Battle Scars

Chapter 53: Savarna

A/N: I'm not too sure what to make of Savarna... I feel like I focused a little too much on her but when I tried to fix it in editing I couldn't do much. I considered removing her from the story all together, but then so many other parts would have to change... Oh well tell me if you think she's a good character or not.

Chapter fifty three: Savarna
Vikk led the way into the house, and I followed him, with Savarna's hand still gripping mine tightly. We followed him into a simple bathroom area, that contained a wash basin, a table with a few items on it, and a rack of towels. Vikk glanced at me, as we entered the room.
"Did you see that?" He asked. I nodded, knowing what he meant.
"They still find it hard to trust you," I sighed. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess until I prove myself to them it'll stay that way. Here, you can wash Savarna in the basin. She might need help getting into it though, it's quite high up for her." He bent to her level. "Is it ok if I lift you into the basin?" He asked Savarna. I half expected her to be afraid of Vikk, as she had been of Jerome and Preston. Much to my surprise, she nodded easily, and allowed Vikk to lift her into the basin of water. I laid the clothes we had brought for her on the towel rack, and turned the taps on. The water began to rise around the small child. I looked at Vikk curiously. It was strange that this small child could so easily trust Vikk, but not the very people who couldn't trust him. I watched as he added something from a bottle which was clearly soap. I helped the girl to clean her hands, legs, and feet, and finally her face and hair.
"Vikk look, her head's cut here," I stated, parting her hair slightly. Through her dark brown hair, you could see a cut that was not fully healed, and had evidently been that way for some time.
"How did it happen?" He wondered, looking at Savarna. Her eyes widened, and looked a little afraid.
"Tried to steal," she explained. I realised she must have tried to pinch something from a market stall, and whoever caught her in the act had dealt her a hard blow to the head. I sighed. How could someone treat a small child like that?
Savarna managed to clean the rest of herself fairly easily. After we finished, Vikk left the room to see if there was anything he'd left in the house that he wanted to take to Canada with him. Meanwhile, I emptied the water, and helped Savarna to remove her tunic and pants, and replace it with the new clothes. They actually fit her quite well, which I was pleased with.
Vikk returned a few moments later.
"What happens now?" He asked. I shrugged, and picked up my new friend. She smiled happily at me, and fingered the edge of the jumper gingerly, which felt fluffy to touch.
"I guess we give her the option," I said. I didn't want to leave her to fend for herself again, but of she wanted to stay where she felt at home, I wouldn't make her leave.
"Do you want to go off again and find your mother, or do you want to come with Vikk and I?" She poked my chest, tentatively.
"Go with you. And him." She indicated to Vikk. "My mother is gone." I nodded, smiling a little, as she rested her head on my shoulder. It was a strange feeling, that she had taken me into her confidence, after being so afraid of people, and I admired her courage. I was in no hurry to betray her trust in me. I looked at Vikk.
"Ready to go?" I asked. He nodded. We began to walk together to where the hovercraft had landed, Savarna holding onto my neck tightly.
"What's Mitch gonna think?" Asked Vikk, in amusement.
"To be quite honest, I have no idea," I stated. "I guess we'll find out."

It turned out that Mitch, like Vikk, had had a suspicion that I would do something like this. But he was ok with it, as long as Savarna was happy. Savarna refused to trust Mitch, something Vikk found quite amusing. However, once I'd shown to her that I obviously trusted Mitch myself, she was more ready to take him into her confidence. A little later, Vikk came to talk to me.
"Abby, my mother's offered to take Savarna with her, if you want," he told me. "I told her I was pretty sure Savarna wouldn't go anywhere you didn't, but the offer's there if you want it."
"I think you're right," I smiled, glancing at Savarna. "But thank her for me anyway. Are you coming on our hovercraft or the one with your family?"
"Yours," he stated. "Whilst it's great to see my family again, we don't get on that well. I'd rather go with you guys." I nodded, understandingly.
"Fair enough."
In ten minutes time, we were back aboard the hovercraft, and on our way to Canada. I sat with Savarna in the room at the back of the hovercraft by the window, so we could watch the ground fly by beneath us. She had been more than a little afraid when the hovercraft had taken off, but once I explained to her we were going somewhere safe, she calmed down somewhat.
"Can you tell me a story?" She asked me after a while.
"What sort of story do you want to hear?" I asked her, smiling. The guys were all in the control room, so it was just the two of us in the room. She shrugged her shoulders, smiling.
"Any story."
"Well," I began, "there's a true story I can tell you about a little girl who was just like you."
"Just like me?"
"Well, maybe a bit older," I corrected myself. "And she was very brave too, because she had to survive without her mother."
"Did her mother go to the market too?" She asked incredulously. I smiled, and shook my head.
"No, she got taken away from her mother by The Soviets. She had to go to a big place with lots of trees and not much food to eat or water to drink."
"And what did she do there?" Asked Savarna.
"She had to escape all the other people that wanted to hurt her," I explained. "But she didn't get away." I sighed at the memory. Savarna studied my face for a second, before pointing to the side of my chest where my heart was.
"That means she's in there," she smiled. I stared at this small child in wonder.
"That's true," I agreed.
"Who are all those people out there?" She asked me.
"Well first can you remember my name?" I chuckled. "I told you just before, remember?"
"You're called Abby," she grinned. "And I don't know the others names."
"There's Vikk, he's the one that helped you get all clean before. Mitch is the tall one, he's my boyfriend. Preston and Jerome are the other two." She nodded, and yawned tiredly.
"I think you need to sleep," I smiled. She nodded in agreement, and suddenly reached up and hugged me around my neck tightly. I smiled, and returned the gesture gently. I picked her up, and laid her in one of the beds on the hovercraft, covering her gently with a blanket. She dropped off to sleep fairly quickly. I shut the light out, and left the room.