Golden Ink

Gold and Red

I huddle against Tsula, letting her sit closer to the fire. Her fingers have turned fully blue and her shivering has gotten worse. The cave is our refuge but I still can't help but hate it. "Tsula," I say, tapping her cheek. "You gotta stay with me Tsula."

Her teeth chatter and she slowly opens her mouth. "I... I'm here. Oh Kaori, it's so hot."

I hold her and wrap the blanket tighter, her weak muscles fight against mine but I win. "Kaori, I see it."

"See what?"

"The warm place, Kaori, come on, we have to get to the warm place."

I hold her and rock her gently, knowing she's going to die soon. I push away the fact that I'm next. "We are in the warm place Tsula, just stay with me."

She shakes her head but settles down. I sit there, the seconds ticking by in an endless slog of forever until mercifully the rain lessens.

Tsula begins to slowly feel warmer and warmer as the day goes by. We both flicker in and out of consciousness. My back and eyes hurt so much. And I can barely walk, partially from the pain, but partially because I'm used to accounting for the balance of my wings.

Then I hear footsteps and whistling. I listen closely and determine it's two people walking. One is much older than the other, their step is much heavier. "Hello there," A man's voice says.

I squint hard. I'm not used to mortal eyes. "Hello," I say uncertainly.

"Are you okay, do you need help?" The man gestures to the pile of blood slowly forming from the wounds on my back.

I pause. I've never depended on people before, I don't like it. But one look at Tsula tells me all I need to know. Tsula needs help, even more than I do, so I nod. "Viola," The man calls. A little girl pops her head in. "Please help this girl, bandage her wounds." He gestures to me and the little girl hops in, pulling bandages out of a pack.

She speedily wraps the bandages around my chest, stemming the flood of blood slowly leaking out of my fresh wounds. She moves on to the wounds around my eyes. "What happened? You look like your eyes have been removed, but they're right here." She gently places her fingers on my temples.

I look at the ground. "Sorry, was that rude?" She begins treating them anyway, bandaging the cuts that she can reach but the important ones are behind my eyes, the injuries that formed before my new eyes grew in.

When my eyes were plucked out, mortal ones grew back, but my wounds couldn't heal. "Tsula, is she gonna be okay?" I rasp out, my throat like sandpaper from dehydration.

Viola looks at her for a moment. "I don't know."

Tsula is huddled in the corner of the cave, her blanket drawn close to her chin while the man talks to her soothingly. He reaches his hand out to her and she shrinks back, a terrible shrieking sound erupting from her. I push Viola off me, ignoring her persistence that I shouldn't be moving with my wounds.

I drop to my knees and place myself in between her and the man. "Get away from her!" I shout.

I turn to her and hold her hands gently. "Tsula, look at me. You're okay. I'm here Tsula, we're gonna be fine."

She looks at me and the fear in her eyes melts away a little. "Kaori?" She says timidly.

"It's okay Tsula, no one's ever gonna hurt you again. I won't let them." Those monsters that call themselves gods decided to take advantage of her. My pain was horrifying, but I can't imagine what she went through.

"Kaori, I'm scared. Who are these people?" She's like a frightened child.

I try to speak as reassuringly as possible. "They're going to help us," I think. "Let this girl treat your wounds, her name is Viola."

Viola scoots forward slowly. "I'm just going to use this to clean your wounds." She explains, holding up a bottle of disinfectant.

She tends to Tsula's wounds while I hold her hand. Eventually, Tsula is bandaged up. "We should get you to our house, they can help you better there." She looks to the man who I assume is her father and he nods.

I try to rise to my feet but almost collapse. I end up using the wall as a support. A sharp pain spikes through me. I touch my back and my fingers come back wet and a mixture of gold and red. My blood is still part of a god, that will change eventually.

"Hey, you shouldn't be walking, we should carry you." Viola protests.

I shake my head. "I'll do it. I need to take care of Tsula."

I begin helping her to her feet but my own fall out from under me. Sharp pain and a loud crack echo in my head as I hit a rock. My vision begins to fade. The last thing I can hear is Viola gently saying, "You don't have to fight anymore. I'll take care of both of you, promise." and then my vision goes dark.