Surrounded

We woke up to the sound of birds chirping. I heard a groan beside me. "Are you okay? Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Ugh. Can you help me up please? I think I bled through the bandages..."

Yep. That's blood. I carefully supported Demi's back and noticed more blood on the back of his shirt. "Um, Demi, I think we missed a spot. We'll have to take off your shirt."

Demi's face turned red. "No, if you could just treat me shoulder, that's enough."

I sent him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? We're in the middle of the mountains! We have to treat everything so it doesn't get infected." Sheesh. Even a child knows that. Yet Demi's face looked like someone just robbed him. "What's the problem? Oh, does it hurt to lift your arm? Should I just cut the shirt off?" His face turned from red to white the longer he listened to me. Uh oh, maybe it's worse than I thought.

After what looked like some inner battle, Demi slowly raised his arms, suppressing a groan. I tried to peel of his shirt as carefully as possible but some of the fibers stuck to the wound. Oh my god, his whole upper body was black and blue. A large scrape was going down the middle, presumably from the tree. "Demi, I think we should head back to the village." I said, with a grim face, staring at his wounds.

"Why? Because of this? I'm fine. I've been in much worse condition and I'm alive and well."
I don't know how to unpack that. I mean, I know he fought in a war but we're not in a war now. Why be stubborn about it when there's other options? There's something wrong with this man's reasoning.

"Demi, we're not at war right now and the mountain isn't going anywhere. We can just wait until they come back down for supplies next month. We might not even need to climb it again if we can figure out a better strategy." I said, as gently as possible.

Demi looked at me in confusion. "Why are we talking about war? I used to get hurt worse in the palace. You know I'm a bastard, right?"

My jaw dropped. I couldn't help it. So it's been like this since he was a child, and that's why he doesn't care about his condition. I knew he faced discrimination, but I had no idea it escalated to such severe abuse. It's not even his fault! People can be so cruel.

"Demi, that's not normal. In fact, it's not even normal in the orphanage. You're not in the palace anymore. You should learn to care for yourself a bit more."

Demi gave me an awkward smile. "...I get it. But I'm really fine. Let's continue."

This stubborn man! I could feel my blood pressure rising. It seems nice and gentle doesn't work for this man! "No." I spoke coldly. "I'm not fine. We're going back down the mountain. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life feeling responsible if something goes wrong. You love strategy, so tell me honestly, is continuing right now the best strategy? Or is pride clouding your judgment?" I gave him the most frigid expression I could muster, preparing myself to further scold him.

The preparation was unnecessary. He acknowledged the truth in my words and apologized for being stubborn. He agreed that this was no longer the best strategy and that we should retreat. I treated his wounds, all of them this time, and bandaged them. After winning the war of words, I packed our stuff. Demi tried to help but I glared at him and pointed at a spot by the fire. He got the message and sat his ass down. When I finished packing, we started our descent.

Two hours later we found ourselves in an unpredictable situation. The group we were trying to follow had surrounded us, with their weapons to our necks. Well, this was not the way I imagined meeting but, I suppose our purpose has been achieved.

"Drop your weapons and raise your hands."

We did as we were told. They removed the weapons from our throats but kept them pointed at us, as two of their people patted us down. They removed the dagger from my boot. From Demi: three daggers, some throwing knifes, two flares, and a smoke bomb were removed from his person. Where on earth was he hiding all that? None of it was in his shirt! I gaped.

"You are the people who stopped us at the village. Why were you following us?"

"Because you lied." I stated simply.

"Whether we lied or not doesn't excuse you stalking us. Where does a little girl like you get off?! What do you want with the redhead?" The man practically growled at me.

Come to think of it, the rude man's voice sounded strangely familiar. A redheaded woman poked her head out from behind the man. Wait, that woman...

"Sister?"