Grant My Wish, White Star

Chapter 2: Haven Woods

"Hang on just a moment. These should be the last ones."

"I think he'll be alright, just give it sometime."

"I can't tell, did I do it right?"

"Don't be so doubtful in yourself, you did just fine, my apprentice."

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let him! Never!"

"Hey wait! Where are you going?!"

Those are the only words I hear as I slowly regain consciousness. For a while it's kind of hard to make out who the voices belong to. My eyes are closed, I just like to hear the voices of reassurance guide my mind to reality. Just for now.

Although, coming back to reality feels like a punch to the face. I start to feel a searing pain in my lower back. The same pain is now felt in both my arms and finally, my legs. I gasp as my hazel eyes fly open. I opened my mouth to speak but my throat is dry and I start to cough. It feels as if I can't breath.

But soon there is a calm voice reassuring me once more. The owner of the voice places a warm hand on my forehead.

"Good, he's awake," I recognize the voice now and my coughing fit comes to an end. It's the sweet voice of our village healer, Marta. She has spread a peculiar paste on a couple cuts and bee stings that were on my arms and legs that has the potent stench of agrimony and other herbs that I haven't heard of yet. She has used this paste on me multiple times but I can never get over how horrible the smell is.

But yet, it calms me down. Maybe because I know that these scratches and wounds will heal quicker now that Marta has applied the agrimony mixture on me. I watch as she turns over to Ava, her apprentice, who is sat down on a wooden chair next to my bed. She was mixing herbs in a small bowl to make into healing paste, her empty grey eyes concentrated on her task.

"Alright, I think you got it. Keep up the good work," Marta leaves my house and closes the door behind her.

Ava is the shortest member in our village. Just slightly shorter than me. We don't really see eye to eye. Maybe because I've underestimated her many times in the past. She likes to avoid me and people in general but her and my sister get along just fine. The devastation of the Green Plague left her blind.

I remember clearly after there were no more cases of people getting sick for that horrible illness. She woke up one morning feeling better but something was wrong. She couldn't see the sunshine peering inside her window or anything at all for that matter. We were so young. Everyone was so thankful that she was one of the few surviving people along with my mother, Moa.

But Ava was furious. That same day, she shouted out loud so all who could hear heard her. "Why was I cursed with this?! Why couldn't it have been like the others?!"

Her mother, Marta could not calm her down from her blind rage. Ava even blamed her for her father's sudden disappearance. It was Iris that eventually calmed her down, saying things like,"Nothing could have been done". Before that they would coexist with each other but since then, they've been good --no -- great friends.

And now I wonder where Iris has gone. I know that she stormed out of the house. When she wants to be alone she usually goes into the woods behind our home, her own isolated haven where she stays solitary. Our people would just leave her alone but Ava would somehow always find her way to her, whether it's to get her home or stay a while there with her and chat.

Ava says that she "Follows the sound of the birds that start to sing when Iris is around". Since then, I have noticed that the birds do sing when she is around. So now, I want to look for her and apologize for getting her into trouble. I sit up and turn my body around to the edge of the bed to get my warm, furry boots on.