Dawn spent the next few weeks resting and preparing himself for his journey. His leg had healed properly and he could walk just as well as he could before. He had not been idle during that time, however. No, he spent every moment he could close to the huntress, trying to convince the strange woman to join him on his journey.
"Why should I?", Sadia would ask and then, he would come up with various reasons why she should accompany him to Alderan. In truth, he was fascinated with her and he could not stand leaving her behind after so little time spent together. An ember of passion had been kindled in the bowels of his being, one he couldn't explain, unlike anything he ever felt before. It burnt ever so slightly, just enough to be felt.
Days passed, most akin to one another. Sadia would go hunting only to return with a carcass. Dawn would have liked for them to sit and eat together every evening but Sadia had other plans. She left as swiftly as she came and Dawn had not the courage to follow her into the dark.
During these weeks, he made a habit of wandering the forest during the day. The sun always shone brightly, its golden rays piercing through the green crown of the trees and bathing his pale skin in its tender warmth. Dawn started keeping track of everything he saw. Noting every little critter he spooked, every flower he got a glimpse of, wanting to share all of this with the young ones back home.
A few days before his leave was due, unease crept into one of his walks.
He stopped on the path. He saw nothing amongst the trees and yet, something felt off. He brushed the feeling aside with caution before stepping forward, starting again as if nothing happened. He upped his pace for the feeling wouldn't leave him. Dawn swore he could feel someone breathe down his neck but nothing was there when he turned around.
His heart grew restless, the hair on the back of his neck standing up as he scanned his surroundings. Tall trees and thick bushes.. Just as he turned to walk away, he heard it. The sound of leaves crunching under someone's feet.
He walked away, reaching the grove in a hurry. His worry would only quell after talking to Sadia.
"Aren't you a scaredy cat.", she teased, lightly punching him in the shoulder, "Don't worry. No one's here but us.".
"How can you be so sure?".
She gave a shrug, "I just know.". Her thin smile straightened, "You won't be staying much longer anyhow. There's nothing to be worried about.".
"I think there is.", he nodded, "I did not feel like this. Not yesterday, not a few days before either.".
"And?", she raised her hand to stifle a yawn.
"Your lack of concern troubles me.".
"I have nothing to be concerned of.", she responded, "Worst that could happen is we get attacked. I'd just run away. I think I run faster than you so I should make it out.".
He shook his head, "Nevermind.". He sighed before speaking again, "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?".
Sadia wore an expression that looked as if she was stuck in thought, "Y-yes..".
"Why?".
"Again with the questions?".
"Yes.".
She flashed him the image of a clenched fist, "Don't make me get up and hit you.", a thin smile forming, "I don't have the will to deal with your pestering.".
"I am planning to leave in two days. Let me know if you change your mind.".
"I wouldn't count on it.", her smile dissipated, "Rest up then. You'll need it.", she spoke as she got up. She walked away without uttering another word.
She slipped into the woods alone, as she always did. She took the path Dawn spoke of, the same one he walked right before he got spooked. "Will he really go?", she wondered.
She would never admit it but having someone waiting for her stirred something within. She yearned for her past life, longing for a lost touch. All of that made her consider Dawn's offer.
"Should I go?", she spoke to a mouse she caught in a nearby bush, "Then again, do I deserve to go after what happened last time?". The mouse, trapped in between her fingers, stared back with dark and judgmental eyes.
"As if you could tell me.", she scoffed as she put the poor thing down. As she crouched, something unusual caught her eyes.
Tracks. Tracks right beside the footpath. They were heavy, much too deep to belong to Dawn. She stepped off of the path and into the bush, keeping close to the ground.
She followed the tracks until she couldn't anymore. They led her to an open field, one she was none too eager to cross while knowing that someone might be watching. She wanted to lay in waiting to see who it was that dared to invade her home but she had little time. Dawn was telling the truth, he must have led this intruder straight back to their shelter. She had to return at once.
As she walked away from the field and back toward the path, a question still tore at her conscience.
"Is it time to return his favor?", she never got to ask herself that. Her soul was conflicted but she had no time to consider her petty feelings. What she saw tonight was too alarming to ignore.
"Just who exactly are you?", her mind couldn't help but to wonder even though, deep down, she knew who it was. She knew what they were capable of and she knew what would happen if they were to get their hands on her or Dawn.
Some time before, she might have just ignored all of this, letting Dawn walk away without giving it as much as a second thought. She would have let him meet his doom so that she may get away again, trading his life for a bit more time.
"What good would it do? How much longer until my head is back on the chopping block? How many more people have to die before I can rest?". She couldn't let it happen again, not after finally managing to resist "him". Try as she might, she could not forsake her promise, she could not forsake her friend's memory.
She knew what must be done. She was to leave with Crimson Dawn. She had to get Dawn away. No, she had to get away.
She reached the grove with haste, only to find the young man sleeping peacefully amongst a patch of mushrooms.
"Weren't you scared? Yet, you're sleeping so peacefully...", she thought as she sat beside him.
As she laid her eyes on his sleeping figure, she couldn't help but be reminded of her old friend. She recalled the countless nights they spent huddled together, the countless days they spent under the sun. She remembered all of the trials they passed together. It all seemed so fleeting now, after everything had been stolen from her.
"Don't worry, Dawn.", she muttered under her breath, her hands curling into fists, "I won't let him. Not like before.".
As the sun rose on a new day, Dawn was awoken by a light kick to his tummy. He didn't get up immediately. Instead, he lay there, hands around his stomach, fearful eyes looking up at Sadia.
She held a woven basket in her arms, "Get up already. We have a lot of ground to cover and little time...".
"What do you mean?", he asked as he slowly scrambled to his feet, his body heavy with sleep.
"You have to get to Alderan, don't you?", she shoved the basket in his arms.
"I d-do but...", he stumbled.
"No buts!", she grabbed him by the arm, dragging him along as she started to walk away, only to stop at the edge of the grove.
She looked back with loaded eyes and a brittle smile, her gaze brimming with emotion. This was her home and she was to give it up without a fight. She was to walk away again, just as she did before.
She let out a sigh before turning away and walking out of the grove, dragging the young man after her.
The light was still thin, the dawn barely breaking. Gazing into the basket, Crimson Dawn saw fruits, a bit of meat and something resembling a waterskin.
Sadia wanted to move swiftly, keeping an alert pace of walking. Dawn struggled to keep up. She spoke of the route they were to take, one that went through the woods. They sat adjacent to a river, a river that was to guide them towards the outskirts of Alderan.
Dawn objected initially. He wanted to keep things simple by using the main road to reach Alderan, claiming that it would be easier to do so. Sadia wouldn't accept that. She knew it would be too dangerous to move out in the open while someone was trailing them.
She knew of multiple routes, some easier to traverse than others. She brushed most of them off, choosing one that would make it more difficult for someone to track their movements. Dawn needed little convincing to accept Sadia's leadership.
The young woman estimated that it would take them around five days to reach. She spent the night gathering everything they would need. She went without sleep, hoping that their leave would be so sudden and their march so fast that whoever was stalking them would be too slow to catch up. She knew she could rest once they were far enough from the grove.
They kept off of the main road and to the woods, where they would be harder to be tracked. Even with her careful planning, Sadia couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being followed.
Her paranoia was great, so much so that she would often turn around to check if anyone was there, her gaze always being met by Dawn. His smile was persistent throughout the first day.
"I didn't think you'd tag along. What gives?", he spoke, grinning.
"I thought you'd end up feeling lonely if you went all by yourself."
He raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Is that so?".
"..."
"Would it be too much to ask you to be honest?".
"I-I could say that you remind me of someone.", she responded without looking back, "But don't get the wrong idea - I am not doing this for you.".
"I remind you of someone?"
"I-I ..." she struggled to speak, finding it difficult to say the truth, "...would have left you for dead if not for the person you remind me of.".
They didn't talk much after that, they were too busy finding ways to squeeze through the dense foliage to worry about the silence that settled between them. Despite how long they walked, the trees remained never-ending, brown trunks and green crowns every which way they looked.
By the middle of the first day the air was hot and heavy with the smell of moss and all they could hear was the constant humming of the river they walked along. The sun beamed down with an intensity that caught Dawn off guard, his forehead dotted by droplets of sweat. His legs trembled with the effort of walking for hours on end, his muscles tensing painfully with each step. It was hard to breathe, his lungs awash with heat every time he took a breath.
He struggled to keep up with Sadia. She seemed unbothered by the heat even though her furs were thicker than his robes, she did not lose any of the spring she had in her step.
"C-can we stop for a bit?".
Sadia didn't look back, "No.".
"Pretty please?".
"Not yet.".
"Fine.", he groaned.
They kept walking further north, keeping close to the river until Sadia took a right into the woods, leading them to a small clearing.
"You can drop the basket now.", she spoke as she sat leaning against a tree, bathing in its shadow. Dawn wasted no time in putting down his burden, sitting beside the young woman. They did not speak, mostly because Sadia had fallen asleep and Dawn was unwilling to wake her.
Looking around, he could tell that the trees were a bit off. Most were bent and contorted in unusual ways. Their splendid crowns were not the luscious green he had come to expect but a disheveled brown, their bark almost black and fully rancid, it came undone at the slightest touch. He welcomed the change of scenery nonetheless.
The air was cooler but it left a weird taste in Dawn's mouth. The flowers were nice, however. They grew in patches, at the foot of the twisted trees. They came in orange and blue and yellow. Dawn picked a few while Sadia slept. The grass was shorter, much shorter, as if it couldn't grow all that much around there.
As Dawn moved from tree to tree, his hands clutching the small flowers he had just gathered, a chill ran down his spine. He perked up, his heart growing uneasy as his fingers stiffened around the flowers.
Looking around, there wasn't much he could see, only twisted trunks and misshapen branches and little flowers. All the trees looked the same, it would have been easy to get lost if he were to wander too deep. No one was there, or so it seemed.
He stood there, looking around, not daring to make a move or to let out a sound as his breaths became shallow, a lump forming in his throat.
Then, he heard it. His ears barely picked it up but it was unmistakable.
Someone was whistling.
He moved not, he had not the courage to.
Then, silence. The whistling died mid-note, leaving the air unusually still.
There he stood, the only sound he could hear was his own heart growing more erratic by the second, each beat louder than the last.
It took a few moments for Dawn to muster the courage to move. His body told him to stay still, believing that if he did maybe everything would just pass. When he did turn around, his heart almost burst out of his chest.
He saw someone or so he thought.
A shadow amongst the trees, it disappeared amidst the dark trunks as soon as Crimson Dawn caught a glimpse of it. It moved swiftly, making itself unseen in the blink of an eye. He stepped away in a hurry, his heart racing.
"Wake up!", he spoke as he picked up the basket in one arm, shaking Sadia with the other, "I think you slept enough."
Her eyes sprung open, their white now red from the lack of rest.
"We are not alone!", he added.
Her exhaustion bled over into realization. She scrambled to her feet, grabbing Dawn by the wrist, pulling him as she stepped into the woods.
"If they are looking for us in the forest, let us make use of the road then!", it was all her mind could come up with. "It might be a risk but it's one I am willing to take!", she told herself. They stepped out of the bush and onto a field. Soon, the grass below their feet changed into dirt, each step echoing with a soft thud.
A road lay there, one that led to Alderan, one she did not want to use because their steps would be too easy to track but it was too late to worry about that. The road was open, too open. It offered no cover to work with and yet they had to make use of it. Each step she took while out in the open tested her resolve, her gut sinking more and more the longer they stuck around.
Her fingers stiffened around his wrist, "Why didn't you wake me?", anger slowly swelled in her as she pulled him along.
"You were dead tired!", he pulled his arm free of her grip.
She shot him a heavy glare.
"A-and I wanted to give you these.", he held out his other hand, still clutching a few of those strange flowers.
"Whatever. We are not stopping until the sun goes down, you hear that?".
Dawn nodded.
Time passed.
Sadia marched with a fervor that Dawn couldn't match, often having to stop and wait for him to catch up from behind. The sound of their steps on the dirt road rang out against the uneasy silence that was born following their flight. The wind brushed against the endless trees that surrounded them, its gentle caress was their only solace.
It didn't take long for the moon itself to glare down at them, its visage cold and indifferent. Only once it was high atop the dark skies did they dare to stop.
They walked off of the road, hiding in the bush again. They sat atop a small hill, in between some trees that overlooked the road. "Fuck. That was way too close.", her mind was telling her but still, a certain satisfaction was borne out of their escape. Her gambit paid off, they got away and that brought a smirk to her face.
"Four more days?", Dawn asked, sitting down beside her.
She nodded, "More or less. Feeling tired?".
He nodded, a small smile curling upon his lips.
"What are you smirking about?".
"Nothing. Thank you for coming with me.".
She didn't respond.
He tilted his head while looking at her, "How come you know these woods so well?"
"I hunt and I track. That's what I do.", she responded, gazing into the night's sky.
"And what will you do as soon we reach Alderan? You'll keep hunting?".
"I'll keep walking.".
"I would love to walk further with you as well but my path is another sadly.", he tore his gaze free of hers.
Sadia opened her mouth to say something only to close it without uttering a single word. She knew that no matter what she would say, nothing could deter the young man from undertaking the path.
"Have you ever been to Alderan?".
"Yes. Once or twice.", she responded.
A smile cracked across his face, "How is it there?".
She raised an eyebrow, "Why ask me if you are to see it?".
"Because I am curious.", he spoke, his hands laying on his lap.
"It is large and bothersome but it would be a lie if I said it doesn't have its charm.".
"Yeah?", he looked at her sideways.
"Alderan is a city of bricks. It's stable, it's safe and it's welcoming or so many claim. I find it suffocating.", she spoke in a hushed tone, trying to keep the noise to a minimum.
"It sounds like a nice place.".
"It can be. It's a sight to behold.".
His eyebrows rose, "What makes you say that?".
"I have never seen anything akin to the castle that sits in its center. The bricks of its wall are blackened with soot and yet, they stand steadfast.".
"So, there's a black fortress in Alderan?", he asked, his words filled with confusion, "Is it merely built with dark bricks or?".
"Don't you know the stories behind Alderan?", her eyes narrowed as she spoke.
"Not quite, I'm afraid.", he shook his head.
"Well then, maybe the people you are looking to meet up with will be able to tell you all about it.".
Alderan held a special place in her heart, despite her words. It was, after all, the city where her and her friend met.
Alderan was a large city, one Sadia wasn't looking forward to see again. It sat in the middle of the continent of Arka, at the crossroads of three empires. She hoped that when they do reach no one will recognize her there. Leaning against the trunk of a tree with his head cocked back, his chest rising and falling gently, Dawn was fast asleep. Sadia not so much. She did not dare close her eyes, not even for a split second. She couldn't afford to, not while someone was still looking for them.
Her gaze kept darting from place to place, trying to catch anything unusual in between the thin strands of moonlight. All she could see was the road and its encompassing foliage, nothing more and nothing less. Every little sound made her jump, be it the cracking of leaves or the whistling of the wind, Sadia struggled to keep her nerves in check.
Everything became still eventually, the anticipation slowly withering.
All became still. Too still. Her eyes drooped and she fell asleep before she could fight it.
She came to in the morning, her head aching and her mouth dry. She reached for the basket, it lay just beside Dawn. She took the waterskin in her hands as she looked at the young man.
Dawn was frail. His features were soft and his body thin. His nose was small and so were his ears. They barely poked through his brown hair, hair that reached all the way down to his shoulders. His eyes were a shade of deep green. Whenever Sadia would gaze into them she would note that they seemed lost in thought. His smile was nice.
She took a swig of water before putting the waterskin back into the basket. She didn't wake the young man yet, she wanted to scout ahead. She looked around, scanning the ground beside their "camp" for anything unusual but she found nothing. She fanned most of the forest while Dawn slept, finding no sign that someone had managed to track them during the night.
"They would have just slit our throats already. If they knew where we were...", she figured while walking back to where she left her companion.
They kept moving, using the route Sadia had just scouted to move forward while ensuring that no one followed. They dared not to return to the river, choosing instead to use a path that led them through a patch of willows. After wading through a sea of branches, the two were welcomed by a tender sun, whose light pierced the green veil of the forest. Sadia kept alert however, she wasn't foolish enough to lower her guard, not when she knew that "he" was on their tail.
Her fear dwindled as the sun lowered from the skies, bringing the second day of their journey to a close. They marched without break, covering a lot more ground than they did on the first day. That was good, they were on schedule and that made Sadia happy.
"Who do you think was there?", Dawn asked, sitting beside Sadia.
"Hell if I know.", she lied, a smile plastered over her face.
It felt good to use her knowledge to move around without being caught. But the thing that satisfied her most was knowing that she left their pursuer scratching their head in confusion more than once already.
"Don't you find it weird?".
"No, I do not. There's a lot of strange people out there", she gave a shrug, "I do my best to avoid them.".
Sadia slept even better than before despite the colder chill that took hold of the night. She awoke early again, scouting ahead just as she did the day before. She found nothing but that only raised her spirits even further.
As they advanced on the third day, the huntress' anxiety finally subsided. They kept to the dense woods but Sadia decided to deviate from their route for once, wanting to show Dawn a place she was rather fond of. She led him to a cliff where the river splintered into three, each stream crashing down onto the stones below before continuing on its way. They made their way to the bottom, the cool of the water filling the air with a refreshing chill that fought against the humid warmth that seemed to be ever-present.
A pool of water formed at the bottom, they used it to fill their waterskin. Beside it lay a small shrine to a god that was foreign to the pair. It was made out of stone, built akin to an altar with a statuette on top of it. The statuette was of a naked woman. She held her face in her hands in what seemed to be a perpetual cry, a pair of wings hanging hopelessly off of her back as she lurched forward in sorrow.
Any color or beauty it might have had was washed away by time, rain eroding the stone little by little. How many years did it go unseen? An eternity of solitude and rain, it was the only fate that awaited those who were forgotten, those akin to Sadia and the deity that lay before them.
She found the shrine shortly after she began calling these woods her home. The young woman never saw anyone attending the altar so she took the liberty of visiting it whenever she felt lonely. "Don't you feel lonely too?", she would wonder regarding the statue knowing that no one ever came this way. She made a point to leave flowers at the shrine whenever she came to see it, hoping that her offering would ease the woman's suffering. This time was no different, putting onto the altar the flowers Dawn had gathered.
He insisted on offering a prayer before they went. Sadia walked away with a heavy heart even though she didn't show it, knowing that it would be the last time she laid her eyes on the forgotten goddess that lay at the foot of the valley.
She left the shrine behind, the woman doomed to suffer alone again, forgotten once and for all.
The fourth day was the day when they finally left the woods behind, walking out of their shadow and into the sun's warm embrace. They now had to traverse what seemed to be an unending amount of small hills, going up and down more times than they could count. The wind picked up with surprising intensity, fighting against the heat that the two had to endure.
That is what the fourth day mainly consisted of, that and trying to catch rabbits amidst the tall grass of the plains that lay between each of the hills. By the time the night rolled around, both of them were tired beyond belief, having managed to cover a lot more ground than in the previous days. They settled for the night, making a small fire atop one of the hills so they could roast the two rabbits Sadia had caught.
Dawn fell asleep as soon as he finished eating. Sadia kept awake for a little longer, lying on her back, looking up at the sky. She gazed upon the dots of white that speckled the endless dark with tired eyes, a half-smile cracked across her face.
One more day and they would reach Alderan. "One more day? No, less than that. Half a day? That sounds about right!", she nodded.
Half a day and they would reach Alderan. Then what? She couldn't put a finger on what was to happen next but that didn't matter. The details weren't important to her right now, she had enough time to figure out what comes next after she reaches Alderan. Enjoying a good meal and a bath were on the top of the list of things she wanted to do.
Sleep came easily but keeping it proved more troublesome. She tossed and she turned, a strange feeling stirring within the young woman as she tried sleeping.
It was quiet. Too quiet. Nothing could be heard. Not the sounds of crickets. Not the sound of the wind blowing. Not even the mindless drumming of mosquito wings could be heard. The silence drove her eyes open.
She sat up. Looking around, she could scarcely see anything through the darkness. There was nothing.
She laid down again and she closed her eyes. "Nothing's wrong.", she assured herself but her body wouldn't relent, cold sweat starting to form on her skin. Sadia started clutching her small knife close to her chest, her nerves getting the better of her. She didn't move, she lay as still as she possibly could, praying for sleep to take her. Then, she heard it.
Whistling. She heard whistling.
It cut through the cold stillness with terrific efficiency. Sadia's body grew cold, her hair standing on end as she lay there in contemplation. "How did they find us? How didn't I see them?", thoughts raced in her head, panic setting in at an alarming rate.
What was she to do? Was she to get up and confront whoever was out there? Or was she to wait in the hopes of ambushing them when they got too close?
The whistling kept getting closer and closer, only to stop, just a few steps away. She could feel their gaze. It burned with malice, sending shivers down her spine.
Her fingers ached around the handle of her knife. She twisted on the ground, opening her eyes ever so slightly, just enough to get a glimpse of her dark surroundings.
All she could see was black. At first, Sadia believed that her eyes must be fooling her, almost jumping in fright at the realization that she was staring at the dark fabric of a cloak. Her heart beat akin to a drum, sending jolts of unease throughout her entire body.
Her body was telling her to act. She wanted to. She wanted to spring up, she wanted to plunge her knife into this dark figure but she knew better. She never went out hunting without weapons and she knew whoever "he" sent after her wouldn't have done so either. So she lay there, trembling with fear and anticipation.
"Tsk tsk."
A gloved hand reached from below the dark fabric of the cloak, tossing something to the ground. It turned and walked away, whistling once more. It walked with such grace that it seemed as if the figure levitated just above the ground instead of walking on it, no wonder she never heard them coming.
Sadia exhaled the breath that was caught in her throat only once the whistling was far enough away.
She sat up, cold sweat rolling down her bare temple. Her heart raced and all she could do to calm it was to breathe in deeply, exhaling slowly as she slowly let the knife slip from her fingers.
She reached for the bundle of darkness that the figure dropped. It was a small bag, tied at the mouth. She tore it open with worried hands, anxious to see what was inside.
Fingers. Two fingers. Two bloody fingers, dried and musty. That is what the bag held, alongside a piece of paper that was rolled up and tied with a streak of blue. Sadia touched not the fingers, reaching only for the paper.
The streak of blue that kept it rolled up had a small silver locket attached to it, one she recognized at a glance. It was a feather and quill that hung lifelessly from the blue twine. Her heart sank as she laid her eyes on it, almost bursting into tears.
She remembers gifting this to her friend shortly after they had met in Alderan. "Here. You can have this since you are such a bookworm.", she could recall her words as clearly as yesterday.
She could recall the way he smiled just as clearly.
It felt unreal, to be faced with it after so much time had passed. It brought back memories, happy and sad and in between too. A remnant of her past life, it broke her heart to know that "he" laid his decrepit hands on it.
How did they find him? This was not only a threat but also a reminder of what was to come if she kept resisting.
She undid the bracelet while sniveling, an ember of anger kindling her shaken spirits. She took it in her hands, clutching it closely to her chest as she once did her old friend.
"How dare they mock us this way?", tears ran down her cheeks, her hands trembling, "I'll make them pay for this...". She gritted her teeth. Such an outrage she could not accept.
Her knuckles turned white around the trinket, her fingers trembling with anger. Her chest burst with a heat borne out of hate, brimming with something far worse than mere anger, her whole body burning with fury.
She unrolled the paper with shaking hands after tying the bracelet to the handle of her knife. The words that sat upon the paper were scribbled in a messy manner. They were spelled with black ink, each word bearing the symbols of the old tongue. It was hard to make out. Whoever wrote this was clearly a beginner but still, the words dripped with poison.
"Suffer not for he has not forgotten you nor what you did.", those words would have sent shivers down her spine if she wasn't so fired up. She read it all, finding herself unimpressed. This was the worst written threat she ever received. She tore it to pieces with jittery fingers, dumping it back in the bag.
She stood up, bag in hand. Going to the edge of the hill, she called on her anger as she cocked her arm back, hurling it into the night. She couldn't sleep after that, she was too riled up to do so.
"I'll make them pay.", that thought wouldn't leave her.