The Story of Midnight

Chapter 7

This chapter is dedicated to FangKillerXP who is my second fan.

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

—Winston Churchill

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Night fell as the animals in the forest began singing their melodies.

I rubbed my temples in an attempt to calm my headache, but their songs didn't soothe my mind.

Those two should be alright as long as they don't say anything unnecessary, I thought.

Then why am I worrying about it so much?

I sighed.

I needed to stretch my legs anyway so I started to walk slowly through the woods, trying to set my mind at ease.

This is one of those many times where I wished I could see so I could look at the night sky. I sighed again at the unwelcoming thought.

My walk led me to a small stream. There were several other brooks around the forest, but this one just happened to be the one that's nearest to me.

The area, where the kid is buried, is on the other side, far from here. I wanted to visit the kid's grave again, but this time I would be alone. Then I thought better of it. Cloud would probably find me there, and he would start asking questions I didn't want to answer.

I sat down on the edge of the creek and took off my boots. Testing the temperature of the water, and noticing it was okay, I dipped my feet and let out a sigh of relief.

The current of the water ran smoothly between my toes.

It's been a long time since I've had some time to relax.

The noises of the forest filled my ears, the chirping of nocturnal animals, the soft whisper of the wind shaking the trees, and the flow of the stream.

As I became lost in nature's song, the sound of grass crunching came to my keen ears, but I knew better than to panic. I calmly waited a few more seconds then slowly got up, and put my boots on, pretending that I didn't know I was being targeted. I stretched my arms over my head, and began walking down close to the stream. As I strode farther down the small river, my mind began to fill with questions: did those two say something to their commander? Maybe they're here to right the mistake that took place earlier? Why can't they just, for one time, swallow their pride, and leave me alone? Isn't nine years enough?

The seismic waves showed me the outline of...ten people; one archer and the rest with swords.

Hm, that's a new tactic.

The archer stringed his arrow on the bow, aimed and...

I quickly ducked as the sound of the arrow piercing a tree disturbed the silence. At least he wasn't aiming for my head, I realized, by calculating where the projectile struck the tree, and comparing it to where my body just stood.

It's good to know that they want me alive, but for how long?

As I ran to put some distance between us, I quickly thought of my options: do I fight or break their line of sight? My hand went to the hilt of my dagger hidden behind my jacket.

What to do, what to do?

I made a sharp turn left. The earth showed me that more people began to join the chase. My mind rapidly went over the two options I had as I figured out the outcome of both as I ran; trying to figure out which one was better.

I counted the new members that wanted to merge with the hunters: ten...twelve...fourteen...

I gritted my teeth in anger at the revelation. Everyone in the Army was after me. An amusing thought came to me: should I be honored to have the entire military Army chase me around the forest?