Generis

17. Cries In The Wild

"I had come to you, Ithella, hoping you would have some experience. But it seems neither of us knows what to do."

Ithella kept her eyes closed, still as unmovable stone, while Zaphron gazed on impatiently. He brushed pale blue hair out of his eyes before looking down at the small, delicate girl wrapped tight in his arms.

He had come to find the girl in the middle of the Fardi Jungle, all the way in the south-west. The Fardi Jungle was a thick, dense jungle, from what he remembered the last time he was here, usually was occupied by only animals. So the question of how he ended up here, or why he was here at all was irrelevant, but it was a good thing he did. When he first saw her, he thought she was merely sleeping on the floor. As a matter of fact, from a distance she looked like a blur of white and red. He was about to pass her by, but stopped, moved closer, and realised it was a person.

That's concerning, he mused, why is anyone sleeping on the forest floor, let alone a child?

He walked towards her, before stopping. This girl could be dangerous. But he brushed that off and walked anyway, what's the worst that could happen to him? Acting like he couldn't face anything that was thrown at him. He pushed past the tree branch that got in his face, lifting it high, getting a clear view of the little girl laid on the floor. He moved slowly, feeling the dry, purplish grass crunch under his feet. He knelt down by her, ignoring the sudden mushy feeling under his knees and gently moved a hand towards their face. When he felt breathing against his palm, he withdrew and quietly tried to wake her up by whispering in her ear. No response.

Obviously I can't leave her here.

He began to wrap his arms around her body to lift her up, before he stopped, feeling something wet and sticky coat his hand. He held his hand up.

Blood. Shit.

He turned her around, looking quickly for the wound. Was he allowed to... he hesitated. After weighing his options, he exhaled quietly, before pulling down the back zipper of her dress a little bit.

He paused.

An array of scars and wounds were patterned on her back, some healed, some healing, but the biggest wound there was the source of where the blood came from. He looked at the child's face again; she didn't look older than seven... maybe eight. That's when he noticed something: a single, red jewel that looked like it was fixed into her forehead. There were crusts of blood etched around it as well. Before he thought of puking, he had to solve the biggest problem: the bleeding on her back. He laid her gently on her stomach, before gently pressing his hands against her back. He closed his eyes as his hands began to glow a soft, blue light, which spread to the rest of her back, the wounds and scars sealing themselves up gradually until all that was left was new, coffee skin. The glow dimmed and he opened his eyes, trying to see if the girl would wake up now. Still very little response. It was only right for him to zip back up the dress she had on and carry her like a baby.

The girl had strangely long hair that seemed to have tints of crimson, but when Zaphron checked, it was purely white. He didn't know what her eyes  looked like yet, for they were still closed, and her dress was puffy, but upon closer inspection, in horrible shape. He noticed her large mouse-like ears against her small face, and a long, thin tail that hung limply as he held her. He had been walking across the sea for a few miles before her tail had started to stir to life a bit, slowly curling around his arm. And then, miraculously, the girl started to blink. When she opened her eyes a bit, she took one look at Zaphron, one look at the water below, and her big eyes got wider, which resulted in her sobbing, almost hysterically. That sure took him by surprise.

"Hey hey shh, shh calm down... I haven't done anything to you.." He whispered, trying to reassure her.

But she sobbed harder. And she cried for so long that anyone in his shoes should've been irritated, but he couldn't help but feel pity for her. So he couldn't go straight to Belseau Woods as he intended; he had to make a pit stop at the bay of Northern Breach. Once he had made it to land, her cries slowly began to cease. Her eyes had been fixed onto the water ever since he stepped from the ocean. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't. She looked between the water, his shoes, and his face, before looking back at the water.