(Flashback) A Walk in the Woods (Elysia)

[Blythe]

"Get behind me," Elysia whispered. Blythe nodded, doing her best to tip-toe silently behind Elysia, but failing miserably when she walked on a small stick, which broke in half beneath her weight, emitting a low snapping sound. Blythe scrunched her eyes shut, "petch," she whispered, unused to hearing such a word formulating on her lips, let alone being uttered upon them, Blythe silently scolded herself. She would wash her own mouth out with soap, she thought... as soon as she gets home.

Blythe watched from behind Elysia as she lifted her bow from the ground again, and knocked an arrow onto the serving. Slowly, almost silently, she began to raise her bow, and pull back on the bow string. Elysia was pointing it in the direction in which Blythe had heard a noise.

When Elysia had raised the bow to her face, she looked down the arrow, taking aim, before letting out a low gasp, and releasing the bow string. The arrow flew through the air, and into the bushes. The arrow had flown straight for the most part, only dipping, and falling slightly after a few feet, or so it seemed. "Do you think you got it?" Blythe whispered from behind Elysia, her eyes still wide.

[Elysia]

"Do you think you got it?" Blythe quietly asked. Her voice sounded a little shaky.

A cry came from where she shot the arrow. It sounded like a small animal. Elysia's heart sunk. Seems like anything she did resulted in failure and felt like quitting before she had done any further harm.

They followed the cry through the bushes and they saw the arrow sticking into the hind leg of a fawn, though not nearly as young as a newborn. It was loosing it's spots. Tears pooled in Elysia's eyes as she looked at Blythe as if for answers.

[Blythe]

A cry came from beneath the bushes; where Elysia had shot her arrow. It sounded like a small animal. Blythe's eyes grew even wider, and she looked over at Elysia, nervously. Had the girl's arrow struck something that it shouldn't have? Did it strike something by mistake? Or had it wounded a vile and treacherous beast?

Blythe took one cautious step forward, peering out from behind Elysia. What could be making that noise? Blythe wondered as her heart began to pound harder and harder in her chest; threatening to break free of her bony ribcage. Blythe was convinced she could hear it pounding. There was a clump in her throat, and Blythe was barely breathing.

Slowly, Blythe tip-toed after Elysia, as they followed the cries of the animal. The pair of Kontis pushed themselves through the bushes, and came upon a young fawn. It's fur was a deep brown color, short, and close to the skin. Even so, its pelt seemed soft. Its small silver whiskers twitched, as did its black nose; as if it had picked up on their scent long before they had come into view. The fawn had large black eyes, which seemed to be gazing back and forth between the two girls in utmost terror. Elysia's arrow was lodged in the creature's right hind leg. Crimson red blood spotted the fur that surrounded the arrow, as well as the ground. Small bloody droplets trickled down the fawn's legs, onto its black hooves, as well as the ground.

"Petch," Blythe exclaimed again, not bothering to silently scold herself this time, as the fawn seemed to respond with a load-pitched wailing sound. Blythe's lavender eyes widened, as tears formed in the corners of her irises. What had she an Elysia done?

Blythe glanced over at Elysia, who looked back at her. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was sniffling quietly. Blythe looked down at the fawn, and then back up at Elysia.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder to Elysia, as she walked over to the fawn. When she reached it, she dropped her bag at her side, and bent down. She knelt on her knees, and looked over at the fawn, who seemed to be breathing rather quickly, in and out in and out. Blythe was convinced that she could hear its heart pounding, see it pounding in its tiny chest.

"Sorry," Blythe whispered to the animal, as it stared at her wide-eyed. "Forgive us for our foolishness," she finished, as she reached her hand out, slowly, and pat the animal's back. Its head sprang up instantly and bit Blythe's hand. "Hey!" she shouted as the animal let go, and Blythe shook her reddened hand out in pain.

"I'm trying to help," she whispered, trying again, only to be bitten again. Guess it doesn't like me much, Blythe thought, as she looked over at the arrow, she supposed she couldn't blame it.

[Elysia]

"Petch." Blythe exclaimed. Elysia winced as if she struck her and the tears threatened to fall all the more, but not once taking her eyes off the injured fawn. Blythe glanced from the fawn, then to Elysia. Hurt and full of remorse for wounding the fawn, she knew standing around wasn't going to help it. She felt so helpless since she knew nothing about bandaging a wound. Elysia pleaded into Blythes lavender eyes hoping she would know something that could help this poor creature.

Blythe beckoned her to come over where the fawn lay, helpless, injured and in pain. the cries it made tore into the very heart of her senses. No longer strong enough to hold back the tears, they spilled against her cheeks and dropped her bow. The weapon that was used to wound this gentle spirit. The sound of Blythe's bag hitting the ground snapped her back into logic. Blythe was already on her hands and knees, looking over the fawn. Elysia put her hands together in a praying position in hopes she could help it.


"Sorry," Blythe had whispered to the young animal. Elysia wanted so badly to apologize too, but was too afraid she would scare it off. She would much rather see it walk or scamper off safely than see it afraid of what else they might do and perhaps be prey to other animals in its pursuit of reaching a safe place. "Forgive us for our foolishness," Blythe continued as she finished and reached out her hand, slowly, to pat the fawn's back, but the animal flung its head and bit her hand. Elysia's hands went up to her mouth instantly. Knowing the animal's fright and uncertainty of them, she still couldn't believe it bit her after she was trying to help it.

"Hey!" Blythe shouted as she shook her hand from pain. They both watched the fawn go. "I'm trying to help." She heard Blythe whisper in a rejected tone. Elysia put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Hearing her distress she said, "It was my fault, not yours." She looked down at the ground. It was really hard for her to admit that she had done something so wrong, it felt like a crime to her. She really hoped Blythe could forgive her.

[Blythe]

Blythe felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to find Elysia standing behind her. Elysia's hand felt cold, and stiff, the poor girl really seemed to be upset. "It was my fault, not yours," Elysia said as she looked down at the ground. Blythe knew her comment was in reference to the fawn.

Blythe sighed, "it's as much your fault as it is mine," she said as she got up, bent over, grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Her bag felt particularly heavy now that she felt not only its weight on her shoulders, but the weight of her and Elysia's actions as well. How foolish they had both been, she thought, slightly angry at herself.

Once Blythe had gotten to her feet, she wiped the tears from her eyes. There was no use in crying, it wouldn't help anything, she told herself, as an audible wail broke through the forest. Blythe's heart sank.

"We should probably go after the fawn, it won't get very far with that arrow still being stuck in it's leg. Come on," Blythe called over her shoulder, motioning Elysia to follow her with her hands, before she pushed a few branches out of the way and started following the sound of the fawn's wails. She stumbled upon it a few moments later, it hadn't managed to go very far, and its wailing was as sorrowful as ever. It pierced Blythe's heart, cutting through it like a newly-sharpened blade. The sight of the poor creature was pitiful.

With a newfound sense of determination, Blythe tightened her hold on her bag, and strode over the to the poor animal. "Lets try this again," she whispered, as she got down on her knees, and braced her left hand around the arrow, her hands holding onto the fawn's legs. The fur that Blythe could actually feel was clumped together, for the most part, and hidden behind splotches and trickles of blood. Blood stained Blythe's hands a deep red, but she didn't care. Instead, she braced herself, biting down on her bottom lip, as she held the area around the arrow in her left hand, and gripped as close to the tip as she could with the right.

Sorry this is going to hurt, she thought to herself, as she twisted the arrow around, before pulling it out of the fawn's leg. The fawn let out a blood-curdling moan, as a few fresh trickles of blood seeped out of the fawn's skin. "Petch," Blythe whispered as the blood started to pour down her hands. Blythe threw Elysia's blood-tipped arrow to the side, and held her right hand tightly to the fawn's wound, some of the blood seeping through the cracks in-between her fingers. "Sorry," Blythe whispered, as she braced her right hand with the left, doing her best to apply pressure on the wound as the fawn continued to cry in the way that young deer do.

"Hey Elysia," Blythe called over her shoulder, not even certain that the girl was still there. "Would you mind getting something to help close up this wound, anything at all would be lovely... like some leaves... or something... please tell me you have more experience with medicine than I do," Blythe said, wide-eyed, she really had no idea as to what she was doing, and sure as heck hoped that Elysia did.

[Elysia]

"It's as much your fault as it is mine," Blythe said as she got up, bent over to grab her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. She faltered a bit from the weight or so it seemed. This didn't make Elysia feel any better and it wasn't meant to. She noticed Blythe was a very blunt and factual person. It seemed to Elysia that the event that had taken place weighed her down instead of her bag.
Blythe looked angry and yet tears spilled as she whipped them away. Elysia didn't feel angry, she felt very bad for what she did, non-the-less, she felt more guilt and pain for the animal than anything else. Anger only brought more destruction, she thought to herself.

"We should probably go after the fawn, it won't get very far with that arrow still being stuck in it's leg. Come on." Blythe's commanding voice whipped Elysia back into reality. Not saying a word in case she might upset her further, she followed her in tow, pushing through branches stood in their way. Elysia had her vision stuck on the green grass as they moved. She was looking for clues of where the fawn could have gone. Small splattered blood was smeared on the grass, it was hard to see unless you were really looking. Blythe was following the fawn's awful, pained, cries. All over again Elysia's heart was torn in two when they came upon the animal again.

"Lets try this again." She heard Blythe whisper gently to the, once again, frightened fawn. It seemed to try and buck her off as she proceeded to hold the animal's leg.

Elysia bent over just enough to see a little closer to what Blythe was doing. Blood had stained her hands as inspected the wound. She held the area around the arrow in her left hand and gripped the tip as close as she could with the right. She paused for a moment as if readying a blow and then twisted the arrow around before pulling it out.

Elysia had to cover her ears as the fawn cried out in pain. It was almost as if she could also feel the gentle spirit's stinging pain, feeling ever more sorry for it. She bent over again slightly to see what Blythe would do next.

With the arrow out and the wound open, the fawn's blood was seeping out of the small hole in its leg. "Petch." There was that word again, Elysia thought. Every time she heard it, it was twice the fold of guilt that spread through her.
Blood dripped from Blythe's hands which made Elysia light headed, but forced herself to watch as much as she could. When it got too much for her she would look away to regain her composure. Looking back, she saw Blythe was applying pressure to the wound as the fawn was cried and bucked from pain. No, she thought, don't move. Noticing that the fawn's utter negative excitement was making the blood pour out more.

"Hey Elysia," Blythe called to her. "Hey Elysia," Blythe called over her shoulder. "Would you mind getting something to help close up this wound, anything at all would be lovely... like some leaves... or something... please tell me you have more experience with medicine than I do." Her light brown eyes widened with fear as Blythe was suddenly expectant of her to know about medicine, not to mention more than Blythe's.

"I'll get what I can and quickly!" Elysia said as she ran to find really anything to help stop the bleeding. Where was she running to? It was an automatic response when something was demanded or expected of her. Stopped in her tracks, she analyzed her surroundings. All she saw were tree, grass and flowers. What can nature offer for aid, she wondered. Leaves! Leaves will slow the bleeding down at least, but what to tie it with? Looking down she saw flimsy twigs that had fallen off bushes.

She gathered as much leaves from trees as she could carry along with the flexible twigs. When she arrived beside Blythe, she could see she was still applying pressure. Grabbing as many leaves in her hand. "Ok, move your hands so I can put these on the wound." Blythe did as Elysia said. As she did, the blood seeped out again and Elysia applied the leaves directly over the wound and held it there while applying pressure. "Can you tie those twigs so the leaves will stay please?" She asked politely.

[Blythe]

"I'll get what I can and quickly!" Elysia called from behind her. "Ok... but hurry!" Blythe called over her shoulder again, not sure if Elysia had heard. She could vaguely make out the sound of her footsteps pounding on the cold dirt beneath her feet as she ran off in search of something useful. Blythe really did hope that the girl found something, especially with the fawn still wailing miserably and her hands becoming more and more stained with blood. There was only so much applying pressure to a wound could do, they would need to bandage it if the fawn was to recover, otherwise, it may lose too much blood. Should the fawn lose to much, not even the most skilled medics would be able to help it, Blythe thought as she bit down on her bottom lip, and redoubled her efforts.

Blythe was pressing even harder into the fawn's leg with her hands, she didn't want it to lose more blood, but such an event was indeed, inevitable. Tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on Blythe's brow, as her heart continued to beat faster and faster in her chest. The fawn was still crying out in pain, and Blythe had to do her best to ignore it, should she let it get to her, she may let up on the fawn's leg, and all of her and Elysia's efforts may be for nothing.

A few minutes later, Elysia returned with a pile of green leaves and a few twigs. Well it's about time, Blythe thought to herself, as the girl got down at her knees. She was kneeling at Blythe's side now, her brown eyes seemed wide and frantic, yet determined at the same time. "Ok, move your hands so I can put these on the wound," Elysia said as she held up a few green leaves. Blythe nodded and moved her hands. As soon as she did, more blood began to pour from the wound, and Blythe really started to wonder how much longer the fawn would last before it became seriously ill or died.

Blythe watched as Elysia began to cover the wound with leaves, doing her best to maintain some level of pressure on the wound as she applied their make-shift bandages. After a few moments of leaf application, Elysia asked politely, "can you tie those twigs so the leaves will stay please?" Blythe nodded, picking up a few of the twigs, she worked her way in-between Elysia's trembling hands, and tried to loop the twigs into place. Each and every time Blythe tried, the twigs would either be too short to go all the way around the leg, or they'd snap while Blythe attempted to tie them in place.

When Blythe had effectively destroyed the last twig; their last chance, her heart missed a few beats. Petch, petch, petch, petch! Her head screamed, but she was too scared to to scold herself. She held the two ends of the broken twig in her hands. Blythe glanced down at the moaning fawn, then to Elysia, and then the fawn, to her hands, and then back to Elysia again. Blythe dropped the twigs, as if to say, um... any more ideas? Before looking frantically around her. Left to right, left to right, there had to be something in this forest that would help them.

And then, she saw it, a tree covered in large, leafy vines, approximately fifteen feet away from where the fawn lay. Blythe instantly sprang to her feet, adrenaline coursing through her body, she ran over to the tree, and grabbed hold of the vine, tugging on it ferociously, before she pulled a section of it free. Blythe ran back over to Elysia and the fawn, ripping leaves from the vine as she went. As soon as she reached them, she got onto her knees, and ripped the vine into three portions. The vine was far more flexible than the twigs had been.

Working as quickly as she could, Blythe tied the vines around the leaves that encased the fawn's wounds. It took her and Elysia a moment to work out a method in which Blythe could work through her arms, but the pair managed. The vines didn't seem to be on too tight, but at least it was something, Blythe thought, as she finally allowed herself to wipe the sweat that had gathered on her forehead away with the back of her sleeve. Phew, she thought, as her heart beat began to slow down and she looked over at Elysia, that was a close one, she thought, as she asked, "think that will do?" In all honesty, Blythe wasn't sure that it would be enough to help the fawn, but then again, she knew nothing about animals or medicine, so who was she to judge?

[Elysia]

As Elysia kept the pressure on the wound, she watched Blythe as she tried to tie the twigs around the fawn's leg. To her horror, they kept snapping or they were too short to tie around the leg or even too big. The fawn kept moaning and she noticed the sound was getting quiet. Whether it was her concentration that was numbing the sound so she could think, or the poor creature was dying.
Blythe's eyes darted around trying to look for something else that would work in action of a string. She then dropped the twigs and looked as if she gave up and it was all up to Elysia. This she feared so much. She wasn't born a leader, but then jumped to her feet and sprinted into the trees.

Elysia didn't know where she was going and wondered if she had abandoned her! She turned her attention back to the struggling fawn, its cries not so loud. This was starting to scare her out of her wits. She would not be able to live with herself if she was responsible for this young life's death. An idea came to her mind. She remembered when ever she was afraid or had a bad dream, her mother would sing to calm and sooth her. She figured she would try it and see if it had the same effect on this fawn.

She took a deep breath in from her diaphragm and began to hum a soft tune that seemed to carry against the wind. The melody was slow and quiet. The fawns eyes were still wide open, but it was listening intently to her song. To her amazement, she kept singing until Blythe arrived with hopefully something.
Footsteps were heard coming toward them. Must be Blythe coming back with something, she thought. "Think that will do?" Blythe asked, panting, on her arrival. As soon as Elysia stopped singing, the fawn started to cry again. She looked at what Blythe brought. Vines. Her eyes widened with hope. "It should certainly help better than those twigs I brought." Elysia changed the leaves for some clean ones and applied pressure again. "If you could tie that around, I will continue singing and applying pressure." She said. Singing was a great way to calm someone. She wasn't sure if it worked on animals too, but it looked like it was and it was a great way to calm the heart from pumping too much.

[Blythe]

The two girls had worked together in order to bandage the young creature. If Elysia had said anything to Blythe during the time in which it took her to bandage the wound with leaves and vine, then she certainly hadn't heard it, being too engrossed in her task, and high off the adrenaline rush to pay attention to much of anything.

Slowly, the rush began to ware off as Blythe finished tying the final knot, and looked down at her handiwork, finally starting to notice the fact that Elysia had been singing. Her voice was rather low, seeming to have been lost in the wind as it blew in the direction in which they had come, and carried by it when it blew in the direction of the fawn. The melody, was low, and quiet, only a few notes, not at all complex. Yet, it seemed to have a strangely calming effect on the fawn, as well as Blythe's own pounding heart, despite its being laced with the slightest hint of fear... or perhaps it was discomfort... guilt?

If Elysia had been singing any words, Blythe certainly hadn't heard them, but the tune was something Blythe had heard many many years ago, when she was a child, and at times, she found herself humming along with Elysia, as she stared down at the fawn. "Do you think that those 'bandages' will be enough?" Blythe asked, turning to look at Elysia, "do you think the fawn will be ok? Or do you think there is still something else that we should do?"

[Elysia]

Blythe hummed along with Elysia for a while in order to calm the young one. She was surprised she knew the same tune. It wasn't anything difficult to voice either and seemed perfect for the issue at hand. Even humming this tune made her feel more calm as well, rather than a disorganized and frantic mind to handle such a situation.

The fawn was now breathing normally and the fear it once felt left it. The struggle was over. Only the soothing winds of their song could be felt and heard.

"Do you think that those 'bandages' will be enough?" Blythe asked her as she met her eyes, "do you think the fawn will be ok? Or do you think there is still something else that we should do?" Elysia needed to think. Was there anything they missed or anything they could add in aid to this fawn?

Going through her memory, they had gathered the necessary equipment from nature itself. Leaves, twigs which didn't work out, and vines. The leaves acted as the bandages and the vines as rope or string to hold them in place. "I don't think we missed anything. I think we have done all we can. I don't see the blood seeping through as much as before. It should be fine." She tried to sound confident. In truth, she still felt awful about injuring the fawn, however, she also felt like they both did a good job at patching it up.