I DON'T WORRY, WORRYING DON'T AGREE
THINGS THAT BOTHER YOU, NEVER BOTHER ME!

“I’d like to see them try!” Talya declared with another firm snort, narrowing her eyes as she looked to the left and right of them at the many trees clumped together. She could see them uprooting themselves right then and there to march in her way and it made her narrow her eyes into little slits as her berry-stained lips pulled into a thin, downturned line. Once she and Aurora had walked a few more paces and no trees had decided to pull any funny business, Talya decided they were safe. She blinked and perked up, stepping in rhythm to Aurora’s steps (it had been a fun game initially for Talya to match her friend’s steps while they walked so close together any time Aurora needed a guide) and moving through the forest, trying to stick beneath the thick canopy as little droplets of rain began to fall. The more leaf coverage they had above, the less drenched they’d become.

“I found a hole in a hill.” Talya said, having no concept of what a cave was. “It’s very big. I bet a monster lives there. Why else would the hole be so big? The hole wouldn’t need to be big if a turtle lived there, so it has to be a monster. That’s what I think.” Talya chatted away, leading Aurora further into the belly of the forest. The ground began a slight incline, but Talya threw her weight forward and continued upward, scaling one of the lifts in Luthien’s topography to get to the rocks of the mountainside.

“Let’s go inside the big hole.” She said, “there will be no trees there to jump in front of you,” she tilted her head and looked at Aurora – they had left the safety of the forest and stood in front of the pitch-black cave, rain pelting down and the thunder roaring angrily in the sky as lightning suddenly forked across the clouds.

“Oh shut up!” Talya said, snapping her head around to glare up at the sky. “This is an A and B conversation, so C your way out of it!”