Echoes of the Past

[laraine]

While he was looking at her, she wouldn't meet his own eyes. Her blue ones trying to stop becoming attached to this man she recently met. She sighed and lowered her head.

Maybe if I tell him...no....he said I couldn't its for Jiru's own sake...

She turned to him, her determination steeled against telling him.

"Jiru, you must know I have good reasons for not telling you about my past. I'm sure you have similar reasons. Like what happened to your eye. I sense something off about it, but I don't know what. In the end, its for your own sake I cannot tell you about me. At least believe me when I say this."

At this time, her stomach rumbled in hunger and she sighed. "Again?"

[JxSlaughter]

"You don't need to tell me about your past, just don't use that child thing against me, it makes me feel bad..." He scratched his head and looked down.

The rumbling of her tummy sounded off yet again.

"That gives me an idea, we can make your horse pull the cart and we can eat beef tonight." He licked his lips when he looked at the ox. "We will go faster, and you'll have a full tummy."

He attempted to lure her into his idea with a musical tone. "You can travel in the wagon with me and eat all you want without us stopping..."

[laraine]

"Oh you really want to eat that ox don't you? What'd he ever do to you?" She teased.

"However it does sound like a good plan..." her stomach sounded off again and she blushed. "But I don't know its up to you really..I'm getting rather attached to the ox now though." She gave a half smile. "Seeing him die might make me sad."

The sun was slowly setting, and Echo frowned at this. They were going to camp out again it was looking like.

"Well it looks like we might be camping after all..it'll be dark soon..."

[JxSlaughter]

"Yeah, I guess raising and eating livestock all my life has made me... Heh heh, you know..." He tried to stop thinking about roasting it tonight, but it was hard.

"With those people after you I think it would be wise to continue camping far off the road, though-- it won't be long until we stop seeing trees, so we should make the most of the cover while we can." Jiru had been on the road many times before, and again he lead her to another camp site.

This one appeared to be used less, and there was almost no features to the site other than a pit in the ground with charred firewood. Jiru quickly went into the routine that he always went through. The water source in the area was more like a flowing puddle. It would take a while to collect water, and one had to be more careful not to get soil into their drinks. When he untied the ox it went over to the water and lapped its tongue until it was satisfied. Jiru placed some scattered sticks into the pit and lit it. "Theres still a bit of produce in the wagon if you want some. The berries wont last long, so you better dive into them while you can-- and don't eat the rest of the stuff! Save it for the trip." He still had potatoes, apples, oranges, and other foods with longer lives in crates. But there was one smaller crate divided in three that contained blueberries, blackberries, strawberries.

Jiru fed his animals, but he was very focused on looking at the ground. He went into his cart and took out the last of his unknown toys from the wagon. A short bow, bag and arrows. "I'll be back, I wont be long. I'll have a surprise for you." He waved to her, still looking at the ground. The dog sniffed the ground in front of him with his tail up high and wagging. They both ventured off.

[laraine]

Echo blinked and watched him leave. She shrugged and took out a bunch of berries, inhaling them and easily finishing at least half of the boxes the berries had been in.

She noticed that her appetite seemed to be growing.

Darn it.. that isn't good..Even he will notice at this rate there's not something right about my eating...Especially since I don't gain a pound.

She shook her head. " I can't think about that now..."

[JxSlaughter]

In the trip Jiru found what he was looking for. It was a boar. Jiru and his dog Ginta had been following the tracks of a pig that left it's foot prints along the camp. It wasn't long before Jiru caught up to it. Ginta was not trained to hunt with boars and the worst thing he feared did happen. When he climbed up onto a tree limb for safety he knew Ginta would not follow. Jiru wanted to command Ginta to stay put but he was afraid the boar would run off at the sound of it.

As soon as Jiru sat on the tree Ginta gave chase to the boar. "Ginta!!" Jiru quickly loaded the bow and pulled back. Ginta tried to kill the boar himself, but even though the boar was smaller than the large dog, it put up a big fight. It snorted and squealed causing Ginta confusion because he had not seen such an animal before. Ginta successfully landed some cuts and teeth bites but the Boar was not scared. Jiru did not want to hit Ginta with the arrow. Soon the boar was able to take a hit at Ginta's side. The Akita then ran over toward the direction the camp was at which made the boar come closer to where Jiru was. "I only have one shot..."

Jiru focused his only eye and before it got blurry from not blinking he took the shot and the boar's sudden halt made it go tumbling. Ginta kept running and was back at the camp panting before Jiru returned. The dog did not appear hurt too bad, but he surely didn't like the experience he had.

Jiru climbed down the tree and got to work. He took out a knife from his pack and started to skin the beast. Of course, the beast died almost instantly from the lethal shot, so he wasn't skinning the animal alive. Jiru rubbed his right eye. Such a task put some strain on it, and things like that made him worry. Jiru's worst fear would be to lose vision in his only working eye. After finishing the animal he skillfully removed the inedible organs inside without ruining the meat. He placed the organs far away so that it wouldn't attract any carnivorous animals. He headed back to the camp with the large lump of meat on his shoulders. When Echo saw him he yelled, "Surprise!"

[laraine]

Echo blinked as first the dog ran into the camp, he didnt appear to be hurt bad but seemed in shock. She quickly went over and petted the animal gently, then looked up as Jiru entered with a boar over his shoulder. Echo smiled and shook her head.

"Geez I wondered what your surprise would be..that will keep us fed for quite a while..good job Jiru." She watched him carry the large animal and to herself said a prayer to the animal who died and to thank it for the food they were going to now eat.

"Those berries are really good by the way. They helped ebb some of my hunger but meat is always appreciated as well." She looked over. "Did you need some help cooking it?"

[JxSlaughter]

"Sure, you can cook him yourself, I'll just chop him up. You know how to cook-- right?" Jiru lit the fire with some of the logs in his cart. Some of the logs were from the last time they camped. "Hmmm..." He had a hard time thinking of how to cook it at first since it was very heavy. He placed the pig on a straw mat. He was going to make sure it wouldn't be on the ground for too long or else bugs would get into it. He placed a larger wiring above the fire than the last time they camped, and a larger pot. "Fill the pot with water while I chop up this darling." Jiru enjoyed butchering animals, though he doesn't do it very often at all. He started to chop the pig into pieces so it would be easier to cook. When it was ready he let Echo put it in the pot.

[laraine]

Echo frowned at his comment. "Of course I know how to cook!" She quickly went and filled the pot filled with water, then helped him put in the meat. She pulled forth a sthingy and began to stir the meat. "Did we have any vegetables or spices? Even herbs are fine. If not we will be just eating the meat." She continued to stir the meat, meanwhile thinking of the change in her life. Already she seemed to be at ease with Jiru. Being with him cured her loneliness.

Yet, she knew that this couldn't last. But she enjoyed it as much as she could.

But in midstir, Echo began to feel dizzy.

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru withdrew from their activity for a second. He held her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Hey, you okay there? You look a bit pale." He was worried that she would pass out again.

[laraine]

She blinked, refocusing on Jiru who looked down at her worried.

She smiled and managed to straighten up, shaking away the dizziness and weakness. "I'm okay...really."

Still, she knew what this meant.

My appetite is increasing and now I'm getting tired only just using one power...I'm running out of time..

" I probably just overused my powers today is all." She waved away his worries. "I'm fine, honest."

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru was certainly not going to over look Echo's sudden uprising of weakness. This time, she really looked . "Wait, sit down." He ran over to the cart and wrapped her in a blanket. "I'll cook, don't worry." He tried to ease her mind the best he could. "We'll eat soon." Jiru sat behind Echo so that if she passed out, she wouldn't hit the ground. His arms reached out past her as he cut potatoes and added herbs into the meal from where he sat. Since the fire was in the ground it wasn't difficult to do so. When he waited for the food to cook he crossed his arms over her to keep the blanket covering her and he watched the fire over her shoulder. Jiru knew that she needed strength from the food. Her eating habits were surely not normal, but right now all he cared for was that she could make it through the night.

[laraine]

Echo was blushing furiously as he sat behind her, covering her with a blanket and almost seeming to hold her in his arms. If to only to keep her from hurting herself.

Still she hadn't really had any close contact with men, and this was more than her 16 year old mind could handle.

But he was right to do what he did. She did feel as if she would pass out soon. She didn't understand the sudden need to pass out when she only used her magic once that day. She would have to ask him about it later...when Jiru fell asleep.

"Really, I'm okay Jiru." She said gently. The warmth his body gave her seemed to comfort her somehow. It was a weird feeling, she felt almost peaceful.

She tried to hide the blush to no avail. It was comforting but at the same time uneasy.

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru felt that she might be uncomfortable, but he felt that it was expected since she probably haven't had much decent contact with people since her family died. "I'm sorry..." He hugged her, "I'm just worried about you." He got up for a while and got the bowls from before. He poured her some food. It was still hot so he poured the soup in her bowl into his, and back again. A lot of steam came out and it cooled quickly after repeating for a while. This was a way that his people back home cooled their tea. He handed the food to her. "Just finish eating and get some rest, I wont let anything happen to you." He watched her eat from across the fire, he was ready to scoop more when she finished.

[laraine]

Echo blinked at his kindness, she hadn't known anyone to be this kind to her before. She took the bowl and ate its contents rather quickly, then handed him the bowl so he could refill it. She did this for about five more bowls, until finally her stomach seemed appeased.

"I know you're worried. But you really shouldn't be.." She wasn't looking at him as she said this, only at the fire. "It's something I've gotten used to and its often been quite comedic too. Passing out in the middle of dinner only to awaken with a head full of soup..hahaha.." She laughed at that memory. She brushed a stray hair from her face.

No... he cannot get attached to me, I..wont let him...it would be too much..

"Besides, why do you care so much anyway? I'm basically a stranger."

She didn't know if he would answer, but she set the bowl down after the last meal and rubbed her eyes with her hand. She couldn't be nice to him anymore. She had to start being what she hated most, for his own sake.

" I mean its not like were friends or anything.." She closed her eyes, knowing that he was watching her from above.

I just need to keep this up till we get to his town, then I can find ways to stay away from him...darn it...why now?