Brightening White Flowers

14. Adding Fire

Hana just stares at the river as we stand on the bank. I double check my weapons then, finding them all tightly in place, I take my first step into the slightly swift paced river. Hana is still just standing there by the time I reach five feet into the three mile wide river. I turn slightly before I whisper loudly at her, "Just hold your pack tightly and walk in. This is the slowest part right here. You will not be dragged away in the few feet we have to swim in the center."

I see her look of reluctance just before I turn back around and continue on my slow trek. I listen to the river around us and breathe in the calm it gives as if it was air. Thankfully, I hear her make her first steps into the river before I feel forced to turn around and drag her into the river. At least we will not have to worry about getting sick when we stay in our wet clothes for hours.

We do not talk among each other as we make our way farther across the river but I do stop when we reach the drop off that would put the currently waist high waters to somewhere past our heads. She grips her pack tightly in one hand then steps off the drop off. She gasps a little as the water envelops her but it is quickly silenced as the water surrounds her completely. I tense for a few seconds but moments later her pale head pops up again and she tries to keep herself up with one arm and, I suppose, her feet kicking furiously. Sighing, I relax a little as I take the plunge myself. I quickly get to the other side of the drop off but continue to swim until my feet are kicking the ground near the other side of the bank. I grimace as I stand because it seems as if the water soaking my clothes and skin is like using a cold blanket.

I sit on the ground on the other side as I wait for Hana and try, vainly, to hear for the sounds of any large mammals. The Sohsh River has given us plenty in terms of food and water but not so much for viable sources of blood. Fish blood is incompatible with vampires and many types of frog blood is actually poisonous to our species; unfortunately, it seems like there have been no big game in this area for a while either. So intent on listening I barely register when I see Hana climb out of the river looking like a drowned cat. The comparison would be amusing if I could not feel Hana's fear spike as a twig breaks nearby us. I make it obvious to her when I look even though I heard the bunny hopping around earlier.

She relaxes but the constant fear pricks at my annoyance once again. She was never meant to be out in the middle of danger. She was always meant to be in the background, nothing more than a pretty flower to look at. She plops down near to me and curls around her pack. I sigh heavily as I realize that she was peeking in my mind again and felt the direction of my emotional thoughts. She probably guessed what I was thinking by the way she avoids looking at me.

We do not clear the air though. We just sit there in silence until I feel like we have taken a long enough break. The need to move pushes at me so much it feels like an itch I cannot scratch. Hana says nothing as I push us to move again, just follows me. A bigger part of me is glad for this change. I am so angry at her letting Togin die that I want to see her suffer. But the part of me that has been her closest confidant and friend for the last eight years... I hate seeing her like this. I do not wish to tangle with my emotions at this point though. First, I need to get us home then I can deal with how I feel about my closest cousin.

We are about a mile into the wooded area when we hear noises. I force her to freeze when the noises continue and as we get closer I realize that the noises we are hearing is the neigh of a horse and the dissent of cows. My heart thumps because this means we are near people and I have no idea who are our allies and who are our enemies. We need more blood though. I hesitate for a moment more before taking a step towards the noise. Hana grabs my hand now. I look back and flip my hand to give her a comforting squeeze, "We need more blood, Hana. The little we have gotten with our continuous use of our powers will be bordering on reckless soon."