Last time (Kotono POV)
Suddenly, as my vision began fading away and my legs failed me, she caught me. The woman gently placed me down on the wood, careful not to hit my head. I was barely conscious at that moment, and the only thing I can remember before I fell into blackness was a bitter liquid going down my throat.
Now...
Hiroe POV:
I'm worried about Kotono.
Yesterday, I waited till the sun reached the top of the trees. I drew on the dirt, I made two flower crowns, one for Kotono and one for myself. I climbed the tree, I looked at what was in the bag Kotono gave me five times. But as the sun came down, my anxiety went up.
It was almost at the trees! Kotono said she'd be there...
The sunlight became dimmer, the leaves hiding them from me. It was time.
How about I give her five more minutes?
Yeah, I'm sure she's just making her way here. I mean, that archer wouldn't ever beat Kotono. She's so powerful, always there to protect me! Yup, I'm sure she'll be right there!
My optimism degraded more and more as the five-minute cycle repeated over and over again. Maybe I should mark my words and look for her? But what if I bump into someone that want to attack me? I mean, staying here has the same risks... What if she moved from the place we were when the attack occurred? She couldn't be that far... What if...
I'm going. Enough messing around, Kotono might be lost, or even worse, injured!
After making up my mind, I threw the bag over my head, letting the strap rest comfortably on my shoulder. I looked back at the beautiful tree. I was majestic, with high branches reaching up for the sky and bright green leaves with magenta markings making a contrast with the surrounding trees. Its trunk was large, and its thousands of branches looked like a town's roads, making an intricate puzzle when we admired it from bottoms-up.
I reluctantly looked away, gripping on the leather strap that went over my chest. Let's go.
I found her on the ground, where the person had attacked us. She looked like she was in a peaceful sleep, but I knew better. The large wound on the left shoulder. It was covered in a red bandage, originally green but soaked in Kotono's blood. Horrified to see my sister in such a critical state, I tried to drop a few water drops on her face to wake her up. She made no movement, nothing to encourage me.
But my determination wouldn't be tackled down so easily! I'm sure she's going to be fine! I abandoned the idea of waking her up right now, deciding maybe I should let her have her good-earned-sleep. I installed her head on a close by log, using it as a pillow. I made my best to install her in her sleeping bag, but my arm's muscles had their limitations. She ended up covered in it like a cocoon, which I figured would at least keep her warm during the cold nights.
After that, I imitated some people I saw and ripped a part of my dress. I made it damp using some water from our pouches and wrung it to make sure it wouldn't drip on my sister's forehead. I carefully placed it, hoping it would somehow help her, and wrapped myself in my own sleeping bag.
I didn't eat that night. I didn't sleep much, either. I was looking out into the shadows between the trees, trying to find something that wasn't there. After some time, when it was a while passed midnight, I let my worries on the side of my mind and let a deep slumber overcome me.
xXx N-E-N xXx
When I woke up, the sun was still low in the sky. A pink, orange and blue sky was on one side, and the still almost black night on the other, taking its time to leave the place. My eyes were drowsy, my body heavy and my mind sleepy, but I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.
On this morning of the seventh day, we were still lacking one tag. Kotono wasn't in a state to fight, so we were screwed. I looked over at my sleeping sister. I swear she's fine, just asleep!
I picked back up the piece of fabric I had used as a towel and emptied one of the water pouches on it, making it wet again. I placed it back on Kotono's forehead, hoping she would have a reaction to the cold liquid now.
To my disappointment, she didn't even flinch. But hey, I'm sure she's fine!
I took grabbed her by under her shoulders, trying not to touch her wound, and made her lean against the trunk of a nearby tree. I then cut more of my pretty dress, making a long stripe of fabric, and removed the blood-soaked bandage she had before. I then cleaned the blood from her skin, making sure not to touch the injury, and covered it with the newly made bandage.
Satisfied with my work, I looked around, trying to find anything to eat. I hadn't eaten the previous day, and my stomach was rumbling with the need for proteins and vitamins. I didn't want to go too far from my sister, knowing she was in a very vulnerable state.
I ended up walking in circles, my radius separating me from my sister getting larger and larger as I tried to find something, anything I could eat. I finally found an apple tree at about fifty metres from my sister. I quickly rushed over, seeing the apples as a delicacy on this starving day. I picked apples from the tree after climbing it, putting the fruit in my pockets, in my arms, and finally, one in my mouth.
I ran back to Kotono, my heartbeat reaching Guinness record it was going so fast. I breathed, calming my heart rate, once I saw no one had been able to approach my sister. I placed down three of the about ten apples on her, and three others in our bag. I ate the rest with gluttony, enjoying the taste of the fruit.
A sudden rustling in the leaves caught my attention. Guards up, I called: "Who goes there?"
I suspiciously looked at where the noise came from trying to spot whoever was there. Animal or applicant, I didn't care who it was, but I needed to protect my sister! A man with no hair stood up from a bush, looking at me with a smirk.
"I'm impressed, you're better at hearing stuff than I thought you were," He said, looking like he had just won an argument.
"Baldy?" I called out, bewildered. I then recovered from my confusion and said, "You just fell into the bush and tried to cover it up with testing me, didn't you?"
His smirk was soon replaced with a deception, probably because I had figured him out.
"Well, either way, Hiroe, I'm sorry about what I have to do." He paused dramatically in his speech, but I still found a hint of sadness accompanying his words, indicating he was saying the truth. "I still need one badge, so you have to sacrifice your Hunter License for me. Or... if you really insist, you can try to fight me, but I'd rather not. I prefer not to hurt children."
I looked at him with a sorrowful face. Is this how friends treat each other? Well, it's not like we will find another tag with Kotono like that... And I'm not going to finish this exam without her.
"What happened to your target? Were they stronger than you?" I teased him as I reached for the bag, grabbing the first tag my hand fell on.
A tick mark of pride appeared on his forehead. "O-of course not! It's just that a little brat threw it in the direction I wasn't expecting him to..." He tried to find an excuse, and I laughed as he lacked words to explain his situation.
"Here," I handed him whatever tag I had grabbed, "I don't think Kotono and I will be able to finish the exam anyway," I looked at my sister, which was still leaning on the tree.
He looked at my sister too, and his eyes widened. "Is she... is she... d-dead??" He asked, pitying my situation.
"O-of course not!!" I stuttered, "Kotono's stronger than that!" I tried to convince myself as much as him.
He went quiet for a moment, clutching on the tag I had handed him without looking at it, and then approached my sister. He placed two of his fingers on her wrist, his shoulders becoming tenser by the second. Trying not to believe it, he placed the two fingers on her neck. He stayed there for a few moments.
"How long has she been... out?" He asked, careful with his choice of words.
"Since yesterday, somewhere in the afternoon," I answered.
His body visibly relaxed. "Then she can't be dead. Her body would've become cold throughout the night, and I feel a very faint heartbeat I think."
"I told you she wasn't dead!" I replied, my eyes watering with relief. My sister was fine! I didn't really care about the licence anymore, as long as my sister was alive and would recover. It was the last day, so the committee should take care of injured people, right?
Baldy looked at me, a faint smile on his lips. His gaze then hardened, and he looked down at the tag I had handed him. His eyes enlarged as he watched the numbers on it: 198.
"That's my target!" I smiled at me, "I can give you the two other tags I gathered, I have all the points I need!"
He reached into his pocket, taking out three tags and handing me two of them. I opened the bag and picked up all of our tags, six of them. I placed number 81 and 342 in Kotono's limp hand, and picked up the four remaining tags and placed them into my dress' pocket. I looked at Baldy and smiled at him, happy all of us would pass this phase... that is if Kotono woke up before the end...
My smile disappeared and I worriedly looked over at my sister, sitting by her side.
"Is she gonna wake up soon?" I asked Hanzo, knowing he didn't know the answer to that question.
He pat my back and sat by my side. "I'm sure she will," he encouraged. I weakly smiled at his words and handed him one of the apples we had left.
"Found it in an apple tree this morning," I explained, "They're pretty good."
He joyfully grinned and took it, biting the fruit with hunger. He didn't eat much either, did he...
"Chanks," he said, his mouth full of food.
"No problem," I laughed a bit. I then grabbed my legs, holding them close to my chest. I was still worried for Kotono, what if she didn't wake up in time? What if she doesn't wake up at all? What if...
My train of thoughts was stopped abruptly when a hand fell on my back, trying to reassure me. "It's going to be all right," it said, "be strong."
I nodded, agreeing with the hand. I had to be strong.
A voice suddenly resonated on the island. It was saying something about going back to the beginning, not accepting tag trades anymore nor fights. I looked at Hanzo, and he looked back. We stood up, and he took Kotono on his back, careful to place her tags in her pocket beforehand. We started to walk back to where we started, him leading the way.
"Be strong," the voice resonated in my head.
I straightened my back and walked faster, now standing on Baldy's side.
"be strong," I muttered under my breath, hoping Kotono would hear it.
"What a disappointment, kukuku, it would've been much better to see the old one die!"
"Indeed, yes, I agree, maybe we could intervene a little and make her, yes, dead!"
2017 words
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! A little drama is always enjoyable, isn't it? Mwahahaha... Anyways, I hope you're not to attached to the sisters! Oh, and did you notice the change on how I wrote Hiroe's point of view when her sister was down? It changed a lot, didn't it? From joyful and silly to more serious.
I love you all!
Chu~
<3