Floating Petals

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

            Chiyo shoved Hanami inside her hut and collapsed on the couch. Hanami sat down next to her and patted her back.

            “What happened? Did they laugh at you for collecting spices?”

            “NO! It has nothing to do with spices, just shut up for a sec.” Chiyo rubbed her temples and clenched her eyes shut. Hanami sighed and leaned back into the soft couch cushions.

            “Sorry. Just why did you not turn me in?” Chiyo’s eyes exploded in surprise. She turned her head slowly up to Hanami and she smirked back at her.

            “How did you know? I told you to close your ey…” Her face was filled with confusion.

            “You never told me to cover my ears. Did you never suspect I would hear you scream at the top of your lungs I have a fugitive??” Chiyo cringed. Then she laughed, hard. Her mouth was wide open towards the ceiling and she was holding her side like it hurt her to laugh. Hanami saw her laughing and her blank face turned into a happy-as-can-be one. They laughed for a while, enjoying the food they had. They had forgotten to pick up some more venison on the way back so they didn’t have an ample supply and about after one hour they ran out of meat.

            “Ugh, we are out of food and I AM STILL HUNGRY!” Shouted Hanami. She opened and closed the cabinets over and over again in frustration.

            “Well you know we could just go hunting!” Chiyo replied from the couch. She was lying horizontally across the whole couch with the lower section of her legs hanging off. She yawned and stretched pulling herself to her feet.

            Hanami nervously looked at her feet and pulled at her dress. “I don’t know exactly how to hunt…” Hanami’s face flushed and Chiyo rubbed her temples again.

            “How have you gotten this far if you didn’t know how to even FEED YOURSELF?!” Chiyo’s eyes were ridden with shock and annoyance. She sighed again and snatched her crossbow. “Well,” she loaded her crossbow with a bolt, “you’re going to learn now.”

Chiyo cheered for Hanami. She had finally hit the target dummy with a throwing knife.

            “You are getting better, see? You hit a bulls-eye that time!” Hanami smiled at the target and twirled the remaining knife through her fingers. She smiled again, tossed it in the air, did a spin and caught it before it hit the ground. “But don’t get too cocky because if you do…” Chiyo didn’t get to finish because she felt a whiz beside her ear. She looked behind her and saw the remaining knife lodged in the tree trunk. She turned around and chuckled at Hanami. “You really are getting better now; to be able to throw a knife at me, and for me to not be able to detect a disturbance. Very good.” Hanami bowed and then straightened again, chuckling lightheartedly. Chiyo tossed more throwing knives at her and she caught every one. She gestured for Hanami to follow her and she did.

            They crept up on a group of deer and Hanami gestured for Chiyo to kill two while she killed the other two. Chiyo nodded in approval and cocked her crossbow with two bolts, one aimed in each direction. Hanami moved her two knives in the path they were going and started to count down with her fingers. Once she held up an empty fist, the crossbow fired and Hanami’s hands shot out like lasers. All four deer fell like stones with a crash. The two girls glanced at each other, high-fived and then got out of the bushes to go collect their kills.

            The deer were heavy but Chiyo and Hanami both carried one on each shoulder and trudged back to the cottage in the clearing.

When they made it back, they were practically dragging the deer behind them.