ligaya.

A noble's blade.

It has been the third day. I have run out of resources, left with little to no water and one apple that was almost finished. One bite, and I will be left with nothing but a bottle filled with a drop of water or so.

It has been almost four days since I have fled from my village. Mother has probably sent out the townsfolk to search for me as soon as she felt my missing presence. Though, I should probably worry about that later. Now, I should find a place to properly sleep in and food to fill my stomach with.

I quickly glance around, spotting a different variety of fruits surrounding me. Blue berries, green strawberries and an almost white apple? I cautiously approached, slowly reaching out for the sword that remained hidden on the side of my hip inside a wooden handle coated with golden linings and a carved out dragon on the side.

snap

A rope snapped in half, echoing throughout the forest as a lever seemingly got trigged by the rope. Great.

Hanging upside down, a rope tied securely and tightly around my ankle keeping me in place. So much for a trained noble.

"Aha! I win, told you so!" A voice reached my ears. A boy with brown hair, quite a scrawny body and fairly brown skin that almost matched his hair. Yet it appeared lighter in the sunlight that gleamed on his skin.

"No, Camilo, you didn't catch "Big Foot" that Toñio's been talking about," A woman, who now appeared beside the younger male with similar features, said to him. She glanced at me, offering a quick wave as a greeting.

I thought it would be rude to not wave back or offer some greeting as mother had told me before. Though, I practically couldn't do anything with my leg tied with a rope and arms hanging down heavily. I could have replied with a quiet "hello" or a "nice to meet you" but with utter confusion that surged in me akin to bellowing waves in the sea, nothing was "nice" about this meeting either.

I heard the boy groan in frustration, throwing his head back and heaving a sigh, he spoke once more. "Well, now we caught.. "that" what are we going to do with it?"

That? It? Could he be any more.. irking?

"I demand letting me down. And I am not a "that" nor an "it", I have a name like any person would have," I spoke in a similar frustrated tone.

"Oh," he said, "It can talk, Dolores." he said, averting his eyes away from me and now looking at Dolores who only sighed at him. I'm guessing they're close?

"Apologies, we thought you were something we were expecting. Though, it appears otherwise," Dolores said, ignoring the boy. She walked towards me, gently untying the rope that held me hostage amidst the eerie woods.

With a loud thud, I fell on the ground. Dolores quickly covered both her ears with her hands, a surprised and almost frightened sound leaving her lips.

"You okay there?" the boy spoke, a lack of genuine concern coating his words as he broke the silence that followed after Dolores and I. I grunt in frustration, feeling the pain immediately follow right after I fell on the ground.

I rushed to him, pushing him down to the ground trapped within my grip. I quickly unsheathe the sword out of the wooden handle, tightening my grasp on it as I held it above his throat, painfully moving closer, almost piercing it if I dared to.

"Dare move wrongly and this blade will pierce through your throat. Surely that will be enough to shut you up?"

I was met with nothing but an eerie silence falling upon us. He took in a deep breath of air, sucking it in as he spoke:

"You have quite the mesmerizing eyes, hermosa."