The deathly forest fell to a still; once illuminated, now the shadows of night filled their path.
"We'll have to set up camp here." Bronya claimed, she set one hand on her hip, with her other knocking on the body of a tree. Her second tapping reverberated in everyone's mind, their carriage came to a slow, screeching halt.
"Can't we find another secluded area?" Roth questioned, his footsteps slowly resounded in everyone's minds. It broke the subtle silence that appeared after their stop. Everyone aside from Bronya nodded their heads.
Her head tilted; if her face was illuminated, only a sliver of her pupils could be seen. "Genius, I know you can see in the dark. Take a look around; there's no other place to take camp. With my skill I know we're wide open. Yet there's nowhere else to take camp."
"Can't you use your axe to search?"
"And make us visible to creatures?"
"We're already visible if we take camp."
"Would you rather be in a cramped area, or be in an open area where you can see where we're getting attacked from?"
"..."
"Get unloading, it's going to be a long night."
Roth grumbled underneath his breath, trudging to the back of the carriage. Inside he saw Fei holding her knees up to her chin. Around her were mounds of backpacks, and bags. They were bulging, ready to tear open at any more items stuffing them. Meanwhile Fei turned her head, Her lips were trembling, and her hands shook violently.
Curiously, Roth saw her pupils were now slit; they tracked his hands; every slight movement they were not seen. There was a slight tingle in his brain, and it felt as if his mind had expanded slightly. "White hair, do you mind helping me?"
"U-Um… N-No, I don't- I don't mind helping…"
Through his orders, Fei snatched the lightest items she could, slid them to the entrance of the carriage. Roth set them to the ground. Lucian, Bronya and Haru respectively began building the camp up. Three tents, now respectively, surrounded a small campfire.
Lucian and Fei sat near their tent, whilst sticking close to the warmth emanating from their tiny light. Poppings of sparks filled their silence. Slivers of smoke shot towards their nostrils, causing a disgusted look to scrunch on their faces.
"Ya don't have to sit so close. The fire'll keep you warm even if you sit right beside your tent." Bronya said, taking a swig of the mug in her hands and moving her head side to side. "That'll help with that disgusted look on your faces."
"Keep your voice down, Long Ears."
"Oh c'mon. I'm trying to lighten the mood here."
"Keep it down then, Long Ears." Roth grumbled, he flipped the sharpened blade in his hands. "Kid."
"Hm?" Lucian let out, yet his attention was drawn towards the book in Fei's hands.
"Good fight back there. Impressive, you didn't get hurt in this fight." Roth praised him, his voice monotonous, but a hint of sincerity could be felt. "Work on freezing in fights." As those words left his mouth, he sheathed his dagger and stood up. "Long Ears, I'll take watch tonight."
"Nahhh… Leave it to me Rothie." Bronya responded whilst patting her chest. Her cheery smile left a wary feeling in their chests. "I'm perfectly fine to, and our trip will only take three days to get outta here."
"You look tired."
"Do I?" She mumbled, she set her cup down next to her leg. Then raised her hands up to her eyes, rubbing the skin before continuing. "Nope, I don't feel tired. I'll be fine to keep watch."
'I don't think that's-' Lucian's focus became derailed by Bronya's actions.
Hm? What's wrong?
'Nothing, nothing.'
What does this mean? Fei pointed towards a couple symbols next to each other whilst leaning in.
'Uh… I think ear?'
Mhm, good you're learning!
'Haha… Learning a new language is quite difficult.' Lucian internally, and externally let out a small chuckle.
"What're ya laughing about? Talking about a small little date in your tent tonight, eh?" Bronya interrupted their moment with a finger. The movements of her body left a weird feeling in all of their bodies. It was a mix of lucidity, and sobriety. "Hmm? What're ya looking at me like that?"
"Long ears, you're not fit for being on watch."
"Oh I am! I'm just lighting up the mood, just because of these big ol' bags? They're not due to being sleepy, or tired."
"..." Roth squinted at her. There wasn't a lick of belief in his eyes. Bronya waved her hands joyfully, as she leaned back. Her entire body jolted as she almost leaned back and fell flat onto her back. "Whatever you say… But, wake me up two hours after your shift."
Tossing her his watch, he dumped his own drink and retired to his tent. Soon, Fei and Lucian retired to theirs, despite Bronya's protests. She quickly gave up, seeing the resolute and firm look on Fei's mouth.
'Hyup! Time for my watch.' She thought, whilst hopping onto a rather large branch of a tree. She sat down, with a knee up and her eyes lowered to the ground. The watch in her palms slowly ticked; one, two, three… four… As the seconds passed, they turned to minutes.
*******************************************************************************************************
Crunch…
Spurt….
Wh-What's… Fei's ears perked. The crunching, spurting noises rattled her insides. Then, the stench of death entered her nose. What's… What's that… Her mind darted, with each new chomp, new splatter of blood and the intensity of iron entering her body, her body shivered.
Her head, against her force, turned to the side. A shadow constantly, creepily bobbed its head. She gulped, and a layer of sweat tacked onto her limbs. The screams that entered her throat met a frightened wall. What if she screamed? Fei's torrentious thoughts screamed. Lucian… Please, wake up… Lucian… Lucian! Lucian! Please- She begged for the young man next to her to wake up.
She even nudged his body, once, twice… Nothing, he snored away. Please…. Her mind started dashing, the figure through the tent started tearing with its arms. Horrible squelching noises began.
Lucian! PLEASE!
Her pleads fell to the ground. She could only hear his soft breathing, overpowered by the stomach churning noises.
She covered her ears, with all her might, she closed her eyes. Her rapidly beating heart started to overpower every sound. Her breathing hastened.
Wake. Wake up.. Wake up.. Wake upwakeupwakeup…
Thump… Thump…
Please.. Please wake up… Someone…
Her head, ever so swallowed by the immense aching of her heart, only heard the beating. Not her breathing, or the slight squeals her mouth let out.
Only when that dark figure loomed over her, did her awareness come back. Splat… Splat…. Giant dots of a dark viscous liquid dripped onto their tent. A heavy breathing could be heard. Then, an overwhelming silence hung in the air; the figure in slow motion lurched forward.
"LUCIA- LUCIAN HELP ME!! AAAAAAAHH HELP ME!!!" Fei cried out, subconsciously she shot her hand out, fitting right into the figures gaping fabric covered maws. "HE- AGHH HELP-!" Her voice roared louder, she felt a sickening crunch clamp down onto her hand. "Help…" Fei's voice suddenly grew softer, she watched the lipless jaws of the ghoul unclamp her hand. It grabbed her arm, and shoved it down. "Me… Pl-"
Within the next moment, Lucian's fist collided against its skull.
"Fei… Di- Did it get you?"
"I-I-"
"Di…" Lucian's eyes widened at the gigantic bite mark on Fei's hand. Blood dribbled down, racing downwards to their bedding. "..." His jaw clenched, as his head snapped towards the monster in his sights.
Before his muscles could prepare to pummel it, the wind whistled. A flash of a shadow crossed its neck. Another shadow jumped from a tree, landing nimbly on its feet. Lucian's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness again. Bronya, the second shadow lifted her foot and smashed it against the ghoul's decaying body.
A sickening crunch resounded throughout the camp as it crumpled to the ground. She turned around, and jogged to their tent.
"Did you guys g-..." She attempted to ask, but her lips twisted into a frown. Fei's bite mark was loud and clear from the hole. "Get out." Bronya commanded before turning her back.
"I-I" Fei's words were cut off.
"Do not question, or say anything. Get out of the tent."
As she took two steps from their tent, heavy footsteps resounded from Roth's tent. In one hand, he held his longsword. Beneath his unfocused eyes there were dark spots. His head turned towards the beheaded corpse nearby.
"What happened?" Roth asked as the situation in his head physically clicked. Then, his eyes lingered towards their fallen horse. "Not good." He mumbled not even a moment after.
"Fei's bit." Bronya simply stated, yet in her voice- There was a heavy feeling. If Roth had kept his eyes on her, he'd see her lips and hands quiver. "I… I fell asleep… This ghoul slipped by. It- It's all my fault…"
"It is."
"..."
Roth dug his blade into the ground. With a heavy kick, the ghoul's body slammed into a nearby tree. Then, he gripped onto the ridge of his nose, ignoring the horrendous stench from the body. With his other arm, he held it perpendicular from his torso. "You were on watch, how did you manage to fall asleep? You could've prevented this."
"... I'm sorry."
"Don't run away from this conversation." He rotated his forearm, to point at her with his pointer and middle. Then lowered his entire arm when he saw movement from behind her. "Looks like we'll delay this argument later."
"Okay…"
Roth pushed Bronya aside, taking humongous steps to stop Fei and Lucian in their tracks. Along Fei's hand, there was a cloth, trying to block the flow of her blood. "How bad is the wound?" His question left his throat,
"..." Fei slowly ripped away the cloth, there laid a fresh oozing wound. That scaled from the middle of her hand, to her pinkie. It was deep enough, where bones were visible in the indentions. Past that, there were deep black marks, that were akin to cracks growing across her skin. "I-It-" She stuttered upon seeing Roth's deepened grimace.
"Not good."
"Is there anything we can do?"
"There isn't. Can't use our medical supplies on it."
"We can't? Are you saying we should just leave it?!"
"Lucian, remember. Ghoul's bite cannot be healed unless with magic."
"Then why can't-" Lucian's statement was interrupted by Roth raising his hand. Resulting in his mouth clenching, and a fist developed with his hands.
"Bronya did not mention it all. They can only be healed by magic; healing magic. Fei's own magic won't work on it."
"I- Why do you not-"
"I wasn't expecting someone to get bit! I thought it would be a smooth run through this forest!" Bronya exclaimed, she stood in the same exact spot she stayed. "I'm sorry, okay?! I.."
"You could've explained everything! You always leave out key information! We're supposed to be a party, huh?!"
"Arguing about this won't help. Only draw more ghoul's attention. Keep this cloth on that wound, let it soak." Roth extended his arm, blocking both their views.
"I-"
"Keep yourself calm Lucian. This is a serious matter."
"..."
Once Lucian's fists relaxed, and the furious fire in his eyes fizzled, Roth let out a sigh. He counted that they were all awake and aware, he stood in the center of them all.
"We're going to make a decision." He proclaimed, crossing his arms so they all turned to look at him. "We need to figure out what to do with Fei."
"W-Whato's going on?"
"Fei has been bitten by a ghoul, Haru. It won't heal unless we have a healer's magic." Roth bated his breath, and continued. "Don't have a healer, so we need suggestions on what we should do."
"..."
No one peeped, only the noises of scuttling could be heard around them. Roth's next words caused everyone to feel a shiver down their spine. A slight thud soon followed. Followed by a shocked gag came out of Lucian's mouth.
Fei collapsed to the ground, her breathing quickly turned ragged. She clutched her wrist, and pained grunts cutting her breath repeatedly. Lucian followed shortly after, his hands trembled as he propped her up.
"...We need to make a decision now."
"We have to save her… We need to." Lucian mumbled, whilst holding her tightly. Quickly, her breathing calmed, but the pained grunts continued as she tried to move her hand.
"I-I'll be okay… You- you don't need to worry…"
"You've gotten bit by that thing…"
"I-I-I know…"
"Roth…" Bronya stumbled out. Her right hand clutched her left forearm. "I… I may have a suggestion."
"Hm?"
"What if we… Amputate the hand. I believe she'll have a better chance at surviving."
"I'm sorry, what the hell did you just say?!" Lucian exclaimed. His jaw dropped in disbelief upon her suggestion. "Are you saying we should just cut off Fei's hand? Are you actually insane?!"
"It's the only thing I can think of. I'm sorry, but it's a quick action, we can patch it up."
"I'm highly against that! First, you don't even do your stupid job right, now you suggest cutting off her hand? Are you sure you're not an idiot?"
"It's our best option. By the bite's logic, it's our only shot at her survival." Roth muttered, his hand raised to his chin as he stared at Fei's hand. 'By all means… It is her only shot.' His mind rattled itself, thinking of every scenario they could take. Slowing the bleeding would just delay the inevitable. Wait for people? No sane adventurer by their lonesome, or a party would cross the renowned 'Death's forest'.
His thoughts were frozen by the sounds of rummaging noisily shaking the air. All of their heads swiveled to their carriage. A golden, but fluffy tail moved back and forth, then Haru climbed down.
"U-Um… I'm sorry, buto…" She apologized, walking towards them all, in her hands was the map they used to traverse. "I-I think- I think I have an idea… To save Miss Fei…" Haru lowered her head, lowering her body whilst offering the map to Roth. "W-Whato if… We bring her to thato- Town…"
"Are you suggesting we could find a healer?" Roth inquired, accepting the map, with a weird frown on his lips. A weird emptiness entered his gut, as Haru treated him like her master.
"Um.. Yes…? If tohere is a possibirity. I d- Don't know how long the trip is…"
Roth glanced down at the map, her suggestion boggled his mind. At their fastest, they could exit the forest by the end of the day. His eyes slightly turned to their deceased horse. 'That option is out.' He grumbled internally.
"Fei won't survive that trip."
"E-Eh?"
"Haru, have you seen Fei's hand?"
"Y-Yes… I-I have… I think she could."
"Bronya, hold it." Roth silenced her. "She could. There's a chance we can save her hand, and her life."
"...Did you grow compassionate?"
"Haru has a valid point. If we plan accordingly, she can survive the trip."
Bronya covered her face, whilst shaking her head. Her pointy ears slightly drooped in reaction.
"Her death is inevitable, she would be lucky to survive it and find a healer. Do you know the chances of everything going right for her? It's next to zero."
"Um…" Haru let out, before shrinking her body and taking three steps back. "I'm… I'm sorry…" She mumbled and tightly shut her mouth.