Two Sides of the Coin we lost

Chapter 4 - Scholar's Death

She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared in hiding, static and shocked. They took off the body off the rock and then reluctantly the white creature layed on the rock. Could it be that he had offered himself as a sacrifice to them? Could he have been coerced to do so? She couldn't let them let them take another life. She drawed the arrow, stood up and left the bushes, pointing her arrow at Poppy.

"Stop right now! You won't take his life! I can get both of you before you can leave this clearing!"

She had an angry expression but now her heart trembled with fear instead of excitement.

Ven used one of his arms to get part of him upwards enough to look at where the voice was coming from, very confused. The creature had teal colored fur, big pointy ears, lightly slint eyes, small cat-like nose and short red hair much like a human's. She had 4 fingers with small talons on the tip and her paws had 3 toes with prominent talons coming out of them and a thin tail with a big tuft of hair at end, much like a lion's.

"Now, calm down, Friend. We..." Said Poppy with both arms raised in the air before being interrupted.

"Shut up! White one, don't do this, run away before they take your life."

"Calm down, we aren't killing anyone. We'd never do that. We were just going to help him." Ruppy also with both arms up intervened.

"By opening him up like the body over there? Were you helping it too?"

"What?! No! She was already dead when we stol... found her."

Ven got up with both his hands up on chest level and slowly moved towards the girl.

"Wait, please. They said they wouldn't hurt me, they said they just need to examine me to find clues on how to help me. They helped my people before, I believe them."

"Surely you can't be serious!"

"I am serious, and my name's Ven... What's yours?"

"Listen, Ven. These monsters snatched my little brother and they will without a doubt mess you up too."

Ven looked at Poppy and Ruppy. Their eyes were wide open but because of the cloth on their snout it was hard to make up exactly what they were feeling. Ven then asked:

"Is it true? You kidnapped her brother?"

"What?! No way... At least not alive... He probably fell from a tree and we found him lying around that's all. He was pretty much up for grabs."

Said Ruppy sweating. Ven was confused, the reapers didn't seem to be liars but they did have a bad reputation. He lowered his hands and with a sad expression asked:

"Was... he alive?"

The girl's expression grew angrier as tears began to form on the corner of her eyes, they quickly began to stream down her face as her eyes were now full of tears, making her hard to see. Yet she didn't flinch, she kept her aim steady and her eyes open.

"That doesn't matter, he didn't belong to them. They're just thieves."

Ven looked at them for a moment and then back at the girl.

"They're thieves for sure, but they're not killers. So if you shoot them..."

"They have to pay..."

Ven stood in silence for a moment. He looked at the ground wondering and thought about what Leif would say in such a situation.

"What if... You took something from them?"

"What?"

"They took something you treasured from you so you should take something they treasure in return."

The girl's expression changed. She calmed down, it felt like she could breathe again.

"Something they treasure, huh?"

She let the arrow loose.