"Cooro, you idiot. You knocked her out."
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect her to turn around!"
"You're lucky Senri caught her."
"Yeah, thanks Senri!"
Mica rubbed her head and sat up, before opening her eyes. Nana said, "So why did she fly away anyway?"
Husky shrugged. "I don't know, she suddenly went all weird and started shaking, then she thrashed about and flew away."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing! It wasn't my fault!"
Mica was propped up against a rock, a few metres away from where the others were sitting in a circle around a fire. Senri was looking in a small book, Nana was telling Husky off, and Cooro was being… well, Cooro. She shivered. It was dark already. She tested her body, stretched her injured arm and bit her tongue. It was still very sore. She opened her wings, and wrapped them round herself. Cooro looked over and grinned. "You're awake! Come over by the fire!" Mica stood but collapsed. Nana ran to help her but Mica stopped her. "Wait. If I can't look after myself then I'm worthless. It's just unfortunate we met when I was injured."
Nana huffed. Cooro came over and said, "You know, that's why we're in a group. We help each other, especially when one of us needs help."
Mica looked at them properly then, without her keen hawk eyesight. Cooro was serious about this, and his eyes were hopeful. Nana was pretty much the same, and Senri was slightly confused, but kind and also hopeful. Husky was standing off to the side, with his arms folded. He was trying to look like he thought this was all too much of a nuisance, but slight movements betrayed his concern and friendliness. She took a deep breath and said, "You don't understand. I… I can't trust. W-when I was young, my cousins pushed me off a cliff. That's what came from trusting. I trusted people in the city not to betray me, but they told everyone I was a monster and laughed. I trust, and then I am betrayed. It's how it works. But maybe I can break the cycle, by not trusting."
"Maybe we can break it for you."
"Maybe you can- but maybe you'll just stab me in the back. How can I tell?"
"Hmmm…"
Nana spoke up. "You let Senri- fix your arm." If you could call that fixing, she thought silently.
She nodded uncertainly, and looked at Senri. "That's true."
Senri seemed to sense her gaze, and he looked up. He saw her staring, and smiled at her. That smile seemed to give her confidence. She closed her eyes and saw visions of all the times she had been betrayed… but forced them out of her mind to nod at Cooro. "I will come, but you must let me do things on my own. I need time to- adjust, to a group."
Cooro grinned. "Sure!"
She stood up and stretched out her bad arm. It hurt quite a lot, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She turned away from the river, and asked Husky, "What +Anima are you?" He sighed.
"A fish." Mica tried to picture that in her mind. He harrumphed and strode to the river. Her breath caught in her throat, and she closed one eye, partly turning away. She was scared that if he went in, he wouldn't come out. But when he dived in the water, he grew a long, silvery tail. He surfaced and glared at her. "Happy now?"
She nodded slightly. "But, you know, I never asked you to go jump in the water. I would never ask anyone to do that."
Husky got out of the water, dripping wet. He was muttering darkly to himself. Cooro offered Mica a piece of cooked fish. She took it and munched on it hungrily. Once she had finished, she looked around and saw that everyone else had fallen asleep. She watched the dying embers of the fire, and thought, what have I done?
They travelled the next day. Husky wasn't very happy, but Mica had no idea what was wrong. She sped up to walk next to Nana and whispered, "What's wrong with Husky?" She sniffed. "He hates girls for some reason; he almost left when I joined the group."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"So you guys don't really know each other?"
Nana looked down at her feet and spoke softly. "Cooro and Husky met at a circus, and then they met Senri somehow, I don't really know. Then I came along too, I had been living underground. We are travelling to find more +Anima, is all I know."
"Thanks."
Mica glanced at Cooro, who was chattering animatedly to Senri. What was with this boy, she wondered.
They travelled through half the day, along the river. Mica tried to keep her distance from it without showing the others she was afraid. It was difficult, though, when they stopped to eat. "Hey, Mica!" Cooro yelled.
"Yeah?"
'Why don't you and Nana go have a bath, while we get something to eat?"
"Um, n-not right now, maybe."
"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you shivering?"
"It's…it's nothing."
Husky thought otherwise. He waited until the others weren't looking, then whispered to Mica, "Can't you swim?" She shuddered at the thought. "N-no," she mumbled back. Husky thought on how he had become a +Anima. He had almost drowned… But it was strange that Mica became a hawk +Anima if she was so afraid of the water. He hesitated. "Do you… want me to show you how to swim?"
Mica stole a frightened look at the water, before nodding mutely. "But, how can you teach me? You have a tail, when you're in the water."
"True, but I can at least show you how to stay afloat."
"When?"
"How about… tonight?"
"Thank you, Husky."
"Don't worry." Husky wondered why he said that last thing. Maybe because he could tell how much the water scared her, and he remembered what had happened to him?
They collected food while Nana was bathing. They cooked the meat and divided it up into portions, as Nana came back. She smiled. "That smells great!"
"Then let's eat!" Cooro was obviously hungry. They ate quickly, and continued on their way. They stopped again that night, and ate some more. After the meal, Cooro fell asleep where he was sitting, Senri found a place a bit away and Nana used her bag as a pillow. Husky stood up, and with a jerk of his head, told Mica to follow him. She did, and Husky led her to a part of the river that he had noticed earlier, which had a very weak current. He stripped down to his black skin-tight pants and dove in the water. Mica took off her outer clothes and waded in up to her waist. Husky beckoned from deeper in. "Just a little more, don't worry."
She gulped and moved in slightly further. Husky kept encouraging her forward, but stayed close enough to grab her if she fell. When she was deep enough, he said, "Now kick away from the ground, forwards and up." Mica gave him a terrified look, but did as she was told. As she came towards him, Husky caught her and held her head up. "Kick gently with your legs," he said. She did, but could feel herself sinking, as well as weakening. Husky could tell she was starting to panic through her breathing. He gripped her more tightly and whispered, "Don't worry, I have you. I'll help you keep breathing." Mica closed her eyes tightly and nodded. Husky sighed inwardly. "Okay, take a deep breath. When your lungs are full of air there's no way you can sink." She complied, and Husky felt the buoyancy as she began to feel lighter. Mica let out a slight rush of air, and Husky held her above the water as she began to struggle again. "Come on, that's enough for tonight. You might get hypothermia or something." Husky towed her back to the shore and she held on to him tightly until she was safely out of the water. They dried off and put the rest of their clothes back on, and they wandered towards the campsite, finding Senri sitting, awake. Nana and Cooro were nowhere to be seen. She collapsed in a heap and said, "Now what? Senri, where are the others?"
Just then, they heard Cooro yelling, "We can't find them anywhere!" and he and Nana came out from the darkness. They rushed the two night-swimmers, and demanded to know where they'd been. Husky muttered something hard to decipher and Mica laughed awkwardly. "…Swimming."
"SWIMMING?!"
"Uh, yeah. Husky was teaching me how to swim. You see, I'm scared of the water, so…"
"Ooh! Husky was being a gentleman, was he?"
Husky hit Nana with his rod. "Shut up!"
Mica laughed. Cooro had a brilliant idea. "How about we go swimming tomorrow? All of us?"
She looked uncertain, but Husky nodded almost imperceptibly. Mica steeled herself and nodded with as much enthusiasm she could find for something she had been afraid of for years. "That sounds great."
They all lay down fairly close to each other to keep warm. Mica looked at Senri, on her left, and Cooro on her right, and hoped that this relationship wouldn't turn out like all the rest.
Mica rose early the next morning and left to collect some food for the others. She carefully detached Cooro, who was clinging to her arm. Standing up, she stretched and left quietly, trying not to disturb the others. While she was hunting, the sun rose, and the others sleepily roused themselves and each other. Mica returned later with three dead rabbits and knelt on a flat stone to cut them up. Senri started the fire behind her, and Nana watched Cooro and Husky catch fish. Husky got out of the water and brought some fish to the fire, while Mica sorted out cooking the rabbits. They all sat down and ate the hot meal, Nana especially seeming pleased. Which was odd, Mica mused, since she hadn't really done anything. Then Cooro started shouting, and it took Mica a second to understand what he was talking about. Then she realised. He wanted them to go swimming. Now. She involuntarily began shivering, but tried to stop herself. I won't drown, I won't drown. She chanted a mantra to herself as her throat closed up. She shut her eyes and suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked down, surprised, and Cooro gazed up at her. "Don't worry, nothing will happen. And if it does, we'll help."
She nodded firmly. "I know. I told you, I have trouble trusting. Anyone I used to know would leave me to die if I was drowning; in fact, they would probably put their foot on my head."
"We won't."
"Thank you."
They all stripped down to their underclothes. Husky jumped straight in; Senri and Cooro followed. Nana held Mica's hand as they stepped into the water. Mica felt panic begin to rise within her, as it always did. Her inner self was screaming, what are you doing? You can't swim, this is too much for you, are you begging to die?