When I woke up, I was at first confused about where I was, but then remembered that I was sleeping in a tent. It was very moist in the tent, and I could watch damp on the slanting “ceiling”.

The moisture made my hair and skin greasy, and I decided to find a place where I could wash my face.

I sat up and scratched the back of my head. I looked to my left.

Aaron was still sleeping peacefully. Last night I had been too tired to realize that he was going to sleep next to me. For some reason, it made me blush, and I quickly crawled out of my sleeping bag and out of the tent.

The sun wasn’t up yet, but I could catch a glimpse of light in the horizon between the trees. It was probably about four o’clock in the morning.

I didn’t want to walk too far away, but luckily, I found a small pound nearby. But I couldn’t see if it was clean or muddy.

“Light,” I said, and looked at my ring. It lit up like it had done before, and I could see that the water was clear enough to be used as washbasin in an emergency like this.

I closed my eyes, held my breath and dived my head under. Not all of my hair, but my ears were under water.

I felt so exposed that I sat up again immediately. But now I was at least clear.

The ring had stopped lighting, and I laid back in the grass. I had slept with my clothes on.

When lying there, watching the day make its entry, I took out the paper with the riddle once again. I read it out loud to myself and whatever of the forest’s animals that might’ve been listening.

When I had finished reading the last sentence (“Light is a true leader”) I said out loud:

“I really could use some leading light.”

Just then, the ring started lighting again, but this time in a different way; four rays of lights pointed in different directions, all with different strength and colours.

The green ray was strongest; there were also a white, a yellow and a blue one. The blue was very faint; the white one was second strongest.

I gaped for a few moments before I realized what it meant.

“Wait... of course! Friends will find one another; light is a leader in dark...” I spoke loudly to myself while rereading the riddle. “The rings are friends, and with one ring – or only this one? – you can find them all. Why didn’t any of the books mention this?”

“Gui Gui! Gui Gui, where are you?!” I heard someone shout behind me. Aaron.

“I’m here! By the lake!” I yelled back. I had nearly forgotten everything about him in my excitement about my new discovery.

He appeared between the trees right where the strong, green ray was lighting towards, and then he saw me.

“Gui Gui! You can’t just run off like that, don’t you know how dangerous it is?” He ran toward me and hugged me tightly. I was astonished.

“I-I just needed to wash my face...”

“And that was more important that your life?!”

“As my face is a part of my body and therefore a very important part of my life, I consider your question as irrelevant,” I said. He made some space between us and looked examining at me.

“Still a little upper-class puppy, huh? Here, let me dry your face.” He used his sleeve to clear the water off my face. I closed my eyes.

“Anyway, you should be more careful. Two Coders are murdered, one gone to some kind of mysterious, endless sleep. And since you have a Ring...”

That reminded me of my recent discovery.

“Aaron, look!” I lifted my right hand and smiled brightly.

“What?” He looked confused from me to the Ring. It had stopped lighting.

“Oh... wait. I need some leading light,” I loudly said again, and the four rays of light returned.

The sun now made a grey light between the trees, but the rays were just as easy to see as they had been when it was darker.

Aaron still looked dumbfounded at me. I stopped smiling, and waved the ring in front of his face.

“What about it?” he asked. Now I got irritated.

“Can’t you see it? It shows the directions to the other Rings!” I said. Why didn’t he get it?

“See what? How?” He looked around, and I got a feeling he was making fun of me.

“The light! Four rays. Yellow for Gold Ring, Green for Flower Ring, white for Sun Ring and blue for Air Ring! The green ray is strongest because we’re closest to the Flower Ring. If we follow it, we can find it!” I pointed in the same direction as the ray.

The sun was now nearly up, and beams of sunlight made their ways between the trees. They lit up our faces, and Aaron looked just as confused when he said:

“Are you... sure? You didn’t bring alcohol, did you?”

Then it hit me. He couldn’t see the lights; only the bearer of the Ring could. He must’ve seen the revelation on my face as I looked down at my hand, ‘cause he looked even more concerned at me – probably worrying about my soberness.

I dragged him back to the tent while explaining. When I was done, he had returned to his usual mood.

Maybe I had just seen a glimpse of the rare, unprofessional Aaron – buried very deep inside him. For how long had he been a Coder? Since he already was a Z Coder, he must’ve been young when he started. And it had made its traces on him.

I remembered his words about showing concern. He had been speaking from his conviction, that showing concern for someone was a weakness. Who had taught him that?

I had always been taught the opposite, and utterly believed in it. That was probably one of the only things I wouldn’t give up no matter what; my right to show concern for my beloved ones.

He must’ve felt that I stared at him in wonder, as he stopped in the middle of packing down his sleeping bag and looked at me. I quickly looked away, and pretended to read the instructions on how to pack down the tent.

“Aaron? How is your family?”

I was sitting on the back of his motorcycle. I had used a compass to determine the direction of the green ray of light, and had marked it on the map. One forest was precisely placed on the line, so we were heading for it now.

He hesitated before answering.

“My father is a Coder.”

“A Blazing Soldier?”

“Yes. Z2.”

“Wooow. Nice.”

“Not really,” he sighed. I waited for him to continue.

“It means that I’ve never been expected to do anything else than growing up to be a top Coder. Not like you, who’re free to do anyth...”

“No,” I cut him off, “I’m not allowed to do anything I want. My parents would murder me if they knew what I’m doing right now.” My voice sounded harder than I wanted it to.

“But at least you can decide what you want to do with your future,” he said.

“Now? Think about where we’re going and why. Then think twice about what you just said.”

He kept silent for a few moments while thinking.

“Okay, I see what you mean. The Silver Ring is in your way of becoming the little ballet princess you want to be, huh?”

“Yes,” I simply answered.

“Why?” he asked.

“Doesn’t everybody expect me to?”

He stopped the bike so suddenly that I nearly fell off. He stared into the air with an empty gaze. His focus was on the inside.

“Wow,” he said, under his breath. He turned his head around to look at me.

“Take a look at us. How different we are. But however, we have the same reason to be and become who we are. Expectations,” he said. And through his eyes, I saw a pain that I had never thought existed.

A big car drove by, and some drunken men yelled at us. It gave me an excuse to look away.

There was a magnificent view from the mountain where we were.

So he had only known the cold world of the Blazing Soldiers. If his father had the same views on concern that he had, then it was no wonder he had turned out like this.

He started the motorbike again and drove faster than before.

“What do you expect of life then?” I yelled so he could hear me over the noise of the wind passing our ears and blowing our hair back.

“I don’t know,” he shouted back, “but to be honest I envy your friend. That guy...”

“Alien?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” It was hard to communicate his way, but better than nothing. I felt that I was about to reach something that I had been digging after for a long time.

“He can live the lean life, you know? And... he grew up with you.”

Once again, I was happy he couldn’t see how I was blushing.

The darkening sky hugged the curves of the mountains. The only noise came from a motorcycle, but the riders were silent.

I coughed. It was getting colder, and my whole body was stiff from sitting on the motorcycle all day. It was like I was frozen to it, my legs tightly to the sides of it, my arms closely around Aaron.

I was tired. I didn’t know for how long we would have to continue driving. But Aaron had already declared that he wouldn’t stop before we reached the right forest.

I laid my head sideways on his shoulder and closed my eyes. My ears were cold from being victims of the wind all day, but now my right ear got warmth from Aaron’s body. When I tightened my hold around him, I could feel his pulse.

Just the feeling of another living being made me feel safe. I suddenly got aware of my own heartbeat. Could he feel it?

I took a deep breath...

Opened my eyes. Glanced at the sky. The moon was exactly half; there were no clouds, and it wasn’t plain dark yet. But dark enough for the first stars to show up. I could see the Big Dipper... and Cassiopeia. I searched to find the Capricorn. Then the Leo, her star sign.

The stars were reflected in her eyes as she watched the night take over the day. The stars became stronger and clearer, and more of them appeared. At last, she could only faintly see the silhouettes of the mountains over them.

I closed my eyes again. Kept them closed...

The atmosphere changed. The air was warmer, thicker. Like being indoors, but I still felt a slight wind and we were still driving.

I opened my eyes.

The silhouettes of the trees were blacker than black. Only a few stars managed to shine through the spaces between the trees, and the moon cast a ghostly light over it all.

I straightened my back a little and turned my head.

“Awake?” Aaron silently asked. I nodded, but then realized he couldn’t see it.

“Yes,” I whispered. I didn’t know I had been sleeping. I was still tired.

It was the second night in a row that I was gone from home. Alien had been planning to cover over me for the first night and day. But what now?

Would he find a new excuse? How had the ballet contest turned out for Genie.

I sighed. I think Aaron heard it, because he asked me what I was thinking about. Such a random, personal question was rare for him to give.

“I’m thinking about the trees again. These trees don’t yawn. They’re guarding something,” I answered.

“What are they gardening?” he questioned.

“A ring. Only a pure girl may pick it up, only she can understand the pure power of nature. A unicorn will help her find it, shining as a diamond in the night. The trees will only let the girl take the ring.”

“You seem certain. Are you a ?”

I was too tired to get embarrassed by his question, but I remembered that I had to pay him later.

“It’s always like that in the fairy tales. Don’t you know that?”

“I’ve never heard any fairy tales. Only the stories about war and damage. Danger.”

“Are we in danger now then?”

“A great one. But tell me a fairy tale.”

I smiled faintly. He changed mood like waves hitting the shore and then pulling back. One moment he was cold and distant, the next like a child seeking safety. Could I give it to him?

“Okay. But I’m not good at it,” I whispered.

I started making up my own fairy tale. About the princess and the unicorn. I kept speaking until he stopped the motorbike, turned his head and stopped my talking with a warm kiss on my cold lips.

 “Oh, how romantic,” a sneering voice said. Only a few meters from us.

***

Sorry for leaving a cliff-hanger. Why do I only get inspiration in the middle of the night?

Oh well. Not much action in this chapter. Merely GuiLun <3

And I let them kiss. Happy now, huh? Please comment ^^,

- Blitz

P.S. Happy birthday Show (yesterday, 30/7)! Be happy <3