May I mention I hate hiking and wandering?

It’s not like I don’t enjoy the nice scenery of the oak trees slowly losing their now colour collage-ish myriad of leaves, the peaceful fog that is laid like a blanket over the grass that contains millions of lives per leaf or the areas where rivers run through the forest and deer can be seen drinking, fish be seen swimming and bears be seen fishing. no, it’s the physically craving nature to the act that makes it tiresome. Especially with the backpack I got, it is quite heavy. At least Hazel can move here as it’s begun getting dark. Mauve is kinda useless at this time of day until tomorrow and as it’s winter soon he'll have more and more hours of being useless

“Hazel, don’t move too haphazardly or your wound will open up!”
Still amazing to see the spider-like legs of shadows seeming to originate from the back of Hazel, move her around the rough terrain. Even though she’s the wounded one, she’s the one moving the fastest.

“Don't worry~”
She says as she waits for us a bit up ahead.
The first five or seven kilometres of the stretch we have to go is plagued by goddamn irritating sudden drops and increases in the terrain. Rest of the way should be more flattened after that. At least it's healthy hiking, I guess?

“SHHHH!! Look! Over there! Deer!”

“Hazel… We don’t have time for that.. And doesn’t it still hurt?”

“Nah, have tried worse.”

“That's… true..”
Though the story about that is a bit long. So I wave the thought away and continue on.

We walk on, hiking through the terrain again.

We finally find a place fit for a camp. We didn’t have any tents so the place had to be somewhere which would be dry if it began raining, preferably. That place being a little cave in the side of a rock wall we had to climb down. Firewood isn’t hard to get when we have someone like Hazel. A single slice to cut down a tree and a couple more to chop it up and we had all the needed wood for the fire for the night. Covering an area of the ground in the cave with blankets, it got pretty cozy.

Mauve was the first to fall asleep. Then Hazel. Then Liz. I was just sitting there. Unpredictable matters are common to me, but it’s still hard adjusting to having to go on the run. Just gotta have a positive outlook. My friends are all right. Well, more or less. It’ll be harder moving Hazel tomorrow, but that's a problem for then, not now. Reminds me.

..........................................................................................................................................................

Who the hell is knocking on the door at such a time, I wonder to myself as I wobble through my apartment only barely dressed, half asleep. Only been a couple weeks since I moved out so I'm still getting used to the thing about having to answer the door myself and the time-management of having to do all the house chores by myself now. It had taken me quite a while talking my step dad and mom into letting me move out in my own into the bigger city. I manage to find the door in the dimly lit hallway by bumping into it. I open it slightly peeking out but regretting as I get blinded a bit by the much sharper light outside the door. Opening the door, even more, to look around outside. Was it just late night pranksters knocking on random doors? Just about to close the door when someone speaks.

“Excuse me miss…”
I open again and look a bit more downwards. A younger boy kneeling on the floor with what I assume is his twin on his back. Yawning, then waving them inside instead of here where people could see. I wobble back towards the living room trying to find the light switch, that even though it would blind me, would also make me able to wake a bit up and see whom I just invited in. The switch gets flipped… I think? Looking over at the lamps they are still turned off. Turning towards the front door I see why. Light flooding in as if it was water, into the room. I get my eyes on the light switch thanks to the flashlight that is being shined into the room. Flipping it, the light warps back to normality and the boy collapses. Guess actions say more than words. I gotta call the school tomorrow morning and say I’m sick for the day then. Standing over the two collapsed on the ground I think for a bit how to do this. Dragging one after one to the bedroom, moving them up onto the bed. I wake up on the bed. 

Sitting up I confirm it wasn’t just a weird dream. Getting up properly, going over to my closet to find something more appropriate than the simple long shirt I had just thrown over my underwear last night. The living room is filled with the scent of pancakes and brimming with lively small balls of lights floating mid-air, radiating pleasant heat. I walk into the kitchen, apparently startling the boy as the before said balls are now spikes directed at me, though dissipates into the air as he sees me.

“Isn’t it rude to bite the hand of someone who helps?”
a clear blush gets drawn across his face seeming to stem from embarrassment over it.

“Who are you two by the way?”

“Uh.. uhm… the name is..”

“Come on! Kid, can’t you speak a bit louder”

“Mauve!”

“That’s better. And, why are you here?”

“We… made a bit trouble…”

“This ain’t a home for runaway-kids, better speak up about your accident… but after breakfast, all right?”
My stomach got the better of me. It smells too delicious to be serious here.

“Wait. can you… fix up, my sister?”
I nod and walk back to my room.

I now see the deep red mark she's left in the bed sheet. Let's just get this over with. First waking her up so she at least could sit up herself, I pull off her shirt revealing a beaten up body and already bandaged stab wound in her shoulder. Poor girl. I remove the wraps and find the first aid box with new bandages and some painkillers. After fixing her up, I march into the living room where Mauve is neatly making the dining table ready.

“Pull up your shirt”

“pull… What?”

He says, looking utterly dumbfounded

“Y. o. u. r.   s. h. i.---”

“I know, I know! You don't need to spell it out for me..”

He pulls the shirt up, completing my theory.

“Well. I won't ask into it, but it’s great having a little bit of a clue about who I am working with.” Asking about it would ruin the breakfast mood anyway.