Shhkk--Crunch!
The slide had come to a halt as Bast had finally reached the bottom. Sand parted off his back, slick and golden, slipping off to the side. He pushed himself upright, boots sinking back into the loose ground -- his right side still stiff frozen.
'The air...'
It was the first thing he'd noticed beside the visual developments. It was different -- thicker and warmer, carrying the faint, unmistakable scent of something.
Food. Oil. Smoke.
Grrr!
It was something that burned just enough, to make his stomach turn tighter than it already was.
'One, two, three...' Bast's amber gaze turned left and right, as he counted the number of low tents buried softly in the ground. Three? Or maybe--
"Well, this is camp." Paleck spoke out suddenly, causing a twitched response. He stood right in front of Bast, where the slope flattened out -- posture loose and comfortable, barely a few feet away.
Bast straightened quickly, putting a little between him by instinct rather than complete thought.
Paleck turned his head slightly, looking at the boy. "The others should be nearby, lunch is almost ready after all." his voice, although rough, bordered on a theatrical tone whilst his shoulders seemed to raise and fall -- it was as if he'd uttered a joke.
'...the fu--'
All Bast could do was try to hold a stare, as the masked face opposite him seemed to command just that.
"Why don't you take a seat," Paleck suggested, pointing to a simple stool, turned over and slanted in the sand. "I'll get you some water. It should slow down that stomach whilst you wait."
Crunch!
He took a step, turning back over to the tents to the side. It was immediate, almost like he didn't expect a reply from the kid, and wanted to accommodate him as best he could.
"Thanks..." Bast uttered.
Crun-
It was clear he got one.
Paleck stopped in his tracks, face hidden by all sorts of masks. He turned his body slightly back to the kid. "Ah, it's nothin--"
"You said you knew where the Ashen Causeway was...?"
Woooh!
The wind brushed past the two.
Bast had interrupted him, feet planted wobbly in the sand, but with a gaze that he tried his best to hold up high.
In that moment, the sounds of crackling fire, the smells of rising smoke, and the feel of fluttering tent covers seemed to take centre stage. The two stood near the entrance of that camp--feet covered in sand--in a certain silence.
"Hm?"
Paleck let out a low breath that might've been a laugh. Bast's back foot almost dripped deeper into the ground because of it.
"You're in a rush, aren't you?"
Crunch.Crunch.
He took a few steps, his back turned to the boy.
"Relax. Take a seat. I'll make sure to take you once we get situated."
This time, there was no interrupting Paleck's steps.
Crunch. Crunch.Crunch.
All Bast could do was watch him head toward those piles of tents, hand still gripping that wooden pole softly into the ground.
'I don't know if I wanna stick around...' Bast thought, turning to the few landmarks around him. If there was one thing he trusted, it was his gut. It was hard to tell however... was it his intuition, or the smell of charred meat churning alarm bells?
'Sure was a strange way of answering the question...'
Woooh!
'And why did he laugh?'
A few questions filled Bast's mind as he watched him fully depart, turning round a blanket of cover. His eyes turned to the stool slanted into the ground.
'In any chance, a little rest wouldn't do me bad...'
He took a few steps forward, aiming to do exactly that. Not because he was told too, but because it was a necessary measure.
Crunch.
He picked it up with his left--bending down as quickly as possible--before placing it upright. With most of his feeling coming from his left, he couldn't help but look at his right arm before sitting down. '...I gotta be careful with this arm too.'
Sitting in that chair, the whistling wind being the only live presence, Bast couldn't help but think back to just a day prior. 'To think I'd be outside that damned city...'
His face scrunched tighter, before softening seconds after -- those amber eyes dropping down to the floor, and at his shadow.
'Least I gotta a story to tell Tov,' a slight grin crept on his lip. 'That kid would never believe anything I say about that massive skeleton I saw yesterday. What was it called...? The White Mile?'
He scoffed, lifting his head back up for a few seconds.
Woooh!
The soft pull of wind fluttered the few clothes hung up not far away. A pause seemed to flow in with it.
Bast sat there, face slowly drawing blank.
Was it setting in yet?
The journey.
The Coin.
No.
'Shit's been creepy...'
Woooh!
"Especially here..." he mumbled, thought turning into words. His eyes travelled far ahead, like he was lost in a trance, and was simply muttering words just for the sake of it.
Crunch.
But what happened next, was not something he'd forget easily.
Crunch.
Something brushed his right shoulder.
He didn't feel it.
Something gripped him...
Then it held.
Face none the wiser, he was still lost in a trance.
Only the breath at his ear, seconds later, told him something was there.
"Especially what?"