The harbor was very lively most of the time as it concentrated the town's whole trade.
So bumping into more than a few people there was bound to happen during their mad dash. There were lots of ships, some smaller and some being gigantic, the older would be more surprised to see if not for the current situation. They ran down the stone road till they reached the sandy beach, which the 18-year old recognized as the loathed hell. This time she was the one to navigate them to the forest where she found a good hiding place. They waited a bit to catch some breath. They vaguely heard some noises but knew better than to put their guard off.
"It's only a matter of time till they find us," she informed the younger when she caught some air. The latter nodded in response. The former continued on: "With my bloody footprints on the ground and ours on the sand they can find us if they follow the trace. I take that they aren't that stupid."
The latter viciously nodded her head to the statement. The woman smiled a bit at that.
"Good to know who we are escaping from."
The older was leaning onto the tree trunk while the other was crouching tightly behind her as the former was still holding onto her arm.
"Now is a good time to think of some plan," muttered the obviously tired and wounded female. At the mutter she felt someone tucking her shirt. It was the red head who pointed at some small ship that wasn't that far away. It was a typical fishing boat with two sails. One on the mast and the other near the front of the ship. It seemed quite simple at first glance.
"Seems good but," she furrowed thoughtfully, "I don't know how to steer a boat at all."
The reply she got was a small happy smile with some glint in the eyes.
"Well," she herself cracked a smile, "Not like we have any other choice."
Before they made their way to the boat the older couldn't help but smirk.
"You're not exactly the most talkative, what?"
She only got a small red blush as an answer to her remark.
Carefully assessing the situation the two slowly made their way to the boat. It didn't look like someone would check up on the small ship any time soon yet they tried to quickly get on. While the red haired girl seemed pretty knowledgeable with the ropes and the boat, the brunette made sure no one was closing in on them. When everything was ready the older hopped onto the deck as the other untied the rope from the pole. Content on the done work they set sail.
Meanwhile the sun began to set in with various shades of red, orange and pink. They went a bit further into the sea yet enough to see the detail of the port town. At first the older couldn't help but worry about creatures like the one she saw some time ago, shrugged it off after the first minutes. The image still made her shiver. Trying to calm herself after such a long day she resigned to watching the sea and the girl who was busy with navigating the ship. At first she wanted to help out, though the smaller girl made it clear that she didn't have to. Even better because as a complete layman in terms of ships and sea she worried about doing more damage than help. Additionally the girl seemed to be really elated at the fact of steering the boat.
They remained in utter silence, only the soft clashing of waves and screeches of seagull were heard. After a while the brunette decided to say something.
"You're very good at steering. Not that I'm an expert," she put on a sheepish face. The red head's face turned into a deep red. She couldn't help but chuckle. "You remind me of a very ripe delicious tomato, you know."
Said person got even more red and began to shake for a bit. Seeing this she put on a goofy expression and added: "I didn't mean to insult you. It's just that I haven't eaten in a while and all the running makes me hungry."
As on cue their stomach's made a significant growl. A moment of silence before a heartily laughter erupted from the older and small giggles the younger.
"Seems like we both have it rough. We'll need to get some food. And bandages. And clothes," cited the brunette. Inwardly she was a bit happy that she wasn't that alone despite her introversion as she liked to say.
"I'm sorry for scaring you back then. I must have acted like some stupid insane madwoman. I must be pretty stupid myself. Though at least we got alive out of it."
To her surprise she heard some stuttering for the first time from the other side where the girl sat down with one hand on the steer.
"Not at all," mumbled a small soft voice from under the nose while a mad blush appeared on the face.
"What?" the older raised an eyebrow.
"You aren't stupid. You saved me back then. You are a wonderful person. Thank you for saving my life. I'm indebted to you, Miss."
The girl bowed as deep as she could while holding onto the steer.
On the other side a smile graced the brunettes features.
"You're welcome. I may not be the best person though thanks for the compliment. Back then I didn't want to move from my place out of fear."
"But you still saved me," countered the younger straightening herself.
"Out of impulse, sheer stupidity and some dumb luck."
"But-" cut the redhead in.
"But I don't regret it that much as we got alive out of it. Though I still remain a stupid idiot. No buts." The brunette added shortly. She was too tried to argue and was still sure it could have gone very bad if not for the luck. She sat still, stretched her legs to see blood dripping from her feet. This time it didn't shake her up. She just took some clean-looking rag that was in the front of the ship in a sack, ripped it in half and began cleaning her wound while with the other half she bandaged the wounded places.
"At least the problem about the bandages resolved itself," she muttered contently with a pleased smile. She knew since long that in such environment she couldn't expect much. She still had a long way till she would get into her calm and composed self though it currently didn't matter that much as she was very relieved that they were alive and somewhat healthy.
They went into the comfortable silence again though the older could swear she heard a "I still find you wonderful, Miss."
They drifted till it became night. Both were very tried out so they decided to dock at the next island they reached. They managed to push the boat to the sandy shore. Neither of them had any power to look for some food for that matter so they decided to call the day. They nestled themselves in the makeshift bed in the boat they made from all the few rags, some smaller towels and luckily a blanket which they found in the corners of the ship. Strangely the temperature was higher at night in this place than at the previous island yet shrugged it off. Nonetheless the older packed the younger, with her face towards the brunette's chest and cuddled to get some warmth.
"Maybe I'm not the friendliest out here but it is still cold so we better use each other to warm ourselves."
The other simply nodded, the blush spreading to her neck. They remained perfectly still not wanting to sleep despite the clawing need to drift off to dreamland.
"Where are your parents?" asked the older in a hushed tone. In response the girl cast her eyes down with a sad expression.
"They are…" she muttered. Seeing as it was quite painful for the younger she added:
"No need to say it."
The other twitched but quickly said in a hushed tone.
"No, it's not just … My mother has been dead for 5 years now. And my father is out on the sea somewhere, I haven't seen him since I was 4. Though it's not bad. I was living with my grandparents and aunt and uncle. They have a cute baby."
"Was?" the lack of present tense was indication enough that something must have changed in the girl's life. And definitely not for the better.
"Well, I , me…" she took a breath. "A year ago a few bandits came to our village and robbed anything. Jewelries, money, food, …" her voice became quieter till she could only let out a whisper.
"Humans…"
As on cue the older cuddled tighter, indicating to stop. She was aware that human trafficking existed whether she liked or not. It was one of the most prominent trade on the black market though it was different when one was talking about it out of experience, even more when it was technically a child, no matter if nine or sixteen. Back home everyone was aware of this simple fact. That was how she was raised.
Coming back to her current conversation she asked:
"You want to go home?"
Which sounded more like a fact than a question.
As a reply she got a slow nod.
Now she was torn. The brunette also wanted to find some way home though from the looks of it, it seemed that she was in a complete other world. If the giant monster sea creature or the odd stone buildings in the town and lack of any technologies like cars were any indication. She knew the urge to go home. The desire which she suppressed in order not to get any more panic attacks or turn into a complete wailing mess. Somehow she had a hunch that simply "going home" wouldn't be so easy to do.
Yet on the other side she saw a girl with the same longing. The redhead reminded her of herself just not so long ago though only calmer, more dejected, void of any hope to reach home. She felt like they were some homesick kids wanting to get back into their cozy beds as soon as possible. Though it was different. They weren't on some simple school trip in a different city.
No, this was a pure jungle. With the vast sea around them. She couldn't just phone someone of her relatives to pick her up as she got lost on the way.
This time she had to find the road herself. Even when there was a possibility of the road back home not existing. She could only but hope.
'Hope often deludes the foolish man,'
'But is still the last to die.'
That was her situation, in which she could only survive and still not find the way home.
The small girl's situation looked different in comparison to hers.
The redhead still had a chance of going back, she could still see her relatives despite the slim chances of survival in these harsh circumstances. She was more familiar with this world. Even if the brunette took the ship to somewhere, she would sink right away and she knew that. The girl though knew her way with the boat and got them safely to another island. She could fulfill her dream of reaching home and the older wouldn't stand in the way.
"Mom would skin me alive for letting a young girl here alone," she thought, the image of her mother raving about morals which the older girl tried to respect despite her obvious pessimism and added layers of cynicism.
She looked at the small girl in her hands. Meager, slim, a seemingly frail posture.
Truthfully she had no chance of surviving.
Then again the woman remembered her own bruises, bloody legs and the mess she was.
Well, her chances seemed to be even below 0 at the moment.
So she made her resolve.
She would help the girl go back home.
Not out of some compassion or sudden interest in being selfless. Or whatever bullshit she ever heard about love and helping each other in need. She wasn't stupid enough to believe in the good sides of other people. Especially after today's escapade in town and a fling with a gun to the head. For now she deemed it enough to call it trauma.
Yet she felt some guilty pangs of even thinking about abandoning the kid on the island. It just didn't seem … right. Or maybe she was clearly overthinking things and just had to add with her philosophical approach another layer of confusion to her poor overheated mind.
Only one thing cleared in her mind.
"Seems like I'm not made to be completely evil, what a shame," she smirked, carefully making sure not to wake up the asleep girl.
The other side was more practical. As said, the redhead knew more about this world and had navigating skills. While the other didn't have any astonishing abilities, she knew that she could protect her to some extent, like bailing her out of situations like the one today. It also seemed quite soothing to have another person by your side, especially after such experiences. The woman couldn't quite imagine herself as a center or oasis of calmness but it seemed that the girl in her arms had managed to regain her voice even if it was only quiet muttering. It did not take a the child expert or teenage expert in this case to realize the obvious that she had been through hard times. Not that the older one hadn't been through any either.
She let out a long sigh.
Whether she would do it out of guilt, practical use of the girl's knowledge and some kind of protection of said girl in turn for the knowledge, simple compassion or even a more selfish reason, she didn't know. It had been yet another long day in the time she got here. She would find later some better excuse to her sorry mind. What was clear though was that she would stay with the redhead.
Additionally the long days of isolation also had it downsides to the self-proclaimed "kind of introvert who doesn't mind people, but doesn't adore them that much".
"To think that with such an attitude I managed to gather some friends," she wondered a bit, nostalgia filling her mind, yet quickly shrugged it off.
"Tomorrow will be an equally tiring day. Hopefully I will remain my composure. Need to catch some sleep for now."
She had a feeling that in the nearest future her morals and whole personality would take in some places a 180° turn.
With that thought she went to sleep.