Chapter 5: Akima
Ayan and Edmund had been riding for some hours now. Edmund has been having difficulties in riding, so their horses were just trotting. He had told Edmund all that happened while he was in a coma. He told him of how worried his parents were, and how he in turn had been helping him to clear the weed and harvest some of his crops.
They kept on riding for a while and were towards the river when they saw two men approaching. They were both almost of the same age. The men caught sight of Edmund and ran to meet him.
"When we heard that you had woken up we couldn't believe it we were on our way home." One of them said, he looked a bit older than Ayan probably by a year. He had dark eyes and was probably 6'1. His partner Skurt was of the same age as him but had dark green eyes instead and was 6 feet tall.
Their hair was wet and their underwear seemed wet as water markings were shown on their trousers.
Ayan got down from his horse and Edmund did the same. They held their horses by their reins and began taking a stroll with them.
"Well, I was just briefing Ed on all that happened while he was…. You know."
"That reminds me have you two had your bath" Ayan added.
"Yh, we just did that" Drax replied as he began walking in the direction of the river.
"I think we should go have ours," Ayan said to Edmund and began running to the river leaving his horses' reins in his hand. Drax and Skurt followed leaving a silent Edmund.
On getting to the river, the men took off their clothes and began to take their baths. Edmund stood still as he watched them, they were all surprised as he was always the one eager to dive into the river.
He stood for some minutes watching them take their bath. He was soon beginning to get bored so he began to distract himself by looking at some distant birds and trees. Amazed by all these activities he moved a bit closer to a bird but it flew as soon as he got too close. He looked back at his friends and was beginning to get enticed by seeing how much fun they were having. He rushed back to the river and was amazed at the reflection he saw. Could this be him? He was about 6'2 in height, his eyes were blue, and looked extremely beautiful. They matched his fair complexion along with his dark brown hair. His body was just as amazing, it wasn't too built but one could see that he had some abs, just perfect for an 18 years old. He stood still amazed at the image in the water. He was so handsome. Any girl would easily fall prey to his good looks. He should possibly be the most handsome among all his friends.
He stood still for a while before getting distracted by a splash made by Ayan.
"Aren't you taking your bath?" He asked as he swam.
"I'm..coming." He replied. He took a deep breath and took off his clothes.
Placing his right leg into the cold waters he could feel his body temperature drop and his leg become so stiff. They were just at the edge of the river so hopefully, it wasn't really deep. He released his entire body into the river and stayed silent for a while. He stretched his left hand and began to move at the rhythms of the water. He began swimming but after a while, his body began to react to the temperature of the water and he began shivering, so he stop and got out of the water.
"Hey, where are you going to?" Drax asked, the look on his face could tell his shock.
"I'm feeling… I'm feeling a little cold." A shivering Edmund said.
"Since when did you begin to feel the temperature? I mean, you have been swimming here since you learned how to crawl." Skurt asked Edmund who was already out of the water.
"He just recovered from a very terrible situation, maybe that's why. I think we need to give him some time I'm sure that he would come around." Drax said and they all continued swimming.
They swam for a few more minutes, and they got out of the river. They all got dressed and began to go back home when they saw a Silver-haired guy approaching.
"Akima!" Drax yelled, the others heard the name and focused their gaze in the direction he was pointing to. It was a Silver-haired guy, probably 6'1 in height, he was putting on black shorts and a blue singlet. It seemed he had come to have his bath.
Drax and Ayan ran towards him and in a few seconds, they were beside Akima.
"When did you get back?!" Drax yelled out of excitement.
Akima was one of their friends, he was of the same height and age as Edmund the difference is just that he had brown eyes. He was also particularly closer to Edmund than the others and had supposedly travelled a few days before Edmund had gotten sick.
"Well, I got back two days ago."
"So why am I just seeing you now? didn't you hear of what happened to Edmund?" Ayan asked, almost as if he cut in.
They were still in the middle of their conversation when Edmund and Skurt arrived. Akima let out his eyeballs on seeing Edmund almost as if he had seen a ghost. The others noticed this and were shocked by the gaze he had.
"What's wrong?" Skurt asked,
"Oh nothing" He responded, very quickly as if he had just been woken back to reality.
"Just th-"
"Don't try to avoid the topic, you must have heard of what happened to Edmund but just decided not to show up." Ayan cut in, he seemed furious for a reason as if he had an issue with him.
"I didn't know of what happened to Edmund, how would I have known that he was sick!" He responded, this time with a bit of rage.
"No one said anything, so how did you know that he was sick?" Ayan cut in.
"Would you try to let me finish my statement?" His voice sounded a bit tensed this time as if he had to think of where he heard it from.
"On my way here, I passed by his house and I overheard that he had fallen ill." He continued, he let out a sigh before he went on.
"I was about to head to the river to have my bath, that's when I saw you guys".
Ayan was about to cut in once more when Skurt stepped in.
"You always seemed to have a problem with him, why don't you stop all these and let's get back home." He said pulling Ayan back.
"I think he is right, you should save your strength for the crops we have to harvest," Drax added.
The four of them left Akima to have his bath as they rode back home. This time it was Drax who rode on Edmund's horse and all he had to do was to hold on tightly to his waist as they rode swiftly.
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