The hand of the comforter that was placed on Moore's shoulder was shaking. The series of events had left everyone trembling.
"I have to keep my composure, I'm sure everyone here isn't alright as well" Moore thought.
Getting back composure was easier said than done.
However this moment didn't last for long.
"The smell...of...metal" Moore muttered to himself.
He was all too familiar with that smell.
Now his eyes widened.
He quickly grabbed the hand on his shoulder.
"You're bleeding Leo!"
Upon hearing this from Moore, Leo was confused.
"Bleeding? I didn't even get injured.
My hand has been on Marcu..."
The realization hit Leo as he said this,he turned towards Marcus.
Marcus's arm was now bloodied.
He grabbed the hand.
"How did this happen Marcus?!"
Moore asked, then subsequently tore a piece of his cloth.
"I thought the arrow had grazed me, it seemed to have gone deeper than I thought"
Moore tended to the wound, while Marcus was speaking.
"ouch!, I couldn't even feel any pain prior to just a moment ago"
Marcus was gritting his teeth as he said this.
Moore was done with the procedure, the cloth had been wrapped tightly around the wound.
The pressure from the cloth had reduced the bleeding.
"At least it wasn't a haemorrhage, that would've been horrible" These were Moore's thoughts, the short happening had cleared his mind.
He looked to his right to see Leo standing up.
Leo placed his hands on the statue.
"I swear, I thought we were going to be found out" He left out a sigh as he said this.
"ouch!" He let out.
"What is it this time" Moore looked over to Marcus.
"Don't look at me, that wasn't me" Marcus saying this led to a single conclusion;
Leo let out the shout.
Moore and Leo who were still sitting had stood up, they turned towards Leo.
"What's the problem"
Leo stood there unresponsive.
It felt like an unfunny prank.
Marcus walked towards Leo and placed his hand on his back to get a response.
Leo staggered.
The two rushed to assist him.
"(What's the problem Leo!)" Marcus was letting out a near silent scream.
Leo held his head, he tried to regain balance.
After a short while, he did.
He looked towards the worried faces of his friends.
"I'm fine, it was a migraine, It was just more painful than usual that's all" He faked a smile as he said this.
It was a ditch effort to stop his friends from worrying.
"So that's all it was?" Marcus said, then elbowed him lightly on the abdomen, then continued;
"You could've said so, tch"
The moonlight shone even brighter, a strong gust of wind blew at that same moment.
A smell filled the air, one unlike any other, It was musky, the boys covered their noses.
"I think it's time we leave, we can make it in three hours if we sprint at full speed" Marcus proposed.
"You're injured though, how will you fare?" Leo asked.
Marcus scoffed;
"I'll live, you both follow my lead"
"W-wait so suddenly?"
Before Moore could finish speaking, Marcus zoomed round the statue.
He turned around albeit briefly and said;
"Don't fall behind"
He didn't give the other two any chance to think, they ran right behind him.
He navigated the field even better than before, it took a while but not even up to forty minutes later they were back on the main path, right in front of the settlement.
"Wait, let me catch my breath"
Moore said, he dripped with perspiration and was gasping for breath.
The others followed through with his request.
"I thought Leo would be the first to give in, and way earlier too.
He doesn't look tired, even a bit"
Marcus was deep in thought.
"And strangely enough..."
"...Neither do I"
He had let out the later part unknowingly.
The other two looked at him.
They looked confused.
"Neither...do you...what?"
Moore asked, he was out of breath so huffed in-between words.
"Ah, it's nothing, was just thinking about something unimportant"
Moore didn't want to bother explaining.
The three walked slowly for a while before setting off again.
They ran for more than an hour on end.
Moore's legs gave in mid-way through, Leo put him on his back and carried him through the journey.
They ran at a pace they had never ran before.
Marcus and Leo could feel there was something strange going on.
But the Person who was feeling it the most was Moore.
"Leo's pace hasn't dropped once since he started carrying me.
He doesn't even look tired"
He looked towards Marcus.
"Marcus doesn't look tired either"
Moore kept to his thoughts.
"This has gone beyond adrenaline, what's going on with my body"
Marcus in line with his thoughts, flexed his right palm, he chose to ignore it and kept on running.
Leo had similar thoughts as Marcus;
One glance at Leo and Marcus could tell.
They both chose to keep these fleeting thoughts for later.
***
They had now exited the grass fields into small Forest, Mjiormire was now in sight.
The ground started rumbling, the trees shaking.
The animals asleep in the forest seemed to have been abruptly woken.
They were now in a panic and fleeing haphazardly for reasons unknown.
The birds flew from the trees towards the mountains, they might have been triggered by the animals sudden movement or the cause of said movements.
"What's going o-"
Before Leo could complete his sentence a bright white light encompassed the sky, it lasted but a moment.
They all looked up to the sky.
There was nothing but dark clouds.
"What was th-"
He couldn't complete his sentence this time either.
[CRACKLE!] A Deafening crackling sound could be heard for the next few seconds. The loudness grew, then dwindled multiple times within that time period before gently fading.
"What is all this!" Leo shouted in confusion.
They were still running through the forest, he turned towards Marcus, he had a little smile on his face.
"Hey Marcus...why are you smiling?"
He grabbed Marcus's shoulder and pulled him to a halt.
Leo was in a state of disarray, and his face showed it.
"What do you know about this?!" He asked.
Marcus looked at him.
The smile faded, then he sighed.
"It's exactly as it was written" This was his response.
Moore had now come down from Leo's back, he had the same confused expression.
"What are you talking about."
He asked Marcus.
The wind blew harder this time.
"Any moment now" Marcus replied.
He then spread his arms out.
"You're not making any sense here"
Something dropped on Leo's arm as he said this.
He touched it and put it to his nose.
"it has no smell..."
He wanted to taste it but was hesitant.
-
He chose to go ahead with it.
It had no taste, he could tell;
It was water.
Now the realization had hit him, he remembered something Marcus had told them some time ago:
***
"It's amazing, they say it's water dripping from the sky"
***
It - the water dripping - became heavier very quickly, the sound of it hitting the leaves of the trees in the forest was a rigorous melody.
The ground was now getting wetter.
They had never experienced something like this before.
A smile ran across Leo's face as he synced the words that came out of Marcus's mouth in the past.
"It's rain!"