Forgotten Truths (Book One of the Forgotten Truths Series)

Chapter Thirty Seven

Ji-ho clutched a bow in his hand. He trailed behind Atlanta, and the rest of the group.

  Their footsteps silently padded through the swampy terrain away from their camp. No one even left a footprint. They all copied Atlanta, as she was most likely the most experienced at this.

  An egret flew over their heads. It was quite large. The great bird was heading towards the large lake that sat only a couple meters away from their camp.

  It barely had to flap its wings. The egret mainly just glided across the sky gracefully.

  In just a few mere seconds, the bird came plummeting down to the earth. An arrow was piercing through its neck, and thus, it was dead.

  Ji-ho's gaze shifted from the bird to Atlanta, who had just fired the arrow.

  "Woah..." Edge murmured, "How'd you do that so fast?"

  "It takes a lot of practice." Atlanta told Edge, as she lowered her bow, and watched the egret hit the ground.

  "I'll teach you."

  "Wow, thanks!" She said; her gratitude shone through. "—I mean, I know how to use a bow, sort of, but I'm rusty,"

  Ji-ho nodded. His dominant was his right— He had remembered that from some incident a long time ago.

  "A dominant-what?" Edge blurted.

  "A dominant eye." Ji-ho replied before Atlanta could.

  "Yeah, I got that part, but what is it?" She asked, and then continued, "What does that gotta do with bows?"

  "Your dominant eye helps you to aim." Atlanta answered.

  "Oh." She looked a little dumbfounded.

  "Like your dominant hand?"

  Ji-ho watched as Atlanta and Sayuri exchanged hand signs. He didn't understand a single thing they were 'saying'.

  "What are you two talking about?" Ji-ho asked them, annoyed. The fact that he didn't understand that one language irritated him.

  "Oh, sorry." Atlanta apologized, "I just had to inform Sayuri about... erm... information about the bow!"

  Edge raised an eyebrow at Sayuri. Like her friend, she was slightly annoyed as to what they were talking about. Also a bit curious, as a glint of it was flashed in her eyes.

"It's nothing, really." Atlanta said quickly. "Nothing important."

  "Really?" She cocked her head.

  "Yes, really—" Atlanta started, before Sayuri interrupted her.

  "Can we just... stop talking about this? I want to learn how to use a bow and arrow." Sayuri mumbled.

  Edge shook her head, and mumbled something to herself. Then, she looked up and nodded to agree with Sayuri.

  Edge tilted herself over, and whispered to Ji-ho: "A little rude if you ask me, but it's okay I guess,"

  "Agreed." Ji-ho whispered back. Though, he still wanted to know what they were talking about. Maybe he should just learn their language.

  "So..." She turned back to the other two, and cleared her throat. "Bows and arrows."

  Atlanta nodded. She went back to explaining, and answered their questions along the way. All of the questions came from Edge and himself.

  Atlanta demonstrated a few shots, then turned to them. "So... who wants to try to shoot that bird over there?"

  "I will." Ji-ho said.

  He lifted his bow that had the arrow on it already. He closed one eye, aimed, then fired.

  Unfortunately, the wind picked up, and blew his arrow off. The arrow pierced through the bird's talon, and pinned the bird to the ground.

  The bird wasn't dead, but Ji-ho had put the bird in a lot of pain. The creature let out some weird bird screech, and then it tried to pull the arrow off.

  "Ji-ho!" Edge scolded him lightly, and slightly whacked his arm.

  She trotted off after the bird. Edge fumbled around with it. She probably didn't have these types in her little farm-thing.

  Edge pinned the bird down to the ground. It squirmed a little under her grasp, so she stroked it softly on its neck. Then, with one small flick of her wrist, she took out an arrow and plunged its head into the bird's neck.

  The bird hardly made any sound as it died. It went quite peacefully, actually — It didn't seem to be in that much pain from the blow. The creature then went limp in her arms. Dead.

  "Wow—" Ji-ho started, then he got cut off by a cough. A cough not from any else— A cough from him.

  "I-" Ji-ho continued to cough uncontrollably. His own cough was causing his throat to throb in pain.

  "Ji-ho!" Edge yelped.

  Atlanta then gave Ji-ho fresh water.

  "Drink this. It'll help." She told him.

  "Are you alright?" She asked quickly, "Maybe you should go back to camp?"

  "I'm alright.." Ji-ho mumbled after he drank the water.

  "Uh-huh." She looked him up and down, and scanned him to see if he looked worse.

  "Listen, Ji-ho, I really think you should go back," Edge finally said.

  Atlanta nodded in agreement. She then did more hand signs towards Sayuri. Sayuri did a few back, and nodded.

  "Sayuri will help you on the way back, and she will help at the camp. She knows more medical stuff then I do." Atlanta then said out loud.

  Edge patted him on the back. "Smart choice!" She grinned at him.

  Ji-ho then found himself heading back with Sayuri. Hopefully Atlanta and Edge can stay safe...

——

A lot of dialogue

What do you think of Ji-ho's sickness? Do you think it might get worse — Life-threatening?

Also, where do you think Atlanta and Edge are going?

Well, I guess you'll just have to stay tuned—

—Oh, and have a great rest of your day/ night!!

-Echo