RYAN'S POV
After finishing my bizarre, yet profoundly enlightening, conversation with Baghraj, the 'Tiger Lord'—who was surprisingly concerned about his fur—I turned around at his prompt.
There, in the distance, sat Heather Rand, awake and observing us with a deeply bewildered and concerned expression. The sight of her, finally conscious, brought a fresh wave of purpose.
After bidding Baghraj a final, somewhat exasperated, goodbye, I began walking towards her, the snow crunching softly under my boots. As I drew close, before I could even fully formulate an introduction, she beat me to it, her voice a strained whisper, "Who are you?"
"Hi, Mrs. Rand," I began, offering my most reassuring smile, which probably looked a bit strained dut to the cold. "My name is Ryan Angelo, and I'm a friend of Danny's."
A flicker of confusion crossed her face. "But Danny never mentioned anyone like you," she said, her brow furrowing with suspicion.
At her words, I opened my mouth, ready to launch into an explanation of my history with Danny. But my thoughts slammed to an abrupt halt. A realization washed over me: the Danny I was friends with, the Danny who had made me promise to save his family, didn't exist in this timeline. Not yet, anyway. The sheer paradox of it left me speechless trying to think of an answer.
"Sigh~" A long, weary sigh escaped my lips, a sound heavy with the complexity of the situation. My head began to ache with the effort of trying to figure out how to explain time travel, altering the timeline, and a future friendship without sounding completely insane.
I pondered for a moment, weighing my options. Honesty, even a simplified version, seemed the best, if most challenging, route.
"It's a long story, Mrs. Rand," I finally said, trying to infuse my voice with a calm that belied the turmoil in my mind. "How about I explain it to you as we continue our journey?"
She stared at me, her gaze piercing, undoubtedly searching for any hint of deception or madness in my young eyes.
The silence stretched, thick with unspoken questions, before she finally gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Okay," she agreed, her voice still cautious, but with a touch of weary acceptance.
But before we could take a single step, her stomach let out a loud, embarrassed rumble, echoing in the quiet mountain air. A faint flush touched her pale cheeks.
"How about we eat something before we continue?" I suggested, a small, genuine smile forming on my face. I reached into the luggage, pulling out the small packet of dry rations, the same ones I had packed earlier.
She looked at the rather meager amount in my hand, her expression immediately shifting to one of concern. "We should conserve them," she advised, her voice surprisingly practical given our surreal circumstances. "It will take some time to get out of these mountains."
At least his mother is smarter than him, I thought, a wry amusement bubbling up, recalling Danny's usual impulsive, almost mindless thug-like actions in my memories.
"Don't worry about them," I reassured her, waving a dismissive hand. "I have more supplies in a helicopter, about two hours' walking distance from here."
Her eyes widened, a spark of unexpected hope igniting in them. "You have a helicopter here?" she asked, her voice tinged with incredulity and a nascent excitement.
"Yes, I came in one but—" I began, but she didn't let me finish. Her excitement, it seemed, was overriding her caution.
"YOU came in one, meaning we can use it to go back!?!" she exclaimed, her voice rising with unbridled hope. The prospect of escaping the treacherous mountains seemed to outweigh any questions about how a child had arrived in a helicopter.
"I used it to come here—" I tried again, my patience beginning to fray.
"Great! Then we don't have to walk all the way!" she interrupted again, her smile widening, already imagining the swift journey home.
"Let me finish my words!" I shouted, the words bursting out of me, sharper and louder than I intended. The sudden outburst startled her, making her flinch visibly.
"Sorry," she mumbled, her eyes wide, apologizing sheepishly.
"I'm sorry for yelling," I said, immediately regretting my outburst, my voice softening as I ran a hand through my hair. "It's just someone recently kept doing that... you know what, forget it." I trailed off, trying to explain the source of my short temper, but then I stopped myself. How could I possibly explain that without sounding completely unhinged?
Like I could say that a bald woman who could look into the future, the 'Ancient One' no less, kept interrupting me from speaking because she used her future vision to know my responses before I voiced them out, I thought, the absurdity of it hitting me. Yeah, that sounds messed up and screams mental patient all over, especially to someone who just woke up from being attacked by wolves and then found a giant talking tiger.
"As I was saying," I resumed, forcing my voice to be calm and level, "I did come in a helicopter which has supplies, but unfortunately, it is out of fuel. And even if it wasn't, we can't use it because it was a stolen one." The last part felt strangely anticlimactic after my internal struggle.
"I see," she said slowly, her shoulders slumping a little as the hope faded from her eyes. "Seems like we have no other choice but to walk." The reality of our situation settled back upon her.
With that problem out of the way, at least for now, we both finished eating the dry rations and drank some water from the thermal bottle. The silence between us was less awkward now, a shared understanding settling in. And then, without another word, we started our arduous journey, the vast, silent mountains stretching before us.