Rhys watched Leah out of the corner of his eye, she looked as though she were absorbing every irritated word uttered out of Kats mouth. Kat obviously was angry at Amy, but she wasn’t handling it the best. Whenever Leah tried to ask a question, or even opened her mouth Kat snapped at her. And every time Kat snapped the closer Rhys was to snapping back at her. Leah was a very sweet doe, she was kind to them and even smiled at Kat, despite her constant attempts to make Leah feel bad. Rhys didn’t know what was wrong with Kat, she had always been slightly rude to Amy but the rudeness she was showing Leah was plain out mean. Leah glanced at him and smiled, he blushed. Soon Kat had finished her rant and was sitting back, waiting for Rhys to respond. “Oh, you forgot a part!” Leah said, excitement beginning to show in her eyes. No, not excitement, pride. She was proud. “I saved you from dying in the snow!” Kat scoffed, “yah. I guess. I just didn’t think it was important.” Rhys grinded his teeth together when he saw Leah’s face fall slightly. Kat was being completely unreasonable, “It is important!” he said, getting to his feet again. “Thats awesome! You must have some skill to be able to do that!” It was Leah's turn to blush. “Thanks.” she mumbled, “I don’t usually get complimented”

Rhys was baffled, but he didn’t speak again, for Kat was shooting him a dirty look. He didn’t know what was wrong with her, or why she didn’t like Leah. Leah’s head suddenly shot upward and she glanced at the trees. “Some of them seem evil.” She whispered, “The trees I mean.” Rhys glanced around nervously, unsure if she were making something up to scare him. “I’m not crazy, I promise, but I know that the trees are alive and that they can sense fear. But not just fear, greed and sorrow also. But I’ve never been the brightest, so I don’t talk to them and I stay quiet hoping they leave me alone. The trees are wonderful though.” She said, her eyes clouding with tears for reasons Rhys knew he could never understand. His breath caught in his chest as she whirled away, as if afraid that he would search her soul for her deepest of secrets. Her plain dress whipped around her as she kneeled next to a tree for a moment before standing and snapping off a few branches. Her hands were gentle as she broke them off, as if she were afraid of hurting it. She bent to the ground and then looked around for supplies. Rhys felt guilt drop in his stomach, it would be so much harder for them to find Amy because he had forgotten supplies. He felt a hand grip his shoulder and he turned to see Kat staring at him, a worried expression on her face.

“It’s okay you know. We’ll be okay.”

Rhys nodded, though he couldn’t believe a word she had said.

***

Rhys blinked, his eyes felt like rubber on rubber, hard to peel from his eyelids. The fire Leah had built was still crackling merrily. Kat was lying closest to it, curled up in a ball, but Leah was nowhere to be seen. Concerned, Rhys sat up, and let out a sigh of relief as a tinkling voice spoke to him softly, “What are you doing awake?” Leah asked, she was sitting on a log, her back to him and away from the fire. “I-I don’t know.” He said, being truthful with her. She turned to him and smiled softly, she looked as though she had been crying. “Come sit with me.” she said, but it wasn’t like a command, more a suggestion. Rhys got to his feet and sat beside her, he studied her face, her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful, as if a wave of calmness had washed over her. “Lets play a game.” she said finally, peaking at him. “How about a game where we get to know each other? You ask me a question about me, and I’ll ask you a question about you.” Rhys nodded, grinning now. “You go first,” he said.

“Okay… what is your favorite color and why?”

“Well I like the color blue. It's cool? I don’t know…”

“That's wonderful.”

“My turn. What is something that you hate, anything.”

Leah’s eyes opened, and she turned on him, her brows furrowed.

“Well, a thing I hate… I really hate losing. Not at a game, or a sport. But losing someone, and grieving them. It’s hard to grieve someone who is dead, but even harder to grieve someone who is still alive. It hurts. Like someone is repeatedly stabbing you with a knife, but you have no power to pull it out. Does that make sense?”

Rhys felt that his mouth was open, and he closed it quickly. Leah was not to be messed with, he could tell already. Not because she was tough like Kat, like a warrior. But because she had a way with minds, a way with words. And if she felt it was necessary she could probably crush a soul and damage a heart permanently. He would have to be careful around her, she was a beautiful fruit that was poisonous in only some situations. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at her, her eyes were closed again in wistfulness.

“I do understand. And you- you are something else.”