Two opposites

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Jonathan weren't sure if he should be glad or angry over his plan failing. She clearly wasn't too frightened by the thought of eating snakes. Shouldn't girls be scared for such things? Well, her reply was quite amusing at least. "If you don't fancy killing a snake, then I could always grab a rabbit before we exit the forest." He teased. People were often more reluctant to kill cute and fluffy animals such as rabbits, dogs or cats, simply because of their appearance. That was true even for Jonathan. Sometimes when he set out traps and a rabbit or cat got stuck in it, he couldn't bring himself to kill it. Though that did depend on how hungry he was at the time too. If he had starved for days, or weeks, then he took anything he could get.

"You won't grow strong on vegetables. Meat is the food for a manly man." He then added. He could vaguely remember his father saying that at the dinner table just before his mother hit the old man in the back of his head and told him to eat his vegetables and stop being childish.

"Do you think... If the non-magicians hideout actually is in Quillos and we find them... What do you suppose they would think of a.." He hesitated. He wanted to ask what she thought they would think about her, as a magician. She was a friend to someone seeking refuge, but still a magician. "..an immune person?" In the end he didn't dare to ask. What would happen if they actually found them and they refused to let Leilani in? Could he just leave her to make it on her own? Considering he were the one whom brought her into that mess, he should at least take responsibility until she could make it on her own. But what if it would be a once in a lifetime kind of thing? Once you leave you can't get back in? Would he still be able to turn away? It might be stupid speculations as no one knew anything about them. But now when Leilani was with him, he couldn't help but to wonder. If worse came to worse, which side would he have to choose?
 
"In that case I think I prefer the snake," she said with a frown, the image of a fluffy rabbit in her mind, innocently jumping around eating clovers, maybe it was a bit unfair to decide your dinner by which animal was the cutest and therefore harder to kill, but still. "Besides you should always try new things." His mention of vegetables and meat drew a laugh from her, with will power she managed to press it down into a chuckle. "Vegetables are good for you, you know, they contain many healthy things for a growing person." She couldn't help but add in the last part, it was too tempting.

His question got her thinking, what exactly could happen if they found the rumored group, they were all non-magic people which Jonathan was as well, but he did have one difference, would it matter? Leilani couldn't believe that people already looked down upon like they were would ignore someone so alike them but just because they were all non magic users didn't neccessarily mean they were all saints. "You can't use magic just like them," she answered. "I like to think that is enough to get you accepted by them, sure you may be immune, but perhaps that will make you special in their eyes." The thought had just now hit her, maybe they would not feel threatened by the immune like the government was, if so then Jonathan would have a safe place at last.

"You are immune to the magic that makes these people worth less in society's eyes, I can't say for certain but that sounds like something good if viewed from their point of view." Intent on following Jonathan as she was, both for companionship and help Leilani had not even considered how she might be viewed in the small non-magic society if it existed, she was too used to her magic and how common it was to have it.

Looking up she spotted a faint outline against the wall not far ahead, a vertical tunnel with a ladder leading up. "How far do you think we have gotten, is it any dea to try and see if we are close to the city edge?" It felt to her like they had walked in the sewer forever but it was probably not that long, she would also gladly e the one who scurried up the ladder to take a look but she knew the heavy lid would not be easy to lift for her so if it was time to check their progress then she would have to b content with staying where she was.
 
"I don't think it will matter what I eat." Jonathan mumbled, slightly annoyed by the height comment. He was almost nineteen years old. Usually humans stopped growing years before that. Most likely he would be doomed to stay small forever.

Everything Leilani said about the non-magic group was things he had thought himself. He were a non-magician, so they should accept him. On top of that he were immune against magic. That wouldn't be a threat for people who had never been able to use magic, but it could be seen as something good. If they were attacked for example, then Jonathan could be a shield against the magic attacks since he couldn't get hurt by it. There were no risk for him. Logically speaking, they should see him as a contribution to their safety rather than a threat to it. But then again, he was something people had a hard time understanding. What people couldn't understand, they usually became afraid of.

Jonathan looked up to the exit which Leilani had pointed out. "Hmm... I think we should keep going a bit further. Considering the length of time we've walked and the part of town we wen't down in, there should be a bit further to the end." He told her. It was better to check the ground level as seldom as possible, otherwise they might run into guards or people more easily.

As they continued walking, Jonathan told Leilani a bit about where they were going, which route he hoped to take if things went as planned, and also where they should meet up if they at any point were to be separated. Maybe that was a bit foolish as he had already said that he would leave her behind if she couldn't keep up, but he justified it by saying that it was in case the guards came after them and they had to take different ways. He didn't think they would split up in town, as he was certain they would make it out safely, but if they did he told her about a farm a short distance away with a small forest. They would meet in the outskirt of the forest where it face the farm if something happened. Once they were outside town though, the meetup place would change to the closest, easily found but not too obvious place.

Eventually they came to the next ladder and Jonathan climbed up. First he listened after sounds of footsteps or voices or the like, but there was nothing. He lifted the lid slightly and continued to listen, but nothing. Then he opened it a bit more and looked around. The weight on his arm started to hurt a bit, but he wanted to make sure. Then he pushed the lid to the side and took a good look around. They were close enough to the edge, and still in a alleyway and well hidden.

"Okay, you can come up." He told her as he himself pushed himself out of the hole. Fresh air was always welcomed.
 
Leilani, having been sorely disappointed to not get a chance to go up yet, felt extremely relieved when Jonathan finally found a ladder he deemed to be a good place to stop and check out. As he scaled the ladder and pushed upon the lid the sight of real light, not her own fake light dispersed some of her anxiety of being stuck under ground. As Jonathan reported it safe to leave and disappeared up through the opening Leilani wasted no time, the light she had created vanished in an instant as she let go of it and she started to maker her way up the ladder, making sure to keep a steady grip. A small, irrational part of her brain feared the lid would fall back in place before she reached the ground, leaving her stuck down in the dark, of course she had magic and could probably get out on her own but that didn't mean that the thought itself was not frightening.

"I think I lost my sense of smell down there," she muttered when she finally was out of the hole, sniffing her arm. "Which I'm glad for by the way." Despite all that had happened her brain could still complain about the trivial stuff it seemed.

They were in an alley once more but this time when she looked out of it she saw the edge of the city, she was not often this far out of the city center and when she was it was in a car usually or a bus. "I hope the guards are still searching back where they lost us and have not spread out this far yet." The guards was perhaps not even thinking of searching the sewers since they had not seen the two climb down into them, Leilani hoped that the guards would do what was obvious from their point of view and search near the store and the are around it, of course when they found out her name and address they wouldn't have to search blindly anymore though.

"How far did you come last night, before you were poisoned I mean?" She had not had the time to think about that when she was trying to save his life and not until now had she remembered it again. "And those guards seemed awfully aware of your ability if they stopped using magic and tried poison instead." Leilani said, the city guards would certainly not think of that so easily, used to the criminals that could be caught with magic as they were. "Were they from that special force you mentioned?"
 
"Well, if we go back down again I'm sure it will come back to you." Jonathan laughed and hesitated with pushing the lid back for a moment. "Want to try it?" He asked teasingly, but then put the lid back on. Her reaction to the fresh air almost made him want to tell her that it was a bad spot and they should get down again. But no matter how tempting that joke was, they were in an incredibly good spot now. Sometimes he was lucky. Other times he had to search all day and night for a good exit.

Being reminded of the day before wasn't something he rejoiced. "Yeah.. It was them." He admitted. "Didn't I tell you?" He asked. He knew he had said that he had gotten poisoned, and that he knew their trick now. But had he really forgotten to say that it was the secret task force? Gosh, that poison must have really pushed some common sense out of him.

"They took me just when I left town. They probably had it completely surrounded. But considering they left it to the guards to search me up today, they probably believed the poison would take me out and I wouldn't be able to get away. Even if they have reported to the task force already, they shouldn't be able to surround this whole place again in such a short notice." He just wanted to make sure Leilani wouldn't think it was a trap again. Sure, it could be. But they couldn't possibly know that he had gotten an antidote, and if they did, they should have been the first ones to come to the shop. They clearly had believed that they'd won, thus they probably were in a pretty chaotic state right then.

"Now, to get to the forest over there, we'll have to walk over the big ocean of green grass. With other words, we'll be completely visible for anyone to see us. That's why we'll run as fast as we can over, so we can avoid needles confrontation. If you hear a guard yell after us, then run in front of me. As long as they use magic, I'll be able to absorb it. Once we're in the forest there will be tons of places to hide." Jonathan told her, not giving her any time to talk about the secret task force. Because quite frankly, he did not want to speak about them at the moment. "And if we get separated, then we'll meet up at the farm, as I told you." He also reminded her.

Jonathan definitely preferred towns and cities that had a forest, trees or something to hide behind just where the town ended. Or even better, inside the town. But sometimes one had to go through a city that was surrounded by open fields, like in this case. "You ready?"
 
Shuddering at the thought Leilani shook her head vigoriously. "No thanks, only an emergency could get me back down there." Not much could persuade her to go back down, not only was it dark, cramped and smelly but if you were spotted then the tunnels that branched of like a maze would offer a nice distraction and possibly let you escape but it could also be easy to get trapped down there, surrounded and concrete stopping you from going upwards.

"No, you were pretty groggy," she said, Confused and a bit emotional. "I'm surprised you could even find the words to say you had been poisoned." Which hadn't been that hard to deduce either way. But it was a bit worrying to know that the special force used poison darts to take down their targets and if they concealed themselves they wouldn't have a chance to see them. But he did have a point, it would be hard for them to find their location and set a trap in this short amount of time so it would have to do as a guarantee.

It was tempting to send her magic in to the ground and will the grass to grow high enough to conceal them if they ran a bit crouched but Leilani could imagine a field of suddenly tall grass would spark some suspicions in people, not to mention the guards. Especially if it had gotten out that she restrained that one guard with vines, which it almost certainly had, such things spread like wild fire often. Instead she gave a nod to Joanthan and followed him across the field in a run, any time expecting to hear a shout or feel a spell come flying. But except her almost twisting her ankle when she stepped on uneven ground they got across the open field without detection. Stopping by a tree once they were concealed by the leafy vegetation Leilani leaned against the trunk and took some deep breaths. "Okay...I have decided...it's a good thing I became a fugitive." She said when she had recovered a bit. "I'm clearly not getting enough excercise." Having a good metabolism made it hard to remember to excercise often and while Leilani loved the outdoors, more exactly the plants outdoors she was not the sporty type.

"Are you also thirsty?" She asked as she searched her bag, noting that all the bags and bottles were still intact, they had been protected by the sweater she had in there as well, just in case the weather got colder than when she left home. "I think I have something in here...Ah there it is." Finding what she searched for Leilani pulled out an empty bottle, with a larger opening than usual. "I was going to use it as a sort of green house for a small plant at home." She explained, normal people probably didn't save trash for later use in their bags but now it was quite lucky she had forgotten to empty her bag in awhile. Not having a water source made it more difficult to fill the bottle with water but until they found a river or other water source it would have to do. Holding out the bottle for Jonathan if he wanted it. "See, I or rather my magic can come in handy."
 
While running over the grass, Jonathan was almost expecting to get shot in the back of his neck again. He looked back a few times, but no one came after them. That's when he realized that he had doubted his own words. Some part of him had still believed that they were standing there, waiting with their invisibility spell, ready to grab him. But they weren't there.

Once they stopped in the forest, Jonathan breathed out a sigh of relief. "We made it." He said to himself, happy that he had been right. Then he turned to Leilani whom was still recovering from the running. She was really out of shape. That could become a problem in the future, but for now it became more of a laughing matter as she commented on it. "Well, becoming a fugitive might not be the best way of exercising though, considering you might also have to starve yourself at times. But I guess as long as you don't loose your magic, that part won't be a problem." He was still laughing as he spoke. For some reason he had found her comment almost ridiculously entertaining. Maybe it was normal for people to get a bad sense of humor once they'd been isolated from humanity for some years.

He accepted the bottle, even though he weren't particularly thirsty. It was mainly out of reflex. Drink when you have the chance, eat when you have the chance, sleep when you have the chance. You never know if you can do it tomorrow so do it today if you can. That's the rules he followed to stay alive. Anything that could help was important to hold onto.

"Have I ever implied that I didn't believe you could be useful?" Jonathan asked slightly confused by her last sentence. Had she believed he didn't want her with him because she would be a burden? Because that was the impression he got. Of course it would be incredibly useful to travel with a magician. She could make sure they got food on days they were without it, she could cast spells if the guards came after them. The only downside for him was that they could track her, which he had already stated wouldn't be much of a problem since he always were on the run either way. He just didn't want her with him because she was in too much dangerous because of him.
 
"Maybe not, but if running becomes a thing then that will help." Not to mention that hiking through the mountains would not exactly be a walk in the park and would probably cause her endless frustrations, she had never been on a mountain before but it didn't take much of a brain to figure out that steep sides and rocky terrain would be hard to scale. "To see it in a positive light there is also the possibility to see new places as well, not all of them good perhaps but still." The sewers definitely did not count towards the good places but this forest was a really strong contestant for a nice place so far and they had not reached that far in yet.

Straightening from the tree, brushing off remains of bark that had clung to her blue blouse Leilani swept an eye across the vegetation, a part of her prepared to spot any known plant that could be of use. She was not as convinced as Jonathan that the special force was no longer a problem since showing off their trick and she could not heal Jonathan like she nomally would even if she got better at healing magic. Besides there was a lot of things that could happen, being bitten by an animal, tripping, small wounds getting infected and so on and while she could heal herself with magic Jonathan would have to rely on more traditional means. Which meant to keep a supply with her, and when they left the forest for the mountain all vegetation would vanish so it would be smart to take the opportunity now.

Accepting the bottle back when he was done she refilled it and emptied it quickly, shaking her head in respons to his words as she put the bottle back in her bag. "No, you haven't, that is my opinion, although perhaps worded a bit weirdly. Not that I would be useless of course, no one is but except my magic there isn't much I can do to be helpful." It was one of the reasons she had not wanted to be left alone to survive after all, sure she could provide warmth and food for herself but that amounted to little without the skills to keep hidden and knowing how to flee from danger, if left on her own she would probably still be trying to leave the city. "When it comes to any other knowledge needed to stay alive and avoiding capture when on the run I don't have any and until I learn it's a good chance my help in those regards will be minimal." Aware of her shortcomings didn't equal keeping them, Leilani was intent on getting better at surviving on the run, even if it could take awhile to gain the intincts Jonathan had by now.
 
Jonathan did agree that they should try to look at things from the bright side, but they shouldn't be too positive. Too much of the good might lead to bad choices and awful mistakes. They were fugitives running from the law. One mistake could get them caught... Or killed. There were a lot of things he should tell her, considering it wasn't just the guards that were after them. But he was fairly certain they wouldn't meet that group then and there, so it could wait. At the very least, he would have to warn her before they entered the next town.

He handed the bottle back after having emptied it. It certainly were convenient with a magic user close by. It felt kind of strange to not have to save the water for later and just drink the minimal amount though. It would take some time to get used to all the changes. Though the one that needed to get used to it the most wasn't him. He could just guess how Leilani would react in the future every time something she wasn't used to came up. She had made it pretty well in the sewers, but that was one of the simpler things Jonathan had to deal with.

"If you had been born without magic, you would have learnt how to make it without magic. Just like me, you're using your abilities to survive. My abilities has to do with physical strength and knowledge of my surrounding. It took years to gain my current skills. Your abilities lies within your magic, which you have practiced with for years simply by using it in your every day life. You wouldn't have been useless without your magic powers. You would simply have obtained other skills that would have been helpful in other ways. We practice our skills from birth without even realizing it, and we use whatever abilities our bodies most easily can work with." Jonathan told her. Everyone had something they were good at, some ability that made them useful if something happened. It didn't matter if it was based on magic or not.

"You can create clean water out of the particles in the air. You can grow plants in an extremely short amount of time. You can make light when walking in the dark. That's very useful abilities, and you shouldn't disregard them because they're magic based or because you can't do anything without your magic. It's a part of you, that's why you should use it, train it, make it stronger. Because it is your best weapon."

Jonathan weren't sure if he had worded it in a good way, or if what he said even made much sense. He wasn't used to talking to people like that and he had certainly never tried to make an encouraging speech. He just hoped his point came across. "Common, we should get going. I don't want to stay this close to town when the guards starts to send people to check the surrounding area." He told her and started walking.
 
He was right of course, Leilani knew he was although she seemed to have forgotten it. Maybe it was the linguering feelings of seeing her magic vanish as it came cose to him that made her think like this, for the first time in her life aware that magic wasn't absolute and that it could fail, not just because of a faulty spell or lack of skill but because of something that was unaffected by magic. But it had also allowed her the insight that magic wasn't everything, society today held magic as normal, so normal that having less skill even appeared unnatural, people had forgotten the world without magic although it was still there. "Well, you have a point," she agreed, a bit unsure of how to reply, thanking him for the truth seemed a bit odd but he did take his time to encourage her and she appreciated that.

"But I guess that makes us a good team then, it's probably not often the guards have to hunt a magician and an immune working together." The guards would have their work cut out for them when they had to count in her magic and also the element of unpredictibility that Jonathan brought, and like he had mentioned earlier he could act as a magic shield if they were attacked and in turn she could use magic when needed. Perhaps keeping themelves out of harms way wouldn't be so hard as she had feared, of course Leilani only accounted for the guards, having no knowledge of others that might be on the hunt for Jonathan.

Adjusting the shoulderstrap of her bag Leilani followed Jonathan deeper into the forest, sometimes having to fall behind when the trees stood close but otherwise she could walk alongside him. "So, what do you normally do to pass time when travelling?" She asked after a few minutes of silence, swerving to avoid a leafy bush. Her eyes falling to the ground, growing beside the bush itself a plant with large yellow flowers grew, the leaves covered in fine hair and the centre of the flower was a dark orange. "Wait," she said, falling to her knees by the plant. "I'll just grab a few of these, marigold are great against both external wounds and inflammations." Pulling up a few plants, making sure the roots came up together with the rest of it and held them up for him to see, the problem was how to dry it when always moving but maybe she could fix that when they camped for the night, for now she carefully placed them in her bag. "Sorry if I interrupted you," she said as she kept going again. "I just want to make sure the medicine I brought wont be used unless it is a really serious situation."
 
That was certainly true. No would would expect that a magician would help an immune person, because they shouldn't even know about them. If they knew they would most likely feel threatened because they would have no way of defending themselves if that person decided to attack. On top of that, just being in his presence could get people in danger, which was another reason they would fast move away from him even if they knew and accepted him as an immune. How would Leilani react once she knew? She would probably leave and hope she would make it on her own.

"Pass time?" He had almost missed her question because he had been too focused on his thoughts. He weren't used to having a talking human being at his side for this long. Jonathan had to think about it for a while before answering. "Actually I.." He was interrupted as Leilani jumped down on the ground and started to pick some weird plant. Jonathan was quite clueless about what plants could do. To him they were mainly decoration. His father had taught him a bit about which plants that were eatable and which were poisonous. But he only knew of a few and nothing about their healing power.

"As I was saying." He started again when she was ready to leave. "I've never thought about doing anything to pass time. I just walk and think about where to go from where I am. Sometimes I talk to myself or start humming on a random melody, but there's not much you can do when traveling alone." He wondered if she thought they would get bored if they only walked all day long without doing anything else. One would have thought that someone whom worked with plants would feel excited over being in nature all day long, but maybe she just liked them if they were in a house. Maybe he was over thinking her motives for asking him that question.

"When I were with my dad though, we used to play guessing games. One person would describe something they saw, it could be an animal or a plant or anything, and then the other one would guess it." Jonathan then told her. It had been a long time ago, and he had forgotten a lot of the games they'd played. There was only that single game he could remember completely. Though the name of it was since long forgotten. "I think we used to make up stories together too. I don't remember how it worked, but I think it was something in line with one person starting to make a sentence or a few sentences, and then the other one built on the story, and then the first one took over again. I think we made up some kind of rules to it, but I can't remember."
 
The forest grew thicker the further in they got, the leafy crowns above almost hiding the sky from view, the peace and fresh air compared to the city was a nice change of scenery. Although Leilani had lived pretty much all her life in a city with only summer trips to the country or to visit her cousins by the ocean and therefore not being very used to being out in nature she did love it, which probably was the reason why she always had focused so much on magic relating to plants and water.

But to just walk along an entire day without doing much besides look at trees or maybe a bird would probably be quite boring after awhile, athough fugitives couldn't be too picky she supposed. But then again a peaceful and uneventful walk through a forest was probably a nice change from moving through a city always being on alert for Jonathan and she suspected that she would end up agreeing soon enough judging by the way things were going so far. So a game would certainly break the monotony, and be fun, especially the latter, a guessing game in a forest would raise the difficulty though since so many things had the same colour and size.

"Would you be up for either of it?" She asked, moving a branch from her path with a slight move of her hand, going on instinct and not realizing that just ducking or pushing it away with a hand would have worked just fine. "Or I could teach you some botany before we reach the mountain." Leilani added with a smile, while it would provide fun for her she wasn't too sure he was overly interested in plants and their usage though.
 
"I doubt I'll be able to remember much of it, but go ahead and try." Jonathan told her. It wasn't that he weren't interested in learning. It was just that most of his learning came with actually doing the stuff while he was learning how to do it. Only hearing about it often made him forget about it since he didn't have any visual memories from it.

As they continued to walk through the thick forest, Jonathan listened to Leilani's botanic lesson. It was definitely interesting, but as he had thought, most of it left his mind just minutes after it had entered. What didn't would probably be gone after a good nights sleep.

"We should probably stop for today. I doubt they'll find us this far in, and it's best if you don't over exhaust yourself since you're not used to it." He announced after hours of walking. They were close to the mountain, but the sun was starting to head down and it would be good if they could catch something to eat before nightfall. "I'm gonna set up a trap so we can get a good dinner. If you can, start a fire in the meantime." He then told her while untying a small bag he had hidden under his clothing. It was the best way to not loose his belongings. No one could steal it if they didn't know it was there, and if he got taken by the guards they wouldn't take it away immediately since they usually didn't do a full body search at the spot. They only took the pockets and visible bags, which had helped him escape many times.

From the bag he took out a rope and some pieces which at first seemed completely useless. But then he started to put them together and they made a small cage with no bottom. A saved carrot. It wasn't looking awfully nice now, but a rabbit wouldn't mind. Sure, he had told her they would live on snakes, but they weren't at the mountain yet, so it would be hard to find any. It was easier to get a rabbit out of their den, than it would to find a snake among the bushes and trees. He took out a knife too and put it in his pocket instead so he could easily take it out.

"I'll be back in a while. Try to be quiet, otherwise all the animals will flee before they get close." He warned her. Sure, he would try to walk a bit away from her so that wouldn't be a problem, but he didn't dare to go a lengthier distance in case something would happen. He disappeared from Leilani's view and didn't come back before at least an hour had passed. He had been quite lucky. He had been able to actually spot a rabbits den, so he could plant the bait close to it and knowing something would happen eventually. If he hadn't found it, he would simply have had to taken a random spot and hope something would come.

"I know you said you'd prefer snakes, but we'll need all the energy we can get tonight, so it can't be helped." Jonathan told her almost apologetically. Even he felt sorry for the rabbit, but since he had a companion now he couldn't afford to let them go simply because they were cute. That would have been selfish towards Leilani. Someone who wasn't used to traveling on an empty stomach could easily pass out once it happened.
 
Leilani didn't waste any time thinking about the futility of trying to get Jonathan to remember what she said instead she started with the first plant that caught her eye, someday he might be in trouble and at least remember a sliver of what she had said. She pointed out flowers an herbs, even berries, mentioning how to use them, which were poisonous and which were not, and how to prepare them correctly to use their healing power and not die of their poison. Leilani picked up a few more useful roots and flowers on the way, they would work well when battling infection, dampen pain and help heal wounds quicker, she pointed these out as well to Jonathan and tried to describe the difference between a useless, deadly plant and the less poisonous and helpful plant, hoping some of it may stay in his head.

But she liked the subject and even if he forgot what she had tried to teach him the time hadn't been badly spent, plus she got to brush up on her knowledge of plants they didn't have at the store and some she rarely ever used since magic was often used instead. One reason for the the store being so small and with few customers who were mainly regulars was because magic being used all the time, not many still used herbal remedies and those who did mostly mixed them with magic healing as well, or to help prevent falling sick.

Having run out of words awhile ago Leilani was more than glad to stop for the night, she was mentally tired more than physically and she would probably have a hell of a muscleache tomorrow if her slightly numbed legs were any indication. She nodded in response to his words about a fire and resisted the urge to just sink to the ground and rest her legs. "Good luck," she said, not having enough energy to be bothered about the fact that with a trap like that it would most likely be a cute animal for dinner. Searcing around their chosen camp site a bit earned her an armfull of branches mainly from leaf trees as abies trees had a tendency to sputter and send embers flying.

Sinking to her knees she set to work on securing the fire and place the branches before she brought out fire and made sure it caught, she was not terribly skilled with fire magic as she had concentrated more on water and plants when it came to elemental magic but she knew enough to create small fires. The best with fire was also that even if you only could bring out a small amount, that small flame could grow into a big one without aid for more magic. When out looking for fire wood she had spotted a wild apple tree and had picked a few to even out the meat if Jonathan caught anything.

When Jonathan came back successfull from his hunt for rabbits the fire was burning strongly, offering warmth and giving off a nice orange light in the rapidly approaching dusk. "I would have prepared some tea or something warm but I don't exactly have a kettle so cold water will have to do, although I did found an apple tree." She said when he came back. Maybe they would have to settle with that simple dinner but she could at least use some of the herbs she had on the meat to bring out more taste.
 
"An apple tree? That's good. We should pick some tomorrow morning." Jonathan said while laying the dead rabbit down on the ground in front of himself and started to peal the skin off. He doubted she would want to eat the fur after all, and neither did he. It wasn't the funniest of jobs, but someone had to do it. "Fruits are great for a fast lunch and are easily eaten while traveling if you're in a hurry. So it's always good to pick them when passing." He explained. Leilani probably already knew such things even if she hadn't been a fugitive before. Many people ate fruits or bread to lunch if they were in a hurry. Or just because they thought it was good.

"It will most likely be our breakfast too if we don't find anything else, then we can have the leftovers from the rabbit as dinner. We should have reached the peak of the mountain by then." When traveling as a fugitive, it was very rare to actually get a varied diet. And considering they didn't have much space to store food in, it had to be eaten within days of picking or cooking it. Meat didn't last long raw, so it had to be cooked quickly. After that without proper cooling it could only be eaten for a few days. For fruits they might last a week if they were lucky, but carrying a lot of apples would slow them down so they couldn't take too much with them either way.

"Ah, one thing I should warn you of. Snakes mostly comes out when it's dark, and they're quite poisonous in the mountains. So if you feel something crawl on you, do not move. Otherwise they might bite because they feel threatened. I usually sleep with the fire burning when I'm in the mountains, since there's very little risk for it to spread when it's only surrounded by stone. It usually keeps them away, but you never know." Jonathan thought it would be a good idea to tell her about that now instead of after she had screamed her lounges out just before gotten poisoned.

"We should be fine here in the forest. You might get a few spiders on you, but most snakes are harmless down here." One might have thought that he was trying to scare her, but he wasn't. He didn't think it was anything to be scared of, though he could slightly recall a time when he had cried just by looking at a snake. He started to cut off the meat from the rabbit and put it onto a few sticks. Then he passed a couple of them over to Leilani before he took the remaining ones and put them over the fire so it would become eatable.
 
Dulling the fire down a bit with a hand to prevent it from growing too large, both as a risk of it spreading and to not draw any attention from anyone that could potentionally be cloe enough to spot the smoke Leilani looked at Jonathan with a small smile. "See, now you get that vegetarian diet in the mountains anyway, unless a snake is careless enough to get caught of course." Picking apples would at least provide a relatively good meal, it wasn't something to still your hunger for long or something you could live solely on but it would certainly help during shorter times. Unfortunately when the apples they picked were all eaten she wouldn't be able to grow an apple tree in the mountains unless they found some soil for it to grow in, skilled mages could grow any plant without soil by just using their magic but Leilani was not that skilled. Smaller plants she could grow without needing soil as long as she had a seed of some sort but she could not nurture an entire tree without the aid of the earth.

His warning about snakes and spiders brought a shiver from her, not having a phobia of any kind against either one of them still didn't mean she liked having them on her. "Do you think I can learn to use magic while sleeping?" She asked an eyebrow raised in thought, hopeful against her better judgement, how could one use magic if both the mind and body were asleep after all. "Either that or learn a seriously strong bug repellant magic." Leilani wasn't terrified of bugs as long as they stayed off of her and kept their creepy legs to themselves, she did not fancy the thought of lying down on the ground and wake up with some uninvited guests crawling over her, even if she liked nature that did not include all its inhabitants. A snake was at least warm and silky, and usually only bit if threatened so waking up with one of those slithering on or near her she believed she could handle, probably. Although, waking up the first thing you wanted to see was most likely not a scaly reptile or a creature with way too many legs for that matter, lying on the ground also felt so much more vulnerable than standing.

Taking the sticks Jonathan gave her Leilani placed them close to the fire to grill the meat on them, the bloody mess that had once been a rabbit she avoided looking at, sure it was neccessary to eat and all but it was still a sad sight. Of course that was probably something a person who had grown up in safety, buying food in a grocery store already chopped up and packaged would think, people with the luxury to ignore the fact that something was indeed killed for there to be meat sold in a store. She sat in silence while the meat was being grilled, her thoughts wandering now that they had stopped moving to camp for the night and nothing needed her attention or concentration. Her actions although rash and not thought through before she acted had so far been added to her list of stupid things but not until now had it hit her fully what it meant. Her being labled a fugitive, using magic on a guard and aiding a criminal, it didn't affect only herself, it would also affect her family. While her mother still lived in the city Leilani grew up in and her brother lived just a few miles away from that hadn't affected the bond she shared with them and Leilani was growing afraid of what they would think when they heard about her new status.

No doubt they wouldn't take it well, who would after hearing a family member had become wanted by the law? But Leilani could only hope they would understand her reason, albeit not accepting it probably, and would most likely have a hard time connecting her actions with how she normally behaved. While her mother could seek comfort from her sister who lived nearby with her family Leilani was more worried over her brother's reaction. The two had always been close, underneath all the sibling teasing and torturing at least and she wanted anything else than to disappoint him. Shaking off her grim thoughts she turned her attention to the fire and the rabbit meat, judging that it looked ready Leilani lifted them from the fire and stuck them into the ground further from the flames to let them cool, keeping one in her hands to eat, although despite her ravishing hunger she ate slowly, her apetite partly lost.
 
"I'm not a wizard, but I doubt you'll be able to do it in your sleep." Jonathan chuckled. "You should probably stay away from the bug repelling spell too. It would be really mean of you to have such an advantage and not share it with me." He pouted a little bit before the smile came back. Of course he wouldn't mind if she did find a way to keep the bugs away. It was just to use every advantage that they had when living in mother natures grasp. It would definitely be a pity that he couldn't enjoy sleeping without the bugs like she might one day if she succeeded, but he was used to it either way.

Jonathan lifted his own sticks and examined the meat before starting to eat on it himself. Now when he didn't have a table or silverware in front of himself, he did not care to hold back. He ate with his hands as always, he munched happily over another good catch and his dinner disappeared as fast as a rabbit on the run. He had always been a fast either since he knew that he might not have long before someone would find him. He put the other half of the meat he had grilled and laid it on a clothing, wrapped it up and put it in the bag.

"Another thing you should think about is that if you see or hear a bear close by. Don't move. They will ignore you as long as you don't scare them." The teen then remember to tell her. Most people would probably not be too calm about a bear in their camp if it passed through. Jonathan wasn't sure how normal they were in those parts of the country, but it was good to know for the future. He then noticed that Leilani was eating very slowly. For a moment he just thought that that was how she was, but after a few minutes he figured that something might weight on her mind since she had been much faster the other day at dinner.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her. Just moments ago she had been somewhat happy and tried to see things from the bright side, but now she seemed almost gloomy. Maybe the reality of the situation was finally starting to sink in. Maybe she realized what a horrible mistake she had done by following a fugitive. Maybe she was starting to regret it. Now Jonathan was starting to become gloomy, and he hadn't even gotten a response yet. Great. It probably wasn't as bad as he thought. Maybe she was just tired from a long day of walking. That was a possibility.
 
Leilani snapped her head up as Jonathan asked if everything was alright, she had vaguely heard his warnings if a bear came but hadn't really reacted to it but now she shook her head and pulled of a small smile. "No, nothing, everything is fine." She didn't sound as convincing as she had intended even to her own ears, she was never very good with deception, her features might hide her emotions quite well but her eyes often betrayed her. She cursed herself for having allowed him to see her like this, both because she disliked showing her troubles to others and because she didn't want to give him more reasons that fueled his conviction that it was safer far from him, although he seemed to have given up on that for now.

But back in the store she had sighed over the fact that he tried to play strong and hide his weakness and now she did the same although she was not physically weak this time. She finished the pieces of rabbit meat and twirled the empty stick in her hands before sighing in defeat. "Well, maybe not everything." She finally admitted, if they were going to travel together for the time being it didn't hurt to trust each other and keeping even small things secret could end up a bad idea in a bad situation. "It's my family I worry about, I'm afraid what they will think about this and about me."

Putting down the stick on the ground Leilani rubbed her hands against the grass to get rid of some of the grease from the meat. "Don't take this as me wishing I had chosen differently just because the concequence is hard, I'm not weak-willed enough to change my mind to fit the easiest path. It had just hit me that even if my family lives far from here they are still affected by what I do." She doubted that they would be in danger from the guards since she could be tracked by magic there was no need to keep tabs on her family in case she came to them at least.

Shaking herself as if she were wet Leilani forced down the unusual negativity and turned to her normal way of thinking. "Oh well, it's not like there is anything to do about it, what's done is done and I would still do the same if given another chance. I'll just have to explain it to them later when I get the chance." Which could be awhile but you gained nothing if you let everything bother you constantly, it was better to focus on what could be fixed at the moment. Not that her worry disappeared just because she pushed it out of her mind but it was at least not taking priority any longer. Pulling out the bottle from her bag she refilled it before drinking. "Do you want some?" She asked when done, trying to get off the negative subject but also since the meat had made her quite thirsty she figured he must be too, even if he probably was used to ignore such things unless there was a water source nearby.
 
So that was what it was. Now when he thought about it, it would be kind of strange if she didn't worry about her family. It was just that Jonathan had lived without a family for so long, so to worry about them had become a foreign concept. But it was different for Leilani. Her family was alive and well, and had no idea what was going on at the moment. All they would get to hear was that Leilani had committed a crime and was now wanted. They would be confused and Leilani would have very little opportunity to contacting them about it.

"Don't take this the wrong way but... Maybe you should try not to meet up with them.. Even if you get the chance." That was the hardest thing to ask of her. He knew that she cared for her family and that it would be hard not to at least explain to them what had happened. But they would put both themselves and her family at risk if they met them. "I understand they they will worry about you and that you want to explain things properly. But the guards will probably keep an eye on your family members. If you make contact with them, then the guards might find us... Or if we've already left when they get there, then they might frame your family members for conspiring with criminals to lure you back."

Most people probably didn't want to listen to Jonathan's explanation. It was their family, of course they would have to explain themselves just to make sure their closest relatives knew that they weren't a criminal. But it was so dangerous it would be foolish to do so. His mother had been killed for having protected Jonathan. Afterwards they had justified it by telling people that she had tried to protect a dangerous criminal and almost killed one of the guards. Of course that was a lie. She had used magic against them, but not anything that could have killed anyone. He did however guess that they would try to avoid killing in the future though. Most likely they would go for taking hostages instead. Dead bodies wouldn't be able to lure the prey out of it's den.

Jonathan had still not taken the bottle. While he should take every opportunity he could to drink, especially when he had eaten things that were rather dry, he felt far too guilty to accept her offer now. He just waited for her to tell him how crazy he was, asking something like that of her. He wouldn't have liked it himself if he were in her situation and actually had his family safe and alive somewhere.
 
Her first reaction to his words were resistance, the thought that she wouldn't take the chance to see her family, or her mother at the very least, was unbearable. She just couldn't leave them in the dark, to let them guess at what her crimes had been or worse yet, believe whatever the guards were spreading which would surely be blown up from what she really had done. If they knew her reason they could work on understanding that and also be aware that she was safe, or as safe as she could be on the run. Only her natural calm attitude that so rarely exploded into anger hindered her from lashing out at him, to tell him he was crazy, that it was a ridiculous thing to suggest. But beneath her initial wave of emotions Leilani could see the logic in his words.

Her hope that her family would be left alone except maybe kept under watch was naive, of course the guards wouldn't hesitate to use her family against her if they believed it would work. They might not get killed since that wouldn't serve their purpose but there were worse things than death to put someone through and Leilani didn't want to be the reason people she cared about were exposed like that. Knowing that was the logical view on the matter and accepting it as the best course of action was two very different things however. Doing as he said, doing what was safe and smart, also meant that she would not get the chance to see her family for a very long time, her father having left before Leilani was even a year old had led to the three of them, Leilani, her brother and their mother being very close, which made it a lot harder than if she just met her family for holidays or birthdays.

She bit her lip while she fought against her emotions and battling down her tendency to act like a stubborn child and just ignore his warning and take the first chance she got to see them. Finally she sighed, her inner battle against herself lost and she lifted her eyes from the ground to look at Jonathan instead. "I would like to tell you that it's a stupid suggestion and that you are not sane for asking it." She said, her voice more resigned than angry or annoyed. "But despite how much I hate it, you're right." Moving her hands just slightly where they rested on the ground, flexing her fingers more than anything really, the grass beneath her hand moved in respons, curling around her fingers and caressing her skin almost like a wind had blown through. Using magic had always been a way for her to get past tough situations or to get her mind off things, it was soothing in a way that nothing else she had tried could get close to matching.

"I don't want to put my family in danger so I won't insist on seeing them." If he hadn't reminded her that she would not only put them in anger but also her family she doubted she would have seen reason so easily, if there were no real threat towards anyone but herself she would have taken the chance to see them without hesitation. But as it was now she couldn't only think of herself, Jonathan were already in a lot of danger, she wouldn't want to increase that and her family was innocent, they shouldn't be dragged into this whole matter. "Not until it is safe to do so at least." It was a foolish thing to hope for but eventually maybe everything would work out and both she and Jonathan could return to a normal life, even if there was a way though it would be all else but easy.
 
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