Her Last Day as a Village Girl III

Carolyn continued walking while ignoring the sweat that drenched her clothes and the instability of her breath. So that she could follow the river, she stayed close enough to see it, but remained inside the forest. Her mother no longer spoke, but she could still hear her pained breaths. The sky had brightened, which was doing them few favours as it made them more visible, and the heat wore down her fatigue at a faster pace. Every step was a challenge, but Carolyn managed to overcome each one.

However, she was still just a young girl. No matter how much training she had done and how light her mother was, her limits still existed. Carolyn eventually stumbled to the ground on one knee. She immediately tried to stand up again, but it was of no use. Her body wouldn't listen.

"Why, can't I, move?"

"This is enough, Lyn. I can't spoil you, any longer."

"Mom..."

"Can you, show me the river?"

At the weak voice of her mother, Carolyn could put up no resistance. She released her mother's knees and slowly laid her upper body on the side, with her head facing the river.

"When I was a child, one of the things I, dreamt of doing, was playing in a river. I wish, I could have done it more often..."

"..."

Carolyn stared at her lifeless body in a daze for who knows how long before eventually putting aside their bags and carrying her to the river. This was the closest river to the village, but it was too deep, so the only time her mother could play in one was on the rare occasions when it became shallow. Carolyn remembered the innocent joy she displayed every time. She always felt a little embarrassed by her mother for being so excited while playing in the river considering her age, but she wished that they had the chance to play together, at least once more.

Once she released her mother's body into the water, Carolyn recalled a legend she had heard from one of the villagers. In the distant past, their oppressed ancestors would put their deceased on a raft and send them on the river in hopes that their soul would safely make it to the afterlife. Wherever her mother ended up, she prayed that it was somewhere she could play in a river again.

After she could no longer see her mother's body, Carolyn went back for their bags and continued to follow the path downstream. She hadn't cried since her mother's passing, and she wasn't sure what to do in the future either. The only thought on her mind was to carry out her mother's final wish by reaching the village she told her about. Anything else was beyond her.

Like a soulless husk, Carolyn kept walking. Her stomach would grumble from hunger and her throat would itch from thirst, but her steps never paused. The hole that seemed to be in her heart made both emotional and physical pain insignificant. Even if she collapsed without reaching her goal, she likely wouldn't have cared, but fortunately, sounds of life reached her before that happened.

Where the river was narrow and shallow, she spotted a pair of children collecting water. If she called out to them, she might be able to find the village her mother talked about, but she hesitated. With their help, she could accomplish her objective, but she wondered if that was really the right thing to do.

While she dithered, the children noticed her when they were about to leave and immediately raised their guards. Carolyn couldn't blame them since she was definitely a stranger, so she tried waving before introducing herself, but the moment she raised her hand, the delicate balance that her body had kept finally collapsed.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, she lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

The two children were siblings named Alan and Atla. Atla was the elder sibling, and she was the first to respond in this strange situation.

"Alan, go get some adults."

"What bout you, sis?"

"Don't worry bout me and go. You can leave your load a water."

"Okay."

At times, he would be a brat, but for the most part, Alan listened to her. Once he was out of sight, Atla put down her bucket of water and went towards the collapsed Carolyn. Although she was far away and her face was covered in dirt, Atla could still tell that Carolyn was a young woman, so she wasn't very scared of approaching her. When she was close enough to reach out and touch her body, Atla started talking to her.

"You awake? Can yah hear me?"

She waited for a couple seconds, but as she received no response, she began removing the bags, quiver, and bow Carolyn had and started checking for injuries. Her family didn't practice medicine, but she had learnt first aid, so she wanted to do what she could to help. She easily found blisters, rashes, and small cuts all over her body, but no life-threatening injuries. She was about to turn her over to check her front, but she paused when she heard Carolyn mumbling.

"M....mm.....Mom..."

Atla could tell that she was clearly older than her, but as she mumbled, she appeared so vulnerable that Atla embraced her head without thinking.

"I'm sorry, Miss. But it's okay. You're safe here."

"We... can't..."

"Then let's...."

"As soon as she's..."

As she wandered between lucidity and unconsciousness, Carolyn heard voices from her bedside. Many times she wanted to open her eyes to see who was there, but she ran out of energy before she could make the effort. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she found a young girl looking down at her. While Carolyn thought the girl looked familiar, Atla appeared surprised to see her awake.

"Doc! Doc! She's awake!" she shouted as she hurriedly left the room.

Still confused, Carolyn tried to sit up but soon found that she could only move her arms as she wanted.

'What, happened?'

The room was empty, with only the bed that she rested on and the exit. Since she couldn't get up, she tried to sort through her most recent memories. Though she might have wished these memories stayed fragmented for a while longer, everything quickly came back to her.

'That's right. Mom... Dad...'

A weight pressed down on her chest as she thought of her parents' faces, but right as tears were about to flow from her eyes, someone entered the room.

"It seems you're awake. How are yah feeling, missie?"

It was an elderly man with a gentle smile who dressed the part of a farmer fresh from the fields, but there was a strong herbal scent attached to his body.

"I'm not feeling any pain, but I can't move. Are you, a doctor?"

"I'm nothing so fancy. Just an old man who knows how to use herbs. Now, as for your condition, missie, you're still under the effects of the anaesthesia I used to numb the pain. Seeing as you're awake, it should wear off soon, but your body was pushed well past its limits, so you'll still need to rest for a few more days."

"How long have, I been out?"

"Just about two days, missie. You're really lucky, you know. If you had kept on going in the condition you were in for any longer, you might have died before I could do anything for yah."

"I, see."

Carolyn felt a bit of relief, but then she wondered what the point was. The ones she loved most in the world were already gone.

"Doctor Teri!"

Suddenly, a loud voice calling the elderly man's name came from outside. Teri looked quite upset by the interloper, but he stayed by Carolyn's bedside instead of leaving.

"Sorry about that. That fool's been impatient since you arrived."

"No, it's fine. Do they need something from me?"

"He has things he wants to ask you, but you've just woken up, so I'll make him wait some more."

"Oh. Do you know what sort of questions he wants to ask?"

Teri contemplated with a frown before stating his guess.

"You were in a quite ragged state when we found you, and there was blood on your clothes that didn't seem to be yours. Given the circumstances, he's wondering if you were running from something or someone."

Once he brought it up, Carolyn remembered the reason why her family was running in the first place and tried to get up in panic. Unfortunately, she could barely lift her head.

"They, they were chasing us. They burned down the village. They killed them. They killed Mom."

Seeing how disturbed she was, Teri swiftly approached her and brought a leaf to her nose.

"It's okay. Calm down. Don't think about it no more. It can wait until you're better..."

With his words as her lullaby, Carolyn's consciousness fell into darkness.