They walked away from the camp, the sounds of the fire and the quiet conversations fading behind them, replaced by the steady drumming of rain on leaves. Lyraena didn't look back, her posture stiff and angry.
She stopped in a small clearing and finally spoke, her voice as cold and damp as the air around them. "What is it about?"
Ivan didn't answer right away. He looked at the trees, at the gray sky, at anything but her. "This rain is getting annoying, isn't it? It's hard to keep a fire going. And the food..."
"Don't," she cut him off, her voice sharp. "Don't beat around the bush. You didn't bring me out here to talk about the weather. Say what you have to say."
"I'm sorry," he said, finally meeting her gaze. "About the bear. I should have told you. I was wrong."
She just stared at him, her expression unmoved. "An apology isn't enough, Ivan. I need a reason. Why? Why would you hide something that important from us? From me?" She took a step closer, her voice dropping, laced with a quiet, cutting anger. "I vouched for you. I told Jomana you were worth the trouble. I brought you into our camp, shared our food, and this is how you repay that trust? By treating me like I'm just another pawn in one of your secret plans?"
The guilt trip hit him harder than a physical blow. "It wasn't like that," he said, his voice low. "It wasn't about you. It was... about me. I was ashamed. I felt like it was my failure to deal with."
"That's not a reason," she shot back. "That's an excuse. A pathetic one." She took another step, cornering him. "So, I'll give you one more chance to be honest. What did you hide from us last night? You were dreaming about something. You were terrified. And you said a name. 'Superbia'. I know you remember. Don't lie to me again."
Ivan froze. He was trapped. He couldn't tell her the truth about that. Not the real truth. The silence stretched on, thick with unspoken secrets. He could see the trust draining from her eyes, being replaced by disappointment.
Lyraena let out a short, bitter laugh. "See? You can't even be honest about that. Why should I forgive you when you're still hiding things? You're asking me to trust your plans, but you won't trust me with the truth."
Ivan felt a wave of desperation. Words weren't working. Logic wasn't working. He was losing her, and it was the one thing he couldn't stand. He leaned back against a large, moss-covered tree, a strange, sad smile on his face.
"Okay," he said quietly. "You're right. I can't explain it. So I'll apologize like the old days."
Lyraena's angry expression faltered, replaced by a flicker of surprise, then a dangerous amusement. A genuine, challenging smile spread across her face. "You think you can still take my kick? I an not that scrawny ten-year-old anymore. I'm much stronger."
"There's only one way to find out," he said, bracing himself against the tree.
She didn't hesitate.
She moved with the fluid grace he knew so well. Her leg swung up in a perfect, powerful arc, her foot connecting squarely with his stomach. The impact was brutal. It knocked the wind out of him and sent him stumbling back, his body slamming against the hard bark of the tree before he slid down to the wet ground.
Pain exploded in his gut, sharp and nauseating. He gasped for air, his vision swimming. Every instinct screamed at him to cry out, to curl into a ball. But he fought it. He clenched his jaw, squeezed his eyes shut, and held the pain in. He focused on the feeling of the wet leaves beneath his hands, grounding himself. He didn't make a sound.
After a moment that felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes. Lyraena was standing over him, her arms crossed again, but the anger in her eyes was gone. It had been replaced by a look of grudging respect.
"You held it in," she said, sounding genuinely surprised. "You used to scream on the first kick."
She chuckled, a real, warm laugh this time. "It was so funny. You'd scream, and that would just make me want to kick you again."
Ivan managed a weak grin, still trying to catch his breath. "Yeah... I remember. You always did."
She offered him a hand. He took it, and she pulled him to his feet. The tension between them was gone, replaced by the strange, familiar comfort of their shared history. It was a weird apology, but it was a valid one.
"Alright," she said, her voice back to normal. "Apology accepted. But no more secrets, Ivan. I mean it. If I find out you're hiding something else, the next kick will be to your head."
"No more secrets," he promised, knowing even as he said it that it was a lie he would have to live with.
"Good," she said, turning to look around. "Now, since we're already out here, let's actually find a source of clean water. The twins look like they haven't had a real drink in days."
They walked together in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, following the natural slope of the land. The sound of rushing water grew louder, a promising sign.
"So," Lyraena said, breaking the silence. "That name. 'Superbia'. Was it really just a nightmare?"
Ivan's heart skipped a beat, but he kept his voice steady. "It was a memory. A bad one. That's all."
She glanced at him, then nodded, accepting the half-truth for now. "Okay."
Soon, they broke through the trees into a clearing. A small, beautiful waterfall cascaded down a rock face into a crystal-clear river. It was a perfect source of water.
And swimming in the middle of it, completely naked and without a care in the world, was a familiar figure. He was floating on his back, staring up at the gray, rainy sky.
Ivan stopped dead in his tracks. Lyraena froze beside him, her eyes wide.
"Jin."
The man in the water turned his head, his long hair slicked back. He saw them and a lazy, unconcerned smile spread across his face. He didn't seem surprised or embarrassed in the slightest.
"Oh," Jin said, as if they had just bumped into each other at the market. "Hello again."