Distance Between Two Lands: Above the Earth

Chapter 2

As Vladia's father opened the door, a large cat was entangled within their clothing line they had in their house. It thrashed around violently and a pot fell from the shelf and hit the cougar on the head, making it even more confused and frustrated.

"Well, we can't kill it. She might have babies and they depend on their mother." Vladia said with caution.

"Yes, but she's in our house. I can grab her and throw her out and into the forest if someone distracts her." Adamain says with a proud smirk.

"Be careful, my son. Battle scars may be cool, but they tell gruesome stories." Their father warns.

Just by looking at each other, the two siblings nodded and stalked inside of their house. Vladia grabbed a plate and smashed it on the table to get the big cat's attention and it worked like a charm.

"Here kitty, come here. We can help you." She coos, keeping a small distance from her and the wild cat. The mother cougar hissed loudly and swiped at her. Dodging with a bit of difficulty, Vladia made sure to watch for her brother.

"You're okay, you're okay. Come here and be nice." She says with kindness in her voice. Vladia poked her nose quickly and the cougar moved her large paws a step closer towards her, yet still restrained by the clothesline.

"Got it!" Adamain says as he grabbed her back paws and took them from underneath her. The wild cat fell and sat confused for a second before scrambling up and tearing the clothesline in two, running from the house and into the forests. "Eh, close enough."

"And we have to replace so many things!" Their mother says with a worried tone. Distress plagued her voice and she was clearly pissed off at the wild animal.

"It's okay mom, as long as she didn't kill anyone, she's fine." Vladia said with a small smile. She walked over to her mother and kissed her forehead gently to calm her a little.

"She killed my house." She mutters as she waddled inside. Vladia followed after and she looked back at her father in curiosity.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be out here fixing the door and such. Go on ahead and sleep, I won't be out long." He said with a kind smile.

"Come in as soon as you can or mom will get worried." Adamain says as he picked up a bookshelf and stabilized it a bit.

"Alexei, make sure that you lock and close the door please." Vladia and Adamain's mother calls.

As the family began settling down for the night and going to bed, their father finally entered the house. He grabbed some supplies to bathe and cleaned himself up from the festival and work. Going to his and his wife's room, he slipped on a pair of boxers and a tee shirt and gently cuddled with his wife as the two slept.

Vladia woke up early in the morning, her head spinning and her mind fuzzy. She felt sick to her stomach even though she never took a single sip of alcohol. When she stood up, she immediately ran to the bathroom and emptied her stomach into the toilet.

"Vladia, you okay?" Adamain asked from the doorway. He walked inside cautiously and tied her hair back, cringing at the smell of vomit.

"I want to die." She complained through uneven breathing, continuing to empty her insides. Adamain got up and rushed to their small kitchen, getting her a glass of water, a tablet to help disinfect and clean her mouth, a pill in case if she had a headache, and started making her soup.

When he walked back into the bathroom, she was rinsing her mouth and shivering. Adamain handed her a pill and tablet and instructed her to take the pill first, then combine the tablet and water. She did so and immediately clung to his warmth.

"You're burning up. I can tell mom and dad that I'm taking you to a doctor, but you'll need to get dressed. I'm making you soup right now so you can eat at least something." Adamain says as he scooped up his younger sister and sat her on a chair.

"Thank you." She whispers with a weak smile. Vladia watched as her brother continued to prepare the food; slicing up wild potatoes, carrots, and adding some onions to add flavor to the plain vegetable broth. Adamain poured some of the soup into a bowl for himself and his sister and sat across from her.

"Eat up, you'll need your strength." He says as he immediately began eating. Vladia began eating as well and they both heard their parents starting to get up.

"I'll go get dressed, tell them please." Vladia requested. Adamain nodded and made sure that his wobbly sister got to her room, leaving their partially empty bowls on the table.

"Hey, Vladia got sick off of something and I'm going to take her to get checked out. I'll be with her all day because she's physically weak." Adamain says to his father and mother.

"She didn't drink, did she?" Her mother muttered as she was just barely waking up. Because she was sleeping, her hair stuck up in random directions.

"No, I watched her the entire night." Adamain sighed. "Not a drop of alcohol in her system."

"Alright, go on ahead and take her then. I'll try and get off of work early to care for her so that you can hunt." His father said in his husky voice from waking up as well.

Adamain nodded and walked to his sister's small room and saw her slipping on a pair of boots. She wore a grey sweater with camouflage pants along with a black scarf. It was very clear that she was cold to say the least.

"Oh no, no, no! There is no way in hell that you're wearing a sweater. Switch it with a shirt so you don't pass out from overheating; or at least tie the bloody thing around your waist." He ordered as he grabbed a shirt and tossed it to her.

"I'm cold though." She protested stubbornly. Vladia was trembling from her body fighting off whatever was in her system, but she was still needing the comfort.

"I could care less, I don't want my little sister to pass out." He said as he slipped the sweater off of her and quickly put on the shirt.

Crossing her arms in protest, her brother picked her up once more and left to find a doctor that was awake to check on his sister.

As seconds passed, he grew more and more desperate to find someone for his sister. Vladia was trembling in not only the loss of temperature, but at the sight of seeing a rising smoke cloud in the distance in the direction of their humble village.