He sighed, shaking his head. “It’s fine, you told me so I’ll tell you.” He thought back. “It was a long time ago now. I was maybe 13? He was just this older kid in the neighborhood. I looked up to him and shit, eventually caught some sort of feelings. He figured this out and kinda used that to get me to do whatever he wanted. So yeah I have a lot of shit on my permanent record because of that.”
His eyes widened a little, blinking a couple times as he processed it, "Oh.. oh gosh Aidan I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me anything else about it, I'm sorry you had to go through all that."
He shrugged. “It’s okay. I mostly just tried to forget about it. And I pretty much succeeded, and was able to mentally dismiss it as a one time thing, puberty and shit you know? But then it came back and…well now I’m here.” He gave a sarcastic bow before seeming to grow serious again. “I can trust you not to go blabbing about this, right?” It honestly seemed like more of a threat than a question.
Lachy nodded quickly, knowing that tone and if he did tell anyone Aidan would probably kill him, prophecy or not, "Of course, you have my word, cross my heart." He made the motion over his heart, making sure the other could see.
He stayed silent for a few seconds before simply replying with “good.” He continued to walk, not necessarily wanting to end their conversation but just wanting to end that part of it. He did trust Lachy, in his own weird way.
Lachy kept quiet. The railway track came into view and what seemed to be the never ending track it was on. He jumped up onto the edge of the track, balancing on the edge as they followed the path.
“Be careful.” Aidan said, ruining his previous edgyness with his voice that was now full of motherlike concern. “We don’t want you falling and twisting an ankle. While I could carry you the whole way I don’t necessarily want to.”
He waved a hand in the air dismissively, clearly not caring too much for his own safety, "I'll be fine. Don't worry. I have excellent balance."
“If you say so. Just keep in mind that when I get tired of carrying you, I’m just going to start dragging you.” It was clear to him that he was joking. Whether or not it was clear to Lachy, he had no clue.
He simply shrugged a shoulder, unfazed. It wouldn't be the worst injuries he'd ever received if he had to be dragged, "Oh well, I've dealt with worse."
“Okay I was just letting you know.” He replied, still keeping a close eye on Lachy. He was still really hoping that Lachy wouldn’t fall.
Lachy seemed comfortable on the unstable railing. His feet were steady and he was calm, not worrying about falling at all.
Aidan was honestly a little bit surprised. But then again that could be because he himself didn’t have amazing balance.
He glanced over to Aidan with a grin. Then, he placed a hand over his eyes, continuing to walk along the small ledge.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack??” Aidan asked with a scowl. “You’re gonna fall, Lachy. And I’m definitely not carrying you now.”
"I am not going to fall." His steps had definitely slowed down as a precaution, "Have a little faith in me."
“Uh huh whatever.” And while Aidan was annoyed, he did hover close to Lachy so he could catch him if he did fall. Just because it would be inconvenient for Lachy to be injured.
Lachy sighed, removing his hand from his eyes and stepping down onto the ledge and onto the middle of the tracks, "Fine, I'll stop if you're seriously that annoyed with me."
“No no no. Please carry on. Just act like I’m not even here.” Even if it was only because he wanted to be able to say ‘I told you so’ when Lachy would inevitably fall. Sure that might be hours from now but it’d be worth it.
He rolled his eyes, glancing at Aidan with a small frown, "Passive aggressive much? Sorry that some of us are actually trying to have enjoy this journey after everything that happened."
He sighed. “I’m sorry.” And this time it was genuine. With that, he went silent, not feeling like talking anymore. That feeling of guilt that he’d been avoiding was rising again. If he’d been faster, better, then maybe not all of them would have died.
Lachy didn't reply himself, keeping his own mouth shut in case he said something he would regret.
They walked for another few hours, the track seeming never ending the sight of this 'raven' was nonexistent. However, that was until there was a loud rustling in the trees near by.
And despite the fact that they were mad at each other or whatever, Aidan instinctively shifted protectively in front of Lachy. “What the hell was that?” He whispered to the other, alert.
"How should I know?" He mumbled, though was readying himself for an attack. There was a silence, and then an arrow was shot, landing just in front of Aidan.
“Well that hardly seems friendly.” Aidan said, his sarcasm not going to stop just because of a life or death situation. He felt small flames start up at his fingertips and let them grow.
There was a high pitched whistle from where the arrow had come from. A whistle came in response and then it fell silent. A moment later, a group of people crept forwards, holding weapons of different kinds and paint on their faces.
Since the people were still holding their weapons, Aidan would still maintain his. The fire didn’t grow but he was prepared to make it if the people proved to be hostile. “Who are you?” And Aidan being Aidan, it came out a bit aggressively.
They registered Aidan's fire, and some lowered their weapons while others kept them trained on the pair, "Who sent you this way?" One, a large man with a grey beard asked. He held a gun in his hand, one that he had lowered slightly, "What are you looking for?"
“Gareth sent us. He told us to look for the raven.” Aidan sounded a lot more confident than he felt. He just hoped these were the people they were looking for. If not, they were definitely fucked.
The man went still, accessing the two boys. Then, he glanced around the area, eyes darting over tree and bush and rail before landing on Aidan again, "Where is he now?"