Running (FOUR SWORDS FANFICTION!)

Shadow's Point of View

"Found you, Akina."

Next to me, Aki dropped the knife and was suddenly pulled backward.

"Did you think you could escape just because you found someone else? Don't you know anything about stranger danger, little girl?"

"Let go of me!" She struggled and the woman holding her glared at me. 

"Why don't the two of you quit fighting and come quietly? I promise we won't hurt you if you choose to cooperate."

I picked up the knife from the ground. 

"Hm...guess not. Akina, why don't you convince your friend to come with?"

Akina--who need I remind you is twelve--shouted, "FUCK YOU, BETHANY!" and kicked her in the shin.

"You little--" I handed Aki the knife and she grabbed ahold of my wrist, I took that as a cue to start running with her.

She was small, but she ran pretty fast, faster when the person started following us and called out, "Akina, get back here, you little bitch!"

I was right behind her, although I was extremely confused. Was Akina her full name? And how did this person know it? And on top of my confusion, although it probably wasn't the time, I also felt really upset I couldn't hear Era anymore, and I didn't know why I was thinking about that.

Wait, Era? She never told me her name. Is it Era? 

"Akina!" She shouted again.

It took a couple minutes of ducking beneath branches and jumping over fallen tree limbs before we outran them. "Akina!" Her voice became more distant. "Come the fuck on, Akina! You can't hide forever!" She muttered something that while I heard, I couldn't make out the words. 

Aki was panting for breath next to me and was staring at the ground. And as much as I wanted to demand who the fuck was that and why the hell did they call you Akina I knew that Aki was a child. I tried to keep that in mind.

"You called her Bethany," I pointed out trying to breathe, even though I probably didn't need to breathe like I didn't need to eat or sleep. 

She frowned.

I groaned. "Who is she?" I couldn't help my frustration, but I was trying not to get angry.

"Bethany," she said in response.

I took a deep breath. "Where are your parents? You said you were here because you got lost, how lost were you? Are they looking for you?"

She said quietly, "my parents are dead."

I pursed my lips. How did you comfort someone who lost someone close to them? How did you comfort a child who lost both of their parents and was being chased in a forest full of dead people? "I'm very sorry."

"I-I thought...I'd find them. But...But I couldn't...couldn't, and now, now they're trying to hurt me...They think, think I know something about...something, but I don't...They kept asking about the Dark Mirror...I'm scared..."

"You knew her name..."

"They tried to tell m-me I could trust--trust them...they told me their names, asked me questions...said they'd help me get out of the forest if I could just..." She took a deep breath. "If I could just help them find answers...and then...I saw them hurt people, and one...Bethany, the one who chased us, hurt me...a lot."

"What'd she do to you?" I asked.

"Grabbed me by the hair and... shoved my head underwater until I passed out. And broke my leg once when I walked away from her. It's healed up now, though..." She swallowed. "I learned to lie about my age. Makes me seem...less vulnerable..."

Fifteen or twelve, I think she's still pretty vulnerable..."She called you Akina..."

"...It's my full name, I just prefer Aki...like how...how that Green guy called you Shadow Link and you told me your name is Shadow..."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

She shook her head.

"Good...I don't think they're coming back...you don't know who those people are and what they're after?"

"They're after the Dark Mirror....what does it do anyway?"

"It used to be a source of power, it was for some really bad stuff."

"Was it bad or used for bad things?" Aki asked.

I opened my mouth but quickly shut it. 

She sighed and yawned.

"Aki?"

She looked up at me.

"Vio and a couple others are working on collecting the shards of the Dark Mirror to perform a ritual that can revive the dead. I don't think I can leave you in the middle of the forest or that they'd let me do something like that. Do you have any family that'd watch over you?"

"...Bethany..." she said. "She's my...mother. I lived with my aunt Peony...and then the village burned down and...I was the only one who got out, because Bethany...she knew what was gonna happen so...she kinda...kidnapped me...I ran away from her and got lost..."

"Aki, I'm so sorry..."

"She used to make me play with these two girls in the village, what were their names? Um...April and...Era..."

"Oh, goddesses..."

"They loved each other and they'd always play with me even though they were both older than me...when Bethany came into the village and grabbed me, Era wasn't there, she had to take care of something...April tried to protect me because Bethany pulled a knife out...it didn't go well."

I leaned against a tree and slumped to the ground. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"And then there was fire...and monsters...and...I saw April die...and I heard Era scream her name...And Peony..."

She shook her head.

"I'm so, so sorry, Aki..."

She sat down next to me. "It's fine...You...okay so it...isn't fine...and I still have nightmares...but you're better than Bethany..."

"...Do you know where your family is? Or at least...Peony and your friends...April and...Era?" I choked out the name that refused to come out of my mouth. Maybe I shouldn't have been saying any of their names, it was my fault they were dead.

"Era always said she'd end up here...her parents hurt her badly so one day she...killed them...the village almost ran her out for doing that but Peony convinced most of the village that it was an act of self-defense. But the others...they don't belong in a place like this."

"You don't belong in a place like this," I told her. "Neither does Era."

"I miss her..."

Is her name really Era? How the fuck do I know her name? This doesn't make any sense.

"I'm sure she misses you too."

Aki rested her head on my shoulder. "I'm tired."

Oh my fucking goddesses, she really is just a kid.

I glanced at her. "I doubt I'm that comfortable."

"Better than nothing."

"Whatever you say, Aki..."

"Night..."

Everything was silent for a minute. And then I heard her. "Protect her with your life, Shadow Link." I looked over at Aki, already asleep like she could actually trust me. 

"I will, Era," I whispered.