A New Game
Chapter 2
Wake up.
This isn’t funny, Z.
You have more in you.
Please wake up.
“Please, Zit, we need you.”
Zittie woke up; opening her eyes to see Kat and Archie hovering over her. She tried to speak, but ended up just coughing the water out of her lungs. She tried to speak again, but the strength of Kat’s hug squeezed the newly breathed air out of her lungs.
“By Enthos, Zit. Are you alright?” asked Kat.
“You scared the hell out of us there, Zittie,” added Archie. “What happened?”
She was still too dazed to respond. The pain from the dagger burned, but she noticed it was already bandaged, albeit she was already starting to bleed through the cloth.
“What did happen? I-” she tried to sit up, but didn’t have the strength.
“It’s alright, just rest for now.” comforted Archie.
“Thanks” she replied, “and thanks for tending my arm.”
“You had that when we got here, but I’ll definitely clean it up for you.”
“Then wh-” she started, “Zel! She was going for my bag and-”
Her memory was hazy and trying to dig deeper made her head start ringing again. Archie worked quickly, applying an herbal balm he carried in his pack and replacing the old bandages. Zittie’s bag was missing but her mind couldn’t think past the knife in her arm.
“I don’t remember much, but we were fighting in the river. I think she went for the bag, but got me good in the arm by mistake.” said Zittie. “She must’ve pulled me out and dressed the wound.”
“That explains the clean cut and shoddy aftercare.” replied Archie.
“Please don’t call it aftercare, Archie” interjected Kat.
“What do you mean? It’s-... medical care, shoddy medical care.” responded Archie, a mortified look on his face.
“Will she be alright?” asked Kat.
“Yeah, I’m good,” said Zittie, stumbling as she tried to stand.
“Ignoring the still-open wound, you just drowned, Zittie.” added Archie, “I think we should head back and get you some rest.”
“No, it’s fine.” Zittie argued, “Plus she owes me a lick back, maybe two.”
“I’ll keep following the river while you two head back and watch the house.” offered Kat. “If I find her before she gets back, I’ll make sure to get a few extra hits in for you. She’s got the crystal now, right?”
“Yeah…”
Zittie’s chest stung as she chuckled. Archie helped her up to her feet as Kat started making her way downstream. She leaned on Archie for support as they walked, occasionally stopping so she could rest. As they travelled back to the lodge, the two chatted about how the hunt went for the other. When he mentioned being chased by a wild boar, she thought it was best to not mention her involvement in the incident.
Both nightfall and the rain reached them before they made it back to the lodge. The air was cold and her fur was still wet enough to make her start shivering intensely. She tried to adapt herself again, but she was more mentally exhausted from the day than physically. Leaning on him for support, her shivering became bad enough to start affecting Archie’s gait. He offered to carried her, and at 5’6” and 175 lbs, it wasn’t much work for him to make it the rest of the way back.
“How has the ringing been?” he asked. Others had seen her abilities, but Archie and Kat were the only ones she told about the negative effects. No one knew about the voices.
“I almost lost to it a few times.” she answered, “It’s the last thing I remember before you guys found me; after the fighting with Zel”
“I’ve been trying to convince dad to let me take you to the academy, but you know he is about us leaving the woods.”
“What would they do anyways,” she argued “stick needles in my head until I’m all better?”
“I don’t know, Zittie, but it's concerning. I want to make sure you’re okay and maybe someone there has seen this before.”
“Seen what? An endless headache or a magc rat that launches things when she gets frustrated?”
Archie could tell he hit a nerve. He was never a great conversationist, but he made up for it with his heart. The rest of the walk back was quiet and awkward, but she held onto him tighter. She didn’t mean to snap at him. When others talked about her condition, it often came off as condescension. Her size and fur were always a source of insecurity, but she knew Archie was just looking out for her. Until he dropped her.
“Brace!” he yelled out in warning; a quarter of a second before she hit the ground.
As she did, he grabbed his bow and shot towards the treeline as the darkness sounded back with a deep yelp. He quickly notched another arrow as a pair of mongrels rushed out towards them; short, muscular dogs with bald spots from all the headbutting. On release, the arrow landed in the first one’s chest, dropping it without much of a fight. The other closed the distance between them with a rush of speed; the fear making Archie fumble an arrow before his next shot. He rolled out of the hound’s way as it leapt towards him. When the creature turned back to face him, he hit the base of its snout with his next arrow, just below the eyes.
“Sorry about that.” said Archie as he started retrieving his arrows.
“Don’t even worry about it,” responded Zittie. “But we need to talk about those ‘non-lethal’ arrows."
“What do you mean? We tested them to make sure they can’t even pierce through an inch of wood.”
“They practically exploded when they hit the trees earlier.”
“So Zel can stab you, but non-piercing are still too-”
“JUMP!” yelled Zittie.
It was sudden but he listened, although rolling through the air was a bit unnecessary as he dove to the ground. Another mongrel with an arrow in its side rushing towards him. He notched another shot, but the arrow splintered against the creature’s thick brow. Zittie had little time to react, but she saw the arrow in the mud he had fumbled a few moment ago. With its path in her mind and a flick of her wrist, the arrow flew straight towards the last trollhound, dropping the creature mid-charge. Feeling drained after using her talents again, she gave Archie a final thumbs up and a smile before passing out.
She woke up on the floor of her room to the sound of thunder. From the mess around her, she could tell she was probably put in bed and rolled off at some point. She looked out her window to see heavy rain blocking out the sky. It was still Byome, meaning the blue and green moons of Vaena and Meroon would’ve still been visible. Vaena’s apex had already passed, meaning storms like these would get worse in the coming months. It must have been quite late into the night, yet Zittie heard voices conversing in loud whispers from the hearthroom. As soon as she opened her door, the halls went silent. Turning the corner, she found Kat, Archie, and Otto looking towards her; sad and worried eyes overpowering their attempts to smile.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“We need to talk, Zit. Family meeting.” announced Kat.
“Where’s Dad?” she asked again.
“Sibling meeting, I guess.” replied Otto.
“Then where’s Zel?” she asked again; looking over to see that Kat had retrieved her bag.