“Get up,” Someone kicked my foot and I snapped out of my nightmare.
I yawned and saw Aria standing over me, dressed in layers of cozy furs and her hair a mess. I blinked and realized that it wasn’t my sister at all, but Sofia, the ill-tempered rogue who kidnapped me. And I actually managed to fall asleep with my hands tied behind me.
I cracked my neck, my whole body sore and wracked with exhaustion. I hated how I was tied up.
Sofia kicked my foot again, “We’re hunting, get up,” For a second there, I thought she was my sister and a little piece of me wanted her to be here. But why would she want to see me, the last time I saw her was when we yelled at each other.
It must’ve been the blond hair.
I followed her out of my tent and shivered when I felt the cold wind slap my skin. How could they stand the cold?
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I turned around and held out my bound hands.
“You can hunt with your feet.” Oh, joy.
Mila sighed, “Sofia, untie her.”
“And if she runs away?”
Mila just gave her a blank stare and I noticed that she had some authority over Sofia.
“Fine, but you watch her.” Sofia rolled her eyes but untied me and I shook my hands, the stiff rope digging into my skin.
Nice to know everyone thinks I’m a liability.
“It’s not like she can escape. If she doesn’t get eaten, then she’ll get lost and die of dehydration and hunger.” Mila pointed out and glared at me, warning me not to try anything.
I gulped.
Day two with my kidnappers and I’m already exhausted by this. I’m hungry, tired and freezing all the time and on top of that, I can’t move my hands. I won’t even start with the fact that there are no bathrooms.
A few others joined Mila, Sofia and I on the hunting raid. They led as I stayed in the back, wanting to watch. But as soon as the camp was out of view, they all ran in different directions, gone like ghosts.
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to teach me?” I asked frantically, rushing after them but it was useless, everyone abandoned me. I ran through the snow, breathing hard and trying to find somebody, anybody.
“Hello? Hello!” I shouted and I was suddenly pulled by the arm and found myself crouched down, my feet deep into the pure snow.
“First lesson: be quiet,” Mila put a hand over my mouth, “I hear something,” Without another word, she took off, leaving me behind. She was fast, swift on her feet, as she raced between trees and jumped over hills.
“What is it?” I asked and she stopped again. This time, I followed her example and hid behind a tree.
She put a finger to her lips and I followed her eyes to a white fox, almost invisible as the snow settled around it. It stepped into a clearing in the snowy undergrowth, glinting white in the dappled sunlight.
I shifted my weight from my right foot to my left to get a better look and the fox’s ears twitched. Just before Mila threw her spear, the fox pivoted around and ran back into the frosted bushes.
Mila glared at me as she came out and retrieved her spear.
I just ruined her chances.
“Last lesson: stay out of my way.” She said sharply and I distanced myself, not wanting to piss her off.
For a few minutes, we walked silently until Sofia found us.
“Catch anything?”
“No,” Mila gritted her teeth, “But she scared off a fox.”
“You mean this fox?” I almost screamed in terror as Sofia held up a dead white fox, its eyes closed and pelt covered in blood. “Thanks for leading it straight to me.” She smiled, showing her sharp, white teeth. Mila headed off in another direction, determined to hunt something better.
How could they do it? How could they kill such innocent animals?
“I almost feel bad for you.” Sofia hummed. I didn’t know how to reply so I didn’t.
I had to catch something. If I didn’t, I’d starve to death and it didn’t look like they’d even care.
“Something’s close by,” She tensed suddenly and shot around, running away from me.
Uh, I hated when they did that.
She only ran a few steps when she crouched down and I saw what caught her eyes and ears.
It was an elegant male deer, its fur painted with cinnamon browns and ebony blacks. Bigger than any other deer I’d ever seen, it easily stretched over my shoulders. One antler grew from the left side of its head while the other antler was severely shorter, most likely broken off. The long deer had its head bent down to taste the melted snow from the bushes, momentarily distracted.
Sofia didn’t wait like Mila did, she acted quickly.
“Mine!” With all her strength, she threw her spear at the deer but it sidestepped around it, gracefully landing a few feet away from its previous spot. It looked at Sofia and then focused its black eyes on me.
That’s when it started to sprint towards me.
Wait, deer weren’t aggressive, were they?
The deer charged at me, using its powerful antlers to hit me square in the chest.
I flew in the air and landed on a thick blanket of snow, coughing as the wind was knocked out of me. I tried to breathe but my lungs were dry and heavy, I couldn’t catch my breath.
I heard feet crunching in snow and saw Sofia standing over me.
“You’re pathetic,” She rolled her eyes in a careless sigh, “You okay?”
Barely breathing, I couldn’t speak so I just nodded.
“We’ve been trying to catch that stag for weeks.” Sofia knelt down and looked at my arms, red splotches leaking over my skin. How did that happen?
“Lucky your arms were there or the antlers would’ve pierced your heart,” Sofia shook her head and stood up, not waiting for me, “Let’s get you back, your blood will only attract predators.”
*****
Sofia wrapped my arms in wet leaves and I hissed as they stung my sensitive wounds. After she was done, she tied my hands again.
“Done.” She wiped her hands on her fur vest. I looked at the leaves, wondering if they had healing properties.
“Are you a doctor?” I asked lightly.
She dodged the question, “Didn’t anyone tell you that curiosity killed the cat?”
“Yeah, but satisfaction brought it back.” I replied and she grinned like a cheshire cat.
“You shouldn’t ask so many questions, I could kill you easily, I don’t have a conscience,” Sofia stood up and stretched, “And just so you know, it’s called a healer not a doctor.” She added before exiting.
I couldn’t stop shivering and my stomach wouldn’t stop growling. I was starving. I could eat anything at this point and even though killing animals was against my morals, I had to do something to get rid of this empty hunger.
I had to survive.
After taking a short nap to rest my eyes, I was waken up by Ever, who told me to follow Austin into the white woods. He and three others were going to get fire wood and they needed extra hands.
“Austin, take her with you,” Ever instructed as he was already heading out.
“Seriously?” He groaned melodramatically.
“Seriously.”
He didn’t object as he pulled my bound hands, “Come on,”
For the first time in a while, I wondered what my family was doing. My parents were undoubtedly working in some meeting and Aria would be at school.
Did they even miss me?
“Hello?” Austin waved a hand in my face as I blinked, “Do you want me to untie your hands or not?” He asked in an irritated voice.
I held up my hands, the leaves still covering my scratches, “Please,” He untied my hands and peaked under the leaves.
“What happen to you? Trip on a rock?” He mocked.
“No, a deer hit me.”
“It wasn’t the stag with the one antler, was it?”
“That’s the one.”
He shrugged, “It’s been following us. But no one knows why.”
Austin started collecting whatever wood he could find, which wasn’t a lot. I did the same, careful not to wander off or get lost.
There were twigs but none big enough to feed a fire.
This was hopeless. Kind of like my thoughts.
Were they even looking for me? They all see me as a useless, defenseless human who is only known as the great Moon Goddess’ little sister. Were they going to go through all the trouble just to rescue me? Did they want to?
I don’t know how long I’d been stumbling through the woods. My body was sluggish and my brain was going to shut itself off if I didn’t put something into my mouth.
Then I heard bushes rustling. I tiptoed in the snow, coming across a huge deer. My eyes studied the wild animal and when I saw that one of its antlers was broken off, I realized that it was he same deer that hit me.
I tried backing away quietly as possible. The icy wind brushed my skin and I shivered, which seemed to be enough for the deer to hear.
It trained its stoic eyes on me instantly, blazing in fury as it charged at me again, ready to kill me once and for all.
I froze, unable to move.
Run! I shouted at myself but my feet were rooted to the ground.
I didn’t want to die, not without saying goodbye to Aria. The last time we saw each other was when we were still angry at each other. I didn’t want her last memory of me to be full of angry.
“Catch!” From the corner of my eye, I saw Austin running, throwing a stick at me. I caught it, my hands trembling, as the deer was right infront of me.
My eyes closed quickly, thrusting the stick out.
I braced for the pain.
And the darkness.
Any second. . .
I heard a raspy wheeze but it didn’t come from me. . . It came from the deer whose body was impaled by my stick.
A stick.
The deer’s body was splintered by a thin, dull, breakable stick.
Its huge body, once alive with abundant vitality, fell to the ground with a thud and for the first time since entering this world and leaving mine behind, I laughed.
*****
“Let me get this straight. . . a stick? You know what a stick is, right?” Sofia crossed her arms as Austin and Bruce dragged the stag to the fire.
“You saw the deer and I’m not as stupid as you!” Bruce huffed and he turned the deer over, the stick still protruding from its chest.
“Shit, that is a stick!” Sofia whistled, flicking the tip of the stick. Then she rounded on me, “Who the hell are you? Who takes down a stag with a flimsy stick?”
“I-I don’t know. I just. . . did.”
All three of them narrowed their eyes suspiciously, exchanging looks.
“Hey, Ever, check out what the human hunted.” Bruce spotted Ever, who just came out of her tent.
She widened her eyes when she saw the animal.
“She killed it with a stick.” Austin added with childlike enthusiasm, “I saw her do it.”
“Impressive,” Ever nodded, her face still surprised, probably the most emotion I’d ever seen from her, “That stag has been nothing but trouble.”
“You got that right, it almost killed Sofia.” Bruce chuckled and Sofia elbowed him with a scowl.
“Almost.” She reminded him sharply.
Ever walked over to me and started untying the rope on my wrists, “I think it’s about time, you earned it,”
“Are you sure?” Sofia was the only one to speak up.
I rubbed my wrists as soon as the rope was released. Those ties don’t bind me anymore.
Were these heartless rogues beginning to trust me?