Part 5, I hope you enjoy, please please leave a review, I kind of need to know if you like where this is going.
Feliciano woke early the next morning, getting dressed before opening the curtain and approaching the still sleeping foreign man, and nudging him gently to wake him. "Ludwig, Ludwig, wake up we're going hunting," he looked over to the window, "Lucky for you I think it's going to be hot today."
Ludwig stirred, flinching awake as he became aware of his unfamiliar surroundings, he jabbered a little in his own language before his eyes focused on Feliciano. "Feliciano," he said, sounding relieved, sighing a little with the realisation of where he was. He set the chair upright and pulled the covered off himself, wiping the sleep from his eyes and getting to his feet, stumbling a little.
Feliciano chuckled slightly at Ludwig's disorientation, walking over to the kitchen and taking a couple of thick slices of bread from one of the shelves, taking a piece for himself and handing the other out for Ludwig to take, "Here, eat up, we have to go soon." He shook the bread in his hand softly, waiting for Ludwig to take it.
When he finally took it and began to eat, Feliciano moved over to the door and fixed the string on his bow, attaching it and his quiver to his back. "Let's go, you can eat as we walk."
Ludwig hummed softy as he ate the bread, looking over at Feliciano and watching him get ready. "Feliciano?" he questioned softly as he finished his food.
Feliciano walked to him and took his hand, "Come on," he said softly as he pulled him towards the door, "We have to go, the sooner we catch some rabbits the sooner we can get clothes for you."
Ludwig followed him slowly, looking around as they walked out of the house, part of him wanted to run, but he knew he'd be caught again, and he didn't want to risk it being taken as an act of guilt.
It would also probably get Feliciano in trouble too, and the man had been nothing but kind to him, he didn't want to hurt him in any way.
He began to frown as they walked towards the woods, and it began to dawn on him that Feliciano was taking him hunting, though why he wasn't sure, he couldn't use that thing Feliciano had and he had no weapons of his own. He'd just slow him down.
They walked silently through the trees, Ludwig looking around intently for prints they could follow, Feliciano however didn't seem to be doing the same, he seemed to know exactly where he was going, perhaps he knew where a rabbit den was or something.
Ludwig hated rabbit though, it was one of his least favourite meats. Perhaps he'd be able to learn to use Feliciano's weapon himself, and he could catch his own food, even squirrel meat would be better than rabbit.
Feliciano ducked down suddenly, pulling Ludwig with him and shushing him, pointing over to the rabbits and smiling. Ludwig watched as he readied his bow, he stepped away slowly and quietly, continuing to look around and backing away as something else took his attention.
Feliciano gasped softly and lowered his bow, "Aw, look Ludwig, a deer," he whispered softly as a large buck wandered into the small clearing, he smiled and turned his head back to look at Ludwig, his eyes widening as he realised he wasn't there.
"Ludwig?" he said quietly, a sudden panic flooding him, "Where are you?"
There was a sudden shout as he began to get to his feet, he flinched and turned his head towards the noise, seeing Ludwig hurl a long stick towards the deer. He gasped as the buck fell to the ground, a pool of blood quickly collecting beneath it.
"Ludwig!" Feliciano said loudly, "You killed a deer?" He walked up to look at the deer, carefully at first in case it wasn't dead yet. He turned to look at Ludwig, watching as he walked over, "Ludwig?" he said again, "I can't believe you killed a deer, I've never known anyone who could do that before!" He chuckled and ran to him, smiling and taking his hand, pulling him towards the carcass.
"How did you do this?" he asked as they came to the body, smiling softly as he began inspecting the animal. He pointed to the 5 foot long stick protruding from it's neck, "What's this? How did you do this?"
Ludwig spewed a sentence in his native language, putting his foot on the deer's ribcage and pulling the spear from it's neck, he frowned softly at Feliciano, "Uh, arrow," he said, as he held it out, showing him the sharp rock he'd tied tightly to the end of the stick.
Feliciano took the weapon from him, staring at it intently, "…That's a very big arrow," he said softly, "…I've never seen anything like this before."
He straightened up, holding the stick as he'd seen Ludwig do and throwing it as hard as he could, it barely made it half way across the clearing, not even breaking the soil as it hit the ground.
Ludwig laughed softly, walking to pick up the spear and bring it back to him, "No…" he said softly, the word seeming almost mocking, he chuckled again and walked to the deer, letting out a small grunt as he picked it up and hoisted it onto his back. "Feliciano," he said, his voice strained, he nodded towards where they came from, indicating he wanted to go back to the house.
"You want to go back," Feliciano said, still astonished by what'd just happened, " For a second I thought you'd run away…We'll get so much for that deer Ludwig, we could have a feast tonight, we could afford enough food for the whole month." He chuckled, walking with a spring in his step a few feet in front of Ludwig, leading him back home through the greenery.
Feliciano kept looking back at him as they walked, as if needing to reassure himself that what he'd just seen had actually happened. He was amazed by it. He himself could barely throw that stick three feet but Ludwig had managed to throw it at least fifteen, with such power that it had impaled and almost instantly killed that buck. And he carried it with such ease, like it weighed no more than a small bag of potatoes.
Feliciano rushed forward as they entered the house, clearing the counters in the kitchen and getting out a knife, "Put it here," he instructed Ludwig, patting the counter, "…I don't know how to gut a deer though, I never had to do it before." He smiled as the larger man walked over and dumped the animal on the wood, letting out a small gasp and frowning at the state Ludwig was in. "You've got blood all over you Ludwig…" he shook his head, "I'll go get some water."
He took the bowl from the side and went out to one of the nearby troughs, scooping up some water and running back in, smiling as he saw Ludwig standing at the animal's side.
"You started without me?" he asked as he walked over, he placed the bowl of water on the side and dipped the sponge in, looking back at Ludwig and smiling softly, "Ludwig you should wash yourself."
He held out the sponge, but Ludwig seemed too preoccupied with the carcass. He nudged him with it to get his attention, but Ludwig waved him away and began cutting the deer, blood and guts spilling onto the counter.
"Ludwig," Feliciano said in protest, shaking his head and letting out a small grunt, "Fine," he declared, "I'll clean you myself."
He smiled as he dipped the sponge into the water again, giving it a soft squeeze to soak up the cold water.
Ludwig flinched and looked round, his breath hitching in surprise at the sight of the smiling boy rubbing the sponge up and down his side.
"Feliciano?" he asked, frowning softly, he seemed uncomfortable but he didn't pull away, Feliciano didn't seem to notice the frown on his face and hummed slightly, dipping the sponge back into the water to wash off the blood, returning it to his skin again.
"I hope it's not too cold," Feliciano mumbled, his hand running over Ludwig's back, he sighed softly, his strokes slowed as he noticed Ludwig had stopped working on the deer, he smiled up at him encouragingly, "Keep going," he urged, taking Ludwig's hand and pushing it towards the animal.
Feliciano chuckled as Ludwig resumed cutting up the animal, and he continued wiping the blood from his skin. "We'll go into town after you're done and we'll sell it, we can buy anything you want." He smiled, patting Ludwig's back as he finished wiping the blood from him, pulling away and tipping the water out of the window, pulling the wooden shutter closed after, "You did catch it after all, you should help choose what we trade it for."
He leant back against the counter and watched Ludwig skin the deer, he did it as if it was coded into him, he knew exactly what to do and did it perfectly. He must have done this for years, as Feliciano had done with rabbits, he must have used his 'giant arrow' for as long, if not longer, as Feliciano had with his bow and arrows. He'd probably had deer every day of his life.
The family he came from was probably rich, if deer sold for as much in his village as it did in Feliciano's.
…Before this point Feliciano hadn't given much thought to the man's family. What if he had a brother like Feliciano did? What if he had children?
He bit his lip, frowning softly, perhaps he could ask him? How would he ask?
He swallowed hard and tapped Ludwig on the shoulder, trying to think of how to ask.
"Ludwig?" he asked as the man turned his head, "Do you have children? Uh…" he moved his arm as if he were rocking a baby then pointed to Ludwig, hoping he would understand. "Does Ludwig have children?" he said slowly and deliberately.
Ludwig frowned and blinked at him through confusion, trying to figure out what he was saying, "N-no?" he said tentatively, guessing at what he meant, he said a few words in his native language before shaking his head. He rocked his arms and then shook his head again, "No children," he said pointedly, letting out a slight huff and turning back to the deer.
"No children?" Feliciano said, sounding relieved, "…Do you have any family?" he asked quietly, no really expecting a response, he couldn't help feeling saddened by the prospect that Ludwig was being kept from people important to him.
A slight whimper left him as he looked away, letting Ludwig finish his work and forcing a smile when he turned to look at him.
"You're finished?" he asked, stepping forward to look down at his work, he didn't even know how much this would sell for, a lot, he was sure of that. He tried to pick up the deer, grunting at how heavy ti was. "Ludwig," he plead, reaching out to tug on his arm, urging him to pick the deer back up.
The man frowned at him; he had assumed they were meant to eat the deer, he wasn't sure what Feliciano wanted him to do, why he wanted him to pick it up.
Feliciano huffed softly, "Look, we have to sell it, Ludwig," he tried to explain, he pulled a small coin from one of his belt pockets, smiling as he showed it to him, "We have to sell it," he repeated.
Ludwig grunted softly, nodding in understanding and turning to pick up the deer, groaning under the weight of it. He returned Feliciano's smiled and nodded again, trying to signal to him that they should go, and he should lead the way.
Feliciano clapped and chuckled, taking the deer skin and balling it in his arms, he ran to the door and opened it, "Come on, we can buy you a shirt, and we can buy some nice food and everything, it'll be brilliant."
They'd have to buy something for Romano, maybe it would show him that Ludwig wasn't all bad and that he could at least pay his way.