GWFD Chapter 3
Author note: So far Katie has been introduced. In the last chapter Katie went with her friends on a little trip, got in a fight with Catherine while they were hiking, and decided to go find her own fun. However, she's managed to get lost in the woods, in the rain, and then pass out. What a lucky girl.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Lord of the Rings or any other part of Tolkien's works.
__________________________________________________________________________
“When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure;
When you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.”
- Thornton Wilder
Chapter 3: Rescue Me
The breaks in the vibrant tree foliage revealed parts of a clear sky. Due to the amount of daylight, it was either earlier morning or late afternoon. Tall, grand trees with bright red, orange, and yellow leaves loomed over the girl’s fallen form. Katie was lying unconscious on the same side that she had fallen on during the rainstorm. The hiking bag had remained on her back. The heavy-set girl’s hair was tangled and wet with traces of mud. Her clothing was soaked and dirty. However, save for the earth directly under the girl, the ground was blanketed in dried, brown and rust-colored leaves.
Katie cracked opened her eyes as she came to. Her eyelids felt heavy, her body ached, and she did not think she was capable of moving. Her eyesight was so impaired at the moment that Katie could barely make out the figure of someone coming towards her. Her throat was sore and dry; she couldn’t call out for help or speak. But she could hear the crunching and cracking of the dry leaves beneath the stranger’s feet.
The mysterious person’s approach became increasingly unpleasant to the half-conscious girl, as the sound of the crunching and cracking steps increased. She could not recall the last time she had felt as exhausted and miserable. The intruder was just aggravating the situation by making such a painful ruckus, she thought to herself. Before the stranger came into closer view, Katie quickly succumbed to darkness for the second time.
“...up.”
The pink and black-haired girl could hear someone speaking. ‘What’s going on?’ Her face, arm, and front part of her torso felt uncomfortably hot and itchy while her backside was cool. She struggled to sit up, her body ached. She felt mildly dizzy and nauseous for a brief moment when she first sat up. The vertigo lasted for a couple seconds, but her vision remained blurry.
Rubbing the rheum from her eyes, Katie attempted to fix her vision. A camp fire crackled before the disoriented girl. It was about two feet in diameter, with what looked like crisscrossed, stacked limbs of various widths and stones surrounding the fire. The heat that it was generating probably caused her to wake up. A pile of small branches were stacked beside the fire for later use. The smell of the campfire reminded her of winter, the scent of burning woods from chimneys and or bonfires that was sometimes existed on cold winter nights.
Across from her, on the other side of the fire, sat someone she did not recognize. Katie examined the stranger who sat across from her, staring at the girl silently. She looked younger. ‘Possibly just about to start college,’ Katie mused. The stranger wore a dark tank top and blue jeans. Some of her arm muscles were visible and there was no sign of slouching in the way she sat, with her back straight and her defined shoulders back.
‘Maybe she’s was a swimmer or something.’ Katie felt the urge to roll her eyes at her perfect posture. ‘Get a life.’
The girl had on an ordinary gold chain with no pendant or ring. Her hair was either brown or black with some bangs and wisps of hair free from being tied back like the rest. She couldn’t read the stranger’s expression. The mystery girl just quietly watched Katie, making her feel uneasy.
An image of Jessica, one of the roommates, came to mind and Katie frowned. The girl wasn’t as tall or skinny as her Christian roommate and her posture suggested an air of confidence that Katie couldn’t remember her tall, pretty, and docile roommate ever possessing. Her eyes felt drawn to the chain around the girl’s neck. It was just a generic chain, like the one Jessica’s cross was on.
‘It must be some sort of Jesus Freak thing. Who the hell does she think she is? Did she wake me up?’ “...Who... Were you...” she rasped. Her throat was dry, though not as dry as before. She coughed a few times in attempt to clear her throat.
“There’s a bottle of water to your right,” the girl started, her voice even. “I had an extra.” She watched Katie quickly locate the bottle, clumsily unscrew the cap and toss it aside before she started to greedily gulp down the bottle’s contents. Katie didn’t like water, but she was too thirsty to turn it down. After gulping that last bit of water, the absence of sweetness hit Katie and her face involuntarily contorted in disgust.
“You didn’t have any drinks in your camping bag,” the girl added in an unsympathetic voice.
Katie examined the stranger for a little longer, feeling even more displeased. The mood between them was tense. Katie decided that she didn’t like this smug girl one bit. Not wishing to look at her unwanted companion any longer, the green-eyed girl turned her attention to their surroundings.
There wasn’t enough light to make out much detail. They were in a small clearing, if it could be called that, surrounded by trees and shrubbery. In short, she was still in the woods, stuck. The climate was a little chilly, but it did not feel as humid as one would expect after heavy rain. From what Katie could tell, the ground did not seem damp either.
“Where are we?” the rotund girl demanded.
“Lost.” The girl momentarily leaned over to reach for a foot-long stick from a pile of branches that she probably had collected. She casually twirled the stick in her hand.
“Well, why haven’t you tried to call for help?”
“Our phones don’t have any signal. Also, while you were sleeping and there was still daylight, I tried to search for someone.” Losing interest, she fed the stick to the flames. “No luck, needless to say.
‘Is this girl useless or what? ...Wait, did she say that she used my phone?’
“Say, before falling unconscious, how did you come upon this place?”
‘How did you come upon this place? She’s so weird. ...And she touched My phone!’
Anger flared up within Katie before her mind switched to concern for her belongings. “Where’s my backpack?” She asked, her voice sounding much better. Katie looked to her right and left, finding her bag to her left side. She opened her bag and started to dig through it. Hunching over to search through the bag caused shooting pains throughout her body. Katie thought it felt akin to knives being stabbed into her tender flesh. One side also hurt considerably more than the other, probably from sleeping on it for too long. Her legs, ankles and feet were at least a little swollen, most likely due to the hike and carrying extra weight. It was more pain than she wanted to contend with.
The girl waited as Katie tore through her belongings. The pink and black haired girl hesitated, before looking back over to the stranger. “Why did you go through my bag?” Katie glared furiously at the girl. ‘How dare that little bitch go through my stuff!’
“I took the liberty of trying your phone, since mine wasn’t picking up any signal. I also checked your identification. I wanted to know who I was dealing with. However, your phone had no signal either. My name is Eva.” The girl waited a few seconds for a response before continuing, “And you’re Katie, right? Nice to meet you.”
“It’s Nikki-as in Nicole, my middle name-not Katie! I hate being called Katie.” She anxiously dug around a moment longer before pulling out a small, brown canvas purse. She took out a small, silver electronic device, a cellular phone, with a full keyboard that was a little square-shaped from the purse.
“Your phone isn’t picking up any signal.”
The chubby girl glared at Eva. “Look, don’t touch my wallet or phone ever again!” she snapped. “And you probably just weren’t using it right.” Katie pressed a stubby thumb to one of the buttons, causing the small phone to power up. The light emitted from the video screen on the cell phone illuminated her round face.
The stranger sucked in a breadth of air and clicked her tongue. “Sorry, Nicole. I didn’t take anything, you don’t have to worry.” Was she trying to reassure Katie or mock her?
It was almost as if Katie’s brain couldn’t process what was going on. ‘Who does she think she is?’
“That’s a BlackJack or something, right? It must’ve been expensive. I always go for the phones that are almost free. Do you have an international plan for that?”
“It’s a BlackBerry Curve. Everybody knows that they’re not the same thing.” Her tone was condescending. “BlackBerry phones are much better than BlackJacks. I don’t need international coverage to have signal here. And your phone probably doesn’t have signal because it’s a cheap piece of crap.”
“Hmm...”
Her thin and tweezed brows furrowed. No signal and the phone had the current time as 1:37pm, which was clearly off. “I have no signal. How can I have no signal? Damn it!” ‘This isn’t happening! What else could go wrong?’
The sky devoid of any clouds was brightening, which meant it had to be early in the morning. Katie could now tell that the girl had brown eyes and brown hair. ‘My coloring is more unique.’
“Well, we should head out. You can walk, right? Maybe you remember the way back? I really have no idea where we are.”
More hiking. Katie was fed up with hiking in the woods and her body was sore. “I don’t think I can, I’m in so much pain.”
“Are you incapable of walking?” Eva sighed.
“I really think I hurt myself.” It wasn’t a completely lie, she was sore.
“Here,” she moved over to try to help the larger girl up, “Maybe you just need to move around a bit and work out your stiff muscles.” The large girl slapped Eva’s hand away.
“I said I can’t walk! Get that through your head!”
“Fine,” Eva said, “you want me to go search for help then, while you wait alone by the fire? Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I said so, didn’t I?” ‘Bitch.’
“Well, which direction should I try? Have you seen anyone in these woods?”
“I was hiking with friends before, but...” she hesitated, fingering the symbol on her metal bracelet more. “We separated and it started to rain so hard that I became lost and fell. I passed out. I don’t remember the way back.” That must sound kind of pathetic, she thought to herself.
“But you’ve seen other people?” Eva eagerly asked.
“Of course there are, there are plenty people here.” She watched her unwelcome companion, feeling more agitated again. “But of course there isn’t anyone in the woods early in the morning and at night. We shouldn’t be here. I can’t believe you didn’t go for help when you found me!” Katie snapped.
“Nicole, you said it was raining. When was it raining again?”
‘Alright, she is really pissing me off right now!’ “What do you mean, when was it raining? Are you calling me a liar? It rained hard. I’m still a little damp from it!” She motioned over to her bag. “If it wasn’t my bag being waterproof, all of my stuff would’ve been soaked! And the outside of the bag is still a little wet! What’s with you!” She was even more upset about this than the wallet and cell phone. ‘She’s calling me a liar to my face!’
Eva inhaled and exhaled a deep breadth before reaching over to one of the bags besides her, bags that Katie had failed to recognize until just then. One was a thin, vinyl-like black bag that was at least three feet long with a black shoulder strap. She slung the bag over her shoulder and opened a blue duffle bag, pulling out small metal object. A pocket knife.
Katie felt a rush of adrenaline as she warily eyed the girl with the knife. The brunette casually flipped it open and closed. Katie moved back slightly. Eva approached her.
“Here,” Eva held out the knife. “Keep this on you just in case. I don’t know how long I will be gone. If I can’t find anyone, I’ll look for food. All you have is candy in your backpack. Dehydration comes before starvation; however I don’t know where there is clean water. If you try to drink from a pond, lake, or stream, you could get dysentery from bacteria. Then you’ll dehydrate even faster.”
“I have some food,” Katie countered. ‘Acting like she’s an expert when it looks like she didn’t even pack for a hiking trip.’ She reached out her right hand to take the knife. Katie caught Eva staring intently at her bracelets. She quickly took the knife, placing it in the brown purse beside her.
“What are you doing here?” The girl’s question held no malice or mocking tone.
“What are you doing here with that duffle bag? It doesn’t even look like you packed for a camping trip.”
“I wasn’t on a camping trip... But you were. You don’t look like the type who likes to go camping. Your legs are sore from hiking, right?”
“So?” she asked defensively. “I didn’t even want to come to the stupid national park; it’s all Jules and Cat’s fault!” She nervously played with her bracelets, catching Eva’s attention.
“Where did you get that gold bracelet with the spiral design?”
How was she supposed to take that? Katie defensively concealed her right wrist with her left forearm, drawing it closer to her stomach. “Why?” She was ready to fight the brunette to keep her bracelet. There was no way in hell she was going to let her have it.
Eva started to say something but was distracted. A distinct crunching sound could be heard coming from somewhere in the woods. Both girls froze, listening to the crunching of leaves.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Katie jumped up, ignoring her body pains. “Yes, we’re saved!” she cheered, almost giddy. ‘Now I can get out of this hell hole and go home!’ The jubilant girl turned to Eva, noticing the girl had a polished and carved brown stick about a meter long from that skinny black bag slung over her back. No, it wasn’t a stick, but a wooden sword known as a bokken or bokuto.
‘Who carries a bokken with them?’ Katie wondered, interested in the weapon. “What are you doing?” she half whispered, half shouted to the strange girl who had ran over to the trees, to the right of where the sound, disappearing behind one of the large trees.
“Sshh, we don’t know if this is help or not,” she called out from behind the tree.
“Whatever. Soon I’ll be back home and I won’t have to deal with you anymore!” Katie balled her fists. ‘She’s just trying to upset me. She needs to have a reality check. Who carries around wooden swords anyways?’ Katie waited several minutes anxiously as a tall figure emerged before her.
The person from the woods was a strangely dressed tall man with long, dark hair, broad shoulders. His clothing looked foreign and out of date. He wore a long-sleeved cream-colored shirt; metal shoulder plates and forearm guards; some sashes were around his waist, tied in the front-one crimson, and one blue; his black, loose-fitting pants were tucked into their knee-high, dark brown leather boots. In his right hand, he held a long, curved blade slightly as if prepared to defend himself.
The armed man looked like some ancient warrior from one of the stories Katie enjoyed so much. His alabaster white skin practically glowed, his blue, no gray, eyes looked like they could see through anything. The stocky girl was bewitched by the handsome man, despite a small part of her knowing she should be worried. He was a tall and well-built man with a beautifully chiseled face, unlike anything she had ever seen. ...What wasn’t there to like? ‘He’s gorgeous!’ Katie continued to stare at the man, dumbstruck.
The strangely dressed man eyed the girl warily, lowering his curved blade even more. He stopped no more than twenty feet away from the large girl, not quite clear of the tall trees. Some intelligible gibberish flew from his mouth. The tone of the melodious voice was commanding. Receiving no response, he said something else, slightly louder and paused again. The harsh tone of his voice from the second time broke the spell that his striking features had on Katie. He lifted his blade and waved it at her.
“Huh, what?” Katie’s attention fell on the weapon and the strange expression on his face. He was glaring at her.
“Wa-wait a minute,” Katie whimpered, holding up her hands, trying to show no harm. She started to retreat, walking backwards, still facing the man. “Eva?” Katie called out distressed, receiving no answer from the girl. ‘Did she ditch me? How could she do that to me? That bitch!’
The man barked out some more gibberish as he took a couple steps forward. He stood tall, ready to attack. He shouted something else, with the tone rising at the end.
Katie decided that she’d try to run for it, instead of waiting for tall-dark-and-handsome to stick her like some pig. Her desperation rationalized that chance on her side, being just a poor and innocent girl. After all, the good guy always has enough luck on his or her side to stay alive. Katie eyed the tall stranger before turning to run the opposite direct. She heard him yell something abruptly, probably commanding her to stop. Katie only made a couple feet before hearing the man shout out in surprise, a loud thump and crack, and a small scuffle behind her. Turning, she found Eva with the man. ‘Did she just jump out of that nearby tree? Is this crazy part monkey or something?’
Eva had been waiting quietly up in one of the trees for an opportune moment. When Katie was making a commotion and attempting to escape, Eva had nearly jumped directly on the armed man, knocking the blade away and him to the ground. She was standing to his left side, looming over his fallen form, gripping her wooden sword, ready to strike him if need be. She stood strong and ready to strike. This girl clearly had some training in defense.
“Who are you?” Eva momentarily glanced over at the fallen blade that lied beside her left foot before she angrily kicked its handle, sending it several feet closer towards Katie. “Katie, hold onto that for me.”
“Uh, um, okay!” Katie stumbled over with wobbly legs to retrieve the sword. ‘Who the hell is she?’ The man’s large, curved blade was much heavier than the pink-haired girl would have surmised. It actually seemed like a real blade, with an ornate, metal handle and some fancy script carved into the blade itself.
She gazed coolly at the scowling stranger. “What are you doing, cosplaying in the woods?” No answer came from the man.
“Wow... Um, actually, Eva, this is a real sword. It’s really sharp. Must’ve been expensive.”
‘Real and sharp?’ “Now, I’ll ask you again...” the brunette’s voice was eerily calm, “Who are you? Are you alone? Why are you dressed like that? Did grandpa send you? Is this supposed to be some sort of test? Is this his idea of a joke?” She paused for a couple seconds, receiving little change in expression. “Did you know that the character of Johnny Appleseed was based on Bill Brasky? Except for the part about planting apple trees and not raping men.” None of this seemed to register. Perhaps he didn’t know English.
Katie snorted, surprised by Eva. “Wha-what hell are you doing! This isn’t the time for jokes!”
Eva ignored the heavy girl and continued her interrogation. “Jaa, nihongo wa? Omae wa dare? Nan no tsumori? Sono kuchi wo hikisaite yarouka?”The man looked confused. “Omae fuzaketennoka” Still nothing. “Oi, nantoka ieyo!” she barked, losing patience.
The man lying on his back on the ground kept scowling. Then he shouted out something before spitting at the brunette. As Eva moved to kick him with her right foot, the man quickly snatched her ankle with both hands, pulling it up and out, causing her to fall back. Following through with the swift movement, the man continued the hold onto the ankle as he quickly stood up.
“Eva!” Katie shrieked.
The brunette’s world immediately turned upside down. The dark-haired man had moved fast and lifting her seemed effortless for him, catching the girl off guard. Eva swung her body and kicked up, the ball of the foot pointing out, aimed for his chin. However, the man evaded her kick, shoving her back as he released her ankle. The combination of the momentum generated from the girl swinging her leg up for the kick and the way the tall man had released her sent Eva in a backward summersault. The brunette, still firmly grasping the bokken, landed in a crouching position and cursed slightly under her breadth. While kneeling close to the ground, she hastily shifted her footing and position of her weapon, the muscles in her arm and shoulder were tense, ready to execute another attack; however, something knocked the sword out of her hand. She was momentarily distracted and the tall man made his next move, launching toward her, reaching out as if to restrain her. Instead of trying to flee, Eva stepped into the attacker, bringing up her left knee toward the lower part of his torso. The man moved his two arms to guard and push down the knee as Eva sent her right palm to his chest, following through with a punch that pushed him back. She had feigned the knee attack to ensure the execution of forceful strike to his chest.
Eva winced and gazed at her right hand. A large portion was covered in crimson liquid. She glanced over to an arrow, lying not too far from the dropped wooden sword and then looked to her left, where Katie had been waiting with the man’s real sword. Instead of Katie timidly watching, an identical looking man was setting up an arrow in his large bow, while his right foot planted in between Katie’s shoulder blades as she was lying faced-down on the ground.
“Katie!”
“Eva, I... I d-don’t know w-what happened!” Katie started to cry. “I-I tried called for help, but...!”
Before Eva could move, the man she had been fighting seized her, pinning her arms behind her back and then shouted over to his double who responded in an equally foreign tongue. The brunette in the tall man’s grasp struggled for a moment until she was interrupted by him motioning over to the other man with the bow and arrow nocked and aiming down at Katie who was now crying hysterically.
“Oh-God-oh-God-oh-God! Please don’t kill me! Please, please don’t!” Her distressed breathing and sniffling made her pleas barely intelligible.
Eva stopped struggling against the tall man. She glared at the distraught girl on the ground about twenty feet away. What could be done?
__________________________________________________________________________
Author notes: Well, that’s what I got so far. If you can read the Japanese text below, don’t worry about it, it’s just a repeat the Romanized Japanese.
Translations notes: The Japanese is harsh and masculine. Sometimes when women want to seem commanding or threatening, they’ll alter their speaking to sound more assertive, rough, and/or capable of action (ie violence).
Jaa, nihongo wa? じゃあ、日本語は？ Well, how about Japanese?
Omae wa dare? お前は誰？ Who are you?
Nan no tsumori? 何のつもり？ Your intentions?
Sono kuchi wo hikisaite yarouka? その口を引裂いてやろうか？ Should I cut out that mouth for you?
Omae fuzaketennoka? お前ふざけてんのか？ Are you jerking me around?
Oi, nantoka ieyo! おい、なんとか言えよ！ Hey/Oy, say something!
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Lord of the Rings or any other part of Tolkien's works.
__________________________________________________________________________
“When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure;
When you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.”
- Thornton Wilder
Chapter 3: Rescue Me
The breaks in the vibrant tree foliage revealed parts of a clear sky. Due to the amount of daylight, it was either earlier morning or late afternoon. Tall, grand trees with bright red, orange, and yellow leaves loomed over the girl’s fallen form. Katie was lying unconscious on the same side that she had fallen on during the rainstorm. The hiking bag had remained on her back. The heavy-set girl’s hair was tangled and wet with traces of mud. Her clothing was soaked and dirty. However, save for the earth directly under the girl, the ground was blanketed in dried, brown and rust-colored leaves.
Katie cracked opened her eyes as she came to. Her eyelids felt heavy, her body ached, and she did not think she was capable of moving. Her eyesight was so impaired at the moment that Katie could barely make out the figure of someone coming towards her. Her throat was sore and dry; she couldn’t call out for help or speak. But she could hear the crunching and cracking of the dry leaves beneath the stranger’s feet.
The mysterious person’s approach became increasingly unpleasant to the half-conscious girl, as the sound of the crunching and cracking steps increased. She could not recall the last time she had felt as exhausted and miserable. The intruder was just aggravating the situation by making such a painful ruckus, she thought to herself. Before the stranger came into closer view, Katie quickly succumbed to darkness for the second time.
“...up.”
The pink and black-haired girl could hear someone speaking. ‘What’s going on?’ Her face, arm, and front part of her torso felt uncomfortably hot and itchy while her backside was cool. She struggled to sit up, her body ached. She felt mildly dizzy and nauseous for a brief moment when she first sat up. The vertigo lasted for a couple seconds, but her vision remained blurry.
Rubbing the rheum from her eyes, Katie attempted to fix her vision. A camp fire crackled before the disoriented girl. It was about two feet in diameter, with what looked like crisscrossed, stacked limbs of various widths and stones surrounding the fire. The heat that it was generating probably caused her to wake up. A pile of small branches were stacked beside the fire for later use. The smell of the campfire reminded her of winter, the scent of burning woods from chimneys and or bonfires that was sometimes existed on cold winter nights.
Across from her, on the other side of the fire, sat someone she did not recognize. Katie examined the stranger who sat across from her, staring at the girl silently. She looked younger. ‘Possibly just about to start college,’ Katie mused. The stranger wore a dark tank top and blue jeans. Some of her arm muscles were visible and there was no sign of slouching in the way she sat, with her back straight and her defined shoulders back.
‘Maybe she’s was a swimmer or something.’ Katie felt the urge to roll her eyes at her perfect posture. ‘Get a life.’
The girl had on an ordinary gold chain with no pendant or ring. Her hair was either brown or black with some bangs and wisps of hair free from being tied back like the rest. She couldn’t read the stranger’s expression. The mystery girl just quietly watched Katie, making her feel uneasy.
An image of Jessica, one of the roommates, came to mind and Katie frowned. The girl wasn’t as tall or skinny as her Christian roommate and her posture suggested an air of confidence that Katie couldn’t remember her tall, pretty, and docile roommate ever possessing. Her eyes felt drawn to the chain around the girl’s neck. It was just a generic chain, like the one Jessica’s cross was on.
‘It must be some sort of Jesus Freak thing. Who the hell does she think she is? Did she wake me up?’ “...Who... Were you...” she rasped. Her throat was dry, though not as dry as before. She coughed a few times in attempt to clear her throat.
“There’s a bottle of water to your right,” the girl started, her voice even. “I had an extra.” She watched Katie quickly locate the bottle, clumsily unscrew the cap and toss it aside before she started to greedily gulp down the bottle’s contents. Katie didn’t like water, but she was too thirsty to turn it down. After gulping that last bit of water, the absence of sweetness hit Katie and her face involuntarily contorted in disgust.
“You didn’t have any drinks in your camping bag,” the girl added in an unsympathetic voice.
Katie examined the stranger for a little longer, feeling even more displeased. The mood between them was tense. Katie decided that she didn’t like this smug girl one bit. Not wishing to look at her unwanted companion any longer, the green-eyed girl turned her attention to their surroundings.
There wasn’t enough light to make out much detail. They were in a small clearing, if it could be called that, surrounded by trees and shrubbery. In short, she was still in the woods, stuck. The climate was a little chilly, but it did not feel as humid as one would expect after heavy rain. From what Katie could tell, the ground did not seem damp either.
“Where are we?” the rotund girl demanded.
“Lost.” The girl momentarily leaned over to reach for a foot-long stick from a pile of branches that she probably had collected. She casually twirled the stick in her hand.
“Well, why haven’t you tried to call for help?”
“Our phones don’t have any signal. Also, while you were sleeping and there was still daylight, I tried to search for someone.” Losing interest, she fed the stick to the flames. “No luck, needless to say.
‘Is this girl useless or what? ...Wait, did she say that she used my phone?’
“Say, before falling unconscious, how did you come upon this place?”
‘How did you come upon this place? She’s so weird. ...And she touched My phone!’
Anger flared up within Katie before her mind switched to concern for her belongings. “Where’s my backpack?” She asked, her voice sounding much better. Katie looked to her right and left, finding her bag to her left side. She opened her bag and started to dig through it. Hunching over to search through the bag caused shooting pains throughout her body. Katie thought it felt akin to knives being stabbed into her tender flesh. One side also hurt considerably more than the other, probably from sleeping on it for too long. Her legs, ankles and feet were at least a little swollen, most likely due to the hike and carrying extra weight. It was more pain than she wanted to contend with.
The girl waited as Katie tore through her belongings. The pink and black haired girl hesitated, before looking back over to the stranger. “Why did you go through my bag?” Katie glared furiously at the girl. ‘How dare that little bitch go through my stuff!’
“I took the liberty of trying your phone, since mine wasn’t picking up any signal. I also checked your identification. I wanted to know who I was dealing with. However, your phone had no signal either. My name is Eva.” The girl waited a few seconds for a response before continuing, “And you’re Katie, right? Nice to meet you.”
“It’s Nikki-as in Nicole, my middle name-not Katie! I hate being called Katie.” She anxiously dug around a moment longer before pulling out a small, brown canvas purse. She took out a small, silver electronic device, a cellular phone, with a full keyboard that was a little square-shaped from the purse.
“Your phone isn’t picking up any signal.”
The chubby girl glared at Eva. “Look, don’t touch my wallet or phone ever again!” she snapped. “And you probably just weren’t using it right.” Katie pressed a stubby thumb to one of the buttons, causing the small phone to power up. The light emitted from the video screen on the cell phone illuminated her round face.
The stranger sucked in a breadth of air and clicked her tongue. “Sorry, Nicole. I didn’t take anything, you don’t have to worry.” Was she trying to reassure Katie or mock her?
It was almost as if Katie’s brain couldn’t process what was going on. ‘Who does she think she is?’
“That’s a BlackJack or something, right? It must’ve been expensive. I always go for the phones that are almost free. Do you have an international plan for that?”
“It’s a BlackBerry Curve. Everybody knows that they’re not the same thing.” Her tone was condescending. “BlackBerry phones are much better than BlackJacks. I don’t need international coverage to have signal here. And your phone probably doesn’t have signal because it’s a cheap piece of crap.”
“Hmm...”
Her thin and tweezed brows furrowed. No signal and the phone had the current time as 1:37pm, which was clearly off. “I have no signal. How can I have no signal? Damn it!” ‘This isn’t happening! What else could go wrong?’
The sky devoid of any clouds was brightening, which meant it had to be early in the morning. Katie could now tell that the girl had brown eyes and brown hair. ‘My coloring is more unique.’
“Well, we should head out. You can walk, right? Maybe you remember the way back? I really have no idea where we are.”
More hiking. Katie was fed up with hiking in the woods and her body was sore. “I don’t think I can, I’m in so much pain.”
“Are you incapable of walking?” Eva sighed.
“I really think I hurt myself.” It wasn’t a completely lie, she was sore.
“Here,” she moved over to try to help the larger girl up, “Maybe you just need to move around a bit and work out your stiff muscles.” The large girl slapped Eva’s hand away.
“I said I can’t walk! Get that through your head!”
“Fine,” Eva said, “you want me to go search for help then, while you wait alone by the fire? Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I said so, didn’t I?” ‘Bitch.’
“Well, which direction should I try? Have you seen anyone in these woods?”
“I was hiking with friends before, but...” she hesitated, fingering the symbol on her metal bracelet more. “We separated and it started to rain so hard that I became lost and fell. I passed out. I don’t remember the way back.” That must sound kind of pathetic, she thought to herself.
“But you’ve seen other people?” Eva eagerly asked.
“Of course there are, there are plenty people here.” She watched her unwelcome companion, feeling more agitated again. “But of course there isn’t anyone in the woods early in the morning and at night. We shouldn’t be here. I can’t believe you didn’t go for help when you found me!” Katie snapped.
“Nicole, you said it was raining. When was it raining again?”
‘Alright, she is really pissing me off right now!’ “What do you mean, when was it raining? Are you calling me a liar? It rained hard. I’m still a little damp from it!” She motioned over to her bag. “If it wasn’t my bag being waterproof, all of my stuff would’ve been soaked! And the outside of the bag is still a little wet! What’s with you!” She was even more upset about this than the wallet and cell phone. ‘She’s calling me a liar to my face!’
Eva inhaled and exhaled a deep breadth before reaching over to one of the bags besides her, bags that Katie had failed to recognize until just then. One was a thin, vinyl-like black bag that was at least three feet long with a black shoulder strap. She slung the bag over her shoulder and opened a blue duffle bag, pulling out small metal object. A pocket knife.
Katie felt a rush of adrenaline as she warily eyed the girl with the knife. The brunette casually flipped it open and closed. Katie moved back slightly. Eva approached her.
“Here,” Eva held out the knife. “Keep this on you just in case. I don’t know how long I will be gone. If I can’t find anyone, I’ll look for food. All you have is candy in your backpack. Dehydration comes before starvation; however I don’t know where there is clean water. If you try to drink from a pond, lake, or stream, you could get dysentery from bacteria. Then you’ll dehydrate even faster.”
“I have some food,” Katie countered. ‘Acting like she’s an expert when it looks like she didn’t even pack for a hiking trip.’ She reached out her right hand to take the knife. Katie caught Eva staring intently at her bracelets. She quickly took the knife, placing it in the brown purse beside her.
“What are you doing here?” The girl’s question held no malice or mocking tone.
“What are you doing here with that duffle bag? It doesn’t even look like you packed for a camping trip.”
“I wasn’t on a camping trip... But you were. You don’t look like the type who likes to go camping. Your legs are sore from hiking, right?”
“So?” she asked defensively. “I didn’t even want to come to the stupid national park; it’s all Jules and Cat’s fault!” She nervously played with her bracelets, catching Eva’s attention.
“Where did you get that gold bracelet with the spiral design?”
How was she supposed to take that? Katie defensively concealed her right wrist with her left forearm, drawing it closer to her stomach. “Why?” She was ready to fight the brunette to keep her bracelet. There was no way in hell she was going to let her have it.
Eva started to say something but was distracted. A distinct crunching sound could be heard coming from somewhere in the woods. Both girls froze, listening to the crunching of leaves.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Katie jumped up, ignoring her body pains. “Yes, we’re saved!” she cheered, almost giddy. ‘Now I can get out of this hell hole and go home!’ The jubilant girl turned to Eva, noticing the girl had a polished and carved brown stick about a meter long from that skinny black bag slung over her back. No, it wasn’t a stick, but a wooden sword known as a bokken or bokuto.
‘Who carries a bokken with them?’ Katie wondered, interested in the weapon. “What are you doing?” she half whispered, half shouted to the strange girl who had ran over to the trees, to the right of where the sound, disappearing behind one of the large trees.
“Sshh, we don’t know if this is help or not,” she called out from behind the tree.
“Whatever. Soon I’ll be back home and I won’t have to deal with you anymore!” Katie balled her fists. ‘She’s just trying to upset me. She needs to have a reality check. Who carries around wooden swords anyways?’ Katie waited several minutes anxiously as a tall figure emerged before her.
The person from the woods was a strangely dressed tall man with long, dark hair, broad shoulders. His clothing looked foreign and out of date. He wore a long-sleeved cream-colored shirt; metal shoulder plates and forearm guards; some sashes were around his waist, tied in the front-one crimson, and one blue; his black, loose-fitting pants were tucked into their knee-high, dark brown leather boots. In his right hand, he held a long, curved blade slightly as if prepared to defend himself.
The armed man looked like some ancient warrior from one of the stories Katie enjoyed so much. His alabaster white skin practically glowed, his blue, no gray, eyes looked like they could see through anything. The stocky girl was bewitched by the handsome man, despite a small part of her knowing she should be worried. He was a tall and well-built man with a beautifully chiseled face, unlike anything she had ever seen. ...What wasn’t there to like? ‘He’s gorgeous!’ Katie continued to stare at the man, dumbstruck.
The strangely dressed man eyed the girl warily, lowering his curved blade even more. He stopped no more than twenty feet away from the large girl, not quite clear of the tall trees. Some intelligible gibberish flew from his mouth. The tone of the melodious voice was commanding. Receiving no response, he said something else, slightly louder and paused again. The harsh tone of his voice from the second time broke the spell that his striking features had on Katie. He lifted his blade and waved it at her.
“Huh, what?” Katie’s attention fell on the weapon and the strange expression on his face. He was glaring at her.
“Wa-wait a minute,” Katie whimpered, holding up her hands, trying to show no harm. She started to retreat, walking backwards, still facing the man. “Eva?” Katie called out distressed, receiving no answer from the girl. ‘Did she ditch me? How could she do that to me? That bitch!’
The man barked out some more gibberish as he took a couple steps forward. He stood tall, ready to attack. He shouted something else, with the tone rising at the end.
Katie decided that she’d try to run for it, instead of waiting for tall-dark-and-handsome to stick her like some pig. Her desperation rationalized that chance on her side, being just a poor and innocent girl. After all, the good guy always has enough luck on his or her side to stay alive. Katie eyed the tall stranger before turning to run the opposite direct. She heard him yell something abruptly, probably commanding her to stop. Katie only made a couple feet before hearing the man shout out in surprise, a loud thump and crack, and a small scuffle behind her. Turning, she found Eva with the man. ‘Did she just jump out of that nearby tree? Is this crazy part monkey or something?’
Eva had been waiting quietly up in one of the trees for an opportune moment. When Katie was making a commotion and attempting to escape, Eva had nearly jumped directly on the armed man, knocking the blade away and him to the ground. She was standing to his left side, looming over his fallen form, gripping her wooden sword, ready to strike him if need be. She stood strong and ready to strike. This girl clearly had some training in defense.
“Who are you?” Eva momentarily glanced over at the fallen blade that lied beside her left foot before she angrily kicked its handle, sending it several feet closer towards Katie. “Katie, hold onto that for me.”
“Uh, um, okay!” Katie stumbled over with wobbly legs to retrieve the sword. ‘Who the hell is she?’ The man’s large, curved blade was much heavier than the pink-haired girl would have surmised. It actually seemed like a real blade, with an ornate, metal handle and some fancy script carved into the blade itself.
She gazed coolly at the scowling stranger. “What are you doing, cosplaying in the woods?” No answer came from the man.
“Wow... Um, actually, Eva, this is a real sword. It’s really sharp. Must’ve been expensive.”
‘Real and sharp?’ “Now, I’ll ask you again...” the brunette’s voice was eerily calm, “Who are you? Are you alone? Why are you dressed like that? Did grandpa send you? Is this supposed to be some sort of test? Is this his idea of a joke?” She paused for a couple seconds, receiving little change in expression. “Did you know that the character of Johnny Appleseed was based on Bill Brasky? Except for the part about planting apple trees and not raping men.” None of this seemed to register. Perhaps he didn’t know English.
Katie snorted, surprised by Eva. “Wha-what hell are you doing! This isn’t the time for jokes!”
Eva ignored the heavy girl and continued her interrogation. “Jaa, nihongo wa? Omae wa dare? Nan no tsumori? Sono kuchi wo hikisaite yarouka?”The man looked confused. “Omae fuzaketennoka” Still nothing. “Oi, nantoka ieyo!” she barked, losing patience.
The man lying on his back on the ground kept scowling. Then he shouted out something before spitting at the brunette. As Eva moved to kick him with her right foot, the man quickly snatched her ankle with both hands, pulling it up and out, causing her to fall back. Following through with the swift movement, the man continued the hold onto the ankle as he quickly stood up.
“Eva!” Katie shrieked.
The brunette’s world immediately turned upside down. The dark-haired man had moved fast and lifting her seemed effortless for him, catching the girl off guard. Eva swung her body and kicked up, the ball of the foot pointing out, aimed for his chin. However, the man evaded her kick, shoving her back as he released her ankle. The combination of the momentum generated from the girl swinging her leg up for the kick and the way the tall man had released her sent Eva in a backward summersault. The brunette, still firmly grasping the bokken, landed in a crouching position and cursed slightly under her breadth. While kneeling close to the ground, she hastily shifted her footing and position of her weapon, the muscles in her arm and shoulder were tense, ready to execute another attack; however, something knocked the sword out of her hand. She was momentarily distracted and the tall man made his next move, launching toward her, reaching out as if to restrain her. Instead of trying to flee, Eva stepped into the attacker, bringing up her left knee toward the lower part of his torso. The man moved his two arms to guard and push down the knee as Eva sent her right palm to his chest, following through with a punch that pushed him back. She had feigned the knee attack to ensure the execution of forceful strike to his chest.
Eva winced and gazed at her right hand. A large portion was covered in crimson liquid. She glanced over to an arrow, lying not too far from the dropped wooden sword and then looked to her left, where Katie had been waiting with the man’s real sword. Instead of Katie timidly watching, an identical looking man was setting up an arrow in his large bow, while his right foot planted in between Katie’s shoulder blades as she was lying faced-down on the ground.
“Katie!”
“Eva, I... I d-don’t know w-what happened!” Katie started to cry. “I-I tried called for help, but...!”
Before Eva could move, the man she had been fighting seized her, pinning her arms behind her back and then shouted over to his double who responded in an equally foreign tongue. The brunette in the tall man’s grasp struggled for a moment until she was interrupted by him motioning over to the other man with the bow and arrow nocked and aiming down at Katie who was now crying hysterically.
“Oh-God-oh-God-oh-God! Please don’t kill me! Please, please don’t!” Her distressed breathing and sniffling made her pleas barely intelligible.
Eva stopped struggling against the tall man. She glared at the distraught girl on the ground about twenty feet away. What could be done?
__________________________________________________________________________
Author notes: Well, that’s what I got so far. If you can read the Japanese text below, don’t worry about it, it’s just a repeat the Romanized Japanese.
Translations notes: The Japanese is harsh and masculine. Sometimes when women want to seem commanding or threatening, they’ll alter their speaking to sound more assertive, rough, and/or capable of action (ie violence).
Jaa, nihongo wa? じゃあ、日本語は？ Well, how about Japanese?
Omae wa dare? お前は誰？ Who are you?
Nan no tsumori? 何のつもり？ Your intentions?
Sono kuchi wo hikisaite yarouka? その口を引裂いてやろうか？ Should I cut out that mouth for you?
Omae fuzaketennoka? お前ふざけてんのか？ Are you jerking me around?
Oi, nantoka ieyo! おい、なんとか言えよ！ Hey/Oy, say something!