Chapter 5
1756 Words
“Go, where?” asked Lashanna, curiously, as she followed Ashta into the house.
Annoyed, Ashta walked over to the kitchen sink and stopped. To her surprise, the blood was gone and so was Yinlin’s body. The little blue bird flew into the house, landed in front of Ashta, and it chirped at her. Seemingly, Lashanna and the man followed her into the house and they stared at the floor with wide eyes.
“What happened to the man? He was right there!” yelled the man.
“Kevin, shut it!” Lashanna snapped at him.
Confused about where Yinlin's body went and who cleaned up the blood, Ashta turned to the faucet and washed the blood off of her hands and face. She pulled off her shirt and threw it in the trash.
“The Forbidden Forest,” said Ashta, as she ran upstairs.
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When she got into her room, she pulled on a pair of black cargo pants, a pair of boots, and a black tank top. Ashta pulled her hair into a ponytail, and she put on the halter vest for the samurai sword and Kendo sticks. After that, she pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves and walked downstairs. Lashanna was still in the kitchen, but the guy that she had called Kevin was gone. Ashta looked at Lashanna thoughtfully.
“Look, I wish things were different, but I have to leave,” said Ashta, quickly.
“I am coming with you,” Lashanna stated, confidently.
Ashta looked at Lashanna and shook her head.
“Lashanna, listen, where I am going is a very dangerous place,” Ashta explained, as she grabbed her backpack, and Lashanna put her hands on her hips and stood in front of the doorway.
“I am not letting you go by yourself,” Lashanna said, firmly, as she crossed her arms over her chest and Ashta looked at her for a moment.
“I am not human, like you are,” she said, as she glanced at the girl, and Lashanna didn’t budge.
“I know how to fight, and I have a few toys of my own,” Lashanna said, as she eyed Ashta’s weapons.
What choice did she have? Even if she still said no, Ashta had a feeling the girl was going to follow her, anyway. Ashta felt like she didn't have a choice, and she hoped Lashanna could hold her own like she said she could.
“Fine. Let’s go get your things,” Ashta said with a sigh.
Knowingly, she knew she was going to have to protect Lashanna no matter what kind of weapons she had.
“Great!” Lashanna said, as her eyes lit up.
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Ashta followed Lashanna to her house and waited for her outside while she gathered her things. A few moments later, Lashanna came out wearing tan cargo pants, boots, a white tank top and a camping backpack over her shoulders. Not only that, she had a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.
“Ready?” Lashanna asked, and Ashta nodded.
The girls left, and they walked down the road, headed for the Forbidden forest. The people of the town stared at them as they walked past, and Ashta and Lashanna ignored their gawking stares as they reached the forest.
“You can’t go in there!” a man shouted from behind them, and Ashta and Lashanna turned around.
“Let them,” called another man.
“What does it matter to you?” asked Ashta, as she looked at the man.
A couple of other townspeople had followed them.
“You won't make it out of there alive, you stupid girls,” called the old woman whom Ashta had run into before.
Ashta shook her head, and Lashanna glared at the crowd. Ashta put her hand on Lashanna’s shoulder gently and Lashanna looked at her.
“Don’t worry about them. Let them talk. We have to go,” Lashanna nodded, and they both turned around from the crowd.
They carefully slipped through the first set of trees and everyone and everything disappeared behind them.
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“What do you think is out here?” Lashanna asked nervously, as they moved through the trees carefully.
“I am not sure,” said Ashta, as they climbed over a fallen tree.
Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the trees, and Ashta and Lashanna looked at each other in fear. Without hesitation, they began moving quickly through the forest. A crashing sound came from behind them, and it was headed straight for the girls.
“Come on, Lashanna. Faster!” called Ashta, as she turned around.
There was a huge troll-looking creature charging toward them. Ashta turned her head, and she saw a hollowed out tree ahead of them.
“There!” Ashta called, and pointed to the tree.
Lashanna nodded and followed Ashta to the tree. Evidently, the creature was on their heels as they reached the tree, and Ashta grabbed Lashanna by the shoulders. Quickly, she shoved Lashanna into the tree just as the creature's ugly arm swung and hit Ashta hard. Suddenly, Ashta was flying through the air, and she hit the trunk of a nearby tree.
Ashta fell to the ground with a hard thud. Dazed, she opened her eyes, coughed, and shook her head as the creature snarled at her and clawed at the ground. Ashta got to her feet and glared angrily at the troll. The creature approached her and angrily roared in her face.
The roar was so powerful that it knocked Ashta on her backside, but she got right back to her feet, walked up to the troll, and yelled back at it. The creature looked at her with wide eyes and started to whimper.
“I am not going to hurt you, but you could have killed me,” Ashta said, heatedly, as she looked at the creature.
The troll groaned and threw out its arms like a frustrated monkey would.
“Well, you should be more careful next time. It is not nice to scare people,” scolded Ashta.
The creature groaned, threw its hands at Ashta, as it walked away. Ashta shook her head as Lashanna poked her head out of the tree.
“Ashta?” she called.
“Right here.”
Lashanna looked at her friend and sighed in relief.
“What did you do to it?” she asked, as she reached Ashta.
“I scolded him!” said Ashta, seriously.
Lashanna looked at her oddly and nodded.
Keep an open mind, this isn’t the world that I know, Lashanna told herself, as she and Ashta made their way through the forest.
“So, what are you?” Lashanna asked, and Ashta looked at her.
“I don’t know. My grandfather told me I was a princess given away at birth, and that I am now on a journey to bring my family together,” Ashta said quickly, and Lashanna looked at her thoughtfully.
“Good old family drama. I am no stranger when it comes to family drama,” she said with a smirk.
Ashta gave her a knowing look and Lashanna put her hands up defensively.
“Everyone has their own sort of family drama.”
Ashta thought for a moment and then she nodded. They pressed on through the forest until they had come to a clearing and a spring.
“Do you want to take a break?” Ashta asked, and Lashanna nodded.
How come this girl is not even breaking a sweat? wondered Lashanna, as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
Ashta and Lashanna used their hands to drink from the spring and get their heads wet. Lashanna pulled out a granola bar and ate it.
“Would you like one?”
Ashta shook her head.
“No, thank you, I am really not that hungry.” Lashanna nodded and stuck the wrapper in the side pocket of her backpack.
“This is actually a pretty nice forest,” Lashanna said, as she looked around.
Ashta smiled and nodded as she listened to the sounds of the forest. The wind whistling through the trees, birds chirping in the branches, but then she heard an unfamiliar sound. Ashta realized that the sound was the sound of footsteps. Immediately, Ashta looked at Lashanna and signaled for her to be quiet.
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“Come on, let’s go see what that asshole's problem is.”
Ashta recognized that voice and that was the voice of one of the men that had killed her grandfather.
"Daven, you know he only acts like that when one of those stupid humans tries to come through the forest,” sneered one of the men.
Ashta’s eyebrows shot down in anger as she realized it was both of the men that had killed Yinlin. Quickly, she slipped off her camping pack and quietly set it on the ground. Lashanna did the same with her duffle bag and her camping pack, but she unzipped her duffle bag, and she pulled out a thick wooden bow and a leather sheath of arrows. She slid the sheath on her back and stood next to Astha, behind a large tree.
“Who are they?” whispered Lashanna, as Ashta peered carefully around the tree.
She saw the two men and pulled her head back as she looked at Lashanna.
“Those are the men that killed my grandfather,” Ashta explained, as she peered at the men from behind the tree, and Lashanna swallowed hard.
“I hope you are not afraid to get your hands dirty. As the saying goes, a life for a life,” whispered Ashta, as she pulled her sword.
Lashanna pulled an arrow from her sheath and nodded.
“Wait!” one of the men called, and their footsteps stopped.
“What, bro?” Ashta heard sniffing sounds.
“Do you smell that? That can’t be right!” said one of the men.
“What do you smell?” asked the other.
“I smell a human, but there is something else. I smelled it at the old man’s place.”
“Well, whatever it is, it will not get past us!” stated one of the men confidently.
At that moment, Ashta felt her anger rise as she looked at Lashanna.
“Ready?” Ashta whispered, and Lashanna nodded nervously.
Ashta nodded, took a deep breath, and walked out from behind the tree with her sword drawn.
“Want to bet?” Ashta growled.
- Writer
