Adventures of a Little Sister

Part Fifteen

She heard something soft. A soft voice, like it was trying to get her to do something. She noticed it was a voice she knew. It wasn't her brothers, but it was male. Who else was male that she knew?

Ivaylo.

"Little Sister? Little Sister, please wake up already."

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, blinking some to take in her surroundings. She looked up to the wolf man's face, his eyes as blue as a wolf's would be. They looked worried, then relieved when they noticed she was awake. 

"Oh, thank Laerorneth." He said with a sigh. He quickly picked up the girl in his arms and held her tightly. "You had me worried. I'm sorry I wasn't able to catch you, but I had to take care of those evil beings. You have no idea what they were going to do to you."

Little Sister didn't say anything, staying silent. She didn't really have anything to say, letting it sink in that her brothers weren't there. Ivaylo glanced down at her, wondering why she was so quiet. 

"Little Sister? Are you alright?"

The girl shook her head and tears started to roll down her face. She clutched onto Ivaylo's cloak, starting to cry more. The man just sat there, holding her as she cried. He knew it must've been traumatic to find someone else in her home, and have them want to do what they wanted before they were going to sell her off. He hated these kinds of humans. Ones that didn't have any respect for other beings like Little Sister. The poor girl didn't know anything about who she really was, and she was going to be punished for it. Why were these humans around?

"Where are they?" The girl muttered, Ivaylo's ears twitching to hear her. "Where are they Ivaylo? Where are my brothers?"

"I...I don't know..." He said softly, knowing that lying to the girl would be of no use now. "I'm not the one tasked in watching them. Laerorneth might know though. We need to get you back to the forest as soon as possible."

The girl nodded, then looked around. "Where's Maimu?"

"Don't worry, I placed him in your pocket. He bit the woman's hand and ran off into the kitchen. I'm guessing that was his favorite hiding place."

She couldn't help but to chuckle a bit and nod. "I always chase him there."

"Sounds like you've had some practice hunting. Come on, let's get going."

The girl nodded and Ivaylo held her as they started their way to the woods.

It took a lot less longer to reach the forest than it did for her to go to her house. "How did it not take as long as last time?" She muttered, forgetting that Ivaylo had hearing like her.

"That was a spell. You really think we wouldn't have noticed you leaving?"

Little Sister's ears fell flat, feeling like she was going to get scolded now because of it. She thought she had gotten by without anyone noticing. She had done it all right, just like Énna had taught her. But it seemed she wasn't as good as she thought.

"The spell was casted by Laerorneth when you first came here." Ivaylo explained. "She knew you would be too curious after so long and would try to go see your home. It seems it had worn off though, so it wasn't a surprise you made it to the end."

"I'm sorry..."

Ivaylo chucked, walking towards the edge of the forest now. She looked up at him, confused. He glanced down and shook his head. "There's nothing to really be sorry for, especially to me. It should be Énna and Xylia you apologize to, they're the ones that were really tasked with looking out for you. But, you were a curious girl, so it was partly their fault for letting you slip by."

She nodded, then brought up another question. "How did you know I was there?"

"I was on my way back and I saw the smoke in your house. I thought it strange since I didn't know if they were back or not. I decided to check so I could report to Laerorneth. That's when I found you being surrounded by those...those beasts..." He had to calm himself as he had started to snarl at the thought. Little sister held him tightly again, a little scared, but quickly calming. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay, it didn't really scare me." She replied, a soft smiling coming to her face.

Ivaylo stopped, now being the one that was confused. The little girl still smiled.

"Ivaylo is a nice person, I know that. I also know that you don't mean to get angry, you're just being protective. My brother, Ebon, gets mad easily, but I know he doesn't mean it. My other brothers always calm him down and he'll apologize for it, even if he doesn't want to."

"Your brothers sound like wonderful humans." Ivaylo said softly, now walking into the forest. "I would like to meet them one day."

"Little Sister!"

The girl looked over to see Énna rushig towards them, Xylia flying close by. 

"Ivaylo, where was she? Where did she go? Laerorneth said she went missig, but we coudln't figure out where."

"She wanted to see how it was going at home." Ivaylo replied, still holding onto the girl. "Seems someone else had decided to 'move in'. They're no longer there though. I took care of them."

Little Sister nodded, showing it was true. Of course, Ivaylo wouldn't lie, it was more of something to comfort her. She still didn't know what they were going to do to her, but she wasn't going to ask. She would let it be and say nothing more about it.

"Little Sister."

All of them looked up at Laerorneth as she suddenly spoke, giving her the full attention anyone would give a queen.

"Please, come with me. I wish to speak with you. Bring Ivaylo too please."

Little Sister and Ivaylo both nodded. He then left Énna and Xylia and followed the queen, still carrying Little Sister. The girl hoped she wouldn't get scolded by Laerorneth, or worse; kicked out of the forest and left to defend for herself.