A Curse of the First

•«CHAPTER EIGHTEEN»• •«SORRY...»•

"Birch?" Blossom muttered, watching Birch before she noticed Fir.

Birch stared at Fir, unbelieving. "I-I... Fir!?" She mustered, shaking her head slightly, blinking rapidly as though she was seeing something. The other people turned to look at him, eyes also widening. He probably looked terrible, not having brushed his hair in two days.

Birch hesitantly started to walk over, still stunned. "Fir, what are you doing here?!" She muttered when she was about a yard away.

He just stood there, not knowing what to say. He should've planned this out better, but she had heard him take a step. Did she know exactly how his walking sounded? Even in drying mud? Had they really known each other for that long? Well it has been six years since I've met her... He thought to himself before returning to reality and staring at Birch.

She grabbed his wrist, small bits of anger sparking like fire in her eyes as she started to pull him out of the setup. Her steps were hurried, wanting to get away from the others as quickly as possible. "Oh Fir!" She muttered angrily under her breath over and over again. It was clear she was furious as he tried to keep up with her.

As they started downhill, the amount of mud increases, but it didn't slow Birch down at all. She didn't even face him as she hurried down hill. They were almost at the end of the set up, and Fir stayed quiet, not wanting to wake any sleeping soldiers up. He watched her, trying to get his wrist out of her tight grasp as she hurried down the hill.

Birch's grip tightened, and she looked back to shoot a glare at him. Fir stumbled, tripping on. a root. They had left the setup about a minute ago and were now in the scattered forest. She suddenly let go of his wrist and turned to face him. He glanced up at the tree he had tripped on and saw it was the same one his bag was hanging on.

He picked it up and pulled it away from the tree, watching Birch out of the corner of his eye. Her posture was straight, though her pants and sleeves had unrolled themselves from how fast she was walking, the bun on top of her head had somehow become messier, but she still looked great. She watched him impatiently, still angry.

"Fir, what are you doing here!?" She snapped as Fir looked through his bag. 

He glanced up at her, "You left so suddenly and-" 

She interrupted him quickly, twisting his sentence, "And told you I was leaving! You're making this harder than it was already! I had said goodbye to you! I-I," Her voice faltered, and so did her anger, "Fir... why...?"

He avoided eye contact, staring at his bag, "Want some bread...?" He asked nervously.

"No... Fir... I'm going to have to explain this to Captain Maple now..." She whispered, her head slowly lowering.

"I'm sorry..." He muttered under his breath, "I really am..."

"I-It's fine... you just might have to stay with us for awhile..." She murmured quietly, "Come on, it would be better if I could inform the Captain before everyone else wakes up."

"Alright," He said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. They met eyes for a moment before Fir looked away again. She hurried past him, not bothering to grab his wrist again because she knew he would follow her, and he did. He tried his best to keep up with her and she speed-walked up the hill.

~~~***~~~

Birch dropped his bag onto his sleeping bag. A whole tent had been set up just for him, though he prayed he wouldn't have to use it for long. It was small and he could already tell the pillow would be uncomfortable. He glanced over at Birch, who clearly thought that the tent looked moderately comfortable.

"You'll be staying here." She informed him, though it was obvious he was. "Its really cozy... trust me." 

Sorry it's short, wanted to get this done today. ONLY FOUR CHAPTERS LEFT!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!