::Byakko no Miko:: Chapter 5 ::

The rough canvas strap of her bag chafed her bare skin painfully as Caerria stumbled clumsily through the undergrowth of the forest. Her shirt had gotten ripped at the shoulder, courtesy of a low-lying branch which had whacked into her when she had momentarily lost consciousness. Not that she knew even if she did lose consciousness. The dark depths of her mind, and the black of the forest were all but the same to her…

She had been wandering in the forest for god-knows-how-long. She couldn't see the moon, thanks to the thick canopy of the forest, which would have told her where she was going, so she was terribly, hopelessly lost. In the wilderness.

Yes, the sounds of rustling, cicadas screeching, only seemed too real to her. She was no longer tempted to lie to herself, that she was dreaming all these stuff up. Her imagination was much too stagnant for that kind of thing. And besides, the throbbing in her leg was much too painful to ignore.

"Ugh!" A misstep caused Caerria to fall forwards, and she landed hard on the small twigs and stones which littered the floor of the forest. That, woke her up. She pulled herself agonizingly into a sitting position as she tried to fight the waves of giddiness washing over her.

(My arm…)

She lifted her aching right arm into view. It and its torn sleeve were stained red, she saw, in the dim moonlight that filtered sparingly into the forest through the high canopy.

It hadn't occurred to her that she was that injured.

Caerria tried to flick her fringe out from her eyes to take a better look, but the stubborn hairs only stuck wetly to her forehead. The fingers of her better arm reached up to finish the job, but they came away, slick with blood. Had she hurt her forehead too? She gently prised caked blood from her face. The wound felt serious.

A fresh flow of blood dripped into her vision, staining the things around her red.

(Great.)(As if cold, dark and damp surroundings weren't enough, now it was cold, dark and red surroundings.)

She struggled to her feet.

She had to go on. She had to, if she did not want to get eaten by some animal in the forest…whatever animals there were. In this condition, she'd be much too easy prey, even for a caterpillar.

And. The guy who let her out. What is he got found out?? Then the others would come after her, possibly to silence her, since she knew the location of their hideout. Well… not exactly, but it was somewhere behind her, she was sure. Oh, and they'd possibly have some fun while they were at it, lustful creatures that they were. The way they looked at her, you'd think that there were no brothels for a 100-mile radius.

Caerria stopped short. And rewound her thoughts.

(No brothels.)

If there were none of those places where those men could have went to seek fun, it possibly meant that there were no cities or towns or villages in the vicinity of the place, which meant, that she was possibly…

Stranded.

(Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.)

Caerria tried to make herself go forwards, but her body wouldn't listen to her.

(This paralysis…)

Her body was much too afraid to move… To continue moving into the unknown…

A cold wind swirled around her, and the last thing she saw was a glimpse of white, before she was swallowed up into the depths of her own mind.

!!-!!

The warm feel of sunlight on her eyelids made Caerria slowly come into consciousness. She vaguely heard a tinkling female voice call a name, one she couldn't hear quite properly. Then there were soft, cat-like footfalls.

"Hello…?" A pleasant male voice sounded close to her ear. The voice was like a knife which cut through the haze in her head, and her eyelids slowly fluttered open.

"Are you awake?" The voice sounded again.

Caerria blinked hesitantly in the bright sunlight. Directly above her, looking down at her, was a face, thrown into shadows by the sunlight so she couldn't really make out the features. She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain made her fall back softly into a pile of cushy material.

She blinked for a moment. She was…? All of a sudden, her last waking memories came in a furious torrent, and she whimpered in pain, clutching her head with her hand.

"Ouch…" As the pain eased off, she noticed two people watching her intently from where she laid, in a sea of soft pillows.

The male had long black hair which was layered fashionably from short to long, from the front to the back, and the longer portions were brought together and tied neatly to lay flat at the small of his back. He wore a deep green knee-length coat over a lighter green ensemble inside, and finished off with a dark black sash which was the same shade as his pants.

The female had exquisite features set within a pale white face, and her hair was a deep yellow, the colour of ripened wheat, and brought up in a high half ponytail with the rest falling smoothly down her back and along the sides of her face. She wore a similar ensemble as the guy, except that hers was in varying shades of red, and the pants she wore were white.

Both wore worn leather boots the same hue as their clothes, and standing next to each other, complemented each other so each stood out in all their splendour (or colour ^^").

(What a beautiful couple.)

She stared at them for a moment, then spoke, "Where am I?" For she was in a bedroom the size of the one at home, except much sparsely furnished, and not on the cold, damp floor of the forest where she was sure she had fainted. Had these guys saved her… or what?

"You're in..."

!!-!!

Tra lalala la~ I'm back~~

With another cliffie~~~

Omg I can't believe how evil I am~ Finally back in so many weeks and I chuck ANOTHER cliffie in your face?! Oh dear… my poor readers… heh ^^

Anyway,

Metajoker: Thank you for all your reviews. I've said whatever I wanted to say in my email.. ^^

Eulene: Hey girl, no need to feel sorry, I'm feeling even worse cos I never went to read your story for so long… Sowwie!

Starry Knight: Arigato for your review!! I'll be sure to continue to support your fics… ^^ Also, I'm glad you like Caerria… I like her too (even better than Miaka I might say ^^) Aand~~ A double serving of Byakko people coming right up!! ^^

Goodbyee everyone, till next time… :D