1 Wake up!

"Miss, please wake up! It's dangerous to sleep in the middle of the forest. Miss? Miss!"

The concerned shouts of a young girl echoed into Marielle's unconscious ears. At first she showed no signs of waking up at all, just a limp body laying out on the cold forest floor. Her face pale, and lips void of color.

To the untrained eye it would be natural to assume she was allready dead, but to the young girl who found her, she knew better. Her father was the local doctor for the town just outside the forest, and the first thing she did when she found her was check her pulse just to make sure. Her heartbeat was faint, but was in fact still there. Which meant, she still had a chance to be saved!

The young girl gingerly grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a light shake, but to her disappointment there was still no movement at all. Panic crept into her heart, and her mind began to race.

[She's so cold. If she stays here any longer I don't think she will make it. If I can make it back to Papa in time, maybe he can save her!]

Though the girl was young; eleven years old at most; she was still much stronger then other girls her age. Her father said it was a gift passed down from mother's to their daughters in their family. An incredible strength that made lifting even the heaviest boulder easy. Since her mother died when she was an infant, she never got to meet her to confirm her fathers story, but she doubted he would lie to her.

She was confident that she could carry such a thin and weak girl back with little effort on her part. Strength wasn't an issue, but keeping the girl from further getting hurt while on the way back was the real problem. She couldn't run too fast or the jarring motion might make her injuries worse, and she couldn't be too slower or they might not make it in time to save her life!

She carefully moved the unconscious girl onto her back, and began to make her way towards her father as fast as she could while still keeping her movements smooth and gentle.

After about forty minutes of speed walking, they finally arrived back to her small but humble home. As she approached the door, the familiar aroma of herbs and medicine made her chaotic heart settled down a bit.

She was so close!

The faint sound of footsteps were bearly noticeable through the door, just enought to make it clear that someone was inside.

[Papa is home! Thank the Heavens!] The young girl burst through the door in a panic. Her voice shook as she spoke and her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Papa! Papa! This girl needs medical attention, please help her!"

She slung the heavy wooden door open as if it was nothing but air, making it slam loudly against the wall, leaveing a small crack where it hit.

An older man warming his hands near the fireplace jumped from the unexpected and extremely loud disturbance. He looked like he was in his late forties, with graying hair, a scruffy face, and glasses. His eyes held a type of warmth that made him look like a kind and gentle man, somthing he must of passed on to his daughter making the family resemblance easy for even strangers to see.

His seasoned face contoured with the sudden shock, then quickly became somber and professional. He quickly understood the situation and motioned for his daughter to place the girl on his bed while simultaneously springing into action to examine her body.

"Maya, lay her flat on her back and prop her head up with a pillow."

Maya nodded in agreement to her father, and followed his instructions just as he said without error. After placing a pillow behind the girls head, she quickly moved out of the way so her father could replace her position by her side.

He skillfully took her pulse, and frowned instantly afterwards. She was bearly alive! He was sure the poor girl had severe internal bleeding, worse then he had ever seen. It was like a wild beast tore her apart from the inside, but left the outside unscathed. What in the world could do something like that? And even more puzzling than that, how was she still alive? Wounds as bad as her's would of killed even the strongest warrior from the Beast Tribe, let alone a frail young woman.

He thought himself as a fairly competent doctor, but this was too severe for him to treat with his skills alone. Even the Witch Doctor wouldn't beable to save her like this. They needed something to heal her from the inside out if they were to have any hope for saving her.

Without hesitation he removed a small black box that contained a purple pill from the bed side table. He placed it in the girls mouth, and began massaging her throat so that she would swallow it without much problem.

The pill was something he had bought a few weeks back from a traveling alchemist who said it would prolong someone's life and quickly heal even the most fatal wounds. It was an incredibly rare pill that only master alchemists could make, and worth a small fortune. It was a miracle that he laid his eyes on such a pill, let alone actually own one!

Normally it would be hard for someone to part with such a valuable and life saving item, but looking at such a young and sickly girl he couldn't help but think [what if that was my own daughter's life in someone else's hands? Would they chose to save her even if it meant sacrificing an once in a lifetime pill?]

Maybe it was pitty for the girl, or hope that doing the right thing would provide his own daughter and himself some good karma in the future. Either way, he wanted to save her.

After feeding her the pill, he decided to check her pulse once again to see if there was any improvement. Despite knowing how extraordinary the pill was, he still couldn't help but be surprised by the effect. The girl's pulse seemed to regulate significantly, and he noticed color began to slowly warm up her face. Even her internal organs began to heal and work properly again.

He released the breath he was subconsciously holding in his chest, and looked over at his worried daughter to give a gentle smile to reassure her.

"I think she's out of danger for now, but if you could make her some warm herbal soup, I think she will recover alot faster."

Maya's eyes brightened at his words of encouragement and a brilliant smile over took her face.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Papa! I'll start gathering herbs right now!" As soon as the words left her lips, she quickly ran outside to gather all she needed for tonight's soup.

Once she was gone, the doctor looked solemnly at the sick young girl still laying motionless on the bed.

[What happened to you to be in such a pitiful state? Such a young girl's life so close to ending. As a father it pains me. The old should never have to out live the young.] He thought to himself.