“Wait up!”

I let out a deep sigh, “And, prey, do tell why on earth you think I would do that?” I said the words confidently, turning around to face him. “Well, I didn’t but look there you’ve stopped, haven’t you?” I hadn’t even noticed. I kept walking.

“Look, I know you hate me, but come _on_, it’s not like there’s much we can do. I mean, you heard what he said: ‘no one crosses the border alone’ and you know full well I’m your only option! Plus, hey-“

“You know, he didn’t say a thing about what’s aloud _after_ we cross. And we did so several hours ago, so why are you still nagging me? As far as I’m aware, we’re in lawless land, so will you leave me alone?” I said it, and it felt right, but I could tell there was no feeling behind my own words. And I could also tell he was in no way planning to do what I had requested of him.

Just then I felt a slight runle and small pebbles started pelting my head. I glanced up the mountain we were trecking up. Slowly pebbles turned into rocks and continued to grow as the mountain shook more. “We have to go down, right now,” I called of the grumbling noise of the earth. Carefully we started to descend back toward the ground.

As I was making my way down I lost my footing and slid down, hard, on my back. After a few seconds that felt like minutes of falling I was able to grab hold of a small hole in the side of the cliff. I stopped quite roughly, just trying to catch my breath as I dodged the tennis ball sized stones that were falling inches from my head.

I stayed in that position for what I assume was several minutes, until I heard the footsteps of my obnoxious follower getting closer. The mountain shook again. My hand was now slipping slowly.

“Take my hand!”

“No way!”

“I’m not asking you to marry me, I’m trying to save your life!”

He was right and I knew it. I lifted my arm that was not carrying the weight of my life and angled it as best as I could towards the top of the cliff. I felt a strong yet shaking hand grip mine, as I was slowly pulled toward the closest thing to me that could be referred to as “safety”

I made it back onto what little was left of the path and we finished are trail back to the bottom of the mountain. When we were both safe I looked up at him. Neither of us had said a word.

“Thank you.”

“Your’re welcome.”

I felt something inside me start to change the way I viewed him. Maybe he could be of slight use. “Next time don’t hesitate. You almost died, and for what? Your stupid pride? God, you need to not be so stuck up,” he sighed. I shouldn’t have been upset with that comment, but oddly enough, I didn’t seem to mind it.