Charles Smith x Reader

Three

Long shadows danced across the forest floor as you crouched between the trees and bushes behind Aponi.

The wind had picked up. Everything rustled. You could barely hear the birds.

"It's going to rain soon.", you said to yourself, glancing up at the sky.

"Yes.", Aponi said with a nod. "You know nature well."

A satisfied expression appeared on your lips. It was praise from her mouth. Something that didn't happen often.

Pride made you grin. With a gesture, you touched your nose and then pointed upwards.

"You taught me.", you said with a smile. "The air smells different. There's more wind."

She nodded eagerly and now the same pride appeared in her eyes. Like a teacher whose pupil had finally understood something.

"Yes, yes!", she laughed. "Wind and iron in the air. There will be a thunderstorm soon. Rain."

"Yes.", you nodded.

"Very good. You smell nature. Your feet feel it. That's... uh... a connection."

Patting you on the shoulder, she smiled and turned back towards her intended target. Head down, she moved towards a row of bushes and pushed the fine branches aside with her hand.

Behind them, the forest opened up and a wide plain of green meadows and wildflowers appeared. Her eyes twitched. A shaky breath escaped her lips.

You frowned in confusion. But when you stretched your neck, you realised why she was so upset.

Hooves thundered over the grass. The whole ground trembled under the force. A gasp escaped you.

"Bisons!", you whispered.

"Not.", Aponi grabbed your sleeve before you could step out of cover.

Confused, you looked at her. But suddenly you realised.

There was a strange odour in the air. Iron. But not the kind one smelled when it rained. It was more like a bleeding wound.

Straining, you narrowed your eyes. It was only a small herd, barely more than a dozen animals and far more cows than bulls.

They were behaving conspicuously agitated, their tails flapping around their flanks and snorting. Calves were protected in their midst.

"What's happening?", you whispered to Aponi.

Her eyebrows furrowed, she shook her head.

"I don't know.", she shook her head, her fingers digging into the dirt. "Something is wrong."

"They are afraid."

"Yes."

"But why?"

"I don't know.", her voice trembled with confusion. "I don't know..."

Her dark eyes flitted across the plain. You tried to follow them with your own, but her perception was quicker and sharper than yours.

Suddenly shouts echoed in the distance. Horses were neighing.

You whipped your head round at the sound.

Small black silhouettes appeared at the edge of the plain. They approached the herd of bison at a fast gallop.

The animals threw their heads up in anger, hooves dug into the earth and made deep furrows. Nature understood that danger was approaching.

You were just about to fight your way out of cover when suddenly a shot rang out. Startled, you flinched.

Aponi grabbed you by the collar and dragged you back into the forest on the other side.

"Wait!", you gasped and tried to free yourself from her grip.

"Get rowan berries.", she instructed you while scowling and searching for branches on the ground.

"What?"

"No time. Rowanberries. Bring me lots.", she shooed you away with a gesture while pulling a piece of cloth from the leather pouch she wore on her belt.

She neatly laid everything out on the cloth and set about looking for more dry branches. As you were still crouching next to her, she gave you a questioning look.

Swallowing hard, you forced yourself out of your stupor, jumped up and hurried off to get her the rowan berries she asked for.

Water splashed up on all sides as you carelessly jumped into the river to get to the other side faster. Your shirt was dripping with wetness and your jeans clung to your legs like a second skin.

Hastily, you climbed back onto land and ran as fast as your legs would carry you. The air burned in your lungs. In your haste, you almost forgot to dodge the ant hill you crossed in your path. You tiptoed past it and ran on.

Sweat covered your forehead when you finally made it to the spot where Aponi had pointed out the bush full of rowan berries. As quickly as you could, you plucked the thick red beads from the branches and simply stuffed them into your pouch.

When it felt like there was no more room, you took two more handfuls and returned to Aponi as quickly as your legs would carry you.

"Here!", breathing heavily you dropped next to her on your knees and emptied the berries on the ground.

With a nod of her head she fetched a few and squeezed them in with the dry branches and leaves she had found. When everything was to her liking she tied the small pieces of fabric into a bundle and went on to make more.

You followed her example until about half a dozen were done.

"What now?", you asked and let your eyes jump over the bush to check on the herd.

The horses had approached enough for you to see that there were men riding them. They all held guns in their hands. Every now and again a shot made your skin crawl.

Aponi reached into her small bag and pulled out two thin but sharp stones. They were of a deep, dusty black. As she hit them together the smell of something burning filled the air.

"You want to set them on fire?", you asked with your eyebrows knitted together.

"Smoke.", she said. "Fire will burn the sugar of the berries."

Your eyes widened.

"So that they can't see the bisons!"

"Yes. We need a spark.", again she tried to create a small friction with her fire stones.

But her hands started to tremble with hurry and tension. She didn't hit the right angle to create a spark that would light the fabric.

Quickly, you reached into your pocket to dig around. A small piece of metal nestled into your palm.

"Here.", you pulled out your lighter. "Take this."

She offered you one of the improvised smoke bombs. You pulled down the small gear at the side of the lighters head and a thin flame of orange lit up.

"Fast...", Aponi muttered with her eyebrows raised.