Sister of Time

11 Secrets

Finally done:D Hope you like!

Chapter 11- Secrets

Aleaya's POV

"Damn!" I cry out again as I fall to the ground in a crumpled heap for the third time, hugging my arm to my chest.

"You keep lowering your guard! You need to stay focused! Don't let me through again! Now ready!" Mira stands by the fire, brandishing her makeshift wooden sword at me. I stand up, shaking my right hand by my side, trying to make the pain from the hit go away.

"Fine, again!" I lunge to her right with my own wooden sword in my left hand. I miss her as I had planned to, but then I swing my stinging right fist towards her stomach, distracting her. She grabs my hand and I use the chance to stab at her now open abdomen. She grunts and backs off, holding her side.

"Good!" She tells me, circling to my left, still holding her side. The she lungee and I block, pushing her back. I was angry now and using my anger to fuel the fight. My right arm still stings, and the punch I had thrown doesn’t help. I shake it again.

"Don't be distracted! Focus!" I let her nick my hip with her sword and then hit her now open left shoulder. I stab right between the shoulder and neck and she let out a cry, spinning away from me in defeat.

"Good. I think that's enough for tonight, we should take a break and eat something." She tells me, her voice ragged from the pain.

"I'm hungry." I admit, panting, trying to get my breath back. I sit down where I stand and pull my pack towards me, digging for food.

"Here," She said crawling towards the fire and grabbing her own pack. She reaches in and grabs something, throwing it at me, "you can eat this." I look at the strange shape in my lap and realize that it’s just bread.

"Thanks!" I gratefully dig in and make my way over to where I had my mat set up. I sit down on the soft wool mat and took another bite of bread, chewing slowly. My arms ache, my hip hurts, my wrist is still smarting, and my head is swimming.

It feels good to be doing something though, to be learning something. Mira had slowly been teaching me the skills I would need out here like hunting and scavenging and fighting. From the skills I learn, I gather that where we are going, I would not be greated by the comforts of my former home. Thinking of this reminds me that I still had no idea where we are going.

"So, where are we headed? You've never given me any details and we've been walking in the same direction for the past two days." I say through a mouthful of bread, swallowing between sentences.

She looks at me from across the fire and then stares off into the woods, almost as if debating how to explain the situation to me.

"We're headed to a camp I ran into a while ago... I'm calling in my favor that they owe me."  She picks at a string on her pack and is silent.

"That's all you've ever told me! What is this favor? What are you up to?" I implore, confused. She looks at me again and shakes her head.

"You don't need to know that, and you're probably safer not knowing..." She explains as she always had.

"Argh! I just want to know what I'm getting myself into before it's too late! Why can't you tell me?" I inquire, breaking our usual conversational pattern.  She shakes her head and looks away.

"No." She answers simply. I cross my arms over my chest and laughs.

"Do you not trust me? Is that it?" I investigate angrily.

"Look, I'm just trying to protect you until it is not possible to protect you any longer. What I know- well, it's unimportant. So please, stop asking." She lays down on her bed roll and huffs angrily.