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The sky was dark between the Erdtree's branches as Pyralis and Millicent rode their shared mount over the plateau. It was the only sign that time had moved at all since they set off, elsewise it had been hours of the same early-autumn foliage and warm golden light of the Erdtree's Grace. Despite how little progress her mind felt she mad made, Pyralis' body began to make its complaints known. Her legs ached. Her eyelids were heavy. Her every muscle cried out for rest.
It hadn't been nearly long enough for this, she thought bitterly. Only a month ago she could have hiked this long without tiring. Well, that might have been an exaggeration, but it changed nothing: her body had grown even weaker than she'd thought.
"C-c…ca-a…w-wa…" Flames, why even bother trying to speak? All of her attempts to since she'd been saved from the Scarlet Rot were equally pathetic. Millicent'd said that it was probably because of the scarring in her throat, that it might even be permanent. But when she couldn't even form words as a whisper, Pyralis suspected it might have been something else. The disease hadn't stolen her voice, but her words, the same way it stole Millicent's memories…
She decided not to finish her sentence and kept riding. Millicent could decide when they stopped. There was no need to hold her back on her journey just because Pyralis was a little tired. She snapped the reins, prompting their horse to speed up.
Millicent was silent for a while, either not having heard her or patiently waiting for her to finish her sentence. She didn't do that at first, always prompting Pyralis to continue or trying to guess what she'd meant to say- which meant Pyralis had to expend more effort to clarify and made talking even more draining and humiliating. After a few days however, Millicent must have realized this. She started waiting longer, pressing less, giving Pyralis time to try again.
Once the silence had stretched on for so long that she was certain she hadn't heard her, Millicent spoke up. "We should stop for the night. Do you see anywhere that might be safe?"
Relief flooded through her at those words. Pyralis looked around, searching the area for a cave or a copse of trees they could make their camp in. She spied an overhanging ledge to the west of the path, far enough away that they wouldn't be quickly spotted, and mostly safe from the wind. It was as good as they were going to get without riding much longer. She extended a hand to point at it, looking back at Millicent for her opinion.
"Hm, looks safe enough." She nodded. "Not sure if we could keep a fire going very long, but we've got blankets."
Thin ones, but blankets nonetheless. A small voice in the back of her head said that they could share the blankets and be twice as warm. Pyralis blushed and ignored it. She pulled the horse's reins and guided it towards the sheltered area.
Dismounting onto unsteady legs, Pyralis began unpacking their supplies while Millicent set to building a fire. Two straw bedrolls, some dried meat and fruits, a waterskin and two cups for them and one for the horse, all in all, they didn't have much. Elphael, they had heard, would have plenty for them once they arrived.
Food, clothing, shelter. Millicent could speak with Lady Malenia while Pyralis asked Lord Miquella to cure her. And he would. It would be her reward for returning Malenia's daughter safely. They would get to live there together, safe from the madness of the world.
Together. Pyralis thought the word again as she smoothed out their bedrolls. They were only an arm's length away from each other— to share the warmth of the fire, of course. In Elphael, Pyralis would be granted comfortable living quarters, or perhaps join the soldiers and live in their barracks, while Millicent lived in a palace with her Lady Mother and Lord Uncle. They probably wouldn't have much reason to spend time together— which was fine. Really.
Pyralis watched Millicent work, rubbing gathered branches together over tinder. Her hands were finely built, but calloused from her training as a swordsman. Even now, Pyralis could vividly remember how they felt against her cheeks. A cool comfort against flesh that burned with fever and writhed with the same ailment she had just saved Millicent from. It was ironic- and very nearly tragic had Millicent not known how to make a medicine to help her.
As the fire was coaxed into a healthy blaze, Pyralis went to her bag one last time to get a bolus for each of them. She sat down on her own bedroll and held one of them out to Millicent. "Hhh…heee…" She cut herself off with an annoyed sign. Talking was a reflex she'd need to train out of herself until she was fully cured.
"Thank you." Millicent took it from her and looked down at their sleeping situation. What was she thinking? Were they too close? Pyralis tried to pull her thoughts away from Millicent by biting into the bolus. The intense bitterness was always a shock at first, followed by the taste of wet moss. Flames, even if her voice and constitution were fine, she would take the journey just to avoid eating these for the rest if her life.
"Where are our rations?" Millicent asked, suddenly so much closer to her. She'd pulled her bedroll right up next to Pyralis'. Of course, she should have set them up this close in the first place! They needed to share as much heat as possible. The plateau got quite cold at night.
Forcing herself not to dwell on it, Pyralis pulled out a small leather pouch and handed it to her. Millicent hummed, frowned, tested the weight of the bag. "Not much left, we'll have to hunt tomorrow…Do you know how to preserve meat? I never learned." Pyralis nodded. "Great! You'll have to teach me."
I'll add it to the list , she thought, nodding again.After nearly a month of traveling together, Pyralis had taught her- or would once she got her voice back- quite a few things that she'd assumed everyone their age knew. Millicent only spoke of her past in fragments and half-forgotten memories. Each piece she had handed to Pyralis came together to build a strange and isolated existence.
The strange and isolated girl sat cross-legged next to her and put about half the dried meats and fruits in her lap before handing the bag back to Pyralis. The pair ate quietly, staring into the fire, thinking about how close- yet how far- they were to the end of their journey.
"I hope you like it there, Lis." Millicent said. "I think it'd be a little lonely without my first friend."
"I..ho-o…hope ssso." She said, turning to her. She hoped it would feel like a home. She hadn't had a proper home in what felt like forever. A longing clawed at her ribs, bringing tears to her eyes before she could stop them. Flames, she missed her home. Things had been so easy then, when she could run and play and talk with ease, when she'd had friends and siblings to do it all with, when she ate home cooked meals made by her mother's hands with her father's grains.
Tears kept falling and she couldn't stop them. Nor could she explain to Millicent why they fell. She seemed distressed, afraid that she'd done something wrong. "I'm sorry." Millicent tried. "You don't have to—"
Pyralis forced out a wordless cry, trying for "no" and getting only noise. She shook her head. Millicent's eyes widened. She seemed even more confused, more worried. Pyralis did the first thing she could think of to comfort her.
She took Millicent's hands in her own gently, but firmly. Getting out anything that had resembled the word "homesick" was so frustrating, that it bordered on agony.
"I…think I understand." Millicent said hesitantly. "You miss your old home. Can you go back?"
Pyralis shook her head. Millicent's expression softened.
"I'm sorry…you will have to tell me about it once you can. I-if you'd like to, that is." Pyralis nodded again, and she smiled.
One of Millicent's hands lingered in hers even after the girl righted herself and started eating again. Firelight danced across her face as the world darkened around them, illuminating her golden eyes.
When at last it grew dark enough that their fire could attract attention, Pyralis doused it with what remained in her waterskin. Millicent grabbed their blankets, but did not put them down. Instead, she looked at Pyralis and shifted nervously.
Pyralis tilted her head, making a questioning sort of noise. Millicent laughed, looking away. Was she blushing? Surely that was just Pyralis' imagination. "I'm…worried you might think request improper. I don't— uh— I don't have any ill intentions." She continued dancing verbally around the point, only coming to a conclusion when Pyralis had started to sit down. "Might we sleep beside each other tonight?"
Without meaning to, she made another confused noise. Marika's tits, could Pyralis act like a normal person? For five minutes? She nodded quickly and fixed their bedrolls to be right against each other. This was for warmth. It made sense. Millicent wasn't being indecent and she wasn't either.
"Thank you. Even if it's always the same season here, it does get quite cold at night."
It was hard to sleep under the ever-shining branches of the Erdtree. Even growing up, Pyralis had always kept her curtains closed at night. Millicent seemed perfectly at ease, however. She lay in her lightest layer of clothing, curled up to one side. Her hair fell over her face in a way that was compelling Pyralis to brush it out of the way, one stray lock swaying with each slow, deep breath.
Stars above, this was a view she could get used to. Except it's just for tonight, dummy. She kicked herself mentally. What was she doing? What did she gain by pining after a woman so clearly unattainable? Did she enjoy making this trip more difficult? Did Millicent? It was her idea to sleep like this.
Her body begged her to at least try to sleep. She knew that the next day of riding wouldn't be any easier, and they still had to cross the mountains eventually. And that's if they can get through Leyndell unharmed. Who knew what was waiting for them there? Surely someone would be looking for Princess Malenia's daughter for Marika's sake. And what if—
Suddenly, Millicent opened one eye. "Are you awake?" She whispered, then laughed upon seeing Pyralis' shocked face. "Or do you always mutter in your sleep?"
"Sss— sor…eee." She said, turning away.
"No, no, it's fine." Millicent sat up, resting a hand on Pyralis' shoulder. "I was only teasing. I should have mentioned I was a light sleeper."
After a few more moments of silence from Pyralis, she continued. "You worry a lot. I'm…almost certain that part of it is for my sake, and I do thank you for that. But we've made it this far— and we've been doing quite well for ourselves. Even when we were facing those strange, pale men, I wasn't afraid."
Ah, them. Pyralis had succeeded in keeping those vile creatures out of her thoughts, she grimaced at the reminder. The battle had proved something though, that she and Millicent were very good at covering for each other's weaknesses. Perhaps she was right. After them, after the Scarlet Rot had ravaged them both, what was left that they couldn't beat together?
"Rest now, Lis. We'll each need as much strength as we can get to face the rest of this journey, and I don't intend to leave you behind."
She nodded, knowing in that moment that Millicent understood, lack of words be damned, that she wouldn't leave her either. The other woman lay down again, still curled towards her. Pyralis did the same.
For the first time in a long time, Pyralis drifted into a gentle sleep, free of worry or nightmares.