Amaia and Rafael's Epic Quest

The ride had been long and uncomfortable, every bump and every rut reminding Amaia of the bruises that covered her body. The road was hard and unforgiving, but the young woman didn’t mind it much. She had spent her entire life on such roads, and while they were no longer the only way to travel, they still got one from point A to point B.

Rafael had a horse, but he insisted on walking next to his old friend. He told her that he wanted to talk.

“You used to love horses,” he said as he rode beside her.

“I still do,” she replied with a smile. “But I also like walking. It keeps me healthy.” She pointed at Rafael's feet. “You could get some boots too you know. Your toes look cold.”

Rafael smiled back at the young woman who had been his best friend for most of his life. He reached into his pocket and took out a small flask, which he handed to her. “Here, have a drink to warm up before we leave this town for the jungle."

Amaia took the tin and unscrewed the cap before sniffing its contents cautiously. It smelled sweet and fruity, just like she liked it. She took a small sip while peering over the rim of her drink at Rafael who was looking around nervously at their surroundings, expecting someone or something to jump out of hiding at any moment and attack them in broad daylight with all these witnesses around them. Amaia didn't share his worries though; she had seen worse things than this during her travels across the country. All these people were only here for work or pleasure, nothing more sinister than that - at least not for now. She took another sip before handing back the flask and wiping away a drop of liquid from her lips with the back of her hand. “Why don't you drink? You'd feel better if you did."

Rafael took back his flask from Amaia and drank from it deeply before handing it back to her again while looking around as well as he could without turning his head too much. “Thanks," he said after clearing his throat when he was done drinking, "but I can't have my mother finding out I've been drinking."

Amaia rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something when Rafael interrupted her by placing his finger on her lips in an effort to shush her down without making any sound louder than a whisper. He leaned in closer towards Amaia so that she could hear him over all the noise surrounding them and said: “Look over there!" He pointed over at one of the many stalls where two men were arguing about something until one of them suddenly drew out a knife and cut off two fingers from the other man's hand before resheathing his blade again quickly as soon as he had made his point clear. Both men quickly disappeared into the crowd afterwards before anyone had noticed what had happened behind their stall apart from whoever was involved directly in the conflict itself, but Rafael was already moving towards them on Amaia's insistence by now so there was no time left for him to stop him or change his mind even if there would be somewhere safe for them to hide in this throng of people instead of following Rafael any further into danger like she did right now..