to them.

Didn't know the kingdoms were so far away from each other. Why couldn't I get kidnapped by a closer kingdom? I'm never leaving the kingdom walls again, for as long as I live.

Oh, his hair is soft. It isn't fair. The tingling made my fingers numb. Little bubbles move in my arms. How has he not awakened? The sun is blinding as ever, the air is too humid.

"Wake up, sir."

I could roll him off of me like he did me, but I shall not since the ground is mud. He didn't push me into the mud.

"Come on, my legs are numb because of you."

He keeps himself pressed against my stomach, without a care in the world. This is ridiculous. I drag my finger from the middle of his hairline, down his forehead and down to the tip of his nose before booping him. The tingles burn my finger, intertwining itself through my hand and crawling up my arm. His eyelids pop open as he stares at me, scaring me. He stays silent.

"I thought you died."

He flicks my nose before sitting up and looking around like tired people do.

"My legs can move now."

He gets up, grabs my wrist and pulls me up. It's so hard to stand with numb legs, how will I walk? Standing here is already hard.

"I think I'm out of commission for a while, sorry."

"Why?"

"My legs are numb."

He shakes his head before taking my dress off the ground and rolling it up, all the mud inward. I wiggle my feet but to no avail, it makes me want to fall over.

"Who even thought of this?"

He turns to look at me, annoyance all over his face. He isn't talking much. To be fair, he just woke up. I should have flicked his nose to wake him up instead.

"How was your nap?" He shrugs. "Are you alright?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're not talking?"

"I'm mute. Do you know how hard it is to talk regularly after living in silence for seven years?"

"No."

He nods before putting the lifeless dress in the bag, throwing the bag over his shoulder and grabbing my hand to pull me along up the hill. My wobbly legs beg to differ, but I have to get away from here.

It's been too long in that spot, almost a day. The panic only grows from now. I have to get home as soon as possible... Thinking about this will only trouble me.

"Sylvian."

"Hm?"

"Distract me."

"What?"

"I'm sad about not being home, can you distract me?"

"How?"

"Tell me why you didn't talk for so long."

He shrugs. "Didn't feel like it."

"That's a ridiculously long time to not feel like talking."

He nods. "My throat was sore."

"For years? You had a sore throat for years?"

"Yep. Snored too loudly each night."

"You poor thing. What was it like, not talking for so long?"

"Lonely," he says as he swings our arms. 

"I'd watch time slip out of my fingers each day, leaving me as I'd stay trapped in bed. No one talked to me, and I couldn't talk to them, not like I talked to anyone before it all. It's painful, watching the people you once loved fade into monsters, leaving you alone because they can. My frail heart was ripped out of my hurting chest and broken in smithereens that will never see their other parts. I don't want to be alone anymore... I hate being isolated."

"Why were you isolated?"

"I snored so loud they put me on the opposite side of the castle."

"And you said I snore loudly."

"I say a lot of things."

"Not really." He flicks my nose; I flick his back. "You can tell me about the real reasons for things, you know. I won't do anything besides listen- I'm very nosey."

"I see."

"No one loses their voice for seven years from snoring and then becomes an outcast."

"Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen."

"I guess. You don't have to lie, though."

"Why do you think I'm lying?"

"You lie a lot." He looks at me to rebut but I poke him with my finger. "You lie a lot more than me. I think that was the first time I lied since I was a wee child."

"What did you lie about when you were a wee child?"

"That I didn't steal the cookies. My parents didn't believe me, I don't know why. I only had the crumbs all over my face."

"I don't think you ate the cookies."

"Someone understands."

He nods. I wrap my arm around his and grab his hand. Now I know why my parents do this. The tingling has never left. It is the most pain induced pleasurable feeling. Pulling at my heart, making it harder to walk and distracting me from everything besides him.

"We should get married."

"No."

What a quick way to dismiss a wonderful life. Who wouldn't want to live with me? "Why not?"

"We're from different kingdoms."

"So?"

"How would it work?"

"Like a normal marriage. Your brother can take your spot and I'll keep you in the basement."

"Why?"

"Why not? The basement is big."

He rolls his eyes. The ground finally gracious us with flat land, helping my numb self. Now all of me feels numb from the tingling. It feels like getting shocked with lightning but doesn't hurt as bad. It spreads through my skin, even bothering the tips of my ears. I feel like I have to sneeze but there's no sneeze.

"Have you ever gotten struck by lightning?"

He turns to face me faster than I can blink. "What? No? How would that even happen?"

"By standing on the roof of a palace in a storm. It felt weird but now I have these cool lines on my back. They're faint."

He stays silent, facing ahead into the open land that seems to go on forever. It doesn't, there are trees, far, far away. I can barely see them.

A/N: Sorry for taking forever to consistently upload chapters! My motivation to write has abandoned me in my time of need. I blame it on bloxburg; I'm currently building this cool laboratory there. And I'm stuck drawing and watching YouTube. The life of an unemployed bum is hard y'all. 

How is everyone?