Halo: Heroes Awakening

13. Good Samaritan

Malia

"I never told you it was a fire potion!"

"Then why the fuck wouldn't you have more of them—!"

"—Because I wasn't expecting us to get attacked! This was supposed to be a secret-"

"Guys they're burning the tree," Jack suddenly called over their bickering, his voice cracking with fear. Malia and Sina would've given each other looks of absolute horror if they weren't all invisible right now.

The heavy smell of ignited flames was already clogging the air. They didn't have much time.

"Alright guys we need to jump!" Malia shouted. "Hold onto each other! It's the only way we'll get out of here!"

She pulled Sina and Jack up from the floor, diving down into the grass just as Sina wanted to do a countdown. There was a hard thud as they hit the grass, with a pained squirm that Malia was sure came from Sina.

When they turned around, the guards were shooting fiery arrows into Sina's home. Malia's heart plummeted. This was all her fault. She owed it to them to get them out alive. So she tugged on their arms and ran the opposite direction.

"They're not in there!" Augus announced to everyone with a frustrated scream. "They've turned themselves invisible! Follow their footsteps!"

"Oh shit!" Malia yelped, trying to pull Sina faster. She was the hold up, Jack was keeping up fine. "They're watching our footsteps hurry up!"

"M-My ankle!" Sina wailed, making Malia abruptly stop. She felt onto Sina's arm and maneuvered her hands around her thighs, pulling her into a piggyback ride. Jack was still holding onto Malia's forearm.

"What did you do?" He asked in confusion. The footsteps of the guards thundered in the background.

"I'm piggybacking Sina, she's injured! Let's go!"

The guards were catching up quickly and Malia remembered Sina said this wouldn't last long. Sina lived quite the distance into the woods, and Malia was going in an unfamiliar direction.

As long as I keep running. As long as I don't give up those shit biscuits can't—

Arrows landed next to them as they sprinted through the greenery. Sina nearly deafened Malia with the screech she let out next to her ear. Jack was the first person who saw clay rooftops and cobblestone in the distance, at this point he was leading.

It was just when they stepped foot onto those stone pathways, did the potions effects complete evaporate. They materialized in a crowd of people and Malia realized they were close to the market place.

Perfect.

She charged through the streets with Sina hopping on her back like a horserider. Jack pushed empty crates into the pathway to deter the guards. People screaming alerted them of the chaos. They would never forget this day.

Malia managed to get out of the heavy crowd and onto open road, only to get knocked over by a black horse. She and Sina slammed hard onto the ground, the sense completely knocked out of them. All traffic was halted at that moment and the coachdriver hopped out to inspect damage.

Malia's head was spinning. She blinked hard and there were stars and spots in her vision. Everything was so blurry and deafening. She saw Jack trying to help her up but when she looked up it was not Jack.

"Please help us!" Someone begged. The voice belonged to Jack. She was confused. "I'll pay you anything! I have money on me right now!"

"Load them into my carriage then." The other voice said, foreign to Malia's ears. If only her focus would stop blurring so she'd actually be able to see his eyes.

His hair was blonde. That's what she knew. She felt muscular arms hoist her up and into the carriage, plopping Sina down next to her. The lameness in her was pulling out of consciousness, and the next thing she knew was sleep.

***

When Malia woke up again, she was in a soft bed. The best bed she'd ever felt. It felt like one giant marshmellow.

The bedsheets were purple. Not her favourite colour. She liked orange, just because it reminded her of the sun and how warm it felt against her skin.

Summer was the best time of the year. She used to spend nearly everyday with her parents at the beach, surfing and collecting rocks. They'd get some cheap but good food from the flea market and it would make for some good memories.

"Lia, why must you eat like a pig? There is food in your hair!" Her mother used to say while her father burst into laughter, trying to pluck the crumbs from her baby hair.

Why am I thinking of this now? Where the fuck am I.

She swung her legs off the bed, feeling tiny knives stabbing into her head. If she stood up now, she knew she would not make it to the door. Her eyes drifted confusedly to the window of the room, seeing a fence surrounding a pretty green yard.

There was a pond with ducks in them. Malia sighed and smiled. She might not have known where the Hell she was, but at least this was not a dungeon.

Suddenly the white door in the room swung open and Jack came walking inside. Malia nearly died of happiness seeing a familiar face. As soon as he sat down she threw her arms around him, leaning lazily over him.

"I see you're awake," he said, partially unable to breathe. "You got hit pretty hard. You and Sina collided with a carriage while we were running in case you can't remember."

Malia's face was the epitome of what a question mark would look like. "What the fuck?" She asked, whispering the swearword.

Jack nodded. "Yup. Sina's okay too, don't worry. She just has a sprained ankle and bruised leg along with a mild concussion. Would you believe me if I told you you guys were lucky getting run over?"

"What?" Was all Malia could get out. She was so lost, all she could properly hold in tact was the fact that they had jumped from Sina's tree house.

"The guy who ran you over brought us to his home. His family is nice, they're taking care of us now. He said we could stay a few days. Maybe we can figure out where we'll go from here."

"I need water," Malia said, then unrolled her arms from around Jack and stood up too fast. She was about to dive when Jack caught her.

"You know what I'll just carry you. You have to go meet our kind helpers."

Jack carried her bridal style into what looked like the living room of their home. There were red flowers on the pale pink wallpaper. Sina was sitting on the fluffy brown couch next to a blonde man with stunning green eyes and a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes.

Jack plopped her down onto a chair next to him and Malia stared lostly at the people in the room.

"Hello," she said after a few awkward moments of intrusive staring. "I'm Malia."

"Malia, I'm sorry for running you and your friend over," the blonde man said. Sina had a bandage around her head as well as around her foot. "My name is Yunoa Hira. This is my sister, Misty Hira."

The brown haired girl waved awkwardly. Another blonde walked into the room with a tray, carrying glasses of water. She handed Malia one, which she gripped with both hands and downed in one gulp.

"Thank you," Malia wheezed after. The woman stared at her in shock. Her eyes were bright blue and she had blonde hair too.

"That is my other sister, Leilani. You're welcome to stay a few days until you are better," Yunoa said.

Malia was about to respond when she slid off the edge of the chair, her mind going fuzzy again as Jack tried to pull her up.