Dagger

Chapter 26

Forest trudged behind Kieran and the girl, who was slung over Kieran's shoulder and now had duct tape over her mouth. Forest grabbed at the straps of the heavy bag that he had over his shoulders. He and Kieran had spent their time in the city gathering supplies and by gathering, he meant stealing and he wasn't happy about that fact.

Another thing that he wasn't happy about, being stuck with Kieran and apart from Melody. He had no idea what happened to her, where she was, or if she were even alive. He quickly shook the last thought out of his head, of course she was still alive. She was strong.

They continued to walk around the woods. Kieran adjusted his grip on the girl a few times, but she glared at the Forest the whole time.

A small clearing came into view. It was still surrounded by trees, and tall grass covered the areas that didn't have a tree sprouting from it. Kieran walked over to a nearby tree and placed the girl on the ground. He then stood up straight and cracked his back. Forest rummaged through the bag and emerged with a tent that they had stolen.

"Quit fooling around and help me set up this tent," Forest said as he held up the cloth of the tent and looked at it as if it were some very hard piece of math homework.

Kieran walked over to him. "What, I'm not fooling around," He looked at Forest who was looking at the tent in confusion. "Are you telling me you never put up a tent before?"

"I never needed to before." His shoulder slightly slumped in recoil as he suddenly felt sheepish. Was pitching a tent common knowledge?

Kieran shoved him out of the way and Forest stood up and watched as he unfolded the tent. "You sure you don't need my help?" He felt bad for letting Kieran doing all the work, even if it was Kieran. He also didn't like standing on the sidelines and watching.

Kieran waved him away. "No I've got this." He sounded very confident in himself.

Forest walked over to the girl and ripped off the duct tape over her mouth. "Ow!"

He looked at her with sympathy. "Sorry about that, but I had to because Kieran's kind of a wimp."

"I am not!" Kieran yelled from his spot by the tent.

The girl continued to glare at Forest. He looked her up and down, then something hit him, her clothes. "You're a Silver Blade aren't you?"

There was a slight shift. Forest could tell she knew what he was talking about, but she kept her cold gaze. "How would you know?"

Forest sat next to her. "We were both one of them."

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why would you two be apart of it? I thought that they only let in powerful fighters?"

Forest's eyebrow twitched, but he stayed calm. "We are." He was slightly annoyed at her response.

Her eyes sized him up. "You sure?"

"Yes!" His voice raised in frustration with the recurring topic. "Anyways, whatever they told you- they're lying."

"You don't know that..." Forest pitied this girl. She was obviously in denial, just like he was not that long ago.

"Really? What did they tell you?" He knew that the Silver Blades could build you up and make you feel powerful and great. While they had that power, they could also tear you down with just as much force.

"They said they would help me find my brother." Her lip slightly quivered, but it was quick. Forest could tell she was trying to hide her emotions to make herself appear strong.

"And since you've joined, has there been anymore talk about that?"

Her face began to darken and Forest knew he was right. They probably told her that to get her to join, but haven't  spoke about it since she joined. "No they haven't..." She muttered.