Depature

"Today is your lucky day," she hissed, still angry.

She came back down from her anger, shifted back to a more comfortable stance and looked at them more relaxed, while Durgos picked himself up and joined his brother.

Despite her considerable height as a girl, she was still smaller than the two men before her. And yet this `little` girl had just given them a good smacking.

Her uncontrolled rage, however, had a price. In order to eliminate her second adversary in time and free Laki, she could not lower her body temperature fast enough. The heat spread during her attack on Durgos from her arms and moved up to her head.

She might have been able to make the side effects disappear with more practice, but it would not make the cause of the dizziness go away. So she concluded that there was no point in even trying. She just had to deal with it for the moment.

"You.... are a Spiritformer, aren't you?" asked Jorgas, who had leaned over the dock to cool his hand in the water.

Kiyu's attack had worked out better than expected.

"Correct," she revealed in a more peaceful manner now.

"A Spiritformer," Durgos repeated with a touch of contempt in Jorgas' direction, rolling his eyes.

"I told you there was a catch to having two young girls wandering alone through a burned village."

"Did you two do this?" asked Jorgas, still insecure as he looked again at Kiyu and the extent of the destruction.

"No." Laki would not let Kiyu do all the talking alone. "That was an evil spirit. We survived by luck." she continued.

Perhaps it was for the best, for at the moment Kiyu felt nothing but contempt for the two people before her. Besides, this way she could concentrate on her temperature without perhaps getting angrier again because of the conversation.

"You wouldn't have a carriage you could use to take us to the nearest town, would you?" Laki's question caught everyone present off guard.

"Laki!" yelled Kiyu, upset, and turned to her with eyes wide opened.

Kiyu couldn't understand where Laki got that idea? Just a few moments ago, they were planning to capture her and Kiyu and do who knows what to them!

"We have no other choice," she explained.

"There are no provisions here, and it may take us 2 days to get to the next village. We need their help!"

Kiyu slapped the flat of her hand against her forehead and pressed hard, as if it would help her relax.

Now, not only did she have to deal with the heat that had risen to her head, but she also had to come to terms with Laki revealing all of her problems like this.

Laki was right, but Kiyu was reluctant to admit it in front of strangers. Of all people telling these men, who were just about to attack the two girls, about their problems, she still didn't like.

At least they would see her reaction as an appropriate response to Laki's naivety and thus wouldn't notice her little fit of weakness.

"You need help with traveling?" asked Jorgas, straightening up again.

"Haaa.... No point denying it anymore anyway," she confessed. "Yeah, we're having trouble getting to the next village."

"We could give you a ride," Jorgas opened up to them, "and you might just forget about this minor incident?"

Kiyu looked over at Laki, who had set the whole thing off saying nothing. She didn't seem to mind.

'Still better than starving to death somewhere along the way,'

. "Very well." she said, accepting the suggestion. "You take us to the next village and we'll forget about our little.... misunderstanding."

The last word was hard to get past her lips, but what else could she do. She just had to swallow it.

"But," she threw after it, raising one of her hands and clenching it into a fist. "No crooked things, understand?"

If Laki was the more good-natured of the two, Kiyu would have to be even more careful with other people.

"O.. of course," they both assured, wincing at the sight of Kiyu's fist.

"Hmph! We'll see," she said and loosened her fist again.

"Do you want to say goodbye or something before we leave?" asked Durgos, who by now had recovered from the blow and straightened up. His gaze fell to the ruined houses, but he didn't look any further.

If Kiyu and Laki had found nothing already, it wouldn't make sense.

Squaring his shoulders, he turned to Jorgas. "We can leave for all I care. There's maybe nothing to get here."

They led Laki and Kiyu to their cart, which was pulled by a single horse, without wasting time. There was only junk, some food and some boxes on the cart.

'Don't seem like successful bandits,'

Looking at the two men's belongings, she came to conclusion that it was no use to search for valuable items. Durgos and Jorgas had checked everything, and their journey began.

While Durgos took the first shift as carriage driver, Jorgas had joined Kiyu and Laki on the cart. The first few minutes passed without either of them even opening their mouths.

Kiyu glanced over at Jorgas sometimes, but when she noticed their eyes crossed, she would turn away from him.

"You can rest easy," he spoke, raising his injured hand. "I won't make the mistake of messing with a Spiritformer a second time."

Kiyu didn't dignify him with a glance, but not necessarily out of disgust. Now that they were on peaceful terms, she almost regretted hurting him.

'This past is past thing is not so simple,'

< That's because all our actions have consequences > Cheryu replied. < It is not in our power to change things that have happened. But we have the power to decide how to deal with them.

"How do we deal with them?" she repeated the question.

< You can't expect anyone not to make mistakes. Instead, forgive them their mistakes and show them a better way >

'Easier said than done.'

Cheryu might be a spirit, but she still found it hard to follow his words. She wondered if every human-spirit connection went like this. Did every human have to deal with a wisdom-wielding spirit that was only interfering to give advice?

It was still somewhat easy for her herself. Neither they harmed her or Laki in the end. But that was only because Kiyu could prevent it with her power.

How should people who suffered even more in their live by other people's doings, forgive them? Just go on as if nothing had happened?

The depth of Cheryu's wisdom alone gave her a headache. For today, however, she had enough of suffering and pain and put the whole thing on hold for now.

"Does it still hurt very much?" she heard Laki ask.

In her deep thoughts, she hadn't even noticed that Laki seemed to get along with the two of them. Or at least with Jorgas, who didn't have to concentrate on the rough roads.

"I'll be fine," he replied with a smile. "What about you?"

It had taken Kiyu a moment to realize that he meant her.

"I'm fine," she grumbled.

'Great! A man I hurt just minutes ago asks me about it if I'm okay!'

The journey continued without Kiyu caring for her environment. Both Laki and Jorgas tried engaging her in conversation, but her terse responses did not allow great discussions or witty exchanges.

There was far too much going on in her mind for her to have been able to concentrate on a trivial conversation with simple bandits. And besides, she still had to assume that they might get silly ideas during the night.

She would only regain her composure when she found herself among law-abiding citizens in the next village.

And so the last hours of the day passed without Kiyu having cared much about anything. Only in the evening, when they built their campfire on a meadow next to the roadside, she had helped.

The bandits also had no blankets or anything to keep warm. For them, it seemed to have become a habit to sleep under the open sky.

Kiyu snuggled up to Laki and took her in her arms. She had adjusted her temperature so that she radiated some warmth. Staying within the bounds of healthy temperature that did not harm her was demanding, and she had to concentrate on it.

Only when Laki entered a deep sleep had she stopped keeping her temperature raised and closed her eyes.

Tomorrow they would arrive, and the world would look different. At least that's what she hoped from the first step of their long journey.

Although she would have to struggle with other worries, such as the fact that they had no money, these were worries of tomorrow.

Today there was nothing more she could do. And so she just let her thoughts wander until they disappeared into the distance.