The Mission

Chapter 10

-Chapter 10-
*Sky's POV

I grabbed the blankets from the chest and draped it over us. Ty was hugging me tightly, still silently crying. "It's ok." I murmured.
Ty shook his head. "W-We're in a house with a B-Bacca!!" He cried. "B-Baccas hurt us. Th-they hate humans."
"Well the guy, what's his name... Mitch, doesn't seemed threatened by the Bacca." I pointed out.
Ty wiped his eyes and sat up. "H-he could still hurt us like the other B-Bacca did."
I nodded. "Yes, he still could, but I doubt he will. If he tries to hurt you in any way, I'll kill him for you. Sound good?"
Ty nodded and laid his head on my chest and his breathing slowed. His face was pink and his eyes were puffy from crying. He's so cute and I'll admit, I love him.
I heard someone yawn and footsteps getting closer. I looked through the dim light and saw a girl who looked like Mitch. "Who are you and what are you doing here?!" She hissed. The girl aimed a shining bow at me, ready to shoot.
"M-Mitch and the Bacca brought us h-here!!" I stuttered.
"Well, who are you?" She asked as she unstrung the arrow.
"I'm Adam, but please call me Sky. This is Ty." I pointed towards Ty.
"I'm Rheanna. I'm Mitch's sister." Rheanna sat on the other couch. "You two hungry?" She asked, pulling two apples out of her backpack.
I nodded and she tossed an apple towards me. "Thanks." I took bites of the red, juicy apple until it was all gone and my hunger was filled.
"No problem. Does your friend want an apple or is he asleep?" She asked.
"He's asleep." I replied.
"Where'd you come from?" The one question I didn't want her to ask, she asked.
"The Bacca village." I whispered.
Rheanna tensed up a bit. "What's the king up to now?" She was gripping the bow that was on the couch next to her.
"He.. He enslaved people from the other villages. We were two of the many." I explained.
"I hate the king. He's the worst person I've ever met." Rheanna growled.
"Why do you hate him?" I made the mistake of asking.
Rheanna took a deep breath. "A few nights ago, he kidnapped my brother and took him to the village where he beat and poisoned him." I nodded my head and looked down at the sleeping Ty. "I'm going to go back to bed." Rheanna yawned. "Wake me if you need anything."
The room was silent once again. I moved to lay down, but pain shot up through by body. Forgot about the pain. I carefully laid down and fixed the blankets so they weren't crumpled. I was laying on my back with Ty on my chest. He was sort of curled into a ball, his head resting on my chest and his arms around my waist. I made myself comfy and let my mind rest.
-Morning-
Waking up, I heard four different voices. Three of them I recognized, but the other one I didn't. I opened my eyes and sat up, noticing that Ty wasn't here. I saw something move in the corner of the room so I cautiously got up and walked to it. Sitting in the corner, shaking, was Ty. "Ty, what's wrong? Are you ok?" I whispered and touched his arm.
He looked up at me with his adorable brown eyes and shook his head. "There's another Bacca." He whispered. "Jerome isn't the only one."
I pulled Ty in for a hug and picked him up bridal style. I sat him on the couch. "I'm going to go see who this other Bacca is. If you get startled, come stand by me. I'll protect you." I quietly said. Ty nodded and I walked into the kitchen where the voices were coming from. There was Rheanna, Mitch, Jerome, and a female Bacca.
"If there isn't anything that needs to be done here, Rheanna and I are going hunting." The female Bacca told Jerome.
"Actually, there's two people I want you to meet and we have to make a room for them." Jerome said.
"Where?" The Bacca asked.
"The living room." Jerome moved closer to the living room where I was standing in the doorway. When he saw me, he stopped walking. "Actually, here's one of the two."
I looked at the girl Bacca. "Hey. I'm Adam, but call me Sky." I introduced myself.
"I'm Sierra. I'm Jerome's sister." She smiled.
"Where's Ty?" Jerome asked me and I pointed to the living room behind me. "Is he ok?"
"Well, he's a bit startled." I replied and Jerome knew what I meant.
"Sky... I hate being alone..." Ty said when he came to stand by me.
"It's ok." I gave him a reassuring smile and held his hand. Ty looked at Sierra and took a step behind me.
"Sierra, this is Ty. Ty, this is Sierra." I introduced the two.
Sierra looked kindly at Ty and tilted her head. "Why are you scared? We're not going to hurt you." Jerome whispered something in her ear and she stepped back a step. "Oh.. Sorry." She said to Ty.
Ty shrugged. "I-I'm just not used to b-Baccas yet." He stuttered.
"It's ok. You just need time." Sierra said.
The air got silent and a bit awkward. Ty started tugging at my hand. "Can we go in the living room?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded my head and followed Ty.
After a few minutes, Rheanna walked into the living room. "Do you guys like your fish cooked of raw?" She asked.
"Cooked." Ty and I said at the same time.
"Ok. Just making sure." She smiled before going back to the kitchen.
"Sky," Ty whispered. "I'm scared. What if the king comes back for us?"
I hugged Ty. "He won't. I promise. If he does, we can hope that the Baccas and people will help us. From what I've heard, they've had problems with the king before."
Mitch walked into the room, holding an iron sword. "Do you guys want to go hunting with us?" He asked. "There's extra weapons in the back room. Rheanna and Sierra are going to stay to make your rooms."
I looked at Ty and surprisingly he nodded. He's never been one on hunting. "Sure." He said to Mitch.
"Can we share a room?" I asked Mitch.
"It's up to you." Mitch called back, walking to the back room. "What's your weapon of choice?"
"Sword!!" Ty and I called out at the same time.
Mitch came back with two iron swords. "Is iron ok? We haven't been able to find any diamonds."
"It's fine. I prefer iron over diamond anyways." Ty said, grabbing one of the swords.
"What?! Iron over diamond?! Why?!" Mitch asked and handed me the other sword.
Ty shrugged. "Diamond and iron is almost the same in attack strength."
"Really? I never knew that." Mitch shrugged and handed us a map. "Rheanna drew it. Since we already know the forest, she made a map for you two to use. Make sure you don't get lost. The Bacca village is marked so you don't go near there." Mitch said.
I looked at a small village named 'Benja Village'. I've never seen or heard of that village before. "Where's this village?" I asked Mitch and pointed to the dot.
Mitch's expression fell when he saw where I was pointing. "That was, um, my village." He whispered. "It burnt down a few weeks ago because of the Bacca king."
"I-I'm so sorry." If I knew what had happened, I wouldn't of asked. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Mitch shook his head. "It's fine." He gave me and Ty a small smile. "Let's go. You wouldn't mind if Jerome joins us, right?" Mitch asked. I shrugged and looked at Ty who seemed a bit unsure of the idea. "Unless you don't want him to be there." Mitch quickly added.
"It's.. It's ok. I'll have to get used to being around a Bacca. I'm sure Jerome and Sierra are friendly Baccas, but what the king did was, well, scarring." Ty explained and I knew exactly what he meant. I know what the king did to him because Ty told me in the forest. Lets just say, the king didn't only have slaves for work.
"I understand. You just have to get to know them." Mitch smiled. "C'mon. Let go."
We walked outside and started walking away from the house. I saw something in the trees move, but I didn't pay attention to it. When that something jumped down from the tree though, I did.
"Hey dood!!" Mitch said to the Bacca who just jumped from the tree.
"Hey Mitch!!" The Bacca, who I just figured out is Jerome, greeted back. "Hey Sky!! Hey Ty!!"
Ty and I waved at him, Ty seeming a bit startled. I grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He looked up at me and smiled.
"How do you guys like to travel? In the trees or on the ground?" Jerome asked.
"On the ground." Ty answered. I nodded in agreement.
"How do you travel in the trees?" I asked Jerome.
Jerome smiled and quickly climbed a nearby tree. "Easy. Just jump from tree to tree." He called down to us. He leaped to another tree and then to another tree until he had made a circle around us. "It's what Baccas do. We don't travel on the ground unless someone is injured, we're in a cave, or there's no trees around."
"Cool." Ty said. "Is there a normal hunting area?" He asked.
Mitch and Jerome looked at each other and shrugged. "No not really." Mitch replied. "Just nowhere near the Bacca village."
"Is there a hunting schedule?" I asked. In my other village, certain people hunted on certain days in certain areas.
"Nope!!" Jerome said and smiled. "We just hunt whenever. Just make sure you tell someone before you leave."
"Ready to hunt?" Mitch asked. We all nodded and started walking again. Well, Jerome climbed a tree and the rest of us walked. We paused when we came across a clearing. Standing in the center of the treeless area was the Bacca king and the Bacca army leader. The king was holding a sword to someone's throat and the leader was holding an iron sword to another person's throat. The woman the king was holding was wearing her favorite pale yellow dress with her hair up in her signature bun. Her light brown eyes sparkled with tears and in her hand was a small music box my dad made for her when they first met. Who was she you might ask? My mom.
The woman the Bacca army leader was holding was wearing her favorite purple blouse with dark grey pants. Her hair was down in her normal wavy curls. Like my mom's, her dark brown eyes were glistening with tears in the bright sunlight. Who was she? Ty's mom.