Nature Walk {Open}

Armed with a small digital (and ignoring the warnings of bad weather), Salim had taken to the woods. He's walked until he was quite sure he was lost, unable to see anything but trees and soil and the weak winter sun dappling on the ground beneath his feet. And yet, not an ounce of him was scared- these woods weren't even that big. He'd gotten lost in a small forest during monsoon season, and had only just arrived back home in time to escape the pelting rain, his mother reprimanding him time and time again. But the pictures he'd taken, with that dangerous light in the sky and the sun still shining strong, they were perfection.

The winter sun would soon give way to dark, he knew, as he wandered among the trees, almost unwilling to acknowledge that. Birds- probably a species that hadn't left to hide from the winter- sung from somewhere in the foliage, lyrical songs that had no words. He would have liked to have sung along, but that required words, required a knowledge of the tune. Any melody Salim made up seemed to be inspired by these songs, which he stood there listening to, his still high voice following quietly, vaguely.

There was no phone to interrupt his peace, his connection with nature (something he always liked, and he didn't know quite where it came from), and a soft smile was on his face. It hurt his cheeks a little to smile like this, a dull ache forming in the muscles there. But he couldn't stop smiling. The clear air infiltrated his lungs, and (even a few months down the line), seemed to clear out the... not quite right air of Mumbai, that was filled with toxins and poisons.

A pause in his thoughts, a solitary moment of no thought, just feeling, before he started wondering about his father. Jade couldn't tell him much, refused to tell him much. It was clear where his intelligence came from. Salim loved having a mind quicker than many people, but had the feeling that it would never be the same speed as his sister's or his father's. Being intelligent steeled yourself against having a weak will, Salim felt, though sometimes he doubted when his father gave in so often to Ehnna, to Jade, to Salim. He gave in to everyone who mattered to him. Salim had obviously got whatever will he had from his mother. His mother had denied him sweets as a child, expensive toys and computer games as he got older. Tantrums, of course, had been thrown, but often it was for the better. She had balanced out the brat in him. His father had fed it. His mother had reined him in. It most certainly had been for the better, Salim told himself.

seven was on yet another ache for nature as she set out from the harriman campus in the late winter afternoon, the sun growing dangerously near to the horizon and a flashlight tucked in her pocket just in case. hugging her winter coat towards her against the cold, but loving the weather like a born and bred native of maine, the tiny girl tucked her hair behind her ears and pulled one of her vintage caps over her head along with her chunky snowboots, covering a pair of opaque white tights, and she was ready to go.

it was only a minute or two before her cheeks and nose were pink, and she tucked her hands as far into her pockets as they would go. walking briskly towards the woods, seven resolved to stay as close to harriman as she could manage while keeping things interesting, after getting lost in the woods for an entire saturday on her last trip in. but dark would be falling soon, and it wouldn't be wise for her to tarry once the sun had set.

watching her breath fog out in front of her, seven smiled brightly, her blue eyes lighting up, clear and bright in the winter sun. for whatever reason, she'd found nature increasingly enjoyable in the past few days, and had done everything from ice skating to just sitting out obsessively. she was feeling like quite the romantic poet; she just couldn't get enough of nature.

her pace slowed once she was in the woods, and she walked quietly, letting her mitten-clad hands rest on snow-capped trees as her boots crunched through the forrest. everything was silent, except for the occasional rustle or twig cracking. she had been walking for maybe five minutes when she saw it; a little deer close to the path.

seven held her breath in her chest, her eyes locked with the deers, wide and round both of theirs. biting her lip gently, she stood there, eye in eye with the deer, for what felt like hours before she stepped forward very slowly, her mittened hands in her pockets despite aching to reach forward and touch it, her teeth still over her bottom lip. come on girl... it's okay...

No sooner than catching sight of the deer that had pranced in front of him, Salim caught a glimpse of the figure of Seven, her eyes locking with those of the deer. For a moment, Salim was transfixed, like there was a magical three-way connection in this. All the same, his mind raced ahead of his fingers, which framing the photo in his mind before his fingers even reached the camera. And he caught it, the picture that he wanted, simply moments before his foot crunched on a twig, and the deer took off, startled. Watching the fleeing tail of the deer bob away, Salim sighed loudly, before turning to Seven.

"You shouldn't be so camera shy, you know, you make a lovely model." His eyes searched out hers, maybe looking for a vague comfort of some sort. He always had found it in the strangest places, during storms in Mumbai in the form of a photo of a far away mountain, or in the hugs of his father's boyfriend (who was very, very white and very, very skinny). Why should some cold eyes be any different? In fact, the ice blue reminded him of the clear skies in winter in England, where the crisp frost that hugged the world would just be fading at midday, the crunches of dead, brown and frozen leaves beneath his feet still crystal clear in his mind.

Another moment passed and Salim turned his focus to his camera, which he messed with for a moment, before promptly pulling it up and taking a quick snap before Seven could stop him. A wild grin lighted his face, even as he began the (rather slow run) away from her, inviting a chase.

a snap of a camera was matched with a snap of the twig and both the deer and the girl looked round-faced at the intruder, the deer escaping much quicker than seven could manage. at once she recognized the face of the newcomer, as well as his horrendous camera, and she straightened up, sticking her nose in the air despite the oogly kind of feeling in her stomach.

"yes, well, i would be far less camera shy if i was far more photogenic." she stated matter-of-factly, entirely ignoring his statement about her ability to be a 'lovely model', though her cheeks filled with color slightly.

seven had only met salim this year, but already she was overcome by his reaction to her. instead of giving her funny looks or making snide comments, salim seemed almost enchanted by her. plus he was interesting, and had a wonderful accent, and such beautiful skin, and every time she was around him her stomach felt sick and everything that came out of her mouth sounded stupid.

watching the exotic boy with round eyes, she could feel her hands trembling in their mittens, and kept them shoved deep in her pockets. a moment passed between the two of them, and seven couldn't help but feel naked and vulnerable as salim probed her eyes with his, making her stomach flip over as she cringed backwards a little. but it was ruined with another unwelcome snap of his camera, and he took off running.

"gah! come back here!" she cried in frustration, running forwards through the snow behind the boy, crunching quietly as she padded a few paces behind, her arms pumping and her breath visible in the air. "salim, you big jerk!"

falling forward, seven manage to knock both she and the indian boy to the ground, groaning slightly as they fell into a snowbank, salim with his back towards the ground and her on top of the bigger boy. groaning, she avoided his gaze as she tried awkwardly to pull herself out of the compromising position, her long coltish limbs preventing her from easy escape. after a bit of a struggle, she managed to get to her feet, brushing snow off of her coat and mittens before grabbing her hat off of the ground and pulling it back over her short blonde bob.

"well done." she said haughtily, her tone angry but her eyes flashing uncharacteristically with amusement, the hint of a smile attempting to break free out of her lips. but looking down at salim, she felt a little compassionate for the poor boy in the snow, and offered her hand with a noise of exasperation, doing little good to pull him up. "guh. come on, then. can't very well spend all day piddling around in the snow..."

Salim giggled as he picked up the pace the tiniest bit, only to be pushed into the snow by Seven. He didn't quite know how he'd managed to twist as he fell, but he did know that his arms ended up around Seven by the time he'd hit the ground. It seemed he had an instinct or something for that sort of thing. The snow seeped wetly through his clothing as it melted, instantly almost, leaving a small line of uncovered flesh on his back to get very cold, very quickly. For a moment, he only concentrated on the cold feeling, the melting snow beginning to trickle across his skin, down his pants and his shirt. Next he noticed the fact that Seven was already struggling on top of him, attempting to leave his grasp.

Couldn't blame her really, he'd seen his almost-adolescent father and boyfriend in a position that resembled this one plenty of times, and now he knew why they always blushed heavily when he entered the room. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing, despite no one watching. When Seven was finally up though, he burst in a fit of giggles (habit- after all, growing up as an 8 year old with an older, teenage sister and her gay best friend, aka, his father's boyfriend, really did make little things rub off on you).

"Not my fault, you were the one that chased me."

Salim mentioned with an amused smile on his face, even as he took her hand, pushing his other one against the snow until he was up on his feet, smiling at her, down the whole 5 inches that was between them. He could feel the angry tone, but knew she didn't mean it. Anyway, most people knew that if they wanted to make him a quivering, apologetic wreck, all they needed to do was shout at him.

"Anyway, what kind of word is piddling? Surely it means peeing, and I don't see yellow snow anywhere..."

He feigned ignorance, grinning at Seven. Stowing his camera safely back into his pocket (after all, it was only a small one), Salim stared around, feeling a little lost.

"So, um, which way out of here? Ladies first."

Waving his arms vaguely in front of them, towards where he presumed the edge of the forest was, Salim smiled at Seven semi-sweetly, semi-confused.

seven scrunched her nose up immaturely at salim, shoving her hands deep in her coat pocket, but lifting them out once her mitten-ed hand had retracted her old flashlight, smacking it a few times before the beam flickered on and shot onto a far away tree trunk.

"you incited the chase. you were looking over your shoulder to make sure i was following you, for pete's sakes!" seven cried out, adjusting her cap over her head and scanning the woods in all directions for the path back to school. in the distance, the early evening winter sun was kissing its horizon.

huffing stoically, seven began to crunch in the direction she'd picked, staying close to salim despite her need to assert her independence, because she was really such a small little girl and rather unable to protect herself. "anyways, piddling is completely a word, and it means messing around or wasting time. school is this way, right? south..."

gnawing on her lip, seven scanned the path in the other direction, checking the moss on a tree. "moss grows... towards... civilization? uhmmm." nervously she ran her flashlight over all of the possible way they could go- oh! there were so many!

Letting out a soft laugh, Salim kept close to Seven. After all, it wouldn't pay for them to be separated in the woods. They'd only get more lost. The thin beam of light just made for an eerie feel rather than lighting the way, but Salim kept this to himself, especially when Seven insisted on clinging onto the flashlight.

"Big words. Big words. How do they all fit into that little body of yours? What does incited mean anyway?"

There was something of a pout about his face, though he rolled his eyes. Sometimes, he thought Seven was far too old for her age. Maybe it was up to him to make her act her age? No, that was a silly thought. A very silly one. But it was nice when she was close to him.

"I don't see a compass on me, right? Though the sun sets in the west... or is it the east?"

With a slightly guilty look on his face, Salim slowed and turned to look at where the sun filtered through branches. Branches without leaves, pale skeletons twisting towards the sky. Dead. At least, that's how they looked, though they would hibernate until spring.

"That's not right, it grows on the most sheltered side of the tree! I think... Look, shall we just pick a direction and go with it?"

Salim rationalised, turning his back to the sun. He felt sure it had been pretty much in front of him as he'd walked in. Or was it to the left? Either way, he was a brave buccaneer! Wait, that was the seven seas. Never mind. He'd get them out alive. He thought.

"incited," seven said with only slight disdain, pursing her lips in thought as she looked inspected the moss on a tree with her flashlight, "means begun. and there is an awful lot of room for 'big' words in my great big brain, thankyouverymuch. i think that every human being should utilize such so-called 'big' words, even though that is a horrendous misnomer because most 'big' words, such as incited, are not truly 'big' in nature, being long that is, at all..."

but salim had already moved on, and begun walking down a completely separate path. he was walking into the sun, and she walked as close to his side as she dared, biting her lip nervously. "the sun sets in the west. but are you sure the school is to the west, salim...?"

darkness fell fast in a maine winter, and it was steadily advancing on the pair of children as they made their way through the wood. seven inched closer and closer as the sun made its way far more quickly towards the horizon, until soon almost the only source of light was the wide beam of her flashlight. the sounds of their footsteps broke the uncanny silence in the still of the winter wood, and seven's ears prickled uncomfortably. "it's so quiet..."

the silence was broken by a loud snap, and seven practically flew into salim's side, forgetting all of her horrendous fears of the opposite sex and clinging to him in terror. the pair stood still in the semi-dark, seven trembling violently. "what was that?" she whispered as quietly as she could, looking around her but not daring to swing the beam of her flashlight in the path of any ghoulie or ghosty or four-legged beastie.

seven was far more terrified than she would care to admit to her companion, and she stood shivering in the semi-dark against her friend, her wide blue eyes looking every which way, barely daring to whisper,"salim?", lest the behemoth hear.

Smiling to himself, Salim poked Seven's side. "Never said it wasn't a big brain. Just a little body." There was a slight pause as he watched Seven inspect moss. Waste of time in his opinion. "Anyway, don't be so particular. Calling 'incited' big is just one way of putting it. Isn't 'cat' big for someone out there?"

He kept his stride even and in the same direction. "I'm not sure, but we'll always end up in civilisation at some point." He wasn't too sure of that rationalization himself, but he hoped it was correct. Some places you could walk for miles and miles without finding another living person. Here, it wasn't so bad. If they didn't come out into the school grounds, they would at least end up in town. "But if the woods get any thicker we can turn back. Go the other way."

Keeping his eyes constantly on the ground, looking out for prominent roots and places they could trip over, Salim occasionally nudged Seven out of the way of the larger branches that were in the way. He could just about see by the small amount of light the torch provided, but not enough to properly figure out the expression on Seven's face when she spoke. "I know. I don't feel comfortable... The silence is too loud." It made perfect sense to his mind when he said that, the almost stifling sound of... nothing... filling his ears.

He heard the snap and seemed to feel the air suddenly become disturbed at the same time. He was grateful for the break of the silence, and threaded an arm around Seven's trembling shoulders. He shook his head in response to her question, before remembering exactly where they were.

"Seven, where are we? And think of what's underfoot." Gently, Salim pried the torch from Seven's hand, and turned it to the ground. "Look. Twigs." Experimentally, he stood on one to reproduce a 'crack' sound. "I... I think I stood on a big one." He smiled apologetically down at Seven, but didn't release his grip on her shoulders just yet. "Sorry."