Blossom is to the right
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As Saraphine awoke she could feel the stinging in her eye, she attempted to open them and only succeded at opening one. 'Great' she thought. 'It must be swollen'
"Woah!" She heard Kale exclaim. Saraphine looked over to where his voice had come from. He was sitting up on a mat on the floor. He didn't even look frazzled upon waking, whereas she was sure she looked a hot mess. "That's quite the shiner you have there."
"Hmmm. I wonder whose fault that could possibly be." Saraphine said sarcasticaly with a furrowed brow. Well, half a furrowed brow. The eyebrow above her swollen eye didn't budge.
"Yours. Shouldn't have been standing under the ladder." Kale chuckled playfully. Saraphine let out a sort of guttural growl. Kale took the hint that she was not to be messed with right now. She had warned him that she was not a morning person. "How are you anyways?" Kale sounded much more somber now.
"Fine. Why shouldn't I be?" Saraphine looked away from him quickly so he wouldn't catch on to her little fib.
"Well...it's just that you were...crying in your sleep last night." Kale lowered his voice to a gentle whisper. Saraphine had dreamt of her mother last night. She had dreamt of how her mother probably had rushed around the house frantically calling her name. When Saraphine was no where to be found her mother had crumpled to the floor in hysterical tears. Her father reached for the phone and dialed the royal guard. Once the royal guard got there they had spent all of two minuetes investigating before telling her mother that she had been taken by the vagrants and that she was most likely dead at this point. This information had sent Saraphine's mother into a stress induced heart attack and resulted in her being rushed to the hospital.
"It's just my mom. She has no idea where I am. She's probably worried sick." Saraphine tried hard not to cry again.
"I understand, but I'm afraid you can never see her again Saraphine." Kale joined her on the bed and craddled her face in his hands. With that Saraphine lost all control and began sobbing. Kale pulled her into a tight hug and started stroking her hair. "I wish things were different Saraphine. I really do, but these are just the circumstances we have to deal with." Kale said soothingly.
"I know. I'm not complaining. It's just a lot to deal with. I mean I'm essentially an orphan now." Saraphine sniffed.
"I understand how hard it is to lose a parent. I've been there." Kale stood and crossed the room. He stopped in front of a portrait of a man who looked much like him except his tone was a bit darker and he was about ten years older than Kale was.
"Is that your dad?" Saraphine was just happy to have to topic off of her tragedy at the moment.
"Ya. He died when I was seven. My mom painted this so I wouldnt ever forget him, not that I ever could. He was an amazing man. Strong, brave, kind. He was always looking out for others. Thats what got him killed actually. He had made a foraging trip into the quadrant that day. He was just about to lead everyone back home when he saw a little girl whose gas mask was malfunctioning. Despite the pleads of the rest of team he ran to her aid and rushed her to the hospital. He was captured on site. We have never seen or heard from him again." Kale reached out and gently touched the man's wide grinning face. Saraphine felt as though a bomb had gone off in her stomach. That's what had happened to her. She had been that girl. She was the reason that Kale's father was dead. Saraphine knew that she should tell Kale, but she was much too worried that he would hate her and have her cast out of the tribe. Without the tribe she wouldn't survive. She couldn't go back to the quadrant or she would be killed. There was no way she would make it in the wilderness alone. No matter how much it hurt her to do so she would just have to keep this information to herself for now.
