The smart, the skilled and the BRAVE

Questions

I was carrying a girl. Oh Crap... I was carrying a GIRL! Fern had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily, and I could tell she was pretending she wasn't in pain, but at each step I felt an involuntary shudder come from her.

She was tough. I'd give her that. I made sure I took smaller strides and was careful not to make my strides too bouncy, though to help her out. I closed my arms around her more tightly, trying to cushion the hurtful blows that were happening to Fern.

The small girl followed after me, sometimes staring at Fern... sometimes me.

I could tell that she cared for Fern... I mean... the girl had saved her life. Now HER life was at risk.

It was enough to make even my father feel guilty. Fern's head lolled back and I looked down started.

"Fern?" I asked panicked. She didn't respond. I set her down and grabbed her pack, shoving some of my shirt onto her wound. Ally came over and went through the pack as well. She pulled out the bottle of alcohol and poured it on Fern's cuts.

Fern screamed and arched her back and I grabbed some cloth out of her bag and started pressing them on her cuts, trying to stop the bleeding.

Her shoulder was the worst so I focused there. Fern was trying to writhe away, so I pressed my knee into her stomach gently to keep her in place. I pressed my hand on her forehead and felt that she was on fire.

She had been in much more pain than I had assumed... even more than I had been with my encounter with the panther.

I tried to make sense of the patchwork of skin that was covering Fern's shoulder, but it seemed to have no sense to it. Ally grabbed a bottle of water out of Fern's pack and poured some on a cloth and begin mopping away Fern's blood.

I did the same and slowly I made a little more headway on Fern's shoulder. Fern had stopped struggling and was breathing hard so I took my knee away and got out that salve she had put on my arm. I rubbed it in and Fern immediately relaxed. I would have to ask her what it was so she could make more. She was running out. I grabbed out a needle and thread and started threading up her shoulder.

Ally followed my lead and was soon finished before me, patching up Fern's leg while I did her shoulder. She got another cloth wet and dabbled at Fern's forehead.

Fern shook her head and looked at me, and I could tell she wasn't in too much pain that she couldn't understand me.

"You passed out so we started to patch you up... though I'm pretty sure not as effectively as you," I said and Fern looked at her shoulder and grimaced.

"And would you imagine that. The Prince can't sew for his life... or more importantly mine," Fern said, then grabbed the needle and finished up sewing her own skin within seconds.

That was something I never could have done. I would have been much too disgusted. As it was I was still disgusted. Fern looked up at me and her eyes caught mine. I stayed like that looking into her eyes for a second.

"So... want a new jacket?" I asked. She frowned at me for a second confused, then dawning came on her face and she laughed.

"I'll manage," She laughed out and I nodded, picking her up. She looked around the area, putting an arm around my neck as if afraid I would drop her. I wasn't planning on doing that any time soon... never.

"There," Fern said, pointing in the direction that apparently the town of Qual was located... I hoped.

"We are headed toward civilization, correct? Not a cave?" I asked to be rewarded with a punch in the arm. I laughed and Ally looked back at us smiling.