Survive Or Die

Chapter 8- A new friend

Archers POV

I stumble through the forest and as far away from the fighting as possible.
I really don't want to die.
Maybe, just maybe, if I keep running I'll find this 'safe haven' Celia keeps talking about. If it even exists.
I trip, opening up a cut on my knee. I curse then I hear the sound of a twig snapping.
If I've ever seen a horror movie, and I have, I know that a twig snapping is always a bad sign.
I stagger up and throw myself through the trees, my hand resting on the dagger in its seath. I stop for a minute to catch my breath and bend over. I must be far enough to be safe.
I climb the biggest tree and curl up on the thickest branch. Then I wait.
The sun goes down and the temperature immediately drops, sending shivers through my body and my teeth chattering nonstop. I wrap my arms tighter around myself and try to direct my mind anywhere but the freezing cold. Did Celias group survive? How many are still alive? Has the fight even stopped? What if they win? At some time through the night, I manage to fall asleep.
I wake to a large drop of morning dew landing between my eyes. I shake it off and stand stiffly before remembering I'm in a tree and gripping the trunk. I manage to shimmy my way down and shake off all the stiffness that accompanies my sleeping in a tree. My clothes are damp and my hair a mess but then again, what isn't a mess these days?
I check that all my daggers are still tucked away safely before setting out again.
I walk for ages. Or what feels like ages. Until I come to the most beautiful sight I've ever seen.
It's a large clearing in the trees. The ground is littered with hundreds of flowers and thousands of butterflies hover above them. In the centre is a huge, strong tree that reaches higher then anything other. Hanging on the branches are hundreds of cocoons that will soon hatch and look like tiny lights. The whole scene is breathtaking.
I want to stay and enjoy it but I have to keep moving if I want to make it to safety...
It takes all my will power but I'm able to pull away and take off into the trees again.

I walk for ages undisturbed until my stomach decides I'm hungry. It growls and only then do I feel the aching pain of not eating all yesterday. I scan the area but don't find any plants I recognise only a few birds and a what look like some sort of ugly rat. After an hour of searching I give up. I sigh and hesitantly pull my sharp dagger from my belt. I practice a few times hitting a target on a tree until I decide to try my luck. I'm not that bad since my Father was really into guns and knives. Pretty strange when you think about it.
"Sorry," I whisper before sending my shiny dagger into one of the rat like things. I wince as it stops moving and slumps to the ground. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't secretly hoping I'd miss. I guess all those forced hunting and training sessions paid off. I gingerly make my way over to the dead creature and have to instantly look away from the sight. The knife found its way into the poor rats stomach. The animal is surrounded by a pool of sticky, dark blood that makes me gag.
I take a deep breath before looking back. I try to avoid it's cold, dead eyes that seem to be accusing and fill me with guilt. "Sorry. It's not like I had a choice. I'm hungry," I say while skinning it in a small seep. I've done it a few times with my Father when he would force me to go hunting with him. Mostly I would hang back and let him do the work but occasionally he would drag me in and make me clean his knives or skin an animal. Never have I actually killed one.
I gag as I look at its mangled remains. You can still see it's gross little tail and rounded ears as well as its, kind of cute, pointed nose.
I set a small fire and hold the animal over it using a stick. The sun starts dipping over the horizon when it's finally cooked. I strip off the disgusting animal and merely stare it for a while.
I killed it.
I killed it.
The realisation finally sets in that, I, have in fact, killed something.
Most people have killed Flesh Eaters or actually humans but I'll take what I can.
A small rustling in the bushes breaks me from my train of thought.
I bolt up and grab my shiny clean dagger with one hand while setting the meat down on a huge leaf. "W-Who's there?" I ask shakily into the darkness. "D-Don't make m-me come in there." It hardly sounds like a threat with my shaky voice but I don't care. I see something move swiftly from behind the large plants. A blur of dark hair that is surprisingly close to the ground. It's human. A small human. "I-If you come out you c-can have s-some of my food," I offer, settling down a bit.
The rustling stops and two small, bright, cornflower blue eyes stare back at me. The intensity of them takes me completely by surprise. "What meat is it?" A small voice asks. I try to distinguish whether it's a girl or a boy but it's too quiet.
"I-I don't know... A rat maybe," I answer then hold out half of it. "Want some?" It sounds stupid. Want to share this tiny rat with me? But I'm panicking.
The small person stays hidden for a while more before stepping out and into my view and the warm glow of the fire. I gasp when I see it's a small girl. Okay, not small since she looks about as old as me and has a bow slung over her shoulder, but she is quite short and looks extremely fragile although the bow and blood stained arrows say otherwise. She has long, matted, chocolate brown hair that reaches her butt but is coated in dirt and grime. She is wearing a dirty and torn dress, I can't even tell what colour it is, and her shoes are some large sneakers that clearly aren't hers. Her face is small and extremely dirty, with mud smudges and a few scrapes. Yet her eyes are bright and curios. "It's an enchimydae, spiny rat," she says then her face goes red and she looks to the ground.
I can only stare at her, dazed. I imagine what I look like right now. My blond hair must be caked with thick dirt and leaves and my face must be dirty and oily all over. Not to mention my clothes. "H-How do you..." I trail off.
She shrugs indifferently. "Momma taught me about eatable animals and berries and nuts," she says it like it's no big deal but is actually life saving. She bites her lip and looks at the piece of meat still on the leaf. "And that," she nods her head to it. "Is not edible." My eyes widen and I fling my dinner into the dark. Well that was a waste of time. She giggles when she sees my scrunched up face.
"Thanks," I mumble, now it's my turn to stare at the ground.
We are silent for a while until she pulls of a small backpack that I hadn't noticed before. It's caked in a thick layer of mud for camouflage probably so I can know why I didn't see it. She reaches in and pulls out a small plastic bag. "Want some?" She asks shyly. I nod and thank her again. She takes out a handful of berries and gives them to me before taking some for herself. I give her a doubtful look that she ignores and shoves the berries into her mouth with a satisfied grin.
I take a deep breath, possibly my last, breath and shove the berries past my lips. They burst into an unfamiliar taste of both tangy and sweet. I swallow them and I'm still standing so maybe they weren't poisonous. I thank her again quietly. She seems to know exactly what she's doing and, I have to admit, it's quite intimidating. She seems to have got more confident that I'm not going to kill her anytime soon and laughs. "You apologise too much," she says with a nod before packing her stuff up and slinging the pack back over her shoulder.
I open my mouth to say sorry then close it, bursting into laughter as well. "Are you leaving?" I ask as soon as we both calm down. Even though I don't even know her the thought of her leaving so soon upsets me.
She bites her lip and looks between the dark forest and me as she thinks about it. She shrugs. "You can stay in the tree with me," I blurt out. I don't know why I'm go desperate for her company. Must be because I'm lonely. As plain as that. I miss a kids company. I feel my face heat up so I glance away. "I-I mean, if y-you want to?" I start stuttering and mentally curse myself.
Her cherry lips spread into a smile. "Okay." She immediately starts scaling the tree and in at the top before I've put out the fire.
"Wow," I whisper to myself as I look up at her, dangling there and staring down at me with a triumph grin. She's pretty cool.
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Hola readers!
Surprise! This chapter is Archer. It was planned for a while and I apologise in advance, whereas his friend literally came up out of nowhere... I don't even...
I said I'd make it up to you and I hope I have. I think the next chapter will also be in Archers POV btw so don't be too surprised.
Aria- 30
Celia- 27
And just to be clear, the little girl is, in fact Archers age and isn't from any of the existing groups she just kinda... came up.
I also realised that I didn't have any description for him I think so I added that into Chapter 1.
And I will add the girls name in the next chapter ;)
Shit is still going on so don't worry if I don't publish very often it's just blah.
Love you guys so much, and byeeee xxx