This is chapterr four, i suck at writting conversations, but i hope you like it anyway.
Chapter four: A single smile.
Kit came to with a jolt, it felt like she had been unconscious for only a moment, but she knew it had been much longer. The first thing she noticed was the smell of smoke, quickly followed by that of roast meat and antiseptic herbs. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up to see where she was.
Looking around she found herself lying next to a camp fire in the centre of a small clearing. She could tell she wasn’t too far from the clearing she had fought in, but she had no idea how she had got there. Someone must have brought me here, she thought, but who? She moved to get up and felt a dull pain in her stomach and back, the pain brought back memories of her fight and the injuries she had sustained.
With the memories came anger, she had been foolish and that demon had beaten her easily. How could I have been so stupid? She asked herself I nearly got myself killed. And that brought her thoughts to why she was alive. What happened to me? She wondered, All I remember is pink light and then…….nothing. It must been some sort of magic, it was the colour of my aura, but all I know is the basics, how did I do something strong enough to fend off that demon? And what was that demon? It was like nothing I’ve seen before and it was so strong.
The thoughts confused her far too much for her liking, so Kit turned her attention back to the present. She lifted up her shirt, which was stiff with dried blood, to find a bandage covering the wounds on her stomach and back and when she looked she found an identical one on her arm.
Wondering who had helped her she looked around the clearing, on the opposite side of the fire to her was a bag and a plate of meat and fruit, making it obvious that whoever had helped her planned to come back. She turned and found her own bag on the ground behind her and next to it was her sheathed sword. She picked up her sword and drew it from it’s sheath, to find it polished and sharpened. She smiled softly at her blade and turned it in the light, when the sun hit it, it reflected a pale pink glow and the smile left her face.
She switched her vision to the second sight and looked at her sword again, shocked by what she saw. Her blade shone with a bright pink light, identical to Kit’s aura. What the hell happened to my sword? She thought. It was like it had its own aura, but that was impossible, only living, sentient beings, had auras, but it looked like her blade had taken some of Kit’s aura and absorbed it. She thought back to her lessons as a child, but she couldn’t remember being told about anything like this.
Deciding that there wasn’t anything she could do about it at the moment she re-sheathed her sword and picked up her bag. Kit slowly unpacked everything as she looked for her spare clothes. The first things she took out was the food she had brought in the last town she had visited, followed by her first aid kit and the potion she used to clean her sword, next she removed a small, black, velvet bag that held all the odds and ends she had collected, she set this on top of the small pile she now had next to her and looked at the remaining items in her bag
All that was left on top of her clothes was a framed photo, she picked up the picture and looked at it with a sigh, it showed her and her father and brother smiling, in a rare moment of happiness, it had been the first time she had helped her father fight, she had felt so happy that day that she had let her mask of indifference fall, smiling and laughing like a normal child, for the first and only time in her life. She still didn’t know why her brother had been smiling, they’d always competed in everything and Kit couldn’t imagine him being happy that she had succeeded at something, even if he had done it years before.
She placed the picture down gently on top of the rest of her stuff and pulled out her spare clothes, checking to make sure that there was no-one around before changing. She looked at her old blood-soaked clothes with disgust before throwing them on the fire and after re-packing her bag she walked to the other side of the fire and picked up the plate of food, surprised at how hungry she was.
She had almost finished eating when she heard someone approaching from the other side of the clearing. She put the plate down and got to her feet thinking that she should at least thank whoever it was that had saved her, even if she would have been fine by herself. Kit sniffed at the air, trying to figure out if the person was demon or human. It took a moment for her to shuffle through the various scents in the air, but when she did she turned her nose up in disgust.
It was the undeniable smell of a half breed, and if there was anything she despised more than a human, it was a half breed. Kit picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, there was no way she was admitting gratitude to a half demon, a human, yes, after all there were so many of them and it would do her little good to be rude, but not a half demon, they were tainted, born to both worlds, but belonging to neither.
The few half demons that she had come across on her travels had been horrible creatures, corrupted by the world they lived in and willing to anything to get what they desired. Kit had felt no pity for them, she had always been an outcast as a child and she had not let it corrupt her so completely. Sure she was willing to do a lot of things to get what she wanted, but she had her own morals and rules that she abided by.
I wonder why they even bothered to help me. She thought. If they’d wanted anything they could have taken it while I was unconscious. Her disgust faded to curiosity as she put her mask of indifference in place and faced the trees across the clearing, just in time to see the young woman walk out of the trees.
‘Who are you?’ Kit questioned and the woman looked at her in surprise.
‘Oh, your finally awake, that’s good, I thought you’d never come to.’ Kit looked at the woman with suspicion as she walked over and dumped the armful of fruit she was carrying, on the ground by the fire.
‘I asked who you are.’ Kit said. Not sure what to think of this far too sure of herself half demon.
‘I’m Valentina.’ She replied. ‘And who are you.’
‘My name is Kit.’ Kit replied, surprising herself, she wasn’t usually so forth coming with information about herself.
‘Kit? That’s a strange name. Is it short for something?’ Valentina had knelt down on the ground and was busy sorting through the fruit she had brought back with her, asking the question off hand, as if it didn’t matter.
‘No’ Kit replied not liking that the woman was basically ignoring her. For a long moment both were silent and finally Valentina looked up from what she was doing.
‘You may as well sit back down, I’ll have something for you us to eat in a minute, seeing as you finished all the leftovers from lunch.’ She said the last with mock anger and Kit sat down, determined to find out more about Valentina, who was unlike anyone she had met before.
Not sure what to say, Kit started with the main thing on her mind. ‘Why did you help me? I mean you don’t even know me, but you helped me anyway and you must have known that I would have recovered without assistance.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that.’ Valentina replied. ‘You were in a bad state when I came across you and your aura was almost gone, I’m surprised you’re even alive to tell the truth.’
‘I’m not so weak as to die from such wounds.’ Kit said defensibly. ‘Now tell me why you helped me.’
‘I don’t really know why I helped you, but I don’t think I could just leave someone like that. If I had just walked past I would have been as bad as the one who did this to you.’
‘So you helped me because of an unwarranted sense of obligation.’ Kit said.
‘I guess so. But it was the right thing to do and you could at least say thank you.’ She sounded angry and slightly offended, and Kit was surprised to find that she didn’t mind the woman’s attitude.
Valentina opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could speak Kit interrupted. ‘Thank you. I didn’t need your help, but there is no doubt that I will be better off for it. It’s just that I’ve never had help without the other person wanting something from me, it is an unusual feeling.’ There I go again, Kit thought angrily. Blurting out more of my life, why do I keep telling this woman things? I barley even know her. And why doesn’t her attitude annoy me? This is so strange.
‘Don’t mention it.’ Valentina replied.
‘Why are you out here in the middle of nowhere anyway?’ Kit asked, curious.
‘I ran away.’ Valentina admitted. ‘I couldn’t stand it in my home village any more, so I left.’ She looked into the fire and sighed. ‘Nobody accepted me there, not even my own father. I was always an outcast, always alone, no matter what I did. I couldn’t live like that anymore.’
Kit felt sympathy toward the young woman, Valentina’s past reminded her too much of her own and she knew how she must feel.
‘So why are you out here?’ Valentina asked, pulling Kit from her thoughts.
‘Similar reasons to your own. My father died and I couldn’t bare the thought of staying in the village with my brother.’ She scowled at the thought of her brother Rayne, remembering the terms they had parted on and feeling angry that she had had to leave. ‘But that was years ago now, I’ve grown used to it.’
‘But what have you done since then?’ Valentina asked. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to go now that I’ve left, I guess that’s one of the reasons I helped you, to give me something to do, something else to think about.’ She sighed ‘I’ve only been gone a few days, but it seems like much longer.’
‘Why don’t you go back then, it is harder than you would think to live like this, especially for a weak half demon like yourself.’
Valentina growled at that and jumped to her feet, her eyes changing to that of a cat’s. ‘I AM NOT WEAK! How dare you call me weak, you who was half dead not a day ago, how dare you! You apologise right now or get the hell away from me,’ As she got angrier Valentina’s nails lengthened to claws and her canines turned to fangs ‘I’ve done nothing but help you and for that you call me weak, it’s not my fault I was born what I am, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let it ruin my life. It’s people like you who are weak taking your own faults out on others!’
Kit sat on the ground in shock as Valentina, who had been so calm a second ago, exploded with anger. She had no idea what to do, not once in her whole life had anyone showed this much anger in front of her, not even her brother. She sat and waited for the woman to finish, not knowing what else to do.
Valentina finally stopped and Kit was surprised to see tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. ‘Are you ok?’ She asked tentatively and almost without her permission two more words left her mouth. ‘I’m sorry.’ The words held sadness and sympathy. She knew how Valentina felt and she knew her words weren’t directed toward her, but toward everyone that had ever hurt her and maybe even the rest of the world.
Valentina’s anger faded and Kit watched in silence as she slowly changed back to normal, her tears overflowing and spilling down her face. ‘It’s not you fault, it’s just… just.’ She slid to the ground and buried her face in her hands. ‘Nobody’s ever accepted me, never and…and you don’t even know me and I don’t have a home anymore… I don’t know what to do… I have nothing anymore and I don’t know how to live … with it.’ She started sobbing and Kit got to her feet awkwardly, not sure what to do, but wanting to help the woman.
‘It will get better.’ She finally said. ‘No matter how bad it seems now, it will get better.’
Valentina looked up from her hands ‘How can you sound so sure?’ She asked.
‘Because I’ve felt the same way. Maybe not this… emotionally, but I know how you feel.’ Kit felt strange saying that like she was admitting something she hadn’t even recognised within herself.
‘But what have you done since you left your home?’ Valentina asked
‘I’ve fought.’ Kit said simply ‘For survival and practice, it’s all I had. But now I shall find the demon who did this to me,’ She gestured to her wounds. ‘And I shall make it pay.’ this set to thinking about how exactly she was going to find the demon and how she was going to kill it when she did.
‘Can I come with you?’ Valentina asked, ripping Kit from her thoughts with a surprised sound.
‘What did you say?’ She asked, sure she had heard wrong.
‘I said “can I come with you?”, I have nothing now and at least if I go with you I might be able to help.’ She said and then whispered under her breath ‘And I wouldn’t be alone.’
Kit didn’t think she was meant to hear the last bit, but her hearing was far better than even the half demon’s. She thought about Valentina’s proposal; She was a mere half demon, but she was unlike any Kit had come across before and Kit could see her past in Valentina. But more than that, she saw understanding in her that she had never seen in anyone and she felt strangely compelled to find out more about her.
‘I guess I could use some assistance with some of the simpler tasks, but any demons we come across are mine and you are not to interfere. Do you understand?’
Valentina’s tears vanished and a smile spread across her face ‘Of course!’ She replied and Kit amazed to find an answering smile spread her own lips, happy for the second time in her life.
