Chapter 16 - Scarlet

"Urgh..." She groans as her eyes fluttered open to the strong sunlight shining on her. She felt the constant gentle waves washing in and out on her back. Rolling to her side, she coughed as her sudden movement cut her breath short. Besides her were broken pieces of wood and metal scraps that had wash up along with her. She didn't need to worry about where her friends ended up, because they were right along with her. Yukanie further up the beach out of the wave's grasp, while Maven was way further into the waves. She manages to push herself up from the sandy shore and only manages to stumble over to Maven before her knees collapsed under her, splashing into the water. She felt like every ounce of her strength was gone, as she places her hands on Maven's shoulder, trying to pull her friend up to the dry shore. As she dragged her friend bit by bit out of the water, she noticed the trail of blood mixing into the salty water. The color was deep red, too deep for it to be just a minor cut from the fall.

Dropping her friend right always and flipped Maven over onto her back, she saw the horrible bloody mess on her friend's left eye. Waterfall of bright red blood dripping from her wounded eye was painful to watch.

"Maven!" She cried, slapping her friend lightly on the face. Thankfully she could still hear her friend breathing, but unstable from the pain. Worst, she could feel how cold Maven's skin was after letting that wound stay in the cold salty seawater for god knows how long. She brought one of Maven's arms over her shoulder and tried her best with her current strength as she half dragged and half pull the girl over to Yukanie, who laid not far away on her side. If she could get Yukanie up to help her, they could look for help faster before it was too late.

"Yuka." Dropping Maven down lightly, she shook her friend's shoulder, afraid for any unseen wound on her blue-haired friend. She heard the loud breathing of Yukanie as if it was hard for the girl to breathe. Yukanie slowly opened her eyes but looked painfully uncomfortable.

"Scarlet? What's going on...with my vision?... You're so blurry...." Yukanie muttered.

"What's wrong? Did you hit the back of your head during the fall?" She questioned, lifting Yukanie off the floor as gently as she could. But she frowned when she felt the abnormal heat through Yukanie's damped clothes, she quickly placed a hand on her friend's forehead, finding it burning hot.

"Goodness..." She whispered to herself, she glances over to Maven with her blood injuries then over to Yukanie who seems to have fallen asleep again from the heat of the fever getting to her head. She herself wasn't badly injured, but she wasn't completely fine either. She could feel the aching pain from her body every time she moved her body. But with both of her friends needing the help, there was no one she could turn to on this empty beach. She got up, and lightly took Maven's sweater off, and ripped a piece of it off, wrapping it around the girl's eye so the bleeding wasn't as serious. With the rest of the sweater, she carefully not touching the wounded eye. Placing the sweater on the ground, she grabs hold of Maven and places the girl on her back. Using the sweater to tie Maven tightly to her back, so she could still have the free hand to hold Yukanie off the ground.

With Maven's full weight on her back and Yukanie wrapping her arm around her shoulder, was also adding weight to her side as she struggles to keep Yukanie moving along with not letting Maven fall. The speed she was walking in was painfully slow, every stagger of a step took her breath away.

"When you guys wake up, I'm going to make you guys go on a diet." She breathed, moving along the shore. "So don't you two dare die on me."

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She couldn't tell how long she's been walking, but her whole body threatens to collapse with every step she takes. For the 18th time, she readjusted Maven on her back and brought Yukanie's arm further up around her shoulder. She glances at the sun that shined down on her high up in the sky, narrowing her eyes she finally saw what seems to be like houses, life. She heard a groan from Yukanie who jolted awake.

"Where...where are we?" Yukanie's voice was terrible. It was as if the girl hadn't drunk any water for days. Yukanie tried to lift her head, but that simple movement seems to be hard for her body to handle.

"Hang in there, we're almost at a town." She replied, she heard Yukanie mutter something very quiet before going silent. She followed the bumpy road towards the houses, if she wasn't worried about her friend's life on her hands she might have noticed the countless strange things she passed. But her mind was set on getting the help she needed for her friends.

Upon arriving at what seems to be the border of the town, the place seems much bigger than from a distance away. She did seem to notice the way the houses were made, frowning upon the sudden change. The houses seem to be made in more of an old way than the modern way. But she did not let her thoughts linger any further, she staggered into the town of busy people.

"Please! Help my friends!" She cried out. "Is there any doctors?!"

Her sudden appearance in the town must have startled a few people. She scanned the people that walked along the side, with their looks of concern on their faces. She didn't blame them, she was pretty sure she looked terrible with her torn, dirty clothes. Along with her carrying a bloody friend on her back, she assumed she looked like she's been through a tornado.

"Please are there any doctors around? I'll do anything as payment, just please help my friends!" She begged, approaching a few of the people. But when the people all scattered away for quickly drew back like she was some kind of disease, she was starting to have an idea of how this was going to go.

"Please...I'm begging...you..." Her voice faded away when she saw some of the people turned away and went back to whatever they were doing. What's wrong with them? She thought, her eyes searching every one of them as she went further into the town. She gritted her teeth, willing her body not to give up until she could get her friend the help.

"Anyone! Just please take a look at my friends and I'll be on my way!" She continued to shout.

Her strength was slowly being sapped away, her arms and legs were starting to feel heavy as she dragged her feet along. She paused and glance over her shoulder when she heard a large number of footsteps approaching her from behind.

"There they are!" One of the men who led the group shouted, stopping just a few feet away from her. Confused, she watches unable to fully turn to face them because of the struggle of turning back after. Her eyes went to a few stern-looking men appearing out from behind the people that have gathered from behind and the side to watch. As confused as she was about what was going on, she realized that she was at the center of it, no one dares to approach her more than 3 feet.

A man with a brown cap, much like that of the captain that sailed the cruise she was on., stepped forward. He used one of his hands to adjust his hat, before staring at her sternly. She notices the deep scar that runs across his face, with his mustache he looked to be in his 60s.

"You people from the crappy guilds think you're all supreme, coming into our town to take whatever you want, and when you need help you expect us to help you back?" The man said.

The people on the side cheered angrily. She frowned, struggling to breathe she turns back toward the road, continuing on her way with her slow and painful steps. She wasn't sure how long she had to save Maven, but she could see with every hour that pass Maven was getting pale. And it was only a matter of time before Yukanie's fever gets worst. She heard a loud bang from behind her, followed by something that flew past her arm that held Yukanie. She cried out in shock at the sudden ripping pain that tear through her arm, the wave of pain made her strength disappeared as her legs buckled under her. Without her helping arm, Yukanie swayed out of balance and crashed onto the floor on her side, as she fell onto her knee holding her arm in pain. The sweater which she had used to hold Maven in place slipped loose as she felt Maven slide from her back. Ignoring the pain on her right arm she quickly reached out and caught the Maven's head before the girl would injure her bleeding eye further.

She bared her teeth of the pain and threw a glare at the man. The look on her face must have scared them, the people all seem to jump a little and took a step back. Although she wants to argue back for the injustice of the act, she was too weak. Maven and Yukanie's life was still in her hands, she had no time for such a thing. She took the silence from the crowd, as she picks herself off the floor with shaky legs. She threw Maven back onto her back and retied the sweater which was no stained with dirt and blood that flows down from the deep fresh cut on her upper arm. The rest of the crowd watched her struggle slowly and painfully as she once again had a hold on her two friends. As soon as she started walking again, the people seem to snap to their senses once more.

"How dare you give up that glare! Who do you think you are!" They chanted together as one as they grabbed whatever they could find and threw it at her with no mercy. The vegetables that splat against her and the sharp small rocks that left marks and bruises, even when the people took out objects of their house such as vases and glass bottles that shattered upon impact on her skin. She wanted to cry, it was painful her whole body was aching, begging for her to take a rest or take cover, why she was being treated like this. She just needed to help her friends live, but she couldn't cry, no crying was weakness. So instead she swallowed her anger and kept her head low as she kept going on her way.

It wasn't until one final blow did the trick. From behind, one of the town's people brought a sharp glass bottle down harshly on the back of her head. At first, when it hit, all she heard was stun silence. Before her body slowly gave out on her and so did her vision.

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"Why are the people being so mean?" Raven puffed up his small cheeks in anger. This only made his granny laugh lightly.

"I thought our little Raven didn't like Scarlet." She chuckled.

"Well... I didn't like her at first because she was rude to her parents. But now she's ok because she's doing so much to help her friends." The young boy replied slowly. His Granny nodded in agreement and sighed.

"My boy, people out there aren't all happy and friendly. Many of them probably had their own share of pain. You can say Scarlet happen to stumble upon them, perhaps it was the start and it was what fate wanted."

"If it was me I would teach them a lesson," Raven said, standing on his chair, from the excitement of the story.

"Haha, will you?" His Granny questioned.

"YEAH!" The boy shouted as if he was part of the fight. "Actually, what did Scarlet do?"

"Scarlet? Hmmm.." She glances back down at the basket of yarn that was in her lap and the sweater that was beginning to form. "Well, there's a saying to forgive and forget. You can't hate people for what they do out of fear to protect their homes little one."

"Hmmm." The little boy sat back down on his seat. The words Granny said didn't seem to make sense to him from the way he frowned. But that quickly went away as he took hold of his cup in both hands.

"So what happens next?"