Conflicted

First

It's been 3 days of trekking after the second train ride.

I take back whatever I've said before. Vick was actually not as bad as I thought. She filled in the loneliness I felt that came from my home sickness and it was nice to have someone close to a friend around. We still had 2 days of travelling across the dense forest to the Palace and everything was going smoothly so far. Well, it was, until we ran out of food rations.

"Oh gosh if we don't find any game soon we will die young without having hunted meat before," Vick cried out dramatically.

I gave her a small smile and continued to scan for other slight movements among the greenery and foliage that could be made by prey. I focused particularly on the larger trees at the side. Raising my bow, I kept silent as I listened out for anything. My ears picked up a soft rustling sound that sounded familiar. Like the sound that my father's boots used to make when he stepped on dry leaves. A silverish grey tint that was caught in the sunlight shone slightly. Metal armour. A soldier. I saw him turn around slightly. I heard a sword being drawn. He saw us.

It was an instant recognition for both parties.

A Grevolian soldier suddenly charged out from behind the tree I was looking at. Vick instantly stilled beside me, but my natural instinct was to run and get out of there before the enemy caught onto us.

"Vick! Let's go!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her as I ran.

It took Vick a few seconds to unfreeze and get her senses back before she started running with me. I swiftly navigated through the large forest, searching for a place to hide. I couldn't help but turn my head quickly to look at the soldier. Oh for Orion's sake. He's catching up to us. Vick suddenly pulled me aside, sending both of us crashing into a bush. Which so happened to have thorns.

"Vick what are you-"

"Shhh..." she put a hand to my mouth and crouched down behind the bush.

I followed her and watched, with my heart in my mouth, as the soldier turned around. He had come into a clearing. A thought suddenly struck me. 4 years of training to be a spy, only for me to take flight without even putting up a fight? There was no way I would let that happen. Cautiously, I reached for my bow and pulled out an arrow from my pouch. Now lying down on the floor, I raised my bow slightly, praying that he would not suddenly turn around and spot the wooden tip of my bow. Aiming at the exposed spot of his neck, I let go of the arrow and sent it flying. A small 'woosh' sound was made before the sharp metal tip of the arrow made contact with the soldier' neck. He fell to the ground. Killed instantly.

Vick and I rose from behind the bush, carefully checking our surroundings for any other soldiers.

"All clear," Vick breathed a sigh of relief and went to check on the body.

I followed her hesitantly, taking in the sight of blood dripping out of the wound.

"What a clear shot. Died instantly. Impressive, I must say," Vick whistled lowly and sent me a cheery thumbs-up.

"It was nothing," I mumbled and turned away from the body.

This was my first kill. My first ever kill was a Grevolian soldier. What if he had a family? Did I just take out the family's breadwinner? I gulped guiltily and tilted my head towards the forest floor.

"You okay there?" Vick said sympathetically. "First kill, innit?"

I nodded my head hesitantly. Vick had just walked over to the body so cheerfully 3 seconds ago. She had cheerfully walked towards a dead man who had a family waiting for him at home. My chest felt heavy as we continued to walk.

"A wild boar! That fella's big enough to last us weeks!" Vick's shotgun sounded and I heard something heavy hit the ground. Similar to how the soldier's body had fallen.

I let out a shaky breath and approached Vick's kill. Well, at least we have one problem solved. Enough food rations for a week. And probably more than that.  

A/N: Helena's first kill, such a big thing for her!