Chapter one
If you're gone
X~X
If you're gone maybe its time to come home
Theres an awful lot of breathing room but I can hardly move
If you're gone baby you need to come home, come home
Theres a little bit of something me in everything in you
_Matchbox Twenty
If you're gone
X~X
the lost girl touched the bleeding wound on the side of her mouth. She couldn't remember how she had got it, she couldn't remember anything. She had woken up by a river wrapped in a blanket woven with pictures of all sorts of fantastical animals. She was dressed in a thin white cotton dress the pockets of which were filled with heavy coins and a scrap of parchment that read…something. Now she sat by the river, bleeding and confused, listening to every sound the forest made, and feeling the river mud gush between her toes. She kept her blanket on her shoulders and she absently held up each coin to the sun, entertained by the brilliant shine of the gold. Finally she had to stand, enticed by a fierce hunger in her stomach. She stepped gracefully over roots and stray rocks, her bare feet were tender and before too long they were bleeding, leaving thick bloody prints among the pine needles on the forest floor. She stumbled into a village, her stomach raging noisily and her feet sliced open and raw. The people she passed stared at her, sometimes in shock, sometimes in intrigue or horror, some with pity. Giving up on her pursuit of food, she leaned against a brightly painted house letting herself slide down and close her eyes, hoping to sleep again. But she was forcefully taken from her dreams of…well sleep when someone called her
"Girl!" the lost girl startled, and looked into the eyes of a very un-friendly looking girl. She was pretty with violet eyes and short silky black hair, her hands were on her hips and she looked cold. the lost girl got to her feet, wincing as the cobbled on the road pierced her wounds.
"M'sorry" the lost girl murmured feeling distinctively uncomfortable as the other girl scrutinized her. With a defeated sigh the girl took her by the arm.
"come on inside, we cant have you sitting out there, you're bad for business." she said tonelessly, leading the lost girl by the elbow into the house, which was filled with dried herbs, shelves and shelves of them on every wall, the lost girl's nose stung with all the conflicting scents, spicy, sweet and bitter all at once. The stony eyed girl disappeared somewhere and came out with a pot of…something and clean bandages. The something in the pot turned out to be soothing cream made out of Alfalfa, honey and cream. It was incredibly soothing on her broken skin. The girl also applied some to the lost girl's mouth.
"Thank you" the lost girl said sincerely as the pain ebbed out of her skin. The girl simply nodded and wrapped her feet with the clean bandages.
"who are you?" the purple eyed girl asked
"I don't know" the lost girl held out her parchment paper.
"Mikan" the purple eyed girl read.
"Who are you?" Mikan asked wincing as the purple eyed girl pulled her bandages too tight.
"Hotaru the Medicine seller" said the girl, Hotaru. Mikan nodded in understanding.
"are you some sort of amnesiac or something?" Hotaru asked, stranding up and popping her fingers. Mikan shrugged.
"I don't know what that is."
"Never mind then." Hotaru sighed, putting away the left-over bandages and the cooling cream. Mikan's stomach rumbled loudly. Hotaru glanced sideways at her.
"Hungry?" she asked. Mikan nodded
"What a nuisance." Hotaru hissed disappearing once again and coming out with a slice of bread and some dried meat. she passed it to Mikan with a heavy sigh. Mikan ate as if she hadn't eaten in years Hotaru watched her disgusted as she shovelled the food into her mouth. When Mikan was done she smiled greatfully at the raven haired girl.
"Thanks again, why are you being so kind?" Hotaru rolled her eyes.
"Out of stupidity on my part , when a half starved bleeding idiot arrives at you're house you're supposed to ignore it, but not me I let it in my house bandaged it and gave it my food." she scratched her head irritably.
"you can sleep here tonight, but that's it." she grumbled. Mikan produced a coin from her pocket and held it out to Hotaru who stared at her in disbelief.
"This is a…" her violet eyes sparkled.
"is this for me?" Mikan nodded and pressed the coin into her hand.
"I have more" she said grabbing out a handful and showing them to the medicine seller.
"and you don't remember anything?" Hotaru asked, swallowing thickly as Mikan slipped the coins back into her pocket. Mikan nodded.
"you don't perhaps know anything…do you?" she asked. Hotaru pondered for a moment
"you must have come from nobility. Average people don't carry around pockets full of gold rabbits." she clutched her gold coin in her hand protectively.
"that amount could last me the rest of my life." she indicated Mikan's full pockets.
"do you want it?" Mikan asked. Hotaru sighed again, something she seemed to be fond of.
"as much as I'd like to take you up on your offer, I'm above stealing goods from injured idiots." Mikan looked crestfallen.
"don't look like that, I mean it kindly I swear." she said digging a clay box out of her herb cluttered shelf.
"here, keep your money in here so it wont get stolen, tomorrow I'm going to take you to see Ruka the animal dealer. He might know something about you. He's close friends with Prince Natsume." Mikan listened, dropping her money into the clay box and stuffing it in her pocket.
"I'll get your bed set up, his house isn't close, we'll have to leave early." Said Hotaru. That night Mikan sank into a comfortable straw bed thinking that she was so lucky to have met the stern medicine seller Hotaru.