Tarrair {Land of Elements} [[ON HOLD]]

Chapter 3

The assembly that had gathered during the event slowly dismantled until only Amar and his friends were the only one still contemplating what had just happened. The girl hadn't seemed like a criminal to them, a little rude but that's to be expected from people you find in the forest. Criminal or not, it was still odd to him that they would immediately try to kill her, instead of just taking her to prison. Honestly, how much trouble could a grouchy merchant cause to deserve an arrow to the arm? It didn't add up to him. He pursed his lips and spoke for the first time since the incident. "I'm going to try and find her. She couldn't of gone far."

Jue and Lunn looked at each other for a moment, the same look of concern on each of their faces. This wasn't the first time he'd tried to go somewhere on his own, and they worried he'd be so fascinated by a bit of freedom that he wouldn't come back. "Your parents will be worried." Jue started.

He shrugged with a smirk, a face that informed his two guards that's there was no way they'd convince him otherwise. This could be too good of a chance for him to pass up. He couldn't help but wonder if this would be the day he actually got out of this place. "We wouldn't want our new friend to bleed out, now would we? I have bandages in my backpack."

Jus sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She couldn't tell if he was serious about this. She muttering something to Lunn along the lines of "Your turn."

Lunn didn't say anything for a long while, he just stared down the youth as if he was trying to make a decision. He knew he wasn't a child, and that they couldn't hold them here much longer. He took in a deep breath and then said "Don't die, kid."

They both knew that Amar would not be coming back for a while. He had always wanted to travel, his curiosity was always getting the best of him. Anyone who knew him could tell that being stuck in a town, surrounded by people who expected him to tell them what to do didn't fit his personality at all. Like most things though, his freedom came at a cost, which in this case happened to be Jue and Lunn's job.

Amar looked down at the ground and nodded. "Thanks." Was all he said.

"It's been a long time coming. We all knew that."

"We could go with–" Jue cut herself off, knowing he wouldn't agree to it.

"You guys are happy here. Besides, I can do this on my own."

"Visit us now and then, ok?" She said, not looking him in the eye.

"But of course." He smiled and did a over dramatic bow before turning in the opposite direction and walking towards the forest.

The two mentors watched as he walked away. Sure, they weren't his biological parents but they had basically been his guardians for as long as they had been working under his parents. Yet, in the sadness of losing a child, they were also happy for him. He would now be able to be himself out in the real world. Even if his real self happened to be a complete idiot.

***

Aireene sat in a forest clearing. It took her a while to get there, and there was a lot of blood but at least now she could tend to her wound. She gently ripped off the sleeve of her shirt revealing a large clot of both dried and fresh blood from where the arrow had hit her. She bit down on her tongue to keep herself from screaming as she poured water from her canteen on to the injury and washed off the dirt and grime. She knew it was important to keep it from getting infected yet the pain it put her in almost felt worse then anything bacteria could do to her. Normally she would of felt odd showing so much skin but that wasn't her first priority at the moment.

Once she had cleaned off some of the excess blood she noticed how little the arrow had actually done to her. The soldiers who had shot her were obviously not skilled archers. It had only really affected the muscle while her bone seemed to be completely fine. It didn't seem to be done bleeding, though. She needed something to slow down the blood flow with but she didn't carry bandages. She didn't have a need before now. No one had ever caught her by surprise like that before now, she put her guard up whenever the smallest thing was off. It was a habit from the dangers of the wild.