“Hay, TT, Luke, Leia, and Han, I have something for y’all.”

  She walked up to TT with both of her hands outstretched. Her hands were clenched tightly together, and she was holding something inside.

  “For us?” TT said with his eyebrows raised.

  This kid never fails to surprise me. He thought.

  “Open your hand,” she said, eyeing his palms.

  “Oh, yes.”

  She dumped a hoard of coins into his hands.

  “There is enough for all of you.”

  “Where did you? – Oh, that guy probably,” he glanced at the Hat Man for a second, “And what about you?”

  “I have a pair for myself, and this guy can get more any time he wants to,” Liz said with a friendly smirk.

  “I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Just say thank you, and take them.” She was smiling with the whole warmth of her heart.

  The group couldn’t believe what was happening, but they were really happy.

  “Thank you, we won't need to fight anyone anymore, we can just wait the rest of the days,” Luke said, making his voice as high as he could (it didn’t change much).

  Before they had parted their ways, TT and the gang said a million times more how thankful they were. Meanwhile, both groups advanced into the forest, but in their separate ways.

  It was just minutes ago, but she already missed the non-stop chatter. Now she was stuck with the guy who didn’t say much. From the first day she met him, they didn’t have a single long conversation. Not only that, Liz didn’t know anything about him, and even his persona was secret.

  She could only guess what was under this big hat, with a strange fabric covering his face. Liz knew he was male. She began to imagine what he would look like based on his voice: She imagined him, being a man in his mid twenties, with a strong, symmetrical face, a sharp jawline, prominent cheekbones, light blue eyes, and beautiful blonde hair.

  No, no, no, he must be ugly, that's why he wears this stupid hat.

  Liz began imagining the new face in her mind: He had a disproportionate structure of his face, the skin was blemished, the hair was coarse, brown, and partially bold, a bloated and weak jawline, and sad, dirty eyes.

  But that probably also is not true. He must be just the most regular guy.

  The third image was popping in her head: an oval, softly structured face shape, not extremely narrow or aggressively square, his jawline was gently curved, brown, almond-shaped eyes that are spaced roughly one eye-width apart, a medium-length nose, and his head had slightly curly brown hair.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  When she ran out of her wild imagination, she wanted to know something about him. She decided to start from afar and asked him.

  “Why didn’t you talk at the camp?” She thought he would turn to look at her, but he just kept walking. “Everyone had so much fun, but you just sat by yourself and never talked to anyone.”

  He took some time before he answered. He didn’t sound forced, just as if he never thought about it before.

  “I guess, I’m trying not to get too attached to people,” he took a deep breath and continued, “I had lost a lot of people I knew throughout my life, so I'm exhausted of losing someone I care about.” Liz wished she could see his face at that moment.

  Liz wasn’t expecting that. She almost lost her footing. After that, she didn’t ask anything else. She was just lost in her own thoughts about the people she lost along the way.

  Liz tried to think about something else, but images of Frey kept popping up. She saw people half frozen in time begging for help, the kids crying while their parents dragged them around, and the demons.

  Those savages who enjoyed every minute of human suffering. There was not a single regret in their eyes. They didn’t think that what they were doing was wrong. Demons thought of us as filthy animals, something that should be killed and turned to food. Who were we to complain about their great duty? We are just a food they had to provide for their race to survive.

  The Hat Man noticed that Liz was spinning in her thoughts, distressed. So, he tried to snap her out of it by redirecting her train of graphic thoughts.

  “So how far are we going?” The Hat Man asked.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I got lost in thoughts,” Liz stopped, and stretched her head, “I thought we were going to find somebody to get new coins for you.”

  “That’s not necessary,” he said flatly.

  “Sure,” she paused, looked around, and asked him, “Should we look for a new camp, and call it the day?”

  “Sure.”

  “You are as talkative as ever,” she murmured.

  Liz was now annoyed by his response instead of thinking about the past.

  What a prick, isn’t he the one who wanted to rest?

  They headed deeper into the forest, but now they had a clear goal, instead of just wandering around.

  Surprisingly enough, after walking for about an hour, they found something extremely rare. The hot spring. It was nestled within the trees, and tendrils of steam rose from the hot water. The air carried the fresh, earthy scent of the forest mixed with a slight odor of minerals. The gentle murmur of flowing water seduced the poor travelers. The water was bright, but you could still see the deep, earthy tones of the surrounding woods.

  “Wow, how lucky are we?” Liz turned to the Hat Man, her eyes shone with excitement. She was itching to wash herself this whole time, and now the best thing that could happen was in front of her.

  “Shall we set up camp here? Please.”

  “Sure, I don't care.”

  Not the words she was looking to hear, but the result that mattered the most. The Hat Man went to a forest to gather some tinder, wood, and food for dinner. Meanwhile, Liz didn’t waste her time. She took off her clothes and jumped right into the warm water. It wasn’t deep. When she sat, the water was just at her neck level, just perfect.

  While Liz was enjoying the hot water, the Hat Man returned from the forest, made a campfire, and cooked dinner.

  Liz was melting in the water and didn’t notice. He took his clothes off and joined her in the hot spring. She opened her eyes, looked left, and saw her traveling companion sitting next to her. She didn’t know what was more shocking, that he sat near her without a word or that he was still wearing his dumb hat.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You thought you were going to enjoy this by yourself?”

  “What’s with the hat? You won’t take it off even in the hot spring?”

  “Nah, I kinda like it like that.”

  They both laughed. At this point, Liz just didn’t care that she was naked, near the man who was also naked, but with the stupid hat. If she told someone about that, nobody would believe this nonsense. So, she just thought.

  You know what? Who cares?