| Chapter Song |
The explosion from the Silver Sheep lit the sky with blinding orange light. A quick yelp escaped the man's mouth when his body was propelled backward. The blast knocked him back into the very same tree his Axe got stuck in, a brief thud was heard and soon after his body slumped over. The residue of the fire wool rained from the sky, extinguished one after another until there was none left.
The sheep’s horns reflected light from its tiny nearby flames, showing it’s fierce elongated pupils. It turned away from the unconscious man and looked toward the direction of the quivering child. The purplish-green haze of light around the crystal was faded and looked like it would cut out at any moment. With his small yellow pupils, the boy looked the animal in the eyes and made a whimper.
Step by step, the sheep walked forward, approaching the small child. Air escaped from its nostrils, warmed air making puffs of smoke, it put it’s hostility up for display.
A large gust of wind came from behind the children, hidden behind the rock. The Silver Sheep stopped in its tracks. It lifted it's nose into the air and looked upwind, straight toward the girl and Zeais hidden behind the rock. The Sheep moved side to side, trying to get a look behind the rock without getting too close. As soon as the saw the Sheep was aware of their direction, the two of them moved over to hide.
Why now. We need to move, I don’t want to end up as chard meat on my week off.
Zeais looked at the girl, who seemed tense.
“Hey,” He put a hand to her shoulder. “Any ideas?”
Her eyes were wide for a second, but she quickly lowered them and sighed.
“Can you go around the rock and distract it?” Her eyes looked into his. “We might be able to get the sheep off guard.”
She finally spoke, huh. But out of all the things to say. And a Sheep no less. It’s most likely silver too, they're the only ones that ever attack like that.
“And then what? I don’t have any weapons if it comes charging at me.”
“Here.” She presented him with a wet muddied stone. “Throw this at it, you don’t need to hit it, but it should be surprised when I try and throw my knife at it.”
Well, it’s not like its that bad of a plan. Hitting them from far away is pretty much the only thing that works, but a rock…
“All right, let's do it then.” Zeais grabbed the rock from her hand. “On the count of three, I’ll go this way.”
The girl shook her head in agreeance.
Both of them went to their respective sides and readied themselves for action.
They looked at each other in the eyes, their pupils glowed slightly.
*One.* A brief sound of thunder cracked through the air.
*Two.* Gusts of wind blew from behind them.
*Three!* They both turned their heads and ran sparsely out into the open.
The Sheep stepped back, rearing its head at their sudden movements.
Zeais only needed to do one thing, at least draw the Sheep's attention. The only problem was how far he could see.
I only need a small hint. He was already more than a few yards from the rock where he started. At least snort or something. I just need something...
With no way to tell whether or not if it was even looking in his direction, a taunt was all he could think of.
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!”
A brief flicker of flame came from in the sheep's body.
That’s where you are. I can see your light Mr. Sheep.
Like winding up a pitch, he brought the rock from behind him and with all his strength, chucked the rock in the direction he saw the contrast.
The rock sped through the air as fast as his small arms allowed. Unfortunately, the Sheep saw it coming and backed away from the rock as it lost momentum. It made a quick Baa to his efforts, but it's noise ended quickly when the rock ricocheted off another rock on the ground. The small stone bounced in the direction of the Sheep's face, which it was not expecting. A loud animalistic shriek came from the sheep as the rock hit its eye.
Zeais could tell he hit his mark from the noise it made.
I actually hit the sheep? Wow, I might actually be great!
The Sheep, with only one eye open and the other bleeding, began to back away. it let out several deep Baas to ward off the children.
The girl stood on the other side of the sheep. She presented her blade to the sheep as she kept a low stance in case.
The Silver Sheep looked in both directions, with both children to its sides, it flared up another field of flames around its body. Its flames discharged a couple of times briefly and droplets of blood began to run down its face. It stamped its feet angrily, kicking up splashes of mud around its feet.
Come on, just go! I don’t have much else to fight with…
With a wild and crazed eye, the sheep backed away and began to run in the direction of the small boy sitting on the ground.
“No! He’s going after the child!” The girl yelled from afar. “Stop it!”
Without a second thought, Zeais charged forward to the direction of the boy. For him, the Sheep was nowhere in sight, in reality, he was running right next to it. The sound of fiercely splashing mud and water was close to him.
I can hear it! That has to be it.
Zeais took off from his path toward the boy and made a B-Line straight for the sheep.
The animal's horns were dead set on striking the crying boy until Zeais’s body crashed into its side. With a good amount of force, he knocked it over and made it tumble onto its side. After being pushed over, it reared its legs to attempt to stand, splashing mud and bits of blood around in the process. In anger, the sheep sparked up more of its wool, but its flames were weaker than before, fizzling out seconds later.
Cries from the sheep pierced Zeais's ears, the sound that the sheep made were almost human-like. It was a sound Zeais heard too often, like a lot of other mammals he'd heard, their suffering was voiced just as loud as his own would be.
When he stood up to see why it was shrieking so fiercely, he saw that its leg was bent, in a way that did not look normal.
Oh, that’s just--
In its pain, the sheep tried to kick the boy close to it. Wild movements and constant loud Baa’s, it managed to get its leg positioned so it could stand.
Zeais no longer wanted to fight the sheep, but if it went after the boy still he was going to protect him. The girl came running up to both him and the sheep.
The sheep's only usable eye looked around erratically to the girl's presence. Within in no time, it used every bit of strength it had to run. It held up one leg and ran with the other three in a wild pattern, straight for the open plains. Zeais watched as it brushed past the trees and disappeared from his sight.
“What did you do to it?” The girl ran up to his side. “Didn’t you only throw a rock?!”
“I did, but I’m sure it broke its leg when it fell. Didn’t look good for it.”
The girls face had an odd expression that Zeais couldn't make out.
Is she upset?
With a sigh, she placed the knife back into her coat, in a spot that Zeais thought was not ideal.
Don’t place the knife near your stomach, you idiot.
About to voice his opinion aloud, the sound of small puddles splashing grabbed his attention. The small boy who was sitting nearby ran up to the man who was sprawled out next to the tree. The boy fell to his knees near him, his small hands trembling over him, he looked like he was unsure if he could touch him.
The girl approached him with a worried look on her face. She stood behind the boy and pinched his cheek from behind. A quick yelp of surprise and pain came from the boy, he turned to see her looking into his eyes.
A slight glow from the center of his iris appeared when they looked at each other. Tears began to fall down his face. The girl calmly wrapped the boy’s neck with herb wrap, not saying a word and a faint smile on her face.
Once she wrapped the boy's neck, she bent down and brought her head to the man's chest. “He’s still breathing, Nova. It’s okay.” She stood up and lightly put a hand on his head. “I’ll make sure he gets some help okay? Don’t worry, we have to be strong, right?”
Quiet sniffles came from the boy, along with tears and drips of snot. The rain that poured over the children was still constant, but not nearly as much as before. Zeais, only watched them from close by, thinking of what to do next.
I don’t want to get off track, but… It wouldn’t be right to not offer to help. This girl seems like she knows how to handle little ones, the least I can do is help get the man treated.
Zeais looked for signs of the direction he came from. Based on what he saw around him and how long he walked, he got his bearings.
We should be near that soup town, I think. If we go that way… Within an hour or two, we could probably get there. It would be faster than going to Don’te or Brights.
He walked up to the other two children looking at the man's condition.
“Hey, you two.” Zeais interrupted the boy and girl conversing, they both turned to look at him. “Uh, if we hurry we'll be able to get him to that soup town the quickest.”
“Soup town? You mean…” The girl brought a hand to her chin. “Ri-Rigas? I think is what it’s called. The place that's called “The Town made in a bowl of Soup, right?”
“That’s the one.” Zeais wiped his face of rain. “The storm will only make things worse for the man, so we should do it fast.”
“I could wrap him in a bit of herb wrap, but I don’t think it will help with something like that.” The girl took out a roll of wrap that emitted soft light of all colors. “Since it’s raining though, it should at least soothe it, I think.”’
The boy looked at the burned man. “Will we have to carry him?” His eyes swirled with enough emotion to almost look like tears.
“He looks kind of heavy, we might be able to drag him.” She looked around, her eyes stopping at the nearby trees. “They’re small, but there might be enough sticks to make a sled.”
"Hey, Nova? That's your name right, little one?" The small boy nodded his head. "Great, nice to meet you, I'm Zeais. Could you look over there for some large sticks? You can even take them from the top of tree's if you can climb."
The small boy wiped his eyes and sniffed up the mucus running down his nose. “I can do that.”
Zeais could see the bits of determination in the boy’s eyes.
"Good! I'll go look over there then!" Zeais was about to run to the tree he saw, but the sight of the girl taking off her coat stopped him. Revealing her black sweater underneath, she threw her coat onto the ground. He couldn't think of her name and only stood there bumbling, "Um, uhhh-"
The girl looked at him confused. "Eris is my name."
“Uh, Eris. Why are you taking off your coat?.”
“I figured we could use it as a base for the sticks.”
Good point, but at least say something before you just do that though… She’s almost like Deka…
"That makes sense. Do you mind getting a bunch of grass? It sucks that it's all wet, but it should make it easier to fill your coat.
“Mm, sure, I’ve got it. It’s getting a bit dark, we should hurry up.”
Zeais proceeded with gathering materials. He stopped by the first tree he saw. There was nothing, but small twigs. Taking live branches was something he didn’t want to do, but he began to rip them off anyway. Sorry, it’s for a good reason. The person he was apologizing to was nowhere in sight, but he felt the need to do it.
After grabbing a few branches from one tree, he went on to the next couple. A good amount was gathered after a few minutes and he decided it was enough.
The other two children were on the ground shaping sticks and grass into the girl's coat. When he got closer, it looked almost complete, with his bundle it would be enough to make it to the city.
They used the final bit of material to finish the sled. A jacket, sticks, and grass to fill gaps were all they could manage.
"This should be enough," Zeais said. "now all we need is something to pull him with…"
Nova dug through the pockets of the man and pulled out three tightly bonded rolls of herb wrap. “We can use this on him!” The boy no longer sported a sad look, Zeais thought he seemed to be happy since he was helping out.
Eris had a slight smile when she saw Nova present the wrap. “Great, with this much, we can use this for his chest since his back isn’t burned. The rest can hold him down and a bit more can be used around the hood so we can pull him. Sounds like a good idea?”
Nova's face lit up with a huge smile.
He looks so happy. I wish some of the children at brights were like this…
Zeais couldn't help but smirk from their ingenuity. "I think so! It's pretty dark now, we should go while we still have light. Be careful too, it's pretty muddy."
To elongate the rope, the children used articles of clothing they didn't need, to have enough rope for all three of them. Socks, undershirts, and leftover herb wrap were the embodiment of their pulling power.
What a waste of wrap, I hope it’s still usable after this. He could see effort wasted from making herb wrap in his mind. Now, we just need to put him on this thing.
“Ready to put him on?” Zeais asked the two.
Eris nodded her head and so did Nova. The three of them took a side, Zeais at his arms, Eris at the legs and Nova in the middle near his waist.
Together they counted, “One. Two. Three!” Using all their strength, they picked up his body, barely off the ground and painstakingly moved it to the sled only a few feet away. Grunts and moans from the man, as well as the children, came with every step they took.
Eris’s face was bright red from straining to keep his legs up, Nova tried his best to grab anywhere on the hips and Zeais’s arms were nearly dead from trying to pull him upwards by the arms.
The man's butt sagged down the most, making it hard for the two on the ends to carry him. Despite the weight being off balance, they managed to get him on top of the sled.
“Gah! Finally! My back is killing me!” Zeais rubbed his back.
"We have a long while to drag him too," Eris said out of breath.
Nova only sighed with small ragged breath.
The rain still poured and the air was colder than before, Zeais couldn’t help the chills that ran down his spine.
I want to go home…
