The Girl in the Cloak

Recovery

Two days had passed since that exciting night. Now Torikk and Fa-Lees were married but also homeless. Fa kept telling Torikk they could go live with her family but he refused. It didn't upset Fa but something was. The girl thought she knew what it was. Torikk's wounds had festered when and gotten worse. This only happened because of his initial reaction to the tree fire. He had ran inside and came out with only two things. The first was a tea set and the second was a large old book. He handed the tea set to Fa and the book to the girl before passing out. Fa concluded that he had inhaled too much smoke and should be fine in a few hours. Problem was, it had been two days and he still was not doing well. He was hardly able to maintain a steady breath and the wounds he had from before were now seeping infection out. It occurred to Fa that the substance that was the smoke they had assumed was from the tree burning could have actually been a poison that was used at the starting of the fire. Quickly she told the girl in the cloak what had occurred before she had left.

Days, before the girl arrived back at the tree Torikk and Fa, were hired to steal a gem from a man The job had gone off without a hitch but on the way to the drop off, they heard the man who hires them tell another man the gem would easily turn the townsfolk into his slaves. Fearing that what the man said was true the two of them hid the gem. The following morning when Torikk was out catching their breakfast he was ambushed by the man's goons. Fa expressed her worry with the fact that they found them but Torikk swore it was only luck. No one knew where his house was. That was two days before the girl in the cloak had arrived at the tree. The girl's eye started to tingle.

"Are you ok little kitten? Your eye is...Well never mind that. For now, let's focus on what we can do for Torikk." Fa was removing bits of infection from a gash across Torikk's chest. The girl had thought of revenge running through her head but knew she would hate herself if she let Torikk die in the process.

"What can I do to help you speed up his healing?" she asked

"I need this mushroom. It only grows in places that the moonlight can hit in these forests. Go find it at night." The girl knew now what to do. She took the few hours she had left before the moon arrived at its home in the sky to set her mind into the right place. She knew what needed to be done but still wanted to hurt those that hurt Torikk. Putting the cloak on she went out into the night. Fa had told her to be safe, they still didn't know if anyone was out and after them.

The girl climbed an old tree that she and Torikk would use for training. The trees in this forest went very far into the sky but didn't mind the height. After several minutes she poked her head out of the canopy. The moon was bright in the sky. The warmth she had felt before washed over her, calming her nerves in a matter of seconds. She followed the beams of light that went through the canopy. Tracking each one looking for any form of mushroom. Hours had passed and she had come across nothing. She felt the throws of defeat coursing through her mind when a sudden glint caught her eye. It was small but at the point that a branch met the trunk of a gigantic tree was a small light blue stem. The girl poked the stem and saw that it went into the bark of the tree. Carefully she used her nails to pry the bark away and found that the main body of the mushroom was actually underneath the bark itself. It only came out to feed on moonlight. The fungi were extremely fascinating to her but she concluded she would only take part in it for now and come back later to study it more. Maybe she could find a way to harvest it to have some more medicine on hand for Torikk. The girl rushed back down the trees, her cloak flapping in the air as she jumped from branch to branch. She felt like she got down faster than she ever had before. Rushing over to the small hut her and Fa had made she gave Fa the mushrooms.

"I know it's not much I didn't want to take much longer getting them to you."

"It's great for this small guy," Fa said with a smirk. The girl let out a small chuckle. She was caught off guard by the little quip. She watched as Fa soaked the mushrooms in boiling water creating a tea, then take the boiled mushroom out and crushing it in a cup to make a paste. The girl helped Torikk drink the tea as Fa applied the paste to the wounds. The following day Fa removed the paste from the wounds. A large chunk of yellow gunk came with the paste leaving a hole in the wound. Fa pointed out something though. The hole was smaller. The two continued to nurse Torikk this way for a fortnight.

The day finally came. As the girl in the cloak was giving the tea to the old cat she heard something.

"What the hell is this nastiness?" looking up she saw Torikk's eyes open and a large smile on his face. Fa and the girl both smothered him. Fa was crying.

"Was it that bad my sweet."

"It doesn't matter now love let's get you to a bath." The two went on their own down to the river, Fa helping Torikk walk the entire way.

"I'm so happy he is up." The girl was speaking aloud while she was alone.

"It is amazing he recovered. Most would have given up on him by now but the two of you didn't give up even for a second little one." The cloak was right and the girl knew it. And that made her think of one thing only.

It came to be that Torikk was in agreeance with the girl. As soon as he was able to walk by himself, albeit with a cane, he told the girl it was time to seek revenge.