Opposite

Chapter 30

Eversince Tyson and Harlow started walking for the quest, the smile couldn't be hidden on their faces.

They were holding each other's hands so in loved. They were made stronger because of each other. They became more excited of their mission. As well as they became more determined to accomplish it and live in Heallven for happily ever after.

After some long walk, they stopped and looked for a place wherein they could stay for awhile since it was getting darker and they couldn't see clearly the way anymore. Gladly, there was a small hut at their right. They went there and called for its owner, but it had been some minutes when no one was responding still.

"May nakatira pa kaya rito?" Harlow asked.

"I guess none," Tyson answered. "No one's answering, so maybe this is abandoned. Baka puwede na tayong pumasok."

She concurred with his statement, so she suggested him to open the door yet. After opening it, she entered the hut with him.

Inside was very dark and somehow foul-smelling. Due to the dusty smell of the hut, both of them sneezed. It seemed that it was over years since it was last cleaned.

They went out of the hut for awhile since they couldn't hold the stink. Also, they couldn't see what was inside the house except for the color of darkness.

"Don't we have a flashlight?" Harlow asked.

"Wait, let me see." Tyson opened his backpack and looked for a flashlight. When he had found it, he automatically smiled. But it disappeared that fast when he switched it on, but it didn't work. "Low battery na yata."

Napakamot na lamang sa ulo si Harlow. "Mukhang minamalas tayo ngayon, ha."

"There's still a way, so don't worry."

"Ano?"

"Alam mo ba ang ginagawa ng mga scout para makabuo ng apoy?"

Harlow expressed hesitation. "Yes," she said then. "So you think we're going to make it?"

"Why not? I'm a scout."

She was surprised of him being a scout. It was obvious he really was, but still she was amazed. Then if that was the case, having a light will no longer be their problem.

They looked for stones. It was kinda hard for them since it was dark already. It even took them a half hour since the place they had stopped had no so much rocks and they needed a certain type of these. The type of rock  commonly used in fire starting was flint or any type of rock in the flint family, such as quartz, chert, obsidian, agate or jasper.

And so, they sat outside the house and started making a fire. Tyson held a small piece of tinder on top of the rock as he hit it so it would catch a spark and catch on fire. But it had been some time when he couldn't still find quartz. So, he asked Harlow to look for a similar hard-to-break, smooth rock that breaks with sharp edges and facets.

Harlow followed right away. She wandered around the place and came back to him after five minutes.

"Try these," she said as she held him the stones she had found.

Tyson took the stones and started catching on a fire once more. Fortunately, after some time, he finally made it. He took as well the cottonwood fungus they had collected to finish up making a flame. Afterwards, he placed it to the woods that Harlow arranged while he was scratching the stones.

They were so glad when they knew they made it. The fire started warming their bodies. Sa buong paglalakbay nila, ito ang unang pagkakataon na gumawa sila ng apoy. Whenever they were stopping at a specific location, there was always a light; lagi rin silang may natitigilan na maayos na pagsilungan.

"That was challenging," Harlow chuckled.

"Kaya nga, eh," Tyson giggled as well. "Gusto mo ba tingnan na natin 'yong hitsura sa loob ng kubo? O maiwan ka muna dito sa labas baka maging kamatis na 'yang ilong mo?"

"Sasama na ako para dalawa tayong mangamatis ang ilong," she laughed.

Tyson took a burning wood then proceeded inside the hut with Harlow. But before that, he told her first to cover her nose so she could not smell the dust.

They wandered as they light up the place. The fire wasn't enough for them to clearly see it but they were sure nothing but the dust was the thing inside it.

The ground was no made of woods, lupa pa rin iyon. Since it had no advantages of staying in, they just decided to stay outside.

"Wala naman sigurong unggoy na bigla-biglang susugod sa atin dito, 'no?" Harlow said when they went out.

"Ngayon pa nga lang may unggoy na."

"Huh? Saan?"

"'Yong kasama ko."

"Aba, loko ka pala, eh!" She slapped him on his arms.

"Aray, joke lang!" Tyson laughed.

"Joke joke mo mukha mo. Unggoy pala, ha."

"At least ikaw ang pinakamagandang unggoy sa mundo ng Heallven."

She glared.

"At ikaw rin lang ang nag-iisang unggoy na gusto ko..."

She looked at him with a smile on her face. "Ang corny mo."

"At least nakakakilig," he said. "Look at you, you're smiling now. Parang kanina lang eh nakasimangot 'yang mukha mo at paulit-ulit mo akong iniirapan."

She turned serious again. "Am I smiling? Ang feeling mo rin eh, 'no?"

"Surely you smiled, sumimangot ka lang ulit dahil napansin ko."

She didn't talk.

Tyson let out a sigh. "'Di pa lang kasi aminin."

"Oo na! Oo na! Kinilig na ako, pero slight lang. So ano naman ngayon?"

He laughed.

"Oh, tapos ngayon tatawa-tawa ka?"

"Ang cute mo."

"Alam ko."

He hugged her, still holding a smile on his face. The lady, however, was surprised of the sudden act. Like, why? What was with it?

"I really thought I will lose you," he said.

Harlow didn't say a word, but responded to his hug instead. She couldn't let go of her smile as well, but she also wanted to cry. She was so happy that someone was being afraid to lose her, that someone really was appreciating her existence, and that someone was loving her despite her flaws and imperfections.

The hug lasted for some minute, and they just realized it was warmer than the feeling of staying near the fire.

They leaned on the hut afterwards since they chose to stay outside. Tyson told Harlow to sleep already since he knew she was so tired.

"You can lean on me," he said. "Don't you worry, I will protect you."

Harlow smiled at him before she leaned his head on his shoulder. She didn't say anything anymore because she trusted him. She knew when she was with him, she would always be safe and no one could harm her. Wala pang ilang minuto ay nakatulog na rin naman siya.

Tyson placed her arms on hers to warm her because in time, the fire would disappear.

Mabilis lamang na dumaan ang dilim at mayamaya'y unti-unti na rin namang sumikat ang liwanag. Harlow opened her eyes and saw Tyson still sleeping.

"Ang himbing naman ng tulog nito," she smiled.

She slowly removed his arms on her so he could not be waken. Then she stood up and stretched her arms as she yawned. The day was so bright and she was thankful.

While Tyson wasn't waking up yet, she decided to make food for him. So, she wandered around and looked for fruits or vegetables, anything that could be eaten.

After some time, she came back holding a set of fruits. She cut them all and mixed them together so she could make a fruit salad. Nang matapos siya ay sakto namang paggising ng binata.

She greeted him a good morning, and offered him the salad she made.

"This looks delicious," he said as he yawned. "Sorry, kakagising ko lang, 'di kita tuloy natulungan."

She smiled. "It's okay, alam kong kakatulog mo lang."

Nagkunot-noo si Tyson.

"Don't pretend, nagising ako kanina, pero 'di ko pinahalata. I looked at you and saw you staring up at the skies."

"Sorry, I promised to protect you, that's why I kept my eyes on you," he said. "Napatingin lang talaga ako saglit sa itaas."

She chuckled. "Para ka talagang sira. Sana natulog ka na noong nakatulog na ako para hindi nahuhulog 'yang mata mo ngayon. Safe naman tayo dito sa Heallven eh, hindi ba?"

"Wala pa tayong masyadong alam sa Heallven, kaya mabuti nang sigurado."

"Well, okay fine," she said. "Tikman mo na lang itong ginawa ko. I know you're hungry."

Hindi naman maalis ang ngiti sa mukha ng binata nang matikman niya ang pagkain. The food was actually not a salad, but he appreciated them that much. As long as it was Harlow that was making a food for him, he would not get tired of tasting them and saying: "Wow, it's so delicious!"

After they eat, they continued walking again. Inilabas nila ang mapa at hinanap muli roon ang Memoria, but they were disappointed again to see it.

"Wala talaga dito ang Memoria kahit anong hanap natin," sambit ni Tyson.

"What if... it has also a sign or symbol?" Harlow said. "Para hindi natin agad mahanap, baka symbol na naman ang ginamit nila. 'Yong parang kay Nicolas Ulas ba."

"Right!"

"But the problem is just that we don't know the symbol for Memoria."

"'Yon lang."

"Let's try asking random people."

Tyson sighed. "But would they give us answers? Baka wala rin lang na naman tayong makuhang sagot."

"Who knows? Maybe it's different now. Let's just try."

"Well if you say so..."

Then, they walked again until they reached a village. They didn't know the name of the place, so they asked a stranger. Since that, they knew that they were in Lushaina Village.

They wandered the place and it was totally different from Willow. It was a modern space, everything was new to their eyes. It was just a village but it looked like a city because of the tall buildings and modish houses. Despite that, the site was still surrounded by nature. Everything was clean and at its order. The people as well were modern by their style of clothing of way of speaking.

"This is amazing," Harlow said as she wandered her eyes all throughout the place.

Tyson concurred with her and couldn't say anything anymore. In short, he was speechless. It was a different thing when modernity collaborated with nature.

They enjoyed exploring the place to the point that they forgot their mission for some time. When they realized they were enjoying that much and forgetting their task, they face-palmed.

"Masyado na tayong nadala," Harlow said.

They laughed. They went back to their real purpose, in time. As what had Harlow suggested, they tried asking random people if they knew the exact location of Memoria, or just its symbol so they could find it on the map. But they had asked an average of hundred people, still they didn't receive any good answer. The two were almost hopeless of trying, but they did not give up.

"Sir," Tyson asked a man passing by, "sorry for the interruption, but do you know where Memoria is?"

"Memoria? Do you mean m-e-m-o-r-i-a?"

"Yes, Sir. Indeed!"

The man expressed hesitations. "I know, but-"

Tyson smiled right after hearing what the man said. "Really? You know it, Sir?"

"Yes, but- I can only tell you the symbol."

"Well that's alright, Sir. That would really be a great help!"

"Oh, okay, well... Memoria has a symbol of a brain."

Tyson thanked the man after telling him the symbol. Afterwards, he called Harlow and let her know it. He looked for it on the map with her, and it took them some time to find it.

"Gotcha!" Harlow said.

They were so glad knowing that the Memoria was just near at the Lushaina Village. In that case, it would not be so hard for them to take a step. But after walking on again, Harlow spoke.

"Have you wander why brain is the symbol of Memoria," she asked.

Tyson stopped for a minute and think of it. "What language is Memoria?"

"I'm not sure if it's Latin, but I'm sure it isn't an English word."

"Memoria stands for memory, right?"

"Yes, and memory is the store of things learned and retained from an activity or experience."

"Right."

"And it is something that happened in the past..."

"Right as well."

"May nabubuo na ba sa isip mo?"

Tyson nodded.

They didn't speak a word again and just stared at each other's eyes as if there thoughts were just the same.

If Memoria was for memories, then what?