Tiger lily

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lilliana’s POV

The night was long. We spent most of it making a wide circle around the village. When we finally decided we were far enough away to go to sleep, I was out before my head hit the pillow, which was in this case the hard ground.

I woke to the sound of Chris talking softly to Buttons and gently stroking her fur.

There was no sun today, just gray, overcast clouds. It felt like a blanket had been put over the world, toning everything down.

Chris looked over as I got up.

“Looks like it’s going to rain.” He observed looking up.

“Good morning to you, too,” I said, getting up and stretching. Oh how I envy the people who have never had to sleep on the rocky ground with not even as much as a blanket. They have no idea how lucky they are.

“Sore?” He asked, chuckling.

“Aren’t you?”

“Yup. But its not like we should be expecting anything else. We are sleeping on the ground, after all.”

He had a point. I shouldn’t be complaining, but then he was the one who brought it up.

“Lets just go.” I said, dreading another day of riding.

One day, I could take. Two days, I could take. A week, I could take. I was dreading three.

Just walking hurt.

We had yet to be riding for five minutes before the rain started.

At first it was only a drizzle that helped break me out of my half asleep stupor. After twenty minutes it had escalated into a full-blown rainstorm. The rain was like a sheer curtain between my eyes and the world. I couldn’t see anything clearly.

I made out Chris on his horse to my left. He was looking me, and our eyes met.

He was soaked. His hair stuck to his face, and his electric blue eyes stood out.

Christophe’s POV

She turned and looked at me through the rain, which was coming down in sheets. Our eyes met and she smiled.

Her long, dark hair was dripping with water and her clothes were soaked, hugging her figure. Her bright blue eyes reminded me of the sky on a bright, cloudless day.

She looked away, and we continued riding.

The rain was ice cold, and after a while I was numb and shivering, soaked to the bone. Occasionally, it slowed down and I crossed my fingers that it would stop, but it just started up again with new energy, pummeling me with the cold water.

I wondered idly if Tiger was as cold as I was. I couldn’t see her well, so I couldn’t tell.

Time passed, and the ground beneath our horses turned to mud.

A little ahead of us, I could just make something out.

“Do you see that?” I asked, well more like shouted so I could be heard over the pounding of the rain.

“Yeah. What is it?”

Like I would know.

As we approached it, the outline of a giant bird…? No…Maybe a guy with a horse?

Lilliana’s POV.

I couldn’t see what it was until we were about ten feet away. When I could make it out, I found that it wasn’t an it, but a who.

A young man stood next to a crème colored horse, unmoving and soaked.

“Hello. What brings you out here?” He asked in a dialect of Chinese similar enough to the one that I spoke that I understood.

At the institute, we were required to know three languages: English, Chinese, and Korean. Korean because we studied the Korean art or Tang Soo Do, Chinese because we liked in China, and English because it was a required part of our schooling.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I said, deliberately avoiding His question.

“What is he saying?” Chris asked, and I remembered that he didn’t know Chinese.

Before I could answer, the man said,  “I was just asking why you are here,” In perfect English.

Chris and I exchanged a quick glance through the rain. From what I could make out of his expression, he was thinking the same thing as I was.

“And I was just asking him the same thing.” I said, switching to English.

“According to my map, there should be a village around here, but due to the rain, I’ve lost my way.” He said without even as much as an accent.

“The village is that way.” I said pointing back the way we came.

“How far is it?” He asked

“A few hours.” Chris replied.

“I’m afraid my horse can’t make it. I think he dislocated his ankle in the mud. He has trouble walking and his leg…” He trailed off and pointed to his horse’s front leg.

From what I could see, its leg seemed to have a bone protruding from it.

I exchanged another glance with Christophe. What were we to do?

People occasionally got hurt in karate, and I had seen my fare share of dislocated things when people had done holds or takedowns wrong. I think I could fix it.

But Christophe’s look had been one of warning. And I wasn’t too confident about approaching him, either.

Still, I couldn’t stand to see that poor horse in pain, and there was no way he could walk to the village. From the looks of it, he wasn’t even putting any weight on it.

“I can fix it.” I said.

Chris shot me a look, but I ignored it, dismounting my horse and handing him the reigns.

Without another thought about it, I walked over to the boy.

*****

Sorry this chapter was a little short.

please, if you have any suggestions on where you want this story going next, just lemme know! I have a plan for this story, but its not concrete and its still missing a lot of details.