Sierra Summerfell was tired.
Granted, she had gotten up very early that morning so she could get to work. It was her first day as a Schnee company receptionist and she didn't want to be late.
It was a chilly winter morning and she threw on her coat before setting out. As she opened the door, the crisp morning nipped at her fingertips and she slipped on her gloves before setting out for work.
As she walked down the lane toward the bus stop, she took a deep breath and a beautiful smell filled her nose.
Along Sierra's route was a beautiful field of snowbells: a seasonal flower that grew only in Atlas. Snow fell in Atlas quite frequently but melted quickly, in the wake of the snow the flowers would spring up in large fields like the one by her house.
As she walked along the edge of the field she noted something odd.
The field, usually very pristine was tramped down on the far side from where she was standing. A trail of flattened snowbells led into the field to a larger flattened area. She would have kept walking, except the trail led into the field but not out of it.
She ventured forward into the field, moving at measured pace until she reached the large indent in the snowbells.
Her heart skipped a beat;
lying amidst the snowbells was a boy. He was about 15 years of age, with a short build and tousled black hair. The snow bell mat under him had been stained crimson with blood and a trail of red stretched back into the woods.
In any other circumstance, the red of the blood on the white flowers would be almost beautiful.
she thought.
Kneeling down next to the boy, she checked his pulse. Feeling a weak throbbing that signified that he was still alive, she investigated the wound in his side. It appeared to be a puncture wound three fingers wide, she wasn't sure how deep it went but she knew one way to find out. She turned him onto his left side and checked for an exit wound. She found one, which confirmed that the object had passed all the way through.
Gently setting him back down on the ground, she checked his face next. She removed his hood first and paused as she found two large cat ears protruding from his head.
Sierra carefully extended a finger and brushed the tip of one. It twitched and she snatched her hand back.
Come on Sierra, Focus!
Sierra gentle placed her hand under his chin and turned his face to look at her. Her stomach did a flip flop. Three large gashes carved a bloody passage through his left eye which was destroyed and sightless. Still clinging to his face was the remains of a white and red mask, the design of which she recognized as the mask of a White Fang member.
Sierra started to reach for her scroll, intent on calling the authorities but something stopped her. She slid the broken mask off of his face and studied his face intently.
Looking back at her from behind the blood was a boy, a pretty good looking boy at that. Frozen on the his face was an expression of sad composure, as if he had fallen unconscious thinking he wouldn't wake up.
Sierra's heart panged at this resignation. Right then and there she swore she wouldn't let him die, but she couldn't let the authorities find him.
Grabbing him under his arms she started slowly dragging him back to her house, it wasn't that far and would have been far more difficult if he hadn't been lighter than she'd thought.
"Good thing you're short." she whispered to him.
They must have cut an odd picture, with Sierra dragging him like a sack of dust, Leaving slight bloody drag marks as she heaved his limp body down the street back the way she'd traveled mere minutes earlier.
:
The first thing to pierce the fog of unconsciousness was an unexpected warmth.
Roy came around lying in a strange bed in a room he'd never seen before. The pale gray walls were plastered with different posters of various types, ranging from movies to musical groups from round Atlas and Vale. A soft light was shining from his right, whether it was from a window or lamp, he couldn't tell.
He turned his head to look and a line of pain shot along his right side. Gritting his teeth Roy used his left hand to investigate the source of the pain; an area just below his rib cage. He felt bandages and a stab of pain made him wince as he found the wound with his searching fingers.
Roy suddenly realized he couldn't see out of his left the left side of his face he found it swathed in bandages. Sitting up, he began trying to remove the bandages so he could see.
Pain ripped through his right side and, unable to keep it in anymore, Roy let out a cry of agony.
He heard running footsteps and a moment later a young woman appeared in the doorway.
She was about 20 years old, with blue-green eyes and reddish brown hair drawn up into a short ponytail. She was wearing a long sleeve gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and black sweatpants.
She took in the scene at a glance and raced forward, pressing Roy back down into bed. "Lay down! You are nowhere near ready to get out of bed yet!"
Roy struggled to get up again, but a bolt of pain made him cry out again.
"There! You happy?" the girl snapped.
"How long have I been here?" Roy asked.
"Three days." She answered.
He redoubled his efforts to get up, "I need to go-."
Another wave of pain smashed into him and he let out another harsh cry, the pain subsided but his energy waned along with it.
He sank back onto the pillows utterly exhausted. The young woman sat by his bed and wiped his forehead with a damp cloth. She was sitting on his right and, because of the bandages, Roy had to turn his head all the way to the right to look at her.
"How did I get here?" he asked.
"I found you in a field about four miles down the road." she replied, "I couldn't leave you there, you were half dead from blood loss. Sorry if your backside is sore, I had to basically drag you here."
Roy didn't want to ask the next question, but he need to know, "How bad are my injuries?"
She pointed to his side, "Three inch wide puncture wound, as well as a broken rib. The puncture wound went all the way through but missed everything vital." Next, she pointed to his bandage wrapped hand, "Several broken fingers, as well as quite a few lacerations on the knuckles." Finally, she gently placed her hand on his right cheek, "Three deep cuts, each about an inch in depth…" She paused and took a deep breath, "whatever cut you also caused irreparable damage to your right eye, leaving you sightless on that side."
Roy went numb in disbelief, the girl continued talking but her words fell on deaf ears. The urge to vomit started to overpower him. "I think I'm going to be sick."
The girl leapt forward and grabbed a small empty trash can and placed it front of Roy. His body was wracked with dry heaves, his stomach empty having not eaten in days.
He felt the girl's hand on his back, a comforting gesture that failed to make him feel any better. The heaving stopped and he slumped back onto the pillows. Tears gathered at the corner of his remaining eye and he quickly used the back of his hand to roughly wipe them away.
"Can I have some time alone?" he asked in a shaking voice that threatened to betray how close to completely breaking down he was.
He heard the girl say, "Of course," her footsteps retreated toward the door then paused, "I'm Sierra, in case you wanted to know."
The door closed and the sound of her footsteps grew fainter as she walked away.
Finally alone Roy allowed the full weight of his position crash down on him. He was injured, half blind and alone in a strange place, he'd been deserted by his best friend and left to die in that warehouse.
His emotions finally got the best of him, tears spilled down his cheek and onto the blanket covering him. It hurt to cry, but he couldn't keep it in any longer. After a awhile, he fell into a fitful sleep.
And now we learn how Roy and Sierra met. Personally I would've wanted to leave a better first impression XD. Ahem, bad time.
I'm so grateful to all of my followers. reviewers and all you other readers that have wandered in here, perhaps by accident. if you've stuck with the tale this far, don't worry, there are a lot more chapters coming and another book on the way!
Until next we meet!