I awoke the next morning with tears dried on my face. I felt a little more weak than usual, most likely from when I vomited the day before. I tiredly crawled out of bed and headed to the bathroom, squinting my eyes as I turned on the light. I washed my face to get the tears off, and to, hopefully, start the day with a better mood. That's when I remembered Cooler's gesture towards me yesterday. How could I possibly forget?! I quickly walked to his desk to see if he was there, and just as I suspected, he was. I approached him and sat in my normal spot, rubbing my eyes a bit as I had awoken not too long ago. "Good morning, Kuriza. Sleep well?" Cooler asked, not bothering to look away from his work. I didn't blame him for not giving me any eye contact, he was always very busy and frankly, I was just cheerful to have gotten some friendly interaction.
"Ah.. I've had better nights.. You?" I replied, looking up at him. Then he looked down at me in a sincere way which filled me with pure joy.
"Not fantastic, but doable." He responded in a content manner. I nodded, but then we sat in silence for a while. Cooler had looked back down to his work, but once he noticed the silence he looked over at me. "I realize sitting here can get boring. You can go and explore if you wish." I then realized how I longed for just a nice walk. I nodded.
"Okay, I think I'll go for a walk to clear my head. Thank you very much, Cooler. I'll return soon." He nodded as I stood up, and I waved goodbye as I set off on my journey. Our planet was fairly small, everyone knew everyone. It was quite a nice place to be in my opinion. I began to walk in a nice, grassy, open field my Papa had taken me to a couple of times when I was down, or I wanted out of the house. I was in deep thought, head stuck in the storm cloud of memories. That's when my feet were swept from under me, I sharply yelped as my back collided with the compact soil, creating a loud thud. The moment I hit the ground, a tail and another fist pinned down both my wrists, sharp knife pressing into my soft skin. This was quite an odd encounter, considering my race is peaceful. There should be no attacker of my race unless they were given a major reason to become how they are. I was caught off guard, not like I could've put up much of a fight anyhow, I was quite weak at this point. I swallowed hard and opened my eyes to reveal a female Arcosian about my age. She was a lighter shade of purple, with white armor accents, and, finally, teal bio gems. She was breathing heavily, but then she braced herself and intensified the knifes force. I squeaked in terror as he closed my eyes, but then something.. Odd happened. She let out a huff of solemn pain and thew her knife across the field. She quickly got off me and rubbed her face. Of course I quickly scrambled to my feet and dusted myself off a bit. "Thank you for sparing my life.." I thanked quietly, "but what the hell were you doing..?!" She put her hands up, almost as a wimpy surrender.
"I-I-I'm so sorry.. I was just- you don't understand, I-.." She stammered out, seeming upset. I took this time to look her over, and she had a couple wounds and scars, but truly, she was beautiful.
"J-Just don't kill me.. I won't tell anyone.." I promised quietly.
"I-... I don't want to.. It's not what I chose.. C-Can you help me find my parents..?" She looked to the ground, hands in loose fists at her sides.
"Do you mind if I know your name first..?" I asked.
"M-My name..? My name is Frigid." She looked up into my eyes, and began to rub her arm with her right hand.
"Frigid. Pretty name. Well.. My name is Kuriza. A-And I'm sorry to tell you.. I don't think I know your parents.." I looked up at the fidgety Arcosian.
"I know your name. That's why I was sent after you.. I'm sorry.."
"Wait..! Why..?!" My eyes widened.
"Because of-" her head shot to the left quickly and she got in a stance that showed she was ready to take off. She ran after her knife, slipping a bit on the way over to it. "Run, Kuriza! Ruuuun! Don't stop or look back! And never go anywhere alone!" She seemed as if she was almost in tears as she yelled in a pained voice. She took off to the left, but, as instructed, I took off toward Cooler, not stopping. I followed instruction, and I didn't look back. I ran to Cooler's desk, almost not stopping in time. He jumped a bit, startled at how I'd reappeared and how fast I'd done so. I was breathing heavily and could hardly speak, checking back behind me every couple of seconds. I tried to speak, but failed at speaking coherently. He quickly stood and put his hands on my shoulders, face only so far from mine.
"What is it, Kuriza?!" He asked, worriedly.
"A girl.. She.. Tried to kill me.. But.. She didn't want to... But she heard something.. If something of the sort.. And informed me to run.. And never look back.. Or.. Go anywhere alone.." I panted heavily. Cooler pulled me over his desk and wrapped his tail around my body securely.
"I will not allow anyone to treat our family in such a manor.. And noted. We'll just have to be cautious."
"But Cooler.. She wasn't-" He cut me off, not wanting to listen. I was just left to wonder, was she really bad..? Or did she need help..?.
