Her White Eyes

Natalia

Someone was in the house.

Not again. You have got to be kidding me.

I silently rolled off of my bed and under it, listening.

"Sage, get out from under the bed. It's me, Soren!"

"Oh good." I rolled out from under the bed and stood.

"Sage, get dressed and come back out here ready to go. We need to leave a.s.a.p."

I heard the urgency in his voice and quickly picked out the clothes I had been wearing earlier in the day, running into my bathroom.

I threw them on, hoping it was all right side out and forward. I grabbed my brush and ran back out, running it through my hair.

"Pack extra clothes and anything you would need for a long trip. Hurry."

I nodded and packed a quick bag full of clothes and extra weapons. I stuck my brush and some other little things on top and swung it onto my back.

"Ok let's go." He said

We left my apartment and went down outside the bottom floor of my building. Cye, Four, and Kade were standing there nervously, someone else with them.

"Alright guys. Let's get moving. I'll explain everything to you once we're outside the village. We need to hurry."

He started running and we all followed but I noticed the girl was struggling to keep up.

"Do you want me to carry you?" I asked "We'll make better time."

"I'm- fine." The girl gasped but she was starting to slow.

"Here." I picked her up mid-stride and quickly caught up with Soren and the others.

"You don't have to do this." She told me.

"It's alright. It isn't that hard."

"Are you sure? I'll be glad to run with you."

"I'll be fine, but thank you."

It was an odd sensation, running past the darkened buildings of the village. It made me feel really lonely. But I knew I had people around me. Heck I was carrying one on my back!

Finally we made it through the gates and out into the trees surrounding the village.

"We'll walk for now." Soren said.

I put the girl down and waited for Cye, Kade, and Four to catch their breath.

"Ok guys we need to get moving. We need to be away from the village before sunup. I'll explain while we walk."

We started walking down the dirt road in the darkness.

"This girl is important. You may know her, Four. She's one of the council member's daughters. She is going to discuss some important matters and visit a friend in another province. We have been chosen to take her there. She isn't being hunted or anything but we want to keep all the bandits and brigands off of her."

"Soren, why are we leaving in the middle of the night if no one is chasing her?" Cye asked

"It's just a precaution. If she were to be taken prisoner then we would have to pay a large sum to get her back. We don't want anyone to know she left the village."

"That makes sense."

We stopped talking and the next few hours were spent walking with only a few water breaks. I used it to memorize the girl's pattern of vibrations.

"The sun's coming up." Kade said "Too bad you can't see it, Seer."

"What do you mean?" the girl, Natalia, asked.

Soren answered. "Sage is blind."

Natalia gasped.

"Should blind people be ninja?"

I clenched my fists and grinded my teeth together to keep from yelling at her.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"None taken." I grumbled.

"It's okay, Sage. We all know you are just as good as the rest of us." Four said.

"Yeah whatever. I just don't think a girl who can't even run fast on her own should be judging me."

"Sage, be respectful. Her father has a lot of power over our village." Soren chastised me.

I sighed. "I know."

I took a few steps to the side so that I was a little farther away from the group. I heard Natalia sigh and we walked along in silence.

I guess the sun rose because I could feel it on my skin. I tilted my chin up and let the rays hit my face and warm my cheeks. My eyes hurt when I opened them so I just kept them closed. I needed sleep and so did all of the others. Even Soren was dragging his feet.

"Do we want to stop and sleep?" I asked them.

"I'd love to but I think we need to keep going." Soren answered.

"Soren, we've been walking for hours. If someone attacked us right now there would be no way we could take them on even if they were just low lives."

My logic got the better of him.

"Alright. Follow me a little off of the road and we'll make camp."

He abruptly turned and led us about ten meters off of the road until we found a small clearing. Each of us rolled out our bedrolls except for Natalia. "Crap." I heard her say.

I sighed. "You forgot your bedroll didn't you?"

"Yeah."

I sighed again. "Here,"

I rolled of my mat and pushed it toward her.

"Thank you." She said

I grunted and rolled over, ready to sleep in the dirt.

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