Crimson

Longest of days

JUNO

I had felt Vita just before I awoke .

But that did not make any actual sense , I had not been here , feeling Vita was just my mind playing tricks .

Tricks I was having a hard time keeping up with .

He was watching me now , he did not look like any suspicious things had happened .

How did one go about this ?

Was I supposed to casually clear my throat and ask if he had perhaps seen me in a different realm that had looked mythical .

" Where do we find Ali ?"

I cleared my throat .

" Within the forest ".

He nodded ," I figured ".

I did not ask him what he had figured , instead I turned to watch what was going on around me .

The redhead I had seen as I fell stood off to the side talking to Nero , I remembered him now .

Keanu , the pretty historian .

He had somehow maintained contact with Nero , that would make the rest of the men his friends from Queen's .

I turned to search for them , One of them stood holding or struggling to hold the reins of four horses , Marcel .

I had thought that I would be thinking about him for a long time to come after we had met but that had not been the case .

He was still as good-looking as he had been that night .

His friends Gus and Jun were examining my gate , probably in awe .

Vita stood and held out his hand for me to grab on , I ignored his hand and stood on my own , enough helping for one day .

Vita sighed and beckoned to his partner .

" Nero , give him his coat ".

Nero nodded and patted Keanu , he walked over to us .

We had never really seen or spoken before yet , he was smiling like we had been friends for years .

He helped me wear the coat .

A gnawing in my stomach reminded me of my hunger , I thanked Nero and held unto Vita's coat , pulling softly .

He turned to me , I moved closer .

" I need to take care of some urgent things inside ".

He looked down to my door and back to me , then looked around .

" What are you doing ?"

He ignored me and kept looking around , finally , his eyes settled on me .

" I'll gather the horses and whatever weapons I can salvage ".

I watched him walk away still not quite understanding what had just occurred .

I took a step , my whole body creaked .

Pain shot up from my feet , I exhaled heavily , I had completely forgotten about my split feet .

I took a deep breath and kept walking towards my door .

The door was opened , I walked in and slumped to the side , thankfully , there was a wall .

I had not wanted to fall while I could still feel Vita's eyes on me .

My house was empty , I had been worried that the soldiers would come in and and displace everything .

An umbrella stood resting on the wall by the door , I grabbed the handle and pushed myself up .

I headed for the shower box .

Inside , I took of my shirt that was torn in different places and discarded it on the floor .

The cuts on my arm had not been treated like I had thought , they had strangely dried up and left the skin around brown and pasty .

Was this somehow related to what had happened when I had been unconscious ?

I had no one to ask about any of the things I had seen , if I told Ali , he would just get more worried .

If I told Vita , I would have to start from Mama and I was reluctant to tell him about Mama .

I sat on the floor and lifted my feet up , I needed to get rid of the boot and wrap my feet .

I pulled the boot gently and hissed , it hurt .

It hurt so much , like someone was peeling the skin off my legs .

Something in the glass caught my eye and I turned sharply , had a soldier snuck into my house .

I had nothing to use as a weapon , I was seated on the floor and my feet hurt too much for me to attempt standing .

The umbrella I had abandoned at the corner caught my eye , I stretched forward to reach it , it was suddenly so far away .

I was still stretching when the door to the glass box opened , I slowly looked up .

Vita stood there , a frown on his face .

He looked from my hand stretching to reach the umbrella to my feet that was placed awkwardly in the boot .

" Did you think to do it yourself ?"

I nodded continuously as I adjusted myself to my previous sitting position .

He left the door and came to kneel before me , his eyes on my chest and the cuts on it , he did not say anything .

He picked my left foot and looked back at my face .

" You might want to look away ".

I grimaced , I did want to look away .

I focused on the umbrella , it had an intricate design of black embroidery on it .

Unlike earlier today at The Haze when he had taken off my boots and I had felt nothing , I felt it all now , every tiny move .

I bit my lip to hold back the scream I really wanted to let out .

I was too hungry for all this .

Finally , the first boot came off . I held a finger up to stop him from starting on the second boot immediately , he paused .

I nodded when I had taken enough deep breaths .

When he touched the boot , I realized I had not taken enough deep breaths , I went back to biting my lip .

" We have to wash all the blood off ".

I raised my head sharply to look at Vita , he had taken off the other boot slower and was standing now staring at my bloody feet .

He bent again .

" Come on we have to hurry ".

I shook my head , " I don't want to wash my feet ".

He gave me a look , " You want to ".

He lifted me up in his arms before I could protest .

He carried me to the tub and placed my feet inside , he began to look around .

" What are you looking for ?"

He turned to observe me , pausing his search briefly .

" The hot water mechanism " .

I chuckled despite the pain and pointed at the gold tap head that also sat on the tub .

He turned the tap around till he got water running out of it , the steam was more than enough evidence that the water was scalding .

I tried to lift my legs out but Vita was already looking at me .

The water finally reached my feet and I bit my lips to keep from screaming , I closed my eyes .

I tasted blood and I kept biting , anything to keep me from continuing to feel this intense pain .

I opened my eyes when I felt Vita holding my fingers , his eyes were sad and pleading as though he had been the one who tore up my feet .

I smiled at him and closed my eyes again , he let go of my hand .

I felt heat on my face and opened my eyes again , Vita had gotten a towel and soaked it with hot water .

He used the hot towel to massage my face and then my chest , I let him , turning slightly so he would reach my back .

He switched off the tap and came back to my side , he lifted me up again and we left the shower box .

He took me straight to my bed and lay me down , the opposite side from where Larona had laid .

I watched silently as he went back to get another towel , he stopped at the blade display and picked a short , curved dagger .

I was too tired to ask him why .

He came back to the bed and grabbed my trouser , he tore it open in one swift move , I watched quietly as he used the towel to clean my feet .

He stood again and headed to my closet where he rummaged for a while before he came out holding a small metal box .

" How did you know I had that and that it was in my closet ? "

He opened the box and gauze spilled out unto the bed .

" I thought that Ali would have gotten you one and the closet does not look like somewhere you would have noticed it ".

I nodded , Ali had never told me that he had gotten me anything of the sort .

He was holding a lotion that he applied on my feet and then began to wrap the gauze around my feet .

He wrapped it tightly and found a pill for the pain , he passed it to me .

He took the box and left again for the closet .

He came out holding a pair of boots I had hardly worn , it was larger than my feet .

He untied the boot and began to put my feet in them .

When he was done , he walked into the closet again , all the walking around was making me dizzy , I closed my eyes .

He dropped something again on the bed , I opened my eyes , clothes .

I sat up and wore my shirt , I looked from the trouser to my feet that was already in large boots and then go him .

He sighed and got closer again , he started slowly and soon the trouser was past my boots .

I pushed it further up to my waist and pushed my body to the edge of the bed , he did not offer his hand this time .

I stood slowly , the room turned but I stood still .

I walked towards the kitchen , my feet did not hurt as much .

I opened one of the cupboards , I had bread and cheese left , I took it out and found a small knife .

Vita watched me eat .

" Do you not like bread or are you one of those people that are satisfied with watching others eat? "

He smiled , a ghost of a smile .

My door flew open , I stilled .

I really could not handle any more surprises today .

It was the other guy , Jun , Nero was with him .

Vita rubbed his face .

" What is it now ?"

Nero looked from me to Vita , I continued eating .

" What ? " , Vita asked again .

Nero finally replied .

" Jun here got information that squads were deployed to the forest ".

I stopped eating and turned to the speaking man , he had more to say .

" There was fighting involved ".

I put my bread knife down quietly and walked to Vita , they all watched me .

I took my coat out of his hands and wore it .

I moved to my blade display and picked the sword Ali had gifted me .

Vita grabbed me from behind , turning me around .

" What do you intend to do ?"

I laughed , my intention was simple .

" I just need to get Ali back ,alive ".