Rook Academy: The Chronicles of a Hunter

Chapter 2

I wake up lying on my front, a dull pain radiating through me, originating from the bloody hole in my shoulder. It aches and burns as I roll onto my back and when I push myself up to a sitting position, I can't stop myself groaning in pain through clenched teeth as I do so, a sharp pain rippling through me as I move.

I raise my left arm up to where I had been hit, and find the area to be wrapped tightly in a gray, fabric, make-shift bandage. The wound is still fresh and stings on touch causing me to wince, but it's still better than it would have been if I still had an arrow embedded in my back. I already know who it is that's fixed me and I am glad that she is here to help me, although her scowl suggests she is not as happy with the night priors events.

"You are a massive, huge, monumental jerk... You know that?"

She looks incredibly tired and I doubt she slept at all last night, she has always made a point out of taking care of others before herself and I assume she has done the same thing here. We had not been able to sleep the night before last due to problematic circumstances, so now she has went two days without sleeping due to my incompetence.

She has slumped to the floor and has her knee's pulled up to her chest, leaning against a large, cheap-looking crate. Due to the pitch black darkness that had engulfed the interior when I had been dragged inside, I had not seen the various crates, boxes, chests and coffers lining the walls; each one has a large brand on the side followed by corresponding numbers and letters marked on in chalk (most likely an indicator as to where they are being taken).

Now, I look more closely at Astrid, the outside sunlight flooding into the carriage from the few uncovered windows and I can see a sight which pains me. Her eyes are bloodshot and the area's around them and red and puffy, a sign that she has been crying. We've been best friends for some time and she has always been a sensitive soul, getting upset whenever I -or anyone else- had gotten injured; be it from reckless behaviour or a lack of skill she still doesn't want to see anyone in pain. She has admitted to me in the past that she abhors it in fact. Given our time together, I suppose this side of her has rubbed off on me a little; before meeting her I could simply walk into a fight with no hesitation, but now-a-days I find I'm more reserved and hesitant. At least when she is around.

My usual response to these kinds of situations would be to just joke around the subject and hopefully distract whom ever I am speaking to until they forget about their strife, but again with Astrid it's always been different. Not to mention as I'm the cause of her grief, this would be monumentally inappropriate and just a generally horrible thing to do. So instead I give her a solemn answer.

"I know I am and I'm honestly sorry Astrid. I didn't mean to make you worry."

I get up onto my feet and try my best to ignore the pain, gritting my teeth to retain my poker face as I'd rather her not see I'm still in pain. I slowly wander to her side and slowly sit back down again besides her. I sit on her right side and put my left arm over her shoulder, pulling her into a partial embrace.

"Thank you though fixing me up again Azzie, I don't know what I'd do for you."

She is still for a moment as if deciding what to do before she hesitantly rests her head on my shoulder. She nuzzles in after a minute or so and I hear her let out a jagged breath as she holds back tears. She has gotten mad at me about this kind of thing before.

"I hate it when you do stupid stuff like this... I shouldn't need to have to fix you up like this all the time..."

Her voice is quaky as she speaks and I watch quietly as she rubs at her eyes with her sleeves. It's now that I realise where my bandage has came from as one of her sleeves has been torn off midway up her forearm, the fabric still jagged from where strips had been pulled from it.