Woods

FOUR

How many time is it possible to starve before you die?

I was currently having a debate between my stomach, my head and myself on that very subject.

And to push further my anger, Ethan was the one watching me tonight and the bastard was eating! Meat at that!

I was almost certain he was doing mouth noises on purpose, though I could not say anything or else my punishment might get worse. Still, wasn't the situation unfair? Seeing my glare towards him, he smirk.

Oh no you didn't just smirk at me!

Turning on my heels, I faced the training wall I was supposed to climb. I always had loved climbing walls, it gave you the opportunity to hide and surprise your target. I remembered escaping at night as a child to climb the walls.

But not with my hands tied up, leaving me almost no space to move my freaking arms.

At this point I was sure master wanted to kill me or something.

Sighing, I made my way towards my mostly certain death and began to study the path I was going to take to reach the top. Once I was satisfied I ran forward and jumped to grab a rock that was above my head. I quicky put my feet on the wall to avoid crashing onto it. I loved walls but not in that way!

I slowly began to make my way to the top, enjoying the feeling of twisting my body and jumping higher when needed. Adrenaline began to rush within me, bringing me confidence. I climbed faster.

However, I might have forgotten about the 'hands tied up' issue because I ended up being stuck in an awkward position, unable to reach that spike at my upper right. I tried to lift my right leg to bring me in a more comfortable position but the said leg never reached its destination and I felt myself falling.

Stupid body, you are supposed to go up not down!

Luckily for me, I managed to grab an asperity in the wall, which abruptly stopped my fall causing me to hit my face on the wall.

"Ouch!"

That was going to leave a bruise. Great two scratches on the face in one day, am I not lucky?

"Elie! Are you alright?" Ethan's concern voice made me look down. He stood up from his spot and was at the base of the wall, ready to climb.

"Don't you dare come and play Prince Charming with me Ethan! I can handle myself just fine! Go back to your meat."

Hearing my pretty normal answer given the situation, he smiled with relief. Yet, it didn't last very long as his eyes widened.

"Eliana, your face is bleeding, you need to treat that wound! I am coming wether you want it or not." He then proceeded to put his hand on a rock.

I heard myself growled at that sight.

"If you touch my wall any further I will make sure you can never raise any progeny. Master demanded me to climb that freaking wall with both hands tied up. I don't know how the hell I am going to do that but I will, so step back."

With that said, I stretched, grabbed another rock and hauled myself up, not leaving him time to argue.

I'll show you how much useful of a weapon I can be. Just you watch master.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached the top. Exhausted I layed down face toward the sky. The full moon, and the bright stars were so beautiful it took my breath away. The peaceful night was only disturbed by the cry of a hungry fox in hunt.

At least you, my friend, are going to actually eat tonight.

I might have fallen asleep just like that because I was startled awake by a hand shaking me. Opening my eyes and sitting up, I bumped hardly into something hard and heard a grunt.

"Geez! What do you all have with my head these days?! Stop harrassing my face already! How am I supposed to flirt with the squirrels if its all bruised?" I said rubbing the spot I just hit on my head.

Ethan, who was the moron who woke me up watched me with worry, rubbing his painful jaw. "Please, tell me you didn't just speak about flirting with squirrels. Anyway, you were not coming down so I figured you forgot you were bleeding like a pig earlier and I came to treat this wound before it leaves a scar on your 'pretty face'. "

Oh.

That was kind of him but I still didn't like how he (not so) subtly pointed the fact that I was clumsy.

"Thanks" I groaned "But I would have done that later on, you know. And I am not indebted to you, even if you came to help m-"

I cut myself out when he raised his hand which was holding a little napkin that smells strangely like food.

The red haired man chuckled and opened it, letting me see a bunch of meat balls, cheese and bread.

"Forget everything I said earlier, you deserve a pat on the head for bringing me food." I said my mouth already wattering in anticipation.

He then began to laugh his ass of, with tears in his eyes. Trying to catch his breath he managed to say: "You are so easy to read. Just a bit of food and you forget about your anger!"

Man, I was going to hear about that for a long time, I could tell.

I playfully punched him in the arm and took the napkin, munching on my meat while he treated my wound.

"By the way, master wants you to know that your punishment is over for now. He said something like you would be needed in a short amount of time, so you needed some rest."

That was good news, the quicker I was sent on mission, the quicker I would leave this awful place.