The wild boar rushed past the trees and the leaves crunched as it passed over. It and its herd snorted and squealed as they darted left and right. The trees above the herd rustled around them. The remaining leaves on the trees fell as the branches shook. The creature looked for the fattest boar and began the chase. Darting from tree to tree became rather challenging as the pigs began to head for the clearing. The creature took a sharp breath and leapt from the tree and aimed for it's target. The fat swine squealed as the heavy mass slammed on top of it and it tried to squirm free from it's grasp. The creature turned the pig over forcefully to expose its neck. The pig began to panic as the creature's paws grabbed the boar and revealed sharp piercing claws, protruding forward from the creature's fingers. In one fell swoop, the claws slashed down on the throat. The pig shook uncontrollably to the loss of blood. The claws retracted back into the fingers of the creature.
Mariya wiped the blood from her half fleshed-half crystallized hands. She stuck her tongue out like someone drinking sour milk, slightly disgusted by the texture of the metallic substance. The death of the pig, however, how it squealed and shrieked, kicked and squirmed - it pleased her. It made her adrenaline kick in. She relished the kill; looking at the blood pouring from the swine's neck. Getting up, she tossed the boar over her shoulder and trotted back to camp.
Silsina, who was squatting promptly next to their fire, stared into the flames. The sun was setting around them - and she waited calmly for the water elevated over the fire to boil and purify. Her throat was dry and parched. "Come on, hurry up." The Ave muttered, hovering her hands over the flames to keep warm; being careful to not have her short fur caught in the flame. Mariya made way into the clearing, the dead boar on her shoulder. Silsina turned around to face her and stood up: "That's a fat one."
Mariya nodded, and threw it to the ground - a mix of dirt, grass and dead leaves. "Winter is coming upon us soon. The remaining trees are losing their leaves." Silsina acknowledged Mariya's observation, looking up at her kin; mildly disturbed by how only half of her jaw moved, with the other side lagging behind.
The two have been on the road for about 3 weeks now - nearing the end of November. Silsina went back to the fire and let Mariya have her fun with the butchering. Silsina secretly enjoyed the butchering too - watching it from a distance. It was just part of their sadistic nature. Silsina was always surprised by how neat Mariya was with cutting, how she pulled the hide away carefully to expose the muscle - then cutting it into small cubes to put on a Kebab. Silsina's eyes dilated with excitement as Mariya began to cut the skin of the swine away. It was just so satisfying - like pure ecstacy.
"Mariya?" Silsina asked, making the Hybrid stop and look towards the fire.
"What is it?" She muttered, stopping her cuts for a slight moment.
The Russian, while waiting for about 10 or so seconds, decided to return to cutting, and instead just pay close attention to what Silsina was going to say.
"I've wondered... when have you gotten so precise with cutting? I knew you and mom used to cook food together all the time. But, you're like... perfect!"
Mariya chuckled, cutting at slabs of meat. Her hands were bloody, but it didn't bother her.
"Well," Mariya kept her eyes on the meat in front of her. "I woke up in that grave and just got better at it I guess. I'm honestly not sure. I mean, I was always into Anatomy and Biology. Mom used to talk about how good I was at dicing vegetables and stuff like that."
Silsina acknowledged her, nodding in silence. She watched the water again, grabbing the makeshift spit by the ends and putting it off to the side to cool. Mariya walked to the fire, cubes of meat dribbling with juice.
Mariya sat on the opposing side to her sister and the two sticks with meat were set onto the supports, hanging over the fire in a rotisserie style. Every now and again, Mariya turned the sticks for an even cook as they talked about how to get to their destination. Silsina reached over to the steel pot that they had found before leaving town containing the water. She picked it up and took a swig of water.
"So," Mariya said, reaching for the water with her healing skeletal hand. "We are going to need to collect as much firewood and dead leaves as we can before winter sets in."
Silsina raised her eyebrows, handing the water pot to the Russian - who promptly took a sip of water. "Do you still have the Knapsack?"
"Dah." Mariya said, mildly choking on the water, pointing to the tree behind Silsina. "It's right there."
Silsina looked at the two sticks over the fire and licked her sharp beak - as whether Hunter or Protector, the beak of an ave was mutated in such a way that made for an appearance of teeth where a flat surface around the lip would normally reside. Her stomach growled in anger as it demanded food. "Are those sticks almost done? I'm starving."
Mariya blinked at her.
"You can't rush it. They've only been on for about 8 minutes. I'd give it another 12 at most. These aren't thin slabs, you know."
Silsina moaned and laid in the grass, causing Mariya to blink again out of surprise.
"You're acting like a child, Silsina. You're almost 19."
Silsina responded with another moan; and Mariya just gave up - letting her throw her temper tantrum. The Russian turned her attention to the fire, the orange glow lighting up her face.
The remaining 10 minutes the cubes took to cook passed by in silence. Silsina rolled in the grass, trying to pass time. Mariya just began to carve into a nearby tree. She turned her attention to the open flame every few minutes to make sure the sticks weren't burning - or the meat for that matter. Looking at the crisp, tanish colour of the pork, she stood up and grabbed the sticks off of the supports.
"Hey Silsina." Mariya said, standing in place and patiently waiting for her sister to gain interest.
Eventually, she did turn around; and noticing the meat on the spit, darted for her stick. Mariya slowly nibbed at hers, looking over at Silsina - who was digging in and eating fast.
"Will you enjoy it? Holy fuck Silsina."
Silsina looked up with pork in her mouth, her wild and dilated eyes glaring up at Mariya curiously. "You heard me, yea?" The Russian frowned, and Silsina nodded in agreement - slowing down considerably.
The two didn't speak for the rest of the meal, only the sounds of chewing and shifting to get comfortable was heard from time to time. When Mariya ate food and drank water - her body used the energy to help in restoring her original, alive, look. With the meals she ate in the past few weeks, her skeletal hand began to cover up in skin, and soon, the fur that covered it originally. All of the rotting holes on her fleshy side have already healed, as well as the eyelid - which exposed her only eyeball. The goal of the restoration process was to return an undead individual to the realm of the living and to make them look normal. The only thing that remains in someone who had passed but was resurrected is a faint second heartbeat after the original beat.
Mariya sucked on the last piece of meat on her stick, sinking her teeth into the flesh. She watched Silsina chew and swallow her last piece, who let out a satisfied burp from a good meal.
Silsina turned to Mariya and smiled. "I think I'm going to take a nap. I'm stuffed."
She then stretched, preparing to lay down and make herself comfortable. Mariya swallowed her last piece of meat and tossed the stick to the side.
"No." She said, walking past Silsina and picking up the Knapsack. "We leave. We've been here for a few days. You have energy and so do I. We are hitching the road."
Silsina rolled over and sighed. She got up and helped Mariya pack the supplies - and find a night's worth of firewood, and a three day's worth of firestarter. She shoved everything, with the exception of the firewood, into Mariya's Knapsack and tied the steel pot to the sack's side with the buckle. Mariya grabbed handfuls of dirt and threw it on the fire - extinguishing the flames.
They made their way to the clearing of the dirt road they were about a mile from. They made sure to stick to the shadows when a car came by, but they mainly stayed on the dirt road. Ever since they started this journey, Silsina was forced to become nocturnal. Mariya looked down to the GP-7 in her hand, hesitant to put it on. Sighing, she pulled the rubber bands over her head and fit the mask onto her face. Silsina wasn't surprised to not hear any breathing from Mariya since her organs weren't repaired yet.
"Do you think we'll get there?" Silsina turned her head to face the masked Mariya. The Russian moved her head to face Silsina, and responded with a shrug. For a moment it was silent, but after a minute or so had passed - Mariya spoke up: "To be honest, I don't even know if we are going the right way."
Silsina's chest sank for a moment. Every part of her wanted to yell out curses beyond imagination, but instead, she kept her composure and just sighed.
"Let's hope."
Mariya didn't respond, and they walked in silence again.
The two noticed lights shining on from behind them and Mariya panicked. Dropping the firewood she was carrying, she jumped to the side, hiding in the shrubbing, while Silsina just turned around and held up her thumb.
"Are you crazy?" Mariya said in hushed whispers.
The German driving the car pulled up to Silsina and stopped to look at the girl. The window rolled down so she could see the driver - a middle aged Koala with his wife in the car. "Do you need a ride?" The man stated, "You look like you've seen your fair share of shit."
Silsina gave a shy smile, and turned to look behind her. Mariya was still low to the ground, looking up at her. "Do you have room for two?"
The man looked at his wife, who looked at the back seats, reaching her arm to move some things to the floor. "It's a bit messy," the man gripped his steering wheel hard enough to make his knuckles go white. "But, we have room. Go on! Jump in. Just tell us where you need to go."
Silsina turned around, making a signal to move forward. The Koala looked at the shrubs, watching Mariya slowly emerge from the shrubbing. He bit his lip, he noticed that she didn't have an ear, nor did she give off a friendly vibe.
He paused, he knew something was off with her. Not only did her eyes glow and her body bulky, but she simply looked dead.
"Um." The Koala looked at Silsina with fear in his eyes. "My wife and I just remembered that we need to go get groceries! We can't give you a ride, I'm sorry."
Before Silsina could respond, the Koala rolled up his window, and stomped on the gas. The car made a loud rumbling noise and burnt rubber, speeding off into the horizon.
Silsina stood there, shocked. She still had her hand locked in the position of one going to open a car door. She watched the taillights disappear beyond the horizon. She let out a defeated chuckle, leaving Mariya to stand by her - watching her have a mental breakdown. Silsina's hands dropped to her sides as she walked to the middle of the road. She shouted to the sky, screaming to the Wolf. "What groceries! The nearest market isn't available for about 35 kilometres from here! That was our fucking ride!" She laid down into the dirt. Mariya shook her head and began to walk over to her.
"I'm so fucking fed up." Silsina looked at Mariya, who hovered over her.
Mariya held out her hand, and Silsina became stubborn. "No!" She screamed loudly at her sister, which Mariya wasn't surprised about. "You're the reason why I'm in this situation, just go."
Mariya, who understood why Silsina was acting the way she was, became a bit more strict, just like how her mother did with them growing up.
"Listen," she said to the Ave, who still laid in the road. "Get up. We are going to do this, together. Don't lose hope now. I know you're getting desperate, and I know I'm scary, but, that's fine. We are gonna make it, together. Get up." She then put her hand out to her again.
This time, Silsina thought about it, being hesitant for a while, but took her hand and Mariya pulled her up. They both looked on at the horizon in which the car had sped off to. "That way, Silsina. That is where we go, alright?"
Silsina nodded.
They began to walk in the direction the car drove off to, picking up the firewood along the way, going where the wind took them and taking note of any more cars that drove by. The time slowly ticked on throughout the night - with the moon slowly turning into a morning sunrise. They went into the woods again, walking a bit away from the road; and set up camp.
Silsina plopped onto the grass, groaning at the pain in her legs. Mariya dropped the firewood; going into the woods - albeit not far - for some stones to help her with starting the flames. She threw it all in the pile, grabbed some dry and dead leaves from the Knapsack, and grabbed two dry sticks and her stone. Placing the fatter stick in the pile of wood, she began to rub them together to create friction, using the stone as a grip for the second stick.
After a few minutes of trying to position the second stick right and constant rubbing, a small column of smoke began to appear out of the pile. She continued to rub them together, stopping periodically to get the dead leaves as starter fuel and having Silsina blow air into the pile. The two girls went at this for about 15 minutes, until a small flame appeared. Mariya put the two sticks into the pile, and threw some leaves into it as well.
"Don't stop blowing air, Silsina. We don't want it going out, you know."
In acknowledgement, Silsina raised her eyebrows, gently blowing into the pile to give the fire oxygen.
Out of nowhere, the fire erupted; almost burning Silsina's face as she jumped back in horror. Mariya laughed sadistically, and Silsina gave a dirty look.
"Alright," Mariya stated, standing up and stretching. "I'm going to go scout for food and water, why don't you rest, yeah?"
Silsina nodded, and laid next to the fire to keep warm, and Mariya made way to the deeper woods.
The Hybrid slowly walked along the forest floor, the sunrise slowly rising over the horizon. The leaves crunched under her feet as she walked, it was the only sound in the forest around her. Her senses were aware - in case a European Wildcat or defensive male Boar decided to try to attack her. About 20 feet in front of her - a European Badger scurried across the forest floor and she watched it with curiosity. Mariya never killed the Badgers. Less because it was the fact of the animal not having a lot of meat on their bones compared to other animals, but more because she liked the Baldhardt Badgers.
Baldhardt University. That was the college Mavin went to back in the 60's. Highly praised - the college was one of the more expensive in the world - almost on par with that of the United State's Harvard Uni. The acceptance rate was so low that most who entered were turned away. The college almost never handed out Scholarships, and was strict with its program. Its campus was massive - boasting wooden cottages the size of cabins for dorms, marble and stone walls, and an impressive library with a large selection of books from all over the world. Each college entree required an entrance exam. After they took the exam, (and passed), they chose their major. Part of the college's program was a high level degree - the lowest one could go was a 6 year Masters. Once you picked your major, you had to take a placement exam - for those who know more about it than most. It was a rather complicated process - but it was a worthwhile one. Those who leave the University come out as experts in their field of work. Mavin being a prime example.
Ever since Mariya was a little girl growing up in Moscow; she wanted to be like her mother - be a scientist and go to that very college she went to. Mariya admired Mavin as an influential figure and that idea solidified into her head when she found out her mother had created a modified - and more deadly - A-bomb for the Soviet Union. Mavin called the thing an "O-Bomb," short for Obliteration bomb. The monster could wipe out an entire city the size of Beijing in its blast radius alone. It could create a crater the size of a moderate asteroid. It was very dangerous. At the time, Mariya knowing about her home country's possession of such a weapon made her feel safe and protected against the horrible "Americans." Now that she was in Germany, however, she felt like her home country was a threat to the entire world.
As Mariya thought about her mother and that college, she watched the Badger until it disappeared under some foliage. She smiled, looking at the graceful creature. She continued to walk; in the search for clean water and food, once again thinking about Baldhardt.
Back at camp, Silsina snored loudly. She used Mariya's Knapsack as a pillow as she slept. The fire was dimmer than when Mariya left - due to running without anyone adding fuel. She tossed and turned in her sleep as she dreamed about a nightmare. She dreamt about her life's journey so far. These past 18 and a half years have been chaotic for the Romanov family. She remembered the train they took to leave the Soviet Union, Caroline and her teachings, Mariya coming out, her death, the funeral, and recently, the fire. She groaned, recalling the events, squeezing her eyes shut.
Mariya re-appeared from the thicket about an hour later - carrying some apples and pears in her arms. She didn't find a river, however. She knew that they would need to leave come the next morning to look for water. The Russian grabbed the steel pot carefully off the bag Silsina was sleeping on and placed the fruits in the pot, taking some for her, herself. Walking to the opposite end of the fire, she sat down and took off the Gasmask and set it down next to her.
She ate in silence, looking at her sister through the flames. Her red eye glimmered in the light, and her remaining black fur had a bright orange hue to it - as the sun was barely making its way to a sunrise. The fruit she was eating was soft, not how she liked it, but she sucked it up anyway - tossing cores to the side.
The Russian noticed something on her right, towards the road. It was fast and hard to catch a glimpse of. She watched the road for a moment, but returned to the fire shortly after. In the trees, the figure watched her and her sister. He smiled and turned around - to the road.
Not thinking too much of the blur, boiling it down to imagination, she smiled - satisfied. Mariya moved to her side and tried to get comfortable - thinking about the Badger again. 'Maybe I'll get there someday.' She thought, rapidly falling under the spell of sleep - giving her body the chance to regenerate more skin and organs. She closed her eyes and let the sun rise up and start the day for everyone else in the world.
The day ticked on, nothing much happened since the two girls were still asleep. Silsina opened her eyes when the day's light was fading behind the horizon.
She sniffed and sat up.
She noticed the fruit in the steel pot and took some; not aware that Mariya already had some earlier in the day. She bit into a pear and turned her attention to Mariya, who was asleep behind the dead fire. Silsina noticed rapid improvement from yesterday - her skeletal side of her face was covering up, and her ear was coming back. Her arm was covered in skin - and just needed muscle. Every last rotten hole in her body was gone and purified from any pests. Silsina decided to wake Mariya up, walking over to her sleeping body.
She kicked her in the shoulder.
At first, Mariya groaned - only to follow with her average angry attitude. She got up and stretched. Silsina smiled: "How did you sleep, Devochka?" Mariya shrugged, and opened her mouth to speak. Silsina took it as a yawn, and asked again: "Well, How did you sleep?" The Russian opened her mouth again, and tried to talk.
Nothing.
Mariya touched her throat, even hitting it with her fist a few times. For her, she was confused, as was her sister. She was fine yesterday, but today, she appeared to be suddenly mute.
"Mariya, what is going on?" She asked, grabbing Mariya's hand. The Russian glanced at Silsina for a moment, shrugging with panic in her eye. Behind the sisters, The figure from earlier in the day had returned, noticing distress in his mortal. He took careful paces slowly to the two girls. His movement caught the attention of Mariya, who discreetly turned to look in his direction.
Alyosha appeared from the trees.
He stared at the sisters, watching Silsina's panicked eyes dart as she began to set up some spells to try to heal her. His eyes rested on Mariya, who still glanced back at him.
"It appears you might be in a bit of trouble," he softly spoke.
He walked over to Mariya, crouching down to her level on the ground. "What's wrong, my hunter?" Mariya looked up at him, and past Silsina. Her eye pleaded for him to tell her of her ailment.
"I see." Alyosha stated, standing up.
"Did you do anything to your vocal cords? Were they damaged at all?"
The Hybrid responded with a shrug and hitting her throat once again, causing Silsina to scold her.
"I'm afraid that what your sister is doing will not help. You could speak just fine yesterday. I can see if I can find the answer, but don't expect a miracle." The Demon-like messenger sputtered.
Mariya blinked, looking up at the ghostly figure.
Alyosha walked past her, hands behind his back. Mariya's eye followed him as he walked around her. "In the meantime, try to keep pressure and strain off the area. No talking, screaming, none of that jazz. Silsina will figure out eventually that this..?"
He gestured to Silsina's several spell castings.
"...Will most likely not work."
Alyosha looked down at the frustrated Russian: "I will be back as soon as I can find a plausible reason for this. Sit tight, it won't be long."
He stood still for a moment, thinking of something to add on. Mariya waited patiently, paying half attention. "Keep pushing on though. The sooner you get to Berlin - the faster you can get help." With that, he faded away before her eyes. Leaving the sisters in the darkness of the night.
"Well, Mariya," Silsina sighed, casting another spell. "Maybe we can try this one."