A Race Between Time • RyuuxReader • Snow White With Red Hair

4 - The Sounds of Memories

A yell got caught in your throat as Kiki pushed you behind her.

"Don't touch my sister!"

You clutched your arm as Zen grabbed your other, pulling you to the back of the room. Mitsuhide grabbed the man by the wrists and twisted them behind his back making him drop the bland. Kiki slowly picked on the dagger before shoving it to the skin of his throat. Despite her fierce motions she pressed lightly with the blade, barely breaking any skin.

Zen threw Mitsuhide a small string of thick rope that he must have found behind you. Zen took of the white cape he was wearing to block some of the cold and tore it in half. Before wrapping it around your injured shoulder. The man had sliced an uneven wound from your shoulder to your elbow that wasn't pretty.

The man laughed as his wrists and ankles began to be brought together, "Sister, eh?" He looked between you and Kiki, "Next time I'll swing for you both."

Kiki seized the man by the throat with both hands, dropping the blade and bring his face towards hers, "You have harmed the 2nd Princess of Seiranna and threatened the next queen of Seiranna," the man attempted to respond but only choked, "I will make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars with buckets of iron on your shoulders." She released his throat and left the room. For the few seconds she held his throat, purple and black bruised had formed under her finger tips.

He took gasping breathes and screamed insults as the door shut behind her.
Mitsuhide sat the man on the ground and called out to Kiki as he bound the mans mouth shut with a piece of cloth between his teeth.

You looked at your shoulder, dark maroon blood dripped down your finger tips, "I think I need some air," you managed to mumbled before everything went black

As you woke up, you were only sure of two things: Ryuu was dying and your shoulder hurt.
Hooray.

You found yourself in a warm bed with thick bandages traveling down your arm. A window sat in front of your bed shining sunlight directly into your eyes. You squinted and looked around the room, it wasn't the same room you had stayed in before but had an almost identical design.

Kiki sat in a chair beside your bed with her arms crossed. A combination between anger and sadness blended her features. You glanced at her before quickly closing your eyes again.

"I know you're awake," you kept your eyes closed, "About what happened-" Kiki began

"How's Ryuu?" You opened your eyes to look at her finally. You did not want to talk about anything revolving the situation that had just happened.

She closed her mouth and opened it again, as if searching for the right words, "First, I think you would like to know you've been out for a whole day," she looked out the window, "Maybe a little more. Which makes sense considering the blood loss and your lack of sleep,"

You took your last statement back, you did not want to talk about anything revolving the situation that had the previous day.

You nodded slowly, slightly thankful you had slept that long. At least you had avoided the pain of your arm for that short amount of time. Unfortunately, it meant you had plenty of questions about things other than Ryuu.

Kiki waited for a response that never came and decided to just continue, "Shirayuki sent a letter this morning. The fort is not long from Wisteria so it only took a couple hours to arrive," she paused, "Ryuu is getting worse. His body is still trying to fight- whatever were in those flowers. It's his fever she is most concerned about."

You didn't respond again, as anxiety flooded over you like cold water. In that second you forgot about Kiki and Seiranna and your mind only revolved on Ryuu.

She leaned back in her chair, "I wasn't supposed to tell you that, but as your sister-"

"You're not my sister," the words fell out of your mouth before you had the chance to think about them. The look on her face first made you feel guilty and then angry, "I'm going to go get some air," you got up, "Without passing out this time." You added as you walked out the door.

You hoped Kiki was too shocked to follow you or either didn't want to.

Your injured arm hung by your body, throbbing with every step you took but your angry pushed through. You just needed to be outside, in the cold, to feel something other than what you felt.
The cold only made you feel more irritated.

The one person you had gotten close to other than Ryuu was Kiki. And now to find out she's your sister, you had no idea about until a few weeks ago? Had she known all this time and not tell you? Well, she would have had to known.
You thought back to her pushing you behind her. No one else in the room seemed shocked except you.. well, you and whoever that man was. Had Zen and Mitsuhide known too and not told you? Did Shirayuki and Garak know? Did Ryuu know?

You heard footsteps behind you, against the dirt ground, ones you recognized but you chose to ignore to continue your train of thought.

Ryuu.
Ryuu was sick and you chose to go away. Why? Why did you chose that? You should have stayed with him.. unless you ride back tonight by yourself.
Time was ticking, nightfall was going to come fast leaving you barely any time to prepare.
You felt like an idiot for leaving, Ryuu did not have much time and you were wasting it here instead of with him.

You began pacing.

Think Y/n think, you were a doctor you should know what to do! What can you do?

And then you saw them. A group of what would seem to be green weeds to others, but to a herbalist that were sacred. What were they called? You thought back to your many lesson with Ryuu.

"I want you to start studying true medical herbs," Ryuu said as he placed a few short papers in front of you, "Shirayuki recommended I start with Spellamiso. It's an edible herb that can reduce fevers and soothe pain whenever it's roots are steamed and dried,"

Oh, how you would do anything right now to hear his voice again and not just in memories.
But you needed to focus;
In the paper Ryuu gave you, it said Spellamiso could only be harvested in cold areas at a high altitude.
A ping of hope fluttered in your chest.
It was cold and the fort was on an elevated plot of land.

You turned to Kiki, the person standing a distance behind you. Obviously, the shock was not enough to keep her away and in this moment you were thankful of that.

She opened her mouth but you had already filled the air with words.

"I need your help."

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