//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Still a long way 
// Story: A Journey of Bonding 
// by PurpleFire18 
//------------------------------//

Celestia's sun was rising when Alastair woke up. He felt tired, which was very rare, his eyes had trouble opening and he could have sworn he was still dreaming. He heard a yawn and quickly knew it was Souvenir's. Even not fully awake, he was surprised that Souvenir was waking up at the same time he did. He began attempting to talk, believing it would help him snap out of the sleepy state he was in.

"N...Nice to see you're...awake so early..."

"Ha, you're just waking up later..." she replied, going through the same struggle to wake up he was having.

"Not likely..."

"So how close are we getting to Equestria today?" Souvenir asked, trying to shake her head but not being able to do so.

"If we don't stop...in three days we will be near the frontier...I guess." Alastair was now beginning to truly wake up.

"Aww come on...on second thought, I think it IS early...can't we sleep some more?" Souvenir began to rub her head against her soft pillow.

"As much as I feel like saying yes, we need to-" Alastair realized he couldn't move his right arm, something was holding it down. Confused, he moved his hand and then each of his fingers.

"Hey, stop! It tickles!" Souvenir laughed a little and this was enough to wake her up.

"Sorry, my arm is-" Alastair stopped his sentence as he finally opened his eyes.

The sudden realization hit them both, strong like a full grown dragon falling from the sky. Souvenir's soft pillow was actually Alastair's feathery chest, and Alastair's arm couldn't move because Souvenir was on it. They looked at each other and saw in shock that they had been sleeping together. After the shock they were both quick to back away from each other, still surprised.

"YOU!" they both shouted, pointing at each other.

For the next five minutes they argued, though both were talking at the same time, therefore calling it a conversation would have been an overstatement. Neither of them knew how they ended up sleeping together, but they both blamed the other, even though deep down they both knew it didn't make any sense. It wasn't until they saw an empty bottle on the floor that they remembered what happened, or at least why it happened. This did not make the situation any less awkward, and it left them both with one big important question: What DID they do last night?

The taking down of the tent was silent, and the first hours of that day's journey had been awkward. They walked at a fair distance from each other and avoided even acknowledging the other's presence. After several failed attempts to talk, they simply looked at each other, and silently agreed not to speak of it again. The truth is, they were both thinking about that, and it was driving them crazy. 'Even blaming the alcohol, something had to be on my mind when it happened...'. They had no way to tell, but those words were heard in both of their minds in almost perfect unison.

Hours passed and they stopped to have lunch. The fruits they had were running out, and Alastair knew there wouldn't be any trees anywhere near their path that day, so they would only have fruit for one small meal, and even then it would not make up for what they should eat. He wanted to tell Souvenir, but to his surprise it was Souvenir who began to talk about the same thing.

"Running low on fruits...we only have three apples left." Souvenir looked at Alastair, her concern clearly expressed. "What will we do?"

"...I...think we should hunt." Alastair looked at his sheathed sword.

"Hunt? I don't eat meat!"

"I never said you would need to...you keep the fruits and I will eat whatever I can find and kill tonight..."

"But...this doesn't look like a place for a lot of creatures. And the sun sets in three hours, how far can we get?"

"Not very far...but I'm positive I can find a rabbit or two...maybe a hare or a fox, any should suffice..."

Souvenir could tell her friend was only saying that so that she wouldn't worry, and that he knew a hunt wouldn't be successful. Before she could say anything, Alastair decided to continue and get as far as they could before dusk. Knowing it would be pointless to talk now, she followed. The path ahead disappointed them both as it proved Souvenir was right. It was just tall grass, any small animal would be able to use it to its advantage and escape even a griffon. 

Once they found themselves at dusk, Souvenir set up camp while Alastair stubbornly went hunting. She knew he was not going to return for a while and used the time to try to remember what happened the night before. Did they simply fall asleep together or had she actually "fooled around" with him? As she thought about it, she came up with another question: Why would she even think about doing that with him?

'Could it be that I was so smashed I forgot he was a griffon? Maybe we both were in that state and just went along with it? Or...does it mean that I...?'. She stopped herself before finishing that thought, her cheeks starting to feel warmer. 'No, that can't be it. We just met a couple days ago, I can't think of him like that, even for romance novels it would be too early. Wait, no, I shouldn't even think about thinking of him like that, he's a griffon and I'm a pony, entirely different. Can't happen, won't happen.'

Alastair returned three hours after he had left, and as expected, he returned empty handed. He got into the tent where Souvenir was waiting for him with the last three apples. No questions had to be asked, she already knew how the hunt had gone by the look on his face, and he simply sat on his side of the tent, silent. Souvenir gave him one of the apples while she started eating another one, and Alastair reluctantly ate it. After they had both eaten their apple, Souvenir looked at the remaining one. They were both still hungry, after all this was their worst meal since they had started the journey, a normal meal consisted at least of 3 different pairs of fruits, and this one just consisted of one little apple. Souvenir made a quick decision and ate half of the apple, then offered the other half to Alastair. He merely waved his hand refusing the offer, but she insisted and was not taking a no for an answer. He finally decided to take it, and ate it quickly, looking reluctant but deep down he was grateful. After finishing, Souvenir hugged him without thinking, realizing shortly after, but before she could pull herself away from him, she felt a wing holding her close. She saw with great surprise that Alastair had hugged her back, and unbeknownst to her, he had done it without thinking as well. They were both, at first, surprised at their own actions, though then neither of them tried to stop it as they felt the warmth of each other's touch. The embrace continued until they went to sleep, each on their own side of the tent.