Twisted Choices

Chapter 14

"I don't understand why you even bothered to get the watermelon back, Dianne. And now look what happened."

Hero was struggling a little with treating Dianne's sprained ankle and scratches on her knees. She was outraged when she saw a spider steal a huge watermelon she was proud of and chased it up a tree.

She fell.

Markus and Ivan were watching with more concern than disappointment. Dianne had dried tears on her cheeks, and she frowned more and refused to talk to anyone. Hero gulped, feeling regretful.

"I'm sorry, Dianne. Next time, just be more careful."

Markus smirked behind him. Everyone had grown a year older, but Markus kept making fun of his older brother's doting on everyone. Hero was the mother of the household, managing food, defense, health and everything else. Markus remembered as long as since he was toddler that his older brother loved taking care of people, protecting people.

That's his brother. He may seem fierce and sarcastic at first, but he is such a sweetheart, loyal and caring to everyone. And Markus loved him all the same.

Finally, Dianne spoke, but in a cracked voice from her sobbing, "I don't know... I was looking forward to making watermelon cake and... And... I could have given you the leftovers for your b-brewing."

She kept on hiccupping in between her words, as Hero finished caring for her ankle before getting on his knees and hugging her tight. She sniffed a little and cradled her head in the crook of the younger boy's neck. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. You're a brilliant farmer, I bet you could make an even bigger watermelon next time round, and I'll protect it from everything, even creepers and flies."

And surprisingly, he was right. Dianne grew a massive watermelon a few weeks later. Hero secretly snuck out from the cabin to stand by the watermelon whenever Dianne was away. No one except Markus knew about his effort to make Dianne happy.

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Hero chuckled lightly as he read the latest note from Arache.

I hope you like the roses. If there are any more thorns, please tell me and I'll cut them off for you. How is Dianne, by the way? Is your extra guarding paying off on your sight? How is your shoulder? You said a skeleton shot you slightly when you were protecting the fruit.

-Arachass

The roses are absolutely gorgeous. Dianne is extremely delighted, and seeing her smile so wide made me happy as well. Yes, my sight is getting better. And stop worrying about my shoulder, it's nothing. You mentioned you wanted to hunt a deer before? How is that going?