Divine Enmity (Catnipz)

XI. The Bonfire.

Haerin was awakened by the terrible pain on her side and the overall excruciating headache. She let out a small whimper as she brought her hands to her head, but luckily, she didn't notice any bumps. Thank goodness. She began to stretch and gradually saw a direct light from the ceiling that disoriented her a bit. She turned around and could see several people around her, with Wonyoung being the closest one.

"Haerin!" Wonyoung ran to hug her. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"I told you not to get crushed, Hae!" Danielle yelled while also hugging her tightly, almost squishing her.

"Ow! Ow! It hurts, Dani!"

Danielle began examining her ribs and chest. "Did they hit you on the torso too?"

Haerin shook her head and pushed her face away with her hand. "No, you idiot, you were crushing me."

Danielle blushed. "Sorry! But I was worried, we couldn't find you."

Wonyoung nodded. "Yeah, Hae, we didn't know how far away you were."

"Okay, okay," Haerin stopped them all. "Let me sit up a bit."

"Oh, right, and take this too," Danielle handed her some nectar.

The same rush of adrenaline overtook her, and the headache started to fade.

"Alright, what happened when they caught you?"

Yuna chimed in at that moment. "That idiot Ryujin threw all of you in jail, even Yuqi and Miyeon."

Haerin chuckled at the girl's reaction. She really hated Ares' daughter.

"They caught Yuqi and Miyeon?"

Wonyoung nodded. "They managed to call the other huntresses, and Soyeon helped them."

"Another jerk!"

"Enough, Yuna!" Wonyoung called out. "I understand you're angry, but it's not that big a deal."

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm not in the mood now."

Danielle looked at Haerin and with her eyes, she could convey what she wanted to say.

"I'll tell you later." is what she could read.

"Yeah, but we weren't in there for more than fifteen minutes," Danielle recounted. "Anhyeon came running and managed to free us. There was another small battle at the time, but we regrouped and regained ground."

"Anhyeon came and told us everything," Wonyoung explained. "But no one knew where to start looking for you."

"You were completely missing, even Ares' children couldn't find you."

"But..." Haerin began. "If I'm here, it's because you found the flag, right? I was next to it, did we win?"

They looked at each other and then back at her.

"No one blames you, Haerin."

"Blame me?"

Danielle nodded. "It's true that you were next to the flag. Many wondered why you didn't manage to bring it to our territory."

"But the red team found you when they took our flag to their territory," Wonyoung lowered her head.

"It's not your fault."

Haerin sighed, somewhat disgruntled. She had been so close.

"Well, it's alright."

Danielle encouraged her, "Yeah, that's right! We were much closer this time! We'll get it next time for sure!"