Gathering Information

I start heading to the village to the south, as I make my way it starts snowing. The snow starts turning the dirt path white as it sticks to the trees and grass.

I reach the village and notice that no one is outside. It's either too cold or people are sick. I go to the stables and tie my horse up, I walk around the village. "Hello? My name is Skye Banks, I'm with the knights." Nothing. I go back to my horse and get my swords, even if they were sick someone would be able to come out or something.

I go to one of the houses and knock, but no one answers. I knock again hoping someone will answer, but again no one does. I open the door slowly and peek inside; it's dark and I don't hear anything. I take a few steps inside and I hear someone cough. I go to the back of the house and knock on the door.

"Wh-who is it?" A small voice, I could hardly hear them.

"My name is Skye Banks, I'm with the knights. I'm here on a mission."

"Please, don't come any closer. You'll get sick too." The person coughs then gasps for air.

"Is everyone in the village sick?"

"No, not everyone. Those that aren't either left town or they're staying inside until it's safe."

"Can you tell me when you got sick? How did it happen? Did anything strange happen beforehand?"

"I don't know, I was fine one day, and then the next I was coughing so bad and could barely breathe." They cough again but this time they gag while trying to get some air. It's like my aunt, she was fine last night but when I talked to her this morning she said she was sick, and the boys were fine one minute then the next they were coughing.

"Were you the first one to get sick?"

"No, the guards got sick on the same day then one by one everyone else did."

"Can you tell me where one of them lives?"

"Durian, he lives in the house next to the stables."

"Thank you, I'll find the cause of this." I leave the house and head to Durians' house. I knock on the door, but no one answers. I knock again. "Durian, my name is Skye Banks, I'm here on a mission to gather information-"

"You shouldn't be here." There's a deep shaky voice that comes from the other side of the door.

"I know you're sick, that's why I'm here. I'm gathering information about what's causing the people to get sick. Can you tell me when you got sick? Did anything out of the ordinary happen?"

The man is quiet for a minute. "The other guard and I got sick at the same time, about a week ago. Something weird did happen, the other guard and I were on watch and we heard a scream coming from in the woods so we went to check it out, make sure everything was okay. When we got there no one was there and the screaming had stopped, but then some thick fog approached us and covered us."

"Fog?"

"Yeah, we thought it was weird but didn't think anything of it. Until we got sick the day after, then everyone, people we didn't come into contact with, those that keep to themselves got sick. My girlfriend was already sick, so she never left her house and she somehow got sick as well. The day the fog appeared I worked late so I didn't see her and when I got sick I, of course, started staying inside."

That's weird; usually, people don't get sick unless they come into contact with someone who's already sick. "What direction did the fog come from?"

"North of here, I was guarding the northern gate." I just came from there, which means it didn't start here or south of here. I have to go back to the village and talk to Luna since she was the first one to get sick.

"Thank you." I go back to the stables and get my horse ready, before going back home.

The sun is setting, but the snow is coming down faster. I reach home and take the horse to the stables. I look around and see that no one is outside; the snow has covered the ground completely. I walk to Luna's house and knock on her door. "Luna, it's Skye, I need to ask you some questions."

She opens the door, she looks horrible. Her usually long perfect hair is messy and untouched, she's wearing a robe, and she has dark circles under her eyes. "What is it? No one's supposed to be out of their house."

"I'm on a mission, from the knights. I need you to tell me when you got sick, and if there was any fog that you came across…say about a day before you got sick? Also, why aren't you like the others?"

"I got sick a few days ago, a day after this weird fog swarmed around me. I'm a healer so of course, I'm not going to be like the others, I'm working on something that'll slow the symptoms down. Since no one knows exactly what this is or what the symptoms are the best I can do is slow it down."

"What direction did the fog come from?"

"The east, I was picking herbs from the garden."

There aren't a lot of villages in the east. "What would you need to make a cure?"

She looks at me confused. "I would need the virus from the source."

"Okay, then I'll get it to you." She nods and closes the door as I go back to the stables and get my horse. It's getting dark so I should be careful, especially with all this snow.

I start heading east, if I stop to take a break I should reach the next village by tomorrow afternoon, but if I don't stop I'll reach it in the morning. After a few hours I decide to stop and take a break, the horse probably needs one too. I look around and see some twigs and rocks, getting a fire started I get a blanket out and wrap myself with it leaning against a tree. The horse lies on the opposite side of the fire.

What could this be, a lot of people have gotten sick. I look up at the sky as snow falls to the ground and fall asleep.

The brightness of the sun wakes me up; I look around not seeing my horse. I get up quickly and turn around to see her eating grass. I walk up to her and pat her side, she neighs happily. I get some food out for myself, taking a few minutes to eat some crackers. I yawn while packing my stuff and mounting up. We start heading east again, usually, there would be people on the road but there isn't anyone. We finally reach the village; it's just like home and the other one, there's no one outside.

I tie my horse at the stable and go to one of the houses, I knock and no one answers, I knock again and say my name and why I'm here, but still, no one answers. I open the door slowly and peek inside; I don't hear or see anyone. I take a couple of steps inside and walk around, I don't find anyone. I turn to leave the house and see a little girl standing in the doorway, she's crying.

"Please help, my mommy is dying." The girl runs off, I chase after her and she leads me to a little house at the edge of the village. "She's inside." I open the door to the house and see a woman lying on the floor, she's facing face down and I can see blood around her face. I approach her and turn her so she's on her side. She has blood coming out of her mouth, eyes, and nose.

The girl comes up to her mom but I push her away. "Go outside, please. I don't want you seeing this." The girl looks at me, tears streaming down her face; she doesn't move…she just…stands there. "Please, I'll come out for you in a minute, okay?" She nods and runs outside.

"Ple-please watch…after my….lit-little girl." I look at the woman and see that she's crying.

"You'll be okay." I put my hand on her forehead, she's not cold or hot.

"Almost every-everyone here is dead." The woman coughs and blood flies out of her mouth.

"What?"

"I…was the….first one to ge-get sick. Then ev-the others did." I get up and go to the sink and fill my hands with water.

"Drink, please." She manages to sit up a little and I sit on the floor and pour some water into her mouth. "What happened here? I went to another village and it was the same, but no one had died, it's the same at my home village."

"I'm not….sure, the girl…next door got sick an- and a few hours earlier died…the same with the stable hand. My fri-friend died the day after she got-after she got sick."

"I'm so sorry. Is your daughter-"

"No, I had her stay away from me." The woman takes a deep breath struggling to breathe before coughing. "I'm…not going to-to make it, but….please take care of her; she's the sweet- sweetest girl I've ever met."

"You'll make it, I'm going to find where this came from and a healer in my village is going to make an antidote."

The woman gives me a small smile. "At-at least the others….who are sick…..will be...okay."

"You will be as well, you're daughter she ne-" The woman places a hand on my cheeks, tears are streaming down her face.

"You've….been through som- something similar. I can see it in your memories." An image of that day floods my mind and tears stream down my cheeks. "It's…okay….to cry." Then, an image of my grandmother hugging me fills my mind. I remember that day, it was one of the best days I've had.

It was my birthday, Rin and the others threw a party for me and that's when my grandmother let me train and gave me swords. She hugged me so tight and told me how much she loves me.

The woman's hand drops, and the image disappears. I look at her with tears in my eyes, she's smiling, she must've seen the image too. I close her eyes and sit there sobbing. "Damnit!" I punch the ground, making a hole in the flooring. After a few minutes I wipe away the tears and get up, I should probably find the little girl. I leave the house and see the girl is at the stables petting my horse.

I notice a strange figure in the middle of the village, I look around but there's no one out here except for me and the girl, I take a few steps towards it, but it vanishes.

The girl looks at me with sadness; I walk up to her and get on my knees so I'm face to face with her, I grab her hands. "I'm so sorry sweetie." The girl starts sobbing and hugs me, I hold her as she cries. I'm so sorry…I know how you feel; it's the worst feeling ever. We spend a bit of time like this, her crying and me holding her. I look at her and give her a small smile. "Want to come with me for a while; you get to ride the horse."

She looks at the horse then at me then nods; I help her up before getting on the horse. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to go to my village so I can make sure my family is okay." The girl pets the horse's mane as we start heading back to my village.