Twenty - Tarka

A sharp pain in my shoulder woke me from my stupor. My eyes fluttered open, and Alden was kneeling above me dabbing a wound I had received in my shoulder. His own eyes flickered to mine with a brief sense of fear but was immediately replaced by relief.

His eyes. "They look so much like Damian's," I thought to myself. I shook my head violently to get rid of the picture cementing in my brain. "Augh! Why am I even thinking about him like that? Tarka, you disgust me."

Alden dipped his shirt back in the creek and dabbed my shoulder again. I had to stifle back a cry of pain; the wound was deeper than I thought. Tears flooded to my eyes quicker than I wanted them to. Luckily, Alden was looking over on the other side of the river and didn't notice. I composed myself before he turned back to me.

"Hey, you're alive, at least! How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I mean as fine as I can be with a shoulder wound," I said, my voice cracking. I tried to smile just to get rid of the pale, horror-stricken look on his face.

"Yeah. I'm glad you're okay." He sighed and looked over across the river again. "I wonder where they took Tristram? Who were those guys anyway?"

I had to fight back more tears, as I sat up. Angry tears. "They were Viridian soldiers. Good for nothing Viridian soldiers. All they do is attack innocent people and charge them for crimes they did not commit."

"Soldiers wouldn't do things like that without a good reason," Alden reasoned.

I glared at him. "They'll do ANYTHING they want! Don't you get it? The higher up you are in the world, the more you are able to get away with." Memories of the soldiers that night only a few months ago came to me very vividly again. I clutched my knees with my hands and looked out over the rushing water, hoping the beautiful scene in front of me would replace the horrible rememberance.

Alden caught me staring. "I can tell you've gone through a lot. I wish I knew more about you." I turned to him, calming down some. "I want to know why you're bitter, why you won't open up."

"Don't you have secrets? The more people know about you, the more they can use against you. I learned that lesson very well long ago. I made that mistake too many times to make it again!" I realized I was practically yelling. I felt my face cool down as I stood up. "I'm sorry," I said softly, my voice cracking again. I tried to clear my throat but the feeling wouldn't go away. "I need some water."

Alden wrapped his shirt around my shoulder to control the bleeding. He cupped his hands in the river and let me have a drink. After a few minutes, he said tenderly but firmly, "Maybe someday, you can learn to trust me. Maybe you'll learn that not everyone is like that."

I scoffed. "What about your family? Why are you out here anyway and not back home? Don't tell me not everyone is like that! Why is Tristram always on the run? Huh?"

"I don't have a good answer for that right now."

"I didn't think so."

"However, I don't think it's a mere coincidence that the three of us found each other. So far, we've all gone our way to protect each other," he said. "Or at least we've tried to . . ." He started towards the jungle.

I followed after him. "So, where are we going? What's the plan?"

"Well, first we've got to find Tristram before someone else finds us."

I kept following him deeper into the jungle, shaking my head and thinking to myself, "What on earth am I getting into?"