"Nice to meet you, Nadia," Haq replied, shaking her hand twice before letting go.
Abana, though not surprised given his personality, knew it was rare to see such a sight among their kind. Humans shook hands. The rest inclined their heads and kept their vulnerabilities protected. Stretching out an arm and a hand to someone, as a being of power, one that would outlive generations of humans with ease, meant a full and complete trust, not just in the other person, but in location and their own abilities to save themselves from any unknown.
Simply speaking, it just wasn't done.
And yet, with a smile on his face, Haq had shaken the offered hand. Abana hadn't done the same, and it wasn't been because she doubted herself in a crisis, it simply rested firmly in unfamiliar territory to her. It was something uncomfortable to take another's hand so easily. Despite the things they had in common, Abana thought to herself, Haq was far too inattentive to his own safety. If she had to guess, it would be the cause of his downfall someday.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as Nadia's eyes lit up seeing Haq fall into step with them.
"You're coming with too?"
Hope shone through Nadia's words, causing Abana to frown.
"Are you really coming with?" she asked as well, matching Nadia's words, but at the opposite end of the spectrum for emotions. Rather than a delighted surprise, it was stark wariness set in the narrowing of her eyes as she looked him over.
"Thought maybe I'll be crazy too," Haq said, lifting his arms and crossing them, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Might be fun avoiding getting caught." At even ground, where the path ahead was lacking hazard and remained straight, he turned around, two steps ahead of them, and began walking backwards. With a grin to aid his words, he wiggled his eyebrows as if it were a joke.
Nadia's furrowed in response. His words didn't sound like something to make light of.
"Getting caught?" she asked.
"Parents."
The reply came from both Abana and Haq together. Both paused, one with widened eyes and the other with a grimace. Nadia nodded, realizing what he'd meant before. The act of them joining her, of going on this mission, was like a teenager rebelling against the ones who raised them. Perhaps it could be likened to sneaking outside the designated boundaries while grounded.
"Anyway, since you have a representative from the God of Death," Haq said, gesturing toward Abana. "There should be someone advocating for the other side," he finished, patting his chest a few times before resuming walking.
Abana snorted loudly with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm not sure I'd be proud of that," she muttered quietly. It wasn't quite soft enough to be missed by Haq's keen ears, but he ignored it, decidedly changing the topic with a continued grin on his face.
"Well, I'm not sure if it was suggested yet, but I think we need to make a pit stop before greeting them."
"But I don't-" Nadia, feeling as though he was leading her unnecessarily away from her goal, especially after calling them crazy, tried to find an explanation, but was cut off by their other companion.
"Are you suggesting the Canyon?" Abana interrupted.
Haq snapped his fingers and pointed decisively with an added wink at Abana for guessing right. Unimpressed by his usual antics, she looked away with a sigh. Though, it was possible the sigh was for more than one reason. After all, the path he was suggesting they take wasn't exactly a nice stroll through peaceful woods.
"Canyon? Do you mean the one in legend? The Canyon of Fire?"
"That's the one!" Haq grinned, now aiming his pointing fingers as Nadia, though lacking the wink.
Instead of finding solace and surprise in his confirmation, she stopped walking, her face the image of horrified confusion. Of all the places to go, why would he suggest they travel through the Canyon? It would add several days to their travel time as it was already quite the distance they needed to cover to reach the Valley where the God and Goddess resided and fought. A trickle of worry crept through Nadia, a wonder that they might arrive too late, that the fight might begin before they can even attempt to stop it. She lifted a weary hand to her head, scratching lightly by her temple before brushing a few loose strands back behind her ear. A heavy sigh escaped her.
The Canyon of Fire was the only land that resembled a desert on the whole planet, with heat, sand, and rock. It was a place where plants rarely grew plentiful, life taking plenty of preparation to withstand the climate before it had a chance to flourish, though it didn't do much of that either.
There were legends surrounding the Canyon. From roaming monsters that breathed flames, to the veil that covered the entrance and forced you to pass through, those who went in either made it out stronger, or remained forever inside. However, the best known legend, one that spurred people to enter despite ample warnings, was one that surpassed the others.
It was said and known that the Canyon of Fire would place the perfect weapon into the hands of those that stepped foot inside. Some of them were mystical, with abilities unknown to those of the current age, while others were physically stronger than any others.
Of course, there were those who declared such words myth and pushed them aside. More than one had tested the theory, and they strode out the other end holding something they never entered with.
However, to anyone's eyes, including Nadia's, the only reason to go into the Canyon was if you were in dire need of a better weapon. There were no rare herbs. There was no civilization inside. It lacked the quality of life known to those outside of it.
Having had to work hard to scrape together meals and aid others for most of her years, Nadia was through with fighting. She didn't want to go blade to blade with powerful beings to test her and their limits. There was no desire for battle within her. She simply wanted peace. To talk to them. Convince them.
Weapons would only bring suspicion and wariness when brought to talks of negotiations and surrender.
"No." She replied firmly. "I don't think fighting them is a good idea." Laying out her plan to them quickly, she looked between them solemnly, meeting their eyes. "People go there to find weapons. I just want to talk to them."
Haq visibly grimaced while Abana merely pursed her lips, the pressure changing the color.
"Trust me on this. Please." Haq nearly begged. "Sometimes, it's necessary. Better to be prepared for them to fight than be defenseless and become skewers."
"Unfortunately, he's right."
Abana nodded her head to his words, briefly closing her eyes as if imagining the grim scenario.
"I don't-" Nadia started, shaking her head.
"You might have to make them give you a chance to speak," Abana said plainly, looking her in the eye. There was a startling certainty in her voice, a declaration that not only she, but the both of them knew more than they cared to say plainly aloud. "You can't just walk up and expect those two to listen properly. Especially one of them."
After a moment of silence and another heavy sigh, Nadia let them take the reins and agreed half-heartedly. "Alright. We'll go to the Canyon."
"It'll be fun!" Haq said cheerfully once it was decided, clapping his hands together and gesturing to the side. "Look! Abana's weapon was from there!"
Abana shifted uncomfortably as the two of them laid their attention wholly on her and the axe resting on her shoulder. Haq gently steered their direction to the left and toward the entrance to the Canyon as they walked.
"Really?"
"It's true," Abana admitted quietly.
Nadia, once getting confirmation of the origin for the axe, turned her attention to Haq, looking him over.
"Why don't you have one?" she asked.
Haq shrugged, not bothered in the slightest.
"Never ventured in." He lifted his hands spreading his arms wide with a grin. "I'm more of a free spirit. Besides, I haven't had a need for a weapon."
"More a want than a need?" Abana quipped sarcastically.
"Hm?"
"You have the appearance of a child opening a present when mentioning the Canyon."
Haq shrugged, but inside, he felt more than a little giddy. His parents had strictly told him to not venture alone into the Canyon until he was skilled enough to face the threats within. Of course, he hadn't always expected himself to listen to them, but there was something in their eyes, something they hadn't told him, which kept him from stepping over the boundary. It had been centuries. He was more than a little curious about the secret it was hiding.
His parents hadn't always been keen to keep him from entering, having once nearly given a promise to lead him through the Canyon of Fire themselves. Whether it was words another being told them or something they discovered, he wasn't sure.
The truth of the matter was that there was more than simply gathering weapons and firepower. More even than uncovering a secret. He'd heard other things, even in the taverns. Someone claimed that exiting the Canyon near the Valley led to a strange momentary blackness that covered the entirety of sight. Another said they spoke to someone within the darkness, someone they knew.
But of course, those were things he'd never give as a reason why. He grinned, feigning enamorment with the art of fighting and all of the goods used for such.
"If a weapon magically shows up in front of me, it's just meant to be. It's bound to be something great," he replied, nodding his head.
"You sound as though you're about to marry a crossbow or something else equally disappointing."
At Abana's words, he stepped in her path and stopped, lifting a hand. She lifted a brow, unimpressed, but came to a halt as well, prepared to hear him out.
"A bow of any kind is in no way disappointing!" he remarked. "It just requires more strategic thought than you'd care to give it."
"It requires aim and distance," Abana said nonchalantly as she stepped to the side and walked past him.
"Was that a jab at my ability to aim?"
"Was it?"
"It sounded like it." Looking to the third party in their bickering, he met Nadia's gaze. "I'll have you know, I"m excellent at aiming."
Abana snorted. She knew better than anyone about his abilities, having fought him many times over.
"Care to explain?" Haq called out, a bit louder, to Abana who was now leading their trio.
"The number of times you missed when we fought before was absolutely astounding." Abana smirked. Suddenly, she felt herself in a joking mood. Turning and walking backwards, much like he'd done before, facing him on a flat stretch of land, she put her hands high on her hips. "I recall you letting the wall and the ground and the trees all eat your weapons. Unless it was your poor reflexes."
Despite the dig at his fighting capabilities, Haq smiled. This time, it lacked the usual confident arrogance he tended to flaunt as a way to avoid being vulnerable with others. Seeing such a change in his expression, so unlike what she was accustomed to, Abana's steps began to slow, her mouth frowning in confusion as much as her eyes and brows.
He met her eyes as they drew closer together, the distance shortening with the difference in pace and step.
"Ever think that was on purpose?"
Abana froze, her thoughts repeating that question. It was one said softly and with the barest hint of something unsaid in his tone, all as he passed her by.