The Damsel and her Knight

5th ☾ A Kitten's Plea

When you left me, I never knew,

That one day I'll wake up without you.

5th ☾

A Kitten's Plea

After I successfully got out of our house, I realized that I actually had nowhere to go. I certainly had a plan in mind, but fulfilling it was another thing.

When I knew I was at a safe distance and nobody was following me, I kicked stones as I walked towards nowhere. As I was asking myself what I should do, a thought came into mind—the bandits. Of course, them. I did know people who could teach me how to fight.

But Anthony was clear that I had no use for them. I was an extra luggage that he didn't want to carry around. If I'd propose that I wanted to be strong and swear that I would stop being the crybaby they had associated me with, there were certain fallbacks to my proposition.

One, I was young. Caspar was fifteen and he was one of the youngest in the group. Twelve was probably never heard for them. Their group meant serious business, which I still had no definite clue about, except for the basic thievery acts. Two, I was a girl. Somehow, being a girl and a bandit didn't seem to fall on the same page. Three, I was queasy with the sight of blood.

I let out a long sigh and shook my head in disdain. 'Tough luck, Cassandra. I guess you're on your own.'

"You know, if you walk that slowly, you'll get caught by them," someone warned me.

Bryce?

I looked to my right, and there he was, walking beside me. If he were sent to kill me, he would have succeeded with ease, seeing how I didn't even hear him being there all along. However, I noticed that his eyes were fixated elsewhere.

I followed his gaze and saw the guards, who were walking towards our course. They were only town guards, but I kept my head down in caution. After a while, they changed directions and went the other way. My nerves calmed down, and I felt relieved.

Bryce held his stare at me. "You should hurry up, or do you want me to carry you again?"

"Did you follow me?"

"Obviously." He put his arms behind his head.

"Why?"

"What do you think? We were worried about you. I thought you were kidnapped!" Bryce exclaimed. "Imagine that."

"I... I overheard... and decided..."

"Do you know what you're going to do with your life?" Bryce asked instead.

"No," I admitted. "I mean, yes, I have something in mind, but I haven't thought about it thoroughly and..."

"Do you have a place to go?"

I gave it a thought. After a while, I said, "None that I know of?"

"So what's the plan?" Bryce motioned for us to hurry up, and I followed along.

"I... I want to..." I kept on repeating, as if those words alone were enough. We were almost near the camp, but I wasn't even done with the introduction of my idea. I didn't want to sound ridiculous, but it seemed to be the only way to say it.

"Want what?"

I kept my stare down. "I..."

In the end, we did arrive at the camp and I wasn't able to say what was on my mind. I was so afraid that all I'd hear back was the word no. No, it would never work out. No, you were not ready for it. No, that was laughable.