It feels different. Instead of irritating, the ground feels spiky now, but it doesn't hurt. Everything around me is now a different color. It's all green now, instead of yellow. I sit up and see Anra, lying on a gray rock.
I shift my attention from my brother to my dry throat. I hear a noise, it feels gentle, yet so powerful. I know where it comes from, just a couple of steps from the rock, or at least that's what it sounds like.
I grab onto a rough, brown pole sticking out of the green ground that's covered with many green oval-looking things to help stand up. I remember actually seeing things like these before, but they didn't look like this, and there weren't as many of them. Maybe it's like a snake; snakes have a wide variety, too. But there aren't hundreds, maybe even dozens of snakes in every direction. There are so many trees that I can barely see anything far away.
But there is a wide pathway going through the trees; the only faraway object I can see is a sign along the path. I can't read what the sign says; it's too far, but I can see that the sign is blue.
I look back towards that enticing noise slicing through the trees. I wipe the dirt off my sleeve and cram myself through the congested forest.
I remember now, the military, the cave, the man and the woman, and the Loro. I even remember how I got here, that caravan. I trusted the Loro, and he threw me away.
Why did I trust Lr. Arav? I only met him a good ten minutes ago at the time, and I already knew what the military was like; they never cared for civilians, so why would they care for them now? Was I under some spell that made me lose all my common sense? Actually, why did he do this? Was it so that there was less work to be done?
I stop near a small drop. Why did I stop? It's because if I didn't, I'd get a free bath. I see tons of water flow through a small gap in the ground. The water is so clear that I can see the stones at the bottom. I have to squint, otherwise I'll go blind due to the sun's reflection. This is where that noise came from. I've never seen this before, but I've heard of them before. I cover my mouth as I cough three times. I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's safe. Well, it's still worth a try!
"Ah!" I pull my hand from the water; it's freezing. I wanted to grab a rock, but I guess this is the price for it. I then reach into the water again, but this time I'm prepared. I pull a handful of liquid, and I lift it towards my mouth, trying not to spill anything. I feel the water freeze up my throat, but at least it's not dry anymore.
A new noise appears, one that I am very familiar with: the noise of a horse pulling something attached to a wheel. It doesn't matter what it is; the noise is always the same, as long as a wheel is on the ground, that is.
The noise stops, and out of curiosity, I decide to see what's going on. So, I push myself back up from leaning on the side of the river and walk back to the pathway. I push a branch or two out of the way, I step over a stone or two, and I make it back to the pathway.
Who are these guys? And why are they…
"Stop, what are you doing?"
The bigger one turns towards me; he has a large beard and an axe in his right hand.
"None of your business, kido." He says.
It, in fact, is my business as they are loading my brother into their wagon. There are three men dressed in blackish armor. One of them is sitting on the blank stagecoach, one of them is lifting my brother off the rock, and the last one's the one with the beard. My eyes go from wide to thin as my eyebrows drop. I clench both of my hands. Wait a minute, since when did I have this in my hand?
The orange-haired man who's holding my brother turns around, and something flashes in his head. The lunatic then drops Anra and wildly runs over to the man. What the heck does he think he's doing?
"How dare you drop a child like that, you bastard?" I yell at him. I then lift the object in my right hand and point it towards the man. "I'll cut those damn hands right off your arms!"
The man stops, "Sir, this is the other one that we're looking for." He said in a voice that resembled a whiny girl.
The bearded man then takes out a sheet of paper and looks at it for a couple of seconds. He then throws it onto the ground and takes a step forward. That one step made the whole world shake for a split second. "Guess this is your business after all." He finally says.
"Be careful, sir, he has a-"
"Shut, it's just a kid."
"But he has a-"
"I said shut!"
The word "Run" came to my mind, but it immediately exited. I raised my sword to a point where it's right above my head, and I took a quick and powerful step towards the man. The tiny pebbles on the path jump behind me as I take more and more quick steps towards him. I will keep Anra safe, even if it means giving this guy a beard trim.
I'm finally in swinging distance of the man, but I'm not fast enough. The man swings the butt of his axe into my stomach, making my lungs pause. I've always wondered what birds felt like when they flew, and now I know, just not in the way I expected. My shoulders hit the grass before anything else, and they are rubbed along the floor, torn apart. What was I thinking? I've never even held a sword before, let alone fought someone with it!
"See, now go throw the flop into the stagecoach, toss the other one in there as well while you're at it." He says to the man behind him.
I put my hand out, "Please, just, don't take him. Take me instead if you want!"
"We're taking both of you kids, so don't worry about it. We need both of you guys if we want to claim the money we earned."
Why, just why do I have to keep running into bounty hunters? First one killed my parents, then two cursed my only brother, and now they're taking him away. I know why this is happening, Lr. Arav must've sold us to them. Yes, that's his motive; he wanted to make some money off two helpless boys.
No, even if the Loro did sell Anra and me to some assassins, it's still my fault that I left Anra in the open. It's my fault that I didn't rescue him from these men. Why did I run off to some river by myself? Was it because I was half asleep at the time?
"Please," I cough twice, "Just leave the boy alone, I'll pay you double the amount of what you were offered!" I offer to the man as a last resort. I know I don't have any money on me, but I still have to try something for the time being.
"Ah!" I shriek as the man lands a heavy blow on my stomach. I cough a couple more times because of what the man did. All I can do is run now, but if I do run, how will I rescue Anra? Let alone, will I be able to escape in the first place?
"Didn't you say all that stuff about how you were going to slice off my abettor's hand? Why are you crawling on the floor now, begging for mercy?" He bluntly asks.
"When did I beg for mercy?" I ask in return. All I did was try to negotiate with the man.
"You begged for his mercy, not yours, dumba*s."
Suddenly, the man ducks. Something quickly flies above him. I couldn't see what it was, due to how fast it was. The man then shifts his attention from me to his right and raises his axe.
I notice that his axe has a white symbol on it. Just like how my sword has a red marking on it. What do these symbols mean?
I, too, look in the direction he's looking, and I see someone wearing a cloak. Their cloak is brown, and their right hand is holding a sword with a blue symbol on it. They're holding their right arm to the right, making it look like they had just swung their sword. But there's nothing in front of them, at least nothing that's within a sword's reach. Did they use a ranged attack?
"Ah, this is why you always finish a job as fast as you can, as someone will always try to finish it before you do."