Just Us Alone (girl x girl) COMPLETED

Part 4 (Iris's POV)

Life with Alette slowly fell to routine. Wake each morning, feed and water Cinnamon, harvest berries for breakfast, insulate the shelter, eat a bit of the dried meat for lunch, hunt or fish for food, lessons on survival with Alette, dinner of whatever we had caught, light a low fire for warmth, head to bed. 

We lay in the bushes that afternoon, watching a doe teach her newborn fawn to walk. Alette had her bow aimed at the mother’s heart, hand pulling back the string. I grabbed her hand, pushing the string back to the bow, relieving the pressure and pulling her arm to the ground. 

“Iris, we have to.” she whispered, “I know you’re not used to the violence of survival, but we need to eat.” 

“No, please!” I pleaded with her, looking into her eyes, “Please, we can’t do this. That fawn needs her mom, we can’t kill her just for a few meals and leave that baby motherless for life. It’s not fair!” I was crying now, my voice had risen above a whisper. 

“Iris, we need the food! The dried meat is gone, the berries are going out of season, it’s almost May, we’re going to plant a garden but it won’t grow that quick. We can’t starve, Iris. You need to understand, it’s kill or be killed out here, if you can’t handle that, maybe it’s time for you to go back to the castle.” Alette stood and grabbed her bow, storming off to the shelter. 

Both deer were gone now, scared off by our arguing. I sat there in that stupid bush, thinking over what happened. How could she be so comfortable to just end a life? Really, doesn’t it hurt her, doesn’t it feel wrong? How could she live with that? We’d hunted before, shot squirrels, rabbits, birds, but they hadn’t been shaping the life of a young one. Maybe I am too sensitive, maybe I should just leave.  

I got up and wandered over to the stream. I sat down on the same rock as before, staring into that same spot in the stream. Tears began to leak from my eyes. I didn’t want to leave, I liked it here. Nature was so pure and free, so different from my strict, regulated life back home. 

No, not back home, back at the castle, this is my home now. I need to prove to Alette that I can handle this, I need to hunt something, on my own. 

I stood up, wiping the tears from my cheeks and made my way back to the shelter slowly. Each step was cautious and carefully planned,  avoiding sticks and dry leaves like Alette had taught me for when hunting. Except right now I wasn’t hunting, I was hiding. From her. I didn’t want to speak to her until I’d proven myself. 

I reached the shelter and peeked in, she was nowhere to be found, but neither was her bow. So much for that plan.  I sighed and sank down against the side of the shelter, burying my face in my hands. 

I heard something crack on the other side of the shelter and lifted my head silently. 

“Gah, it’s all my fault! I scared her off. I’m so stupid!” Alette muttered to herself, crashing around the forest. I couldn’t see her over the pit house roof, but I could imagine her stomping around, kicking trees and snapping sticks. 

“No, no, no! It was going to be perfect! She was going to stay and I’d teach her survival and we’d live off the forest together. I’d forget about my past and focus on our future. We were going to build a cabin out here and make a life for ourselves and, and I would’ve told her… Ugh! I ruined it all!” She fell silent, and then I heard her start to cry. 

I peeked my head around the shelter. She was sitting on the ground, curled into herself, messy hair making a curtain around her face. I could hear her sobs, each ragged, sniffly, inhale and every exhale followed by more tears. It was painful watching the tough girl that saved me break down like this. All because of me. 

I crawled over to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, burying my own face in her neck, as I began to cry again too.  She looked up and I raised my head to meet her eyes. 

“Iris?” she questioned, sniffling and wiping her eyes. 

“I’m not leaving you,  you know. OK? I already promised to stay, I’m not going back on that promise now. I’d love to build a cabin and live off the forest with you.” I didn’t bother to wipe my own tears away, there was no use since I hadn’t stopped crying. 

“What are you crying for?” Alette asked me through tears, “You could’ve just retreated back to your life of royalty, forgotten all about me.” 

“But then I would’ve never seen you again. I couldn’t live knowing I abandoned you.” 

“And since I met you, I couldn’t live without you.”

I pulled her into a hug, 

“Promise to stay with me forever?” she asked.

“Promise.”